Powell Books

This is a great book with many good ideas. I didn't like it at first but as I read more of it I realized that the reason their method works is because it molds to your individual youth ministry. Unlike Purpose Driven Youth ministry which gives Field's layout this book helps you create your own layout that matches your Ministry perfectly. It's a must read more so than Purpose Driven.

Co-written by Chap Clark and Kara Powell of Fuller Theological Seminary, Deep Ministry in a Shallow World: Not-So-Secret Findings about Youth Ministry hits its target of providing youth workers with a resource to help them deepen their ministries. The book takes the discipline of practical theology and cloaks it in terms that will allow youth workers to put it into practice.

The authors contend that most ministries compensate for a lack of depth by implementing at least one of three flawed solutions: by doing more of the same thing, doing what worked for someone else, or by doing whatever they found in a book. These changes typically fall short because of the various variables relating to context, expectation, or surface-level change. Rather than prescribing how to do youth ministry, Clark and Powell offer a strategy for discerning what to do within a specific ministry context.

Drawing on theory taken from practical theology, four steps are offered: 1.) Evaluating where you currently are in ministry 2.) Reflecting on scripture, history, research, and experience to open up some new and creative options 3.) Examining how others address the situation you are faced with (without simply copying their program) and 4.) Deciding how you will take your ministry deeper by using insights gained in steps 1-3. Once the new strategy is implemented, you find yourself back at step one with the need to re-evaluate if you met the goals that were set out at the beginning. This practical theology loop allows for constant refinement and evaluation of a ministry. The book offers multiple examples of how one might go about using their method in areas such as mentors, mission trips, and worship.

From reading the title and the description, I expected a book that hit a little harder on the topic of overall youth ministry philosophy. Those who are looking for such a book will be disappointed. The book primarily focuses on purposeful program evaluation, and it does a good job of that. If you intend to use this book for the purpose for which it was written, you should not be disappointed. Clark and Powell should help countless ministries begin the trek out of the shallow end and towards a Deep Ministry.

Okay, I have to say that after the first couple of chapters I wasn't overly impressed. But once they started to apply the principle to each of the cases in subsequent chapters, it blew me away. I would say this is a MUST READ for those in youth ministry today, if you want to have a Deep Impact in the midst of most ministry examples out there that don't get past the shallow stage.

This book is very thin. It's large in size top to bottom and side and may not fit in your totebag or drawing kit. It has lots of good information for a short book, but the drawings are very sketchy. It you want to draw more realistically, then you need to find a different author.

Drawing Trees is a short, over-sized Art course in itself. It starts simply with pencils, erasers and drawing techniques and builds from there. It does not give step-by-step instruction how to draw individual trees, but instead covers different trees as it imparts various drawing techniques. (For example, various pines, a red maple and a white oak are shown in the section on Tree Shapes).

The "lessons" include: Shading; Surface & Textures; Light Values; Perspective; Pictorial Composition;Tree Shapes; Bough & Foliage Shapes; Trunks; Branches & Boughs; Root Patterns; Dead & Fallen Trees; Majestic Oak; and ends with two "scenes" - Sycamore Lane and Sierra Pines.

I am not an artist, so while this may be rather basic for the intermediate-advanced artiest, it gave me a perfect blend of how to draw trees (shapes, branches, roots) with basic art concepts (shading, perspective). The size of the book is awkward and I would have paid more for either a laminated or hardbound eidtion to bring out in the field, but for the price, its a great value. Highly recommended!

excellent book on how to draw trees!shows examples and dissects the tree for you step by step

I approached this novel as an accompaniment for a trip to Florida. In other words, I thought it would be a run of the mill, rehashed but pleasant reading for me. I am delighted to be affirmed in my expectation. There is so much to be delved into in Elizabeth I history, and I am excited that David Starkey has thoroughly and carefully presented others learnings in a concise and somewhat chronological order.

The writing is dry, unadorned and significantly presumptuous in its presentation. I had hoped to find some embellishments or adornment to Mr. Starkeys' novel but there were none. It is not a matter of not having the material to create with, as so much the possible decision to shorten his pot-boiler to the core. Even with a description of the crowning ceremonies, I felt that the lack of color in his writing left me feeling like I was reading just another published medical journal. Here are the facts, the dates of completion and action; the reader must internalize and review the data.
I love words and I was not disappointed in this novel to learn or attempt to learn perhaps 100 new and obscure words. Did Mr. Starkey write this compendium with a word processor set on "Oxfordian Thesaurusian"?
I did also sticky note perhaps fifty facts that Mr.Starkey presented that gave me pause, and desire to continue my research with. There were various passages that time after time, were alluded to, that were not concluded to, in Mr. Starkeys' novel. No definitive statements here! ie: Seymours alleged dalliance with Elizabeth is presented with no forensic aside of proof or conclusion, only assumptions, and those taken from the usual sources. This encompasses pretty much all his facts within this novel. His sources are few and paraphrased continually.
Is my review harsh? I don't think so. I am researching Elizabeth I and try to give all my history sources a fair shake. A few pleasant words of encouragement, but, not here in this instance. Starkey gets a few points for compilation of events, but loses his credibility with his inability to keep the years presented with the days.

She sure was the helluva queen, and this was one real man-size exhibition. Incredible images, straight-talking text. Boy, was that a woman.

A great book. After you read this book, you will have more sympathy and respect for Elizabeth I. A neglected early childhood, loved and protected by faithful servants to whom she was loyal until they died. Finally accepted by her Father at heiress at the age of 10, she came to love and admire her distant father. Her mental capabilities were prodigious and her wit and learning allowed her to die an old woman beloved in memory. She may not have been perfect, but she was remarkable.

While at first glance this book may seem a straightforward argument for church practice in the developing tradition of radical orthodoxy, there is a more subtle discussion taking place between essayists. Powell and Lodahl have assembled a collection of essays in which the contemporarily hot topic of church practice and its role in corporate holiness is debated. A careful reading of Embodied Holiness provides the reader with thought-provoking questions concerning the Church's holiness, how the Church is holy and how the Church pursues holiness, as the editors provide two standpoints from which the reader will partake. Appropriate questions are posed to theologians, pastors, students and laypersons alike. Certainly, this is a book worth reading and thinking through.

While at first glance this book may seem a straightforward argument for church practice in the developing tradition of radical orthodoxy, there is a more subtle discussion taking place between essayists. Powell and Lodahl have assembled a collection of essays in which the contemporarily hot topic of church practice and its role in corporate holiness is debated. A careful reading of Embodied Holiness provides the reader with thought-provoking questions concerning the Church's holiness, how the Church is holy and how the Church pursues holiness, as the editors provide two standpoints from which the reader will partake. Appropriate questions are posed to theologians, pastors, students and laypersons alike. Certainly, this is a book worth reading and thinking through.

Powell and Lodahl have produced a collection of eight radically original essays with enormous significance for anyone seeking to practice Christianity today. I am stunned by the relevance of their critique of contemporary Christianity. These eight theologians essayists (including Stanley Hauerwas, Rodney Clapp, Craig Keen and others) fault modern religion for making spirituality too individualistic and even too "spiritual," that is, non-material. They expose a pernicious dualism that distorts religious practice, and they call for the formation of holy lives through a robust, "corporealized" faith. In their view holy living will only be possible when believers are embedded in vibrant churches where the disciplines are practiced daily. These essays expose two fundamental blunders in contemporary Christianity: (1) viewing spiritual growth as exclusively private and individual, thus nullifying the role of the church; and, (2) assuming that spiritual growth is primarily a matter of the mind, divorced from a physical body. Both errors derive from a Platonized and Cartesian Christianity. Hauerwas explains: "The problem with the language and practice of holiness in modernity is that it has been far too spiritual."

Fully aware that "a momentous intellectual change is upon us, and one that touches on our understanding of human being," the writers maintain that a true spirituality must include the body, both in a physical and a social sense. A true holiness, then, is founded in a communal life, not in isolation, not in a privatized religious piety.

In Mere Christianity C. S. Lewis observed, "There is no good trying to be more spiritual than God. God never meant man to be a purely spiritual creature. . . . [God] likes matter. He invented it." Powell and Lodahl are following Lewis as they remind us that true Christianity must be made concrete and visible. Indeed, all holiness is necessarily embodied. (What other kind of holiness could there be?) Embodied Holiness deserves our study because it clarifies Scriptural teaching on how to become holy people through incorporation in a vibrant, local body of believers. Thus, the book provides a powerful rationale for the church in an age that has trouble seeing its relevance. Though it is written out of a Wesleyan tradition, all readers (regardless of tradition) ought to welcome this provocative book, for it offers the best sort of Christian scholarship - informed by the Bible, conversant with the best theology, and practical at every turn. If we are serious about enfleshing the faith of Jesus, of becoming "a holy priesthood," then we will give Embodied Holiness our rapt attention.

I couldn't put this down until the final page . . . then wanted to call the author and ask for more! This book will keep you enthralled and surprise you at least twice - you'll have a hard time stopping at all after the halfway point!

I'm anxious to see more from Dennis Powell!

This book is an outstanding read . . . especially if you find yourself in a similarly dysfunctional work environment. The book flows very well and you won't be able to put it down. Jed represents the good in all of us . . . and he is the ultimate protagonist in a fight against corporate greed. Interesting that this book was written before the Enron/WorldCom scandals. The author obviously has personal experience with empirical corporations.

...if you're a banker or use a bank. Good action, impeccable details, fast read. Want to see more from this writer, particularly as this is a relatively unexplored genre (murder for financial reasons is usually approached from a different perspective). With Enron, Tyco et al, this book is right on target. Makes me suspect the writer is all too entuned to what we should be knowing about our local bank with a heart...

Packed with a lot of great information, dicussions of everything from Kennewick man to preclovis. There were a couple of chapters that went too scientific on me, thus over my head, but generally the entire book is readable and understandable by a layman with a working knowledge of archaeology in North America. I was fascinated by the discourse on "race" as it is still a valid idea in certain uses, even though everyone agrees we all came from Africa, and there is no "race" per se, the word is a category for a number of signals that are visible both when a person is living and even after death in the skeleton and teeth. Very good book, very pricey, but good.

This is the best book to read about the Origins of Native Americans, in my opinion. This book is loaded with up-to-date information and brand-new research. I don't agree with the author claim that "race is not a valid biological concept" but I still think everyone should read this book. Its worth the money.

The commonly accepted story of the emergence of the Native Americans in North America presumes that they cambe across a 'Land Bridge' connecting Alaska to Russia during the last age some 11,000 to 13,000 years ago. In recent years additional evidence has turned up in the form of skeletons dating from 9,000 to 12,000 years ago.

This book analyzes all of these remains and presents the data from them to either support or contradict the prevailing theories. In addition new theories of racial classifications and microevolutionary techniques have been developed to further help in the further understanding of this aspect of early history.

Dr. Powell was the lead investigator for the ancient remains known as the Kennewick Man found in Washington State. This book represents the best current understanding of the origin of Native Americans.

I like this book because is fun when James make the mistake. I like when James managed to fix the mistake he had made by creating a large banner to pull behind the airplane telling people about the fair.

I like the book because I can read the whole book.
I don't like this book because it is too hard to find the answers to the questions that my teacher made me. I like this book because i did manage to answer all the questions, and i liked the story. I found some of the words a little hard. i like the fact that James'class was raising money for homeless children.

1. I like this book because this story is good.
2. Because James fixed the problem.
3. Miss Sanchez collected money for homeless children.

Most biblical studies are quite frankly designed for scholars and seminary students. As a general reader, I can unhesitatingly recommend this small volume that helps you understand the basics of the Gospels.

There are three sections for each of the four Gospels, discussing Characteristics (what makes it different from the other three Gospels), Historical background (where, when and why they were probably written and whether Matthew, Mark, Luke and John actually wrote them) and Major Themes (the messages that each writer wanted to get across). Things that the general reader might not be aware of, like the phantom "Q" Gospel that probably provided Matthew and Luke with material and the controversy over whether John or Lazarus was the "Beloved Disciple", are introduced in easy to understand fashion without overwhelming non-scholars. There is also an appendix summarizing the "Gnostic Gospels" which, although I wouldn't count on finding them in new copies of the New Testament anytime soon, are gaining credibility with scholars (especially the Gospel of Thomas).

I found it interesting and informative.

This is a very good book for summarizing dozens of scholarly fields into a coherent 'Introduction' of the canonized gospels. Great starting poing if you don't know much about Q or the M and L material. Sufficient discussion about the characteristics and histories of the four gospels. My only knock against this book is that the author too often makes the statement 'most scholars' in order to back a particular hypothesis - refuting a quote from the book that evidence should be 'weighed, not counted.' Still, I learned a lot from the book and would recommend it to anyone interested in the history of the New Testament texts.

I have used Powell's book as a text for my undergraduate "Life and Teachings of Jesus" course during this past year. It is extremely well written and organized. Powell has a gift for presenting complex information in accessible form. The charts and tables in the book are particularly helpful and to the point. My students consistently compliment the book for its content and clarity. The only disappointment is that the chapters on each of the four canonical gospels are not structured in a way that mirrors their narrative shape. The struggle to lead students through the worlds created by the gospels and to present relevant critical issues at the same time is most difficult. Powell balances these concerns as well as anyone and much better than most. If only there was space in such a textbook to lead students to a discovery of the themes of the gospels instead of listing and describing them. That is a task still left to the instructor, but Powell's book provides excellent support.

This outstanding book is not just about a make of cars which is represented in most museum collections. It is about the invention of the automobile industry. A compelling story well told.

Great fun to read about an industrial manufacturer located 'way off' the main path of industrial America -- in Upstate NY! I worked @ GMC Truck & Coach in 1966 so I am fascinated with auto/truck assembly-line detail (several pictures of the inside of the factory in Syracuse). But a large part of the book is devoted to the individuals who ran the firm as well as interviews with lowliest shop floor seasonal workers. The company survived and briefly thrived in a hostile environment -- geographically & economically. I would have loved to see photos included of the car's laminated wood frame! Also, toward the 1930's when they used bodies from Reo (in Lansing Mi) was a real inspiration in 'modular assembly'!

Mr. Powell has done an outstanding job to research and record so many fascinating aspects of the permutations of the company founded by H.H. Franklin.

This book holds your interest throughout its 400+ pages, and includes personal interviews with former employees who were part of the Franklin Automobile Company.

As President of The H.H. Franklin Club, Inc., I applaud Mr. Powell for his in-depth research, and encourage anyone interested in the Franklin Automobile and how early automobile companies were formed to read this book.

The Franklin automobile was produced in Syracuse, NY, from 1902 to 1934. They were the most successful air-cooled auto in US history!

Check it out!

Crammed into a boxcar with a bunch of strangers and their packs, duffle bags and rifles, on a train that rattles along in the night headed for who knows where, Reuben Crane, just 18, goes to war. Leon Powell's The Gapfiller, brings the young soldier's discomfort, bewilderment and ever present fear in the pit of his stomach, front and center with an immediacy reminiscent of World War II artist Bill Mauldin's "G. I. Joe". Reuben's fellow squad members have little in common with each other or with this quiet boy fresh from a Tennessee farm. The author's description of the esprit de corps that develops is thoughtfully crafted and shows an understanding of human relationships that reaches beyond the confines of his story.

Well-written story by a former Army Airbone trooper tells a saga of a young Upper South Everyman, Reuban Cain, who plugs the gap as a World War II post-Battle of the Bulge replacement. Cain's trip across Europe is not without danger, but it is tempered by the camaradie of his squad, some are good guys, some not. It's a good sequel to other World War II adventures.

The author tells the story of a young, green recruit, Reuben Cain, who joins an Airborne Infantry unit. Cain, an everyman from the Upper South, must interact with other squad members, some good, some bad. After a brief interlude in Paris and a visit to the infamous Rue Pigalle, Cain moves up to front. Dead bodies appear. The author's tone is realistic and occasionally gritty as he unfolds this war story through young Cain's eyes. It's well-written and a good read. If you've read Ambrose's D-Day work or seen the film "Saving Private Ryan", you'll appreciate this tale as a useful sequel about war at the squad level. The author's background as explained on the book cover gives him special insight in developing this fictional memoir.