In Luke's writings, the Spirit does not form a quiet, private, or detached church but a people drawn into the public, embodied, and transformative work of God's reign. The Spirit and the Church in Luke-Acts gathers ten essays in theological interpretation exploring how the risen Christ and the Holy Spirit form a praying, discerning, witnessing, and hope-filled community. Written at the intersection of biblical scholarship and ecclesial ministry, the volume presents salvation not merely as ...

The parable of the good Samaritan is well-known, yet scholarship has not plumbed the depths of its meaning within its first-century Palestinian context. For the majority of Christian history, the parable has suffered either from extreme allegorical treatments or from unimaginative readings limiting the parable to a single-point example story of virtue. A creative reading employing social and historical methods generates a refreshing telling of the story, within Jesus's context, whereby eac...

This publication engages a broad set of narratives, themes, and motifs in Luke-Acts, many of which are treated with social-scientific criticism employing various social, political, historical, and economic paradigms to generate fresh and robust readings of ancient texts. Moreover, most essays contained in this book offer remarkably unique engagements, providing students and scholars the opportunity to further expand the material to make vibrant contributions to their own research projects....

A former rival and associate of Whitey Bulger tells all in this “profane, often brutal” true crime memoir about the inner workings of life in the Irish mob (The Boston Herald)After serving in Vietnam as a combat Marine, Irishman Pat Nee returned to the gang-filled streets of Boston. A member of the Mullen Gang since the age of 14, Nee rejoined the group to lead their fight against Whitey Bulger’s Killeen brothers. Years later, the two gangs merged to form ...

Real crimes are stranger than fiction!Leopold and Loeb were two wealthy law students who could buy anything. But they wanted the one thing that no amount of money could buy: life.They wanted to create the Perfect Crime--to kidnap and murder a 14-year-old boy for the thrill of getting away with murder.The crime was so horrifying that even legendary filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock took notice, and directed his version of the story: Rope. But the r...

“Right out of the gate, the entire game was designed to empty the pockets of those rich, celeb-loving LA suckers.”—Houston CurtisLeonardo DiCaprio. Alex Rodriguez. Tobey Maguire. Ben Affleck. Matt Damon. John Cassavetes.What do these people have in common? Not just fame and fortune; all these men are also alumni of the ultra-exclusive, high-stakes poker ring that inspired Aaron Sorkin’s Oscar-nominated film, Molly’s Game.But Houston Curtis,...

INSIDE THE BOSTOM MARATHON BOMBING: This shocking true crime account is an eye opener for anyone with lingering questions about one of the most notorious acts of terrorism since 9/11.“You may think you know this story, but until you read this book, you don't.” —T. J. English, New York Times bestselling authorThis page-turning narrative goes a long way toward answering nagging questions about the notorious Boston Marathon Bombing, s...

A crime reporter's thrilling account of the infamous 2015 prison break, manhunt, and capture based on interviews with one of the inmates who pulled it off.On June 6, 2015, inmates Richard Matt and David Sweat escaped from Clinton Correctional Facility, New York State's largest maximum-security prison. The media was instantly obsessed with the story: Aided by a prison seamstress, who smuggled hacksaw blades, chisels, and drill bits inside the facility via a vat of r...

"One of the year's most important books, a gripping meticulously reported account of the rise of one of the world's most notorious street gangs." —Mitch Weiss, Pulitzer Prize winnerWinner of the Lukas PrizeAn NPR Best Book of the YearThe MS-13 was born from war.In the 1980s, Alex and his brother fled El Salvador for the US and formed the Mara Salvatrucha Stoners. Initially bound by a love of heavy metal music, the group soon took on a harder edg...

The Tangled Web tells the dramatic story of Detective Richard Cain, the man the FBI described as “possibly the most corrupt police official in the history of Chicago.” Cain led double life—at once a chief investigator and a “made” man, both a detective who led raids on gambling rings and a soldier carrying out hits for Mafia bosses. Using years of research, interviews, family anecdotes, and rare documents, Michael Cain creates a comprehensive and compelling biography of his half-b...

Based on exclusive, fresh reporting, the thrilling, definitive inside story of the pursuit, capture, and killing of legendary South Boston mob boss, James "Whitey" Bulger, detailing as never before his years on the run, how he evaded capture, and his brutal murder in prison.For the first time, Boston reporters Casey Sherman and Dave Wedge draw on exclusive interviews and exhaustive investigative reportage to tell the complete story of Whitey Bulger, one of the most ...

Six moving profiles reveal the complex realities behind gun violence in the United States. These are the stories of the shooters.In South Carolina, a young man embarks on a life of crime that culminates in a drug-related shooting and decades in prison; in Chicago, an off-duty police officer engages in a shootout with a murderous gunman, saving a fellow patrolman; in rural Tennessee, a troubled teenager shoots her abusive father in his sleep. The Trigger recounts th...