Christopher Sparks asked Facebook friends to finish the question: “How can you still be Catholic when … ?” The replies came swiftly and forcefully. With that, Sparks went to work. Here is the result. In this book, he addresses the biggest issues people grapple with when they think about the Catholic Church: the Inquisition, the Crusades, the Church’s role in a state, homosexuality, the role of women in the Church, and many others.For skeptics and non-Catholics, this book is an invitation to understanding the faith, a way for outsiders to hear one contemporary Catholic’s worldview, and to see through Catholic eyes, even if they remain unconvinced. For Catholics, this book is an introduction to an array of answers and resources for delving more deeply into and defending the faith.
Savannah is excited about throwing a holiday ice skating party and has already invited friends from her new school, when she learns that Jonas has invited the crowd from her old school to a party the same day.
We all have "messes" in our lives. Some are big ones, and some are small ones. Some we make with our choices, some are made for us by others or by sickness. This book is the result of the "mess" I created with my sin. I found my life turned upside down. I was locked up in prison without my freedom, I disgraced my family, I drove my friends away, and I had lost my job. I hit bottom, and I finally realized that I needed a savior. I cried out to God to take back control over my life. Once I did that, I needed a place to start, and God lead me straight to His word. The devotions you will find on the pages of this book are the very words God gave me, as He gave them to me. They are His messages of hope and salvation to a hurting child that He loves. He carried me through that season of my life. No matter what it is you are going through in your life, as you read the pages of this book, you will feel the overwhelming love and care Jesus has for you. Day after day, the words He shares with you will heal you and clean up those messes you made by doing it without Him. God will get so much glory as we walk together watching Him turn your messes into His messages. He did it for me, I Know He will do it for you too.
Sparks in the Dark is an anthology of fictional short stories. Sit back and enter a world where the ties of family are put to the test; where a coffee shop conversation turns to the future of mankind; where a television show may be a little too real; and where a young man may be just a little too eager to burn rubber on the road. There's these and many others that will make you laugh, make you cry and throw chills down your spine. Caution: Due to the extreme possibility that these stories may induce goosebumps, you're advised to read during sunlight, surrounded by many people. Enjoy!
10 Stories inspired by the American West from authors around the world.Vol. 1 Issue 1. Fall 2014Featuring stories from:Paul LorelloJim WilskyDawn VogelAidan ThornDavid James KeatonTom PittsCoy HallRobert Lowell RussellGareth SparkChristopher Daviscover art by J.T. Lindroos
From the shopping mall to the corner bistro, knockoffs are everywhere in today's marketplace. Conventional wisdom holds that copying kills creativity, and that laws that protect against copies are essential to innovation--and economic success. But are copyrights and patents always necessary? In The Knockoff Economy, Kal Raustiala and Christopher Sprigman provocatively argue that creativity can not only survive in the face of copying, but can thrive. The Knockoff Economy approaches the question of incentives and innovation in a wholly new way--by exploring creative fields where copying is generally legal, such as fashion, food, and even professional football. By uncovering these important but rarely studied industries, Raustiala and Sprigman reveal a nuanced and fascinating relationship between imitation and innovation. In some creative fields, copying is kept in check through informal industry norms enforced by private sanctions. In others, the freedom to copy actually promotes creativity. High fashion gave rise to the very term "knockoff," yet the freedom to imitate great designs only makes the fashion cycle run faster--and forces the fashion industry to be even more creative. Raustiala and Sprigman carry their analysis from food to font design to football plays to finance, examining how and why each of these vibrant industries remains innovative even when imitation is common. There is an important thread that ties all these instances together--successful creative industries can evolve to the point where they become inoculated against--and even profit from--a world of free and easy copying. And there are important lessons here for copyright-focused industries, like music and film, that have struggled as digital technologies have made copying increasingly widespread and difficult to stop. Raustiala and Sprigman's arguments have been making headlines in The New Yorker, the New York Times, the Financial Times, the Boston Globe, Le Monde, and at the Freakonomics blog, where they are regular contributors. By looking where few had looked before--at markets that fall outside normal IP law--The Knockoff Economy opens up fascinating creative worlds. And it demonstrates that not only is a great deal of innovation possible without intellectual property, but that intellectual property's absence is sometimes better for innovation.
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