I have seldom read a series of books that kept me as captivated as 'The Mark of the Lion' trilogy! I read all three books in one week and could not wait to loan them to my friends. The characters became so real to the reader that you found yourself worrying about their fates and rejoicing in their triumphs! It made me stop to think that surely the Lord does want all men to be set free in the salvation he provided for us. I encourage anyone who is feeling that they are not special or deserving of God's love to read these books- the experience will make you feel wonderful.

This is the best book ever written! I also reccomend you to read the two following books, they are just as good!

This has got to be one of those "unusual books" on the marketplace. It is a book that I would highly recommend for criminal justice, sociology, or for that matter, political science courses. It deals with the depth, in the real brutal existence, of prison sexual exploitation. On a much deeper level, it is about prison life. Many young offenders, unfortunately, don't realize that this is what prison life, in part, is about. It is a book for readers interested in how prisoners, on a more personal level, relate to one another. No, I don't think nor say this is about agreeing or disagreeing; I would say this is about understanding how cold life can be for some.

'Men Behind Bars' is not a novel, it is not flashy.

What the book does do is relay prisoners' actual tales of sexual assault in prison to the reader as part of an attempt to record and study the level of sexual abuse behind bars. The authors wisely stay out of the way and let the prisoners' words convey the terror and hopelessness of their situations.

This is not a pleasant book to read, but you'll never forget what those interviewed in it have to say.

Veteran guidebook writer and trained geographer Wayne has done a nice job on this book. It's interesting to read and has a great deal of practical information. In addition to a full range of hotels, language schools, restaurants and the like, there's also a comprehensive history and politics section. The other background info is in the mark as well. There are many budget hotels here, and the author has definitely done his homework.

General Info: Introduction and On the Road section has general information about the country. These sections talk about History, Government, Economy and some other topics in good detail. It even gets into the issues like photographic etiquette and people customs, that are very important in a country like Guatemala.

Places Info: It details the most important places to visit. It tells you what it's worth seeing and what not. Information is accurate and shows that the writer has spent very good time in Guatemala or doing research, just don't trust the movie theathers suggested in the book.

Comments: The book seems to be written by a very informed author. Some of the stories told in the book show a great involvement in the culture and that the author really knew deep details about some places and events. It has very good side notes about interesting people, traditions, history and events.

Keon's latest lineage of poetry & story continues it's heavenly spiral, connecting earth, rivers and soul along the way. The nomadic wanderings of body, mind and spirit are unmistakeably native, from his Ojibway heritage. If you've read Keon's Sweetgrass II and Storm Dancer, you will want to include Keon's latest MY SWEET MAIZE.

Keon's earthy poetry and story lines continue to spiral through the heavens driven by inviting, direct, brutal and honest dialogue which carries the reader through body & spirit to places we seldom travel. The nomadic wandering of mind, spirit and soul is unmistakeably native, merging earth, river, sky and soul of Keon's Ojibway heritage. If you've read Keon's Sweetgrass II and Storm Dancer, you'll certainly want to include Keon's latest, MY SWEET MAIZE.

Baker contends that networking isn't just for job-hunters or for the self-employed: *everyone* needs this critical set of skills to survive the 1990s and beyond. Lucidly explaining his claims--and backing them up with plenty of solid scientific evidence--he covers, among other things, basic networking principles; the salutary effects (including, for individuals, improved promotion prospects, salary levels, and even physical and mental health; for organizations, improved quality, reputations, and bottom lines) of well-established and well-maintained networks; managing relationships with peers, subordinates, and superiors within an organization; breaking bottlenecks and building bridges between organizational units; encouraging creativity; tapping the power of diversity; networking throughout the organizational life cycle; and managing relationships outside an organization. The latter section discusses how to use networking to find good people to hire; to change jobs; to establish relationships with customers and clients; to develop positive word-of-mouth in marketing; to build partnerships with suppliers; and to co-operate with competitors. There's also a description of how to start or join a networking club. Each chapter concludes with practical lists of actions you can take now, soon, and in the long run. An exceptional contribution to a burgeoning sub-genre: Baker proves that networking has truly come of age as a powerful and empowering force in business

When I read Wayne's book it really started a creative process within me. I also writes about personal networking, and Wayne has given me a lot of ideas working on. A book that must be read!

This book is for anyone who enjoys eating desserts, cookies, breads etc. who also wants to eat healthy and fit into the same size for years to come. The recipes are easy and wholesome. Try the chocolate chip cookies...that recipe alone makes the book worth buying.

Great little cookbook--has a variety of breads, cakes, muffins, etc., all low fat and most very easy to make. The most important thing is that taste is not sacrificed! Too many low fat desserts have very little taste--these recipes are very good! I am hoping these two authors come out with another book------happy cooking!

The "New York Rangers-Seventy-Five Years", is a superb historical look back at 75 years of Ranger hockey. Author John Halligan, who is a former public relations director for the Rangers, gives the fan, a fantastic look back at the birth of this great franchise, and takes you on a journey from 1926 to the year 2000. All the legends of Ranger hockey are presented in all their glory. Names like the Bill and Bun Cook, Lester Patrick, Ching Johnson, Murray Murdoch, Chuck Rayner, Gump Worsley, Andy Bathgate, Harry Howell, Rod Gilbert, Jean Ratelle, Vic Hadfield, Eddie Giacomin, Brad Park, Adam Graves, Mark Messier, Brian Leetch and Mike Richter are just a few of the Ranger legends that are brought to life with rare photo's and text that help make this book the best book ever published on the New York Rangers. The all-time Ranger team fold out section by John Davidson is a very nice touch to this oversized coffee table book. Seeing the full page photo of Eddie Giacomin overcome by emotion playing for the Red Wings, as the crowd chanted his name for 2 hours surely brought back memories of an event that will live forever in Ranger history. All four stanley cup teams are covered here, 1927, 1933,1940 and of course 1994. The book has lots of statistical data at end section of the book to help settle any arguments over who had more goals and shutouts etc. I can't think of a better gift to give to a young Ranger fan who would like to explore the history and players who wore the uniform of the New York Rangers.

I own this when it was first realesed 2 years ago! NUFF said!

When picking out a book to read at night, this book seems to come up more often than any other. My six-year-old stepson and I have probably read this book over 150 times in the past 2 years, and he never gets tired of it. It's fun to read for me and he loves the holograms. I would definitely recommend this book for any child interested in dinosaurs.

Arielle (5 years old) has owned this book for two days, has had it read to her umpteen times, memorized it, and had it read to all her friends--who stopped transfixed in a kid's pool to listen. I have run out of fingers, and subsequently lost count of just how many times umpteen is. Since you'll be reading it a lot, you'll be glad to know if you are a parent, that A Night in the Dinosaur Graveyard is an adult friendly book (Sesame Street vs. Nickolodean's Blues Clues if you get my drift.) If a book wins out over cool pool water in the Louisiana summer heat--you know you have a winner

This book, without a doubt is one of my favorite books. Funny and delightful, it bares open the obvious stupidity of trying to be something you're not.

I've read and reread the book many times. Each time it's new and wonderful. Highly recommended, unless you have areas of your life that are sacrosanct and you don't want to be free.

If you are serious in your pursuit of enlightenment you are in for a rough ride. Ram Tzu does not coddle. His truths are self evident to some and heresy even blaspheme to others. The pages of this book are filled with incredibly funny and intelligent paradox, that is all the more stunning because it is delivered at the most dizzying heights of mankind's most cherished beliefs. Ram Tzu is a Zen Master's Master. And like a Zen Master of old if the Student is blinded by his own flame the Master smacks him, on occasion. Ram Tzu laughs at you... But only when you need laughing at. An example form the book: "Ram Tzu knows this...You indulge in self mprovement... and...All you have to show for it is an improved self." If this makes you mad you missed the point. Losing the self is the point not improving it. This book is not for the pius, those that take themeselves too seriously. To the truly enlightened, nothing is sacred. Ram Tzu is truly Enlightened.

Wayne Meeks presented a brilliant work on the development of the earliest Christian communities during the apostolic and post-apostolic period, as Christianity took root in the ancient city setting of the Roman Empire, in his work 'The First Urban Christians' (my review will be coming soon!). In this, the follow-up volume, 'The Origins of Christian Morality' explores the deepening development of community and identity of these early Christians as they worked to remain a faithful remnant in a sometimes-hostile world. Meeks is the Woolsey Professor of Biblical Studies at Yale University, with a great deal of scholarly experience that he brings to the questions of the origins of Christian morality.

In this book, Meeks has presented 'an ecology of moral notions'. This is not a guidebook to state in unambiguous terms questions of present-day moral questions. For reasons explained early, Meeks avoids that kind of question because the question can usually be framed by parameters that pre-suppose the answer.

Also, Meeks avoids the term 'New Testament ethics' for some particular reasons. Firstly, the early church did not have a New Testament -- the collection of writings we have come to accept as the New Testament had not been collected and recognised as a single body of writings during the first, second and third centuries after the time of Christ, the time during which Christian views of morality were being formed.

Morality is also discussed, rather than ethics, because ethics tends to be a second-order reflection on morality. This is not what was occurring generally or primarily at this time.

In a unique feature, Meeks gives a brief summary, an almost Cliff-notes-lite, of each of the chapters in his Introduction. He traces his development chapter by chapter, highlighting each main point and its connection to the overall theme of the origins of Christian morality as well as the progression through sociology, politics, philosophy, and theology. Meeks admits to being less than systematic in approach, yet this is reflective of the subject. Christian morality did not evolve in a coherent and orderly fashion. It continues to be polyphonic to this day, with varying degrees of acceptance and intolerance by individuals and communities in the name of a 'purer' morality.

'Obviously there can be no community and no tradition if everything is permitted ('All things are lawful, but not all things build up'), and therefore there can be no community without some degree of coercion. Yet unity coerced is unstable ('For why is my freedom judged by a conscience not mine?')'

Unlike today, early Christianity was primarily a religion of converts. Today, most Christians of most denominations are born into the community of people and of thought. This was untrue in the time of the apostles, and continued to be untrue for several hundred years, even after Christianity became the religion of the establishment. Conversion was usually a social act, something done in public, and something that would have public consequences.

How the public Christian world-view intersects and coincides with the outside (some might say, secular) world has always been a problem, from these earliest times to the present (Augustine works with the idea, but only briefly, in his massive description of the City of God centuries after the period Meeks, investigates; H. Richard Niebuhr was still wrestling with the problem in the twentieth century).

There is a tendency to continue ancient heresies today without realising they are such. In his chapter 'Loving and Hating the World', Meeks investigates some of the gnostic divisions (the material world is evil inherently, once declared a heresy but which continues to pop up in practical theology of various Catholic and Protestant thinkers). In the following chapter, 'The Language of Obligation', Meeks presents lists of vices and virtues, commands, actions, and the way in which these concepts are dealt with, in the attribution of authority (or lack thereof) and the desirability/requirement of deliberate practice. Meeks states that no list is present as exhaustive in the positive or the negative -- even the sum total leaves important things out on both listing of virtue and vice. There is no definitive list for all early Christians. This made formulating a way of discovering right belief and practice all the more important.

In the chapter 'History, Pluralism and Morality', Meeks outlines particular theses toward understanding the original concepts of Christian morality:

Thesis 1 -- Making morals and making community are one, dialectical process.
Thesis 2 -- A Christian moral community must be grounded in the past
Thesis 3 -- The church's rootage in Israel is a privileged dimension of its past.
Thesis 4 -- Faithfulness ought not be confused with nostalgia.
Thesis 5 -- Christian ethics must be polyphonic.
Thesis 6 -- Moral confidence, not moral certainty, is what we require.
Thesis 7 -- God tends to surprise.

There is no definitive ending to this book -- just as Christian belief and practice has continued to evolve, so to is it impossible to come to a definitive statement about all-encompassing Christian normative standards at any given point even near the beginnings of the religion, and particularly before the canon of the scriptures have been determined.

Perhaps Meeks' Theses 6 and 7 are the most important for us today. The determination of moral confidence with the understanding that God continues to act in our lives and in our world can both reassure and comfort us in the knowledge of God's love and protection, as well as the recognition that in a world in which people have been given freedom of action, God's own freedom can occasionally (or perhaps even frequently) surprise us.

I read this cover to cover a few months ago. It felt like a highly interesting book about the Christian mystery-religion, rather than a study of morality. Don't pass this book by thinking it's about the narrow topic of morality. I'm only somewhat interested in the topic of the origins of Christian morality, but I didn't feel like this book was about morality.

Meeks' style of approach is not at all devotional, but rather, is an engaging and straightforward type of scholarship portraying the early mystic form of Christianity including social aspects.