Bøger af David R. Stokes

These words have provided comfort and strength for more than 3,000 years: "The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever." - Psalm 23:1-6 In "The Simple Life," pastor and best-selling author David R. Stokes, explores these ancient words that are ever new.

It's pretty much the norm these days-preachers going "political," speaking up for candidates who reflect common values and opinions. But the lines separating pulpit and politics, not to mention church and state, were not always as blurred as they are in our time. The harsh partisan tone, combined with the practice of take-no-prisoners-politics on the part of some Christian ministers in our day is something that can be traced back to one controversial pulpit-pounding powerbroker-J. Frank Norris. At the mid-point of the 1920s, people flocked to Norris's First Baptist Church in downtown Fort Worth, Texas-America's original "megachurch." He would do just about anything to draw a large crowd. Thousands came to witness his latest extravaganza. He was a folk-hero to many. To many others, J. Frank Norris was a MENACE. By the summer of 1926, he presided over a religious empire, one that included America's largest Protestant church, a tabloid newspaper that reached nearly 100,000 readers every Friday, and his own radio network that saturated cities and towns across the American Southwest. Norris had already survived multiple criminal indictments. He boasted that he could handle anything that came his way. He had fanatically loyal followers (including members of the Ku Klux Klan) and great lawyers. But would they be enough when he found himself charged with first-degree murder and face to face with "Sparky"-the nickname for the Texas electric chair?