Through poems, stories and prayers the author describes the thoughts, feelings, questions, and dreams of those who gathered around that manger of long ago, as well as the faces that have been there since. Original.

From the author of Faces at the Manger comes another delightful collection of prose and poetry. In J. Barrie Shepherd's book, Faces at the Cross, the visages are of persons in Jerusalem during Holy Week and at the scene of the Crucifixion. As you meet Mary, Peter, Pontius Pilate, Simon of Cyrene, and others, their dramatic sketches will engage you as they tell of their encounters with Jesus. In addition to monologues, Faces at the Cross is brimming with readings appropriate for congregational or family worship. It provides monologues and poetic verse for Lent and Easter.

From the author of Faces at the Manger comes another delightful collection of prose and poetry. In J. Barrie Shepherd's book, Faces at the Cross, the visages are of persons in Jerusalem during Holy Week and at the scene of the Crucifixion. As you meet Mary, Peter, Pontius Pilate, Simon of Cyrene, and others, their dramatic sketches will engage you as they tell of their encounters with Jesus. In addition to monologues, Faces at the Cross is brimming with readings appropriate for congregational or family worship. It provides monologues and poetic verse for Lent and Easter.

Travel through the alphabet with this beautiful rhyming storybook that tells the story of Jesus' birth. Begin with the angel who tells Mary that she is God's chosen vessel and follow along until you reach the zillions of stars that paled in comparison to the star that announced the birthplace of the newborn King. Beautifully illustrated and written, this book will be a classic for parents to read to their children every Christmas season. --Publisher

Mothering is messy. Our joy and hope in raising children doesn’t change the reality that being a mom can be frustrating, stressful, and tiring. But just as God is using us to shape our children, God is using our children and motherhood to shape us. In The Better Mom, author Ruth Schwenk, herself a mother of four children, encourages us with the good news that there is more to being a mom than the extremes of striving for perfection or simply embracing the mess. We don’t need to settle for surviving our kids’ childhood. We can grow through it. With refreshing and heartfelt honesty Ruth emboldens moms to: Find freedom and walk confidently in purpose Create a God-honoring home environment Overcome unhealthy and destructive emotions such as anger, anxiety, and more Avoid glorifying the mess of mom-ing or idolizing perfection Cultivate life-giving friendships At the heart of The Better Mom is the message that Jesus calls us to live not a weary life, but a worthy life. We don’t have to settle for either being apathetic or struggling to be perfect. Both visions of motherhood go too far. Ruth offers a better option. She says, “It’s okay to come as we are, but what we’re called to do and be is far too important to stay there! The way to becoming a better mom starts not with what we are doing, but with who God is inviting us to become."

“Electrifying…sparkles with Manger’s song and poetry, and is brilliantly layered with literary and folkloric references.” — Tablet “There is something joyous about Manger’s playful language.” — The Jewish Chronicle The raucously witty Yiddish classic about a Jewish Paradise afflicted by very human temptations and pains — a delightful new translation perfect for fans of Michael Chabon Witty, playful and slyly profound, this story of a young angel expelled from Paradise is the only novel by one of the great Yiddish writers, which was written just before the outbreak of World War II. As a result of a crafty trick, the expelled angel retains the memory of his previous life when he’s born as a Yiddish-fluent baby mortal on Earth. The humans around him plead for details of that other realm, but the Paradise of his mischievous stories is far from their expectations: a world of drunken angels, lewd patriarchs and the very same divisions and temptations that shape the human world. Published here in a lively new translation by Robert Adler Peckerar, The Book of Paradise is a comic masterpiece from poet-satirist Itzik Manger that irreverently blurs the boundaries between ancient and modern and sacred and profane, where the shtetl is heaven, and heaven is the shtetl.

Profiles Jesus Christ as the human face of God, taking into the account the multiple ways his life has been viewed and retold, and dramatizing the transformation from a man to a myth.