Showing results by narrator "Chris Abell" in All Categories

Americans have long been fascinated by the Civil War and its biggest battles, particularly Gettysburg, Antietam, and Shiloh, all of which involved Robert E. Lee or Ulysses S. Grant. But one of the six biggest battles of the war, and the one that took the heaviest toll by percent on both armies was fought at the end of 1862 in Tennessee, and it involved neither of those generals.

The second biggest battle of the entire war mostly gets overlooked among casual listeners, despite the fact it represented the last great chance for the Confederates to salvage the Western theater.

The Second Battle of Bull Run (August 28-30, 1862) was one of the most decisive battles fought during the Civil War, and it was also one of the most unlikely. Less than three months before the battle, Joseph E. Johnston's Army of Northern Virginia had been pushed back nearly all the way to Richmond by George B. McClellan's Army of the Potomac, so close that Union soldiers could see the church steeples of the Confederate capital.

After Union General Ulysses S. Grant captured Fort Henry and Fort Donelson in early 1862, Confederate General Albert Sidney Johnston, widely considered the Confederacy's best general, concentrated his forces in northern Georgia and prepared for a major offensive that culminated with the biggest battle of the war to that point, the Battle of Shiloh. On the morning of April 6, Johnston directed an all-out attack on Grant's army around Shiloh Church, and though Grant's men had been encamped there, they had failed to create defensive fortifications or earthworks.

Before the night of April 14, 1865, John Wilkes Booth was one of the most famous actors of his time; President Abraham Lincoln had even watched him perform. But his most significant performance at a theater did not take place on the stage. That night Booth became one of history's most infamous assassins when he shot President Lincoln at Ford's Theatre in Washington, DC.

Since Wilde's condemnation of modern biography, the genre would appear to have accelerated its descent into bad taste. As Carl Rollyson points out, writers as various as Rebecca West, Ted Hughes, and Joyce Carol Oates have deplored biographers' tendency to cut up lives and render the bloody data so as to make their subjects seem unhealthy, unwholesome, and unsound. Janet Malcolm has compared biographers to burglars; modern novels feature the biographer as grave robber and victimizer.

Thurgood Marshall was one of the original forces behind the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), one of the organizations that advocated the rights of African Americans in the 20th century. His pursuit of civil rights reached a highpoint when, as a lawyer, he helped the NAACP win Brown vs. Board of Education, the Supreme Court case that ended segregation in education in American public schools.

So often in the moment we ask ourselves, "How did we get here?" If you are looking for a solution that not only helps you reduce the emotional temperature but also would have reduced the flare-up in the first place then Thomas Parr has trusted, biblical answers. Healing Contentious Relationships will help you get to grips with the way pride, covetousness, and unbelief cause us to mistreat others and how God grants grace in Christ to resolve such tension. Treat your war-weary soul to answers from the Spirit of peace.

College: A four-year (or more!) window of time where a student can become and accomplish all that God has for them. This book will help you do just that as you discover a vision for your life, the kind of personal and spiritual foundation you need to build, and practical ways to share your faith, disciple others, and impact the world for Jesus Christ. This is a new and completely revised edition of The Fuel and the Flame, originally published in 2003.

A rollicking guided tour of one extraordinary summer, when some of the most pivotal and freakishly coincidental stories all collided and changed the way we think about modern sports The summer of 1984 was a watershed moment in the birth of modern sports when the nation watched Michael Jordan...

Sheriff Dan Rhodes has half a mind to shoot the next person who asks if it’s hot enough for him, what with the near hundred-degree heat and a months-long drought. He’s also a bit warm under the collar over an ambitious local reporter’s allegations of corruption in the local county commissioner’s office—accusations that include him as well.

 Applying Ayn Rand's philosophy of Objectivism to the most pressing free speech issues of the day, the essays in this book reveal the attacks on free speech to be the product of destructive ideas - ideas that are eroding Western culture at its foundation. They expose those ideas and the individuals who hold them, and, importantly, they identify the only ideas on which Western civilization can be sustained: reason, egoism, and individual rights. 

The traditional car dealership is dying—but innovative F&I approaches are creating record profits for those willing to evolve. Today's car buyers want a 45-minute in-store process, transparent pricing, and digital options—and they'll go elsewhere if you can't deliver. In The Future of Automotive Finance & Insurance, industry veteran Joel Kansanback reveals how forward-thinking dealerships are meeting these demands while significantly increasing their F&I profits.

In an Afghan village, a boy learns his letters under a mullah’s stick and dreams of a life free of the Taliban; in Virginia, a cadet learns to read a map and lead a platoon into combat. Years later, on a wind-scoured ridgeline overlooking Zabul Province, helicopters roaring overhead, Afghan interpreter Abdulhaq Sodais and US Army Lieutenant Spencer Sullivan must learn to trust each other if they hope to survive. In 2021, when the US withdraws from Afghanistan, the Taliban reassert their rule, disappearing, torturing, and killing US collaborators, including Abdulhaq’s fellow interpreters.

In the heart of America's Midwest, an extraordinary friendship blossomed when two young couples became neighbors. What started as a chance encounter in 1993 grew into a three-decade adventure filled with laughter, mischief, and unbreakable bonds. Ron Cox and his best friend Chris Sprague, along with their wives and families, have selected 30 of their most memorable stories from a treasure trove of shared experiences. From hilarious misadventures to heartwarming moments, these tales span 30 years of friendship, family, and fun in small-town USA.

Former pastor Jimmy Dodd reveals how those in pastoral ministry can receive ongoing support, accountability, and restoration from relationships with a boss, counselor, trainer, mentor, coach, and good friend. Discover how you can move from surviving to thriving with the six relationships every pastor needs.

Why do Church leaders and Christian organizations struggle to connect with modern audiences? Where once the church was a cornerstone of local communities, today many people believe it is irrelevant or out of touch. And so, church leaders are now stuck between a warped public perception and the true message of the Gospel. If you care about the Christian message today, it is hard not to feel discouraged.

A common claim in modern American Christianity is that you don’t have to go to church to be a Christian. The writers of the New Testament, however, would find a Christian faith separate from the church to be unrecognizable. Dean Inserra has often said to his congregation, “There is more to being a Christian than going to church, but there certainly isn’t less.” Belonging to a local church is not something made up by a Christian subculture. The local church was God’s design.

In this riveting memoir, renowned mountaineer Lou Dawson shares a tumultuous coming-of-age journey, from the flatlands of Texas to the Colorado mountains, steeped in the counterculture revolution of the 1960s. Amidst the towering peaks, Lou discovers an enduring love for alpine sports: rock climbing, topping summits, skiing powder snow. However, as the avalanches fall and lifestyle choices veer, his pursuit of adrenaline becomes a poignant struggle for meaning in a culture where nothing succeeds like excess.

Differences of opinion have always been part of life. For decades, spouses, family members, co-workers, and neighbors have had spirited conversations about politics, social issues, religion, current events, and even sports. But what was different in the past is that these disagreements wouldn’t sever ties between family and friends.