What if everything you need is already there? Many Christian churches and related institutions in the United States are struggling or, in some cases, facing imminent crisis, especially in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Attendance is down. Funding is harder to come by. People are no longer drawn to traditional church services and programming in the ways that they once were. Often, we feel broke and powerless to do much about it. We settle for doing more with less: Less money. Fewer people. Fewer churches. But if we reexamine our perceived limits and our assumptions about how resources are supposed to be used, then something remarkable and beautiful comes into view: we aren’t broke at all but have enormous resources at our disposal. Church and missional organizations nationwide own billions of dollars of prime property and investment assets, which, when combined with social enterprise and new expressions of mission, can be put to work for innovation and transformation. And these resources are often available to us right now. This book is an invitation to envision a different way of putting God’s gifts to work in the world. It draws upon a remarkable story of rebirth at a Presbyterian affiliated campus ministry center at the University of Wisconsin, along with profiles of other creative social enterprises, to describe how church property and investment assets can be put to work for innovation, transformation, and financial sustainability. Theologically rooted but practically minded, it provides guidance and tools for church and nonprofit leaders, entrepreneurs, and investors of all kinds who are seeking new ways to fund and participate in God’s work in the world.

Write more with less pain! Why Aren’t You Writing?: Research, Real Talk, Strategies, & Shenanigans describes research on how bright and otherwise fairly normal people lose their minds when it comes to writing, and then shows the reader how to stop being one of those people. Author Sharon Zumbrunn designed this brief text for beginning and struggling academic writers so they can understand the psychological hang-ups that can get in the way of productivity. This book intertwines social and behavioral science research and humor to offer tips and exercises to help writers overcome their hurdles. Each chapter includes a description of findings from psychological and related research on writing hurdles and personal experiences of the writing process. Within the chapters, the author provides practical strategies and resources to help writers move beyond the challenges holding them back. Why Aren′t You Writing? acknowledges how emotionally and mentally challenging it can be to be a "writer." This book helps readers to balance the hard work required for change with a bit of levity often necessary for withstanding sustained difficult thinking and meaningful change. Together, the components of this text present a systematic approach for beginning and struggling academics to become aware of what might be happening in their heads when they (don’t) write, and harness that knowledge to build a healthier and more resilient relationship with writing.

The Lord's Prayer holds an honored place in the worship and devotional practices of countless Christians around the world. People of every ethnic background, denominational affiliation, and theological leaning pray to "Our Father who art in heaven." But what if there's more to it than we think? Our Father Who Aren't in Heaven takes a decidedly this-worldly approach to the prayer, and seeks to understand what Jesus meant to teach his original disciples--and us--through this radical manifesto of the kingdom of God. In these pages, Robert S. Turner presents a political reading of the prayer and explores how we can encounter through it a God who has left the divine hammock empty and cast God's lot with humanity and the rest of creation. A renewed understanding of the prayer may have the capacity to transform the world. These subversive reflections on the Lord's Prayer may have the capacity to transform the reader as well.

Why should anyone believe in God in a world with so much pain? Why should I become a Christian when I find the public agenda of many Christians so offensive? I have been hurt by the church in the past. Why should I bother with it now? Most Christians have found themselves in conversations with nonbelieving friends and family where these kinds of questions have come up. In fact, most Christians have probably found themselves asking these questions too. But everyone who has ever wondered about such complicated things knows that this is dangerous territory—after all, what if there’s no easy answer? This book welcomes and encourages these questions that Christians “aren’t supposed to ask.” In each chapter, James Brownson introduces a particular question and then reframes it with a relevant passage from the Bible, bringing to bear his expertise as a biblical scholar. Rather than providing dogmatic (and ultimately unsatisfying) “Sunday school answers,” he explores the questions in provocative ways that often challenge the status quo of American Christianity. Fittingly, each chapter closes with discussion questions and suggestions for further reading, so that the conversations begun here can continue among the book’s readers in fruitful ways.

From the creator of the iconic "Cathy" comic strip comes her first collection of funny, wise, poignant, and incredibly honest essays about being a woman in what she lovingly calls "the panini generation." As the creator of "Cathy," Cathy Guisewite found her way into the hearts of readers more than forty years ago, and has been there ever since. Her hilarious and deeply relatable look at the challenges of womanhood in a changing world became a cultural touchstone for women everywhere. Now Guisewite returns with her signature wit and warmth in this debut essay collection about another time of big transition, when everything starts changing and disappearing without permission: aging parents, aging children, aging self stuck in the middle. With her uniquely wry and funny admissions and insights, Guisewite unearths the humor and horror of everything from the mundane (trying to introduce her parents to TiVo and facing four decades' worth of unorganized photos) to the profound (finding a purpose post-retirement, helping parents downsize their lives, and declaring freedrom from all those things that hold us back). No longer confined to the limits of four comic panels, Guisewite holds out her hand in prose form and becomes a reassuring companion for those on the threshold of "what happens next." Heartfelt and humane and always cathartic, Fifty Things That Aren't My Fault is ideal reading for mothers, daughters, and anyone who is caught somewhere in between.

A woman longs to be loved. So when there is a lack of connection with her husband, the hurt can run deep. With encouraging examples from her marriage and those of women surveyed, author and speaker Julie Clinton models how readers can start important conversations with their husbands and express their deepest thoughts about topics of faith, life and love, including: Hurts: How he distances her emotionally or physically Sex: What she likes, dislikes, and desires for sexual and nonsexual touch The Past: Secrets, prior sexual relationships, abortion, abuse, shame God: Her needs for spiritual leadership, prayer, and spiritual intimacy Dreams: Her hopes and her desire for mutual goals These intimacy solutions will spark reconnection in a marriage and will remind couples of their deep affection for one another and the strength and beauty of a relationship that is based on truth, acceptance, and forgiveness.

Global warming. Many of us believe that it is somebody else’s problem, that it will affect other people and that other people will come up with the solution. This is not true. "Global" warming is a global problem: it will affect every single one of us and will only be stopped by a huge shift in our individual attitudes and behaviour. Each time one of us switches on a light, reaches for something in a supermarket, gets into a car or bus, or even chooses what clothes to buy, we are making a choice that can affect the environment. We already know that we need to start making better choices for the sake of our natural world, now. So why aren’t we already saving the planet? This book follows one psychologist’s mission to find some answers to this question. Challenged by a student to use psychology to find the root of the problem, Geoffrey Beattie (an environmental "unbeliever") begins a personal and life-changing journey of discovery. The reader is invited to accompany him as he uses psychological methods to examine people’s attitudes to global warming. Along the way we find the author’s own attitudes being challenged, as well as our own. This ground-breaking book reflects new and innovative research being carried out into how to change attitudes to the environment and how to encourage sustainable behaviour. It is eminently readable and interesting and, as such, should be read by anyone who is concerned about the future of our planet. In fact, you should also read it if you’re not concerned about our planet.