Travel has always been one of life's greatest teachers. It opens minds, builds empathy, and creates memories no classroom can replicate. Yet even the most seasoned travelers still stumble into costly and easily avoidable mistakes.The world of travel in 2026 isn't what it used to be. New airline policies, evolving visa rules, post-pandemic health protocols, shifting currencies, and the rise of AI-driven booking tools have rewritten the rules of the road. What worked five years ago m...

Solo travel after fifty isn't a consolation prize. It's one of the most rewarding things you can do with the freedom, experience, and self-knowledge the second half of life provides.Solo and 50+: The Complete Guide to Traveling Alone After the Second Half of Life is the practical, honest, and deeply human handbook for independent travelers who are done waiting.Whether you're a newly empty nester, recently divorced or widowed, newly retired, or simply someone who ha...

American Christianity teaches the centrality of the individual: my will, my experiences, my decision, my heart, my work, and my dedication. Yet we couldn't be more unaware that Christ and His saving and comforting work are being lost. Our minds and hearts are captivated in some way by those who often preach the Christian instead of Christ.Author Bryan Wolfmueller sounds the alarm against the false teaching and dangerous practices of Christianity in America. He offers a beautiful al...

Recounting the parable of the prodigal son, author Bryan Wolfmueller discusses the biblical account in light of our culture today.The author focuses on "three slaveries" The Belly Slavery, which prioritizes our passions and desires; Despair, which causes us to feel trapped and unworthy of God's forgiveness and love; and Pride, which focuses on our self-centered nature. The conclusion points to the Gospel promises and freedom in Christ, emphasizing His forgiveness and love.

In 1900, Margaret Hossack, the wife of a prominent Iowa farmer, was arrested for bludgeoning her husband to death with an ax while their children slept upstairs. The community was outraged: How could a woman commit such an act of violence? Firsthand accounts describe the victim, John Hossack, as a cruel and unstable man. Perhaps Margaret Hossack was acting out of fear. Or perhaps the story she told was true—that an intruder broke into the house, killed her husband while she slept soundly b...

Lutheran theology is glorious and mysterious. It is relatable and applicable. It is for everyone, in any time, in any place. But it also can be intimidating. A Martyr's Faith in a Faithless World serves as a starting point for those looking to start reading theological works and deepen their understanding of Lutheran theology.Short, poignant chapters show the practical side of Lutheran theology and extol the doctrine of the catechism and the Lutheran Church as true, good, and beaut...

What does it take to be a great dad?The world is full of examples of men who weren’t there for their kids. But there are good and even great dads out there, who inspire their children and the men around them to reach for more. How do you become a dad like that—even if your own dad wasn’t such a good example?In The Dad Difference, Bryan Loritts explores the four gifts every kid needs from their dad: relationship, integrity, teaching, and experiences...

Recent years have seen contestations of democracy all around the globe. Democracy is challenged as a political as well as a normative term, and as a form of governance. Against the background of neoliberal transformation, populist mobilization, and xenophobic exclusion, but also of radical and emancipatory democratic projects, this collection offers a variety of critical and challenging perspectives on the condition of democracy in the 21st century.The volumes provide theoretical a...

2023 Midwest Book Awards in Nonfiction - History, Regional, winnerOn a moonlit night in 1889, Iowa farmer John Elkins and his young wife, Hattie, were brutally murdered in their bed. Eight days later, their son, eleven-year-old Wesley Elkins, was arrested and charged with murder. The community reeled with shock by both the gruesome details of the homicides and the knowledge of the accused perpetrator—a small, quiet boy weighing just 75 pounds.Accessible and...

At times of triumphant neo-liberalism cities increasingly become objects of financial speculation. Formally, social and political rights might not be abolished, yet factually they have become inaccessible for large parts of the population. The contributions gathered in this volume shed light on the clash between the perspectives of restructuring and reordering urban environments in the interest of investors and the manifold and innovative agencies of resistance that claim and stand up for ...

Democracy and citizenship are conceptually and empirically contested. Against the backdrop of recent and current profound transformations in and of democratic societies, this volume presents and discusses acute contestations, within and beyond national borders and boundaries. Democracy’s crucial relationships, between state and citizenry as well as amongst citizens, are rearranged and re-ordered in various spheres and arenas, impacting on core democratic principles such as accountability, ...

Urban Change and Citizenship in Times of Crisis addresses the fact that in the beginning of the twenty-first century the majority of the world’s population is urbanised, a social fact that has turned cities more than ever into focal sites of social change. Multiple economic and political strategies, employed by a variety of individual and collective actors, on a number of scales, constitute cities as contested spaces that hold opportunities as well as restrictions for their inhabitants. Wh...