Resources Books

Geoff Surratt and team provide an amazing resource for any church considering a multi-site strategy. This book is extremely informative, asks probing questions to help you think through why you want to go multi-site, how to do it, etc. They provide great tools to help you create timelines and budgets. It has been a fabulous resource to help my church start moving aggressively toward our vision to go multi-site. Before reading the book, I didn't know where to start. Since reading the book I feel like I have a much better understanding of the challenges and opportunities and I have a better idea of how to get our church moving towards this goal.

A wonderful book that gets you thinking about a vital growth barrier- your facility. There is no one way to go multi-site, and I really like how this book shares the various different ways of expanding our church without either building a larger facility or starting another church altogether. A great win-win! We will definately be going multi-site and my leadership will be reading this book as a next step.

This book is right on and I believe completely that this is the way the Lord is moving His Church. In a time of mega churches, it takes mega dollars to make them happen. I see the multi-site church revolution as being a way where God takes awesome churches, doing awesome things and allowing them to grow horizontally vs. vertically for a fraction of the dollars. Our church is moving in this direction and it is so much more strategic than to build a bigger building. Thanks for the inspiration! Todd - Horizons Community Church, Ham Lake, MN.

I love this book. Here is why!

* It's original. I have not found another book that discusses this model of reproduction.

* It is full of relevant information. These guys have done their homework. They have researched the issue thoroughly.

* It's short. 200 pages.

* It's full of stories. The book is full of stories of real life churches and leaders who have listened to God and are pioneering this model. I learn a lot from stories.

* It focuses on application. At the end of every chapter there are workouts that will help you apply what you've read. There are assessments, checklists, charts, and graphs to help you wherever you are at in the process.

* It is written for all kinds of churches. Churches of any size and any age. It's written for rural, suburban and/or urban churches. This book does NOT say that multi-site is the ONLY model and it does NOT say there is only ONE WAY to do multi-site. It is full of principles that can be applied whatever your situation.

If you are even thinking about doing church in multiple locations it would be beneficial to invest a few dollars and read this book.

The book is good, but comes across as a "how-to" manual, rather than as an opportunity to give testimony of the Lord's faithfulness. I'm sorry if that sounds cynical, but I'm not convinced that as Christians, passionate for the Lord's glory, we need that kind of approach as we seek new ways of creatively sharing the good news about Jesus.

If you're interested in looking at the data behind women and careers, this is the book for you. Hewlett has summarized a number of really interesting data. For example, 37% of women take time off at some point in their careers. 30% of women take advantage of part-time or other flexible programs. Hewlett's data illustrates a number of important reasons companies should care about gender diversity. After building the business case for women, she talks about how companies have created programs to make it work. One of the nice elements of this book is that she illustrates the data with personal stories. One of my favorite quotes underscores the importance of finding meaning in your job. A working mom comments, "when I walk out the door in the morning leaving my 2-yaer-old with the nanny, there's usually a bit of a scene. Tommy clings, pouts, and whips up the guilt. Now, I know it's not serious--most of the time he likes his nanny. But it sure makes me think about why I go to work--and why I put in a ten hour day. It's as though every day I make the following calculation: do the satisfactions I derive from my job (efficacy, recognition--a sense of stretching my mind) justify leaving Tommy? Some days it's a close run. One thing I do know. It couldn't just be the money. I need a whole lot of things to be happening for me to work."

Economist Sylvia Ann Hewlett does an excellent job of outlining both subtle and bold barriers that relegate many talented women (and minorities) to the lower end of promotions and pay scales. Using ample documentation, she outlines the financial costs that corporations suffer when they operate with outdated career models designed for white male professionals. Hewlett also lines up practical solutions with real-life examples from top corporations. Though the book is marred by repetition and various examples are recycled in different chapters, overall, we consider this essential reading for senior corporate officials and staff members.

This book honestly and openly explores what I believe thousands of professional women are facing today - the deep challenge of creating a successful professional life of meaning, fulfillment, and balance, in today's current dominant work model. As one who works with hundreds of professional women each year, I see over and over the ill-effects of professional women striving to fit into a model that no longer reflects our needs, priorities, and values. Hewlett's book goes a long way toward presenting beneficial new thinking and programs that, when adopted, will certainly bring about beneficial and urgently-needed change.

Despite all the print about the "Mommy Wars" and whether women should or shouldn't be in the workplace, the fact is that half the U.S. workforce is currently made up of women - and the workplace will have to change to accommodate them. Sylvia Hewlett's "Off-Ramps and On-Ramps" adds new, crucial information to this discussion. She provides data about women in the work force and provides models of flexible workplace structures now being used in corporations. The book gives a convincing business case for work force diversity and for the restructuring of our career model.
Hewlett's book is a must read for anyone concerned about the work force of the twenty first century.

I actually hesitated to read Off-Ramps and On-Ramps, as it looked like a boring textbook at first glance. But, as I got into it, it was quite a provocative read and even brought up some interesting points that applied to both men and women. Here are a few highlights that struck my fancy:

Chapter 1 - Why Mess with the Male Competitive Model. Good way to start a book. I think we'll be hearing more about this as generation y gets further into the workplace. While a hardcore minority will stick to the traditional Gordon Gecko "greed is good" model, we'll see countless others rebel against the values of the generations before them (as all generations before rebelled against their parent's values).

Chapter 2 - Looks at how large a factor elder-care already plays in women's lives. In fact, it's larger than child-care as this affects all women. This is only going to increase as Boomers start being the ones needing care.

Chapter 3 - Extreme Jobs, Extreme Demands. Thought this chapter could make a whole book. It's a great overview of how corporate America has changed. I have a friend whose parents were both big executives at major companies, yet all the time growing up, she swears that both made it home for dinner almost every single night. This is practically unheard of even for middle management these days.

The latter half of the book gives examples of companies who are launching innovative programs to resolve the situation. This makes it a must-read for any management team who is struggling to keep women, OR, better yet, recognizes what a great asset they have and wants to boost them up even more! However, it still begs the question of what to do for the majority of women who do not work for the handful of Fortune 500 companies who get it, and have the funds to produce such innovative programs.

This is a good book for beginners on Peoplesoft. Some of the core concepts are well explained. I am told there are not many books around on peoplesoft that are good and this one ranks high..

It is truly a thorough documentation of every important part of PeopleSoft HRMS. It is a handy-dandy book for anybody working in HRMS. Thanks to the author for taking time and putting thoughts to write such a gem.

I am a DBA and wanted to work on building a warehouse for PeopleSoft HRMS along with generating reports for the client. This book really helped me and my team to understand the hr/payroll concepts quickly. If you are a DBA/developer working in Peoplesoft environment, good to have this book in your library.

I have been working with Peoplesoft product since last five years,I have seen may books in the market but this is the only book I have seen which has very usefull information which helps the begenners a lot to understand main tables and also gives overview of HRMS functionality.

I strongly recommend this book for Begenners and is useful as a reference book for any one.

This book is a treasure for anyone who needs to get quickly up-to-speed on the PeopleSoft HRMS data architecture and the most common tables against which queries and reports are executed. This alone would make the book invaluable because of the confusing PeopleSoft documentation and the thousands of tables. However, the author goes well beyond by breaking down the most important tables, grouped by function, into attributes and explaining how to create highly useful business reports from them.

In addition to the thorough coverage of the data architecture, the book also provides an excellent compendium of information and tips for using SQR to its fullest potential. Although my main interest is in the tables, I considered material on SQR to be a bonus and learned a great deal from this section.

If you are working with PeopleSoft on either the technical or functional side this book will probably be your most used reference. The author deserves the highest accolades for clear writing, technical knowledge and the ability to distill the essentials into one of the best references and tutorials I've read in a long time.

Personal Balanced Scorecard is excellently on time and on target. It is one
of the first tangible and useable means to provide for a person the
opportunity to create, follow, measure and improve his own agenda. With
PBSC, we start the long way towards a society in which the person will
become the central focus point, with a responsibility that will be larger
than ever before. In a world that will be more complex and tougher than seen
and experienced so far. PBSC will make the current but more so the next
generation better and stronger for the "personal age" that is about to
arrive to all of us.-- Professor Roel Pieper, Chairman Favonius Ventures and
former Vice President of Philips Electronics and Compaq Computer Corp.

In the world of organizational development and organizational change, many
theorists have provided models and guidance on attempting to change the
culture through leadership development and instilling a sense of personal
responsibility in all employees. However, no theorist has provided an
infrastructure such that the process that will change the culture is
embedded in the organization. The Personal Balanced Scorecard process is
integrally linked with organizational goals within individual performance
plans for every employee to ensure change actually occurs and far richer
outcomes are realized. It is critical in this time of globalization to take
advantage of the intelligence of every employee and find ways of engaging
them as a whole human being. We have used the PBSC ourselves and we have
used it with clients and we've seen it work.-- Regina M. Bowden Ph.D. and
Eleanor Lester ABD, Organizational Change Managers, Michigan

Personal Balanced Scorecard provides a roadmap for the organizations of the future! Hubert Rampersad is one of the great thought leaders that is both helping organizations increase effectiveness and helping people have better lives. He is helping make the world a better place, and is one of the few consultants who look at the entire picture - not just a small part. --Marshall Goldsmith, recognized by the American Management Association as one of 50 great thinkers and leaders who have impacted the field of management over the past 80 years. He has appeared in: The Wall Street Journal - as one of the top ten executive educators, Forbes - as one of five most-respected executive coaches and The Economist - as one of the most credible thought leaders in the new era of business.

Personal Balanced Scorecard offers individuals a sense of hope and a pathway
to get there. Ultimately, all change is individual and personal and this
book offers a practical guide for helping people turn personal missions into
personal improvement actions. The frameworks and questions focus attention
on the right issues in the right way. --Dave Ulrich, author HR Value
Proposition, partner The RBL Group, and Professor Ross School of Business,
University of Michigan, USA.

Personal Balanced Scorecard is an outstanding contribution to the field of
self- mastery and personal transformation. Written from a pragmatic
viewpoint, this book is likely to help set your agenda for a radical shift
from systems-driven change to selfled change. I often ask, if livelihood is
for life, what is life for? Dr. Hubert Rampersad's work explores that
question deeply and comes up with startling answers. ---Professor Debashis
Chatterjee, Head, Centre for Leadership and Human Values, Indian Institute
of Management, Lucknow, India and author of Leading Consciously.

Positive Turbulence is a very practical guide to keeping your organization moving at a healthy pace and continuing to innovate in order to compete in today's ever-changing marketplace. The theories included can be easily applied and related to any organization with Positive or Negative turbulence. It's a fluid read that's over before you know it.

Positive Turbulence is helpful for leaders at all levels of an organization. With theories and examples, the author promotes the need to see the world of work with fresh eyes and to learn from unexpected situations. As a well-known authority on creativity and innovation, Dr. Gryskiewicz provides convincing information about the value of using changing, often turbulent conditions, to shape a flexible organization, open to new ideas. A good source of practical approaches and lots of resources in an easy-to-read format--this is a good book to include in your leadership library.

C.M.Steward Managing Director The Crossland Group

Stan Gryskiewicz has a gift for telling a story. This makes his book, Postive Turbulence, a pleasure to read. More important, he has years of experience in helping organizations, teams, and individuals become more innnovative. This makes Positive Turbulence truly useful.

This optimistic, upbeat book stands out because of Gryskiewicz's ability to show how his ideas can be put into action. Pragmatic and practical, he shares his ideas and experience generously. Strategies such as "Focusing on the periphery as a source for innovation and renewal" come to life as a way of spotting technology shifts and marketplace trends.

As a psychologist and consultant, I work with R & D teams and with managers who need to become more effective, forward-looking leaders. This is a book I can and will recommend to my clients and to my colleagues.

As a business man and entrepeneur for more than 40 years, I am forced to confess that this is the most "down to earth" high quality thinking book that came into my hands in many years. It shows from the very begining -and in each page- what real innovation is and should be in any organization operating in any country. It is written out of a life experience which obviously includes knowledge and hard extended atentive work (a good life!). It is not an "instant happening", like instant coffe and other much popular approaches to delicate and far reaching issues, accompanied by an extensive and highly practical "how to" hints and tools for each managerial level and position. Mr. Gryskiewicz, if you intend to keep on writting on the subject, it is not going to be easy to surpass this "Positive Turbulence" you generated. Angel Sanhueza, Executive Director, CPS International.

POSITIVE TURBULENCE is enjoyable to read, logical in its structure but not stiff, and it really reflects the essence of 30 years of top-level insight into major organizations around the world. The author provides us with the best of this experience, and not all writers do this-they often try to withhold a few gems for the next book, making the current product less than it could have been.

It is our good fortune that the author has avoided this temptation. Rather, this book is a sincere sharing of a breakthrough experience that has lessons of value the reader can immediately put to productive use. I am one of those that tries on a lot of books, and few seem to fit; but POSITIVE TURBULENCE fits perfectly and, like a favorite, it will be enjoyed and appreciated for a lifetime.

A very exact and daily account of the EIGHT years of our war for independence. I have seen Morristown and Jockey Hollow and bought this book there and so can place myself into the actual scene of some of this story.
A great book that answers the question of why people fight for freedom in spite of opposition and nay sayers. Perhaps the military understand best what is at stake because it is so clear and simple when you are doing the fighting and encountering the foe and friend alike, the hunger and fatigue. It is a wonder we won the war but thankfully there were a lot of private Yankee Doodles out there who knew the score.
I am glad they did not change the language and left it as it was written with minimal footnotes. Much more enriching that way. Buy it and you'll love it.
M Smith

Written a lifetime later by a man who had spent his teenage years fighting the British from New England to Virginia, this is the most fascinating and well-written account of the Revolution I've read. Mr. Martin's narrative voice is so matter-of-fact and wryly humorous that it's hard to believe it's coming to you from the distant past.

There is as much social history as military here, as Mr. Martin describes his inoculation with smallpox, his shock at being introduced to a white Connecticut farmwoman's black husband, and the ubiquity of alcohol.

One is struck, in Mr. Martin's account, by how seldom the British /Hessians and American/French ever bothered to shoot each other. There seems to have been a consciousness of the enemy as a human being which made shooting him difficult. This could be hindsight on Mr. Martin's part, but it does jibe with the fact that the total combat death toll for the war (excluding disease and starvation) was around 5,000 on both sides.

Mr. Martin himself seems to have spent much of the war starving. He was only paid twice-- once when he signed up in 1776, and once in 1781 by French officers who dipped into their own pockets to give him a month's salary. Nor was he ever paid anything after the war by a grateful nation. Then again, given that American troops were fed by commandeering groceries, liquor and livestock from local farms, much of the nation may not have been that grateful.

You might be, though, after reading this book. I was. And it's good to remember that fighting for our nation's freedom, once upon a time, meant fighting on our own land instead of other people's.

A fascinating low-level perspective from the eyes of a soldier. Mr. Martin has a terrific sense of humor and shows how much in common modern day people have with our Revolutionary ancestors. The Editor George Scheer provides a high level view of the same events through footnotes. The dialog can take a little getting use to but the reader will find themselves comfortable with it in short order.

I was looking for a soldier's account of the Revolutionary War and came across this rare memoir in the Jamestown, Virgina Nationa Park Service bookstore. I sure was glad I did.
I have read many soldier's memiors from from all periods of time but never during the Revolutionary War. We have heard about the sufferings of our country's first soldiers but Martin tells us like it was as he lived it. There is not a lot of battle descriptions but he is a master story teller who will take you back in time to the days of the colonies and George Washington's army during America's struggle for independence.
If you love good personal history narratives and want to learn about the Revolutionary War then get this book. This would be an excellent book for classroom study or home school.

Private Yankee Doodle, the diary of Joseph Plumb Martin, is an excellent account of the Revolutionary War told from the soldier's view.

Martin campaigned almost continuously from the beginning of the War through Yorktown (with the exception of the first winter after his initial three month service). He lived much of what have become the hallowed tales of our epic struggle for nationhood. He was at the Battles of Brooklyn, Harlem Heights and White Plains, endured Valley Forge (though for most of that winter stationed away from the camp as a forager), Monmouth, the other terrible winter encampments and Yorktown to name a few. Through it all, Martin marched, froze, starved and suffered for his service. It is remarkable that he kept at it for most of the war. (One reads of the constant lack of food (often for two or days) and is amazed that more soldiers didn't simply just quit.) It is more remarkable that he kept at it in fairly good humor - though he did parade with the Connecticut troops who conducted a minor mutiny over the lack of provisions. (An incident that Washington reported to Congress as more worrisome to the cause than the British force occupying New York.)

Martin is a good storyteller and raconteur. The reader will not find detailed accounts of battle here. In fact, battle is mentioned rather matter-of-factly. What is delightful to find is an account of the day in and day out hardships of life in Washington's army. Stories abound of camp life, foraging, marching, guard duty, scrapes with Torries, the hunt for clothing and the other ever-present challenges that soldiers had to endure and perform to simply survive between battles.

This is a wonderful book that I highly recommend.

This is a great book. It has a wealth of information on many topics. It is truly comprehensive in it's scope. The only disappointing thing about the book that it lacked color photographs. True there were 8 pages that were in color but I felt this product would have been superb if it had been in color. Don't get me wrong I love the book and have learned and continue to learn from the plethora of information here but I miss the color.

Super book! Chock-full of information--a one-stop center for all things of interest to a quilter. It's a reference book, but I've chosen to read it from cover to cover so as not to miss anything.

I loved this book, because it is full of so much information. The book has the history of quilting,tips and 12 patterns. My favorite tip was how to put binding on. The binding turned out perfect every time I've used it.

I make small art quilts and found this to be an incredibly good source of info and ideas, but the first few chapters were also a fascinating read. It's a must for anyone who does any kind of quilting in any size, shape or form.

The Quilter's Catalog: A Comprehensive Resource Guide is an all-in-one quilting delight, covering everything from the different kind of quilting tools to the latest dying and personalization techniques, to profiles of the top quilting teachers, twelve illustrated step-by-step projects, a tour of the history of quilting, answers to the enigma of why quilting remains so popular even in today's modern technology-driven era, and much more. A massive 600-page reference, resource, trivia guide, and all-around quilter's bible, The Quilter's Catalog features black-and-white photographs on almost every page and is as fun to browse through as it is useful. A treat for avid quilters, and recommended as a giftbook for anyone interested in the craft!

Very useful. Well written in a very readable format. The somewhat dry, sometimes self deprecating humor kept the discourse lively and never became pontifical.

Bill has written a folksy exhortation to "hang in there" to pastors thinking the church they will transform is the next one. With the usual caveats about gettin' out the door when the attacks are personal & toxic, Bill has a weight of experience and a slew of friend and colleague interviews to say that your best bet is to beat the average stay (now less than 4 years), slowly but steadily empower and train up the lay leadership, and open up the congregation to the possibility that God might just choose to work through them.

This is a great book for any Church or anyone who goes to Church. It reminds us that the color of the kitchen is not as important as the people in your neighborhood. I know of a Church that is dying because they refuse to change and they like it that way. It's sad. Dr. McConnell uses real examples of real people in real congregations and how it affects ourselves and community. A must read!

As a minster who has been in leadership with three different congregations who worked on transformation, I can attest to the veracity and relevance of Bill McConnell's book. He starts right at the heart of ther matter, spiritual awakening and growth as the first key to a transformed congregation. Throughout the book I found truth jumping off the page..."If your church is not growing it' dying"..."we don't tell the truth becasue in church we don't want people to be angry"..."somehow we've let seniority become more inportant in picking leaders than spiritual depth"...it takes purpose, willingness to change, and leadership (all three)to transform and grow a congregation" These are the gems he shares from experience and hard knocks. I am going to use the new study guides he's just completing (Mar 08) to help my church leadership grapple with its spiritual journey. Thx Bill!

What I appreciate about this book is that it is deep but not dense. It contains valuable insights about church transformation that are readily accessible to the reader. It is a perfect book for a leadership group in a local church or a group of pastors to read and discuss together. Bill gives you something to think about as well as something to act on. This book is hopeful and helpful at the same time. It gives you a sense that church transformation is challenging but not impossible. Bill is somehow simultaneously irreverent yet also caring towards the local church and that is a healthy combination.

A good read. The concepts are simple to understand and execute... and make sense. The Blue Train concept is common sense for today's complex business world.

It is clear from reading this book that Surinder and Bart have lived this leadership approach. Many authors write theoretical books with little practical experience. They have walked the talk. This book is an excellent guide to values based leadership. It is about leadership, innovation, and strong values. I strongly recommend it.

Riding The Blue Train not only inspired me professionally, but personally as well. It has changed my point of view on the kind of person/employee I strive to be and the type of company/individual leader I envision working for. Kumar and Sayle discuss the Breakthrough Journey, which is a road I highly desire to travel on. "Breakthrough leadership is a product of bold vision, intense focus, and hard work. There are few 'born leaders' in the world from a Breakthrough perspective, but it is a skill one can learn and nurture." This book illustrates how you can accomplish this skill to become a great leader by Riding The Blue Train. I have given this book to many people as a gift, including the management team at my office who are also now Riding the Blue Train! My company now sees our success in the corporate world from a new, energizing perspective.

How many Corporations, Government Branches, and/or Educational systems really understand in how to build a business, or instill justice, or educate our youth? This book advises you must first build the people to be the best they possible can be. This book was inspiring to the degree as a manual in "How to Succeed."It should be required reading in all H.S. and colleges throughout the nation. Lets instill in our people the 5 powers of Insight, Inspiration, Intentionality, Intentional language, and Congruence to establish bold visions as so stated by the authors.As a practitioner in the field of holistic medicine, someone once said future medicine shall prescribe no drugs,thus the wholistic aproach on life.Maybe the Breakthrough Journey (the core message) will bring us into a more positive and healthy relationship with the rest of the world and the future.A unique approach in motivating and stimulating the people. Thumbs up on this book!

I found the book a powerful read and filled with valuable real-life stories of successful leadership using breakthrough strategies. As far as I am concerned it has arrived full steam on platform 1 for books on leadership. It puts the Positive firmly back into Growth and People into Factor. This book is an essential read for all leaders who aspire to drive innovation and transformation through motivating individuals, teams and entire organisations. On top of all the new insights I have gained, I now know how to deal with any complainers: I just ask them: "What do you intend to do about it?"

This book was the second book I got. I thought it was a very good book. I read in like 3 days. I liked the part when Ruthie was trying to act like a guy by doing those gross guy things!! I read over and over again until I got a new 7th Heaven Book. I love to watch the show. I watch it every night when I can or when I'm not doing anything else..... I really hope that you 7th Heaven fans will read this book if you already didn't. If you do I hope you enjoy this book as much as I did!!

i thought this was a good book i mean it was very interesting (for me anyway) this is the only book i will read unless i have to like in school but that is the ONLY book i will read out of school, but i can't read them all as fast as you can make them can you make them. can you make some for the older age levels please because those would probebly be just as good.

I have read alot of 7th Heaven books, and Secrets was my 2ed favorit. I would recomend this book to kids 5-10 no younger because they will start to keep secrets.

Mary and her basketball team get there season cut shore because there grades drop. So Mayr and her team trash the schools gym and the get arressted will the camdens clear her name? read to find out! I would reccomend this book to anybody ages birth to death it has a great moral.

BOOK REVIEW

In this book Lucy one of the sisters. Is on her high school student court team.
Her sister Mary is in her signor year of high school and on the varsity basketball team. The girl's grades dropped so they can't play anymore. So they go out to eat and think about trashing the school gym. Then they sneak in and start to T.P everything and then they graffiti every thing and than they get caught by the police and the school principal and they get in a lot of trouble.

I do recommend this book if they like the T.V show 7th heaven an like to read. I would recommend this book because it is interesting and funny. It was a page turner because at the end of a page it did not tell enough information so it was a cliff hanger . So I kept on reading the book. I did enjoy this genre because I love this T.V show and this was about a show I had never seen. There were surprises in the story like when Mary and her friends got caught and when they decided to trash the school gym and when Simon got suspended for a whole week.