Holding Up Your Corner: Talking About Race in Your Community, equips pastors to respond with confidence when crises occur, lower their own inhibitions about addressing this topic, and reclaim their authority as prophetic witnesses and leaders in order to transform their communities Pastors and other church leaders see, to varying degrees, racially rooted injustice in their communities. Most of them understand an imperative, as part of their calling from God, to lead their congregations to address and reverse this injustice. For instance, preachers want to be preaching prophetically on this topic. But the problems seem irreversible, intractable, overwhelming, and pastors often feel their individual efforts will be futile. Additionally, they realize that there is a lot of risk involved, including the possibility that their actions may offend and even push some members away from the church. They do not know what to do or how to begin. And so, even during times of crisis, pastors and other church leaders typically do less than they know they could and should. This book provides practical, foundational guidance, showing pastors how to live into their calling to address injustice, and how to lead others to do the same. Holding Up Your Corner prompts readers to observe, identify and name the complex causes of violence and hatred in the reader’s particular community, including racial prejudice, entrenched poverty and exploitation, segregation, the loss of local education and employment, the ravages of addiction, and so on. The book walks the church leader through a self-directed process of determining what role to play in the leader’s particular location. Readers will learn to use testimony and other narrative devices, proclamation, guided group conversations, and other tactics in order to achieve the following: Open eyes to the realities in the reader’s community—where God’s reign/kingdom is not yet overcoming selfishness, injustice, inequality, or the forces of evil. Own the calling and responsibility we have as Christians, and learn how to advocate hope for God’s kingdom in the reader’s community. Organize interventions and activate mission teams to address the specific injustices in the reader’s community. What Does ‘Holding Up Your Corner’ Mean? The phrase ‘holding up your corner’ is derived from a biblical story (Mark 2: 1 – 5) about four people who take action in order to help another person—literally delivering that person to Christ. For us, ‘holding up your corner’ has meaning in two aspects of our lives today: First, it refers to our physical and social locations, the places where we live and work, and the communities of which we’re a part. These are the places where our assumptions, attitudes, and beliefs have influence on the people around us. When we feel empowered to speak out about the injustice or inequity in our community, we are holding up our corner. Second, the phrase refers to our actions, the ways we step up to meet a particular problem of injustice or inequity, and proactively do something about it. When we put ourselves—literally—next to persons who are suffering, and enter into their situation in order to bring hope and healing to the person and the situation, we are holding up our corner, just like the four people who held up the corner of the hurting man’s mat.

A unique, conversation-based experience that pastors facilitate for their communities.

Video stories that will open participants to new ways of thinking, spur their own self-examination, offer a sense of common experience, and spur thoughtful dialogue.

With questions for reflection and discussion that follow the trade book, The Good Book Participant's Guide will foster group discussion among small-group and Sunday School members, helping them understand the Bible's most prominent themes in a way that applies to their own lives.

Over a thousand action-packed pages at a massive discount! Enjoy this breathtaking paranormal romance series from an award-winning author. Four full-length novels are included in this bundle: Drowning Mermaids To escape the war in her underwater kingdom, the noble daughter of a murdered king must flee to Alaska. Doing all she can to keep her younger sisters safe, Aazuria tries to assimilate and work among the Americans, with her feisty red-haired bodyguard at her side. This refuge holds pleasant surprises, for the princess meets a somber gentleman in a dark corner who promises to show her his world. Trevain Murphy is a successful crab fisherman who has spent his life building an empire above the sea, but knows nothing of the greater empire beneath the surface. When a graceful dancer captures his attention, he becomes fascinated with her. As it becomes clear that the dark-haired woman is much more than she seems, Trevain is unprepared to uncover the staggering secrets behind her innocent facade. Neither the captain nor the princess can imagine that their lives will become forcibly entwined as a common enemy threatens both of their worlds... Fathoms of Forgiveness There is no divorce in the undersea kingdom of Adlivun. Marriage is a bond that lasts until death--even if death comes in several centuries, and in that time your spouse happens to become your sworn enemy. This is the conflict that General Visola Ramaris faces when she learns that the mighty Vachlan is behind the attacks on her kingdom. She has sworn to protect Adlivun with her life, but long ago, she also swore to love and honor her husband... Princess Aazuria forbids Visola from taking matters into her own hands, but she cannot protect her friend from the evil grip of her former lover. Visola must choose whether she will destroy Vachlan once and for all, or attempt the hardest thing conceivable: communication. After two hundred years of desertion, she has no faith in their feeble bond and knows she can never forgive him. When he threatens the person dearest to her, she must take action. Confronting Vachlan on enemy territory will be nothing short of suicide, but she has no choice... Boundless Sea With Queen Aazuria missing, the undersea kingdom of Adlivun has been thrust into political unrest and turmoil. Elandria is expected to take over her sister's responsibilities, but she is overwhelmed with depression. The sea-dwellers are desperately in need of protection from the foreign submarine superpower known as The Clan of Zalcan. Although it is ancient tradition for the mermaids to conceal and protect their people from land-dwelling societies, they decide to finally reveal themselves to the American public and seek assistance. After much political debate by the countries of the Pacific Rim, America and Russia have decided to help: on one condition. The mermaids must join APEC and contribute endless labor to the organization, helping to build and indefinitely maintain a massive trans-pacific highway tunnel which will link Alaska to the Chukotka Peninsula. This will allow land-traffic to travel between North America and Eurasia for the first time, changing the economy of the world forever. Abyssal Zone Aazuria Vellamo has returned to the undersea kingdom of Adlivun only to find that the place she called home for over five hundred years has changed drastically. Having been forsaken as dead several years ago, she finds her husband in the arms of another woman. Once the beloved rightful queen, Aazuria is now an outcast hiding among the commoners. She observes the political situation from a distance, trying to maneuver her daughter into the safest place possible-- but Aazuria quickly discovers that no part of the expanding nation is safe any longer...

“The first piece of work by a new English writer to give me any hope for the future of prose fiction.” —T. S. Eliot As over-the-top as it is inventive, Durrell’s breakthrough novel is a series of sordid vignettes drawn from the lives of decadent artists, doomed bohemians, and continental rascals inhabiting a shabby London hotel, narrated in turns by the unforgettable Lawrence Lucifer and Gregory Death. Together, these characters seek to escape the absurdity of a Europe haunted by devastating war, yet beginning to pitch toward another apocalypse. First published in 1938, and influenced by Henry Miller and the sincere pranksterism of the surrealist movement, The Black Book marks the emergence of one of the most revolutionary voices in twentieth-century English literature. This ebook contains a new introduction by DBC Pierre.

Social participation naturally occues in everyday life in combination with daily occupations, such as when people interact while eating, playing , carpooling, and working. This book provides information on social participation for different occupations.