Do you wonder how God is present in your ordinary, everyday life? Joe Pennel has a gift for recognizing God at work in life's events, both large and small. He tells how, when, and where he has encountered God's grace. His down-to-earth, insightful reflections make you aware of how God surrounds us with hope and love. Step away from the busyness of life, pull up a chair, and listen to this winsome, folksy storyteller weave his simple tales about being fully alive to the mystery and wonder all around us. Pennel's stories are organized by themes, which include: Belief Christian Living Fear Forgiveness Grace Life Lessons Love and more This book's message of God's love and hope is profound and encouraging, and it will inspire you.

This fresh interpretation explains how an untutored musician changed music while at the same time playing an inadvertent role in the youth rebellion that has shaped the Baby Boomer generation into the 21st century. Elvis Aaron Presley was born in a two-room house in Tupelo, MS, on January 8, 1935. He died at his Memphis home, Graceland, on August 16, 1977. In those 42 years, Elvis made an indelible impression on pop culture the world over. Elvis Presley, Reluctant Rebel: His Life and Our Times probes both the man and his influence, delving deeply into the personality of its protagonist, his needs and motivations, and the social and musical forces that shaped his career. Elvis's musical talents and liabilities are explored, as are his records, films, and live performances and his relationship with his manager, Colonel Tom Parker, whom he allowed to manipulate him as a money-making machine. Readers will learn about Elvis's personal life, his devotion to conventional religious and political beliefs, and his decline into self-destruction and death. Finally, the book explores Elvis's impact on the musical and racial revolutions of the 1950s and 1960s, his legacy, and his importance in shaping a generation of Baby Boomers.

"This is one of the most abnormal books of all time, and also one of the best... No home is complete without this magnificent book." Dan Rhodes Join the King of Rock and Roll as he wreaks crazy havoc with the Memphis Mafia, murders huge numbers of groupies, destroys televisions, sabotages Led Zeppelin gigs with great big bags of pigs' blood and somehow also breaks your heart. The best book you have never read - but really must. Praise for my Elvis Blackout: "Like an episode of South Park, where just as you get into the story something goes splat, Crump's contorted imagination is alarmingly enjoyable." The Guardian "If I was born with a name like Simon Crump, I would spend the rest of my life trying to get all that anger and resentment out of me by being very rude about other people. It doesn't bother me in the slightest. Sticks and stones can break my bones, but words can never hurt me. Or something like that. No, I wouldn't even give this a passing thought. When you are a famous person, you are there; you are up for grabs for people to have a go at. I know there are comedians who make fun of me. But, you know, I look at my beautiful family, I look at the house I live in and I look at my fans all over the world, and I look at my career and I think, well it's all based on jealousy and envy and really I don't give a toss." Chris De Burgh This ebook edition comes with a brand new introduction by Jon McGregor and a postscript by the author. It also contains the complete text of one of the best book's written in the past twenty years. First published in 2000, but shamefully overlooked ever since, My Elvis Blackout is a work of genius. Of particularly twisted and unsettling genius, but genius all the same. A book so strange, sick and strange again that you'll often wonder what on earth you're reading. But as you wonder, you'll also marvel. In these 37 short stories, the King of Rock and Roll - "hero and model to teenagers the world over" - joins a choir in order to torture and murder Christians, labours under the delusion that he's a major rock-star (when really he's just an inmate in an asylum who's afraid of potatoes), and kills both Barbara Cartland and Chris De Burgh. And then he does some bad things too. Needless to say, it's very funny - but My Elvis Blackout is more than just a laugh riot. This acerbic take on the cult of Elvis' personality tells plenty of uncomfortable truths about our relationship with celebrity, while Simon Crump writes with astonishing force and power about mortality, human cruelty and the horrors that man inflicts upon his fellow man. It's daft. But it's also profound. And don't think that this is disrespectful to the King, either. Elvis remains a strangely sympathetic (albeit psychotic) character throughout. It's one of the best tributes to his unique genius you can hope to read. Just don't buy it if you're a Chris De Burgh fan...

Behind the glamour and the crowds. Beyond the movies and the records. Apart from all who knew him, wanted to know him, or just wanted to be near him. Billy Stanley knew Elvis Presley as a brother—and as a man of deep faith. From the day Billy Stanley arrived at Graceland and received a bear hug from the King of Rock and Roll to the last conversation they ever had, one thing stayed the same: Elvis’s passion for sharing God’s love with as many people he could. In The Faith of Elvis,Billy illuminates Elvis’s Christian journey—from the notes Elvis made in his beloved Bible to his struggles with sin as his fame increased to his remarkable generosity toward fans and movie stars alike. Through this first-hand account, you will find touching family stories of the Elvis that pop culture doesn’t know; a keen look into how Elvis intricately wove his faith into every part of his life; insights into the ups-and-downs the four brothers experienced while at home and on the road together; and examples of Elvis’s profound influence on others—from those closest to him to his cherished fans and, ultimately, the world at large. Here you will find your own faith strengthened and your heart turned more toward heaven—or as Elvis would say, toward the only true King. Includes a photo insert and discussion and reflection questions for group or individual use.

Feeling trapped in a lineage of hard-working laborers a displaced young womans buoyancy and the hard teaching from her adopted mother causes her to dare to dream of an enriched lifestyle. Ultimately, the one thing that brought her solace during her most challenging life experiences becomes the catalyst to help fulfill her destiny.