While this is a worthwhile read, I must admit that much of what the author said did not stick with me for very long. Thus, this is a hard book for me to review. I certainly want to point out that this book is not overly "preachy." It is a book written for Christians rather than sinners. While the author concentrates on the subject of one's developing a proper Christian life, his approach is as philosophical as it is religious, and this makes it a little "drier" than an evangelical book aimed directly at spreading the gospel to unbelievers. There are five topics which the author addresses: "Making Sense of Our Lives," "Making Sense Emotionally," "Making Sense Morally," "Making Sense With the Will," and "Making Sense With One's Thoughts." Each chapter is narrower in focus to coincide with one's progression in the faith. Holmer begins by asserting that you cannot make sense of your life or be happy without attaining salvation. He particularly addresses the important and widespread problems of depression, inadequacy, a sense of failure, hopelessness, etc., arguing that faith in God will allow you to overcome such things. While the acceptance of Christ is the crucial task in making sense of your life, Holmer goes to great pains to urge Christians to continue to grow in their faith. Salvation is just the beginning. The author describes how a Christian can and should develop new emotions, new values, new virtues, and, in doing so, a new viewpoint on life; as he grows in his faith, his sense of worth and joy will increase and he will play a larger role in God's plan for mankind.

Jersild writes to the individual Christian who is also a member of the larger Christian community regarding the act of moral decision-making. He writes from four basic assumptions and concerns: (1) that every tradition within the household of faith needs to be instructed by and balanced by the rest of the Christian community, (2) that Christians need to see moral decision making in terms of "we" as well as "I,"(3) that the moral quality of our individual lives bears directly on the moral quality of our life together in community, and (4) that the responsibility of the Christian community is to respond to the moral challenges of our time.

Jersild's primary assumption is that every tradition within the individual household of faith needs to be instructed by and balanced by the rest of the Christian community. He argues that the American concept of individualism and freedom brings a worldly and an egocentric perspective to the church community by defining freedom as "little more than being left alone (to) exercise personal moral autonomy (free) from the arbitrary authority of family, superiors at work, the church and the government." This perspective leaves Americans relating to each other in a contractual model where people "give-in-order-to-get" what they desire. Jersild's challenge is to define "freedom" according to the Scriptures and to balance it alongside of love and responsibility. The author's concern is that the warped American perspective of freedom effects more than the individual's moral decision-making; he proposes that the moral quality of our individual lives bears directly on the moral quality of our life together as a Christian community, and vice versa. The author feels very strongly that Christians need to see moral decision making in terms of "we" and not strictly in terms of "I," because the Christian community has a responsibility to say something important to the moral challenges of our time.

Jersild takes a very complex subject and formulates the data into a well-rounded, and easily read book. While he makes reference to and is influenced by other works, the notations and direct references are kept to a minimum so as not to overwhelm the average reader. The author also suggests some important and well-thoughtout questions that can be used by churches in deciding which public issues warrant serious church consideration. In the last chapters of his book, Jersild also examines the recent political trend within the church. At first glance, his presentation appears to be relatively balanced without attacking any one group; however, when the discussion turns towards the Religious Right, Jersild's opinions are stated more forcefully and at more length than when he is discussing Liberalism and/or Liberation Theology. To his credit, Jersild is critical of all three views, but he appears to be especially critical of the Religious Right stating that their "insecurity and fear (will) lead to the suppression of free discourse and the exchange of ideas." While it is true that he is personally biased in regards to the current trend of church involvement in political arenas, Jersild also attempts to be somewhat self-critical by examining these biases, i.e. that the government should play a more active role in relation to the social inequalities. It is admirable that he states his biases clearly.

Paul Jersild does a remarkable job of tackling a complicated and distressing topic. Moral decision making is understandably a difficult and sometimes daunting task, but in light of the freedom that is bestowed by the gospel, responsible living is possible. Within the confines of one's personal life, as well as within one's church and social communities, a spirit of love can be acted out towards one's neighbor. This is ultimately the message that the author attempts to bring to the reader's attention. Live well personally, and as members of a larger church community so that no exclusiveness exists between our individual and our corporate responsibilities as Christians.

The first part of the book deals with the author's experience working in the Black ghetto. The second part deals with the author's experience working overseas in the Peace Corps.

At the time I read this book, I wasn't interested in the Black ghetto, but was interested in the Peace Corps. Consequently, I wasn't interested in the first part but was interested in the second part. The author contends that both experiences contributed to his evolving from a national citizen to a world citizen. But I wasn't interested in that; I was interested in the Peace Corps.

Nevertheless, I highly recommend this book for a person interested in foreign service.

Dr. Virginia Wiles has composed a workbook aimed at readers with at least a Sunday school knowledge of the New Testament, but quickly deconstructs that knowledge by giving a series of redefinitions of the Apostle Paul's terminology, i.e. salvation, justification, righteousness, law, and the like. Written in the form resembling a self-teaching text, Wiles inserts 'sidebars' of review questions, reader response queries, and modern application scenarios. Her approach should not be offensive to the non-Christian, but does challenge many traditional views of evangelical Christianity as she approaches her subject with a "This is the real Paul-take him or leave him" attitude. Especially thought-provoking is her take on Paul's seemingly contradictory views of the Mosiac Law-that one is condemned by not following it, but is also condemned by following it. Dr. Wiles has fired an opening salvo at the traditionalists who try to fit the square peg of Paul's theology into the round hole of the standard repent-be forgiven-be restored cycle which she, and according to her book, Paul, says won't work. She makes a strong case that Paul's definition of the Christian experience requires a much more radical approach in order for the individual to attain the goal of 'shalom' for oneself, the Christian community, and the entire created order.

This book contains many rare photographs. I am very glad to see photographs of Breconshire, Clan Furguson, Ajax, Orali, Brisbane Star, Port Chalmers and so on. Paul Kemp`s interpretation is also so good that I guess many readers will be able to understand the very strict conditions of Malta Convoys.

This book breathes life into so many famous names from the Impressionist years of the 19th century, and the places where they lived, worked and squabbled together. Where more conventional biographies seem somehow dry and dusty, the novel-style of this book seems strangely more real! An excellent read, but do have a good book illustrated with Cezanne's paintings to back it up, and preferably the Impressionists as well. Not that the information is inaccurate: it is simply frustrating to be unable to see some of the references. But then, that is the joy of this book: it throws Cezanne and his contemporaries together again into a living landscape, and makes the reader want to meet them and visit these places.

Sadly out of print, this should be republished, perhaps with an illustrated version.

This book is very good for teaching you managerial accounting. I used this book in college and found it to actually be of use, unlike a lot of college textbooks. You could read the chapter and be able to do the exercises at the end of the chapter.

I mean, you know the types of books where they have questions and it's literally impossible to deduce how to answer the questions from the chapter. This book is not like that. It teaches you how to prepare specialized documents for internal business usage. The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars was because I felt that the information could be better organized as to make it easier to find.

If you are a first time manager, or you have ever encountered a difficult person to deal with at work then this book is for you.

The Antecedents Behaviour Consequences model described in Managing Behavior on the Job, provides an easy to use framework for understanding behavior and performance on the job (and at home for that matter) and to shape behaviour/performance without the connotation of manipulating people. It prevents the error that most of us make at some time in our management career, of making assumptions about people's behavior, and helps focus instead on behaviour that you observe as the starting point for bringing about positive change.

Brown uses 'Tracking' sheets and other techniques to help focus on observed behavior, and describes how positive behaviour can occur by setting the right Antecedents and Consequences. Brown also describes the process of how negative behavior is encouraged, by providing positive reinforcement, and what to do to change this pattern, so that everyone performs better and the right things get rewarded.

No book is a panacea. This book doesn't wave a magic wand and make the process of managing people simple - although it does provide very helpful suggestions which work to make your job as a manager/project manager that much easier.

Maas is a good story teller and he keeps your attention the whole while as he takes you from the beginnings of Wilson's thirst for money at age 8 to his acquisition of prime property in the Washington, D.C. area as a result of his secretive and illegal dealings with foreign powers. Though CIA senior officers were members along with him in phoney corporations he set up to conduct his "import-export" business), any official connection to the CIA while all this was going on isn't clear. Yet the prospect of any CIA connection to Wilson's shipments of thousands of pounds of C-4 (plastique) to Libya and Mohamar Kaddafi is, indeed, very troubling. As the author pointed out, when jets started falling out of the air (Lockerbie) and discos blowing up (Rome), you couldn't help but feel that if not for Wilson, many of these things might not ever have happened. It seems that whereever 20th century evil was to be found, the CIA was either right there, or not too far behind.

This doesn't give you any great insights into the inner workings of the world of spooks, but it is certainly an interesting read and does afford at times a look at how the Justice and State Departments work--or fail to work.