How friction, diversity, and tension drive breakthrough ideas in business, technology, and cultureIn the popular imagination, innovation is associated with the lone genius. Innovation, however, is never the product of one individual, but rather occurs through the combined efforts of a network of people. But how do these networks operate? In Tension and Invention, Balazs Vedres and David Stark argue that generative tension is the critical, yet often unackno...

Presents a portrait of Christian leadership within a biblical framework while comparing and contrasting it to today's hottest leadership models.

This fresh look at small groups starts with people and principles rather than program and structure. Stark and Wieland examine why many small-group ministries fall short of their goals, and they offer strategies that start with God's leading and people's needs. Straightforward, informative, and practical, this new organic system works for smaller churches as well as larger ones. Useful for lay leaders, small-group members, and pastors who want people to thrive and develop their spiritual g...

Proven Methods for Churches to Attract and Engage Young PeopleOne question faces every church leader looking to the future: How do we attract younger generations? Many things have been tried, but in this book, church consultant David Stark shares practical methods that have been proven to work in a variety of congregations.Stark helps leaders identify and use their church's strengths to engage millennials, even those with negative views of Christianity. Bas...

The numbers of farms and farmers on the Great Plains are dwindling. Disappearing even faster are the farm places—the houses, barns, and outbuildings that made the rural landscape a place of habitation. Nancy Warner's photographs tell the stories of buildings that were once loved yet have now been abandoned. Her evocative images are juxtaposed with the voices of Nebraska farm people, lovingly recorded by sociologist David Stark. These plainspoken recollections tell of a way of life that con...

What counts? In work, as in other areas of life, it is not always clear what standards we are being judged by or how our worth is being determined. This can be disorienting and disconcerting. Because of this, many organizations devote considerable resources to limiting and clarifying the logics used for evaluating worth. But as David Stark argues, firms would often be better off, especially in managing change, if they allowed multiple logics of worth and did not necessarily discourage unce...

Twenty-first-century readers cannot interpret Israel's Scriptures identically to how the author of Hebrews did. The contours of twenty-first century worldviews are too different. That said, Hebrews invites those who “read after” it (in time) also to “reading after” it (in approach). For those who accept this invitation, this volume's essays surface four clusters in the overall mosaic of Hebrews's approach to Israel's Scriptures. First, Hebrews explicitly, if briefly and partially, states i...

In this edited collection, Daniel B. Oden, J. David Stark, and the contributors wrestle with the complexities of unity.Discussing Genesis 1:1–11:9, the essays herein describe the hermeneutics of unity appeals from the Ancient Near East to the twenty-first century and in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. The contributors particularly attend to these appeals' hermeneutical dimensions, asking why and how the appeals connect themselves to Genesis and how they foster a v...

Scholarship on slavery in the Caribbean frequently emphasizes sugar and tobacco production, but this unique work illustrates the importance of the region’s hato economy—a combination of livestock ranching, foodstuff cultivation, and timber harvesting—on the living patterns among slave communities. David Stark makes use of extensive Catholic parish records to provide a comprehensive examination of slavery in Puerto Rico and across the Spanish Caribbean. He reconstructs slave families to exa...

British music industry veteran David Stark grew up in north-west London during the 1960s as a dedicated Beatles fan, who was lucky enough to meet his musical heroes on various memorable occasions. From gatecrashing the Yellow Submarine film premiere in 1968 and sitting right behind them, to meeting the group individually in some extraordinary circumstances, he recalls his many Beatles encounters here for the first time. However, Stark’s stories don’t end w...

Throughout their careers, social scientists must come up with compelling research topics, decide when and where to publish, and revise their manuscripts for publication. Despite the importance of these skills, they are seldom if ever addressed in the course of graduate training. Heavy emphasis is placed on conducting research, and other core activities such as teaching also receive attention, yet fundamental academic practices are left almost entirely in the shadows.Practicing ...

Live every day like a victorious warrior!This unique devotional unleashes explosive, supernatural power in bite-sized prophetic words.Lion Bites is a daily “call to arms!” Carrying the full weight of Scripture and God’s rhema word*,* these prophetic declarations pack a punch, helping you live each day as a victorious warrior through Jesus!Compiled by the team of prophetic warriors from the Global Prophetic Alliance, this powerful d...