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Educator Trades her Grading Pen for Author’s Quill

In her debut work, The Crown Effect: Abundant Life in a Chaotic World, retired Walker County Schools teacher and administrator Kathy Vintson explores the themes of dysfunctional families, alcoholism, bullying and forgiveness. Offering personal examples of God’s life-changing grace, she infuses practical wisdom with humor and applies the truth of God’s Word to share what she learned about her godly inheritance and the transformation that occurred when she chose to believe His promise for her life.
From falling head-over-high heels in front of the entire church congregation to getting back up again with a smile, this book describes the profound effect that God’s unconditional love, unearned help, unmerited favor and undeserved peace will have on you now, if you but choose to receive it.
Be prepared to laugh through, cry over and relate to Vintson’s journey while learning what it means to see yourself the way God does, knowing you can face darkness when you walk in the light of God’s grace, right in the middle of the chaos.

About the Author

Kathy Vintson hails from inner city Birmingham, Alabama. Raised by her grandparents, she learned the importance of trusting and believing in God for everything from a young age. Now retired from a career in education, she writes from a small corner desk that overlooks the lake, where she lives with her husband of more than thirty years.
In addition to creating inspirational blog content, Kathy serves as a motivational speaker for women. She is passionate about encouraging women to claim all God has for them in order to live joyful, successful, abundant lives and to face each season in anticipation of God’s plan for them.

“The Crown Effect makes you feel like a treasured friend is telling you a story that imparts her wisdom rather than an impersonal Bible lesson. No matter what season you are in, you will relate to this heartfelt and humorous book.”
Amy Bowdoin
Honeysuckle Drive

“The Crown Effect: Abundant Life in a Chaotic World by Kathy Vintson is a must read for anyone who has ever found themselves turned upside down by the chaos of life or believing the lies of unworthiness that we are fed by this world. Once we accept Christ, we become sons and daughters of the King, yet we so often settle for less than the peace, joy, grace-filled, life of abundance He offers His children. Kathy’s words are balm for hurting souls as we reorient ourselves to Who Christ is and who we are to Him. What beautiful truth this book gives every reader who is blessed to read these words!”
Jen Thompson
www.trulyyoursjen.com

Johnson Brings Irish Dishes to American Tables in New Cookbook

In her new cookbook, Delicious Ireland: Forty Years of Fabulous Food, Margaret Johnson brings the taste of Ireland to tables all over the world. “Delicious Ireland guides you on a decades-long culinary and photographic odyssey around the Emerald Isle,” she promises and spends the rest of the book delivering on that promise.
Johnson shares that Irish food has evolved over the past forty years, making now the perfect time to learn new recipes from a new culture. A seasoned cookbook author with fourteen previous works, Johnson is eager to share this evolution. Over four sections—starters, mains, sides, and sweets—she delves into unique new recipes, including some of her new favorites: Tipperary-made Cashel Blue and Fig Tartine, Chilli-smoked Salmon Fritters, and Blood Orange & Polenta Cakes.
Many of the recipes in this cookbook do not instantly scream “Irish.” While it includes the classics like brown bread, lamb, boxty, and bread pudding, Johnson also shines a light on new dishes. Delicious Ireland features vegetarian takes on traditional dishes, a focus on Irish cheeses, and delicious desserts. In the course of sharing all of these new dishes, Delicious Ireland also focuses on the cultural diversity of different Irish regions, sharing variations on the same dish that stem from different local traditions.
The introductions to both the cookbook’s sections and each individual recipe abound with information about Ireland and Irish tradition. Cooking these recipes will give you more than just delicious food, although you certainly will gain some new favorite dishes. Each recipe offers a sneak peek into aspects of Irish culture, making the food itself that much richer.
Delicious Ireland is filled with beautiful, brightly-colored photographs. Just flipping through these pages will make your mouth water as you follow Johnson to every corner of Ireland over the course of her forty years of travel there. It will, undoubtedly, whet your appetite not only for Irish food but for Ireland itself.

About the Author:

Margaret M. Johnson is author of fourteen cookbooks—most recently Festive Flavors of Ireland (2021), Teatime in Ireland (2019), and Favorite Flavors of Ireland (2015)—all published by Ambassador International. As a food and travel writer, she has contributed to magazines in both the U.S. and Ireland, including Intermezzo; SIP, For the Love of Drink; and Teatime. She writes regularly for the Irish Echo newspaper, thewildgeese.irish, and irishphiladelphia.com. She hosts food programs at public libraries and frequently appears at Irish food and cultural events. When she’s not visiting her ancestral home in Ireland, she lives in Westhampton Beach, NY.

#Throwback Thursday: Love Into Light: The Gospel, the Homosexual and the Church

As we reminisce on the over forty years that God has blessed Ambassador International to remain in business, we are highlighting a different #backlistbook each week in a series called #ThrowbackThursday.

Peter Hubbard is Teaching Pastor at North Hills Community Church in Taylors, SC, where he has communicated the truth of the Scriptures since the church began in 1992. He has earned two masters degrees and is currently completing a doctor of ministry degree in pastoral counseling at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia.

In his book Love Into Light: The Gospel, The Homosexual and The Church, published by Ambassador International on June 24, 2013, Hubbard seeks to answer the question, “How can Christians live in a culture that promotes the gay lifestyle, yet worship in a culture that never talks about it—other than possibly to condemn it?”

Homosexuality is one of the most controversial moral issues of our day, yet, sadly the church has often been afraid to talk about homosexuality. Many Christians feel confused and divided between the call to love and the call for truth. And many who struggle with unwanted same-sex attraction feel alone and alienated by the church.

Hubbard admits in his book, “The first time I counseled a man struggling with same-sex attraction (SSA), I felt awkward [but] the more I listened, the more I learned, the more I realized—we are not different. We are the same. Our specific battles and sins may vary, but our hearts are the same. And our daily need for the grace of Jesus is the same.”

The time is ripe, now more than ever, for God’s people to think and speak about same-sex attraction in a way that is both biblical and beneficial. We must reject our fears and misunderstandings and see ourselves together in need of the grace of Jesus. Love Into Light is designed to move the church toward that end.

Written from the heart of a pastor with a love for people and a sensitivity to our culture, Love Into Light is your next step toward becoming more faithfully and helpfully engaged with people in your families, in your church, and in your neighborhood.

You can add Love Into Light to your Goodreads HERE and you can learn more and find purchase links HERE. This book is currently available in hardcover, paperback, audiobook, and ebook.

For the month of June, you can grab the Love Into Light ebook for 4.99 {a savings of 50%!}. Don’t miss out on this powerfully insightful book.

#Throwback Thursday: Pastor & Deacons: Servants Working Together

Carl Herbster has served for over 20 years as pastor of Tri-City Baptist Church in Independence, Missouri. The church has started several other churches, operates a Christian school, and a Christian camp (Southland Christian Camp), and is heavily committed to foreign missions.

Ken Howerton is a certified program manager with IBM. He has served as chairman of deacons in two churches. His wisdom and stability and his commitment to the Lord’s work, have made him a gracious servant and wise counselor.

As fellow servants in the same church, Carl Herbster and Kenneth Howerton collaborated in the writing of Pastor & Deacons: Servants Working Together to answer questions such as:

How should a church be organized?
What functions do the pastors, deacons, and congregation serve?
Who qualifies for the offices of pastor and deacon?
How should a church manage its finances?
How does a congregation biblically address problems?

Published by Ambassador International on September 1, 2006, the “on-the-job,” real-life experiences of the authors make this a particularly practical book and no less relevant to churches today.

Pastor & Deacons is a practical exposition and application of biblical principles of church organization and leadership, and is a must-read for pastors, pastoral staffs, deacons, and any other church leadership. Don’t trust us? Trust the word of evangelist Tom Farrell who endorsed this book saying, “Pastor & Deacons is a must-read for all those in church leadership . . . . This book is biblical, practical and helpful. It is chock-full of “how to” ideas that will strengthen relationships and promote spiritual unity in the local church. The principles on church discipline and the chapter on “Dealing with Difficulties” are worth the price of the book. Pastor, get this book and you will refer to it often.”

You can add Pastors & Deacons to your Goodreads HERE and you can learn more and find purchase links HERE. This book is currently available in paperback and ebook.

For a limited time, you can grab the Pastors & Deacons ebook for .99; however, if you have a father in your life who works in church leadership, this book would also make a wonderful Father’s Day present! He will love and appreciate it for years to come!

The Mother’s Day Booklist We Can’t Forget

It’s almost Mother’s Day!

That day of the year that we celebrate the women who birth us, raise us, and read to us.

In honor of mothers, we’re highlighting a few (of the many) great books that we have – written by mothers.

The Longest Goodbye

What happens when your mother no longer remembers you? When her body remains but her mind bids you the longest goodbye? Shelly Calgano goes into that and more in her book, The Longest Goodbye.

What Now? Finding Renewed Hope in Christ After Loss

Kaitlyn Odom Fielder became a mother long after she had lost her own mother…and father…and siblings. Her story of waking up in a hospital bed orphaned and without her beloved siblings and the life she lead after that tugs at every heartstring. What Now? is available now, and is sure to move your heart.

Help! I’m a Foster Parent

Written for anyone who loves foster kids or their parents, and shows the real-life, on-the-ground experiences of families who operate in the foster care system.

Help! I’m a Foster Parent is a must-read for everyone. But again – we encourage you to bring tissues.

Waiting is the Night

What do mothers do at night? Wait. Pray. Wonder.

Waiting is the Night is written for anyone who has stared at the darkness and waited for light to break. But for mothers, this title speaks to their very fiber of being. This is the book for the tired, weary mother. For the mother who desperately needs encouragement. For the mother who does not sleep at night, but waits.

This Mother’s Day, give the mothers in your life the gift of a book that speaks to her.

#Throwback Thursday: Biblical Leadership: Becoming a Different Kind of Leader by Ken Collier and Matt Williams

This week’s featured book is Biblical Leadership: Becoming a Different Kind of Leader by Ken Collier and Matt Williams which was published by Ambassador International on April 1, 2004.

Biblical Leadership is written by two long time Christian leaders who have had years of practicing Biblically based servant leadership. At age eleven, Ken Collier accepted Christ as his Savior at a Christian camp in Alabama. In the years to follow, the Lord continued to use camp ministries to mold his life in service for the Lord. After receiving a degree at Bob Jones University, Ken joined the full-time staff of The WILDS in North Carolina, where he now serves as the camp director. In addition to his camp responsibilities, he is a deacon in his local church where he teaches the adult Sunday School class. He and his wife, Mardi, have three sons and one daughter.

Matt Williams is Associate Pastor of Tri-City Ministries in Independence, Missouri where he has served for thirty-two years. He is also Executive Director of the Mid-America Association of Christian Schools and the Missouri Association of Christian Schools. He has spoken at numerous churches, conventions, and the American Association of Christian Schools Student Leadership Conferences across the nation. He is the author of How to Be a Team Player and Enjoy It. Pastor Williams and his wife, Donna, have been married for thirty-three years and have five children.

There are many different types of leaders—leaders in the business world, in government, in the home, and in the local church, but sadly, many times leadership has been completely contrary to what the Bible teaches.

Many leaders are focused on what they can get from their positions of authority rather than on what they can give to the works in which they are involved. While some view it as a tool for popularity and power, leadership is a privilege. Leadership requires responsibility.

Biblical Leadership teaches biblical leaders how to be people of integrity and humility—leaders who are willing to be different.

Biblical Leadership will open up your understanding to a complete new look at Biblical leadership, and for a limited time, you can grab this ebook for 1.99! Don’t miss out!

You can add Biblical Leadership to your Goodreads HERE and you can learn more and find purchase links HERE. This book is available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook!

#Throwback Thursday: Christian Men of Science: Eleven Men Who Changed the World

George Mulfinger started writing Christian Men of Science: Eleven Men Who Changed the World in 1967 and worked on it as time permitted throughout his life, eventually bringing in his daughter, Julia, to write with him. After George died of cancer, Julia picked up the manuscript where he left off, and using his excellent notes and bibliography, and she finished it for him, with Christian Men of Science: Eleven Men Who Changed the World being first released by Ambassador International on November 30, 2001 and republished on April 1, 2004.

Most of us have been led into believing that any scientist worth his salt is an atheist. The truth of the matter is that some of the greatest experimentalists and theoreticians have been Bible-believing Christians. We should study these men—men who have been properly oriented to God’s Word and His creation. They had unusually keen minds to use in carrying out the Lord’s will for their lives, and they could rightly interpret the scientific evidence.

Unfortunately, our knowledge of these men is eroding as libraries gradually discard the older biographies written by Christians. They are being replaced by more up-to-date books, written for the most part by biographers with an antireligious mindset. The newer biographies tend to describe the man’s scientific work adequately, but they fail dismally in communicating the true picture of the man himself and the motivation for his work.

George and Julia asked two questions when determining who to include in the book: (1) Did he profess Christ as his Savior? (2) Did his life manifest the fruit of the Spirit, the good works evidenced by true Christians? It is quite possible that we, as authors and readers, will not agree with each man about every point of Biblical doctrine or that we do not necessarily agree with each man’s denominational affiliations; however, we can appreciate the testimonies of these men while not insisting that they conform to our every standard. Each man in this book showed a genuine love for Christ and was willing to live by His teaching, including: Johannes Kepler, Robert Boyle, David Brewster, Michael Faraday, Samuel Morse, Matthew Fontaine Maury, James Clerk Maxwell, Lord Kelvin, Howard Kelley, Henry Morris, and Walt Brown.

In the short biographies in Christian Men of Science, we are presented with a distilled version of each man’s scientific accomplishments and the evidences of his Christian faith. These testimonies demonstrate that true scientists can be genuine Christians, and that faith in God and the authority of the Bible is not a sign of inferior intellect.

You can add Christian Men of Science to your Goodreads HERE and you can learn more and find purchase links HERE. This book is available in paperback and ebook!

#Throwback Thursday: Warrior Poets of the 21st Century by Robin Mark

Today we’re highlighting the book Warrior Poets of the 21st Century: A Biblical and Personal Journey in Worship by Robin Mark for our #ThrowbackThursday. Robin Mark is a Northern Irish Christian singer, songwriter, worship leader, and recording artist based in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and he may be most known for his song “Days of Elijah.” We were {are!} thrilled to partner with him in bringing the message of Warrior Poets of the 21st Century to the world at large. Warrior Poets of the 21st Century was published by Ambassador International in 2007.

What is Warrior Poets of the 21st Century about? Worship. It’s about how absolutely important worship is and how, perhaps, it is the highest calling and occupation of the believer. But it’s not about excellence of musicianship in played and sung worship. It’s not about personalities or individuals, or specially gifted folks, or style, or technique. It’s not a ‘how to’ book, or a work book, or a ‘here’s a service schedule that’s bound to work’ type book. It’s about how God calls us all to be His worshippers and how, perhaps, every single one of us can, through a deeper understanding of worship, make an impact and a difference in the society in which we live.

“Never let the pursuit of excellence be the pursuit of your heart.”

Endorsements

Robin touches the heart of worship with passion, insight, and experience. He is the real deal and like many from Ireland, has an uncanny gift with words. You will love this book. –Paul Baloche, Christian Songwriter, Worship Leader, USA

You will find many pearls of wisdom in Robin’s new book. –Paul Kelly, Unite in Worship, Canada

Every church should hear this wisdom, it would dramatically enhance their understanding and practice of what has been called ‘the believer’s highest occupation.'” –Paul Reid, Senior Pastor, Christian Fellowship, Belfast

You can add Warrior Poets of the 21st Century to your Goodreads HERE and you can learn more and find purchase links HERE. This book is available in paperback, ebook, and audio!

#Throwback Thursday: Walking in the Word: A Family Journey From Genesis to Revelation

Today’s #ThrowbackThursday book isn’t quite as old as the others have been, but that doesn’t make it any less important! In fact, while all our books are important to us, we are especially fond of this book because as Christian families it is good to discover how to apply the whole of God’s Word to our lives, and this family devotional helps us do just that.

Walking in the Word: A Family Journey From Genesis to Revelation was written by Carolyn Wells and published on December 1, 2015. Carolyn lives near Glasgow in Scotland, has been married to Alan for twenty-four years, and has three grown children. They have been involved in church pastoral ministry for over twenty years. As well as being a pastor’s wife and a mother, Carolyn works as a radiographer in a local hospital and is involved in the children’s ministry in their church.

The readings in Walking in the Word give your family a chance to read God’s Word together, discuss the things that affect your lives, encourage each other in your faith, and helps you reach out to tell others the Good News of Jesus.

Walking in the Word will help your family read through the story of the Bible together, finding out how it all fits together and how it can affect our lives today, and this family devotional includes some practical activities, memory verses, and encouragement to pray for others and will encourage spiritual growth for both the parents and the children.

Walking in the Word is a flexible book, to be used in the way that suits your own family best, and we hope it will be a wonderful resource for you and your family.

You can add Walking in the Word to your Goodreads HERE and you can learn more and find purchase links HERE.

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