What starts out as a phone call and job offer to Arizonan Mike Green quickly evolves into a mystifying adventure into the unknown. Mike is recruited into a San Deigo-based Defense Department research team called the "Joint Reconnaissance Study Group." The group includes ten women and men, all well-trained and dedicated. The "JRSG" and its friends gather intelligence information on unusual phenomena: UFOs, crop circles, dolphin intelligence, deep-memory DNA theories, near-death experiences, "Earth changes" involving "pole shifts," and Native American culture and legends. Connections among these areas are discovered, as well as links to the past and future of Earth and the human race. The group explores ancient questions and modern discoveries crucial to the evolution of humanity. They conduct investigations in San Diego, Sedona, Arizona, the "Four Corners" region, and Hawaii. They face experiences that are scientific, physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual. The group faces deadly threats from opponents who want to stop them. In the midst of dangers, there is romantic and erotic heat betweeen Mike and Amy Mella, one of the group's dolphin researchers. Even with the support and fellowship from his friends, Mike faces extreme circumstances alone. This is a story of relationships between women and men, military and civilian, the intelligence community and the average American, the known and the unknown. It is an exploration of strange phenomena and mysteries that now hold the interest and attention of millions of people worldwide. The characters follow paths of discovery to find a new understanding of their nation, the human species, and a hoped-for breakthrough that will change the world.

There is a growing body of literature about the missional church, but the word missional is often defined in competing ways with little attempt to ground it deeply in Scripture. Michael Goheen, a dynamic speaker and the coauthor of two popular texts on the biblical narrative, unpacks the missional identity of the church by tracing the role God's people are called to play in the biblical story. Goheen shows that the church's identity can be understood only when its role is articulated in the context of the whole biblical story--not just the New Testament, but the Old Testament as well. He also explores practical outworkings and implications, offering field-tested suggestions for contemporary churches.

Unlike so many other leadership, management, and self-help books, “A Glossary of Mission, Vision, and Passion” is written with punch and verve, reminding us who we are and what we can be, especially during times of stress. This illuminating book serves as a snappy reminder how to stay out of our own way. Here are just a few of the terms found within. Complacency – a full set of encyclopediasThere is the story about an ad someone found in the Christian Science Monitor. It read, “Full set of encyclopedias for sale, never been used; husband knows everything.” In the dating process when our hormones are popping or our testosterone levels are high; we do not miss doing everything and being everything under the sun for that other person. But then we begin to take things for granted. We begin to say, “Well, she knows I love her. I don't have to do that so much for her anymore.” “He knows I love him; I don't have to listen as attentively as I did before.” “The boss knows I care, I don't have to come in early every day like I used to.” Then all of sudden someone takes off with our job, with our employee, with our customers or our business, our wife or our husband, and we act shocked. But we became complacent.What you implied when you first signed on is a contract. What you implied when you were courting and wooing and pleasing your partner was a contract. When you break a contract, which means you stopped doing what made your relationship in a job or at home successful in the first place, you are out of integrity.Eleventh CommandmentThou shalt not covet thy co-worker's position or job title unless thou hast worked thy butt off to attain the same aptitude, develop the same interpersonal skills, continued your education, taken the same classes, made the same sacrifices, and shown the same patience as they did regardless of the rating or title with which they came into the organization or department. And you, if you came in with a higher rating, had better be continuing to show up as a person who is patient, humble, empathetic, always working on your skills as well, and most importantly seeking to share your knowledge with all others. For thou knowest about thine ego…Ego – the ego hates its own funeral“The ego hates its own funeral.”Dr.Viktor Frankle, author, neurologist, psychiatrist, Holocaust survivorSelf-talk – I don't have to believe a word I'm saying Remember that nothing has meaning except the meaning you give it. The key to freedom is that I don't have to believe a word I am saying. If your self-talk is negative you can gently say, “Thank you for sharing,” and keep going. A warrior can tame the cobra of fear. Warriors either live from their vision or they live from their story. Your fears are your story. Your strength is also your story. When you create a story with one or the other you own it, then it owns you. Take an accident prone person for example; what do they focus on? That's right, having accidents! A warrior concentrates on inner power.Star Wars – Luke, It Is Your DestinyI want to take this idea of being who you were made to be one step further. Your ancestors developing wiles and guiles, showing courage and stamina, perfecting craft and stealth and manifesting true grit, did not survive dinosaurs and wild animals, starvations and pestilence, raids and marauders, wars and diasporas; then a boat or land crossing, then more wars, civil or world, for you to disgrace your bloodlines by quitting or not doing your best, in fact doing more than your best. Indeed, it is these times where the survival experiences and hardships that formed the blood coursing through your veins shows up and shows off. You have a lot to offer. Your ancestors' sacrifices demand it; your friends and family need it, your future generations expect it: They want the modeling and you're it!

Walter Kaiser questions the notion that the New Testament represents a deviation from God's supposed intention to save only the Israelites. He argues that--contrary to popular opinion--the older Testament does not reinforce an exclusive redemptive plan. Instead, it emphasizes a common human condition and God's original and continuing concern for all humanity. Kaiser shows that the Israelites' mission was always to actively spread to gentiles the Good News of the promised Messiah. This new edition adds two new chapters, freshens material throughout, expands the bibliography, and includes study questions.

In this scripturally rich exploration, senior missiologist Craig Ott unpacks the mission statement of the church: to glorify God by multiplying transformational churches among all people. This concise yet robust biblical-theological treatment focuses on God's glory, a strong ecclesiology, the importance of Scripture, and practical implications for congregational and mission practice. Ideal for launching discussion and reflection, the book helps readers refocus their vision and reignite their commitment to fulfilling God's purposes for their church or mission.

A vivid portrait of how Naval oversight shaped American oceanography, revealing what difference it makes who pays for science. What difference does it make who pays for science? Some might say none. If scientists seek to discover fundamental truths about the world, and they do so in an objective manner using well-established methods, then how could it matter who’s footing the bill? History, however, suggests otherwise. In science, as elsewhere, money is power. Tracing the recent history of oceanography, Naomi Oreskes discloses dramatic changes in American ocean science since the Cold War, uncovering how and why it changed. Much of it has to do with who pays. After World War II, the US military turned to a new, uncharted theater of warfare: the deep sea. The earth sciences—particularly physical oceanography and marine geophysics—became essential to the US Navy, which poured unprecedented money and logistical support into their study. Science on a Mission brings to light how this influx of military funding was both enabling and constricting: it resulted in the creation of important domains of knowledge but also significant, lasting, and consequential domains of ignorance. As Oreskes delves into the role of patronage in the history of science, what emerges is a vivid portrait of how naval oversight transformed what we know about the sea. It is a detailed, sweeping history that illuminates the ways funding shapes the subject, scope, and tenor of scientific work, and it raises profound questions about the purpose and character of American science. What difference does it make who pays? The short answer is: a lot.