NON-FICTION
Too often in today’s world, we receive a vanilla version of the Word of God from our preachers, regardless of faith or denomination. Warm and fuzzy sermons make people happy. Watered-down theology upsets no one. Yet, the Carpenter from Nazareth, Jesus the Christ, gave us an unvarnished version of the Father’s Word. He was radical and revolutionary in His message: “Forgive your enemies!” “Pray for those who persecute you!” “Judge no one, and you will not be judged.” Jesus called the religious leaders of His time hypocrites because they refused to walk the talk.
This Yeshua (Jesus in Hebrew) was born in a cave and was buried in a friend’s tomb. While preaching the Good News of His Father, He comforted the sick, the widow, the orphan. He “hung out” with tax collectors, adulterers, lepers… and some of the other misfits of society. He made the lame walk, the deaf hear, and the blind see. For this, the Carpenter was nailed to a tree between two thieves on a Friday we still call Good.
This book is the first volume of a series of straight-talking inspirational sermons by George DeFrehn. Book one explores the four Gospels. George has no canonical authority and carries no hidden agenda. These sermons are simply one person’s search for the Truth of Life, utilizing the Word of God—the Bible. These thought-provoking sermons are one lay person’s version of the words and parables used by the Itinerant Preacher from Galilee, hopefully in an unvarnished version. Although George is a Roman Catholic, he writes for all people, denominations, faiths, believers, and non-believers alike. If his inspirational sermons touch one person, one soul, and assist in their search for the Truth…then God did His job!
This is George’s second book. His first: Is Anybody There? Memoir of a “Functional Alcoholic” was a 2016 Finalist for the prestigious Eric Hoffer Award for Excellence in Independent Publishing! This is still available on Amazon in both paperback and eBook versions.
“Finalist for the prestigious 2016 ERIC HOFFER AWARD for Independent Authors & Publishers
“He is respected in his community. He is a man of faith. He never had a DUI, spent a night in jail, lost a job due to his drinking, and he was never admitted to a rehab facility. He had never been told by friend or foe that he was an alcoholic; and he never purposely hurt anyone while drinking…or so he thought. This is the memoir of a college-educated business person who made significant income and owned many material “things.” It has both humorous and tragic elements describing the author’s journey from alcoholism to sobriety.
By faith, fortune, or just dumb luck, he walked into a bookstore on his way to his vacation home and discovered a New York Times bestseller by a white-collar, educated female journalist from New England that saved his life. Well, that is NOT the entire story. Several other people had their hand in his salvation from the disease of alcoholism–a man named Tom, who met the author in Bosnia, an alcoholic in recovery who is affectionately nicknamed “Gandhi,” and eventually two Native Americans named here as Running Badger and Bear. And there were many, many more. So…if you or a loved one senses or believes that you are having an issue with booze, this book may be for you.
The author has no delusion that what he has written here will save anyone from the throes of this insidious disease. He does believe, however, that he has the responsibility to tell his story so that someone who needs help can discover that there is life after alcohol and hopefully will not only imagine but live a life to its fullest without booze.
Author: George DeFrehn was born in Philadelphia and presently resides in Chester County, PA, with his bride of 37 years. He received his Master’s Degree from Rider University in New Jersey and his undergraduate degree from LaSalle University in Philadelphia. He still lives and dies with his Philadelphia sports teams, loves the beach, a good book, golf, cycling, visiting Civil War battlegrounds, and his enduring faith in the Triune God, his Higher Power. He continues to strive, living “one day at a time” in sobriety.
FICTION
It is almost midnight in New Orleans, Louisiana, US.
A crescent moon appears as a sickle in the spring sky. A sign of the Grim Reaper? Parts of the French Quarter are just coming to life. Jugglers, magicians, solo musicians, and women of the night inhabit each corner of Bourbon Street.
At the Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base New Orleans, a Vice Admiral of the US Navy has struggled to solve the death of her boss, the Admiral. She believes there exists a murderer—a traitor in her midst.
Across the pond, all of England is ‘dark.’ Since the morning of January 7, no word of life has come from the island of Henry VIII, Cromwell, and Churchill. Yet it appears a small contingent of survivors may exist in the hamlet of Watlington in Oxfordshire.
A General leads her seventy seasoned Israeli Defense Force soldiers, attempting to retake Jerusalem from evil mercenaries. Her gut tells her she has a betrayer in her ranks.
The Fisherman of Rome arrives in Ireland, thinking the Archbishop of Dublin would welcome him. However, the Archbishop has his own ideas about the Church in Ireland. Meanwhile, others near the Cliffs of Moher fear all is not well inside the confines of the Emerald Isle.
Twenty-one thousand kilometers from Oxfordshire, the woman who murdered billions sits in her fortress in Norway, awaiting word of his capture. But all is silent. She must know what is happening outside of Norway but needs the vaccine to travel. Is she losing control of her plan for world domination? What message, if any, is being received by these people?
“Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.”
And so it begins…