D. Oldfield

Average schools don't inspire greatness - and greatness is what our world needs if we are going to produce world-changing learners. In Culturize, author and education leader Jimmy Casas shares insights into what it takes to cultivate a community of learners who embody the innately human traits our world desperately needs, such as kindness, honesty, and compassion. His stories reveal how these "soft skills" can be honed while meeting and exceeding academic standards of 21st-century learning.

When the Taliban took control of the Swat Valley in Pakistan, one girl spoke out. Malala Yousafzai refused to be silenced and fought for her right to an education. On Tuesday, October 9, 2012, when she was fifteen, she almost paid the ultimate price. She was shot in the head at point-blank range while riding the bus home from school, and few expected her to survive. Instead, Malala's miraculous recovery has taken her on an extraordinary journey from a remote valley in northern Pakistan to the halls of the United Nations in New York.

While human lives are endlessly variable, our most memorable positive moments are dominated by four elements: elevation, insight, pride, and connection. If we embrace these elements, we can conjure more moments that matter. What if a teacher could design a lesson that he knew his students would remember 20 years later? What if a manager knew how to create an experience that would delight customers? What if you had a better sense of how to create memories that matter for your children?

The voice that spoke the cosmos into existence is the same voice that parted the Red Sea and made the sun stand still in the midday sky. One day, this voice will make all things new, but it’s also speaking to you now! That voice is God’s, and what we’ve learned from Scripture is that He often speaks in a whisper. Not to make it difficult to hear Him, but to draw us close. Sure, in ancient times and in mysterious ways, God spoke to His people, but is He still speaking now? Mark Batterson certainly believes so. And he wants to introduce you to the seven love languages of God.

Meet Denver, raised under plantation-style slavery in Louisiana until he escaped the "Man" (in the 1960s - by hopping a train. Non-trusting, uneducated, and violent, he spent another 18 years on the streets of Dallas and Fort Worth. Meet Ron Hall, a self-made millionaire in the world of high priced art deals - concerned with fast cars, beautiful women, and fancy clothes. And the woman who changed their lives - Miss Debbie: "The skinniest, nosiest, pushiest, woman I ever met, black or white."

Somewhere along the way, our culture lost its definition of manhood, leaving generations of men and men-to-be confused about their roles, responsibilities, and relationships and the reason God made them men. It's into this "no-man's-land" that New York Times best-selling author Mark Batterson declares his mantra for manhood: Play the man. In this inspiring call to something greater, he helps men understand what it means to be a man of God by unveiling seven virtues of manhood.

We are not positive because life is easy. We are positive because life can be hard. As a leader, you will face numerous obstacles, negativity, and tests. There will be times when it seems as if everything in the world is conspiring against you and your vision seems more like a fantasy than a reality. That's why positive leadership is essential! Positive leadership is not about fake positivity. It is the real stuff that makes great leaders great.

It's likely you have a threatening giant in your life...an adversary or stronghold that's diminishing your ability to live a full and free life. Frozen in the grip of rejection, fear, anger, comfort, or addiction, we lose sight of the promise God has for our lives. Demoralized and defeated, we settle for far less than his best. God has a better plan for you, a plan for you to live in victory. That's why he has silenced your giant once and for all.

The Grave Robber is a nonfiction Christian living book that discusses the seven miracles of Jesus in the Book of John and their importance for our lives today.

It's time you learned from the legend of Honi the Circle Maker. When his land was drought-stricken in ancient times, Honi ha-M'agel drew a circle in the sand, stepped inside it, and wouldn't budge until God answered his petition for rain. Honi's story transformed author Mark Batterson's own experience with prayer and inspired him to document his journey to praying more powerful prayers in The Circle Maker.