Books published by eLectio Publishing

In 1901, a group of incensed locals lynched a family in Lookout, California.Corrie, a child witness to the crime, lives in shame for not speaking up that night to protect her young friend, Martin. Unwanted, Corrie must make her way from Lookout to the Nevada desert town of Denio. Afraid of further rejection, she finds more kinship with the desert than with people. Words find Corrie across the expanse. Are they memories of her father, whispers of young love, or do they hold the power of life, forgiveness, and hope?

DIFFERENT . . . YET EXTRAORDINARY.What if the one person you loved more than anyone in the world wasn’t who you thought he was? What if he was someone different? Different yet extraordinary.Kate Kirby has been best friends with Ben for as long as she could remember. He was her beloved companion through childhood, and he was her rock and her strength during adulthood. When she faced tragedy, he comforted her. When she lost her way, he guided her home. Even when she pushed him away, he was never far. Through the ups and downs Kate always knew she could count on him. But what she didn’t know was that there was much more to Ben than what met the eye. Although ordinary by outward appearances and worldly standards, inwardly there was something indescribable about Ben. Something otherworldly. Would Kate ever realize the truth about her best friend? The truth that was staring her right between the eyes, yet she was blind to see.Journey with Kate as she experiences life and faith with a guardian quite literally by her side, and in the process embark upon your own journey of faith that will simultaneously comfort and challenge you.

QUESTION REALITYWhen a reality TV scout “discovers” Walter in a diner near the hospice where his father has been placed, his life has reached a low point. His father is dying, his college teaching career is under threat, and his life is adrift. The scout wants him for a reality show about religion. In a more self-assured period of his life, Walter would have rejected her questionable offer outright, but now he wavers and allows himself to be drawn in. Maybe this is the jolt of energy his life needs. Maybe, if the show succeeds, his university will be so impressed that they’ll finally treat him with respect. Maybe the show will even be what the producers promise it will be, a serious inquiry into faith. Maybe he’ll become famous.The show brings Walter attention, but for all the wrong reasons. He is misquoted, misinterpreted, misunderstood, and then shot after he has been dragged across the country in an increasingly frustrating and absurd series of challenges. Will his career and reputation survive the public protests? Will his marriage survive the hints of affairs on the road? Will any kind of “reality” emerge to restore his self-respect?

There are many who use Jesus as an excuse for multiple contradictory beliefs and actions. How do we decide who is right, and who is wrong? How do we discern if our approaches to Jesus and his Church are reflective of his living and teaching regarding the Gospel and the Kingdom of God? Whose interpretation of Holy Scripture is the correct one?For many Americans, personal feelings, perceived needs, and religious experiences are the new authorities that trump all others…past or present. Neither the Holy Scriptures nor the Historic Christian Church (who gathered the Scriptures from the Apostles) have been completely cast aside, but both have largely become “suggestive” sources that carry little real weight. In the end, most Protestant groups (Conservative and Liberal alike) continually give themselves over to authorities that promise visible, measurable, and comfortable options in regard to a particular brand of Jesus and his ways. Of course, God is on their team’s side, so victory and success are assured.The suggestion of this book is that the above approach to church (of any particular team) only brings a fleeting happiness and a buyer’s remorse. Only the real Jesus can give real life, love, joy, and hope. His vehicle for redemption and transformation is the fallible, holy, messy, and faithful Church of Jesus Christ. But it is HIS church. He is the Lord, and only he decides what faithfulness is or is not.Is it Jesus that we truly want?

"Today is the day to consider confident hope as an option in the struggles of life instead of it becoming a residual outcome of despair."Are you now or have you ever been in a painful season of life that you thought would never end? Have you ever felt as if no one were listening in the darkest hours of your life? Pain in life will either become, by default, an obstacle course of survival or, by intention, an opportunity to learn critical lessons that positively impact your life's journey. Holy Crap: Finding God's Presence in your Pain is about mistakes made and lessons learned. It will lift you from despair in depression to hope in redemption. Through the author's horrific and shocking yet wonderful and life-changing journey, you will find valuable lessons to reignite passion and vision for your life.

WARNING:ADVENTUROUS READERS ONLY!In January 2013, author Jesse S. Greever introduced the world to Zephyr Hopkins, a character so fundamentally flawed that readers’ reactions to him were visceral.Pity. Hate. Fury. Outrage. Compassion.But what if the story was only a small part of a larger tale? What if everything readers thought about Zephyr was based on an incomplete rendering of his character?What if everyone was wrong about Zephyr Hopkins?In his new novel, Greever presents a newly updated and revised version of The Perdition of Zephyr Hopkins (the novella that started it all), and then smashes every expectation with twists and turns so dramatic, readers might need extra-strength Dramamine.One thing is for certain: when it comes to understanding Zephyr Hopkins . . .IT’S COMPLICATED.

"Stephanie Cassatly's redemptive memoir is a great gift to humanity."-Marina Catacuzino,Founder of The Forgiveness ProjectWhen Stephanie Cassatly was eighteen years old, her mother was shot and killed in a convenience store robbery in New Orleans, changing every preconceived notion she had about the world and what it meant to feel safe. Twenty years later, she found her mother's killer and forgave him, just before he died in the notorious Angola State Penitentiary. It was then that she realized she had been as much of a prisoner as he had been.With searing honesty that will make readers' hearts both ache and sing, Notice of Release chronicles her traumatic and at times dangerous childhood as an expatriate in South America, her shift from grieving college student to high-powered ad-executive, and how she reconciled her deep connection to her own children with her fear of being taken prematurely from them. In this memoir, she proves that shedding the weight of the past can unlock a brave and beautiful future, and comes to see that finding and forgiving her mother's killer is ultimately a journey to find herself.

Culled from sixty blog posts spanning eight years, Tangles and Plaques is a candid account of a mother and daughter's changing relationship as they face the progressive landscape of Alzheimer's Disease together. As the twisted fibers (tangles) build up inside the nerve cells in her brain and the protein fragments (plaques) fill the spaces between those cells, Effie Johnson-like millions of others who suffer from Alzheimer's-loses her memory, the stories that make up the fabric of her life.Blending humor ("I Can't Find My Panties") with pathos ("Disappearing Stories") and hope with despair, Susan Johnson Cushman captures the personal within the universal in a story that reveals a complicated relationship between an often verbally abusive mother and a daughter hungry for her mother's unconditional love. Part Polaroid, part cautionary tale, the reality woven throughout these records of long-distance caregiving is that the tangles and plaques aren't only in our brains, but often in our relationships."Susan Cushman is not only an accomplished writer, but she tackles a brutal topic with candor and honesty. Madness awaits us all. I pray I can confront it with equal faith and vulnerability."Neil White, author of In the Sanctuary of Outcasts"Cushman has written a new kind of love story, one that speaks to the very real concerns of a generation. In this true story of a daughter's love for her aging mother within the daily trials of caregiving, we read ourselves, our families, and the ways that our losses shape who we become and how we choose to remember."Jessica Handler, author of Invisible Sisters: A Memoir and Braving the Fire: A Guide to Writing About Grief and Loss

FOREWORD BY BRYAN CHAPELL10,000 Miles With 10,000 Reasons: A Journey into the Heart of Africa is a gripping memoir of an American couple’s extraordinary journey to adopt three orphaned children from a remote African village. A single correspondence between a thirteen-year-old African girl and an American couple ignited a spark that changed their world. It is a moving and emotional story about one girl’s adoption that blossomed into a quest to also rescue twin boys, and then, an entire village. This compelling, dramatic narrative relates the many, maddening obstacles the Frantzes faced. Listen in as their faith is refined through a long and thorny adoption process that spans two continents. Their mission widens powerfully when the Frantzes were driven to also save an entire village from starvation. It is a captivating human story about the power of faith, hope, and undying resolve.  10,000 Miles With 10,000 Reasons is as much a story about the bond between a mother and daughter as it is about the lengths to which adoptive parents must go in their quest to bring their children home. This is a true story of a mother’s love that triumphs over insurmountable odds. You will laugh and cry as you relive Nancy’s riveting, emotional journey; you will also be challenged and, God-willing, you too will be called to action. 

Come back to the year 1967 andrelive the life of a Tennessee mountain woman: Sarah Douglas Blankenship.Genealogy and history buffs alike will find Sarah's Story enthralling. Sarah, born in 1898, overcomes incredible struggles and forms a special bond with her surroundings-most especially the mountains. Walk with Sarah through her pivotal life events as she experiences: living with a coal miner in a coal camp. her daughter working at Oak Ridge during WWII. her village nearly burning down. the grief and shock of her husband being sentenced to Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary for shooting a man.Sarah deals with the loneliness from the death of her husband and children, but shows readers how they can get up out of bed every day and see the beauty in everyday life.

Do modern Christians really know WHAT they believe and WHY they believe it?The mists of time and erroneous teaching have obscured the fact that we once knew the answers to the problems that now threaten to unravel our lives and our civilization. These traditional solutions are grounded upon a foundation of Judeo-Christian faith, values, ethics, and morality without which nothing else in Western civilization works as designed. The Beginning of Wisdom leads the reader to understand that Christianity is much more than a religion for Sundays and moments of crisis.Grounded in historical and biblical precedent, this book provides answers to many questions causing deep confusion in both the Christian faith and society in general. Written from a Christian worldview by an executive/attorney seasoned in the challenges of achieving success in a rapidly evolving culture, The Beginning of Wisdom is, in fact, a book about virtually everything that truly matters.

What does the Bible have to say about church health? In this new resource from John Marshall Crowe, clergy and lay leaders alike will discover: What are the characteristics of churches where Jesus is the head or not? How to disciple church leaders into a healthy team? Are the Great Commission and the Great Commandment connected to ministry for the mentally ill? How can biblical preaching promote church health?All types of churches and all kinds of pastors will find this a useful and inspiring book for individual or small group study. Helpful questions follow each chapter to assist in stimulating thoughtful discussion and meaningful action.

FOR TWO THOUSAND YEARS HIS NAME WAS UNKNOWN.HIS STORY WAS UNTOLD.When members of Rome's most despised religious minority are accused by Emperor Nero himself of starting the Great Fire, will any man have the courage to stand up for them?ONE MAN WILL.His name is Marcus Quintus Publius . . . a brilliant lawyer, a confidant of Emperors, a fearless soldier, and a man of integrity - a rare combination in the Roman Empire! His journeys have taken him from the windswept shores of Britain all the way to the Parthian capitol of Ecbatana, with many adventures along the way. He crosses paths with crooked governors, barbarian invaders, monstrous beasts, maniacal tyrants, and the apostles of the Empire's newest faith: Christianity. Hailed as imperator by his troops on the field and called "The Scourge of the Provinces" by corrupt politicians, he now faces his greatest challenge - defending Rome's Christians against a mad Emperor. He might finally earn the name given him by Paul of Tarsus - Theophilus, the "Lover of God" - but just how much would that stand cost him?

HOPE HURTS | HOPE HEALSBurdened by the shame of her past and by the pain in her body, hope for a better tomorrow is a heavy chain to wear for Lola, a nineteen-year-old survivor of years of trafficking and exploitation.Jaisen, a police officer, is drawn to Lola, both for the fire in her eyes and the hesitation in her step.For Deja, Jaisen's cousin, marriage to her fiancé is the greatest prize-a prize for which she would forsake all else.As the story unfolds, vivid flashbacks of lurid moments past, lurking former owners, long buried secrets, and the search for a murderer threaten each of their quests, testing their mettle and their faith.Could hope possibly flourish in the face of such painful obstacles? Is love truly a worthy pursuit, or a consolation prize for unwitting fools?Not Yet Beautiful, a debut novel set in the Northeast corridor, is grippingly raw in its portrayal of love, loss, and restoration.

When Allison Clark meets Jeremiah Tiddle, the last thing that she wants is a relationship. She makes her best effort, but is unable to avoid her attraction to him. He gives her a reason to believe a relationship can be good. And then he gives her his name.They have a storybook marriage, except for one tiny indiscretion, a mistake . . . kept secret and in the past.Of course, secrets can't be kept forever. When the unfaithfulness comes to light, how will the deceived react to the news? What will become of their seemingly perfect relationship?THERE IS A CONSEQUENCE FOR EVERY ACTION WE CHOOSE.

Jim McHenry, a widower, struggles to maintain his Nevada cattle ranch while he raises his two teenage kids. But the proliferation of federally protected wild mustangs roaming his pastureland threatens Jim's livelihood and future.Meanwhile, Laura Carter, a struggling Country Western singer, is fired from her Reno job for refusing to play footsie with local club owner, Billy Wilson, an old classmate of Jim's.When Jim's housekeeper suddenly quits, Laura, now desperate, applies for the job and gets it. It's a risky move since she knows nothing about housekeeping and even less about cooking, but soon the sparks fly between her and Jim. Then, enter Sybil Trent: Jim's one-time love interest, just divorced and back in town on the prowl for a new husband.Billy wants Jim's land. Sybil wants Jim back. Laura wants her career back. Jim's son wants to be a rodeo performer (against his father's wishes), and Jim's daughter will do anything to get Sybil out of the picture and Laura into Jim's arms once and for all.Will Jim finally understand that in order to truly have the things he wants, he must be willing to set them free?

When John begins shouting his sermons in the middle of crowded downtown sidewalks, his only goal is to collect enough money for some food and a place to sleep.. . . INSTEAD . . .. . . he finds himself on the path to faith, a path that may cost him more than he ever imagined.