From Animal Sacrifices to Kings: How Mediators in the Bible Point to Final Redemption Through JesusHow can immoral people approach a holy and just God? Humanity's only hope of overcoming the barrier of sin is through Jesus, the "one mediator between God and men" (1 Timothy 2:5). This theme of mediation is at the core of the Old Testament. From animal sacrifices and altars to prophets, kings, and priests, each symbol conveys the authority, power, and presence of God...

An all-out drug war explodes in 1970s Detroit when a young Vietnam veteran decides to rip off heroin kingpin Willis McDaniel. In the chaos, rival outfits, the Mafia, and even junkies themselves try to step in to fill the void while one lone assassin tries to hunt them all down—and one determined cop tries to stop it all.Vern E. Smith formerly served as the Atlanta Bureau chief and as a national correspondent for Newsweek. As a principal reporter with Newsweek's Special Projects Uni...

Journey to the Center of the Earth is a science fiction novel by Jules Verne. The story involves German professor Otto Lidenbrock who believes there are volcanic tubes going toward the centre of the Earth. He, his nephew Axel, and their guide Hans descend into the Icelandic volcano Snæfellsjökull, encountering many adventures, including prehistoric animals and natural hazards, before eventually coming to the surface again in southern Italy, at the Stromboli volcano. The genre of subterrane...

After I finished High School in 1972, I decided to take a gap year and went for a quick backpack trip to New Zealland. Four years later I returned home to Canada with thousands of slides and many more memories. I spent two years in the Ausralian Outback, mostly in western Australia and Queensland. Motorcycle adventure became part of my life. I left Australia and headed up to Southeast Asia visiting Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Laos. I then spent some time in Burma before heading into ...

France, 1917. Four wounded Canadian soldiers recover in a field hospital in the wake of the battle for Vimy Ridge, waiting to find out where they’ll be sent next: back home or back to the front. Along with a young nurse from Nova Scotia, they share their stories, reasons for fighting, and treasured memories. In Vimy, Governor General’s Literary Award–winner Vern Thiessen brings us a classic play that is not about war, but a reflection of the everyday lives of soldiers—their hopes and their...

Our use of everyday language should be mysterious, but familiarity hides the feeling of mystery. This book is a brief meditation on that mysterious activity. Building language outward from descriptions of the present moment, the meditation moves through our talk about space and time, to the realm of everyday thinking and science. But language enriches us further--through communities of meaning (morality, art, mysticism) to transcendence (the universe, God, and self). This meditation repeat...

An in-depth study of the world's only aikido instructor turned movie star/director/writer/blues guitarist/energy drink inventor, the ass-kicking auteur Steven Seagal. The hilarious "instant cult classic", hailed by the New York Post, Entertainment Weekly and even Time magazine, is back, updated and extended with 10 new chapters! Brand new material includes Vern's hilarious deconstruction of Seagal's appearance in the Robert Rodriguez movie Machete, and coverage of Seagal's own hit reality ...

An Apostolic Vision for Reaching the NationsThis book is a compelling biography of Donald A. McGavran, the founder of the Church Growth Movement. Drawing from primary sources and personal interviews, Middleton presents a deeply researched account of McGavran’s formative years, missionary service in India, and the development of his missiological insights. Born to missionary parents in India, McGavran’s early experiences shaped his lifelong passion for evangelism an...

This in-depth study of two black neighborhoods in the wake of Hurricane Katrina vividly captures the struggle and uncertainty in the process of rebuilding.Hurricane Katrina was the worst urban flood in American history, a disaster that destroyed nearly the entire physical landscape of a city, as well as the mental and emotional maps that people use to navigate their everyday lives. Left to Chance takes us into two African American neighborhoods—working-cla...

With the hilarious "instant cult classic" Seagalogy: A Study of the Ass-Kicking Films of Steven Seagal, Vern wrote a book that shook the very foundations of film criticism (then broke their wrists and threw them through a window). Now he's back, and this time he's got all 'the films of badass cinema' in his sights... Discover how one review earned Vern a wrestling challenge from the film's director; and how his explosive essay on the PG-13 rating of the fourth Die Hard movie prompted a cer...

Reviews“random and unique….an analysis of human existence and everyday living” – Rated 5 stars by Readers’ FavoriteBook“An engaging work of fiction that appeals to readers of all ages by offering a unique perspective on life and the human experience, as seen through the eyes of a curious and introspective middling cat."Following the delightful, illustrated book collection “Haee and the Other Middlings”, R.S. Vern co...

Set 80 years apart, Dystopian Manila is a trilogy of short stories about people during a society's collapse in the past, present, and future setting.Dystopian Manila: Past — Survivors of Nothingness, written in reverse chronology, is a story about friendship set in a post-war Manila and Nueva Vizcaya.Dystopian Manila: Present — A Eulogy for a Happy Ending tells a story of an impoverished family through the eyes of a six-year-old girl.Dystopian Manila: Future — The E...