Kirjahaku

National headlines regularly herald the decline of Christianity in the United States, citing historically low levels of confidence in organized religion, drops in church attendance, church closures, and the dramatic rise of the "Nones." Scarcely heard are stories from the thousands of new churches and new forms of church that are springing up each year across the country. In this book, Christopher James attends carefully to stories of ecclesial innovation taking place in Seattle, Washington--a city on the leading edge of trends shaping the nation as a whole. James's study of the new churches founded in 'post-Christian' Seattle offers both pragmatic advice and theological reflection. After an in-depth survey- and -interview-based analysis of the different models of church-building he identifies, James identifies five threads of practical wisdom: 1) embracing local identity and mission, 2) cultivating embodied, experiential, everyday spirituality, 3) engaging community life as means of witness and formation, 4) prioritizing hospitality as a cornerstone practice, and 5) discovering ecclesial vitality in a diverse ecclesial ecology. Stimulating, encouraging, and stereotype-shattering, this book invites readers to reconsider the narrative that portrays these first decades of the twenty-first century as a time of ecclesial death and decline, and to view this instead as a hope-filled season of ecclesial renewal and rebirth.

5 incredible joke books in one. Clean jokes, stories, one-liners, observations, and more from Funny Hyper Magic Boy, Christopher James. Includes Christopher's book of one-liners, "Christopher's Ultimate Collection of One Liners, Observations, and Jokes", his best selling joke book, "From Branson with L.O.L.", "Silly Jokes and Amazing Tricks for Kids", "Laugh Yourself Well", and "Abra-Kid-Abra".

Written by internationally acclaimed artist and photographer Christopher James, THE BOOK OF ALTERNATIVE PHOTOGRAPHIC PROCESSES: 3rd Edition is the definitive text for students and professionals studying alternative photographic processes and the art of hand-made photographic image making. This innovative Third Edition brings the medium up to date with new and historic processes that are integrated with the latest contemporary innovations, adaptations, techniques, and art work. This 800 page edition is packed with more than 700 exquisite illustrations featuring historical examples as well as the art that is currently being made by professional alternative process, artists, teachers, and students of the genre. The third edition is the complete and comprehensive technical and aesthetic resource exploring and delving into every aspect of alternative photographic process photography. Each chapter introduces the history of a technique, presents an overview of the alternative photographic process that will be featured, reviews its chemistry, and provides practical and easy to follow guidance in how to make it work. In his conversational writing style, James also explores the idiosyncrasies, history, and cultural connections that are such a significant part of the history of photography. Featuring traditional and digital contact negative production as well as an array of processes, spread out over 28 chapters, THE BOOK OF ALTERNATIVE PHOTOGRAPHIC PROCESSES: 3RD EDITION delivers clear instructions, practical workflows and advice, humor, history, art, and immeasurable inspiration.

'The prospect of stopping smoking is scary as hell. I know-I've been there' - so opens "Escape from Nicotine Country", James Christopher's unique and uplifting guide to quitting smoking without pain or weight gain. A thirty-year smoker, Christopher gave up cigarettes in 1993, after a gradual period of individual withdrawal, exercise, and proper diet. Now he offers his remarkable and simple self-help program to all those who want to kick the habit. While not weighed down with 'just say no' rhetoric, overused shock statistics, or religious undertones, "Escape from Nicotine Country" goes against the grain of stop-smoking polemics by empowering the individual through motivational chapters. Christopher tells his own story of addiction and success in quitting. At the same time he promotes understanding of nicotine addiction and offers a simple solution to breaking the habit through reduction. Christopher's program addresses many different types of nicotine addiction, the hunger that haunts those trying to quit, and the need for a healthy routine of exercise. The latter half of the book is an encouraging diary, which allows the reader to record the progress that will lead to a healthier, smoke-free life.

It is summer 1895 and a lost play by William Shakespeare is discovered. While being authenticated by scholars in Oxford there is a break-in at a college and the three hundred year old quarto is stolen. Holmes is engaged in the most unusual of circumstances and together with the faithful Dr Watson, they are soon on a trail which takes them from the Epsom Derby to Epping Forest and the great city of Florence itself. But this is not the only case brought to 221b Baker Street during this eventful year. Any number of singular problems demand Holmes' attention including the terrifying schemes of an injured army captain, a spate of strychnine poisonings and a dancing bear suspected of murder in the East End. What bearing do these seemingly unrelated adventures have on the search for the lost play? Who is the woman haunting Dr Watson and what is the mysterious Society of Lucius? With stilt walking chases, a swimming race across the River Thames and an explosion at the former site of Shakespeare's Globe, this is set to become Holmes' most dangerous and memorable adventure yet.

It is summer 1890 and the game is afoot. When an elephant escapes from the London Zoological Gardens, Holmes and Watson become embroiled in one of their strangest cases yet. Engaged by a jeweller in fear for his life, the trail leads Sherlock to two secret societies, each pursuing the eight ruby elephants said to unlock a vault containing the lost Nizam diamond. Standing in his way are some deadly foes: the Archangels: assassins in top hats and tailcoats, hell bent on the murder of the great detective and the acquisition of the treasures of the realm. The adventure leads the intrepid pair to Lord's Cricket Ground, the Royal Albert Hall, a bizarre series of thefts at the National Gallery, deepest rural Suffolk and ultimately the very heart of the Empire. With high speed chases on Penny Farthings and a cast of eccentric characters, it takes all of Holmes' ingenuity - and a little help from Mycroft - to unravel this elephantine mystery.

When a beer barrel containing the body of a man is delivered to the door of 221b Baker Street, an intoxicating new adventure begins for Sherlock Holmes. Together with his faithful companion, Dr John Watson, Holmes travels north to Burton-upon-Trent to investigate the poisoning of a regiment in India from a contaminated batch of pale ale. The incident threatens the reputation of the mighty brewer, Houghton's, which supplies beer to half the world. But Holmes is not the only detective working the case. Miss Gertie Cresswell, owner of a first-class mind and a yellow umbrella, has a few ideas of her own. With militant suffragettes, folding bicycles, and the footprints of what appears to be a three-legged man, the unlikely trio face their most fiendish mystery yet. The game is on

Dust to dust, that much we know. But it's what happens in between that counts. In Christopher James' mercurial second collection, Seamus Heaney breaks down in a lane; John Lennon haunts the Great Wall of China while an archaeologist is exhumed sometime in the distant future. This is where the living and the dead intermingle like passengers waiting nervously for a flight. Reaching from the Humber to the Thames; Cromer to Kathmandu, it's a dizzying and unpredictable world tour that veers in and out of reality like a plane passing through a cloud. In the shadow of environmental disaster and the possibility of dragons, there are more mundane dramas to face too: house moves, family secrets, marriage proposals that do not go to plan, and children woken in the night by rain. 'Farewell to the Earth' begins and ends with ashes, but in between a Technicolor epic unfolds, throwing its glinting light on everyday life.