Résultats de "David B. Smith" dans Toutes les catégories

How do we cope when faith threatens to slip away? The most durable of Christian heroes often succumb to the numb specter of doubt. "Are the things I once believed still true?" Pillars like John the Baptist, Mother Teresa, and Billy Graham have confessed that there were times in their walk with God where atheism and an empty universe seemed increasingly probable scenarios. The author refers to a recent media exchange between liberal provocateur Bill Maher and the late Charlie Kirk. Both men confessed that their chosen life philosophy brought unanswerable questions, chasms of logic.

Is a decade enough time to heal the jagged soul scars of Pattaya Beach? Pranom was just 13 when a greedy uncle forced her into Thailand’s infamous sex trade (And a Happy New You). Now a college graduate secure in the love of her adopted Portland family, she might actually dare to spend a year back at Bangkok Christian School as the new calculus teacher. On one condition: her kid sister Paloma comes along to be the only blond senior in the entire school. Back in Asia, the kids are great. Her new church is great. Auntie Rachel and Uncle Khemkaeng are great.

It’s Bucky’s senior year of high school and his last chance to play baseball. But Coach Brayshaw’s history now. And the new coach doesn’t think devout Jesus-freak Christians like Bucky and Dan have the competitive juices necessary to compete on the varsity level. Bucky wants every opportunity to share his faith before leaving for college. And leading the Panthers to victory would open that door. Especially if his newly discovered fastball becomes a weapon for the home team. Will he get the chance to prove his love for the game and his even greater loyalty to God?

“Litton, look!” Bucky’s words came out almost as a scream. In one of the windows Dan could see a group of terrified kids. “We’ve got to get them out!” “Up on floor five? Are you kidding?” “We’ve got no choice!” Dan sucked in his breath. The fire was edging closer and closer to the outside stairway. In just a few minutes the whole side of the hotel would be engulfed in flames. There was a quick popping sound and a flash as all the lights in the building suddenly blinked off. “What do you think we should . . .” “Come on!” Bucky gave him a push toward the stairs.

Counselors at summer camp? You gotta be kidding! Why would two intelligent guys intentionally surround themselves with 150 little monsters each week? For Dan and Bucky the temptation to reach kids with God’s love and get paid for playing is enough to lure them to beautiful Sierra Pines. But the summer isn’t going to be all fun and games for Bucky. Lisa hasn’t called in ages. Tracy’s determined to break his resolve not to date non-Christians. He’s got just a week to learn how to water ski and become an instructor. And one of his campers has a painful secret that will suck him into a major mess.

Newly widowed Lisa Thackeray is just finishing her chaplaincy stint at an Army outpost in Iraq when a dead soldier’s iPod comes into her possession. It’s a mind-bending discovery when she realizes the anonymous toy lets her escape to the past by a week and bet on NFL games that have already happened. She can prevent suicide bombings. She can rescue fallen comrades. What’s going on here anyway? Finally back in the U.S.

I have many dear friends whose youthful experience in the church was fraught with anxiety over “I’ll never be good enough” and the warning that nineteen out of twenty kids are doomed to stay forever out of heaven. Okay, you too? On the cusp of college graduation and my new gig as a teacher in an Adventist school, two rescuing lifeboats floated my way. I began reading stuff by C. S. Lewis and also a pastor named Morris Venden – ironically my mom’s cousin!

Katrina Saxby wasn’t even planning to trade her on-track academic life at Pacific Union College for a year in northern Thailand. But the call of God was clear and so she said yes. Now she’s got to teach English, start up a high school choir, launch the newsletter, be a substitute preacher when a bus breaks down, dispense dating advice to teenage girls, and fret about the growing reality that one of the Thai teachers might be falling in love with her.

Here in "Of Fleeces and Faith," I have a great time exploring from the fascinating Old Testament story of Gideon and his tiny little band of 300 warriors. He asked for a sign; in fact, he asked for three of them! God said yes, but is that the best way for a follower of heaven to proceed? Always wanting more proof, more proof, more more more?

9/11 tragedies and Auschwitz can’t be overruled without the “butterfly effect” causing even greater havoc. When high school senior Jordan Wickam gets a mysterious bootleg iPod that flips back his calendar exactly seven days, he piles up a greedy fortune betting on horse-racing exactas. Then on the night of the senior prom, he’s abruptly forced to decide: Do I play God?

Travel to a world where love stories unfold, shattered dreams are rebuilt, and a memorable cast of characters live out and grow in their Christian faith. The brand new Rachel Marie series takes you far away to Bangkok Christian School where rookie teacher Rachel Marie finds herself intrigued by the winsome Vice Principal Kuhn Khemkaeng, a nominal Buddhist. She’s being simultaneously wooed by expatriate Nigel Blaine, a TV journalist dripping with decidedly secular charm.

During the golden days of American pulps, hundreds of masked avengers were created to battle evildoers around the globe. The Black Bat, Moon Man, Domino Lady, and the Purple Scar, to name only a few of these amazing pulp heroes. Now Airship 27 Productions introduces to pulp listeners brand new pulp heroes cast in the mold of their 1930s counterparts.

The earliest known prison memoir by an African American writer—recently discovered and authenticated by a team of Yale scholars—sheds light on the longstanding connection between race and incarceration in America. “[A] harrowing [portrait] of life behind bars . . . part confession, part...

From mid-August to mid-September 1863, Union major general William S. Rosecrans's Army of the Cumberland maneuvered from Tennessee to north Georgia in a bid to rout Confederate general Braxton Bragg's Army of Tennessee and blaze the way for further Union advances. Meanwhile, Confederate reinforcements bolstered the numbers of the Army of Tennessee, and by the time the two armies met at the Battle of Chickamauga, in northern Georgia, the Confederates had gained numerical superiority.

“Shultz, stop! You’re gonna kill us!” Jonathan hesitated, punched the accelerator, and hurtled through the red light. Immediately an eerie wail from a patrol car filled the air, sending a thrill of fear through Bucky. Was this his lab partner’s idea of fun? Taking his foot off the gas, Jonathan eased the van to the side of the road. Suddenly there was a squeal of tires, and the vehicle shot forward. “What are you doing?” Bucky demanded. “I’m drivin’, baby.” “You’re crazy, Shultz! It’s only a traffic ticket. Pull over!” Just ahead railroad warning lights began to ding. “There we go!

Volume Six is a tight thriller, with our young Christian hero fighting sinister underworld sports betting mob guys. Can he expose the rigging of a varsity championship basketball game without getting himself killed?

This volume represents one of my favorite career challenges: creating this radio adventure for the Voice of Prophecy ministry. Our broadcast team always envisioned the national audience reached by our scripts: thoughtful Christians and seekers longing for a better life empowered by the gospel. Paul’s epistle to the Philippians is among the richest of scriptural gifts to the world! Believers everywhere have been encouraged by his exhortation: “I can do ALL THINGS through Christ who strengthens me.

Bucky Stone Adventures is 10 exciting stories all packed with home runs and buzzer-beater three-point hoops, along with flirty text messages, a kidnapping scare, bank robberies, and even a mission trip to downtown Bangkok where our hero promptly gets himself lost in the big, bad city. There’s plenty of humor and teasing, but in the end a young man’s faith has to give him a path forward when there’s a cheating scandal in history class or impossible-to-forgive grudge on the basketball court.

Hey, it’s not that hard for a cop to solve crimes if he can time-travel back a week and apprehend crooks before they even walk into the bank. Detective Aaron Mathews, the iPod’s new unsuspecting victim, sniffs around to track down its former owners, and begins to realize God is demanding a whole lot more of him than just lucky junkets to Atlantic City. His hard-boiled agnosticism begins to thaw as he witnesses the Columbine killings up close, and is sorely tempted to undo America’s first mass shooting.

Bucky Stone’s dream mission trip has turned into a nightmare. He’s 9000 miles from home, hopelessly lost on the streets of Bangkok. Panic screams at his senses, making it difficult to think. He’s got no money. This adventure happened before T-Mobile cellphone plans that work in Asia, so he can’t call his pals for help. He can’t speak a word of Thai. And he’s running out of time and options. Somewhere in this huge steaming city with its traffic jams and go-go bars is a group of Christian friends he’d give anything to see again.