Mike McCormick

THE BIG BURN is a tale of ... Life, death, love, and redemption - amidst a booming business of burning up dead people Viking-style." Ray nodded and pulled on his leather work gloves. About the body he knew only what he had to know - it wasn't big, it wasn't heavy, and he would soon be lighting a massive bonfire to burn it up. All the way up, like ashes to ashes, dust to dust burned up.""Skinny dipping is an acquired taste, definitely ain't for everyone," Big Tom agreed as he poured another shovelful of ash onto the sifter." Kim Keeney loved a mom she hardly knew, and that's what Ray saw. She wasn't just a hottie, looking for a dude, though Ray was sure she was, and, further, that he was that dude.""Every funeral supervisor's worst nightmare is a body drop, and Ray was staring right at it.""I found Jesus in Des Moines," said Bonnie, her voice lilting like a child who had discovered a bird's nest filled with eggs. "He was on the radio, talking to me."

Young Jesus is a family project of three generations of the McCormick Family. Grandmother Alvena McCormick, a longtime studio artist at the Torpedo Factory Art Center in Alexandria, Virginia, is the art director. Her son Mike is the author. His children not only inspired his narrative but they are also the illustrators. Sophia and Matthew hand painted their ideas of Young Jesus' experiences as portrayed in the book. Their childlike illustrations innocently convey the warm and loving lessons Jesus would have learned as a young boy roaming his town of Galilee. Modern readers, whether youngsters mastering their first reading lessons, or grandparents and parents reading to them, will delight in the colorful drawings and simple examples of Jesus living God His Father's Word as he climbs trees, bakes treats with Mother Mary, or fishes with Father Joseph. Best of all, each example of Young Jesus' life lessons corresponds with a passage from the New Testament. So the same everyday activities all children enjoy and understand then progress into the biblical events that Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John share with the world as the teachings of Jesus the Savior. Young Jesus invites youngsters to picture how Jesus the Savior grew up same as them. Thus, a family sit-down with Young Jesus can create an enriching activity as grownups read along with their youngsters and discuss what Young Jesus learned as a boy doing the same things they do and how those lessons grew into the teachings Jesus the Savior passed along in the Bible.

A tale of leadership in a class of its own, House on Fire!, winner of the 2020 Next Generation Indie Book Award, moves past tips and techniques to uncover the heart of leadership transformation that occurs when people see differently and serve differently. House on Fire! follows Sophie, a young investigative journalist searching for answers whose sources for a story on leadership principles in a high-purpose organization get mixed up in a series of mysterious fires around Pittsburgh. Along the way Sophie meets Jeb, a handsome firefighter and leadership partner at The House who is working to determine who is behind the mysterious fires targeting local Christians. Despite herself, Sophie finds herself falling for Jeb and tension mounts as she comes face to face with her past. Will Sophie confront her fear of fire and help solve the arsons before Jeb gets hurt-or worse? Based on the conviction that leadership transformation in the real world is more caught in the context of community than taught by a single textbook, Ken Jennings and Mike McCormick brilliantly bring leadership development to life through an integrated team of characters, each contributing to the personal growth of the others. Fit for the new landscape of leadership, House on Fire! specifically helps those navigating the shift from leading a company to leading a cause, from command and control to team empowerment, or from leading an organization to transforming a community. Readers follow Sophie as she explores the intersection of faith and Servant Leadership in high purpose organizations and discover how to put Serving Leadership to work in their own high-purpose organization today.