The Roots of Endurance or The Speed of Heat

The Roots of Endurance: Invincible Perseverance in the Lives of John Newton, Charles Simeon, and William Wilberforce

Author: John Piper

Newton. Simeon. Wilberforce. They were men of their times. Men who rose to the challenges before them. Men who endured trial after trial, year after year. Men who weathered lifelong opposition with joy in Christ.

Our time is marked by emotional fragility. We shatter easily when misfortune comes our way. In the face of sustained contention, we have little ability to withstand the onslaught, let alone surmount it with joy.

But these men were far from fragile, and can inspire a strength that defies resistance and refuses to yield to bitterness. Like Wilberforce, we, too, can capture a childlike, child-loving joy in Christ. We, too, can learn to long for the "valley of humiliation" as Simeon did, or to follow Newton's example and revel in utter amazement that the Lord God Almighty would "save a wretch like me."

John Piper's Roots of Endurance gives us a picture of three men who persisted when it appeared they could not. So if for years you've prayed the same prayer and it seems unanswered, if it seems like one catastrophe after another claims what little faith you have, if bitterness has set in and will not budge, read about the lives of Newton and Simeon and Wilberforce, and learn not only to finish the race but finish it stronger than when you first began.

Interesting book: Essence Beauty Basics and Beyond or Mind Over Body

The Speed of Heat: An Airlift Wing at War in Iraq and Afghanistan

Author: Thomas W Young

With its fleet of large transport aircraft, the United States military can put personnel and equipment anywhere on the globe within hours. In the Iraq and Afghanistan wars in particular, virtually every soldier, every bullet, every pint of blood, and every bite of food have arrived in the war zone by airlift. Transport aircrews have accompanied the troops from the beginning, flying them in, supplying them, bringing them out for medical treatment or rotations home, and in the most heart-breaking missions, carrying them on their final journey back to grieving relatives.
This book tells the story of one Air National Guard airlift wing as related by its members. The 167th Airlift Wing of the West Virginia Air National Guard consisted of a squadron of 12 C-130 cargo planes, their crews, and all the supporting sections-in all, more than 1,200 people. The author, a former Associated Press reporter turned aviator, flew as an active member of that unit and interviewed nearly 70 servicemen and women for this book. Their stories include C-130 aircrews who dodged heat-seeking missiles, mechanics who made combat repairs, flight nurses who treated and transported the wounded, even two motor pool truck drivers struck by a roadside bomb. The interviewees vividly describe their day-to-day work in the war zone, revealing the inner workings of a part of the military not usually well covered by the news media.