Search results for ""author david clary""

Modern megachurches that dot the nation’s landscape may seem unorthodox with their stadium seating and showbiz flourishes, but they are deeply rooted in America’s history of mass evangelical movements that blend business principles and media savvy. In this even-handed and meticulously researched book, award-winning journalist and author David Clary traces the longstanding entrepreneurial roots of evangelicalism, and how America provided a perfect backdrop for the creation and proliferation of a movement and its enterprising preachers. In the beginning of the 19th century, George Whitefield transcended sectarianism and took his message to the people. Successors like Dwight L. Moody and ballplayer-turned-fundamentalist-preacher Billy Sunday united big business and revivalism. The flamboyant Los Angeles preacher Aimee Semple McPherson knew that radio’s intimacy was ideal for listeners seeking a personal relationship with Jesus and became the first American woman to hold a radio broadcasting license in 1924. Early to proponents the benefits of television, Billy Graham and Oral Roberts built multimedia empires with Graham embarking on worldwide crusades and counseling U.S. presidents. Protestant minister Norman Vincent Peale’s potent cocktail of psychology, self-help, and business tips framed by biblical guideposts sowed the seeds of today’s popular “prosperity gospel”. In the 1970s, Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell took up the torch of televangelism while still engaging in the business of winning souls and advancing their political ideas (political ideas that run much deeper than any one president or politician). Today’s prosperity megachurches – most notably Joel Osteen’s Lakewood Church in Houston – may seem crass, but their message that believers can improve their material fortunes through faith is a powerful and pervasive one in America.This legacy even informs today’s evangelical pastors, who are trained to impose a corporate structure upon their churches. Soul Winners is a thoughtful and informative history that reveals the longstanding connections between business, politics, and religion in America, and the profound effect that evangelism has had on the country.

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Winner of the 2018 Current Events/Social Change Book Award from the Next Generation Indie Book Awards Winner of the 2018 Bronze Current Events Book Award from the Independent Publisher Book Awards Generations ago, gambling in America was an illicit activity, dominated by gangsters like Benny Binion and Bugsy Siegel. Today, forty-eight out of fifty states permit some form of legal gambling, and America’s governors sit at the head of the gaming table. But have states become addicted to the revenue gambling can bring? And does the potential of increased revenue lead them to place risky bets on new casinos, lotteries, and online games? In Gangsters to Governors, journalist David Clary investigates the pros and cons of the shift toward state-run gambling. Unearthing the sordid history of America’s gaming underground, he demonstrates the problems with prohibiting gambling while revealing how today’s governors, all competing for a piece of the action, promise their citizens payouts that are rarely delivered. Clary introduces us to a rogue’s gallery of colorful characters, from John “Old Smoke” Morrissey, the Irish-born gangster who built Saratoga into a gambling haven in the nineteenth century, to Sheldon Adelson, the billionaire casino magnate who has furiously lobbied against online betting. By exploring the controversial histories of legal and illegal gambling in America, he offers a fresh perspective on current controversies, including bans on sports and online betting. Entertaining and thought-provoking, Gangsters to Governors considers the past, present, and future of our gambling nation. Author's website (http://www.davidclaryauthor.com)

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