Frank Carlson Library

The popular Patheos blogger wants to restore the cross as primarily a symbol of God's overwhelming love for us and to rescue Christians from the shame and guilt from seeing our situation as "sinners in the hands of an angry God," which was an invention of the medieval church and became enshrined as orthodox Christianity. Many Christians believe that God the Father demanded his only Son die a cruel, gruesome death to appease His wrath, since humanity...

Need inspiration to keep looking for love? Do you heed advice from famous people? Are there images that drive you to action, to be like the people in the pictures?Everything good in our world starts with that elusive spark of love. So why do we think it is so rare, so difficult to find?This book illustrates this miracle of attraction, explained by famous people who live in the public spotlight. They comment on their love lives in concise talk, touching...

"Leap years are a strange, enchanted time. And for some, even a single February can be life-changing. Ricki Wilde has many talents, but being a Wilde isn't one of them. As the impulsive, artistic daughter of a powerful Atlanta dynasty, she's the opposite of her famous socialite sisters. Where they're long-stemmed roses, she's a dandelion: an adorable bloom that's actually a weed, born to float wherever the wind blows. In her bones, Ricki knows that...

"Every family is complicated, and the Benedettos are no exception. A few years after a reality show skyrocketed them to pop culture notoriety, the five twenty-something sisters are living in their parent's crumbling McMansion, semi-famous and almost broke. The family's teetering towards rock bottom when Charlie Bingley, star of Captain Fantastic, moves into the neighborhood with his insufferable friend Will Darcy in tow. Charlie immediately falls...

Reba Farrall was lost until a kindly old gentleman took her under his wing and helped heal her shattered spirit. Now her dearest friend is gone, leaving her with a doubting, broken heart and half-interest in a California gem mine. But Chance Walker has burst into Reba's life--a daring adventurer who believes in nothing except the priceless uncut stones for which he searches the Earth. In the blistering heat of Death Valley--in the intoxicating presence...

"This is a tale of murder. Or maybe that’s not quite true. At its heart, it’s a love story, isn’t it? Lana Farrar is a reclusive ex–movie star and one of the most famous women in the world. Every year, she invites her closest friends to escape the English weather and spend Easter on her idyllic private Greek island. I tell you this because you may think you know this story. You probably read about it at the time ―...

The fourth novel in the internationally bestselling Before the Coffee Gets Cold Series. The regulars at the magical Cafe Funiculi Funicula are well acquainted with its famous legend and extraordinary time-travel offer. Many patrons have reunited with old flames, made amends with estranged family and visited loved ones. But the journey is not without risks, and there are rules to follow. In the tradition of Toshikazu Kawaguchi's sensational Before...

"After a chance encounter, Penny and Sam become each other's emergency contacts and find themselves falling in love digitally, without the humiliating weirdness of having to see each other"-- When Penny Lee heads to college in Austin, Texas, to learn how to become a writer, it's seventy-nine miles and a zillion light years away from everything she can't wait to leave behind. Sam is stuck, literally, figuratively, emotionally, financially. He works...

"Aurora De La Torre, or Ora to her friends, knows moving back to Pagosa Springs, Colorado, a place that was once home and is now full of bittersweet memories of her late mother, isn't going to be easy. But after breaking up with her longtime, famous musician boyfriend, hiding out in a small town in the mountains might be the perfect remedy for a broken heart. And checking out her landlord who lives across the driveway might cure it, too. Only Tobias...