b'Amons SecretA Family Story of the First ChristiansArnold YtreeideBest-selling author of family-tailored Lent and Advent books is back with a new adventureA dding to his widely popular Advent and Lent series, well-known author Arnold Ytreeide revisits the Jerusalem of Jesus in this captivating follow-up to Amons Adventure. This time, Ytreeide takes families into the life of one of the founders of the church.Thirteen-year-old Amon has just watched Jesus ascend into heaven. What will Christs followers do now? In the midst of Amons confusion, the apostle Peter hands him an assignment: invent a way for the new Christian church to communicate and meet in secret. It must not be noticed by the penetrating eyes of Jesuss enemies who are still looking for anyone who dares to call him the Messiah.Amons task quickly turns dangerous. The Sanhedrin, led by Saul, begins hunting down believers in The Way, even stoning some to death. Now Amon must walk a treacherous line between finishing the job he was given and working safely around those who would kill him if they knew his secret. With the help of his family and friends, can Amon dodge cranky Romans and angry Phariseesincluding his friend Sauland find a way to help the new church survive? Thirty-one short, action-filled chapters are followed by reflec-tions for family devotions and include illustrations that highlight key people and events in the story. Amons Secret is a fun and pow-erful way to connect the whole family to the churchs beginnings.Arnold Ytreeide is a gifted storyteller who cares deeply about spiritual growth in families. Ytreeide is the founder of Storyteller Productions and lives with his wife and two children in Nampa, Time in the New Testament was a relative thingh t and cha e nge aki d slightly every day t a h i roughout the yea ig r. It star nt te r i dl with the first hour of the day, which began withe br i ng of dawn. The rem a nder of t rt he daylht up u Idaho.the third medium-sized star was visible in the evenng wa i s broken i f nt t o twelve equ ha l pas with the sixth hou ay being noon. Thus the third hour of the day would be a d dn ti erent lengh in winter tn in su r mmer, a i nd from d ion to day. This sounds confusing to those of us with moer mekeepers, but it was just pat of lfe and educatfor the people of the ancient world.Amon was given the job of deciding, at random, which cisterns would be used each day, so that there would never be a patern that someone could not a ice. the air inside the cistern was getingnthick The meeting had lasted well over an hour by now, ndl meetings should only be about ahour and stale. Because of this, it was decided that congregationa eople.long, depending on the size of the chamber and number of p d those days would be used for explain-There were two days left until the Sabbath, so it was de -ea cide r.ing the system to all the believers, quietly and mouth-toOn the day after the Sabbath, before dawn, Amons mother, Tamar, and two other women each tooker-ba t skets of cloth and walked along the wal ei i l towa a rd t u he gat t l e of the Essenes. W ra li hen t a r a g hey fou r nd a sect a ion. fect Lat er e t a t hat a thefternoon, rep h or wa ts were qu ni iet t ly whisp i i ere e d al r l t lhrough Jer t usalem: t rt inhe syst t em worke th r i d p a rt ndiwhere women had already hung laundry high on the wa, they a ke t nged six st to ips of clot a h for the day,Ja ly, ndbrot Clever Onetos a hero. Jotham nvitd Peter, Mathew,sp Baholomew, Banabas,h he hen hung them up in the correct order, bng carefl not to ma tohem look onged. Their tskmes heht her of Jesuscome for he evenng meawhere hey oked ac quiet voices witcomplete,? theynx wa r lked home quietly, tal e kng mongal hemselvesu se ra emi ke ny roup of womena onshut t t st a r s tig ofly close e A dd over t f i t ru he gla a ss wi ur r i t ndows. d e f k dside, Ba thdire naba i s said. I lo t a oke iont ross t thi he city a r,fu nd sawi a lll t r any other laundy day. They even stoppd and tked with another group of women heade hd to a wel ndheAs soon as I awoke t eris mor ofng, I went out to meet with my congregat atat herd houn Ur Tabitha and Tamar entered their house, where Amon was playi kfa ng Kngs Ransom witJadonhe cist ipsn ofcloth.l. Hea bithedfig s heng, I newisbreadct n olive oil. Andweheard hou he i as he aiously waited, having already made the boys brea st. er Juba laug ipp someion or hat, ndhad wonder houWel he asked when he saw the women. ed normal and nat l, and simply hung our clothescongregation slipp nto Jubals couyard romcomplished here, Amon.It went just fine, Tamar answered. We act of prise together. You tly can be proud of what youve ac ng his head. Even in my short lfe, he to d T ry. n was just risi they had hung the signa sa l, it to asmon went out i h l side and sca t htnned the cit a y. T ca houghsa T l he ot r hers echoed the words of Ba r ra hi e c rnaba rre s, but Amon just hu n r kful. He lo o oked up at the ot nkfu her men. It is he su idea whereng above the horizon now, so A ok is eyesyonly seconds toitlocate nd readse it.id quietly, I have leane nt d not to be proud, but to be tha ace of Gd, and I am tha l for whatever he had nos! he id,f he rea hadnt houg would. I n enot by my wit that these tngs have ocu d, but by the gGrinning, he went back inside. It work smal pat in it he has g d me.them and read them easily.78 79RELATED TITLESUNIQUE SELLING POINTS Best-selling author of family and chil- 978-0-8254-4770-9$18.99drens literature Paperback8.5 x 9.25224 pages Includes devotionals for families andJUVENILE FICTION / Religious / illustrations that show key people andChristian / Historicalevents Kregel PublicationsRights: WorldJanuary 24, 2023 Exciting story based on Acts 19 and Amons Adventure Jothams Journey archaeological evidence of the early 978-0-8254-4171-4$18.99 978-0-8254-4174-5$18.99 church8 www.kregel.com'