Author James Howell believes in the power of song to teach spiritual truths. "Hymns embed faith into the marrow of the soul," he writes. In Unrevealed Until Its Season, Howell takes us on a 40-day journey through well-loved hymns. A meaningful Lenten devotional guide for individuals and small groups, Unrevealed Until Its Season is also a valuable resource and perfect gift for musicians as they prepare for worship, and for ministers as they lead worship. Weekly themes include Praising God, Hymns About Jesus, Hymns of Forgiveness, Hymns of Vision, Hymns of Beauty, Hymns of Holy Week, and Hymns of Easter. Howell ponders phrases from old and new hymns, such as "Be Thou My Vision," "Hymn of Promise," "All Creatures of Our God and King," "For Everyone Born," "Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing," "Lift High the Cross," and "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross."
Take spirituality into the real world. Jesus didn't "become flesh" so we could feel different. He came to this world so we will be different. Often our spirituality seems invisible and mute to a hurting world. Many of us simply internalize faith out of fear, feelings of inadequacy, or choice. A faithful response to discipleship's call, however, is both inward and outward. Through Howell's study, you'll find ways to apply faith to your daily life and make evident your commitment to Christ. By considering all that Jesus did with his hands as a teacher, a healer, and a compassionate servant, Howell challenges readers to be the hands and feet and love of Christ in the world. "Christianity must become something real, tangible, something that pervades all that we are," writes Howell. "It must become something we do. In our culture, for Christianity to have any meaningful future, we must get serious about a genuine lifestyle that is holy without being elitist, engaged with the world without being jaded or self-righteous, active and busy yet prepared to cope with failure." Howell's inspiration for this work comes from a poetic meditation written by Teresa of Avila, a Spanish nun who lived in the 16th century. The poem begins: "Christ has no body now on earth but yours, no hands but yours, no feet but yours." Howell connects these words with the apostle Paul, who wrote in 1 Corinthians 12: "Now you are the body of Christ." Express your faith through action. Be the hands of Christ today to a hurting world.
If you were able to talk to St. Francis of Assisi, what would you ask him? “Perhaps,” says James Howell,” the first question I’d want to ask Francis would be something like this: How did you do it? Were you real? How much of your story really happened? And I’m asking because I am wondering how I might do it: could I somehow grab a share of the life you had? The marvel in Francis’s story is that all he did seems entirely doable – but then, at the same time, ridiculously impossible. As I survey the bare facts of his life, it all seems so manageably simple, and yet unquestionably what happened was nothing short of miraculous.” In this spiritually apt look at the life, message, and meaning of St. Francis, Howell invites all of us to pose our most difficult spiritual questions to the saint–and to listen for the questions he asks of us in response.
Veteran pastor James C. Howell skillfully unpacks one of the most powerful verses in the Old Testament, Micah 6:8: "What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?" Howell illuminates the original context in which this verse was written, while demonstrating how it can still guide us in our lives today. A Leader's Guide is also included in this book, making it a wonderful resource for both group and individual use.
This book is an historical account of the emergence of youth gangs and the transformation of these into street gangs in the United States. The author traces the emergence of these gangs in the four major geographical regions over the span of two centuries, from the early 1800s to 2012. The author’s authoritative analysis explains gang emergence and expansion from play groups to heavily armed street gangs responsible for a large proportion of urban crimes, including drive-by shootings that often kill innocent bystanders. Nationwide, street gangs now account for 1 in 6 homicides each year, and for 1 in 4 in very large cities. In recent years, the number of gangs, gang members, and gang homicides increased, even though the U.S. has seen a sharp drop in violent and property crimes over the past decade. The author’s historical analysis reveals the key contributing factors to transformation of youth gangs, including social disorganization that occurred following large-scale immigration early in American history and urban policies that pushed minorities to inner city areas and public housing projects. This analysis includes the influence of prison gangs on street gangs. The first generation of prison gangs emerged spontaneously in response to dangers inside prisons. The second generation was for many years extensions of street gangs that grew enormously during the 1980s and 1990s, particularly in large urban areas in which public housing projects have served as incubators for street gangs. The third generation of prison gangs is extremely active in street-level criminal enterprises in varied forms, often highly structured and well managed organizations that are actively involved in drug trafficking. In recent years, returning inmates are a predominant influence on local gang violence. Now, prison gangs and street gangs often work together in street-level criminal enterprises. This book identifies the most promising ways that gang violence can be reduced. The best long-term approach is a combination of gang prevention, intervention, and suppression strategies and programs. Targeted suppression of gang violence is imperative. Street-workers that serve as violence interrupters can break the cycle of contagious gang violence.
First monograph on a leading American Minimalist artist whose career is undergoing critical re-evaluation Publication coincides with a major Howell retrospective exhibition at Von Bartha Basel, which will travel to venues in Germany and the UK James Howell's Series 10 paintings possess a powerful atmospheric force; they exude an ambience that appears greater and more extensive than the physical parameters of their frames. In Howell's words, they are 'studies of shifting light and shadow, without the interference of any form'. Noted for his experimental approach to color theory, Howell meticulously studied the parameters of the color grey, fascinated by its unlimited tonal possibilities. The sublime and minimal are both apparent within the gradation of light and shadow in his paintings. "Grey", he explained, "embodies passages of time, for me. It is mysterious - and I like its softness; also its simplicity, and space." Moreover, he considered his paintings to be fields of energy, as well as an investigation between the physical and metaphysical properties of grey. He always used the square as a format, which he divided into 28, 29 or 30 uniformly sized horizontal lines. Each line is stroked vertically, progressing from being lighter at the top of the work to growing gradually darker towards the bottom. The movement of light is so subtly executed that at times the effect is almost impossible to distinguish. Howell's extraordinary studies in light and color challenge us to explore the very fundamentals of perception.
"[Gangs in America′s Communities] is one of the most comprehensive treatments of gangs in the marketplace. . . . I highly recommend its adoption as you will not be disappointed and, most importantly, neither will your students." —Elvira White-Lewis, Texas A&M University-Commerce Gangs in America′s Communities, Third Edition blends theory with current research to help readers identify essential features associated with youth violence and gangs, as well as apply strategies for gang control and prevention. Authors Dr. James C. Howell and Dr. Elizabeth Griffiths introduce readers to theories of gang formation, illustrate various ways of defining and classifying gangs, and discuss national trends in gang presence and gang-related violence across American cities. They also offer evidence-based strategies for positioning communities to prevent, intervene, and address gang activity. New to the Third Edition: A series of new case studies document the evolution of numerous gangs in large cities, including the community aspect, evolutionary nature, and how cities influence levels of violence. New discussions highlighting the role of social media, insights into how gangs use it to recruit members, and the response from law enforcement. Current nationwide gang trends are discussed to encourage readers to analyze and interpret the most recent statistics for which representative data is available. Updated macro and micro gang theories enable readers to explore a recent encapsulation of leading developmental models. New discussions around female gang members offer readers potentially effective programs for discouraging females from joining gangs—along with highly regarded delinquency prevention and reduction programs that have the potency to be effective in reducing gang crimes among young women. A comprehensive gang prevention, intervention, and suppression program in Multnomah County, Oregon shows how theory was successfully applied to reduce gang activity in a local community. New research on "gang structures" and their rates of crime illustrate the connections between violent crimes and the amount of violent offenders within a gang. Additional discussion of distinguishing features (e.g., typologies) of major gangs, and numerous examples of gang symbols, tattoos, and graffiti has been added to help readers identify and differentiate various types of gangs.
Howell provides contexts for the selected verses and draws from a wide range of sources to illuminate their meaning for Christian faith and life today. He encourages, inspires, and motivates others to understand the biblical verses in relation to faithful Christian discipleship.
Gangs in America's Communities offers a comprehensive, up-to-date, and theoretically grounded approach to gangs and associated youth violence. Authors Dr. James C. Howell and Dr. Elizabeth Griffiths introduce readers to the foundations of gang studies through the origins of gangs, definitions and categories of youth/street gangs, transnational as well as prison gangs (and the distinctions between these arguably different types), national trends in gang presence and gang-related violence across American cities, distinguishing attributes of serious street gangs, and myths and realities. Students and instructors will benefit from the Second Edition’s comprehensive treatment of the state of the literature on individual-level causes and consequences of gang membership. Going beyond the traditional topics covered in most texts in the market, this book uniquely describes specific gang patterns, trends, and cultures within a group-based structure while illuminating the most promising avenues for reducing the presence and seriousness of gangs in American communities.
