Bishop Books

The theological insight propounded by Augustine, in his "Enchiridion"(Greeek for handbook),remains unparrelled when contrasted with the concise nature of this work. Augustine necessitated nearly all the creedal professions and beliefs of the Nicene Fathers with an uncanny brievity. As intended, then, for an educated Roman layman, the "Enchiridion," now, raises interest in those who come in contact with it today.

The three-fold division of faith, hope and love, at times, seems a bit obscure and difficult to detect. In other words, I had some trouble identifying Augustine's thesis as a whole(as the translators did also). However, this was mearly a work that was quickly thrown together(Augustine makes this apparent at the opening),and is to be highly respected for its in-depth learning. I doubt that Augustine intened his "handbook" to become some sort of "magnum opus"...it's strictly a handbook.

Augustine also deals with grace, original sin, repentance, and predestination with a scholars lore. This work conveys an image of Augustine's thought in relation to the Orthodox beliefs of Christianity then and now, and continues to stand as not his greatest, but yet, one of his most unique works.

This is an excellent book, both for the text itself by Augustine and the introduction to it. Augustine wrote the Enchiridion as a response to a friend who wanted a "handbook" of Christian teaching. Though not as engaging as his Confessions, it is well worth reading. Augustine covers topics such as baptism, original sin, abortion, faith and works, and election and focuses much on the grace of God.

Leaving out a few sections that don't seem to agree with a Reformed understanding of scripture (e.g., some parts on baptism), I would actually recommend this as an introduction to many Christian doctrines. (Then again, I'm not a professional theologian.) I honestly thought some chapters sounded like they came from more recent Reformed Presbyterians since Augustine argues for the same doctrines. (I count myself in that camp)

As for this particular edition, the introduction by Thomas Hibbs was very useful to me as I knew nothing of what led to the writing of the Enchiridion or of its structure.

Though the chapters are generally short, Augustine's thoughts flow naturally from one subject to the other. Thus, try to keep the train of thought or you will get lost!

I recommend this particular edition for the introduction, readable translation, and the text itself: Augustine's "off the cuff" summary of what he thought were doctrines that should be in a "handbook" of Christianity.

Ann Hamilton has to protect Brandon, grandson of Clayton Burroughs who is the British-born official with the European Space Concortium.
Brandon's parents were killed two years ago so Clayton was raising his grandson in Kourou.
Clayton was assassinated by an unknown killer.
After reaching his mountain villa Ann had to explain why Brandon's grandfather would not be following them. She found him playing with a silver coin Clayton had given him to remember him by.

Mike Bishop, leader of the Dwarf Squad was sent with Dave Cassidy, Bolen, and Fraser, all former Navy SEALs - Williams and Bledsoe had come from the British SAS. These men have served as a team for the past three years.
There was nothing to tell the difference of one from the other. They all dressed alike and carried an Israeli-made Uzi machine gun, a Silver Trident knife, a garrote, grenades and six extra clips of ammo.
Their mission: rescue Ann Hamilton and Brandon without engaging the enemy
Mike's name for Ann was Violet Eyes. She was hot.
Ann Hamilton - Snow White
Brandon - Boy Blue
Mike Bishop - Grumpy
Dave Cassidy - Doc
Tony Sardino - deceased
Heads of the RATCOM Agency: Avery Waterman "the Queen Mother" and Jeff Baker "Prince Charming"

Problem was - Once they got back to the States Ann didn't think there would be any danger but she was heartbroken in having to leave Brandon in England. She wants to adopt the little six year old.

Oh, don't forget Ann's friend Ricardo DeVilles, he wants to marry Ann.
Mike and Ann lead the assassins on a merry chase and then hole up at Mike's cabin in Wisconsin.

Opps, Ann was, originally a fashion photographer. Now she wants studly pictures of Mike - he wants pics of her in the buff.

Oh well, one thing leads to another and Mike finds out that his hormones interfer with his survival instincts. Almost got himself killed.

Great plot - great ongoing story - wonderful characters - never boring - definitely a keeper.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED --M - Doggone, want more stories of these men.

Ann Hamilton a friend to Clayton Burroughs a British born offical
with the Space Consortium was speeding along the road with his
Grandson Brandon. The news on the radio has just announced that
Clayton was assinated. She pulled to a halt in front of a small
villa around midnight. She is to wait there until protection
comes for her and Brandon. Mike Bishop is assigned to rescue
her. However they find themselves going through a maze of
deception from people around them. Each time they seem to be
safe they must be off again. The surprize ending is amazing.
Mike and Ann fall in love. Brandon becomes adopted.

I bought this to prepare for all of the great Orthodox Christian feasts. Unless you attend a monastery for the feast services chances are your local parish does not do all the services. It is great to read all of the service before going to the feast day liturgy. For an Orthodox Christian the holy services are the back bone of the faith. It is amazing how deep and rich the festal hymns are.

A must-have for any chanter or for anyone who is interested in the prayer life of the Orthodox Church. Describes the order of services for Great Vespers, Matins, as well as including a glossary of terms at the back.

If you had to own just one book on fitness, this would be an excellent choice. It covers the waterfront -- basic fitness concepts; clothing and equipment selection; flexibility exercises for warm-up and cool-down; resistance exercises for improved muscle tone; step aerobics and aerobic dance; exercise variants using weights, bands, stability balls; nutrition and weight control; injury prevention; even how to select an exercise facility and instructor. The content is based on the latest research in the field, and supplemented by helpful worksheets for key elements of a fitness program, such as determining your target heart rate and monitoring your fitness and cardiorespiratory performance status. There are excellent photos illustrating the exercises to do and, perhaps more important, the exercises to avoid. Before I got this book I was trying to cobble together my own fitness program from various web sites, and wondering why I was hurting most of the time. This book helped me enormously in putting together a more sensible fitness and weight-loss program that I have been able to sustain without injury.

I'm only reviewing the 4th Edition here -- and only a very small part, which is all I was able to glance at at the time...some photos of common exercises which the book advised against! Not just stuff like the sit-up which we now know to be bad for the back, but also side stretches, leg lifts, tilting/rolling the head backwards! Duck walks, the bridge...so many things which had been used during the tae kwon do training of my youth are listed as being dangerous here! You really must see the photos to know what I'm talking about...hopefully this Sixth Edition also has them -- it'll surprise even gym rats!

John Papa Li likes surfin

A must read, an excellent account of the young life of King Kamehameha with all the drama & intrigue of a great novel.

"Geography III" was Elizabeth Bishop's final volume of poetry, and it was published only a few years before her death. Sadly this is not her best work, but it's still a vivid, colourful collection of poetry, which focuses on little interactions and striking memories.

It opens with Bishop reminiscing about a dental appointment as a child, and how she read National Geographic to keep herself amused. But these mundane things fall away as Bishop is hit by the shocking quality of the world: "I said to myself: three days/and you'll be seven days old./I was saying it to stop/the sensation of falling off/the round turning world..."

The poems that follow are just as locked in Bishop's own world: her tiny island with its fifty-two volcanoes, poisonous cities, a New Brunswick bus' passengers spotting a moose, a beloved town full of familiar things, a warrior's perspective on an ashtray, a late winter walk on the beach, and about how "the art of losing isn't hard to master."

Very suitably, "Geography III" feels like a last collection of poetry. Many of the poems are reflective of her own dreams and thoughts, and of her childhood in Nova Scotia and Massachusetts. No looking around in this one, only back -- and in a way, that means the zest is gone from her poetry.

Bishop is still very vivid and observant, describing the red silt and clapboard houses of Canada, the enormity of small things for a little kid, or the "tiny volcanoes" on her tiny island. Some are rambling descriptions of her daily life ("The rackety, icy, offshore wind/numbed our faces on one side/disrupted the formation/of a lone flight of Canada geese..."), given a poignant beauty.

But she also tries out some odder stuff occasionally, such as the charmingly offbeat "One Art ("Lose something every day. Accept the fluster/of lost door keys") or the surreal office battlefields of "12 O'Clock News." And it finishes up with a chilly, early-morning poem about a dog, that ends with, "Yesterday brought to today so lightly!/(A yesterday I find almost impossible to lift)."

"Geography III" was a suitable farewell for a brilliant poet -- lots of vivid imagery, poignant reminiscing, and the occasional quirky little poem about losing keys.

This book has some very high quality poems. Although all of them are not prize winners, Bishop uses incredible imagery, wording, and rythm to create her piece. I believe that more of Bishop's work should be included in the classic poetry curiculum.

Tess Livingstone has done Catholics and observers of the Church a tremendous service in penning this brilliant biography of George Cardinal Pell, arguably one of the most influential prelates of the Catholic Church today. She traces his simple beginnings in a way that is simultaneously detailed and breezy, never bogging down in minutiae that would distract the reader. Countless interviews with contemporaries, peers and superiors show she has done a massive amount of research on the Cardinal. Her insights into his deeply-held faith, his trust in God and his simple humanity paint a picture of a man that the Catholics of Australia are proud to call their own.
But this is not a fluff piece for the PARADE section of the Sunday paper. Ms. Livingstone's writing can be hard-edged and unflinching when discussing the less Christian side of some of the people who have had contact with Cardinal Pell over the years. Likewise, she points out His Eminence's less-than-gentle mannerisms as a young seminarian: in one memorable quote, a disgruntled former seminarian mentions, "He [Pell] thought that pansies belong in the garden, not the seminary." Refreshing words indeed for those of us exposed to the seamier side of religious life in the 1970s, with various diocesan and religious clergy preying on youth and children. Pell's commitment to "Muscular Christianity" is wonderful to see develop. His inspiration to young men and women in Australia is the reason the Church "Down Under" will provide holy men and women to serve the Catholic Church for many generations to come. An excellent biography of a truly good shepherd.

Livingstone's biography of George Cardinal Pell sheds light on one of english-speaking Catholicism's most important Cardinals. Pell's rise in the hierarchy of the Catholic Church has been meteoric, and particularly pivotal for Australia. Were he slightly older, I believe Pell would have been "papabile" in the most recent conclave.

The tone of Livingstone's work is somewhat apologetic. As an American, I was familiar with Cardinal Pell through his writings in First Things and through his reputation in First Thing's pages. I was unaware of the degree to which he has been excoriated in Australia. Before reading Livingstone's work, I imagined Pell to be a sort of "Ratzinger Down Under." Now I have a more nuanced appreciation of the Cardinal - his work bears similarity to Msgr. Levada of San Francisco, the new prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. That is, he is not the archconservative Tridentine-Mass loving 1950's priest that his critics (or supporters) would have one believe, but a priest, bishop, and cardinal who takes his faith very seriously but reconciles a respect for dogma and tradition with a genuine love for his fellow Catholics.

The defensiveness of the book is understandable considering the assault that Pell was under when the book was written.

One intiguing aspect of the book is that of the unfamiliar Aussie syntax. Many of Pell's statements are slightly confusing - he seems to be saying something inconsistent with the context in which it is placed by the author. At times it is necessary to read Pell's statements a few times before appreciating the particular Aussie expression.

I was also taken aback by the degree of Pell's involvement with "social justice". Pell's comments on American actions in southeast Asia were somewhat disconcerting. It is as if the American left-wing view of Vietnam/Laos/Cambodia found a stronger long-term purchase in Australia than it did in America.

All told, Livingstone's work is a valuable introduction to Pell, a figure with whom discerning Catholics should familiarize themselves.

Freakin' coolest play ever. I loved it so much. So much drama. A bishop, a missionary, and an orphan try to help a group of heathens become better and have God in their life. They start to find religion, but not in the exact manner as the bishop would hope. After a while he gets upset and changes the church so that it is more Catholic and the town does not approve of this and they all go back to being Heathens again. It is a play about friendship, religion, betrayl, and finding your home.

"If I had a home, I would never leave it. I would keep it with me, always."
~Billy

If you are interested in the early American protestant church, Appalachian history, America in the 1830's, or a good, gripping story with real people, this is a great book. The author reconstructs a bishop's project of building a mission in an area that has forgotten God - folks who's grandparents fled the revolutionary war and became heathens. The story reminds me of "The Education of Little Tree" but with teeth and with a strong message.

This is not a bad book, and if you have never really thought about what to feed your horse(s) it's a reasonable place to start, but I do have some issues w/ this book: 1.) while it does distinguish between different types of feed (i.e. hay, straight hard feed, etc.) it doesn't help you determine a feeding program beyond basic common sense (don't feed 'hot' horses lots of grain, offer lots of good pasture or hay, always have water available), and 2.) it does not tell you how to evaluate premade grain mixes, supplements, etc. to determine quality other than "buy from a reputable source".

As I said it's a great book if you're just getting into equine nutrition, and there are some truly helpful parts of the book like a chart explaining what is considered "light", "moderate", and "heavy" work for horses, which is great because when you're looking at a feed bag trying to figure out what they mean by those terms it can be confusing! it was also refreshing to see that someone that understands the evolution of equines and what that means for their feeding and digestion, and that it makes clear that every horse is an individual and should be fed as such, though it would have been nice to have a few types of feed or supplements recommended as good for general health, or for certain age groups (i.e. aged). also it was great to see a book that treated pony nutrition as separate from the full sized equine.

The Horse Nutrition Bible is a comprehensive guide to horse nutrition and explores all the options involved in assessing a horse's nutritional needs and feeding it right, from chapters discussing introductory principles of feeding to the foundations of a horse's diet and the basic principles of feeding tactics and methods. Horse owners will want to keep The Horse Nutrition Bible on their reference shelf!

This is a good gardening book for Southern gardeners to read but I do have reservations. I have had this book on my shelf for over a year and when I am researching a plant, I usually look to see if it is discussed. If it is, there will be good useful information, sometimes. Most often, however, the plant in question will not be listed. The book is better used as a narrative about the joys of plants and growing particular plants. More photographs would have been most welcome and would have added greatly to the content. Overall, an enjoyable read with some useful information, but not a classic as in the Elizabeth Lawrence category.

I recieved this book as a gift several years ago, and since then I have bought many copies to give to gardening friends. I have gleaned a lot of useful information from this book for my own southern garden, but even more importantly, I always feel like I have read a letter from a friend when I read a chapter.

This book is not meant to be an encyclopedia. It is a garden conversation, casual, amusing, and utterly unpretentious. I read this book the way I read a novel, and I find something to love in every page. This is a perfect book for a cold or rainy day when I can't get into the garden.

If you want an detailed garden encyclopedia, there are plenty on the market. If you want to wander through a wonderful garden with a smart, funny woman, read In A Southern Garden.