The story of the driver is the story of Atlantic slavery. Starting in the seventeenth-century Caribbean, enslavers developed the driving system to solve their fundamental problem: how to extract labor from captive workers who had every reason to resist. In this system, enslaved Black drivers were tasked with supervising and punishing other enslaved laborers. In The Driver’s Story, Randy M. Browne illuminates the predicament and harrowing struggles of these men—and sometimes women—at the heart of the plantation world.
Browne shows that on plantations across the Americas, drivers were at the center of enslaved people's working lives, social relationships, and struggles against slavery. Drivers enforced labor discipline and confronted the resistance of their fellow enslaved laborers, aiming to maintain a position that helped them survive in a world where enslaved people were treated as disposable. Drivers also protected the people they supervised, negotiating workloads and customary rights to essentials. Within the slave community, drivers helped other enslaved people create a sense of belonging. Sometimes, drivers even organized rebellions, sabotaging the very system they were appointed to support.
The Driver's Story enriches our understanding of the war between enslavers and enslaved laborers by focusing on its front line.
How can we read the text of Scripture well, rightly, and faithfully? Theologian Kevin J. Vanhoozer believes the two greatest challenges in developing a theory of interpretation are, first, the de facto variety of actual interpretations of the Bible and, second, the plurality of reading cultures--denominational, disciplinary, historical, and global interpretive communities--each with its own preferred frame of reference. A cynical observer might say that the one thing Christians have never agreed on is how to interpret the Bible, or even on the meaning of the 'literal sense.'
In response, Vanhoozer offers Mere Christian Hermeneutics. The allusion to C. S. Lewis's Mere Christianity is no accident. A 'mere' Christian hermeneutic--that is, principles for reading the Bible as Scripture everywhere, at all times, and by all Christians--represents both a challenge and a promise. With this book, Vanhoozer seeks to fulfill the promise without degenerating into a bland ecumenical tolerance of conflicting opinions. Rather, he turns to the accounts of Jesus' transfiguration, a key moment in the broader economy of God's revelation, to suggest that spiritual or 'figural' interpretation is not a denial or distortion of the literal sense but, rather, its glorification. He calls both church and academy to develop reading cultures that enable and sustain the kind of unity and the kind of diversity that 'mere Christian hermeneutics' calls for and encourages.
To an American, oligarchy is something that happens somewhere else. In Oligarchy in America, Luke Winslow reveals oligarchy's deep intellectual roots and alarming growth in America. The book provides conceptual tools the lack of which have prevented Americans from recognizing oligarchy at home.
Winslow argues that generic labels like 'billionaires' for a class of ultra-rich masks the pervasive structures that entrench their power. He introduces instead the concept of democratic oligarchy—an institutional arrangement in which the ultra-rich form a class consciously creating and leveraging state power to accumulate wealth.
Like a master class in political ideas, Winslow traces the intellectual lineage of oligarchy in the US. His lively survey examines key rhetorical sources such as Herbert Spencer, Andrew Carnegie, Friedrich Hayek, Lewis Powell, Milton Friedman, Charles Koch, Donald Trump, Tucker Carlson, and others.
Oligarchy in America maps the connective web of oligarchic ideas uniting these disparate figures. Winslow makes a vital contribution to readers and scholars of communication and rhetorical studies, public address, economics, and political science.
Becoming an Adult focuses on the growth, connecting, separating, and choices that every human being must go through. Dr. Henry Cloud highlights key issues that individuals face as they are tasked with navigating adulting. Some of the topics discussed are:
- dependency, authority, and boundaries.
- reevaluating beliefs, decision making, and discipline.
- sexuality, fear of disapproval, and guilt.
Dr. Cloud teaches us how to become a healthy, productive, and faithful adult in society. With clear, insightful, and easy-to-follow guidelines, Dr. Cloud is a relatable and trustworthy voice. After reading Becoming an Adult, readers will:
- learn how to bond with others and strengthen their existing relationships.
- be able to separate from others and identify a better sense of self.
- grow emotionally and spiritually.
- identify how to make their own path that aligns with their interests and beliefs.
An engaging and original historical portrait of eight of the most influential political figures of the twentieth century: Woodrow Wilson, Lenin, Hitler, Churchill, FDR, Gandhi, David Ben-Gurion, and Mao.
The Titans of the Twentieth Century addresses an age-old question: what is the impact of individuals on history? The first half of the twentieth century offered political leaders enormous scope for changing the world. This book consists of essays about eight who, for better and for worse, did just that.
Individually, each chapter offers fresh and often surprising portraits of the twentieth century's titans. Collectively, the essays present a vivid and revealing portrait of a turbulent half-century that shaped the world of today.
Decades before the business world discovered the power of authentic staff engagement, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters cofounder Bob Stiller was busy creating a company with a mission to build an engaged workforce focused on innovation. In the end, Green Mountain became a place where people realized they could make a difference, where their input mattered, where they were rewarded fairly, and where they can grow.
Green Mountain Coffee Roasters went public, moved to selling wholesale exclusively, invested in Keurig, and became one of the few coffee companies to ever reach $1 billion in sales. It became one of the top-performing stocks of the 1990s on the Nasdaq exchange, and from 1995 to 2015, its stock had a 70 percent compounded annual rate of growth.
In Better and Better, Stiller explains how he did it, from donating five percent pretax net income to environmental and social causes, with employees deciding how donations would be used; to paying employees to volunteer in their own communities; to providing much-needed loans to small farms.
With Better and Better, you'll learn how to use optimism, self-awareness, and kindness to build an inclusive and cherished workplace culture.
When he woke up in jail in Fairfax County, Virginia, in 2015, Tim Murtaugh had no way of knowing he'd be a senior leader on the reelection campaign for the president of the United States less than four years later.
What began as a form of high school amusement quickly became an addiction, which over decades would lead Murtaugh to the edge of ruin. Able to beat the disease of alcoholism only under the threat of losing everything, and with the support of a loving wife and family, Murtaugh managed to recover, revive his career, and make it to the top of the political world.
Travel along on the 2020 Trump campaign as Murtaugh shares stories—never published before—from his two years as communications director, navigating a hostile media, the COVID-19 pandemic, highly anticipated debates, Election Day 2020, January 6, and life on the most-watched political campaign in world history.
Swing Hard in Case You Hit It is a redemption story unlike any other—from being on the verge of complete self-destruction to flying on Air Force One with President Donald J. Trump—that doesn't come with a happy Hollywood ending.
A powerful collection of 30 Bible stories about people whose faith in God brought them their finest hour.
In today's world, it's easy to fall prey to the approval addiction--seeking the praise of others instead of focusing on pleasing God. In Their Finest Hour, best-selling author R.T. Kendall highlights 30 Bible characters who put their trust in God despite their moments of self-effacing vulnerability. Through these stories, we can learn valuable lessons about faith and trusting God even when it isn't popular or easy to do so.
You'll learn the importance of sticking to your convictions, letting God be in control, and trusting His plan for your life through stories of biblical figures, including:
- Leah, who experienced delayed significance.
- Rahab, who saw a better future with God's people.
- Habakkuk, who was willing to wait on the Lord.
Their Finest Hour is for ordinary Christians looking to deepen their faith, their understanding of the Bible, and their relationship with God. Relatable stories and personal anecdotes make this book an invaluable resource for pastors, teachers, small groups, and believers seeking inspiration and guidance in their spiritual journey.
An enlightening and engaging exploration of moments when ordinary people achieved greatness in the eyes of God, Their Finest Hour will inspire you to seek the true honor that comes from God alone.
This first-of-its-kind guide to spiritual intelligence—rooted in attachment theory, Christian formation, and the science of spirituality—helps us develop healthy attachments, grow into our most secure selves, and love others in the way God loves. With the care of a pastor and the rigor of a researcher, Paul M. Burns gives us practical ways to develop our spiritual intelligence. Becoming a spiritually intelligent person means cultivating an attachment to God, learning self-differentiation, and nurturing empathy. Burns outlines nine paths toward 'lovingness,' such as the path of sensing God's nearness and the path of self-regulation.
Understanding the human psyche—a word that derives from the Greek for 'soul'—can help us grow in Christlike love. How do our earliest attachments shape our sense of who God is? How might stories from Scripture resonate anew when we read them through the lens of attachment theory and brain science? Each chapter offers a spiritual intelligence practice, reflection questions, and a prayer to help us translate emotional and spiritual insights into everyday life.
Reminiscent of the work of Richard Foster, Ruth Haley Barton, and Ronald Rolheiser, Becoming Spiritually Intelligent is an authoritative guide to emotional health, relational intimacy, and spiritual growth.
Discover the ultimate prescriptive handbook on what it takes to design and lead energized and effective teams in an increasingly complex and uncertain global landscape.
Becoming a Self-Reliant Leader was crafted from author Jan Rutherford's Crucible® Expedition wilderness experiences. This insightful, practical guide explores each step of the Crucible journey and how its lessons can be applied to today's leadership challenges. The lessons are based around the three pillars of Self-Reliant Leadership®—leading yourself, leading others, and leading an organization—and include how to:
● Develop courage, curiosity, and grit to confront challenges and lead your team effectively
● Select the right people for your team—people who are selfless, adventurous, and heroic
● Create the right direction, pace, and tone to sustain a culture of disciplined duty
● Build mutual, genuine trust among team members and fellow leaders where true commitment versus mere compliance prevails
This compilation of lessons and stories from past expeditions offers business leaders more than just an exciting listen—it's a proven recipe to creating and sustaining high-performing teams.
St. Pio of Pietrelcina had a deep devotion to the Christ Child. The man more commonly known as Padre Pio also possessed extraordinary and unique mystical gifts: Jesus often came to him in the form of a little child.
In Welcoming the Christ Child with Padre Pio, stories about the saint known for his stigmata and ability to bilocate are woven with scripture and prayer to help you experience Advent with greater hope and joy.
Each day of Advent you will hear an account from someone who knew Padre Pio, including
● his Capuchin brothers' amazement as they witnessed Padre Pio walking the halls of the monastery, cradling an apparition of the Christ Child;
● the miraculous healing of Vera Marie Calandra, who was blessed by the Franciscan monk as an infant and whose parents later founded the National Centre for Padre Pio; and
● examples of the extraordinary spiritual gifts of this holy confessor
This book contains daily readings for Advent. Each day includes a quotation from Padre Pio, a short story about the saint, a scripture reflection, and prayer to help you follow this extraordinary saint's example and welcome the Christ Child into your home and heart during Advent.
Classical Christian ideas loom large in philosophy of religion today. But arguments against Christian doctrine have been neglected. J. L. Schellenberg's new book remedies this neglect.
The tide of human development, which the early Christians might have expected to corroborate their teaching, has in fact brought many results that run contrary to that teaching. Or at least it will be seen to have done so, says Schellenberg, when we think about the consequences of any God existent then being fully cognizant, when Christian doctrine was first formed, of all that we have laboriously learned since then. Newly discovered facts, not just about such things as evolution and the formation of the New Testament but also about mental illness, violent punishment, the relations between women and men, and the status of same-sex intimacy, suggest new arguments against the content of the Christian revelation when the prior understanding of the purported revealer is taken into account.
What God Would Have Known offers a thorough and incisive treatment of its subject that remains respectful and fair-minded throughout. It is not concerned with the overworked question of whether classical Christians believe irrationally, but with what overlooked arguments about human development show in relation to the truth or falsity of Christian claims about reality.
