Resources Books

This book changed my life. It single-handedly improved all of the relationships in my life. I am more capable and have a better sense of how to deal with people and their feelings since I read this book. It has dramatically increased the quality of my life and marriage. This book is easily understood and applied to any conversation. It was a pleasure to find one book that could resolve all problems in any relationship. It opens all lines of communication at work and at home. This is one book that everyone needs to make their life the best.

The HEAR Process presents a way of communicating that WORKS and does it in such a way that the reader will be hard pressed to walk away with questions of 'how' or 'why'. The form of communicating is so natural that it makes teaching it to others a snap. The rewards one receives from following the HEAR process far outweigh results from other communication tools I've used. One quickly feels for the party expressing their pain. Empathy is a natural outcome. It's truly magical! The HEAR process is so well written and easy to follow ANYONE can pick up this book and benefit from it; however, The HEAR Process is a MUST HAVE for all in the helping profession. It will revolutionalize not only your practice but your HEART!

This is the best book to help people have the best marriage possible. It is also beneficial for co-workers, friends, and other relationships. This is written in an easily understood format. This is the most effective tool for communication ever written. I have never enjoyed reading a book more than I have this one. It has changed my life and the quality of all of the relationships in my life. If I only had one book to own, this would be my choice. It is the most helpful book I have ever read.

Deborah's book masterfully addresses the need for empathy, and not defensiveness or aggression, in communicating the deep issues of relationship. At one of the most delicate points of resolving problems, where couples can so easily take a hurtful path, this book helps them to navigate successfully.
In addition to this, the book offers many other very practical helps for people who are wanting clear information. It challenges the myths that people have to "just know" how to build and maintain relationships.

This is the best and most helpful book ever written! It saved every relationship in my life and especially my marriage. The information in this book is easily understood and applied to any situation. It has opened communication in every relationship. Friendships and any interpersonal conversation can benefit from this process of talking and interacting with one another. This is the most informative book written regarding family counseling. I have never enjoyed reading anything as much as this book. This book greatly improved the quality of my life. My life has never been better because of this book.

We chose this book for our bible study. It is a great way to study the life of King David. We are very happy to have been able to get this book so quickly so we didn't have to wait to start our bible study.

A Heart Like His: Member Book
This is a great study book on the story of David by Beth Moore. It seems like a lot of work, but the rewards are great. This study is great for all ages and it doesn't matter if your a "new" Christian or a very seasoned one. My girlfriend described the study as a "good book you can't put down".

I oredered more books for my ladies Bible Study. I also made it more difficult by ordering one at a time on the same day (two extra women signed an hour between each other) I thought, "they will be confused by this I'm sure!" They confirmed my crazy order in minutes and I received my books as quickly as I possibly could. They were used books but I found them to be in good shape and ready to use. Thank You again for the quality service I received. I don't go anywhere else for my book orders! Arleen Liotta

I rec'd the book I ordered in excellent condition in just a couple of days. Thank you Amazon.com!!

This book as been a great study. I have learned much from it. The questions are clear and easy to follow. Makes a good group or as a single study. It has been very satisfying. Beth Moore does an excellent job of keeping your attention.

Well, the first thing you want to do when you finish a book like this is go on and on about how impressed you are. This is one of the best database technology books I've read, and the best one on MySQL.

Digging into the book I would say I was an intermediate DBA. With 12 years experience on Oracle I was a seasoned DBA. And although I've used MySQL for about 10 years, I had not used all of the high end or newest 5.0 and 5.1 features. After reading this book, or while reading it, you'll be ready to dig into everything from MySQL master-master replication (not to be confused with multi-master), creating a logging server, optimizing your query cache, or even using some of the Google MySQL patches to add some much needed but missing feature to MySQL.

The book is organized pretty well. Keep in mind that this is not a beginner book. If you're looking for more general across the board MySQL book, I'd recommend the APress Pro MySQL by Kruckenberg and Pipes Pro MySQL (Expert's Voice in Open Source). It is also very good, but hits more of the beginning topics (as well as some advanced ones). So given the intermediate to advanced audience, this book dives right into benchmarking and profiling at the beginning.

Queries... those pesky SQL commands that you send to your database. They're so important to performance, yet so sadly misunderstood. This book devotes two chapters to the topic, one about schema and index optimization, and one about query performance. These two work together. You need to understand indexing to make best use of them, and how to write good queries to get only the data you need. The indexing chapter hit on index types supported by MyISAM, and ones for InnoDB. It talked about rebuilding, and when it's important, and statistics, and how they are different across the different storage engines. And this is a key point. Going into this book with my Oracle background, I had a lot of questions about how the optimizing engine aka the cost-based optimizer, works and interacts with the storage engines. It's all laid out here in clear detail. It was pretty obvious that these others are closely involved with the actual database development, and/or interviewed some of them to get the information correct. This is something I've had a hard time finding in other books, and really key to understanding how to optimize and tune queries. Where does the query cache sit, when and how are queries parsed, when does the optimizer pickup statistics, and how does it use them. You'll learn all the ins and outs of the explain facility, which you'll of course need to know to tune queries.

The next chapter on advanced features covered the query cache in detail, how to set it up, how to tune it, and how to monitor it. The chapter also covers UDFs, cursors, stored procedures, views, full-text searching, merge tables, partitioning and so on. One other topic it really investigated was distributed (XA) transactions. You might at first think these are an advanced topic that most users don't need to know about unless your application uses them. After all, who needs to query tables in a remote database when your application can connect and do that? Well it turns out MySQL is using XA transactions internally all the time within it's storage engine architecture. One case is when you have a transaction which uses two storage engines, ie tables with different storage engine attributes. But that's not all. MySQL also treats the binary log mechanism to be a storage engine in it's own right, so interaction between your InnoDB table transactions, and the binary log is effectively an XA transaction.

The next two chapters talk about server settings, and optimizing the OS and Hardware. All important topics, and given substantial coverage. Hand these chapters to your storage engine guru, system administrator or read them yourself if you wear all those hats!

A chapter on Replication, of course we expected to find a. What you'll be glad about is that it's 65 pages of the nuts and bolts of using replication after the five minutes it took you to set it up in MySQL. It'll help you keep your databases in sync, and help you identify them when they're not. What, my replication slaves might be out of sync? There is also coverage of the new row-based replication, and how it may help alleviate many of the current limitations of MySQL replication. There is also solid coverage of various replication topologies, from single master and many slaves, to distributed master, master-master, and how to create a logging server. You'll also learn why MySQL doesn't support multi-master replication, which is where both masters received updates, and are forced to resolve conflicts, and a whole host of new problems.

After that come a few chapters on topics outside the database tier, but equally important, from load balancing, to HA, tuning your webserver to caching and so on.

The finishing chapters include backup, security, and using the built-in server status commands. And finally a chapter on other tools for interacting with and monitoring your MySQL database.

Ok, great... a wonderful book. Any criticisms. Well I save those for last because they're really minor. If you read the book cover-to-cover you'll probably take notes like I did, so you'll be doing your own summarization. But at the end of various chapters, so chock full of new and very useful information, I sometimes wished there was exactly that, a summary of the topics, and quick list of bulletpoints. That would give one an easy way to look up advice for tuning specific areas and so on.

All-in-all though this book is really a tour de force for understanding MySQL database technology. Go get a copy!

This is a must have book for any Mysql DBA who want to learn more about performance tuning beyond reading the explain plan. The only gripe I have is that aside from the Query Performance Optimization and Optimizing Server Settings section, the authors should have another section dealing specifically with Tuning Writes and Tuning Reads other than that it's an excellent book, it even includes snippets on Prepared statements which I used often along with stored procedures to optimize performance.

This book has to have any MySQL DBA (both administrators and architects). It provides very deep view on how MySQL works and reacts on your configuration and SQL.

If you are programmer, you should browse this book too, to get background about MySQL and what it can do for you and what you can do for MySQL to get best performance SQL.

This probably should not be your first book about MySQL (not only knowledge but some experience is handy) but definitely second one ;)

If you read the first edition and were underwhelmed, this is a vastly improved book. This second edition is entirely rewritten, more than twice as long, and covers a wide array of topics in depth, giving detailed advice and analysis in every chapter. The authors' advice on Innodb tuning, query optimization, and advanced replication issues is very strong. If you are responsible for a non-trivial MySQL installation, get this book.

The title of this book is very appropriate. Great coverage on performance, reliability, backup & recovery. Definitely not an introductory book.

There were a couple of places where the writing was hard to follow, but I'm sure that'll be fixed in the next printing.

Even if you have a lot of experience with recruiting, selecting and hiring technical people or managers, this book can help. I recently needed to hire a new manager. I already knew that behavioral questions give the most insight into a candidate's experience and potential fit with the hiring organization. However, Johanna's extensive list of behavioral questions gave me a head start on writing an interview protocol that our panel of interviewers could use. I selected several questions from her lists that only needed slight modification to work for the position we wanted to fill. Not only did we get a great manager to hire, all of our candidates told us how much they enjoyed the interviews! Several said it was the best interview experience they'd ever had. Thanks, Johanna!

Being a very experienced recruiter of IT and telco professionals myself, and also having written books on recruiting, I appreciate this book. There is not many books on this subject, and this along with Hodges: Technical Recruting must rank among the very best. Having said that I think the part on Internet sourcing, as well as online screening/testing, could have been much more comprehensive for a book published as late as 2004.

Finally, a book that is focused on hiring technical people. Great read, very informative.

If you want to increase your ability to attract and hire people who will help build the company while avoiding costly hiring mistakes, Johanna Rothman's book, Hiring the Best Knowledge Workers, Techies & Nerds, can help.

The book is full of detailed guidance on each step of the hiring process, from creating a hiring strategy to making the new hire's first day a great one. The book provides templates and examples to help determine the required and desirable skills for a job, identify elimination factors, and articulate interpersonal and cultural fit qualities necessary for success.

Assessing skills in an interview isn't sufficient; it's how people apply those skills and adapt to situations that determine success. So Johanna details how to use behavioral questions and auditions to gain a clear picture of how a person is likely to perform in your context.

Hiring the Best will help you fine-tune your hiring process, make the best use of your time, and increase your hiring success.

As other reviewers have pointed out, this book goes all the way from first defining the open position through to the new hire's first day on the job. It contains extremely detailed information on how to handle each step of complicated processes like sourcing, handing the interview day, and making a final hire/no hire decision. Admittedly, her approach is very similar to what I'm used to from Microsoft, so I may be a bit biased, but this resonated well with me and what I've seen succeed in my hiring experiences.

I'd highly recommend this book to anyone who's new to the hiring process or who is finding they're not able to fill open positions as quickly as they'd like.

I was always thought that Myers-Briggs was the queen of personality theories, until I read this book. After reading this book, I was able to work much more efficiently with one of my co-workers (with whom I previously felt like I was always spinning wheels and getting no where in terms of accomplishing work tasks). This book also offered specific tips that improved my communication with my roommates. I've always been intrigued by personality theories, but this is the first system that I was able to seamlessly implement in my life, with positive outcomes. Unlike a lot of personality theories, you don't have to give everyone a 20-page questionnaire and then scratch your head trying to figure out how these newly found "insights" might inform your interaction. No, it's much less awkward and much more useful than that. It gives you simple, specific cues to look for to assess the person's preferred mode of functioning, along with specific tips to improve your interaction. (Don't get me wrong, I still think that Myers-Briggs is good, but this book is so much better, that even if you dislike Myers-Briggs or personality tests in general, I'd recommend giving this book a try.)

It is obvious that Dr. Seagal has worked extremely hard to confirm her research since 1979. Her style of writing is clear, concise and void of jargon. I found the content easy to absorb, understand and apply. Just the heightend awarness of how diverse we are has made a significant difference in how I work and related to people. I can see some real possibilities for applying in a business context.

Models to describe human personality are presented. Each model has it unique characteristics, its strengths and weaknesses. Each model will respond most effectively to certain modes of communications. This understanding of the different models presented will help a manager, a teacher, a student or just about anybody to understand themselves and people around them better. This will enable better communication of ideas and thoughts. Students will learn better and managers will be able to communicate more effectively with individuals. The models can be taken up to an organizational level. The applications of this book are far and wide. It is also simply and clearly written.

the first time that I have found an approach which looks at humans holistically and systemically. It is not a group of personality characteristics describing superficial behaviours, but a way of understanding and recognising internal processes particular to various human dynamics. It therefore goes much deeper than any other personality assessment technique I have seen and because of this can not be reduced to a paper and pencil test. However, the gift this approach brings is that it can be taught to everyday people and can provide access to better relationships and a greater understanding of how to release our judgement of others. A truly life changing book.

If you have found most personality tests insignificant, unhelpful, or unrevealing, then perhaps this book is for you. Human Dynamics goes into much more depth and provides a greater understanding of human communication and actions than any simple personality test. While people can be placed into certain "dynamics," these dynamics are not nearly as restraining or stereotypical as personality tests tend to be. Rather than explaining one's personality, dynamics explain how groups of people tend to process information, not necessarily how aggressive, passive, or "likeable" they are. This book helped me in terms of personal discovery, and has also helped me understand why it always seemed that so many people "just never seemed to think like me."

AUTHOR: "I am a full-on mutt" writes Keel of himself. The product of mixed spiritual heritage (Methodist, Baptist, Evangelical Presbyterian, Benedictines), Keel recognizes the deep influences these (and other) "deeply and widely different streams of the Christian tradition" have had on his spiritual formation. Keel serves as the founding pastor of Jacob's Well, and serves on the Board of Emergent Village. Keel's writings resonate with a Hauerwasian flavor, reflecting his early fascination with narratives of all kinds. He seeks to illustrate rather than explicate, and seems at ease with the chaotic currents of post-modernity.

THESIS OF THE BOOK: There are no leadership silver bullets. Today's effective leader will influence followers in the context of narratives (biblical, national, ethnic, familial, individual, etc.), embracing the tensions of intuition, creativity, and chaos to follow the Holy Spirit wherever He leads.

PART 1 ("Entering Story") uses stories to demonstrate the validity and need for a narrative paradigm. Keel paints a succinct history of the enlightenment, modernity and post-modernity, asserting that even the assertion that we have no story is really a story. Narrating his story and that of Jacob's Well, Keel asserts that we have "failed to engage God, ourselves, and our world faithfully for the sake of the gospel" by failing to live a truthful narrative.

PART 2 ("Engaging Context") explores the radical engagements of faithful, communal discipleship: the contextual, theological and structural aspects of using intuition, creativity and chaos. Using another's approach can leech God from ministry. Instead we must follow God's lead.

PART 3 ("Embracing Possibility") encourages us to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit by allowing "life to grow naturally out of the environment in which it exists" rather than by imitating the latest fad or best practices from a mega church. This goal can best be achieved from a posture of learning, joy, vulnerability, availability and surrender while listening to God.

Keel reflects my dissatisfaction with the "Acts 2 church," as if such a church were possible today simply by reinstituting the forms and rules of the First Century AD. He notes that the church in that form did not last, being replaced by new, vibrant and different forms of church, all of them authentic. "[We] observe barely contained chaos as churches faithfully seek to keep pace with the life exploding under and around them." Keel also brings systems thinking into the mix, noting that easy fixes just do not work. We need to apply what seem like chaotic solutions that "pull us (me) out of our (my) comfort zones and into the world around us (me) in a radically engaged way."

wow. tim keel has written a leadership book that, well, isn't like others. i suppose i could put it in the same kind of category -- roughly -- as max depree's books (leadership jazz, and leadership is an art), in that tim doesn't prescribe a method, or give 5 or 10 or 21 irrefutable laws. instead, he brings his artist's perspective to the role of the leader, spending the biggest portion of his page real estate talking about cultural discernment.

killer stuff, really. when tim suggests, in the subtitle, that the kind of leadership we should embrace is one of narrative, metaphor and chaos... well, let's just say he clearly lives these three words out on the pages of this exceptional book.

This was much more than just a book about leadership. It was a book about the postmodern approach as well as an encouragement that faith does not and should not just be of the mind but also of the heart.

This book is a must read, and a must own! I am NOT an emergent village participant, and have NO plans on being one. I am a church planter, however, and this book has it! It is amazing, even if you are not an emergent follower, EVERY pastor should have this book of leadership in their library, and they should reference it often!

If you have been going around in the Postmodern conversation for any amount of time, or are at all curious about the "Emergent Church", or are feeling like you keep stubbing the big toe of your faith, here is some real help. And do not let the title keep any one from reading. This is not just one more dry book on leadership. It is for you. Tim Keel brilliantly (please accept the praise Mr. Keel) weaves history, scripture, experience, and culture into something truly inspiring and useful to those with an eye on things to come. Or even on things that have been. I cheered out loud more than a few times as my heart was being reclaimed by Jesus. So many connections were made with the loose ends of my faith. And not in the form of easy answers, but with the asking of better questions. Did I mention that this is a brilliant work? The bottom line is that this is most likely the most important and engaging book i have read to date. And if in fact you are in a position of leadership, ( as I am ) this is a catalyst for honest growth that you will look a long time to better, or even equal for that matter. I could go on but instead will plead with you to trust your intuition..... it is as good as you would hope.

An essential addition to any English language learner's or teacher's collection! I have been teaching ESL/EFL for over twelve years and was yet to find a comprehensive text to teach idioms. Then I discovered the Join the Club series, the first texts that did not have to be supplemented or modified. The numerous high-frequency expressions are made easy for students to learn through example sentences, useful exercises, fun games, listening comprehension activities, new ideas, etc. Moreover, the texts are ideal for busy teachers since they basically serve as "kits." Everything is there; there is no need to come up with exciting, new ways to make the instruction enjoyable. The students immediately respond and have fun learning. In sum, a must have for students and teachers alike!

An essential addition to any English language learner's or teacher's collection! I have been teaching ESL/EFL for over twelve years and was yet to find a comprehensive text to teach idioms. Then I discovered the Join the Club series, the first texts that did not have to be supplemented or modified. The numerous high-frequency expressions are made easy for students to learn through example sentences, useful exercises, fun games, listening comprehension activities, new ideas, etc. Moreover, the texts are ideal for busy teachers since they basically serve as "kits." Everything is there; there is no need to come up with exciting, new ways to make the instruction enjoyable. The students immediately respond and have fun learning. In sum, a must have for students and teachers alike!

AS AN IDIOMS TEACHER, THIS BOOK HAS BEEN A GOD-SEND!! THERE IS MINIMAL WORK FOR THE TEACHER, SINCE THE BOOK GUIDES STUDENTS THROUGH VERY EASY TO FOLLOW ACTIVITIES. THE TEACHER NEED SIMPLY PUT STUDENTS INTO GROUPS AND LET THEM LEARN. THE EXERCISES ENCOURAGE STUDENT AUTONOMY IN THEIR LEARNING AND DISCOVERY OF THE IDIOMS. LOTS OF CONTEXTUALIZED EXAMPLES ARE PROVIDED, AS WELL AS OVERT DEFINITIONS, ALLOWING STUDENTS TO CLEARLY UNDERSTAND THE IDIOMS. THANK YOU MS. NAYLOR FOR SAVING ME SO MUCH LESSON PLANNING TIME AND FRUSTRATION!!!

AS AN IDIOMS TEACHER, THIS BOOK HAS BEEN A GOD-SEND!! THERE IS MINIMAL WORK FOR THE TEACHER, SINCE THE BOOK GUIDES STUDENTS THROUGH VERY EASY TO FOLLOW ACTIVITIES. THE TEACHER NEED SIMPLY PUT STUDENTS INTO GROUPS AND LET THEM LEARN. THE EXERCISES ENCOURAGE STUDENT AUTONOMY IN THEIR LEARNING AND DISCOVERY OF THE IDIOMS. LOTS OF CONTEXTUALIZED EXAMPLES ARE PROVIDED, AS WELL AS OVERT DEFINITIONS, ALLOWING STUDENTS TO CLEARLY UNDERSTAND THE IDIOMS. THANK YOU MS. NAYLOR FOR SAVING ME SO MUCH LESSON PLANNING TIME AND FRUSTRATION!

This is just great! After I studied this book, I have been enjoying watching sitcoms and movies. The expressions that I studied in this book are frequently used by Americans! The expressions in this book are alive! I'm waiting for "Join the Club 3"!

I have not found any other good keynote book. This is informative, has lots of good information and more.Well done. Lots of good ideas, tips and tricks.

I have gone over this book from front to back and find that there is nothing that I found wanting in the book. I learned things I could use in every chapter.

If you don't own the book, use Keynote or want to use Keynote, this is the book for you.

Tom Negrino's book is all you will need to become a expert user of Keynote. Each process is broken down into easy-to-follow steps, including exactly which keystrokes are necessary. Especially useful are the many Tips and Screenshots that are included every chapter. I will be heartily recommending "Keynote for Mac OS X: Visual QuickStart Guide" to all of our Mac Users Group next week when I do a presentation on Keynote.

An excellent book for a beginner to Keynote or a seasoned veteran. Very easy to understand and very well written. The book flows seamlessly form one topic to the next. Great book!

Forget the manual, get this book instead, especially if you want to learn how Themes and Master slides are constructed. I run KeynoteUser.com and I was the tech editor on this book (I read every page, cover to cover). I also wrote the first draft of the chapter on building custom themes...all that to say I STILL learned things from this book while I was reading through it. There's stuff in there you just won't find anywhere else. And no, I don't get any royalties from the sale of the book (that all goes to Tom for his hard work), I just think it's something every Keynote user should own.

Life on the Vine brings a fresh interpretation to the topic of the fruit of the spirit that is as challenging as it is encouraging. Kenneson's ability to creatively comment on the correlation between American social tendencies and the nine Biblical fruits of Galatians 5 smoothly brings the reader to a place of real self-reflection. How do the market-style exchanges that undergird our economy influence our relationships with one another and hinder the cultivation of selfless love? How has a cultural inclination toward self-sufficiency and self-help impacted our ability to develop goodness and kindness in our own lives? In this book, outstanding social commentary intertwines with sound Biblical teaching, inspiring the reader to better not only themselves but also the community in which they live. One important feature of this book are the sections of "reflection questions and practical suggestions" that conclude every chapter. Here, Kenneson provides "next-step" type of instructions that allow one to really reflect upon the chapter's topic and then do something tangible that will help to cultivate the fruit just discussed. These sections also allow the book to be easily utilized as a small group resource, which I would recommend for all.

One of my favorite lines from the book comes from what was for me the most memorable chapter - Cultivating Love in the Midst of Market-Style Exhanges. Here, Kenneson says, "By evaluating our relationships to everyone and everything on the basis of self-interest, we foster a flinty indifference toward all those people and things that make no promise to enhance our lives." In this chapter, Kenneson put to words something I have struggled with recently in my life and the suggestions he provides have truly inspired me to begin seeing people differently and standing up against the formative cultural norms that inhibit healthy types of relationships based on love and giving.

Kennison's book on the Fruit of the Spirit is the best one I have found on this subject. He does a great job of showing how the Fruit fits into the overall Biblical storyline, what cultural and personl obstacles exist today to seeing the Fruit grow in our lives, and some practical ways that we can see the Spirit cultivate this Fruit in our lives. I've taught it in 3 different groups (college, Young Adults, and middle-age couples) and it has been very well accepted in each. Highly Recommended!

Kenneson in Life on the Vine, does more than simply define the fruit of the Spirit, he engages in the art of bilingual theological reflection; enabling us to learn how to cultivate the fruit of the Spirit in a culture that wants to squeeze us into its mold. Kenneson helps us to recognize the grammar of the dominant culture and the grammar of God so that we can better embody the good news in the context of the United States. He wisely uses Raymond Williams working definition of culture - that of shared practices, convictions, institutions and narratives that order and give shape to the lives of a particular group of people - to help us understand the ways in which the dominate culture inhibits the church in bearing the fruit of the Spirit. But he doesn't stop there. He also becomes a capable guide in helping the community of faith to cultivate love, so that the church might embody the fruit of the spirit and thus be a faithful sign and foretaste of God's kingdom.

Life On The Vine is a deeply layered and thought-provoking book which gives significant insights into how Christian fruit would be distinguished from the norms of the dominant culture in North America. The book systematically "unpacks" each of the nine examples of the fruit of the Holy Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23, then details how each fruit will draw one out of oneself, to live a life that is centred both in God and in others. Kenneson refers to this as the "displacement of the self". Each chapter further provides examples of how the dominant culture in North America creates obstacles to the cultivation of the fruit, and how each fruit may be developed in this context.

The purpose of the book, however, seems unclear. On the surface of it, Kenneson has the concern that the Church has become too far assimilated into North American culture. On closer analysis, however, he writes that "God is in the process of restoring the created order to a state of harmony and order", and that He has a "plan to restore harmony and order to all of creation". This raises the question: what "process" is he referring to, and how does this relate to the fruit of the Spirit? Kenneson would appear to be suggesting that fruit-bearing is significant to historical progress. Further, he by and large does not refer the fruit of the Spirit back to Jesus Christ or to the Holy Spirit - in particular when it comes to his treatment of an ABSENCE of fruit in people's lives. As an example, he surmises that Christians who "abuse their spouses" do so because of the way they are "schooled to think", and because of their "view of justice". Thus he routinely refers people's behaviour back to culture and worldview, rather than the standing of their relationship with Christ.

This having been said, all told, the emphasis of the book is a welcome one, since the subject of the fruit of the Spirit is often marginalised in favour of other aspects of the Christian faith. Also, Kenneson's analysis of the Spirit's fruit is deep and rewarding. If one can overlook the insufficiencies of the book, it does provide a very valuable resource concerning the fruit of the Holy Spirit.

This book takes upon itself to critically reflect American society and its relationship to the difficulty of cultivating the fruits of the Holy Spirit in the life of the Church. In each of the fruits of the Spirit -love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control- Kenneson shows how bearing each fruit will not be without difficulty, as each fruit has something that is trying to choke it out in American culture.

The book as great as it is, has some short comings. Kenneson doesn't really like the term "self-control," and akwardly struggles to define it and look for a better word in the English language. He prefers to call the last of Paul's fruits of the Spirit "continence" instead of "self-control." Kenneson's find's the word "self" a little too bitter for his tasting, thinking it takes away from the work of Christ in some fashion.

However, I think the word "self-control" works just fine if the Christian realizes that "you are not your own." So, if we say "self-control" as a Christian, we simply must understand that it's not that we control ourselves, but rather, we yield control of ourselves over to Christ. Kenneson's alternative translation of "continence" in place of "self-control" I don't believe is warranted, and is too close of a synonym to hardly be considred better replacement.

Also, a somewhat minor beef I have with this book is that while it tries to refrain from being overly academic, it is still academic enough to be "over the heads" of many readers. I admit that as a Jr in Bible college, I had some difficulty reading the book at times because of Kenneson's superior command of the english language (even though I did read the book in about half a week). I had to use the dictionary enough to be minorly annoyed (maybe I should go read again the chapter on patience!). I fear that this book will not have the impact that it could because many people will not be able to read it.

However, this book could still be a useful tool for any church bible study on the fruit of the Spirit, and I would highly recommend it. This is the second book I've read by Kenneson (previously read the must-read "Selling out the Church"), and am amazingly refreshed to see that there are still good Christian reads out there. I look forward to reading this book again.

Living Energies gives the understandings necessary for revitalizing Planet Earth -- for understanding which human actions either enhance or destroy the vitality of our forests, soils, air and water. I tell people about Living Energies more often than I promote my own books! Living Energies is the best book in the world for understanding the extensive wisdom of the Austrian forester and genius Viktor Schauberger. Academics, politicians and many other decision-makers should all study this book, if they can set aside any prejudices they might have regarding some inclusions of spirituality in a science book. It's the big picture!

Jeane Manning

(First I should say that my copy of this book, by the same publisher, has a different sub-title than the one listed. Also, it's my understanding that this publisher (Gateways) was bought out, and I very much suspect that the book now in print by New leaf is more-or-less exactly the same as this one. Buy it!!)
Viktor Schauberger came from a long line of Austrian foresters, whose family motto was Fidus in Silvus Silentibus: "Faith in the Silent Forests." It's almost as if the trees & rivers were in his blood. His profound power of observation permitted him to see what others overlooked, and to draw conclusions that were both practical and utterly unique. He eschewed a university education because he knew it would deaden his mind, and he had learned enough in school already to find deep disagreement with a number of sacrosanct theories. He is probably best known (for those few who know of him) for his profound observations of water as a living being - most particulary the natural vortical inner motion of rivers, and their need to meander and maintain low temperatures, and the natural formation of springs. He also deeply understood the nature and needs of trees - which, in essence, create water, and have a tremendous effect on weather systems.
Because Viktor's observations, discoveries and inventions were so unique, and outside the strictures of establishment science, he had to create his own terminology. In this sense he was very much like the old alchemists, who had to coin new words for their discoveries. And too, Viktor's view of the elements was unlike any other. For example, with the exception of oxygen and hydrogen, he termed all the other elements "carbones." In fact his whole vision, with all of its extraordinary explication, is alchemical - not the least because it includes Spirit. It deals with natural transformations and energies: his dictum was "Comprehend and copy nature!"
Probably his greatest gift to us was his recognition of implosion, rather than explosion, as the natural, harmless means of releasing/creating energy, and he did much work in this area.
Not suprisingly he was much maligned by the powerful status quo. His life was fraught with treachery and great adversity.
Read this book and learn about a truly great man. You'll find it very exciting.

I have every book written by Callum Coats on the Schauberger subject. This book, if you only buy one of them, is the definative book to get. I would basically call it a complet Schauberger reference work, as it contains all of the material that will later be expanded in the "Eco-Technology" series - which contain more thorough descriptions of Viktor's work. This book is great on its own, however, and will not dissapoint anyone interested in learning more about the "water wizard" - Viktor Schauberger. I highly recommend this book as a great starting point for study on everything from understanding the vortex, implosion technology, water-power in general, Schauberger's inventions, his forestry upbringing, and as a general biography, this book can't be beat.

This is one of my all time favorite books--even though much of it I had to read and re-read several times to get a clear understanding of some of the points it makes. I believe everyone should read this...several times---it has some truly fascinating information in it and is an excelent book to really get you thinking and appreciating the nature of this planet we live on!

If somebody have some interest in water must read that book.
It give great insights of how we should consider water and how to use it.Schauberger is the pioneer on what really water is,and with all of other things i read on that subject i think this is the one to start with.Many research today lead to the way Schauberger saw water many years ago.It prove too that you don't need to be a scientist to understand water.Great reading.
Bruno.
briberdy@dagua.com