Organizations Books

This set of books was an interesting combination of a history of the author, his actual sermon's, hymns, etc. This recopied and compacted set has all the detail and exactness of the original set, with the minor flaw of a random missing letter in the midddle of the text, intermittently. I have not found this to cause any great difficulty. The set is very informative regarding the thought of early Puritan Christianity. It is also a handsome set and well worth the price. echance

Great Value! These seven volumes are actually fourteen volumes, re-issued as seven, with two "volumes" in each book. These are nicely bound
If you contrast the content in these volumes with Christian books which are enjoying popularity today, you might wonder why you wasted your time on the popular stuff. Wesley changed the English-speaking world, especially the working class. His sermons are awesome. When you read his sermon "Against Evil Speaking," you may find yourself carefully guarding your tongue, and thoughts. Wesley's sermon against bigotry may help you become more tolerant of others -- this from the most prominent teacher and preacher of holiness in modern times.
You'll have to work at some of the reading, but it is well worth the effort. This set of books lends itself well to browsing. You don't have to read huge chunks at a sitting. There is a wide variety of writings in these volumes. You'll get more than your money's worth in pleasure and intellectual/spiritual profit
If you enjoy these books, you would probably enjoy William Wilberforce's "A Practical View of Christianity." Wesley's fans credit him and the Methodist movement (not today's United Methodist Church) with averting the kind of bloody revolution experienced by France. Wilberforce is rightly credited with bringing down slavery in Great Britain. Together, these English giants revived Christianity in the English-speaking world: relying upon the Bible, they showed Christians what God expects of us. If you compare them to the prophets of the Old Testament, you may be amazed at the success of these two Englishmen.

This is a great value for the money! I am a seminary student (and a Methodist), so having John Wesley's works at my finger-tips is a blessing. It is a beautiful set and very affordable.

This book is the most comprehensive and thoughtful text on the subject I have read to date, systematically presenting the vision, arguments for and against it, and practical approaches to making progress towards achieving it. While it is not fully up-to-date with the latest developments in international politics, it is surprisingly relevant - a true classic.

If I had to choose a textbook for a course on world federalism, this would be my runaway choice.

Glossop displays a respect for true discussion of the issue. He outlines the most-often heard criticisms of world federation and offers accurate, informed responses which any American would support and appreciate. This is the leading authority on world federation in many years!

As is the case of the "true believers" of any philosophy, many proponents of a world democratic government display an element of Utopianism. Serious thought gives way to sloganeering. Ronald Glossop is an exception. A dedicated World Federalist, Glossop demonstrates his devotion to the cause is the result of thorough analysis of all points of view, which he presents in this book with unusual fairness and accuracy. His work belongs in the library of every student of international relations, regardless of the reader's viewpoint.

Dr. Marcia McFee's book is one of the most helpful books for anyone looking for concrete ideas about planning, creating and leading worship. From her whirlwind tour of liturgical history (which she deftly uses as a model for thinking about changes in worshipping patterns) to her wonderful exercises to help get the creative juices flowing, this book is a must have for ministers, music ministers, worship committees, liturgists and anyone involved in worship planning. Regardless of your denomination or style of worship, if you are looking for ways to plan worship with a group, to start a new worship service, to evaluate your current worship practices, or simply to create "interactive, intergenerational, interesting and inspirational" worship, McFee's book is the one for you. As a worship leader, planner, and participant, I can tell you I use ideas from this book on a regular basis. If you are ready for more meaningful and memorable worship, pick this book up!

Starting in 2007, I'm officially taking the position of "Worship Coordinator" at my relatively small church (about 100 in attendance on Sunday mornings). So, I decided it would be beneficial to pick up a few books from my local library to get ideas about how to do the job more effectively (I have been part of the worship planning team for some time). This was one of the two books that I got out.

I found this book to be quite helpful in giving me a systematic way (actually a multi-systematic way!) of thinking about worship. McFee develops several easy to remember formulae for what needs to be considered when designing worship. At times, the format was somewhat frustrating to me, but that was because I was using it in a fashion other than what it was designed for. I was just reading it.

So, what is the book designed to do? As should be relatively obvious from the title, it is (primarily) designed to equip you to run a worship workshop for those involved with worship planning in your congregation. It has great worksheets and activities to be used for getting the creative energies flowing so that worship can be designed in a way that allows everyone to worship God and glorify Him in a sincere manner. Though I have not (yet) used the book in this way, I did find it to be filled with ideas that I could use (or at least consider) even without running a workshop.

A couple final notes:

1) It seems that Marcia McFee is coming from a "mid-to-high" church background. (I'm guessing one of the higher-church UMC congregations, though I'm not certain.) So, if you're coming from a more contemporary setting, then some of her suggestions may feel strange. However, the overall principles are certainly applicable.

2) BUT, if you're looking for a book that is about the philosophy or theology of worship, then look somewhere else. McFee's book is far more practical. Which, in my case, was exactly what I was looking for.

I would recommend this book for people who are involved with worship planning in some capacity (or Christian artists looking for ways that their abilities can be used to enhance their congregation's worship experience). If you'd like to be involved in worship planning, then talk to whomever does it in your church... odds are good they'll be happy for the help!

Marcia writes to the heart of Church's worship teams on how to plan great worship services that invovles every one that attends your church services.

I don't think they could pack much more info into one book. It has refernces and shows how the author backs up his information. If you have people willing to really make thier church grow this book will help.

This book is perfect for those members of the church body who want to help but aren't sure where to begin. It's also perfect for pastors who want to teach on spiritual gifting, and also encourage church members to exercise their spiritual gifts with benefit to the church.

Wagner's writing is succinct, humorous, and clear. This book sheds light not only on different spiritual gifts, but theories surrounding them (the book draws from several lists in the Bible, none of which completely mention every spiritual gift), common misconceptions, as well as a test in the back of the book to help each person begin to get a sense of what his or her spiritual gifts might be.

The book is geared toward using spiritual gifts to help the church grow, and therefore focuses on some spiritual gifts more than others (to my disappointment, the ones barely touched upon seemed more relevant to me than the ones greatly expounded upon -- ah well, another book perhaps). I appreciated Wagner's candor and openness to other scholar's theories about spiritual giftings, as well as his standpoints on misuses of spiritual gifts.

This book is highly recommended as a place to begin your studies on spiritual giftings, especially in the context of gifts within the church body.

Having taught many seminars over the past seven years on Spiritual Gifts and having helped hundreds of people to find thier unique call to ministry through their giftedness, I found this little book to be a treasure of information. It succinctly describes the value of helping church members discover thier gifts and function out of them, leading to fulfilling and enthusiastic service for the Kingdom of God. Church leaders who have read this book in our setting have stopped looking for just "warm breathing bodies" to fill a position, but instead look for a person whose giftedness qualifies them for it and therefore classic burn-out is kept at a minnimum. Peter Wagner is easy to read and speaks clearly to the lay person.

At last a book that distills the learning of the last 20-30 years in business management. Drennan and Penningtons book is unique in the simple and structured way in which it helps set out action plans for us all, no matter what our role in business. An irresistible feature is a checklist for carrying out an immediate evaluation of your company and its world class status. A special aspect of the authors approach is the people dimension and how to achieve world class performance through people.

It is also a great reference book for picking up and putting down. Its part of my toolkit for running businesses in different parts of the world. Well done to the authors!

The book focuses on the 12 key benchmarks that lead on organization to world class performance and results. We are using this book within our facility in order to help drive results. Best practices and continuous improvement are the emphasis. I strongly recommend this book for all organizations. All managers have a copy of this book and we are beginning our world class audit.

This volume covers every government agency covering environmental concerns. Federally Protected Areas are described
together with the names and addresses of the supervisory governmental agencies. For instance, the federal agency for
Virginia and Eastern States is located at 7450 Boston Blvd.
Springfield VA 2253 703-440-1713.

The National Estuarine Research Reserves and National Forests
are located at the Bard College Field Station at 914-758-7033

This work would be valuable to a wide constituency of government planners and professionals in academe.

This is a must for conservation education professionals. The numerous indexes and summary descriptions of organizations are wonderful.

If you actually counted every idea this book suggests, you'd come up with loads more than 365, not to mention all the ideas of your own it inspires you to come up with! Entertaining, gift suggestions, wrappings, decorating, addresses for mail-order companies, recipes & lots more, all in one book. This is the book I've been wanting for years

I bought this book about 10 years ago, when I was first setting up my own house for Christmas. I read it cover-to-cover as soon as I got it, and have referred to it periodically since then. Many of the ideas aren't my style, but even those get me thinking, and there are plenty of other ideas to use/adapt.

There are no pictures to inspire, but the writing is crisp, the ideas are good, and the text is easy-to-read. The chapters cover:

Getting ready throughout the year
Preparing/buying gifts, wrap, cards, etc. (including food gifts)
Decorating the home/garden
The tree
Entertaining (including recipes)
Traditions

Some of my favorite ideas/recipes are the "Braided Wreath for Birdies" (a bread wreath with birdseed), "Winter Wonderland Centerpiece," and an never-fail party favorite, "Chocolate Indiscretions" (not quite a sin, just an indiscretion). I've considered picking up this newer edition to check for updates and new ideas -- and just because my paperback one is falling apart.

In this book Fisher presents models for three phases of cultural development: Culture of Comfort; Culture of Complacency; and Culture of Contribution. Six "productive" organizational activities commonly initiated by senior management are dispelled as "unproductive" to a contributory culture. Fisher goes on to analogize that just as termites destroy a home, "social termites" (employees with destructive behaviors) destroy and undermine an organizations infrastructure. Managing these covert-destructive behaviors (Six Silent Killers) are one of management's greatest challenges.

Fisher doesn't pull any punches in this book, and I like that. His brilliant and succinct writing style makes this book an absolute must for anyone who: a) makes decisions about employees (hiring, firing, performance assessments, etc.); b) can't put their finger on employee challenges; and c) for those looking to improve productivity and well being in their workplace.

Authors Note: As ! I was reading this book, I realized that three of my six employees in my restaurant business were clearly "social termites." I was working hard but getting no where, spending all my time putting out fires. This book provided me with the insights into employee behaviors which I was then able to take action on. Sales are up, customers are happy, other workers seem to enjoy their work more, leading to improved productivity. I no longer spend all my time putting out fires. I now spend my time managing a "successful, creative business" and leading the ENTIRE organization, not just an un-chosen few. I wish I had this book 30 years ago, but grateful that I have it now! Thank you James R. Fisher Jr.!!!

For many years, researchers and behavioral scientists have attempted to view organizations by using psychoanalytical and/or other psychological schools of thought structures. James R. Fisher, Jr. follows similar approaches, but does so, to this reviewer's opinion, with great insight, philosophical depth and uncanny predictive truth.

This book provides readers with an accurate development of organizations in the USA over the past century, and those crucial factors that must be taken into consideration if organizations are to survive. Fisher's vibrant prose explores the dominant cultures in the marketplace, the need for a new set of organizational paradigms, incipient catastrophe, the six silent killers, the cutlures of comfort, complacency, and contribution.

The author opens his heavily documented and self-experienced work with the dilemma that has spawned the "Six Silent Killers," and discusses why this phenomenon is the latest and greatest challenge to management. He observes that "professionals have the mind of an artist, rather than that of an analyst, more the heart of the creator than the discoverer, more the soul of the rebel than the patriot."

The book examines those areas that have created what Fisher calls "the new workforce that the post-industrial society has created." He cites the six silent killers, which have evolved in organizations as "a reaction to the frustration with the growing breach between the role demands of modern workers and the self-demands of those in charge."

Fisher's six silent killers, "the manic monarchs of the merry madhouse," are passive aggression, passive responsive, passive defensive, malicious obedience, approach avoidance, and obsessive compulsive behaviors.

His poetic description indicates that these silent killers "eat at the sinews of organizations, and workers who display them have an amazing ability to appear as performers when they clearly are not. They are caught in the crunch between hypocrisy and hype, turning their frustrations into deceptive devices. They are looking for leadership in a leaderless society. They are looking for direction when nobody admits to being off course. They are looking for real work in the chaos of activities. Wherever they look, they find confusion. Nobody knows who is in control or who has the power. Managers and workers alike, equally frustrated, spread these silent killers. Nobody is in charge. Management plays the role but has little control. Workers are reluctant to step up to the challenge of taking control because they don't want the responsibility. So control and productive effort slip silently between them, covered by the smoke and mirrors of frenzied activity."(pp. 87, 88)

After a substantive analysis of organizations and managers and workers, which represents the residue of an obsolete culture, Fisher explores the cultures of comfort, complacency and contribution. He suggest that modern organizations should develop the culture of contribution, which represents "an entirely new landscape for doing business, a new visage and frame of reference. It is the land of growth and contribution."

This book is written with sincerity and passion, evoking incredible syntactic imagery and stimulating thought. However, it is more an analytical approach in understanding cause and effect of American Society and its organizations rather than the process of solutions. It is optimistic, perhaps simplistic in the actualization of coping behaviors for survival, but it is very deep in ferreting out those hidden factors (subconscious) that impact behavior without an explanation as to why this kind of behavior occurs.

James R. Fisher, Jr. has succeeded in writing a book which is a valuable contribution to the fields of psychology, philosophy and business. He provides insight and important issues in contemporty society that allows readers and organizations to understand, prepare for, and survive the new millennium.

This is a dangerous book. Why? Because those who make a total, long-term commitment to the eight practices will create great turbulence which must be overcome. Most of the wounds which organizations experience are self-inflicted...including the damage caused by ignorance and arrogance. Perils are inevitable whenever bold initiatives are undertaken. For those unwilling and/or unable to make a commitment to achieving and then sustaining excellence, their cause is hopeless. Fitz-enz insists that the best organizations are led by those who effectively nourish as well as manage human assets. Organizations grow only to the extent that those who comprise them grow. As he correctly points out, "In a knowledge company, people are the only profit lever."

One final point: The best practices for any organization are often found within that organization. As a recruiting slogan for the U.S. Army suggests, "Be all that you can be." Stop looking for THE BIG ANSWER elsewhere. Look within yourself and within your own organization. Discover how to implement the eight practices in ways and to the extent that are most appropriate. Pogo once said, "We have met the enemy and he is us." Fitz-enz would perhaps accept a paraphrase of that: "We have found ways to be the best...and they are in us."ÿ

"Although best practices and benchmarking have become intertwined topics for some people, this book is not a discussion of benchmarking. Instead, it is a discussion of our findings and opinions based on research into how effective companies manage the 'human asset'-the people whose efforts are the basis of any organization's success...This book is designed to serve two purposes. The first is to present the best human asset management practices that my organization, the Saratoga Institute, uncovered during a four-year study of over 1,000 companies. We learned that what constitutes best practice is an interactive set of eight organizational characteristics...My second objective is to expose the wasteful and misleading practices that cause three out of four improvement projects to fall short of their goals" (from the Introduction).

In this context, in Chapter 1, Jac Fitz-enz identifies the eight driving forces that make up the context from which the best human asset management systems (BHAMs) and processes are derived: an interwoven human-financial value focus, commitment to a long-term core strategy, linkage of culture and systems, massive multidimensional communications, partnering within and outside the company, collaboration within functional groups, innovation through well-planned and managed risk taking, and a competitive passion that is never satisfied with less than constant improvement. Hence, throughout the following chapters, he explains each driving force and presents case studies of BHAM companies both in the U.S. and abroad. And, at the end of each chapter, he gives a short checklist. He says that "build your best practices by answering to those questions, you will have the blueprint for being one of the best human asset management organization."

Finally, he writes, "Wouldn't it make more sense to accept the fact that complex problems can't be solved by simplistic programs or popular panaceas? Instead, take the time you might put into chasing the newest miracle cure and put it into:

* Focusing your organization on value

* Making a long-term commitment to a core strategy

* Linking your culture to your systems

* Communicating everything that people should know

* Partnering

* Being mutually supportive

* Innovating and taking well-considered risks

* Never getting complacent."

Highly recommended.

I puchased this book for my wife as a birthday present. Ironically I read it once she was done, based on her flowering recomendation. It was fantastic, well written, and inspirational. The pictures of the original texts are beutiful. I will read a page or two when ever I need a quick pick me up. In these times, thats probably going to be often.

This is a condensed version of the Psalms as editted by the Venerable Bede (c. 673-735). It is illustrated by plates of the Latin and translated well by a professor of Classics at the University of Illinois (Urbana). The translation is very readable.

The condensations may be as long 11 or 12 verses or a short as a phrase. Often they trigger a memory of the Psalm from which they come; this would be even more common among those who regularly pray the Psalms. Reading the condensations gives an overview of the Psalms as a whole, that is difficult to observe when reading the entire Psalter. This overview helps place the various psalms in their literary and theological context.

One oddity in Bede's abridgment; Psalm 50 not only prefigures Jesus but refers directly to him! The brief introduction explains this and the single line from Psalm 136 which in no way implies the well-known "By the waters of Babylon".

If you are interested in the early Church in England, liturgy, or a devotional version of the Psalms, this version is well worth exploring.