Signs Books

We found this book ...just as the daffodils and forsythia were starting to flower. My 3 yr old sons and I went on a treasure hunt for more signs of spring, without much luck. A couple weeks later, as the weather warmed, we tried again. This time, we pretended to be the characters in the book, Lucy, Henry and Zack. Like Lucy, I definitely get spring fever, so I was thrilled to lead them in their search for flower buds on trees and bushes, feathers, new grass, moss, and dandelion flowers.

"Signs of Spring" is a beautifully illustrated book, with forest animals as the main characters. It is a perfect introduction to spring and the changes occuring in nature for preschool age children. For the young elementary child, it might inspire a perfect show and tell presentation. And for everyone, it is a welcome reminder that no matter how long and dark and cold winter seems, the bright and fresh wonders of spring will always appear!

In Signs of Success, Steve Weiss brings fascinating insight into a topic that is rarely discussed in western business philosophy, but one that largely influences eastern business practices--astrology.

Signs of Success is a well-written book that takes a sensible look at the practice of astrology and how it can be pragmatically applied to business. It also gives wonderful insight into the lives of some of the worlds most successful and powerful business leaders, and brings to the surface many of the values that made them successful.

In the end, whether you believe in astrology or not, reading this book might just allow you to transcend the boundaries of your own thoughts and social traditions and free your imagination to "think outside the book" to create meaningful change in your own life and business environment.


Ken Beller, Co-author, Great Peacemakers: True Stories from Around the World

Anthropology professors Christine S. Vanpool and Todd L. Vanpool present Signs of the Casas Grandes Shamans, a scholarly evaluation of artifacts of a religious system that flourished in what is now northern Mexico and the southern United States between AD 1200 and 1450. Casas Grandes, or Paquime, in northern Chihuahua, Mexico was the home of this faith, expressed in stunning polychrome pots with black and red geometric and naturalistic designs, and a cream base. These exceptional pottery artifacts offer insight into Casas Grandes cosmology, revealing a shaman-centric religion. Shamans called to horned serpents to bring rain; dealt with snakes; and raised, sacrificed, and interred macaws as ritual offerings to perpetuate water and fertility. Black-and-white photographs of recovered artifacts and diagrams of ancient artworks illustrate this scholarly evaluation of protohistoric art, culture, symbolism, and faith. Highly recommended especially for anthropology and archaeology shelves.

The definitive guide to understanding our origins. Packed with pictures, diagrams, and text that you thought you would never see. This book presents you with facts. Not fantasy. A must for every person who wonders about the truth of other life out there.

I am one of those people whom rather hard evidence to prove that god exists. This book help little.

"Have you been confused about exactly when the various latter-day prophesies will occur? Would you like to know the correct order of the tremendous events that are coming in the future? Then this book was written for you.

Using the Book of Revelation as a guide, the author has been able to give a chronological order for the many signs that will occur in the last days.

In addition, some scriptures that may have been difficult to understand are thoroughly explained. Reading this book can increase your understanding of the scriptures about the last days.

You cannot afford to miss this opportunity to gain a greater insight into your future and the future of the world.

This book is dedicated to reducing the confusion and mystery that surround the events of the last days. This volume is a tribute to the industry and creativity of a dedicated homemaker who has had a life-long interest in studying and understanding the scriptures. The authenticity of this study of future events is based on the scriptures and also the verifiable statements of our latter-day prophets. The few necessary exceptions to this general rule are clearly identified."

From the adventist point of view this book fits the bill. In fact I desire to purches multiple copies to widely distribute to any who will take it. This book was well written and is supported by two of the most reliable sources of prophecy, The Holy Bible and The Spirit of Prophecy. I drew these exact same conclusions on my own in the study of UFOs and Bible prophecy with diffrent sources, so J.D. Johnson's study also brings him to the same in depth conclusions, which not only validate my thinkings, but verbalise those thoughts in a quality, relatable, reader friendly, down to earth (no pun intended) book. I believe that this should be repackaged with an extra section discussing the Dead Sea Scrolls, Apocrapha, and their connection to the Vatican and how through the ages they have been uniting ideas to prepare the world for such a time as is to come. This isn't propaganda, or crazy talk (the book I mean) this is well studied science that is ever growing with lots and LOTS of reliable information (Ufology). Do I recommend this book? ABSOLUTLY. Is it worth $7.95? Without doubt. BUY THIS BOOK!

Sam Storms has provided us with a true gift: an honest scholarly attempt and interpretation of Jonathan Edwards' classic work "Religious Affections". For me, Religious Affections seemed too much to chew. Here, Storms, with great humility and care to maintain the original intent and depth of "Affections", provides an honest and useful interpretation of the original work in modern colloquial English. I am confident I still have much to gain by reading Edwards' work, just as I am confident that Storms' faithful work here has helped whet my appetite for it.

When I first received this book I wasn't much enthused. I thought "Oh great a 500 plus page book from someone I hadn't heard of and it is probably a crank complaining about Vatican II. " A chapter into the book thought I was spending any of my spare time racing through this book and finished it in relatively short order. I am quite thankful to have been introduced to the writings of Fr. Gilsdorf who passed away in 2005.

This book is a compilation of a life's writing from a former seminary professor, parish priest, and scripture scholar. The books main title comes from a series of columns he wrote for The Compass, the newspaper of the Diocese of Green Bay. The book contains these columns along with a wealth of his other writings that were published in places like Homiletic & Pastoral Review and the The Wanderer. Also included were various speeches he gave at conferences along with several book reviews. The book is edited by Patrick F. Beno who took on the task from Fr. Gilsdorf to take his published as well as unpublished writings to be made into a book for publication. The editor has provided copious footnotes to give the reader context and background information on persons and events describes as well as translations for Latin phrases used throughout.

The "Signs of the Times" columns were written during the Pontificate of Paul VI and largely address the errors that were being promulgated in the aftermath of Vatican II. Father describes himself as a "Vatican II liberal" where liberal is meant in the older and truer sense of the word. He fully supports the Council and the documents of the Council and it is the dissent and the "spirit of Vatican II" that he sets himself in opposition to. One phrase used a couple of times in his writings is that he is "As liberal as the Pope is liberal and as conservative as the Pope is conservative." I think this is a great definition and much better than the left/right descriptions so often bandied about that contain so little clarity.

As a convert and someone that often writes on dissent within the Church I found it quite interesting to see a history of some of the errors that are now quite familiar and how they developed in the first place. Father's writings often include the history of how certain theology and practices entered the Church in the first place. Practices like no confession before First Communion, Communal penance services without integral sacramental communion, downplaying of devotional practices, and the loss of Eucharistic piety. He details these movements and the lack of response to these errors by the large majority of diocese. As a priest who lived during these times and saw first hand these practices he has great insights into the reasons for these developments, but most of all great insights into the error of these practices and the harm they cause.

What I really enjoyed about Father's writings that even though there were on contentious subjects he writes with great charity and sometimes great humor. At multiple points in the book he will write something that made me laugh out loud such as when he described the "Holy Office of Greeley" or when he writes about a priest-lecturer who had found "a fertile crop of itching ears." Another example is:

"One of the abused words is 'relevance.' It nauseates me even to type the blasted word. Where is the emesis basin?"

A thought I totally concur with.

One of the best aspects of Fr. Gilsdorf writings is that he never lets bitterness creep in or to show frustration at the lack of response to dissent and litrugical abuses. He never falls into name calling and while he has severe disagreements with the thoughts of several people addressed in the book, his criticisms are always pointed to the subject of the disagreement itself. He was not the type to just whine and complain, but to respond with thoughtful commentary and to take action where he could. I found reading this book that he was the founder and first president of the excellent Confraternity of Catholic Clergy which continues to do great work and is totally faithful to the Magisterium of the Catholic Church.

One of my favorite pieces in the book was a short column that appeared in his parish bulletin called "A little corner of Heaven" It is quite touching his reflection of his small parish Church and the baptisms, marriages, and funerals that took place there. His great love for his parish shines through. The editor of the book notes that because of Fr. Gildorf's forthright orthodoxy he was likely relegated to this parish in a town of of only 550 persons where his influence would be minimal and where he served for the large majority of his life.

The book though is chock full of great writing and some influential pieces that evoked a lot of support. One of these excellent pieces is "The Pirates of Penance" (I just love that title) on the bad times that the great sacrament of penance has fallen on and the theology that lead to the downplaying of confession. No doubt the downplaying of sin is the error that lead to this. He gave me lots to think about from this essay and several others that addressed this sacrament. Another great piece is The plight of the papist priest" which at the time was printed anonymously. This addresses the tension of being totally faithful to the Pope and the Magisterium of the Church while at the same time being faithful to your Bishop who is not faithful for the most part to either. This article was great encouragement to other "papist priests" throughout the world and ended up being printed in five different languages and the most requested piece at Homiletics & Pastoral Review.

Several chapters of the book also address the writings of scripture scholar Father Raymond Brown and how destructive some of his ideas were especially regarding the consciousness of Christ and how the "Ignorant Jesus" came to be taught in seminaries and every outlet of Catholic education. He shows multiple instances where Father Brown's writing totally conflict with Magisterial teaching and wonders just how it is that he became so influential and supported by so many bishops without an qualms. Since Fr. Gilsdorf is a scripture scholar himself he is able to ask some excellent questions and give some rebuttals to the some of Fr. Raymond Brown's writings. His scripture scholarship also is quite evident is several other pieces he writes on the papacy and the priesthood, and really throughout the book.

There were in fact so many great pieces in the book that I could easily turn this review into a summary of every chapter in the book since I just plain loved and enjoyed this book so much. Instead I would encourage everyone to pick up this book for their own enjoyment. For those already aware of Fr. Gilsdorf they will be rewarded with his other writings and for those such as myself for who this was a new introduction - the joy and education of reading his works.

In a first-rate piece of literary reportage, David Lehman chronicles the movement known as "deconstructionism" within the larger movement in the humanities known as "critical theory." With more empathy for his subjects than this reviewer can muster, Lehman shows how hubris, greed, parochialism, and elitism led to an "emperor's new clothes" community in which a former Nazi collaborator could become idolized by a generation of impressionable academic lefties.
A must-have addition to all prospective academics who want to retain...if not their souls, may we at least say their individual identities?