Crunching more data maybe helpful but will not revolutionize, let alone save, a declining church. We need creative thinking done by people who are not afraid to face the institutional church. Indeed, the change we long for is already happening. It is happening on the margins in ministries to the least, the last, and the lost. Written by two creative pastors with different but successful ministries, this breathtaking book will show you how the church can live out its mission and ignite a movement. If we pay attention, we can let this Jesus Insurgency create new life.

The Insurgency of the Spirit taps mutli-disciplinary methodologies of post-colonial biblical scholarship and anthropology, liberation theologies, indigenous studies, grief/trauma research, and nature-meditation writings to shape a constructive retrieval of the animist Jesus. The vision that emerges is one that sets forward an Earth-loving Jesus who challenges Christians in particular to mobilize against the destructive relationship that exists between imperial religion and political systems.

All ministry leaders concern themselves with the intersection of Jesus-centered ministry and contemporary culture. They ask themselves questions such as, "What do we need to change in order to keep up with a wired world?" "What should never change?" "What are the nonnegotiables of faith in Jesus?" Many have attempted to answer these questions. However, most of these leaders offer solutions that the everyday ministry leader simply cannot replicate. Signs of the Times is a unique offering to those who wrestle with the mash-up of ministry and culture. All of the contributors have found success within their ministries, and yet most do not minister to thousands on a weekly basis. Additionally, all of them have had the privilege of studying directly with Dr. Leonard I. Sweet. Despite having authored more than fifty books, Sweet can still be a bit of an enigma. Many of his readers have been deeply influenced by him, and yet they may still struggle to understand what his insights might mean for their ministry. Each of the contributors to this work thoughtfully engages with a key idea that they personally learned from Sweet and they translate it for ministry in the early twenty-first century.

The El Paso Salt War of 1877 has gone down in history as the spontaneous action of a mindless rabble, but as author Paul Cool deftly demonstrates, the episode was actually an insurgency, the product of a deliberate, community-based decision squarely in the tradition of the American nation s original fight for self-government. The Pasenos (local Mexican Americans) had held common ownership of the immense salt lakes at the base of the Guadalupe Mountains since the time of Spanish rule. They believed their title was confirmed in the treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo. However, to the American businessmen who saw in the white expanse a cash crop that could make them rich in the years following the American Civil War, ownership appeared up for grabs. After years of struggle among Anglo politicians and speculators eager to seize the lakes, an Austin banker staked a legal claim in 1877, and his son-in-law, Charles Howard, started to enforce it. Cool chronicles the ensuing popular uprising that disrupted established governmental authority in El Paso for twelve weeks. Unique features of this pioneering book include the author s employment of previously untapped sources and the first thorough and systematic use of familiar ones, notably the government report El Paso Troubles in Texas, to create this detailed study of the war. First-person accounts from reports and newspaper items create a landmark day-by-day account of the San Elizario battle, including the location of the Texas Ranger positions. This fast-paced account not only corrects the record of this historical episode but will also resonate in the context of today s racial and ethnic tensions along the U.S.-Mexico border."

Christ: The Dark Years is a descriptive narrative that combines history and divine revelation to chronicle the life Jesus lived during the years that are not included in the bible. Lead on journeys of philosophical and psychological self discovery by the Three Wise Men and women in his life, Jesus struggles with his own humanity and the ideas of world early Religious Sects. His major struggle was the method by which he would convert the western world to monotheism. He is influenced by the people he meets on his travels through Africa, Babylon, India, and Asia. In fact he works to fight sexism and other unjust causes and he addresses feminism, political ideologies, as well as social justice.

In recent years, the south-western border of the United States has come under increasing pressure from the activities of Mexican narco-insurgents. These insurgents have developed rapidly from beginnings as nebulous gangs into networked cartels that have exposed the porosity of the border. These cartels declare no allegiance to any nation and are engaging in asymmetrical warfare against sovereign states throughout Mexico and in Central America. Within such states, de facto political control is shifting to the cartels in the ‘areas of impunity’ that have emerged. This book addresses these concerns and focuses on the criminal insurgencies being waged by the gangs and cartels. It is divided into sections on theory, Mexico, and the Americas and contains a number of introductory essays pertaining to this premier security threat to the United States and her allies in the region. Topics covered include criminal and spiritual insurgency, cartel weapons, corruption, feral cities, Los Zetas, politicized gangs, and threat analysis in Central America. This book will be a valuable resource to scholars in the fields of regional security, criminal justice and American Studies. It will be of great benefit to military and civil policymakers and practitioners in the areas of law enforcement and counternarcotics. This book was published as a special issue of Small Wars and Insurgencies.

Christ: The Dark Years is a descriptive narrative that combines historical findings and legend to chronicle the life Jesus lived during the years that are not included in the bible. Lead on journeys of philosophical and psychological self discovery by the Three Wise Men and women in his life, Jesus struggles with his own humanity and the ideas of early Religious Sects. His major struggle was the method by which he would convert the world to Monotheism. He is influenced by the people he meets on his travels through Africa, Babylon, India, and Asia. In fact he works to fight Sexism, Social Justice, and the Secret Societies that would one Exploit the Religion that he founded.