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First Orlando Book Signing
First Baptist Church of Orlando is a large church; a large campus; a large membership; and a pastor with a large heart. This shouldn’t be a surprise. He’s a Louisiana boy!
Mark Sutton called me about two weeks ago and wanted to know if I could be in Orlando on Sunday, October 28th. I had a full schedule the week before that Sunday. I had a doctor’s visit on Monday, a Reason to Believe Chapter meeting Tuesday, a speaking engagement for my friend Chan Hearron to his high school senior class Wednesday afternoon, my radiology practice meeting Wednesday night, a speaking engagement for Laveer Financial Management meeting to over 100 people Thursday night . . . AND we were driving to Dallas Friday morning to meet with my son and his wife and their two foster children for a long weekend of fun and grand parenting (and Aunting for Casey). Whew! And, somehow, I was to magically appear in Orlando on Sunday morning!!!!
Well, the Lord knows what is happening in our lives. Turns out I could fly nonstop from Love Field Saturday afternoon from Dallas to Orlando nonstop and then fly back to Dallas Sunday afternoon and we could drive home to Shreveport Sunday night.
There’s a New Book for Depression!
I simply couldn’t believe the email I had just received. My author representative from B&H Publishing informed me:
“Hello Bruce, so sorry for the late response. Your title Hope Again is actually out of print and B & H does not have any plans to take this to a Print On Demand Product. With that being said, since the book is co Authored, we will need written request from you and Mark Sutton to revert the rights to you. Please forward that request or any questions you may have to your Author Care Specialist at email below. Let me know if you have any questions.
Blessings to you
Person’s Name Deleted
Author Care Specialist”
I had simply asked to order more of our book, “Hope Again: A 30 Day Plan for Conquering Depression” for an upcoming seminar only to discover our book was no longer in print! No one had bothered to inform us of this! When I kindly complained about this we got this response:
Read the rest of this entryDepression Is Never “Out of Print”!
I have some sad news.
Mark Sutton and I have written two books on depression. The second book, “Hope Again: A 30 Day Plan for Conquering Depression” was released in September, 2014. Now, we have discovered, that book is no longer in print.
When Mark and I discovered this fact back in late spring, I was disappointed and we decided that the end had come for our depression book. The very next day, I received an email from a person who claimed the book “saved her life”. In desperation, she reached out in prayer and God led her to our book. The 30 day program led her away from her decision to end her life! And, this person was from South Africa!
It is difficult for me to wrap my head around the fact that something that Mark and I wrote based on our painful experiences with depression could be used by God to change the life of someone else! But, this is how God works. As soon as I read the email, I called Mark and we bent every effort at that point to putting out a third book as soon as possible.
And, we continue to get weekly orders for our LifeFilter cards from our website conqueringdepression.com!
So, now for some good news.
Read the rest of this entryThe Beast, Part 1
There is a beast that lives deep inside of me. Beast is quiet most of the time. Beast is insidious and knows how to creep, cat like from the depths of my mind to the surface of today’s reality. I have locked him away so many times and thrown away the key. And yet, no matter how secure his cage, he always manages to escape. But not with a bang or a growl but with a quiet cat’s paw, sinister silence.
Right now, the Beast is on the prowl. I feel him flexing his claws and I feel his hot breath on the nape of my neck. He is hungry. He is ravished. He wants to devour my mind and soul and to end me.
Read the rest of this entryHope Again Youtube Channel
Mark Sutton and I invite you to our Conquering Depression Seminar Saturday, Nov. 17th. Here is a link to our new Youtube Channel for Hope Again.
You can register for the seminar at this link.
The Holidays are Here?!?
I’m facing major surgery on December 4th. That’s just three days short of the anniversary of the infamous attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. Whenever this time of year approaches, I jump into full Christmas mode beginning on November 1. But, this year will be different. Christmas celebration for us will be dialed back a bit.
So, I have already put up our “Homecoming Tree”. It is not yet decorated and sits in our living room waiting for its mantle of shiny decorations. This year, Sherry has decided to dig out all of our vintage Precious Moments decorations. Some of these date back 40 years! Decorating the tree will be quite nostalgic!
I guess it is fitting that this is the year I release my novelization of “The Homecoming Tree”, a play I wrote and directed at Brookwood Baptist Church in 2005. In looking back through my photographs of that play, I found one of my father. Sean, my son, took those photos on black and white film and when we developed them, yes, developed them — not digital, the developing process left artifacts on the photographs. These artifacts resembled what you would see on a genuine old film. Here is the photograph of my father as he is looking up at the set for the play.
Read the rest of this entryDepression Seminar
Plan on coming to our Conquering Depression Seminar at Brookwood Baptist Church on Saturday, November 17th from 8:30 to Noon. I and Mark Sutton will be talking about depression based on our book “Hope Again: A 30 Day Plan for Conquering Depression”. You can go to this link for information and registrations: Link
Hugging Darkness
I was alone in the dark bedroom. I had pulled the sheet and blanket up over my head to shut out the world. I wanted no light; no sound; not even a speck of floating dust to touch me. I wanted to not BE.
Pain so bad it took my breath away filled every fiber of my being. Not physical pain. Emotional pain. And fear, yes there was fear. If I could just shut the world out for a few moments I might find some relief from this pain. Perhaps I could sleep? Probably not. Often elusive, sleep came for me with great difficulty and even if I did manage to slip into a sleeping state I knew it would not be restful. Because the dreams waited for me. Vivid, realistic, outlandish dreams. Read the rest of this entry
Book Signing Tomorrow!
MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT!!!
Sherry and I are in the Orlando area this week celebrating our 34th wedding anniversary. We first came to Orlando in October, 1980 for our honeymoon and we’ve been coming back to Walt Disney World for the last 34 years.
People ask me why I come to Disney World so many times. Doesn’t it get old? Don’t you grow tired of it? Haven’t you seen everything you can see? Let me tell you a story.
A father took his two girls to an amusement park every Sunday afternoon after church. The amusement park sat on the coast in California. But, the father was not happy about his experience. The location was windy and dirty and wet. The attractions were seedy and broken down half the time. The grounds were unkept and weedy with trash blowing everywhere. The workers were, well let’s just say somewhat undesirable to be around children!
The father would sit on a rickety bench and watch his girls riding the carousel and he wish he could join them. And so, this father began to dream. After all dreaming was his business! What if there was an amusement park that was clean and bright with gorgeous landscaping. What if the workers were right out of a Hollywood movie — clean and costumed and playing the “role” of a kind, considerate person who would make you feel like you and you alone were the most important person in the world? What if the attractions were safe, high quality, and most importantly, allowed families to enjoy the attraction TOGETHER? And, what if the amusement park was every changing and improving over time so that families could return again and again and never get bored?
That father was Walt Disney and the rest of his story is history. He went back to his studios and quickly drew up a plan for such a park in the studio’s parking lot. By the time he was finished, as was his nature, he began to think bigger and bigger. Disney’s “folly” as it was called opened in July, 1955 as Disneyland and changed the world.
This is why Sherry and I continue to go back. It is a place that is clean, high quality, magical, and restive. Also, we have good friends in the area and we have always loved Florida in general.
We are here this week and this weekend. If you are in the Orlando area, Mark Sutton and I will be signing our book, “Hope Again: A 30 Day Plan for Conquering Depression” on Saturday, September 27 from 1 to 3 PM. Come see us! We’d love to meet you!
Hope Again is Here!
This is the week our new book on depression launches. There are two events so check them both out.
Our book launch is Friday night and snacks and coffee are complimentary. Also, if you want copies of my Jonathan Steel Chronicles, they will be available at special prices along with complimentary tee shirts.
BUT, if you can’t make it Friday:
Come out and support our local LifeWay Store.
And, here is another perk. If you are one of the first 15 buyers for Hope Again, you will receive a complimentary copy of our Deluxe LifeFilters. (Additional sets can be purchased at the Well ONLY on Friday for $5). All others buyers will receive a complimentary set of our regular LifeFilters.
We’ll see you there!!!!
Bruce Hennigan 
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