Many small membership churches today are faced with the sobering reality of attendance loss and overall decline. This resource provides a guide to help you find hope, alternatives, and the possibility of a new beginning. Included are tools to help you measure your church's vitality, evaluate the results, and diagnose your church's condition, along with several options for treatment plans as you seek to faithfully serve your community. Remember that we can choose our story. If we believe in our hearts there is another possibility, we can be faithful in choosing intentional pathways forward that honor God, the church founders, and generations to come. Follow the steps outlined in these pages to evaluate where you are and what the next steps on your journey need to be as you seek to be a "not yet big church," "a stable, small church," or a church that chooses to close and be repurposed for unexpected new life.
This unique biography examines Hitler’s many female relationships, from his mother and sisters to his girlfriends, secretaries, and adoring public. To most of the world, Adolf Hitler was a ranting, evil demagogue whose insane ambitions caused incalculable harm to humanity. But to the women in his life, he was kind, compassionate, and loving—a man to be admired and adored. In Hitler and His Women, historian Phil Carradice explores the Fuhrer’s many relationships with women, from his romantic involvements to his interactions with female staff and the thousands of women who flocked to hear him speak. While many are familiar with Eva Braun, she was not alone in her role as the Fuhrer’s lover. Dozens of women preceded her, including Mitzi Reiter, Henny Hoffmann, and his own niece Geli Raubal. To them and many others, Hitler was the ultimate romantic. From deep familial bonds to a teenage infatuation with a girl he never met, from actresses like Zara Leander to English aristocrat Unity Mitford, Carradice examines how Hitlers relationships with women affected the course of history.
This unique biography examines Hitler’s many female relationships, from his mother and sisters to his girlfriends, secretaries, and adoring public. To most of the world, Adolf Hitler was a ranting, evil demagogue whose insane ambitions caused incalculable harm to humanity. But to the women in his life, he was kind, compassionate, and loving—a man to be admired and adored. In Hitler and His Women, historian Phil Carradice explores the Fuhrer’s many relationships with women, from his romantic involvements to his interactions with female staff and the thousands of women who flocked to hear him speak. While many are familiar with Eva Braun, she was not alone in her role as the Fuhrer’s lover. Dozens of women preceded her, including Mitzi Reiter, Henny Hoffmann, and his own niece Geli Raubal. To them and many others, Hitler was the ultimate romantic. From deep familial bonds to a teenage infatuation with a girl he never met, from actresses like Zara Leander to English aristocrat Unity Mitford, Carradice examines how Hitlers relationships with women affected the course of history.
Based on recent archaeological surveys and excavations, the chapters in this volume provide current, comprehensive, area-by-area summaries of the region's Precolumbian past. Research in the last two decades has indicated that the evolution and adaptations of the indigenous cultures of the region parallel those found elsewhere in Mesoamerica, from the simple Formative groups to the complex states of the North. The topics discussed in the book--areal and cultural syntheses and specific problems such as chronology, social organization, and economic systems--present much new information crucial to the understanding of cultural variations in Mesoamerica.
Heart and Humor That Are far Above Par Hit the links with popular humorist and golf enthusiast Phil Callaway as he shares stories of friendship, faith, and failure he found while on the fairway. From tee to green and all points in between, join Phil in a celebration of one of the world’s most exhilarating and exasperating pastimes. Aim for the flag as you enjoy anecdotes such as… The Itch—A long Canadian winter does nothing to stop some dedicated and determined early risers. The Backyard Classic—Scarcity and ingenuity give birth to the Airport Golf and Country Club, a unique course with 18 fairways and only one green. Escape from the Hanoi Hilton—A prisoner of war passes time and wins the battle for his mind. Prayer on a Golf Course—Will one man’s wish for an elusive hole-in-one be granted by God? Fore Is Short for Forgiveness—A dangerously errant drive leads to a lesson in mercy. Packed with unforgettable quotes, helpful tips, and amusing asides, Under Par will inspire you to never give up on the game you love…even when it doesn’t love you back.
We all want cities, where more than half of the world’s population currently live, to be just, successful, clean, fair, green, sustainable, safe, healthy and affordable. Will ‘smart cities’ help achieve these aspirations or undermine them in the time of COVID-19? Phil Allmendinger, a world expert on cities, development, and urban governance, takes a critical approach to the role of ‘smart’ in future cities and the relationship with city development. Considering how technology can support active citizenship, he challenges the commercial drivers of big tech and warns that these, not developments for ‘social good’, may dominate. Focusing on the dangers posed by social media, the platform economy and AI, he sets out what those making decisions on city development need to understand in order to save the planet through active politics and healthy cities.
There is a place in the Nevada desert the size of Belgium that doesn't officially exist. It is the airbase where test flights of our top-secret experimental military aircraft are conducted and --not coincidentally--where the conspiracy theorists insist the Pentagon is hiding UFOs and aliens. This is Dreamland--or Area 51. For Phil Patton, the idea of writing a travel account of a place he couldn't actually visit was irresistible. What he found was a world where Chick Yeager and the secret planes of the Cold War converged with the Nevada Test Site and alien landings at Roswell. A think tank for aviation engineering, Dreamland can be seen from a summit outside the base's perimeter, a hundred miles north of Las Vegas. On Freedom Ridge, groups of airplane buffs gather with their camouflage outfits and binoculars. These are the Stealth chasers, the Skunkers, guys with code names like Agent X and Zero, hoping for a glimpse of the rumored raylike shapes of planes like Black Manta and "the mother ship." The most mysterious craft is Aurora, the successor to the legendary U-2, said to run on methane and fly as fast as Mach 6. Scanning the same horizon, the UFO buffs are looking for the hovering lights and doughnut-shaped contrails of alien aircraft. Are they looking at something sinister and mysterious? Imagined? Or more terrestrial than they think? Dreamland shows how much we need mystery in the information age, and how the cultures of nuclear power and airpower merge with the folklores of extraterrestrials and earthly conspiracies. Patton found people who found themselves in the mysteries of the place. John Lear, the son of aviation pioneer Bill Lear--who gave his name to the jet--served as a pilot for the CIA's Air America, but back home, he became fascinated by UFOs and eventually believed in it all: the underground bases, the alien-human hybrids, the secret treaties. But was he a true believer, or part of a disinformation campaign? Bob Lazar seems to know when the saucers will come, and has made three clear sightings at night along Dreamland's perimeter, but is his story real, or a vision of what's possible? Dreamland is an exploration of America's most secret place: the base for our experimental airplanes, the fount of UFO rumors, an offshoot of the Nevada Test Site. How this "blackspot" came to exist--its history, its creators, its spies and counterspies--is Phil Patton's tale. He tunnels into the subcultures of the conspiracy buffs, the true believers, and the aeronautic geniuses, creating a novelistic tour de force destined to make us all rethink our convictions about American know-how--and alien inventiveness.
In Hoedowns, Reels, and Frolics, old-time musician and flatfoot dancer Philip Jamison journeys into the past and surveys the present to tell the story behind the square dances, step dances, reels, and other forms of dance practiced in southern Appalachia. These distinctive folk dances, Jamison argues, are not the unaltered jigs and reels brought by early British settlers, but hybrids that developed over time by adopting and incorporating elements from other popular forms. He traces the forms from their European, African American, and Native American roots to the modern day. On the way he explores the powerful influence of black culture, showing how practices such as calling dances as well as specific kinds of steps combined with white European forms to create distinctly "American" dances. From cakewalks to clogging, and from the Shoo-fly Swing to the Virginia Reel, Hoedowns, Reels, and Frolics reinterprets an essential aspect of Appalachian culture.
This book presents the creative industries as a suite of practices intimately connected to political, economic, and cultural power. Seeking to illuminate the creative industries through critical cultural analysis it shows the extent to which creative labour shapes our shared cultural and political realities, good and bad. The author presents creative labour as a form of employment which typically operates well outside conventional industrial relationships, highlighting the importance of cultural as well as political and economic value. The aim of doing so is to provide a view of the broader creative economy that shows up the effects and trends of its strange industrial relationships. It recognises new forms of audience labour as significant creative, political, cultural, and commercial forces, and frames cultures as preceptual systems, as systems of rules, conventions, morés, and laws. In so doing, the author provides a new cultural framework through which scholars, students, and reflective practitioners can make critical judgements about the creative economy and its creative acts.
The true story of the men and missions of the 11th Bombardment Group as it fought alone and unheralded in the South Central Pacific, while America had its eyes on the war in Europe.
EPUB and EPDF available Open Access under CC-BY-NC-ND licence. Since the mid-2010s, virtual reality (VR) technology has advanced rapidly. This book explores the many opportunities that VR can offer for humanities and social sciences researchers. The book provides a user-friendly, non-technical methods guide to using ready-made VR content and 360° video as well as creating custom materials. It examines the advantages and disadvantages of different approaches to using VR, providing helpful, real-world examples of how researchers have used the technology. The insights drawn from this analysis will inspire scholars to explore the possibilities of using VR in their own research projects.
Hailing from the big cities and small towns of America, these young men came together to serve their country and the greater good. They were the 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 82nd Airborne Division (the All Americans). Phil Nordyke, their official historian, draws on interviews with surviving veterans and oral history recordings as well as official archives and unpublished written accounts from more than three hundred veterans of the 505th PIR and their supporting units. This is history as it was lived by the men of the 505th, from their prewar coming of age in the regiment, through the end of World War II, when they marched in the Victory Parade up Fifth Avenue in New York, to the postwar legacy of having been part of an elite parachute regiment with a record unsurpassed in the annals of combat.
Looking at partisan groups such as the FLN, the Vietcong, and the Mujahedeen in Afghanistan, Ouroboros: Understanding the War Machine of Liberalism assesses how they convert their knowledge of self into tactical and strategic advantages that nullify the Clausewitzian advantages in the distribution of military power. Reynolds argues that liberalism has a global transformative mission that requires an ideologically democratic core and an illiberal periphery. By assessing the ouroboros, which sees action as definitive and final, the book explains how it powers the new strategy of preemption that intervenes in the periphery, ostensibly to set up democratic, security-centered adjuncts.
Ruthless is a candid exploration of the criminal subculture of Wall Street, and one of the first books to speak for the victims of the financial meltdown. On February 14, 2008, author Phil Trupp received a call from one of his brokers telling him a large portion of his investments were frozen—on ice—turning his life and plans for retirement upside down. When the fog started to clear, Trupp realized he was one of many investors caught up in what experts called the greatest attempted securities fraud in modern Wall Street history—a $336 billion scam which made the savings and loan scandal of the 1980s look like a simple street mugging. The path to destruction, financial or otherwise, often begins with a simple proposition. For author Phil Trupp it came from one of his stock brokers: "Take it, Phil. It’s free money." This free money came from auction-rate securities (ARS). Auction-Rate Securities are corporate or municipal bonds with a long-term maturity for which the interest rate is reset at frequent auctions. ARS interest rates were higher than money markets and were sold as completely safe, liquid, Triple-A rated "cash equivalents," a deceptive sales pitch that lured hundreds of thousands of investors to buy the securities. Since 2008, most auctions have failed leaving the market largely frozen. The victims ranged from individual investors to the Joffee Foundation, a nonprofit that can no longer fund programs that help prevent AIDS in Africa, to the Port Authority of New York. While this is a classic 21st century tale of Wall Street greed and betrayal, it is also a story of redemption and the life-altering struggle of American investors and others around the world who, in the end, beat the Wall Street fraud-masters. Ruthless is a story of how individual investors became mad as hell and joined together to reclaim their cash investments. So far they’ve reclaimed more than $200 billion and continue fighting for the rest. A lively, page-turning guide for any investor with a stunning lesson on how to fight back and win.
Responding to the relative failure of Christians to evangelize Muslims, Phil Parshall poses difficult questions about what is and is not essential to the Christian witness in Islamic contexts.
In Jolt! television producer, social media guru, and cultural commentator Phil Cooke helps you discover how you can navigate today's culture of disruption and actually use it to your advantage. You'll learn that changing a company and changing your life are based on virtually the same key principles. The world is changing at light speed, but mastering the power of change can revolutionize your business and your life. Stop feeling overwhelmed with changing technology, culture, business, trends, and values and regain the confidence that can give you a real advantage. The book reveals twenty-five "jolts" that anyone can leverage to establish a new direction, maximize potential, overcome insecurity, and create an amazing future and legacy. Jolt! will revolutionize your thinking and shake up your life!
Providing a vital link between theory and practice, this unique volume translates the latest research data on the effectiveness of interventions for Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) into practical guidance for education professionals working with ASD pupils. Reformulates new research data on interventions for ASD into guidance for professionals, drawing on the author’s in-depth academic knowledge and practical experience Offers a comprehensive review of up-to-date evidence on effectiveness across a wide range of interventions for ASD Focuses on environmental factors in understanding ASD rather than outdated ‘deficit’ approaches, and discusses key issues in education provision such as inclusion
Quantum Glory explores the intriguing intersection between the two realities of quantum mechanics and the glory of God. Quantum Glory consists of page after page of revelation as to the glory of God and the wonders of the universe. Part One explores the subatomic world, revealing its exceptionally intricate divine design that unveils the mind of our Creator. InPart Two, the author explains how the glory of God invades our physical universe to bring about miracles of divine healing. Quantum Glory is packed with revelation that will blow your mind! But more than that, it is designed to equip you in supernatural ministry so that you can also release the glory of God on earth as it is in heaven! Prepare to have your world turned upside down!
This guide brings together, for the first time in single volume, a comprehensive review of all the world's pheasants, partridges, quails, grouse, turkeys, guineafowl, buttonquails, sandgrouse, and the enigmatic Plains-wanderer - over 250 species in all. The group includes some of the world's most familiar and beautiful birds, such as Indian Peafowl and the stunning tragopans, as well as some of the rarest and most threatened. Some survive in fragments of over-exploited habitats, whilst others are now so familiar in domestication that it is difficult to imagine that they had any wild ancestors at all. As with other volumes in the award-winning Helm Identification Guide series, this book concentrates on identification and distribution, but also highlights conversation issues where relevant. Each species is treated in detail, reflecting the extensive knowledge of both authors. The 72 colour plates, by leading bird illustrators, show male, female, juvenile and subspecies plumages, and form the finest set of illustrations of these birds to date. There is also a colour distribution map for each species. Pheasants, Partridges & Grouse is a welcome addition to the Helm Identification Guide series, more importantly, a landmark volume in the literature of this attractive and vulnerable group of birds.
Through the words of its veterans, details the regimental history of the 82nd Airborne Division 'All Americans' from Operation Husky in July of 1943 through D-Day and Operation Market Garden to the Battle of the Bulge, and finally ending in Berlin as part of the occupying forces.
As spring and summer vacations beckon, this book invites and incites a whole new approach to travel. "Postmarks from a Political Traveler" is a series of travel recollections confronting the troubling topics of roots and racism, polar bears and climate change, anti-Americanism, and the war in Afghanistan. The book opens with the story of the author s experience growing up in the Jim Crow South, traveling in apartheid South Africa, and living in the post-apartheid South Africa of 2009 and 2010. It explores the not-so-dissimilar roots and racism of the United States and South Africa, as well as the cross-fertilization of ideas between the two countries. The next installment chronicles two trips to Churchill, Manitoba, where the planet s largest population of polar bears congregate each October. It recounts the dramatic changes that have occurred in both the human and the polar bear communities in just the last decade and shows how the bears have become an Arctic version of the proverbial canary in the coalmine. Then the book shifts to the author s journey back to the United States on a German freighter with a rabidly anti-American captain. Woven into this account of life aboard a long haul ship are threads of the author s travels and anti-American encounters over a decade of living in Africa and Asia. The book concludes with reflections on trips to Afghanistan in 2004 and in 2012, describing the effects of war and conflict zone politics on women, education, refugees, and aid workers. What ties these episodes together is the author s commitment to social justice and to changing the world through travel and writing that is, affirming travel as a political act.
Every episode of the first four seasons of equipment oddities, weird science, strange but true observations, and nutty technical difficulties for discriminating fans of Deep Space Nine. Commanders Log, DS9: Star Date 46379.1: Bajor below. The cosmos above. Bloopers Everywhere! How long is the wormhole? In "Emissary," it is 70,000 light years. Four episodes later Sisko says it is 90,000. Better check the odometer, Sisko! Does the Space Station rotate? Sometimes it does, and sometimes it doesn't! Look at the stars in the windows... Now that NextGen is history, the time has come to take a leap through hyperspace and land on Deep Space Nine. It's unexplored territory for nitpicking, the ultimate challenge for discriminating fans. This guide brings you the scoop on Deep Space Nine--the good, the bad, and the Ferengi. Author Phil Farrand (with a little help from his Trekker friends) has had his VCR in warp drive and surveyed every DS9 episode of the first four seasons for the glitches, gaffs, and goofs that neither the station's engineers nor the show's writers have solved. Sit yourself down with this guide in one hand, your remote control in the other, and see for yourself what the wormhole has wrought.
In these 36 devotional readings, Phil Callaway draws from his experience on the golf course to share inspiring insights about life with Christ. Phil sees golf as more than "a good walk spoiled" and shares penetrating applications from it to the Christian's walk with God. Believers will appreciate these fresh and candid meditations, and unbelievers will be won over by the humor and tender warmth in Phil's writing. Phil's books and articles have won more than a dozen international awards as well as the admiration of thousands of loyal readers. Golfers young and old alike will benefit from Phil's passion for telling stories that help people laugh and learn about the things that matter most.
The Chicago Bears are more than a football team—they are a legend. Founded in 1919, the Bears have won more regular season games than any other NFL franchise. With twenty-six players in the Pro Football Hall of Fame and thirteen retired jerseys, it’s no wonder the Bears can be defined by three phrases: Big, tough, and full of characters. The Bears, like Chicago, are not just people. They are personalities. In Amazing Tales From the Chicago Bears Sideline, Bears fans can read about the men who have made the Bears one of the greatest franchises in pro football—George Halas, Dick Butkus, Mike Ditka, Walter Payton, and many others. Former Bears star Steve McMichael takes a front row seat in this collection of stories. Readers get to walk through the most vibrant years of a charter NFL franchise—as seen through the eyes of a legendary player. McMichael covers it all, from training camp misadventures in Lake Forest, Illinois, and Platteville, Wisconsin, and Ditka’s locker room tirades to nights on the town with Dan Hampton and friends and behind-the-scenes glimpses of extraordinary teammates.
A filmographic and bibliographic guide to the screen adaptations of the story of Carmen. 'Carmen' on Screen is a filmographic and bibliographic guide for scholars interested in the different versions of the story of Carmen in film since her original appearance in Mérimée's novella and its operatic adaptation byBizet. With over 110 screen versions between 1894 and 2005, it is the most adapted narrative in film. The volume offers: chronological listings of 82 feature films with credits and annotations of scholarly articles, selected citations of reviews and news articles, and listings of more general works on film adaptations of opera; works on the novella or on the opera; and, finally, lists of works on the 12 major female and 8 major male stars in the 82feature films. ANN DAVIES lectures in Spanish Studies and Film at the University of Newcastle; PHIL POWRIE is Professor of French Cultural Studies at the University of Newcastle.
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