Organizations Books

After reading a number of trendy books on knowledge management, this is the second one with a good theoretical framework. It is not a HOW TO..book (the subtitle is not very informative). It is the fruit of solid analytical thinking. Boisot uses the information space, built from the variables 'codification, abstraction and diffusion'. With this framework he gives an original insight into many organizational aspects, like organizational learning, competences, information technology and organizational culture. I have choosen the book for the course I teach at the University of Amsterdam (Culture and Competences in Changing Organizations), after reading it with red ears.

It would be difficult to over-estimate the value of this book. It is very important contribution to our understanding of how to build and manage knowledge assets and, in particular, the rules by which knowledge gains and loses value and 'travels'.

It is directly useful to business people who have to wrestle with strategies for managing knowledge. It is also a formidable piece of analytical architecture that links the management of knowledge assets to economic theory and learning theory. Considering the depth and range of the original thought packed into it, the book is surprisingly readable, partly because of the clarity and relevance of the examples with which the author illustrates his concepts.

Perhaps of widest importance is the clarity and precision of the definitions offered, in a field in which the definitions have been notably 'muddy'. One of the things I have gained from reading the book is a much clearer 'mental model' of what knowledge management is all about, its dynamics and linkages, and what is happening at various stages in the development, codification and diffusion of knowledge.

Because of its depth, density and range, absorbing the content requires real effort, but the effort is very worthwhile. It has several different audiences.

Knowledge managers: Those directly responsible for knowledge management will want to read and understand this book in full.

Business Strategists: The book provides a coherent and well argued rationale for developing strategies around the exploitation of the value in knowledge assets, based on the clearest explanation of the dynamics of knowledge value creation and dissipation that I have seen.

Managers of Organisational Change: Anyone concerned with organisation change also needs to understand the underlying concepts for their relevance to strategies for learning and to the shaping and linking of organisational structures.

Economists: Chapters 2 - 4 provide economists with a re-conception of the production function around data as a factor of production, and an explanation of the nature and dynamics of information value that is both challenging and important in integrating the realities of information and knowledge value into economic theory.

Those with a more peripheral or general interest in knowledge management should at least read: * the Preface, which is a 2 1/2 page masterpiece in the expression of the central concept in a compressed form, * pages 12 - 14 and 18 of the Introduction and * they should scan Chapter 3: The Information Space (I-Space) to understand the author's three dimensional construct and its use. J-C Spender's short Foreword is also valuable in putting Boisot's work in context with other work, particularly Nonaka and Takeuchi's The Knowledge Creating Company.

If general readers are tempted to go further, they will find an extraordinary range of thought-provoking concepts along with quite a lot of material that may be familiar from other writers: Boisot's primary aim is to get us to think differently about our world and to recognise that much of our current thinking about information and knowledge is grounded in the very different world of the energy based economy. He provides an alternative framework that is rigorous, persuasive and practical.

As a futures researcher at the Copenhagen Institute for Futures Research I have read tons of books on the information society. No one - absolutely no one - has been as powerful and innovative as Max Boisot's. He handles the most important aspects of information and knowledge and synthesizes them in one outstanding theory: The Information Space.
The framework generates insight after insight. After my absorption of it, I simply can't resist using it in my own research and consulting. It has for example helped me evaluate business plans and think about different subjects as national strategies on education, e-communities, trade associations, innovation strategies and the philosophy of social sciences.
Read this book and learn to think about the emerging society!

The decision to read a book, any book, is an exercise in cost-benefit-analysis, usually conducted under conditions of uncertainty (Boisot, 1998). This review strives to mitigate this uncertainty and instigate you to read it!

Boisot delivers a genuine new perspective on knowledge assets quite distinct from the existing knowledge literature. First he states that knowledge is embedded in physical objects (public knowledge -like a pack of Marlboros - understood as a pack of cigarettes of a certain quality and length), in documents, and in individual brains. He builds a three dimensional Information-space consisting of codification (codified - uncodified), abstraction (abstract - concrete), and diffusion (diffused - undiffused). Plot these elements on three axes of a three dimensional rectangle and you got Boisot basic mental model. In this box (I-space) the movement of knowledge results in the Social Learning Cycle (SLC). The SLC consists of 6 phases, respectively Scanning, Problem Solving, Abstraction, Diffusion, Absorption, and Impacting. This model fundaments subsequently the rest of the book in which he illustrates the value of knowledge, two learning theories (the N-learning strategy - hoarding knowledge and S-learning strategy - sharing of knowledge), culture in relation to knowledge (identifies the centripetal culture - tunnel vision and the centrifugal culture - promotes learning), core competence and strategic intent, the impact of IT on knowledge and finally applies I-Space on two companies, Courtaulds and BP oil exploration business. The theory Boisot used to build his model and arguments are very fundamental - deep-rooted in classic philosophy-, economy-, and chaos and complexity theories. However the major added value provided lies in the massive multifaceted range of examples offered, very intelligent and smart entrenched.

Knowledge as keyword in the Amazon search engine generates more than 9000 books. However the number that fundaments the basic knowledge theory infrastructure doesn't exceed 25. There are essentially only a few you want to read the rest is all derived from this small number. Boisot book (next to Nonaka & Takeuchi) is certainly one that falls in the in the 25 cluster in view of the fact that it's an outstanding unique mental model clarified by smart examples. Downturn of his theory that's it very difficult to apply in a practical situation, nevertheless read it (absorb and exploit) and capture valuable `knowledge' on knowledge theories.

I ordered this book for the Pastor of my church at his request. He has started reading it and is enjoying the information given. When I ordered the book, it only took 3-4 days to get delivered and even thought it was a "used book", it looked brand new to me. Thanks for the fast delivery.

This book powerfully impacted me as the cell administrator of our church. Joel's message in this book has found it's way into a majority of my teaching of both the new and existing cell leaders. If you're looking at becoming a cell church, this book will be a great asset to you. It will give you practical information, but (in my opinion) more importantly, it will inspire you. I couldn't put it down.

Joel Comiskey has written many books on cell groups and cell churches. In my opinion, this is the most practical. It is particularly helpful for laying the foundation of a new cell ministry. God is showing us that small group settings allow for deeper discipleship and rapid church growth. However, before we can multiply cells, we need to equip our leaders. It isn't about the quantity, it is about quality. I highly recommend this book to all those who are looking to start a new cell ministry. The harvest is plenty, but the workers are few. Let God begin to multiply cell group leaders within your church.

This is an excellent in depth tool for church leaders who want to reach their communities for Christ. This hands on, nuts and bolts approach will inspire you to do exploits for the Kingdom of God.

Like a hammer and a wrench, this book is a must have in every church leaders tool box.

Buy them and give them out to pastors everywhere.

This book was recommended to me by our Lead Pastor for the ministry internship that I am doing with him. We are working through the book, chapter-by-chapter. I have been in church leadership for over 20 years and could have greatly benefited from this book if it were available back then. I'm thankful that it is available now for us. It's a must read for seminary students and professors and anyone currently in church leadership or aspiring to church leadership.

I have read this excellent book by Anderson, Personally I want to say that this book is excellent and extraordinary. Because of his insight and scholars background plus his background of practical ministry that make this book became awesome. Beautiful insight and the richess of his experience make this book easy to read and nice. I encourage to all Christian leader to read and apply this principle in this book, this is a book for the future leader in this generation and to the next generation. Thanks and God bless you.

This was a great book. I thought of many mistakes I've made in the ministry.

This book is a steal! Where [can] you get in one place such practical wisdom from a successful, significant, and sacrifical pastor like Leith Anderson. He successfully combines an understand of character and comptence, with a conviction that great leaders have both.

He successfully juggles the practice of pastoral ministry with the ability to write and speak about the broad spectrum of pastoral ministry. Leith is one of the top five communciators about pastoral ministry in North American today.

One quote sums up the book: "Leadership is figuring out what needs to be done and then doing it." [51]

When you read Leadership That Works you are not hearing primarily about the success story of Wooddale Church, you are hearing about the principles of leadership that actually will work for you in your place of ministry.

I can personally testify to the validity of Leith's ministry having heard him speak, engaged him in dialogue, visited with him in his own church for worship, and seen his authentic ministry at work.

This book was surprisely quick and easy to read yet very thorough. Any church or small business would benefit from reading this book. It's model is similiar to great world class companies, but is unique with it's theological links. It also recognizes the problems that happen in any small company...even churches....! It recognizes too everyone's desire to work in a place and do things we are passionate about!...Worthwhile for the entire staff to read!

George Cladis has written a great book--the best I have found on team-building in the church. It is an easy read, very practical, filled with a lot of good ideas. I found his chapters on team covenants and on creating a visionary culture particularly helpful.

Cladis has learned a lot in his pastorates about teamwork--and teaches those principles well. He motivates me to want to build a strong team--not be a lone ranger in the pastorate. And he gives lots of ideas on how to do so.

What a breath of fresh air to see one with such an innovative, entrepreneurial spirit coming from a traditional mainline denomination. This book does more than just exhort you to form teams, it tells you how to create a culture of teams that will make your church more effective for the Kingdom of God. This one has definitely made my top-ten list!

In Leading the Team-Based Church, George Cladis weaved together principles from theology, ecclesiology, sociology, and business to create a rubric for applying a team-based model for doing ministry in the church. Cladis's thesis is that the historic hierarchical organizational model of top-down, leader-directed ministry is inconsistent with the nature of God, the New Testament pattern of church ministry, and the needs of a postmodern culture. The cornerstone of Cladis's paradigm is his premise that the persons of the Trinity exist in perichoresis, that is, as a team comprising perfect unity, fellowship, harmony, love, and purpose. The perichoretic Trinity thus becomes the exemplar for team-based ministry in the church. Part 1 explored the theological underpinnings of God as perichoresis and outlined nine characteristics of postmodern society. The seven chapters of part 2 examined the seven forms of leadership reflected in the attributes of God's perichoretic nature in juxtaposition with the characteristics of post-modernism and how these lend credence to team-based ministry in the church.

Review and Reaction
Cladis's interpretation of the Trinity as perichoresis forged the basis of his understanding of team-based ministry in the local church. While not appearing in the New Testament, perichoresis is a compound Greek word literally meaning "circle of dance" (4). To Cladis the Trinity is a perfect team. For him, the perichoretic image of the triune Godhead provides a helpful way of viewing the church and its organizational structure. Specifically, the church should work in perfect harmony, equality, and purpose, thus reflecting the image of God.
Cladis further asserted that the perichoretic model of the Godhead most accurately reflects the demands of a postmodern society for flatten hierarchical organizational structures that value individual giftedness, equality, and collaborative efforts. Cladis suggested that modernism promotes rugged individualism to the exclusion of community. Church structures that reflect a modernistic mindset are less inviting to postmodern people who value participation in decision making, inclusiveness in action, and personal fulfillment. Perichoretic team-based ministry, therefore, provides a more appealing model for postmodern people.
Cladis overreaches his thesis by insisting that team-based ministries are "the most theologically and culturally appropriate method for church leadership today" (17). His premise is specious at best and arrogant at worst. Such an assertion casts immediate aspersions upon centuries of church history. If one accepts Cladis at this point, then any form of church organization not based on teams is not just inefficient, but incongruent with the very nature of God.
One can make the point that scripture does not provide a definitive model for church organization. Allusions to church organizational patterns in scripture are more descriptive than prescriptive. Even the language of church leadership varies within the New Testament--pastor versus elder versus overseer. First century Christians initially adopted the Jewish synagogue model because it was the one most familiar to them, but later developed organizational models that more adequately met their evolving needs. The early church organized its ministry efforts around the needs of its constituency (such as the addition of an incipient deacon ministry in Acts 6:1-6). Their efforts were more pragmatic than theologically informed. They simply acted to meet the needs of the day.
Cladis makes a better point that a team-based ministry more effectively meets the needs of contemporary postmodern believers. The seven team attributes of covenanting, visioning, culture creating, collaborating, trusting, empowering, and learning, detailed in part 2, forms the book's core strengths. Cladis discussed each attribute biblically and then related each to his perichoretic model. Occasionally, he provided insights from the business world and fictionalized church settings to illustrate the efficacy of a particular attribute. Cladis's frequent references to his perichoresis model and to Rublev's icon of the Holy Trinity were distracting and thoroughly unhelpful. One draws the impression that Cladis is attempting to baptize the business model of teams into the language of the church--an unnecessary effort to spiritualize the secular to make it more appealing to the sacred. If a team-based model for ministry works, and does not violate scripture, then employ the best of what the business world has to offer for the advancement of the Kingdom of God.

Application
Cladis's seven characteristics of team-based ministry can fit well into today's church. Many are intuitively self-evident. The church exists in covenant with God and with one another. This covenant identity does not cease in staff meetings or in church council meetings. What healthy church does not want to have a unifying vision from God that creates a sense of purpose and provides meaning to its efforts? By in large, churches want to develop a cultural ethos reflecting it uniqueness as the people of God. Maturing church members want to contribute their gifts and talents toward a collaborative, trusting, empowering, and spiritually fulfilling mission. Many of Cladis's seven characteristics have an ethereal quality to them. They are better identified by the effect they achieve than the effort needed to achieve them. Nonetheless, they represent biblical ideals church leaders should strive to achieve in their ministry settings.
This reviewer has sought to apply these characteristics to a new preschool ministry team. The team of four mothers of preschool-aged children organized themselves around the mission to create a safe, secure, and satisfying nursery and preschool experience for children from birth through age three. The members have complementary skills and are highly motivated. The initial organizational meeting was unfocused because the members did not know how to work as a team. This pastor introduced the members to Cladis's seven characterizes for healthy teams. Some of the characteristics will take time to formulate, however the team was excited about the characteristics of vision, collaboration, empowerment, trust, and learning. The members embraced their vision of creating a top-notch preschool environment. They made a mutual commitment to work together to fulfill this vision. Only time will tell how well this new team can develop Cladis's characteristics.

Conclusion
Leading the Team-Based Church does what it needs to do. It provides a beneficial contemporary model for ministry leadership in a postmodern world. The old-style hierarchical pyramidal leadership model served the church well for more than one hundred years because it was how people were used to the world operating. It was sociologically consistent, fitting the prevailing worldview. The Medieval monarchical bishopric model worked a thousand years ago for the same reason--it reflected how people related to one another in a feudal society. Through the Renaissance, Reformation, and the Industrial Revolution, the way people viewed leadership changed. Each time this happened the church accommodated these sociological shifts and found the necessary theological support. Cladis does no differently. Sociological shifts notwithstanding, Cladis's seven attributes of team-based leadership are worthy characteristics for any church.

De Pree presents a philosophy that while in many ways is timeless, is never a cliche. His emphasis upon people, their potential, and the elements present in strong, enduring organizations, will appeal to leaders working in any industry. De Pree offers the reader refreshing thoughts about the importance of service to others in an era of forgotten virtues. It is one of the most elegant and inspiring books I have come across lately.

This book is among the best books on leadership ever written. I keep a copy next to my computer at the office and I also have one next to my laptop in the study -- the book is a reference guide for me almost daily. Although written with non-profits in mind, the book speaks to universal truths and eternal concepts -- things that bring fulfillment and meaning to any kind of work. I believe chapter two (What's a Movement?) is the best business book chapter of content I've ever read. It speaks to the importance of higher purpose thinking. Buy it. You'll be glad you did. Buy a bunch and hand them out. They'll be glad you did.

After having read "Leadership is an Art", and "Leadership Jazz", I didn't have an idea that this book would have such a significant impact on my thoughts. Working for a non-profit, this book is such a wonderful guide about what it takes to lead an organization that is more concerned about people and less about profit. This doesn't mean that profit is not important, but what the author does say is that there is a considerable amount of heart and soul that goes into the non-profit sector. I especially recommend the section entitled "What shall we measure." DePree looks at key indicators from a perspective that should be imitated by any company that really wants to captivate its customers and employees. The explanation about the difference between a "movement" and "organization" is also spectacular. A great guide for the future.

Max De Pree continues to bless us with his insightful books on leadership. In this book he helps us to realize that leading without power works best when it is a movement that is being led, and when leaders focus not on success, but on building a legacy. When we are trying to build a legacy we become competent in establishing and maintaining relationships. A true legacy establishes and sustains an enduring direction.

Leading without power includes a vision that is based on morale purpose and active virtue. Nonprofit organizations without the clear insight they received through empowering vision, fail to realize their potential.

When leading people without power, helping them see their spiritual calling in life is mandatory. Many people are not clear about this essential resource.

I enjoyed this book because I am a highly task-oriented person who prefers to begin my thinking from a left-brain prspective. This book challenged me to think about relationships, and to think from a right-brained perspective. Whether your preferences are tasks or relationships, left brain or right brain, you will find great hope in serving community as you allow the message of this book to transform your leadership style.

In this book we encounter the biographies and personal photos of numerous nuns or ex-nuns who have "come out" as lesbians. they talk about how they came into convent life, how they discovered their sexuality, and how that altered their religious life. Very fascinating study.

David Rehak
author of "A Young Girl's Crimes"

I felt compelled to write a review, especially after reading the review by [...]. I was shocked and horrified that she wrote the these women entered religious life for romantic reasons. If you read this book, you will realize the love and commitment these women carried in their hearts for God as they entered their vocations. I think it is sad that just because [...] didn't experience her religious experience like they did, she can't believe their stories. There are too many stories in this book to just write these women off. If anything I think it is a sad but accurate portrayal of how often institionalized religion hurts and controls the people it is called to love. I never aspired to be a nun, but I have experienced both goodness and harm done in the name of religion. This is a must read for critics of the Church who have issue with the religious right as well as the Catholic church. This is also a must read for women everywhere in regards to the effects of patriarchy in society.

This is weird, but good..They weren't all a short time in convents like other reviewer says..They look hippie now some of 'em...(.Healthy photos.. ) Look better..(and Happier!...) than when they were nuns... I like the revealing of Catholic nuns..initiation rituals (gotcha!) and nun life.. This was one of the first big books in the gay movement I read somewhere. Don't much care for theiR LesbO descriPtions, but description of Church (..and I'm glad their hippies..) rites is cool. Interesting like married women (like a suspense novel..) who love women. Pimpl women with good stories.

I have seen this book on countless discount tables. I finally bought it and read it. This is not a tell all for lesbian nuns who reveal their sexual escapades while cloistered in a convent. This is a collection of stories told by ex nuns about their short stay in convents all across America. It is their story. Their life. Each of these women left for various reasons and all are now fullfilled in their life on the outside as out lesbians. There is nothing cheekie about this book. It is well written and well told. I am glad I finally picked it up and actually read it.

If you are a business executive interested in serving on a board, read Korngold for guidance. If you are a business leader serving on a board and seeking to rise to a leadership role, read Korngold. If you head a corporation and want your company to have a SERIOUS and visible impact in strengthening the nonprofit sector, read Korngold. If you are nonprofit executive and you want to access valuable business expertise and resources, read Korngold. There is no better national expert on this subject matter! She is THE ONE!

This book will be particularly helpful to business leaders who want to get involved with service to society and with philanthropy. Nonprofit executives and board members will also find Korngold's guidance highly useful in accessing business resources and strengthening organizations. Anyone and everyone who is interested in making the community better should read this book!

Navigating the boardroom experience is tough, and every board experience is unique. It is especially challenging to be responsible to chair and lead a board,and it is equally important to be an active and participatory board member. Korngold provides wise counsel based on her vast experience. I encourage board members and nonprofit executives to read " "Leveraging Good Will" in order to lean how to add value and help make boards and organizations better and stronger in serving our communities.

As someone who is engaged in service in New York City, I encourage business people to read this book to learn how to make a meaningful contribution in strengthening our community. Korngold's "Leveraging Good Will" is an outstanding guide, with practical, innovative, and real-world approaches to helping nonprofits to gain financial and organizational might to address serious needs for health and human services as well as education and the arts. A must read!!

This book is commonly referred to as being written by the "second Martin" (the first being Martin Luther). It deeply, passionately, and clearly lays forth the Lutheran understanding of the mystery, the beauty, and the worship that takes place at the Lord's Table as we partake of the bread and wine. While I am not Lutheran I do hold to the Reformed Faith. I found this book filled with great illustrations of Martin Chemnitz's and Martin Luther's thinking. The books does reference Zwinglian views, catholic views, and even John Calvin. Some wise scholars have said that the truth of Christ's presence at His table, and the fullest meaning of the words, "Take, eat my flesh...this is my body" are found somewhere right in the middle between Luther's views and Calvin's views. There is a spiritual union with the body of Christ and there is a divine mystery as we eat and swallow the bread and the wine. This book is an outstanding volume for any pastor or theologian or any leader who desires to understand the full counsel of God's Word and to sit side-by-side with the Reformers and understand why they developed such a unique, yet beautiful teaching of the Lord's Supper. Copies of this book are harder and hard to find (at a decent price) but it is well worth the purchase, the reading, the understanding, and the challenge as we share with communicants at the Table.

In Bible college and seminary, the Lutheran view was always referred to as Consubstantiation and my Lutheran friends would wince. I did not really understand the subtle differences until I sat down and read this volume. I found the insights, the illustrations, the metaphors, and the examples to be quite compelling. Martin uses a wonderful blend of Scriptures to define Martin Luther's statements about this sacrament. Martin does not rely solely upon the lexicon to define terms, but takes the lexicon in one hand and the Scripture context in the other hand and serves the reader a feast of information. I can see why Calvin studied so much of Luther's teachings on the Lord's Supper. While they disagreed on the meaning of "the presence" within the meal, these two giants of the Reformation did agree on the divine mystery of Christ and His Table and the meeting of His Spirit and our spirit. Whether you are Baptist, Lutheran, Presbyterian or ???...this is truly a volume to obtain and to devour. I have read it through several times and each time more and more is learned. That is what makes a classic piece so enduring.

Like every one of Chemnitz's books I've read, this is a masterful work about a specialized area of Christian theology that's central to our faith: the doctrine of the Lord's Supper. And while Chemnitz works through the dogmatics of the topic, his approach is at the same time pastoral, showing obvious concern that all Christians (not just pastors or theologians) understand what they are receiving when partaking of the Supper.

This book ties in closely with another of Chemnitz's books, 'The Two Natures in Christ,' as the two topics are closely related.

Also helpful: the English translation in this book is well done, not wordy, but smooth-flowing and easy to read. Highly recommended.

When Jesus said, "Take it, this is my body," and "this is my blood of the covenant" did he really mean it? Do those who receive the bread and wine really receive Christ's true body and blood, the same body that died on the cross and the same blood that was shed for our salvation? Martin Chemnitz, a Lutheran theologian of the late sixteenth century, answers these questions with a ringing "Yes indeed!"

This book is addressed primarily to those who like modern evangelicals either denied or "spiritualize" the presence of Christ's body and blood in the Sacrament of the Altar. People with those views had formed a party within Lutheran churches, somewhat misleadingly called the "Sacramentarians," and Chemnitz was part of the opposing group which successfully stood by Luther's vigorous assertion of the Real Presence. Chemnitz demonstrates that no secure reasoning can dispute the literal meaning of what he emphasizes is Christ's last will and testament.

In a calm and charitable tone, he asserts that the Lutheran belief in the Real Presence is the only one that can be based on the plain words of Holy Scripture. It is also backed up by the various church fathers from the earliest writings of Justin Martyr and Irenaeus of the second century on. He emphasizes strongly, however, that Scripture indeed speaks for itself on this as on every other article of faith.

Chemnitz's methodology is very illuminating. He emphasizes that every Christian doctrine must have a "sedes doctrina" or a seat of the doctrine, or place in Scripture where the doctrine is taught in clear and non-figurative language. He argues convincingly that the "seat of the doctrine" of the Lord's Supper lies in the words of institution recorded in the Gospels of Mark, Matthew, and Luke, and 1 Corinthians.

Chemnitz's arguments against the "Sacramentarians" will prove of great interest to evangelicals who still follow various views that question the Real Presence. He does not in this book directly address the issue of transubstantiation or any other other doctrines of "how" Christ's body and blood can be given in the Lord's Supper. His point is that we are not to philosophize but to belive. Yet his citations of the church fathers who seem in repeatedly speak of the bread and the body as being coexistent realities in the Eucharist might give adherents of transubstantiation pause--but that's another story . . .

Chemnitz's language is remarkably accessible considering the potentially forbidding complexities of the topic. Perhaps his approach is so readable because his methodology is so Biblical. As he explains it, the Real Presence of Christ's body in, with, and under the bread is a vital truth that brings comfort and reassurance to all believers--in the Lord's Supper, we can touch Christ and receive salvation and healing by faith, just as the crowds of sick, possessed, and crippled did 2,000 years ago.

All in all a thoroughly convincing defense of one of one of the most important Biblical doctrines of the New Testament.

Martin Chemnitz's entire work on the Lord's Supper is centered on one pivotal issue: the True Bodily Presence of Jesus Christ in the Lord's Supper. Despite the singular topic, the book is remarkably multifaceted, as Chemnitz relentlessly attacks and defends the issue from a multitude of angles. Though he certainly couldn't forestall every argument that might be raised against the real bodily presence, he doesn't claim or aim to. He rather deals with the arguments that seem to be most persuasive.

Chemnitz further establishes that in regard to this most important matter of Christ's presence or absence from the Supper, we must squarely face the most relevant texts in Scripture. Those most important texts are the words of Institution, recorded four times by the evangelists. The part of the book where Chemnitz excels most of all is in the sections in the first half where he gives an exegetical treatment of each of the four institution accounts. He also lays important groundwork for the discussion on methods and procedures of Scriptural interpretation.

He lays considerable emphasis on the seriousness and urgency with which Christ spoke these words on His last night with His disciples--being under great duress. Chemnitz shows at length how it is inconceivable that Jesus could have been speaking in a figurative way when He was establishing His last will and testament to His church. Above all things, Chemnitz urges the reader to stick to the simple, plain and natural sense of the words of Christ and that if we were to believe otherwise, Christ would have made this clear in the Scriptures.

The book is excellent for its thorough organization and its excellent table of contents, which make it an excellent reference book. I think the only real criticism I could make of the book is that it becomes unneccessarily repetitive at the end. In the interest of driving home his central point, Chemnitz reiterates his argument so many times that it becomes tedious (especially if you already accept his premise). The other thing that I found somewhat disappointing was that the book didn't cover any other points of interest on the Lord's Supper, such as its significance for fellowship and confession, etc. But understandably that wasn't his purpose.

All in all the book is one to have for your library and to refer back to. One of the quotes that I think sums up the book well is this, "Why therefore do we humans oppose as an impossibility what the words of His testament state concerning the body of Christ and its presence in the Supper, as if He cannot be where He wills with His body, or as if the will of Christ revealed in the Word wills something which is not proper for His body unless we help ourselves with the aid of a figure of speech?"

The book is still the most comprehensive resource on Managed Care. Covers all its elements and increased my understanding of why managed care worked in the past to its extent and the challenges it faces. Helpful for professionals and policy makers in this field.

This book, in its latest edition, continues to be the most complete resource for all who work in or who are associated with the managed health care industry. It can be used by the novice as an introduction to the vary complex nature of managed health care, or it can be used by the more experienced managed health care warrior as a reference book when one needs a refresher on a particular aspect of managed health care operations.

I am a consultant working with health plans, providers, employers and regulators, and The Managed Health Care Handbook never fails to provide me with the information I need to be successful.

This book is a definite must-have for the new and experienced Managed Care Professional. I found the chapters on compensation and reimbursement to most helpful. The author has successfully captured every element of managed care including, but not limited to, employer groups, networks, reimbursement, and quality.

Thoughtfully edited and written by the nation's leading managed care experts, the Managed Health Care Handbook is an excellent, highly practical reference on every key aspect of American managed health care. Highly recommended to practitioners, consultants, and students wishing a thorough, up-to-date, and objective understanding of managed care strategy and operations.

The story of humanity helping humanity - of a social transformation that, should we allow ourselves to drop our ego, should be more prevalent in our world today.

MANNA is more than merely a good read to be put on a shelf when finished. The people in MANNA stay with you, the lessons impact you in the deepest kind of way, and the goodness invigorates and motivates you. It leaves you feeling things that you can't describe which drove me to give it to others so that they can taste its goodness, too. I gave the book to my father (CEO of Family Services in Erie, PA) and he loved it so much he is giving it to his staff (over 100 in total) and his board because he felt it exemplified so much of what he hopes his organization will grow to model in terms of perseverance and sincerity of service.

I am a former graduate student of Dr. Smith's and loved reading his book, as it reminded me of the energy and inspiration he brought to each and every lecture he did for our class. The book inspires one to do good things, and more importantly makes one feel like doing amazing things is possible. The style of the book makes the reader feel like the auther respects him/her, and approaches the many subject matters presented within its pages gently, but also honestly. I highly recommend it.

Every so often, a book comes along that changes your perspective forever after. Manna is one of those. I will never again think of AIDS or homelessness in the same way.

Not only was Manna moving and inspirational, it also was so exquisitely written that I found myself reading it like poetry--in small doses, paragraphs at a time--so that I could absorb its beauty and meaning.

The following incident is illustrative of its impact: One afternoon, as I sat reading Manna at a friend's home, I was so taken by one of the excerpts that I read it aloud to him. His eyes filled with tears. A moment later, coming across another such excerpt, I did the same. His reaction was the same. This was repeated several more times, until we both realized that this was the case with every word, every sentence, every paragraph. He decided to get his own copy.

Indeed, everyone should have a copy to read, to ponder, to cherish.