Pastor Susie M. Elliott is the senior pastor of Mt. Paran Baptist Church in Brooklyn, New York. Through her leadership, Mt. Paran has established innovative programs that minister to the spiritual and social needs of our parishioners and members of the surrounding community. She is guided by Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (KJV). Pastor Susie holds a B.S. from Shaw University in Home Economics and Science and a Master’s degree in Guidance and Counseling from Brooklyn College. Pastor Susie has also studied at the New York Theological Seminary. She has certification from the state of New York in Guidance and Counseling. She is a retired Counselor after having spent more than 25 years in the New York public school system. As a Counselor, she dared to make a difference in the lives of the students with whom she came in contact. She was “guilty” of having gone the extra mile for her students. Pastor Susie has given workshops on topics such as: “Managing Stress Before It Manages You,” “Spiritual Maturity,” “Self Esteem and Personal Growth,” and “Effective Communication For Couples.” She is the president of the Brooklyn Council of Churches, the Founder of the Mother/Daughters of Zion and the Founding Mother of Refreshing Springs Ministries International. Pastor Susie was married to the late Bishop John B. Elliott for 51 years. She is the mother of five children, the grandmother of eight grandchildren, and great grandmother of 10 great grandchildren.

“Offers hope to anyone that struggles with being ‘good enough’ for God” (Julie Zine Coleman, author of Unexpected Love). Perhaps you’ve experienced a defining moment, one that explains who you are today. God had a defining moment. His Son died on the cross for our sins, changing history and his relationship with mankind. Still, His forgiveness, love, and sacrifice are concepts unfamiliar to much of the world. Ignorant of such grace, society bombards us with the daily temptation to measure up or perform. When we fail to achieve the desired results, we struggle to feel God’s grace. This is especially true when life hits us hard through tragedy, unfortunate events, and prolonged suffering—we question; we wonder; we misunderstand His amazing grace. This can cause us to battle shame, self-doubt, and bitterness. When dark times come, are you able to find strength in God’s grace? Do you defeat insecurity, lack of self-worth, and guilt through your view of grace? Have you seen your Lord’s footprints in the sand when you look back at the most difficult times in your life? Do your struggles and disappointments bring you to a deeper understanding of His grace? In this book, Erica S. Kim starts with a defining moment in her personal life—the tragic death of her mother—to describe her journey to rediscover God’s grace. Through poignant true-life stories and teachings about women in the Bible, you will be led from the book of Genesis to the cross to see without a doubt how God has carried each one of us in His arms through every dark and hopeless moment, to help you to experience fulfillment and spiritual growth.

Key features include: Printed Scripture Verse-by-verse explanation of the Bible text Detailed lesson background Pronunciation guide for difficult words Discussion starters A review quiz for each quarter The SLC, available in the King James Version and New International Version Bible translations, is based on the popular Uniform Series, also called the International Sunday School Lessons (ISSL). This series, developed by scholars from numerous church fellowships, outlines an in-depth study of the Bible over a six-year period. The four main themes of the 2019-2020 study are: Responding to God’s Grace—Pentateuch, 1 Samuel, 1 Kings, Luke, Epistles Honoring God—1 Kings, 1 Chronicles, Matthew, Luke Justice and the Prophets—Esther, Prophets, 1 Corinthians Many Faces of Wisdom—Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Gospels, James SLC is perfect as the primary resource for an adult Sunday school class, personal study, or as a supplemental resource for any curriculum that follows the ISSL/Uniform Series. Nearly two dozen ministers, teachers, and Christian education specialists contribute their expertise to SLC, making it the most popular annual Bible commentary available.

Spanning more than 500 years, this illustrated book covers the rich history of Christianity in Latin America. The authors use an analytical framework as they describe the institutional religious history for the period covered in that chapter, providing the context to look at other concurrent though non-institutional developments within Christianity. Each section includes sources that look at the way Christianity manifested and continues to manifest itself in the life of Latin American society, including its women, its enslaved and indigenous populations, and the modern-day marginalized sectors.

Simple Trust From the first page it is evident that this is a devotional with a difference. Fifty readable, pithy, and honest devotions draw from Carol’s global experience and her textured life that speak forthrightly about challenging and difficult situations. Having lived on four continents, raised a family, helped lead organizations, and faced some very traumatic events, Carol has the credentials to address life issues with authenticity and raw honesty. Carol’s writing is colorful and descriptive and draws the reader into the story in an engaging way. Biblical reflections provide great insights to the scriptural narrative. Not only will this devotional book inform but it will inspire and it will confront the reader in order to make decisions that will enrich and transform their lives. Deliberately written in a forthright way this book unapologetically calls its readers to courageous life choices through simple trust.

For more than half a century, James D. Hart's The Oxford Companion to American Literature has been an unparalleled guide to America's literary culture, providing one of the finest resources to this country's rich history of great writers. Now this acclaimed work has been completely revised and updated to reflect current developments in the world of American letters.For the sixth edition, editors James D. Hart and Phillip Leininger have updated the Companion in light of what has happened in American literature since 1982. To this end, they have revised the entries on such established authors as Saul Bellow, Norman Mailer, and Joyce Carol Oates, and they have added more than 180 new entries on novelists (T. Coraghessan Boyle, Tim O'Brien, Louise Erdrich, Don De Lillo), poets (Rita Dove, Weldon Kees), playwrights (Wendy Wasserstein, August Wilson), popular writers (Stephen King, Louis L'Amour), historians (James M. McPherson, David Herbert Donald, William Manchester), naturalists (Aldo Leopold, Edward Abbey), and literary critics (Camille Paglia, Richard Ellmann). In addition, the Companion boasts more women's, African-American, and ethnic voices, with new entries on such luminaries as Charlotte Perkins Gilman, M.F.K. Fisher, William Least Heat-Moon, Ursula Le Guin, and Oscar Hijuelos, among many others.These additions represent only some of the revisions for the new edition. Of course, the basic qualities of the Companion that readers have grown to know and love over the years are as superb as ever. With over 5,000 total entries, The Oxford Companion to American Literature reflects a dynamic balance between past and contemporary literature, surveying virtually every aspect of our national literature, from the Pulitzer Prize to pulp fiction, and from Walt Whitman to William F. Buckley, Jr. There are over 2,000 biographical profiles of important American authors (with information regarding their styles, subjects, and major works) and influential foreign writers as well as other figures who have been important in the nation's social and cultural history. There are more than 1,100 full summaries of important American novels, stories, essays, poems (with verse form noted), plays, biographies and autobiographies, tracts, narratives, and histories. The new edition provides historical background and astute commentary on literary schools and movements, literary awards, magazines, newspapers, and a wide variety of other matters directly related to writing in America. Finally, the book is thoroughly cross-referenced and features an extensive and fully updated index of literary and social history.Ranging from Captain John Smith to John Updike, and from Anne Bradstreet to Anne Rice, the sixth edition of The Oxford Companion to American Literature is up to date, accurate, and comprehensive, a delight for both the casual browser and the serious student.