Wikiklesia Volume 2, Taking Flight: Reclaiming the Female Half of God’s Image through Advocacy and Renewal offers forward-looking ideas on gender-inclusive faith and leadership while exploring the historical backgrounds and changing perceptions of women’s status both in the faith community and throughout the world.

In this anthology, we hear from leading thinkers, theologians, bloggers, leaders, pastors, artists, and entrepreneurs. Contributions include well-known authors like President Jimmy Carter and Frank Viola, as well as front-line practitioners like Vaun Swanson and Anna Clark.  From their diverse backgrounds, these writers offer a fresh approach to the issue of gender roles as tsunamis of post-industrial societal and economic shifts transform cultures worldwide. This changing landscape is not one the church can fail to recognize and hope to successfully navigate in the future. Will it react by engaging in unremitting theological debate, or will it act by seeking the high ground of integrity, balance, and harmony?

Readers will gain a deeper understanding of how and why the female half of God’s image is moving toward a more balanced and influential role in global faith.

Get a sneak peak and buy the e-book here:

Relationships can be difficult. We all have them and we all struggle at times to overcome, or at least get past, the inevitable conflict. Great friendships sour, good marriages crumble and fray, business partnerships that flowed so smoothly break up badly. Often all we need are some basic tools to help us through the rough patches to a stronger relationship on the other side of the conflict. Sometimes we already know what to do, but in the heat of the fight, we forget to listen and to use our words lovingly.

In Broken Record: Enjoying the Music of Relationship Through the Hisses, Pops, and Scratches, author John Voelz invites us to sit with him and listen to his record collection–those relational pieces of vinyl that are irreplaceable, invaluable, and that lend color and meaning to life. Through this metaphor, humor, and illustrative story, Voelz takes through nearly every type of conflict a relationship can suffer. He hands us the tools we need to get through the problem while reminding us again about how to take care of our relationships. Listen again to the beautiful music behind the hisses, pops, and scratches that made you “buy the album” in the first place.

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Most Christians believe that “God is love.” That’s what the Bible says, right? But what do you do with much of the First Testament where God shows an angry, sometimes vindictive “dark” side that seems to be anything but love? The minor prophets, of which the Book of Nahum is a part, is full of “love me or die” kind of language. Is this really the same God of the Second Testament? How do we reconcile the two? More importantly, what implications are there for how I live my life from day to day? With religious violence on the rise, along with a new atheism that springs from it, we cannot ignore these questions.

Author Ben Redmond takes on this difficult topic in an off-beat, laid-back style to navigate the treacherous water of Israel’s history at the time Nahum lived, their rocky relationship with God, and His undying love for them. Redmond uses story and humor to draw practical connections to contemporary life and a God who had sent his Son because of his love that remains strong for us. The Comfort of Vengeance is a walk through an obscure part of the Bible that will deepen your understanding of who God is and consequently change your life.

Get a sneak peak and buy the e-book here:

We are proud to announce the release of Bleached: Hope for the Desolate by Dr. David McDonald! Times are hard and it seems like everyone is hurting. So many people are still losing their jobs and losing their homes to foreclosure while trying to minimize the impact of this on their kids. Add to this a cancer diagnosis, a still born baby, an accidental drowning of a 12-year-old swim team captain, not to mention other societal and worldwide catastrophes in Haiti, the Gulf of Mexico, Israel and Palastine, and Afghanistan . . . Can there be any hope left when everything seems to be crashing around us?

David McDonald thinks so and he turns us to a vivid and radical vision that God gave one of his craziest prophets, Ezekiel, in order answer the cry of his people–a cry we echo today–”Our hope has perished, and we are cut off.” In the Valley of Dry Bones, the most hopeless and desolate of places in the history of God’s people, God reconstructs an army of men long defeated and dead. Placing bone to bone, re-attaching muscle and wrapping in flesh, God breaths life back into people in whom life has not been seen for years. He promised to do the same for his people . . . and for us.

Read a sample for free and download the e-book below and at www.scribd.com/samizdatcreative. A beautiful physical version is also available  at the Samizdat store and at your favorite bookseller.

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We are proud to announce the latest book by Sgt. Ron V Kelsey, produced by Samizdat Creative and published by International Arts Movement:

Reflections of Generosity is about one Soldier’s struggle to find restoration and peace beyond the grief and tragedy of war. Through powerful essays and artwork, Sgt. Kelsey shares his story to encourage Soldiers and their families preparing for another deployment to face the coming sacrifices with courage and hope.

“[ These] are wartime epistles, a heartfelt effort to communicate to those at home the details of one Soldier’s experiences from the front lines of battle. Ron’s words both exhort and challenge us to wrestle with issues of art, faith, and humanity.” – MAKOTO FUJIMURA, artist, founder of International Arts Movement

Purchase your copy at International Arts Movement’s store.

We crave God’s prosperity, abundance, and delight for ourselves; it is only right that we crave it for others as well. God wants to prosper us economically, in order to heal the world. Far from the gospel of prosperity, discover how justice and mission are fed by abundance and delight. Learn how to get on your feet financially. Use your financial freedom to serve and prosper others. Cultivate a heart of gold and free yourself from the hidden alchemy transforming your heart into a heart of greed.

Purchase a copy at our store.

You can also read a free preview below:

Dr. David McDonald’s book Down to Earth: Why We’re Really Here and Why It Matters is and earthy often hilarious look at who Jesus was and what it means for our lives. His incarnation raises the train wreck of humanity to its full dignity and potential. In a style reminiscent of Leonard Sweet and Rob Bell, McDonald will help you re-encounter Christ and see how he validates “every minute detail” of your life, and how it will change because of him.

Order on Amazon.com or BarnesandNoble.com, or at our store.

A free preview is available below:

Apple Tablet Rumor of the Day: 30/70 Split with Publishers.

Neil Gaiman + Twitter = Interactive Storytelling.