Another book that is not worth the paper it is printed on.

I wish I hadn't opened the CD encasing so I could return it and get my money back. Unfortunately, it was required for an AfterEffects class last term and I had no choice. By the end of the class even the instructor gave up on the book. This term the instructor went back to the Classroom in a Book even though it's for AE 5.0, and rightfully so.

The examples are impossible to follow, the support files are incomplete. It's just a pain to learn from.

This book is not very good if you are a brand new user to After Effects. I found myself continuously going to the help button to find the item the book told me to use. I thought about selling it back as a used book, but I didn't want to be responsible for someone else wasting their money. Do not buy this book unless you already know the basics in After Effects. There are some good tips, but that was not why I bought this; I had never used After Effects and thought this was a step by step tutorial.

When deciding whether or not to accept arguments opposed to contemporary music, consider this historical account:

"The church should be a place of purity and holiness, separate from the world and its secular entertainment. How could good Christians conceive of welcoming this worldly instrument into the Lord's house." The wealthy churchman did all he could to thwart the efforts of the "misguided" group that had conceded to accept the sinister gift, beseeching them with tears and even offering to refund the entire price if someone would only dump the ill-fated cargo-a musical instrument-overboard during its transatlantic voyage. Just what was this instrument of such vile associations and shady history? ... The churchman's pleas were left unheeded; the instrument arrived safely in the New World, and the Brattle Street Church of Boston made room for the controversial instrument: the organ. (Quoted from Edward S. Ninde, The Story of the American Hymn [Nashville: Abingdon, 1921] in Elmer Towns and Warren Bird, Into the Future: Turning Today's Church Trends into Tomorrow's Opportunities [Grand Rapids: Fleming H. Revell, 2000], p. 231.)

Let us not crucify contemporary music for the perversions by those who are without God in the world. When the Bible speaks of worshiping God with the trumpet, harp, tambourine, dancing, strings, flute, crashing and resounding cymbals (Psalm 150) and the ten-stringed lyre (the ancestor to the 6-string guitar, Psalm 33), why would the music produced by such percussive and other instruments be dismissed as evil? No one continues to see the organ as evil, but it is no more sanctified than guitar or drums. Such an argument is a fallacy.

Christians who understand God and the Bible recognize that sex is a gift from God, yet it has clearly been perverted by sinful humans. But we don't preach against sex in the context of biblical heterosexual marriage. So why would we throw out contemporary music because of misuse? A similar controversy arose when Wycliffe wanted to translate the Bible into English. The religious establishment opposed him, even burning his bones after he'd died. All he wanted was for Christians to have the Bible (the very Word of God) in their contemporary language. To subject contemporary music to similar persecution seems ludicrous, does it not?

Kimberly Smith, a church organist and classically trained pianist, can be likened to a modern-day Dr. Van Helsing in pursuit of the fiendish "undead." Armed with the Word of God, she triumphantly impales "Christian" rock music, the most carnal and prevalent style of contemporary Christian music (CCM) today.

Despite the fact that the majority of Christians, especially teenagers, much prefer Christian rock over traditional church hymns, Smith exposes Christian rock as nothing more than "Christian" lyrics attached to secular rock music (the latter having evolved from sexually-driven rock 'n roll music of the 1950s). For any music to be acceptable in worship, the lyrics must be in spiritual harmony with the music itself, for each one sends its own "message." The musical "message" of all rock music, including Christian rock, is carnal, sensual, and unacceptable because it appeals to the "flesh" and violates biblical principles. Moreover, attempting to hallow rock music with "Christian" lyrics is futile, because the rock "message" (sex, rebellion, etc.) is not spiritually harmonious with the lyrics. In other words, the secular rock music corrupts and compromises the spiritual lyrics. Smith sees Christian rock as catering to worldly desires and preferences rather than glorifying God. She further presents 16 of the most common, "emotionally charged excuses given by people" regarding CCM in general, then crushes each one with an arsenal of Scripture references.

This book will generate extremes of opinions. Discerning Christians will praise Smith for exposing the fallacies and dangers of Christian rock. Non-believers and worldly "Christians," outraged at the magnitude of the truth presented, will burn her in effigy.

This book and its companion, "Let Those Who Have Ears to Hear," are highly recommended reading for Sunday school programs and youth groups.

Kim Smith has done an excellent job in bringing together all aspects of music and how it affects our souls. I challenge anyone who dares to criticize this work to do hours of unbiased research and come up with a different conclusion than Mrs Smith and her husband. If you have any questions about how important music is and the real origins of rock music, then this book is for you.

Right now, Brennan is one of my favorite authors, so even though this book sounded a little skeptical, I had to have it. I was a little disappointed to realize there were so many blank pages with like three words on each page and some pictures and stuff. There was probably only about 75 pages of real reading and that, was double-spaced.

For those pages, it was good, however, I'd recommend "Ragamuffin" or "Ruthless Trust" or his new "A Glimpse of Jesus" before reading this one if you want the full Brennan experience. There are several typos in the book which distracted me because I felt more like I was an editor rather than an avid reader. That normally shouldn't be in published books, right?

However, there were a few words that touched my soul and made me think hard about the crucified Christ. For that alone, I can't allow typos or few words on pages to hold me back from giving it an average rating, but sadly, this is the lowest rating I've ever given a book by Brennan.

I found 'Above All' a wonderful read, and perfect in length. A rather short read and amazing personal insights from Manning to the reader. To reach the point as to where Brennan is in faithfulness with Abba and his will to spread it as he sees it is unique and powerful! I think I'll re-read it again ... and again ....

As with most books I read, or intend to read, my first look is to the book's publisher. In this case the publisher is that distinguished publisher of theology, the State University of New York Press. I searched my personal library for other books of that publisher, and could find none. I searched the internet for SUNY Press's stable of justly-famous theologians, and could find none. I did note that the book is ranked 572,509th in Amazon.com's sales list. Undaunted, I read the book anyway. So that those who might not want to read this entire review, I will cut right to the bottom line. This book is a primer on how modern theological thought is done. If you can name any theological idea that has seen the light of day in the last one hundred years (5% of the Christian Era's entire time, mind you!) these authors have accepted it. You might name historical-critical method of Biblical interpretation. You might name feminism, evolutionary social theory, reframing, the homosexualist agenda, etc. All have been uncritically accepted and used as if everyone would think that each of these has universal and absolute authority in the life of the entire Christian (world?) community. The underlying assumption is that of a modernist bias that says only the accumulated knowledge and wisdom of the present age is of any value in doing theology. I have known of pastors, priests, bishops and theologians who do what has come to be known as "paperback" theology. But I think this is the first volume I have ever seen that actually has it printed in paperback! It does not surprise me any more that anyone in the Christian community might buy into this way of doing theology. It saves on having to do one's homework in the formative or conciliar era of Christian formation. Modernist bias simply rejects that as as being anti- or at least pre-scientific. Thus it is no wonder I have not heard of this volume. It is now seven years old as a book of paperback theology and is, no doubt, out of date and can be relegated to the pile of hundreds, nay thousands, of other such paperback theological tomes. In terms of its theological arguments, the authors attempt quite successfully to explain exactly what this new moral category of "heterosexism" actually is. They do so by analogy with other sinful "-isms" such as "racism." Racism comes about when one particular race is seen as normative and all other races are judged against it. Generally, that is how these authors define heterosexism. Their argument is that there is not one "model" for sexuality against which all others are to be judged. They claim that today the notion of heterosexuality is taken as the prevailing norm for human sexual relationships. As such all other notions of sexuality when judged against that model are found to be wanting. That wanting has been described historically by some as sin, sickness, maladjustment and by many other pejorative epithets. This understanding, pervasive in church and society, they claim, must be dismantled. For, after all, any sexual orientation, being a gift of God must be judged on its own terms, not by comparison or contrast with any specific orientation that might be normative. With full and uncritical acceptance of the modern notion of "justice," and with full and uncritical acceptance of modern biblical criticism, they then proceed to support this claim. Their method is the tried and true method of paperback theology -- reverse logic. Having claimed that a = c, they then proceed to try and prove that a = b and b = c. (For those who have forgotten, first you prove that a = b and b = c; then, all things being equal, a = c.) The Bible, they say, does not speak to the issues and therefore we as Christians must find a moral norm outside of the Bible. And, since justice is demanded by all for whatever orientation or behavior is desired, we must accept all of these just because we ought to love each other. That, after all, is what Christians do! I have obviously reduced a closely thought-out argument to rather simplistic terms. But I do so not to belittle the argument, but to cut through the rhetoric to see not the faulty conclusions, but the faulty method. When 95% of Christian wisdom is whisked away by the modernist bias, there will result faulty method. When scientific data is used simply to support preconceived conclusions, there will result faulty method. And faulty method produces faulty conclusions. As stated earlier, my fear is not of what is said in this book. My fear is that theology will continue to be done in this way. My fear is that the church's leaders will continue to accept this throwaway theology. My fear is continuing rejection of the wisdom of the Church from its inception. Yes. Read this book. There is much to learn about how theology is done in the modern church today. But--caveat christianum emptor!

As a response to the previous reviewer who was so appalled by the alleged "modernist" tone of the book, I found this volume to be a serious and thoughtful analysis of the issue. There is nothing to suggest that the authors are not comitted Christians engaging a contemporary issue. Nor is there any indication that the authors reject core Christian beliefs/theology simply because they chose to address a contemporary question. The first review says more about the reviewer than it does about the book itself. Whether one accepts or agrees with the authors, their book deserves a careful and critical reading.

I read this book because my friend recommended it to me. Well I recommend to everyone reading this review to stay away from this book which bores you with facts. Run, dont walk, away from this book.

R. G. Smith did a translation of Martin Buber's work, "I and Thou" that changed my life.

I have not read this book, but upon seeing the previous review I was concerned because the quality of other works by Smith such as Smith's translation of "I and Thou", which is a book of greatness. His words are so joyously chosen, not as words, but as part of a larger whole that moves beyond the world of objects into the world of unconditional relationship that touch the heart.

I have talked to and read Buber scholars who disagree. Those disagreements are based on politics and agenda, not inspiration or communications of the heart.

I would highly recommend any book by R. G. Smith.

Michael Smith did a tremendous amount of research on "The Jesus Newspaper," an analysis of the Rev. Charles Sheldon's weeklong "Jesus Newspaper" experiment in 1900. The book is a detailed account of Sheldon's publication in light of the history of the era and the religious climate of the day. I was most interested in the historical backdrop, which Michael seems to write about with more enthusiasm than he does the rest of the book. "The Jesus Newspaper" is intellectual in tone and is definitely not a quick read. Several portions of the book are rather dry and much information seems redundant, but overall it's an engaging story.

The author draws heavily from firsthand accounts of the period with some attempts to weed out the falsehoods. The story he tells flows fairly well and the naration is smooth. The book made for a good read.

My only detraction was that the author attempted, wherever possible, to explain the actions or motivations of Joan of Arc through the use of psychoanalitic techniques, with heavy emphasis on Freudianism.

Single to Single is a devotional geared to singletons, including those divorced or widowed. The book covers 52 weeks, with each week starting off with a "leader's" notes and then devotionals written by those in the group. All of the daily devotionals were written different, everyday people. There is a heap of sharing of lives as it applies to each week's 'power verse'. This is a handy book to keep by the bedside table for a little inspiration, but it is by no means a hardcore devotional like Oswald Chambers' My Utmost for His Highest.

I was an English major and have been a teacher for 16 years, so when I throw away a book, there's a problem. The little girl in the story, Whitney, gets so involved in her activities or her imagination that she sometimes doesn't hear her parents calling her. When the family goes to an amusement park, her parents accidentally leave her there. The book is written from the "real-life family episode" of a Christian singer, Michael Smith and his wife. They have 5 children, so you could see how they might leave one at an amusement park. My problem is that when they go back and find the child, it is Whitney who has to apologize to her parents for not "paying attention". The parents NEVER apologize to the girl for leaving her in a frightening situation and not arriving back to pick her up until it is night time and the park is closed. I am active in my church and teach Sunday school, so the parents' prayers for Whitney's protection and safety are fine with me. I just think they should have told her they were sorry they didn't keep her protected and safe themselves. That's the parents' job, after all. I would have preferred a book that, in the end, showed the parents' admitting they weren't perfect rather than putting the responsibility for a very scary experience onto the child. If there were a zero stars rating, I'd give it to this book.

A simple yet engaging tale of a family reunion which decides to go to an amusement park. Whitney does not pay attention and . . . well the story goes from there. My son loved the illustrations and the story was right on his level ( 4-5 year old). There actually is a religious end to the story, but considering the author, I thought God would be mentioned more.

The title of the book excited me but it turned out to be very boring--truly a disappointment.

I wish I knew what message this author was trying to convery. The book is a disorganized collection of thoughts that don't hang together. I was perplexed, confused and discouraged in my attempts to make sense out of it all.

Where is the author's victory over her problems? She remains as self-absorbed at the end of the book as she was at the beginning. It's too bad her editor didn't push to get the focus back on Jesus and off of the author's self-indulgent exercise.