Prayer Request - A Call To Prayer

Dearest in Christ,

Thank you for visiting us here at Z Blog. Please take the time to pray for the nations of the world, that God would bring peace to those nations in peril, that he would give wisdom to the leaders of those nations and that God's mercy, compassion and love would ignite for all those whom are encountering difficulties. Remember, prayer brings change.

Wealth and Poverty



 Back To Eden: A Biblical Perspective on Wealth and Poverty - Part scriptural analysis, part compassionate musing, and part academic study, Back to Eden brings together academic research, Christian theology, and universal human emotions to examine how our financial status affects our way of life and our treatment of others. Starting with a broad analysis of how certain scriptural passages can be interpreted through the lens of our human capacity for love, compassion, righteousness, and humility, author Dr. Thiessen moves with increasing specificity into a detailed, succinct, and thoroughly researched examination of how our perspective towards those less fortunate is directly related to our relationship with God, not to our financial portfolio. For those who seek to deepen their relationship with God and to better understand how His teachings encourage compassion, generosity, and open heartedness, Back to Eden not only provides the academic and scriptural foundation to accomplish this, but it also weaves each lesson through a prism of human experience, allowing these teachings to be understood and identified by any who are willing to learn. Through deep analysis and thoughtful consideration of theological literature and select scripture, Dr. Thiessen’s work weaves a story that aspires to educate, enlighten, and inspire.

Mega Church Menace



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 power broker—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? Menace in the Megachurch is available in Kindle


There Is Hope In Troublesome Times!


Troublesome times are increasing. Scanning the news and seeing what is happening around the world leaves many with anxieties, fears, and depression. Moral decline, increasing violence, terrorism, and threats of war are everywhere. Americans fear things like a divided country, not having enough money, identity theft, natural disasters, mass shootings, and walking alone at night. Employers complain of difficulty finding reliable workers, and experienced school teachers say it’s harder to teach. For Christians, increased persecution is at hand. What’s the world coming to? is a common thought in people’s minds. Good news! There is hope!


This book offers hope and mentions three different kinds. The kind of hope you have makes a difference in the kind of life you live. You can experience a hope that brings joy and peace of mind in the midst of adversity. This book is about knowing the Creator of hope and how this Creator would have us live in times like these. It’s about finding life-giving hope that fulfills its promises for a trouble-free world.

There Is Hope In Troublesome Times!

Love In Action - Helping Authors

Please consider helping the following family through a very difficult time.

Love Is Kind

If Only by La Verne Hughes is a fascinating fictional journey into a rich Kingdom, the testing of a true love that has its roots in the Scripture verse 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 (NIV), “Love is kind. It does not envy. 

Love does not boast. It is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no records of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.”

This plight is set in a kingdom off the coast of Africa. A family has all the wealth, status and provision they could ever need, until the unthinkable happened. . .the takeover of their country from another king succeeded. Brought from a place of wealth and stability to a place of devastation, speaks of wrong decisions made, rejections that separated the ties of family that bring separation.  Can anyone recover from such devastation and rejection that is perceived by each other, in which the rejections have created an invisible barrier between loved ones. Many have experience such separations in family and relationships.  

This is an amazing read that speaks of true love, offering a mysterious adventure asking, “Will it stand the testing of everything or succumb to its bleak future?”  This book comes highly recommended as fantastic and well-written read. At only 76 pages, this book offers hope despite rejection, loss and grief that reminds us all of what true love is.    

You can get your copy of If Only by La Verne Hughes in paperback at Amazon or in Kindle.

Leo J. Battenhausen, MA, LCSW

Leo J. Battenhausen, MA, LCSW 

Soul Doubt discusses the overwhelming and detrimental impact that depression and suicide are having upon society in the United States. 

Additionally stating  alarming statistics from the World Health Organization (2016) that suicide and depression are presently at an “epidemic high”. The author also adds that the organization’s prediction is that by 2020 depression will be the most diagnosed disease after heart disease. 

Facts: These facts, coupled with society’s views and attempts to “cure” depression with various treatments and drugs, bolster our culture that expresses itself as its own God. Selfishness, greed, media, government, and liberalism’s mantra have taken away from family and marriages like we have never seen before in the United States. 

With this in mind, the author makes an impressive statement – People need God and need to believe in God. With a focus on giving solutions to depression and suicide, intertwined with keen insight, he offers this book to help others recognize and be free in their souls from destructive thoughts and behaviors that are literally killing many.
  • Healthy Parenting and Relationships: Giving an overview of healthy parenting and relationships that include marriages, the author explores the human condition and the soul. Offering a laymen’s view of the soul, he explains the doubts we possess in relation to satisfying the deep void within. Despite technical advances in this information age, the author shares that we as humans are not developing as we should and have forgotten who we are. Advocating that parents invest in their children in meaningful ways, to include their parenting skills, he also exposes a spiritual side to the issue of the mind, soul and emotions. Offering readers an understanding of the realm of the soul, a secular worldview is also considered. His position is that we cannot ignore our souls, which is the essence of who we are.
  • Revealing what really wages war against our souls, will and emotions, the author has written a compassionate book that speaks frankly to believers and non-believers alike, sharing that there is hope and a solution to this soul problem. Well-balanced, informative, encouraging, his insight is an important work tackling the woes that plague our society, but more importantly offers real answers and hope that presents truth. The truth that God is real, and that we all need God, is something that the author will not compromise. Stating in his book description, “Soul Doubt breaks through with solution-focused answers and PROVEN ways to battle depression and suicide.”
  • Truthfully, this is a much-needed book in today’s society. As a skilled professional, he knows the human condition and speaks of the healing of the soul, mind and spirit. Presenting a wealth of knowledge, the spiritual battle, modern-psychology, the author offers real answers to those who are suffering or know someone who is suffering. This comes as a highly recommended must-read for all parents, married couples raising children, teens, young adults and newly married couples.

Get your copy of Soul Doubt by  Leo J. Battenhausen at Amazon. You may find more information about the author and his books at Author Leo J. Battenhausen.

Simply Nutrition by Aimee Richmond, BS, MD

Presents a keen understanding of science and nutrition, the role nutrition and how they relate to health and wellness. 

Simplifying nutrition, Aimee gives an overview of the body’s needs in relations to fats, proteins, carbohydrates, fiber, vitamins and minerals. In an easy-to-read format, and without the over usage of scientific jargon, she plainly explains the body’s digestion, absorption and the breaking down of different sugars, carbohydrates, proteins and fats into the human digestive system and bloodstream. Giving the necessary ingredients for life, she names protein and 9 essential amino acids that sustain life. “We all eat,” she explains, and her book is a simple way to understand how the body works and what to eat naturally to provide optimum health.

Along with the 9 essential amino acids, the author provides expertise with a complete overview of essential vitamins, minerals and essential fatty acids, to include the omega 3 and 6 fatty acids. The author gives the benefits, affects and sources of these vitamins, which will help readers to make smart choices for the nutritional needs. Along with the necessity of essential fatty acids and oils versus the American diet containing too much refined sugar, refined grains, and excess carbohydrates that turn in to sugar, therefore exhausting the pancreas.

Additionally, she gives vital instruction on minerals and calcium, to include the intake of sodium and water – all necessary. Giving a list of healthy nutritious food and recipes at the end compliment the book for those that want to change their eating habits. Favorites like lasagna, chili and even macaroni and cheese will please readers that they can make things they are relatively used to, just in a different way.

After reading the book, readers will have a better understanding of how the body uses food, vitamins, minerals, sodium and water to regulate functions. This is a great book to glean from and understand the body’s functions to regain or sustain good health.

Simply Nutrition comes highly recommended for anyone interested in improving their overall nutritional health or for people who have had past health problems. They might find that changing their diet will have a huge effect on their health and/or symptoms. Simply Nutrition by Aimee Richmond, BS, MD