Belief Networks Books

How could you read this book and NOT be inspired? After reading this book, you'll find that many of the "excuses" you had used to limit yourself have suddenly vanished. Thank you for sharing Gary!

Gary Parent speaks from the heart in this book. His personal experiances give credance to what is being said. A great book that is an easy read with a very direct message. If you do not get his message you might be the one who needs to learn how to read!

Once you get the message this book can change your life from the inside out!

This book was so moving and so inspirational that I have read it over and over again. When others are bringing me down, this book reminds me that I have the power to bring myself back up.

This book helped me strenghten myself in my beliefs.
I enjoyed reading it. Then I gave the book to my mother to read.

Through the influence of knowing Gary over the past years.
His patience of sharing his knowledge and understanding.
So I can not express how excited I am that Kevin Hogan Author
of Psychology of Persuasion has not only promoted this book,
he has published this "MUST HAVE BOOK"
Not only did it change my life, I know it will change yours.

Eric Baxter

President
PAGEmployment and
MY Video Productions

Very well done, great insights, author has a minimal amount of church experience but brings a wealth of wisdom and practical, applicable steps for creating clarity. Worth the price.

"Vision, mission, values, strategy"--terms that most church leaders are familiar with. Many churches have written statements to cover these important elements of ministry, but most of us struggle with putting them together for effective and God-honoring ministry.

Will Mancini has done the Church a great service in "Church Unique" to not only demonstrate the importance of each of these elements, but also how you can frame these pieces together to discover how God has created each church to serve in our local and global contexts. While I've read most of the popular books on church leadership and have understood the importance of these various pieces in leading a ministry, Will has helped me to bring them together into a vision framework that makes sense for us. While recognizing the value that WCA, Saddleback and others bring to the discussion, Will ably makes the case that God has a unique vision for your ministry--that may or may not look like the last big (or small) church seminar you attended.

As soon as I read this book, I bought one for each of our elders. The descriptions, process and exercises have been extremely helpful as we have been together, re-discovering God's vision for our next steps in ministry. It's given a framework that makes sense--giving us the confidence that God has a vision for us. While we have much to learn from Warren, Hybels, Stanley and others, Church Unique shows how we can create a vision frame that allows us to know what does and doesn't best fit us and God's vision for our church.

The final section of the book on advancing the vision is a practical tool, which I know we will be referring to regularly. Will gives practical insights in not only how we articulate and deliver the vision, but also what is often the missing piece--how we integrate the vision into our everyday ministry and mission.

If you are trying to get your staff and your church leaders onto the same page or are yourself wrestling with what God's unique movement is for your church and ministry, I would highly recommend "Church Unique" as tool in your journey.

If you are trying to lead your church to effectiveness and impact, Church Unique: How Missional Leaders Cast Vision, Capture Culture, and Create Movement (J-B Leadership Network Series) by Will Mancini is a "must-have" resource! Like very few books of its kind, this one is not only packed with ideas, it is presented in a clear and purposeful manner with implementation in mind.

Based on Mancini's work with Auxano, Church Unique provides a carefully executed, step-by-step walk through the concepts and practices that build a "vision frame." Discovering and articulating a compelling vision is at the heart, but developing the missional mandate (mission), motives (values), map (strategy) and marks (measures) are what provide the frame. Each step in the process is presented in a way that begs to be implemented.

If you long for clarity and a laser focus, this is a book you will devour, mark up, and wear out. I'm frequently asked what's the best thing I'm reading. Church Unique is a book I'll be talking about for a long time.

I have been fortunate enough as a Pastor to go through the Vision To Grow process outlined in
Church Unique in the past two churches I have served. In both, the process and results have been arguably the most significant thing I've done as a Pastor. The process outlined in Church Unique helps to articulate the UNIQUE context of your local church, not just slapping on the model heard at a conference or adopted by a mega-church.

Church Leader/Pastor Friend, this is the resource you've been searching for. You can not put a price on the clarity, focus and ensuing movement you will help facilitate through this process explained in Church Unique.

This book reads like a cross between text book visioneering, story telling narrative (i.e. Patrick Lencioni's work) and inspiring coaching.

No brainer. Get this book.

It's rare to visit a church, read its mission statement and then conclude, "What a great match!" For that to happen, the church's vision must be clear, appealing, and most important, truly reflective of the unique culture demonstrated by the church.

Back in 1992, when churches were just beginning to think about vision statements, George Barna wrote a highly popular book called Power of Vision. In it he defined vision as "a clear mental image of a preferable future imparted by God."

I predict Will Mancini's Church Unique (2008, 271 pages) will succeed Barna's classic as the go-to book for church leadership discussions because it does even more than help you articulate a vision for your church. It goes further. It helps you "cast vision, capture culture, and create movement," as the subtitle forecasts. The book affirms that your church is "stunningly unique," and then helps you turn your church's one-of-a-kind potential into a model of ministry that leads to a redemptive movement. It understand that each church models a culture reflective of its particular values, thoughts, attitudes and actions. Using numerous specific-church examples, it walks you through the process of vision focus and alignment within the context of your church's unique culture.

Mancini, a former pastor and now church consultant, also explores pitfalls that often trap churches, such as adopting the latest conference technique or following a Band-aid approach to addressing deep-set issues.

CHURCH UNIQUE will benefit any type of church leader, whether megachurch or church plant, mainline or non-denominational.

The book is release #25 in Leadership Network's series with Jossey-Bass. It references in several places another excellent Leadership Network book -- Culture Shift: Transforming Your Church from the Inside Out (J-B Leadership Network Series)by Robert Lewis and Wayne Cordeiro with Warren Bird (Jossey-Bass, 2005).

Warren Bird, Ph.D., is Research Director at Leadership Network, and co-author of 19 books on various aspects of church health and innovation.

Donna writes a very well-organized book full of insight and understanding into motherhood in our times. She gives you everything you need to know to get out there and get connected with other mothers. I would recommend it to anyone. There are gems here.

Donna Partow offers excellent advice any mom can use in networking with other Moms to make your life a little easier. Although she seems to aim the book at married stay at home moms, I believe her advice would be even more useful for single and/or working moms. Her ideas are very specific and practical, such as establishing a meal exchange program or a babysitting co-op. I highly recommend for any parent.

In No More Lone Ranger Moms, Donna Partow explains in detail the reasons stay-at-home moms need each other and need to develop lives outside of their homes. She celebrates the choice to stay home and offers interesting insight into the characteristics common in women who have made that choice. Most importantly, Partow gives step-by step advice on how to network with other moms, by locating existing networks or starting your own. As the founder of a 40 member, 3-yr. old club based on the guidelines of this book, I can truly say it has been a life-changer.

Powerful, enlightening and very detailed. This is without a doubt the best book I have ever read that answers the modern questions. Who are You? Do you know your forefathers past? Find out who God's True Chosen Children are. You may be surprised.

I could not put this book down. I read it in three days. This knowledge is Just too powerful to be called a book. I call it A WEAPON OF MASS DESTRUCTION. It is a tactical weapon against the devil and against all forms of deception, blindness, weakness,psychological, mental, emotional and interlectual conflicts. I dare anyone to open this book and not read it at least twice.

Excellent book. I highly recommend it. Although Computational Intelligence could include almost any subject, this book is a comprehensive review of the most agreed-upon paradigms in CI. Haven't checked out the CD that comes with the book, so I cannot comment about it.

After reading this pre-publication edition, we were very impressed. As a small bookseller, we are rather discerning as to what books to choose for our inventory ~ and this book will definitely be a standard in our store.

If you are looking for 1) practical and useful ideas about how to "think" prosperously; 2) how to keep a journal tracking your thoughts about prosperity and achievement while you take this new path; 3) a way to incorporate being prosperous in your own fashion, while still having a sense of spirituality ~ then this book is for you.

Author Webb is very adept at incorporating a sense of personal wealth, along with a feeling of personal spirituality. She reminds us that they go hand in hand ~ if you don't feel prosperous, your spirituality suffers along with every other aspect of your life as well. Webb gives the reader "permission" shall we say, to be prosperous, while still maintaining a level head.

For instance ~ she asks the reader, just how much is enough? How much is enough for you? A personal and individual question, but more importantly, the answer is just as personal and individual to you. Not how much your friend makes, your family, sports stars, famous people ~ but what "you" want to make. Then she takes you on a step-by-step path to incorporate the unique beliefs that will take you where you need to go to fulfill your goals.

A very well done book. We recommend it strongly.

Gazzaniga conducted some of the first research on split-brain phenomenon, from which popular culture got the whole left brain - right brain thing. If you are interested in that and think you know what it's all about, take the time to read this short explanation of how the research was conducted and what the author himself makes of it. It's really worthwhile. There are a great many misconceptions and overgeneralizations out there about left/right-brain issues. Gazzaniga debunks some of those and offers his own conclusions -- just as fascinating as the usual pop stuff, but better grounded in reality.

Gazzaniga argues that our brain is a conglomerate where several processes go on separately, and he then asks (and ventures an answer) how we manage to perceive just a single unified experience for ourselves.

First, I must state that I am biased about this book. Reason being is that I am one of the contributors - I have 3 poems in this anthology. However, that being said, I must honestly state that I found this book, upon receiving my copy, so moving, that after reading some of the poems and prose pieces I was moved to tears.

I feel there will be many woman who will be able to relate to many of the experiences so poetically worded in these pages.

Entrenched among the poignant words of everyday women are the words of Maya Angelou, Rita Dove and several other well-known poets and writers. What wonderful company!

It's a great, pick-it-up, put-it-down, read-it-anytime kind of book!

The professional historians faint as prominent mathematician Doctor Fomenko et al research the known historical data and come to fairly controversial conclusions.

For example, the English historians rage at the suggestion that the history of Ancient England was de facto a Byzantine import transplanted to the English soil by the fugitive Byzantine nobility. As the sign of recognition of the special role of the English historians who consider themselves the true scribes of World History, the cover of the present book portrays Tintoretto's Jesus Christ crucified on the Big Ben.

The Russian historians brand it as pseudoscience because Dr Fomenko asserts that there was no such thing as the Tartar and Mongol invasion followed by over two centuries of slavery, providing a formidable body of documental evidence to prove his assertion. The so-called `Tartars and Mongols' were the actual ancestors of the modern Russians, living in a trilingual state and aspiring Global Empire with Arabic and Turkic spoken as freely as Russian.

The ancient proto-Russian state was governed by a double structure of civil and military authorities and the hordes were actually professional armies with a tradition of lifelong conscription (the recruitment being the so-called `blood tax'). Their `invasions' were punitive operations against the regions that attempted tax evasion.

Fomenko proves for a fact that official Russian history is a blatant forgery concocted by a host of German scholars brought to Russia by the usurper dynasty of the Romanovs. Their ascension to the throne was the result of conspiracy, so they charged these German historians-imports with the noble mission of making Romanov's reign look legitimate.

Dr Fomenko et al prove Ivan the Terrible to be a collation of four rulers, no less. These rulers represented the two rival dynasties - the legitimate Godounovs and the ambitious Romanov upstarts.

The European historians fume not only because Fomenko blows consensual Russian history to smithereens, successfully removing a crucial cornerstone from underneath the otherwise impeccable edifice of World History but for asserting that all medieval European Kings and Princes were but breakaway vice-regents and vassals of the Global Empire who badly needed glorious and very `ancient' past in order to legitimize their new independence from the Empire.

Dr Fomenko adds insult to injury, wiping out one by one: the Ancient Rome: the foundation of Rome in Italy is dated to the 14th century A. D., the Ancient Greece and its numerous poleis, which he identifies as the mediaeval crusader settlements on the territory of Greece, the Ancient Egypt: the pyramids of Giza become dated to the 11th to 14th century A. D. and identified as the royal cemetery of the Global Empire, no less.

The civilization of the `ancient'' Egypt is irrefutably dated to the 11th to 15th century A. D. following the breakthrough in decoding of the ancient Egyptian horoscopes cut in stone and painted on the temple walls.

Arabic historians may find some consolation in the crucial historical role of the Ottoman Empire as a part of the Global empire in the 15th - 17th century. The trouble is that this Empire was initially a proto-Christian state, with Hagia Sophia identifiable as Temple of Solomon, but built in 1550-1557 A.D. by Sultan Suleiman according to Fomenko and Islam with all its key figures is datable to 15th 16th century A. D.!

The Chinese historians are also an unhappy lot because Fomenko wipes out the Ancient History of China outright. No such history. Period. The compilation of the so-called Ancient Chinese History is reliably datable to the 17th 18th century only. It is perfectly recognizable as the Ancient European history, reworked and transcribed in hieroglyphs as yet another historical transplantation.

The Divinity excommunicates Dr Fomenko because the history of religions according to Fomenko looks as follows: the pre-Christian period (before the 11th century and Jesus Christ ), Bacchic Christianity (11th to 12th century, before and after Jesus Christ), Jesus Christ Christianity (12th to 14th century) and its subsequent mutations (15th to 17th cy) into Orthodox Christianity, the Catholicism, Protestantism, Islam, Buddhism, and so on..; and The Old Testament written after the New Testament in xiv-xvi cy A.D., if you please! Everybody served? Saint Augustine was quite prescient when he said: "be wary of mathematicians, particularly when they speak the truth."

There is no doubt that history as most know it is a sham, & institution's version of History both University & Church is fradulent & inaccurate. Everything was established with an agenda, The real "Dark Ages" are now when we have access to incredible amounts of information past authorities & more important 'common folk' didn't have but our institutions & educators are slow to evolve because of what has ignorantly & arrogantly been taught for too long. This is on many subjects not just Chronology.

For anyone to question "Why would a Mathematician have anything credible to say of History?" The answer is from Dr. Fomenko's preface in the book: "It would be worthwhile to remind the reader that in the XVI-XVII century Chronology was considered to be a subdivision of Mathematics." These volumes could possibly be some of the most important works to date & should be read by everyone with an interest in History, especially professors & educators who have a duty to the public. I have read both books & must say that 'Chronology 1' has some very eye opening & revolutionary information. Even if these volumes are part true the implications are profound & opens the doors to further investigations & questions which must be done. I speak several different lanquages & must say the logic Dr. Fomenko uses with "inflection" of words & words being read from left to right in one region & right to left in another then written backwards, the removal of vowels & get down to basics of words, or different cities & locations having the same name etc. is correct. Vowel usage has always been optional & varied, actually complicating linquistics & study. The first thing one has to understand is that words never had a fixed spelling in history like we do now, the spelling of words was mutable & regional, as well as names & titles of people were vast, varied & changed, NOTHING WAS FIXED or understood linear. Matters of Life & Death as well as financial profiteering yesterday & today were & are made with ignorant, illogical & conspiratorial views of history & reality, it's time people get closer to the Truth & society collectively grow up.

Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/RAZQNMXM4M9CL Has history been tampered with? Yes, it has! Did events and eras such as the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, the Roman Empire , the Dark Ages, and the Renaissance, actually occur within a very different chronology from what we've been told? Yes, they certainly did!

The history of humankind is both drastically shorter and dramatically different than generally presumed.

Why is it so? On one hand, it was usual custom to justify the claims to title and land by age and ancestry, and on the other the court historians knew only too well how to please their masters. The so called universal classic world history is a pack of intricate lies for all events prior to the 16th century. World history as we learn it today was entirely fabricated in the 16th-18th centuries. It's likely that nobody told you before, but

there is not a single piece of firm written evidence or artefact that is reliably and independently dated prior to the 11th century.

Naturally, after what you've learned in school and university, you will not easily believe that the classical history of ancient Rome, Greece, Asia, Egypt, China, Japan, India, etc., is manifestly false.

You will point accusing finger to the pyramids in Egypt, to the Coliseum in Rome and Great Wall of China etc., and claim, aren't they really ancient, thousands of years ancient? Well, there is no valid scientific proof that they are older than 1000 years!

The oldest original written document that can be reliably dated belongs to the 11th century!

New research asserts that Homo sapiens invented writing (including hieroglyphics) only 1000 years ago. Once invented, writing skills were immediately and irreversibly put to the use of ruling powers and science.

The consensual chronology we live with was essentially crafted in the 16th century by the Jesuits.

The world history was compiled from contradictory mix of innumerable copies of ancient Latin and Greek manuscripts and other irrefutable proofs delivered by late mediaeval astronomers that were cemented by the authority of writings of the Church Fathers.

Early in life, we learn about ancient history. Children love the magical lessons of history - they are like fairy tales. Teachers recite breathtaking stories; very soon We learn by heart the names and deeds of brave warriors, wise philosophers, fabulous pharaohs, cunning high priests and greedy scribes.

We learn of gigantic pyramids and sinister castles, kings and queens, dukes and barons, powerful heroes and beautiful ladies, emaciated saints and low-life traitors.

Ancient history is based documents, manuscripts, printed books, paintings, monuments and artefacts - called primary sources.

The problem is that neither these ancient documents, nor events described therein can be irrefutably dated, moreover they contradict each other for the most part.

When a school textbook tells us that Genghis Khan in year X or Alexander in year Y, have each conquered half of the world, it means only that it is so said in some of the written sources.

There are no answers to simple questions:

When were these primary sources written?

Where and by whom were these sources found?

It is wrongly presumed that ancient and medieval chronicles, written by Genghis Khan's or Alexander the Great contemporaries and eyewitnesses, are readily available. Actually, only sources written hundreds or even thousands of years after the events are there, compiled mostly in the 16th 18th centuries, or even later.

As a rule, these sources suffered considerable multiple manipulations, falsifications and distortions by editing. At the same time,

innumerable originals of ancient documents under various pretexts were destroyed in Europe under various pretexts.

The names of persons and geographical sites often changed meaning and location during the course of the centuries.

Geographical locations became clearly defined on maps only with the advent of printing.

This made possible the circulation of identical copies of the same map for purposes of the military, navigation, education and governance tasks.

Historians from Oxford say: "hey, everybody knows that Julius Caesar lived in the first century B.C.

`Julius Caesar' statement is only a point of view as

there is simply no irrefutable documentary proof that Julius Caesar or any other great name of antiquity ever existed.

Better than that - extremely rare sources that can be reliably dated back to the 10th-14th centuries A D, do not show the polished picture of classical history.

They show a picture both contradictory and confusing.

All methods of dating of ancient sources and artefacts are erroneous:

Radio-carbon C14 method produces dating with exactitude of plus minus 1500 years, therefore it is too crude for dating of events in historical timeframe!

The Almagest tractate, which lies as corner stone contemporary chronology, compiled in the 2nd century A D by Ptolemy, the founding father of astronomy, contains astronomical data of 9th to 16th century!

The Bronze Age,that has supposedly began 5000 years ago. Bronze is made of 90% copper and 10% tin, but the technology for tin extraction dates back to 14th century A D!.

All eclipses contained in manuscripts, like Thucydides one, relating 'ancient' events have exclusively medieval dating. All horoscopes cut in stone or painted in Egyptian temples, like Dendera have exclusively early medieval dating solutions.

Not quite what you have learned in school? Open your eyes, and, you will find sufficient proof to reach step by step the inevitable conclusion that the classical chronology is false and therefore, that the history of ancient and medieval world universally accepted today, is also false. Have a fresh outlook on everything said or printed about "ancient" and "enigmatic" Roman, Greek and Egyptian, medieval as well as all other "lost and found" civilizations.

Antiquity and Dark Ages are phantoms invented in the 16th 18th and polished in 19th 20thcenturies. Human civilization is in fact barely 1000 years old!

This book will change your perception of History forever!
What if Ancient Rome, Greece and Egypt were invented during Renaissance?
What if The Old Testament was a rendition of events of the Middle Ages?
What if Jesus Christ was born in 1053 and crucified in 1086 AD?
Sounds Unbelievable?
Not after you've read "History: Fiction or Science?" by Anatoly Fomenko, the genius mathematician.
Armed with astronomy and computers Anatoly Fomenko turns History into a rocket science.

Will people ever read before spamming? Yes, Jesuits could not rewrite world history alone, they had help. Anyway, Dr Prof Acad A.Fomenko does not point to jesuits as the driving force of world wide history manipulation in published volumes 1,2,3;, actually he barely mentions the poor devils. Check it with 'Search inside' feature, please. China is rarely mentioned either, in fact, Dr Fomenko is completely eurocentric. Right, his theory contradicts all mainstream schools of history, because in their actual state they are all built on blatantly erroneus chronology. You don't need a mysterious cabal (conspiracy) to falsify history, the falsification is its modus operandi. It is inherent to history(ians) to falsify (distort) events, as it is inherent to humans to boast as it is inherent to power (authority) to legimize itself by referrring to glorious past made to its own order. Dr Prof Fomenko and team have identified scores of instances of such manipulation in Russian, European, etc.. history, and delivered valid statistical proof thereof. His own 'reconstruction' is completely another story. Forget c14 as a valid method of dating. W.Libby has initially discovered a brilliant method of INDEPENDENT dating. Too bad, c14 method has become a joke after a forced marrige with dendrochronology with consensual chronological scale inbuilt. Radiocarbon method can't stand blind tests, but is so very productive as a rubberstamp.

Yes, we can all agree that mainstream history is nearly 100% BS due to politics, economics, ego, problems with dating techniques, and various conspiracies. Agreed. But, I've been researching the distinct possibility that human history (in terms of civilizations) are much more ancient than we've been told, so coming across this book was very interesting to me. I wondered how Fomenko could be wrong (if at all) because he is very persuasive in his presentations. Then it dawned on me. If at previous times in prehistory, due to the various catastrophies that are well documented (comets, asteroids, planetary disruptions, plasma discharge, pole reversals, etc) the Earth was in a different position in relation to the sun (ie. closer), different tilt on its axis (ie. less than 23.5 degrees), different orbit (ie. more circular), different rotation (ie. in terms of velocity and DIRECTION), and the continents were in different relative positions, then would this not cause the ancients to see the sky (constellations) differently from how we would today? In other words, is Fomenko making erronious assumptions about the physics of the Earth in pre-history, which then corrupt his data with regards to dating the relevant astrology? The last event to seriously disrupt our planet occured roughly 3500 years ago, according to other good researchers, so is it possible Fomenko has been confused by this? The vastly different physics of our planet in the not so distant past may explain this confusion, which is not to say the "mainstream" version of history or geography is correct; on the contrary. I am not an expert in these fields, but wanted to see if this idea could spark discussion.

This book contains practical (be is very basic) information for locating religious resources on the internet. One plus regarding this book is that it covers more than just the 8 'great religions' and also covers alternative religious sites as well. Recommended for the internet search engine challenged.

It is quite off-subject in the first few chapters, going through explaining how to use various features of the browser and such, but it does get going eventually. It is by far the best book I have read yet concerning online religion.

Along with being a great list of great web sites for many, many religions, it also covers quite a bit of information about them, explaining some basic philosophies, practices, etc.

If you're doing any religious research or looking for your religion or doing anything else with religion online you must have this book!

This author belives that the Soka Gakkai is pure evil, and as a Soka Gakkai member I was deeply offended. But its still a OK book.

Bruce must be congratulated for the indepth research in facilitating acces to the Web, that is otherwise hidden, deep and in mysterious webs.

An interesting project, considering that every religion has its critics, and you are always going to offend someone by writing about their religion. The Watchtower is no exception, with literally hundreds of websites postured against this organization and only two official websites of the Watchtower with very limited information. Yet, it is the responsibility of the web critic who wishes to reach the reader to be kind and fair to members of the religion who may be browsing online. A little humor and some poetry, film and sound waves are nice. I get many Witnesses write me at freeminds.org.