God’s Smuggler – Book Review

Would I have the faith to trust God to provide for ALL my needs? If I’m being honest, I doubt I could do it. Yet in God’s Smuggler, God repeatedly answered Brother Andrew’s faithful prayers as the missionary smuggled Bibles to believers behind the Iron Curtain and throughout the Middle East, China, and Korea. God’s guidance was miraculous. “Suppose on the other hand that I were to discover God to be a Person, in the sense that He communicated and cared and loved and led. That was something quite different. That was the kind of King I would follow into any battle.”—Brother Andrew, God’s Smuggler. Millions around the world have […]

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My Favorite Book of January 2022

Amanda Dykes knocked it out of the park with Whose Waves These Are. The story is so beautiful it changed me. It inspired me. It made me weep. Her book made me feel warm inside and her words were medicine for my weary soul. I could feel God in them. And her writing is gorgeous; lyrical and sweeping. I like to highlight passages when I read for later reflection, but if I did that with this book, my eBook would have been more yellow than not. Don’t even get me started on her characterization. I fell in love with the people and their way of life. I envied their sense […]

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And Winner Is…. Mary James!

  I have the coolest job. For the last 15+ years I’ve been working at home (long before it was a thing) writing books with and for the noteworthy and notorious… from former terrorists, to music stars, to CIA operatives, to convicted felons. Through my writing career, I have had the privilege of sharing the stories of some amazing people who offer encouragement and inspiration as we navigate the roads of this crazy world. I’m thrilled to announce my latest collaboration. Together, recording artist Mary James and I will write her prescriptive memoir and accompanying Bible study. Mary is a 6-time Inspirational Country Music Female Vocalist of the Year, speaker, […]

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Still in the Miracle Business

In 2006 I interviewed Tricia and Melissa Brock, the sister team behind the Christian pop band, Superchic[k] for my book, God Unplugged. I was astonished by the way God showed up in their young lives. Melissa One day, my mom and I were driving to my grandpa’s house to celebrate his birthday. She needed to stop at her seamstress’ house on the way. When we arrived, my mom parked the car in the driveway that was at an upward incline. She said she’d be just a second and told me to sit there and wait. Well, being four years old, I didn’t “just wait.” I decided to mess with things in […]

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Thank You Note From Charlie Daniels

I had the privilege of interviewing country music legend, Charlie Daniels, for my first book, How Do You Know He’s Real? He was so sweet and humble that I felt like I’d known him all my life. Even though we aren’t related by blood, Charlie and I are still in the same family, the family of God, and I can rightfully call him my brother. During our interview, Charlie shared some powerful insight into his faith: One of the hardest things for people to understand about the gospel message is that it is so simple; it’s not the very complicated thing we tend to try and make it. There is nothing you […]

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FREE Kindle Copy of “Facing the Dragon!”

Nope, I’m not kidding. the Kindle version of Facing the Dragon: How a Desperate Act Pulled One Addict out of Methamphetamine Hell is FREE from May 28 – June 3. (If you don’t have a Kindle, you can still take advantage of this offer. There is a free Kindle app available for smartphones, tablets, and PCs.)   In Facing the Dragon, you will witness the slow, agonizing metamorphosis of a good-looking high-school athlete into a violent, drug-dealing, psychotic wife-beater whose children were terrified of him. After more than twenty-three years addicted to methamphetamine and other drugs, David Parnell put an SKS assault rifle under his chin and pulled the trigger. The […]

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STANDING TALL: How WNBA Player Ruth Riley Copes with Championship Stress

  Sunday night I watched in awe as the Minnesota Lynx pounded the Atlanta Dream 84-59 in game one of the 2013 WNBA Championship. These amazingly talented athletes made the game look so effortless and fluid. Me, I’d be lucky to make a basket granny style on a Fischer-Price I Can Play Basketball. I am rather petite… well… short, really. I name it and claim it.  The vertically challenged gene is a powerful part of my DNA and part of my identity. Of course, I knew early on that I would never play hoops or volleyball competitively without humiliating myself, so it may come as a surprise that I am […]

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SILENCE IS GOLDEN

For an overachieving, working mother with a “Type A” personality and a tendency toward anxiety, the concept of being still is rather foreign … and a little frightening.  Like so many Christians, I can be silent and listen to God for oh, about 15 seconds, before the noise of my over-stimulated mind breaks in.  So imagine putting me in a place for 36 hours where true silence and isolation are observed?  Then consider that this bona fide city girl would have no electricity or indoor plumbing and you’ll get an idea of how daunting the whole concept was for me. But that’s exactly where God led me.  Finding myself at […]

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A CAREER IS LAUNCHED!

Back in 2005, my daughter invited her friend, Justin, to join her at youth group.  Surprisingly, he looked her square in the face and said, “How do you even know He’s real?” She had no idea how to respond to that question, and to be honest, neither did I. It haunted me. That is the universal question isn’t it?  How do we know Christ is real? To many people, Jesus is just a legend, a wise and kind man, a prophet. I wondered, what would convince people like Justin that following Jesus is worth a try? I embarked on a journey to prove that Christ is real. In a moment […]

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