Embracing The Passion

Convention suggests it is best not to talk about faith and politics: this book talks about both! It argues that Jesus was a political figure who championed the rights of the marginalised, the oppressed and voiceless. In this challenging and accessible book, Nigel Pimlott argues young people are often marginalised, oppressed and rarely heard in a world favouring the rich and powerful. Young people are opinionated, passionate about what they think is right and wrong, and are concerned about the world they live in. Yet research indicates young people are disengaged from mainstream political processes where they can express their views - young adults have stopped voting in elections in unprecedented numbers. This is something of a paradox. Nigel contends that by more effectively equipping Christian youth workers and ministers to do politicking, they will be able to better equip and disciple young people to be more politically engaged in their own contexts. This unique research-based book provides a concise overview of how youth workers might best help young people flourish and realise the common good. It engages those interested in politics – and more importantly – encourages those not interested to get interested and make a difference in the world!

The coauthors of the bestselling Peak Performance dive into the fascinating science behind passion, showing how it can lead to a rich and meaningful life while also illuminating the ways in which it is a double-edged sword. Here’s how to cultivate a passion that will take you to great heights—while minimizing the risk of an equally great fall. Common advice is to find and follow your passion. A life of passion is a good life, or so we are told. But it's not that simple. Rarely is passion something that you just stumble upon, and the same drive that fuels breakthroughs—whether they're athletic, scientific, entrepreneurial, or artistic—can be every bit as destructive as it is productive. Yes, passion can be a wonderful gift, but only if you know how to channel it. If you're not careful, passion can become an awful curse, leading to endless seeking, suffering, and burnout. Brad Stulberg and Steve Magness once again team up, this time to demystify passion, showing readers how they can find and cultivate their passion, sustainably harness its power, and avoid its dangers. They ultimately argue that passion and balance--that other virtue touted by our culture--are incompatible, and that to find your passion, you must lose balance. And that's not always a bad thing. They show readers how to develop the right kind of passion, the kind that lets you achieve great things without ruining your life. Swift, compact, and powerful, this thought-provoking book combines captivating stories of extraordinarily passionate individuals with the latest science on the biological and psychological factors that give rise to—and every bit as important, sustain—passion.

Do you want to discover the meaning of your life? Through the ages, man has searched for the 'meaning of life.' But even though many of us know there must be something more, we stumble about with undirected goals and undiscovered passion. In Soul Passion, the first book in his Intentional Life Trilogy, Ramesh Richard motivates readers to ask themselves what their passion is -- where they have placed their heart, love, trust, and sufficiency. Discovering your soul passion is the foundation for living a biblically well-built and profitable life.

Now in her late twenties, Rosanne Falcon’s life has finally come together—a Ph.D., a prestigious research job, and two exquisite lovers, one of each gender, to complete the package. The intense bond she shares with Simone Stone was augmented rather than broken when Simone met and married Boyd Roberts, and the three have forged a fulfilling polyamory relationship. More would only be trouble. Widowed by a tragic accident several years earlier, Detective Thomas Walker is nearing retirement after twenty years on the police force and ready to change careers. Fully convinced the hot redhead who meets truckers at the rest area he’s staked out is a prostitute, he sets out to build his case against her. He is dead wrong, but each layer he uncovers of what she really does for a living challenges long held assumptions. Can he overcome his deep-seated bias to make room for what’s possible?

"We would never give Picasso a paintbrush and only one color of paint, and expect a masterpiece," writes Randy Woodley. "We would not give Beethoven a single piano key and say, 'Play us a concerto.' Yet we limit our Creator in just these ways." Though our Christian experience is often blandly monochromatic, God intends for us to live in dynamic, multihued communities that embody his vibrant creativity. Randy Woodley, a Keetowah Cherokee, casts a biblical, multiethnic vision for people of every nation, tribe and tongue. He carefully unpacks how Christians should think about racial and cultural identity, demonstrating that ethnically diverse communities have always been God's intent for his people. Woodley gives practical insights for how we can relate to one another with sensitivity, contextualize the gospel, combat the subtleties of racism, and honor one another's unique contributions to church and society. Along the way, he reckons with difficult challenges from our racially painful history and offers hope for healing and restoration. With profound wisdom from his own Native American heritage and experience, Woodley's voice adds a distinctive perspective to contemporary discussions of racial reconciliation and multiethnicity. Here is a biblical vision for unity in diversity.

This story captures the improbable travel adventures of an isolated farm kid who grows into a geography professor. Representing different stages of adult life, the chapters are a series of journeys to six continents. These include the very first trip: from the family farm in rural New York State to the city of Mainz in Germany, a determined quest to visit all 3143 US counties, buddy trips to South America and Australia, a Fulbright assignment in Russia, Europe with kids, and university travel courses to the Czech Republic, Croatia, and Ghana. The author is a passionate traveler who creatively finds the means to explore the world and make adjustments when things don't go as planned. In sum, this volume demonstrates that travel is the best education that a little money can buy.

Women over 40 long to redefine the rest of their lives. Dale Hanson Bourke and the friends she interviewed--including General Claudia Kennedy, Kay Warren, Becky Pippert, journalist Peggy Wehmeyer and Jill Briscoe--resoundingly affirm that midlife can be a time of spiritual rebirth and a chance for God to get one's attention now that others' demands on her life have diminished. Bourke offers essential principles that will help women to blaze new trails in their best years.

The author of several books on mental training shows readers how to achieve excellence in performance as well as excellence in living. Illustrations.