Showing results by narrator "James Cheatham" in All Categories

Humanity fought and won its freedom by establishing a fragile peace with the two great powers-the Qash'vo'tar and the Zhal Confederation—by bringing them proof that their ancient enemy, the Val'ayash, survived the great war. But despite that, Earth is still a minor player in a wider galaxy, with only one advantage. Magic. Two years after Earth won its freedom, the tensions between the three star nations are rising. And United Terran Systems council knows that it is only a matter of time before the two great powers pressure humanity for the secrets of their magi-tech.

Some call it the most dangerous stagecoach in the West. But the hard-driving owners of the Frontier Overland Company will get you where you want to go—if you don't mind a detour through hell....

The Confederate States of America was born in defense of slavery. Between Fort Sumter to Appomattox, Confederates bought and sold thousands African American men, women, and children. These transactions in humanity made the internal slave trade a cornerstone of Confederate society, a bulwark of the Rebel economy, and a central part of the experience of the Civil War for all inhabiting the American South.

If no good deed goes unpunished, what will a lifetime of doing Uncle Sam's dirty work cost a person? Pain and Agony have hardly cemented their new partnership as "investigative problem solvers" when SISTER comes poking around and raising all kinds of hell. Accusations flying left and right, the dysfunctional duo are back at it. But can they solve a murder, a kidnapping, and a matter of national security, all in the space of one week? Murder, mayhem, and a societal meltdown are all in a day's work for our pair, but to top it off, they get hit in the room and board department.

Pain is a burned ex-mercenary. Agony is a burned ex-cop. Together, they might just find out. The only problem? They can't stand each other. Trust, it seems, doesn't come easily between a black-ops mercenary and an ex-police detective. What could make it worse for her? He doesn't like using guns. Will Pain and Agony be able to dodge the criminals trying to take them out and avoid killing each other in the process? Will the criminals be able to handle the two of them together?

When Agony is spirited to the middle of nowhere, things get dicey for them both. The dangers are not contained to the glittering city lights. Some old scores can never be forgotten. Our tenacious twosome did just fine by themselves before they ran into each other, but the world has changed, and they can't go back to the way things were before they met. They'll need more than their usual shoot first, ask questions later tactics to get through this in one piece, and reunite.

The dysfunctional duo might have finally gone too far. When a confrontation with dirty cops crosses the line, they find themselves wearing orange jumpsuits. Locked up with a bunch of criminals, some of whom they have a passing familiarity with. What could go wrong? When you go by the names Pain and Agony, a lot. Our pugnacious pair are trapped in the fight of their life. But there's more going on here than just jail yard politics.

Every kid needs horseplay! Roughhousing is an essential part of childhood development—but it is increasingly overshadowed by screens and structured activities. In Unplug and Play, a doctor and a child psychologist, both dads, introduce parents to the benefits of physical play for young children. Drawing from gymnastics, martial arts, ballet, team sports, and even animal behavior, the authors present fun full-contact activities for parents and children to enjoy together.

History is written by the victors, and the powerful rewrite the rules in their favor. These are simple facts that the dysfunctional have decided to accept, if not embrace. After all, what's the point of fighting something as fundamental as gravity? The end result is always a fall. When it comes to Pain and Agony, conforming is just not an option. Challenges to these age-old proverbs will be taken on as the powerful, shifting on top of the pile, seek to stamp out any nonconformity. There's nothing left for Pain and Agony to do but punch hard enough to bring it all down.

Some questions about the New Testament canon are far from settled, either in the academy or the church—to say nothing of misconceptions and confusion. This is a crucial topic, given the importance of the canon's formation for our understanding of early Christianity and the nature of the Christian faith itself. In Creating the Canon, Benjamin P. Laird explores misunderstood, disputed, and overlooked matters tied to the composition, collection, and authority of the New Testament canon.

After the recent revelation about Pain's former partner, the big guy's been AWOL in search of answers. Agony is not the type to mope about. She has kept the ship afloat, trusting that when Pain's found the answers, he needs he'll be back. When Pain does come back, he arrives only he can . . . in a maelstrom of gunfire, screams, and callouts to emergency services. Agony and Pain need to sort out the issues months of distance and time have created, and they need to do it quickly.

Pain and Agony are two madcap masters of mayhem, but even they need friends. What are friends for? Companionship, support, and a helping hand when your luck is down. But the cost of friendship becomes something altogether different during their latest escapade. If you aren't going to help when things get rough, then what are you but a traitor? When longtime allies are at odds, and enemies new and old close in, the answer has lethal consequences.

Biblical prophecies about the end times have confused, confounded, and even divided God's people for centuries. But the reason Scripture gives us hints about the future is to provide the encouragement we need to endure the present, confident that God keeps his promises. In this balanced look at four major views of the end times, bestselling author Bryan Chapell explains the primary ways Christians have interpreted biblical prophecy about the last days, not so that we might pick a hill to die on but so that we can cling to what unites us in Christ.

History is clear: Whenever the church has aligned itself with worldly, coercive power, it ends up on the wrong side of important justice issues. But when the church cooperates with God's power through his presence among the least powerful, its witness for Jesus transforms the world into a better place. In Reckoning with Power, David Fitch unpacks the difference between worldly power, or power over others, and God's power, which engages not in coercion but in love, reconciliation, grace, forgiveness, and healing.

In 1823, Tennessee historian John Haywood encapsulated a foundational sentiment among the white citizenry of Tennessee when he wrote of a "long continued course of aggression and sufferings" between whites and Native Americans. According to F. Evan Nooe, "aggression" and "sufferings" are broad categories that can be used to represent the framework of factors contributing to the coalescence of the white South.

Jilted lovers, cheating spouses, treacherous business partners . . . All bread and butter that pays the bills for this dysfunctional Investigation team. Unfortunately, the past is catching up with one of them. Vengeance with a capital V is as rare as it is dangerous and doesn't pay. Except that is what both of them want. What choice do they have when a federal agent promises to turn the pair into his personal sock puppets if they don't comply with his game?

New alliances and of course new betrayals are at hand as the tectonics of the black ops world shifts and rumbles. Who is working for who, who is hunting who, and will have the decency to simply shut up and die? Our favorite misfits must avoid being strangled and stabbed (and run over, and shot, and blown up, and, well, you get the point) in this latest cloak-and-dagger escapade. Can the pugnacious pair emerge from the intrigue in one piece? Dive into another adventure with the world's most dysfunctional duo, where murder, intrigue, and a stolen Pomeranian are just the tip of the iceberg.

Joshua Chatraw and Jack Carson help listeners rediscover a deeper faith in the midst of a confusing world. They invite skeptics and doubters to explore the ancient faith for a new perspective on contemporary Christianity. Chatraw and Carson build on C. S. Lewis's metaphor that envisions Christianity as a house with many rooms, suggesting that listeners move beyond the cramped attic of reactionary versions of the faith to explore the larger, more ancient main floors of the house.