My Haunted Faith

MY HAUNTED FAITH is a spiritual memoir depicting the spiritual warfare Sherry endured, predominantly as a young adult. When Sherry is eighteen, she hears an angel speak to her, and the sporadic paranormal activity begins soon after. Sherry moves to another apartment with her husband Russ and their newborn; however, the paranormal activity increases. They move again, only to discover their new home is haunted. Sherry experiences a majority of the encounters. Voices and footsteps, unaccounted for, are heard frequently, and there are ghostly apparitions in her bedroom. In time, a terrifying ordeal leads to a confrontation with Satan. Realizing she will have to rid her home of these spirits on her own, she turns to her Bible for guidance. Sherry finds refuge in her Bible as she searches for her purpose in life. At the age of thirty-one, she begins nursing school. While in school, she wrestles with anxiety and depression, and an unresolved issue concerning her Baptism leads to an intense interaction with God. Sherry moves with her family to upstate New York, blessed with a nursing job and the farmhouse she and her husband prayed for. They raise their young children in the country while raising farm animals and experiencing the joy of God’s creation. Regrettably, Sherry finds intrigue in the supernatural again. Determined not to get involved in the paranormal, she draws closer to God. She begins her own Bible study at home and later becomes involved with a Ladies Bible Group. Sherry feels led to share her stories of spiritual warfare and her blessings. She reveals her understanding of how it has strengthened her and has readers reflect on their blessings while recognizing Satan’s influence in their own lives. She reinforces how one can overcome Satan’s influence by accepting Jesus in their life.

One of the unheralded masterpieces of twentieth-century American fiction, Light While There Is Light is acclaimed poet Keith Waldrop's autobiographical novel about the myriad ghosts left behind by his family. Born to a deeply religious mother, the narrator and his siblings are led across the US as she searches for the "right" religious sect—a trip that ends with her speaking in tongues, and finally her total isolation. But no synopsis can do justice to the beauty of Keith Waldrop's measured, wise, and unembroidered prose, illuminating the fear, madness, and destruction within hearth and home—though never repudiating his love for same. In a tradition that stretches back through Flannery O'Connor and William Faulkner to Hawthorne, Melville, and Poe, Keith Waldrop and Light While There Is Light are American treasures.

For those looking to deepen their appreciation of Flannery O'Connor, Wood shows how this literary icon's stories, novels, and essays impinge on America's cultural and ecclesial condition.

A story that begins where too many others end, this stunningly written and unflinchingly authentic tale of love, loss, and hope will touch fans of All the Bright Places and Girl in Pieces. Life’s tough when you didn’t expect to be living it. But now that Journey has a future, she apparently also has to figure out what that future’s supposed to look like. Some days the pain feels as fresh as that day: the day she attempted suicide. Her parents don’t know how to speak to her. Her best friend cracks all the wrong jokes. Her bipolar II disorder feels like it swallows her completely. But other days—they feel like revelations. Like meeting the dazzling Etta, a city college student who is a world unto herself. Or walking into the office of the volunteer hotline, and discovering a community as simultaneously strong and broken as she is. Or uncovering the light within herself that she didn’t know existed. Praise for Faith Gardner's The Second Life of Ava Rivers: "A beautiful, moving, and thoughtful story about how far we're willing to go for family." —Kathleen Glasgow, New York Times bestselling author of Girl in Pieces “This remarkable novel reproduces the personal and family trauma associated with the loss and recovery of a missing child. The Second Life of Ava Rivers is an enthralling tale.” —Voice of Youth Advocates (VOYA) (starred review) "Gardner’s unforgettable voice blends Jodi Picoult’s emotional, ripped-from-the-headlines storytelling with Mindy McGinnis’s unflinchingly honest protagonists." —Booklist (starred review) “Gardner brings a unique tenderness focused on the human dynamics of creating family and individual identity in the face of tragedy.” —Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books (starred review)

Discover the ghostly presences that haunt this historic region of the South and its famed university—photos included! The Auburn and Opelika region is home to one of the most historic universities in the South. It is a region with a history stretching back generations—and it is a history that is very much still alive. Chilling remnants of the past continue to haunt Auburn-Opelika and the communities of Alabama’s Lee County. Join a team of expert ghost hunters as they reveal for the first time the stories of the spirits still lingering throughout the area. The haunting of the University’s Samford Hall, the legend of historic Springvilla mansion, and the Headless Man of Highway 80, among many other ghostly tales, uncover the darker side of Auburn-Opelika.

In this remarkable true story, the haunting of a Long Island household forces a respected writer and editor to reevaluate the mysteries of life and death as he struggles with the frightening truths of his childhood home and his town's past. Growing up in Rockville Center, Long Island, Gary Jansen never believed in ghosts. His mother-a devoutly Catholic woman with a keen sense for the uncanny-claimed that their family house was haunted. But Jansen never found anything inexplicable in how their doorbell would sometimes ring of its own accord; or in the mysterious sounds of footsteps or breaking glass that occasionally would fill their home; or even in his mother's sometimes unsettlingly accurate visions of future events and tragedies. Though he once experienced a supernatural encounter in a Prague church as a young man, Jansen grew up into a rationalist, as well as a noted writer and editor. Decades later, in 2001, Jansen moved back into the very same house where he had once grown up to raise a family with his wife. One day in 2007, he encountered a strange physical sensation in his toddler son's bedroom: As I reached into his dresser drawer, I felt something very strange behind me. Startled, I quickly turned around, but there was nothing there. I shrugged it off, grabbed the socks and, as I was walking to the doorway, experienced an odd phenomenon-sort of like an electrical hand rubbing the length of my back. I stopped and stood transfixed. "What the hell is that?" I said to myself. The pressure then seemed to break apart and, for a brief moment, I felt like I had a million little bugs crawling all over my back. Within seconds, however, the sensation was gone. This became the first step in uncovering a frightening, fullblown haunting in his home-a phenomenon that lasted an entire year and eventually included unveiling the identities of the spirits who occupied his house; discovering the chilling story of a century-old murder in his hometown; encountering mind-boggling coincidences between local history and events in his own family; and finally engaging in a climactic exorcism with the help of Mary Ann Winkowski, the real-life inspiration for TV's The Ghost Whisperer. The events of that year-in which Jansen's family was terrified of and terrorized by ghosts in their own home-forever changed how he viewed the mysteries of life and death. Holy Ghosts is not only a gripping true-life ghost story but a funny and touching memoir, as well as a meditation on the relationship between religion and the paranormal, which are often considered at odds with each other but which the author shows are intimately linked.

Meet the ghosts who wander this Southern capital—photos included! In Montgomery—cradle of the Confederacy and capital city of Alabama—lost highways bring visitors to the grave of legendary country singer Hank Williams and the home of the Jazz Age princess Zelda Fitzgerald. This book reveals the famous, and sometimes infamous, haunted history of Montgomery, digging up the bones on the feather duster murder from the Garden District, and sharing information about which spirits at Huntingdon College make this campus their eternal home. Take a stroll through the Old Alabama Town, listen for the ghost of the Lucas Tavern, and join ghost hunter and folklorist Faith Serafin for a trip through the Heart of Dixie and Montgomery's paranormal history.

W. H. Auden, T. S. Eliot, William Golding, Elizabeth Jennings, C. S. Lewis, Flannery O’Connor, Stevie Smith . . . These are some of the great poets and novelists whose struggles with faith find expression in their works, and who demonstrate the fascinatingly different forms that faith can take in different times and places. Richard Harries considers the work of twenty of these writers, painting vivid pictures of their lives and times. He also provides numerous critically sympathetic insights into the spiritual dimension of their writings. The result is a book for readers of all religious persuasions, especially those who are fascinated by the ways in which faith is refracted through the lens of great poetry and fiction. Also by Richard Harries: The Beauty and the Horror (SPCK, 2016) ‘A major new defence of Christianity that does not flinch from asking difficult questions about the kind of God who could have created our world.’ The Bookseller ‘A heartening book, confronting the hardest questions with wide knowledge and deep wisdom.’ John Carey, Chief Literary Reviewer, Sunday Times ‘An eloquent, honest and engaging case for Christian faith.’ The Tablet ‘A deeply interesting book.’ Mary Warnock

You know the battle is raging--but are you fighting the right enemy? Just as enemies fought Joshua in the Promised Land, and Nehemiah faced opposition as he rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem, our enemy will fight us as we approach the spiritual terrain God has promised us. Most Christians retreat at the first sign of conflict because they fail to recognize the true nature of the battle. But you can prevail in freedom and joy. Sharing his deeply personal story of demonic bondage, torment and ultimate deliverance, pastor and bestselling author Kris Vallotton turns the idea of spiritual warfare as we know it on its head. He reveals the diabolical lies and strategies of the enemy--attacks and traps so subtle and deceptive that we may find our souls and hearts imprisoned without even knowing it. No more! Now you can win the invisible battle against sin and the enemy. Victory is within your grasp. Will you take hold? "It is with great excitement that I recommend this book to you, knowing that fruit will increase until Jesus gets His full reward."--Bill Johnson, author, When Heaven Invades Earth and The Essential Guide to Healing, senior pastor, Bethel Church, Redding, California