Criminals in the House of God. Criminals are commonly found in police cells, in the prisons, in courts, in the streets or generally in dark and unholy places. But you may be surprised to know that there are actually criminals in the house of God. The state of the church these days is very lamentable. God is going to clean His house and any unprofitable tree shall be uprooted. A certain pastor had his congregation weighed on the scale by an angel of God. Out of 2,900 people in the church only 80 were ready for heaven. It will be very sad if the trumpet sounds!

Growing up the son of agnostics, John Koessler saw a Catholic church on one end of the street and a Baptist on the other. In the no-man’s land between the two, this curious outside wondered about the God they worshipped—and began a lifelong search to comprehend the grace and mystery of God. A Stranger in the House of God addresses fundamental questions and struggles faced by spiritual seekers and mature believers. Like a contemporary Pilgrim’s Progress, it traces the author’s journey and explores his experiences with both charismatic and evangelical Christianity. It also describes his transformation from religious outsider to ordained pastor. John Koessler provides a poignant and often humorous window into the interior of the soul as he describes his journey from doubt and struggle with the church to personal faith

Sometimes, we make the Bible too tidy for junior high-age students. This book aims to show how God works in the ugly, messy world. Through each criminal that is described, readers are pointed to Christ and the salvation found through Him.

God-Fearing Criminals is the story of a family living in Dawson County, Georgia at the turn of the century; it centers on the youngest child, Ben. From Ben's birth, a difficult breach delivery, he lived an idyllic boyhood. When Ben's best friend Wesley, marries, Ben meets and falls in love with the maid of honor, a vivacious beauty named Martha. The story of their courtship and ultimate marriage follows. With the onset of the Depression and the resulting hardships, Ben and Wesley become involved in the moonshine business, joining Zeke and Luke who are skilled distillery operators. After a raid on Ben and Wesley's distillery, the Federal Government brings a conspiracy case against them, a messy business to be sure. Throughout all of the challenges and hardships, at the center of their lives is the Church, along with the weddings, births, and deaths that are an important part of everyday life. At the heart of God-Fearing Criminals is the story of family life in rural Georgia, the happiness and sadness that community and the times bring to their lives.

From the Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times journalist: a pathbreaking examination of our huge crime and incarceration problem that looks at the influence of the family--specifically one Oregon family with a generations-long legacy of lawlessness. The United States currently holds the distinction of housing nearly one-quarter of the world's prison population. But our reliance on mass incarceration, Fox Butterfield argues, misses the intractable reality: As few as 5 percent of families account for half of all crime, and only 10 percent account for two-thirds. In introducing us to the Bogle family, the author invites us to understand crime in this eye-opening new light. He chronicles the malignant legacy of criminality passed from parents to children, grandchildren, and even great-grandchildren. Examining the long history of the Bogles, a white family, Butterfield offers a revelatory look at criminality that forces us to disentangle race from our ideas about crime and, in doing so, strikes at the heart of our deepest stereotypes. And he makes clear how these new insights are leading to fundamentally different efforts at reform. With his empathic insight and profound knowledge of criminology, Butterfield offers us both the indelible tale of one family's transgressions and tribulations, and an entirely new way to understand crime in America.

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • From the author of Into the Wild and Into Thin Air, this extraordinary work of investigative journalism takes readers inside America’s isolated Mormon Fundamentalist communities. • Now an acclaimed FX limited series streaming on HULU. “Fantastic.... Right up there with In Cold Blood and The Executioner’s Song.” —San Francisco Chronicle Defying both civil authorities and the Mormon establishment in Salt Lake City, the renegade leaders of these Taliban-like theocracies are zealots who answer only to God; some 40,000 people still practice polygamy in these communities. At the core of Krakauer’s book are brothers Ron and Dan Lafferty, who insist they received a commandment from God to kill a blameless woman and her baby girl. Beginning with a meticulously researched account of this appalling double murder, Krakauer constructs a multi-layered, bone-chilling narrative of messianic delusion, polygamy, savage violence, and unyielding faith. Along the way he uncovers a shadowy offshoot of America’s fastest growing religion, and raises provocative questions about the nature of religious belief.

The story of Pamela Perillo combines true-crime reporting with a moving spiritual memoir, proving that every life is meaningful and every individual can make a positive impact on the world.