The most common response I get to that title is: "You think that's funny?" The answer I'd really like to give you is the Joe Pesci answer: "Funny how? I mean, funny like I'm a clown, I amuse you?" But the answer I will give you (and Joe) is: Yes, I do, or I wouldn't have made it the title of this collection of short humorous essays, ludicrous lists, satirical stories and even (shudder) a couple parodic poems. Yes, the answer is Yes. There is only one other word I'd like to say about this c...

A hidden city above the clouds. An impossible storm. A secret that could change the world.Investigative photographer Marcus "Mac" Allen has spent his career chasing evidence, not myths. But when his best friend dies while investigating an impossible storm, Mac discovers clues that point to something no one should be able to explain.His search for the truth leads him to the Aerie, a hidden civilization suspended high above the clouds, where advanced weather-...

In this concise and informative book, former missionary Scott Hildreth delves into the heart of Christian evangelism and missions, drawing inspiration from the Great Commission found in Matthew 28:16–20. With a focus on practical insights and biblical principles, this guide equips believers to actively participate in both local conversations about Jesus and the global mission of sharing the gospel. Readers discover that obedience to Jesus’s command is not optional—it’s our privilege and re...

The health of the church depends on the health of its leaders.Whether due to emotional exhaustion, poor choices, moral failures, or stress and fatigue, church leaders are experiencing burnout at higher rates than ever before. In Serving Jesus without Burning Out, Steven A. McKinion and D. Scott Hildreth address some of the most problematic issues facing men and women in church leadership today, including a pervasive lack of rest and barriers to community, ...

AN URGENT LETTER FROM SANTA CLAUS: Dear Aging Children: You and I both know that in your heart of hearts you still believe in me...or how could I continue to exist? That's precisely the existential threat I face when a Reality Plague begins infecting the entire Land of Imagination, threatening to overwhelm us with rotten reality and extinguish fantasy altogether, turning Earth into a dull, gray place. Like Kansas! This fantaphage might even be the villainous nemesis behind OzCo's attempted...

"The opportunity for the greatest turnaround in college football exists here today, and it's not one to be taken lightly." —Bill SnyderWhen Kansas State hired Bill Snyder as its head football coach in 1988, the Wildcats had one of the worst programs in college football and hadn't won a conference title since 1934. Little could anybody predict that Snyder would soon engineer a total transformation in Manhattan, Kansas. From his humble beginnings in St. Joseph, Missouri, Snyder rose t...

What if talking about your faith felt as natural as discussing your family, your work, or your hobbies?Evangelism doesn't have to be uncomfortable. You're under no pressure to prove anything. It really just amounts to having a conversation, and almost any context provides the opportunity for evangelism. You can spot these opportunities when you listen, because people talk about what's important to them. So think of evangelism as building a relationship with someone and intentionall...

This volume of essays by renowned Civil War historians provides a comprehensive history of the legendary Iron Brigade and its service to the Union.Fighting in the Civil War for the Union Army of the Potomac, Brigadier General Rufus King's Wisconsin Brigade was the only all-Western Brigade to fight for the Eastern armies of the Union. Known as "The Black Hat Brigade" because the soldiers wore the regular army's dress black hat instead of the more typical blue cap, t...

Apparitions represent a rich collection of phenomena. They have been seen personifying the forms of the living and of the dead, at the exact time of the agent's death and often a considerable time after. This essay, chapter 16 of Psyhic Exploration, explores apparitions, haunting, and poltergeists. The full volume of Psychic Exploration can be purchased as an ebook or paperback version from all major online retailers and at cosimobooks.com.

Strategies for protecting wolves, mountain lions, and more—by taking the human species into account as well: "Very valuable."— Journal of Wildlife ManagementDrawing on six case studies of wolf, grizzly bear, and mountain lion conservation in habitats stretching from the Yukon to Arizona, Large Carnivore Conservation argues that conserving and coexisting with large carnivores is as much a problem of people and governance—of reconciling diverse and ...

When looking at polls and surveys of the overall church in America today we cannot help but realize it is slowly sinking. Eighty percent of the churches today are stagnant or in decline with people leaving and church doors closing at an alarming rate. What must we do? We seem to have all the modern-day technology to help fuel church growth; television, internet, podcast, live streaming, text messaging, emailing, digital bible studies, and the endless list goes on but still the church decli...

A Comedy Tonight! Treat yourself to a quartet of comic plays you'll never see on stage (unless you attended an early performance). "Fourplay" collects scripts for two three-act comedies and two one-act farces ("A Pair of Shorts") first staged by San Jose's famous Stage One performance company in the early '90s. Bonus material includes the script for a never-performed fifth play—a one-act farce to be staged in the theater of your mind. If you're a fan of The Marx Brothers, you'll love "A Ni...