The Great Crowd


Book Description

The Great Crowd is a social history of All Saints Episcopal Church of Omaha, Nebraska. Founded in 1885, precisely at the moment when Omaha was experiencing a spurt of rapid grown, the parish has continued to succeed as a religious community deeply enmeshed in the life of the city. It was from the beginning a distinctly urban parish and, as change came for the city, underwent its changes, including a major relocation of its facility. It also found itself navigating the changes in national culture and in the character of the larger Episcopal Church. Curiously, very different rectors--eight in all, with different configurations of lay leadership drawn from across the city--responded to these successive waves of change, and yet, they held on the conviction that they had maintained the unique identity of the parish that they had inherited from those who had gone before them. They did so in no small part by telling their story. Drawing from the parish archives, including its vestry minutes, correspondence, and publications the author, himself one of the eight rectors, has taken up a critical retelling the story bring up to 9/11, 2001. These pages contain a strange tapestry of names and faces, from Omaha's cowboy mayor to its storied lawyers and devout bus drivers who melded themselves in that strange unity called a parish. In the author's telling, the story becomes a critical tool for understanding how a Christian community works and for providing a basis for a critical assessment of the purpose and meaning of religious community in American life.




The Big Crowd


Book Description

Two Irish brothers journey from New York’s East River to its halls of power in this “masterwork of historical fiction” by the author of Dreamland (Parade). Inspired by one of the great, unsolved murders in mob history, this novel tells the sweeping story of Charlie O’Kane, a poor Irish immigrant who works his way up from beat cop to mayor of New York at the city’s postwar zenith. Famous, powerful, and married to a fashion model, millions of local citizens look up to him, including his younger brother, Tom—until he is accused of abetting a shocking crime. The charges stem from his days as a crusading Brooklyn DA, when he sent the notorious killers of Murder, Inc., to the chair—only to let a vital witness fall to his death while under police guard. Now out of office, Charlie is hiding from the authorities in a Mexico City hotel. To uncover what really happened, Tom must confront stunning truths about his brother, himself, and the secret workings of the great city he loves. From the Brooklyn waterfront to City Hall, the battlefields of World War II to the glamorous nightclubs of 1940s Manhattan, The Big Crowd is filled with powerbrokers and gangsters, celebrities and socialites, scheming cardinals and battling dockside priests. But ultimately it is an American story of the bonds and betrayals of brotherhood—from “the lit world’s sharpest chronicler of New York’s past” (Rolling Stone).




"Our Crowd"


Book Description

The #1 New York Times bestseller that traces the rise of the Guggenheims, the Goldmans, and other families from immigrant poverty to social prominence. They immigrated to America from Germany in the nineteenth century with names like Loeb, Sachs, Seligman, Lehman, Guggenheim, and Goldman. From tenements on the Lower East Side to Park Avenue mansions, this handful of Jewish families turned small businesses into imposing enterprises and amassed spectacular fortunes. But despite possessing breathtaking wealth that rivaled the Astors and Rockefellers, they were barred by the gentile establishment from the lofty realm of “the 400,” a register of New York’s most elite, because of their religion and humble backgrounds. In response, they created their own elite “100,” a privileged society as opulent and exclusive as the one that had refused them entry. “Our Crowd” is the fascinating story of this rarefied society. Based on letters, documents, diary entries, and intimate personal remembrances of family lore by members of these most illustrious clans, it is an engrossing portrait of upper-class Jewish life over two centuries; a riveting story of the bankers, brokers, financiers, philanthropists, and business tycoons who started with nothing and turned their family names into American institutions.




What Does the Bible Really Teach?.


Book Description

Biblical theology and doctrines of Jehovah's Witnesses.




Holy Bible (NIV)


Book Description

The NIV is the world's best-selling modern translation, with over 150 million copies in print since its first full publication in 1978. This highly accurate and smooth-reading version of the Bible in modern English has the largest library of printed and electronic support material of any modern translation.




Revelation Rightly Revealed


Book Description

Very accurate, extremely informative, and certainly understandable. As we all know, the revelation of Jesus Christ as recorded by John the Apostle is one of the most intriguing and fascinating books in the bible. However, Revelation Rightly Revealed (R3) conducts a precise yet comprehensive study of John's apocalypse. R3 analyzes and expounds on fourteen major themes found in the book of Revelation. As a result, you are guaranteed to receive dynamic and tremendous insight into the following concepts: The Four Horsemen, The Great Tribulation, Mystery Babylon, The Resurrections, The 7 Seals, 7 Trumpets, and 7 Vials, Eternity, and much more.




Friend-ish


Book Description

For so many of us, our friends are like family members--we lean on them through our highest highs and our lowest lows--but sometimes those friendships don't turn out quite as we hoped. Bible teacher Kelly Needham debunks our world's constricted, narrow view of friendship and casts a richer, more life-giving, biblical vision for friendship. In Friend-ish, Kelly Needham reminds us that we were called to more than halfhearted friendships and lukewarm connections. We need something more stable, secure, and sacred. We were designed for real friendship--but the difficult truth is that too many of us are settling for less. Kelly deconstructs what Scripture says about the gift of friendship and takes a closer look at the distorted view that most of us have instead. As she shares the lessons she's learned from experience, Kelly paints her own glorious vision of what Christian friendship could look like. With hard-fought wisdom, a clear view of Scripture, and a been-there perspective, Friend-ish teaches us how to: Recognize symptoms of idolatry and toxic dependency Boldly ask for what we need from our community of friends Understand and address the problems that arise in friendship--from neediness to discord Recognize when it's time to end an unhealthy friendship Reorient toward the purposeful, loving relationships we all crave that ultimately bring us closer to God Find the friends you need and start to become that friend for others Join Kelly as she challenges you to view your chosen family in a new light, gain a vision of friendship according to Jesus, and finally enjoy friendships as God intended.




Jehovah's Witnesses


Book Description

History and teachings of Jehovah's Witnesses organization.




Faces in the Crowd Around the Cross


Book Description

As we study the life of Jesus Christ there are many characters in his story that are often overlooked. As we strive to live faithful lives as believers, those who are important to Christ must become important to us.The people in society who are easily left out have always been important to Jesus. This book examines scenes in the lives of some of the individuals who were Faces in the Crowd around Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection.The aim of this book to help us realize how considering the perspective and witness of people who are often overlooked can help us arrive at a deeper and richer understanding of the life and Ministry of Jesus Christ.




The Big Crowd


Book Description

A dramatic novel of two Irish brothers--one a fallen political star accused of corruption and the other a young DA desperately trying to clear his name--set against the sweeping backdrop of midcentury New York's halls of power and the gangland of the docks.