General Practice Books

Every time I find it Amazing!
How much Magic, Love & joy are in those books!
Every story- is a Gift!! :-)

I recommened you to read the introduction..
It is most touching, special and wonderful! :-)
"Good stories touch your heart in a special way no others can
and can transform your life forever!" (in my own words..)

If I could.. I would buy ALL of the books available!
(well maybe I can pass the one for Golfer soul.. ha ha!)

Thank you so much Jack and Mark- you Have changed the world!
Even here (in Israel) some people read your books..
and by now I have about 16 Chicken Soup books!
Not bad huh? :-) And I try to make those books known!
Optimism and good endings- is what needed here! :-)

Many of the stories are so touching- they can fix a whole day.
They can make me tear and appriciate my life more..
Make me want to Change The World for the better!
And also show all of my Love to the ones I love-
Not wait to another day or be affraid to show it!
and never forget the kindness of strangers!

Thank you Thank You Thank You! :-)

And for all the people here who don't know what to do- buy it! :-)
It's worth is! I promiss you! :-)

With Love and Joy!
Gil :-)

The stories in this edition of the book are my favorite. All of my friends have loved the autographed copies that I have given them. So many touching and tender stories, and even ones that make you chuckle.

I have purchased a number of the Chicken Soup series am I am quite pleased with them.

A 4th Course of Chicken Soup for the Soul

By Melody Beattie, Bob Greene, Edgar Guest,
Harvey Mackay, Pat Riley, and many more

Stories, motivational excerpts

Chicken Soup for the Soul is a fantastic, true book with hundreds of stories inside all about people's real live experiences. The sections covered in here are about love, kindness, parents and parenting, teaching and learning, death and dying, matter of perspective, overcoming obstacles, and elective wisdom. Everyone and anyone who reads this book can find stories that they can relate to, while enjoying them. Happiness and sorrow is merely a speck of all the emotions felt throughout this amazing book. When reading this you are able to learn the different kinds of situations there are and the everyday people who go through them. This book is extraordinary and unique; how it slams real life into your face and shows exactly how unpredictable life can be. It also shows us how we should value those around us, for we do not know when it is anyone's time to go.
All of the characters are real people who have gone through an event and have decided to share it with us. Each story has a beginning, middle, and end to it; just like life. Their stories are there to help others or to send a powerful message across that has once touched them. Each and every story is unique, interesting, and 100% true. So be prepared for any kind of emotions, because in real life you don't always know what the outcome will be.
The stories in Chicken Soup for the Soul are all directly from those who experienced the story. They are all easy to understand and follow. The voice in each story is so strong that it actually feels as though the person is right there telling you their story; it's unbelievable! Though not all stories may be your type or make you feel comfortable, just skip them and move on to those that interest you more. There is something for everyone in this original book. After reading Chicken Soup for the Soul you will be able to truly see how precious life really is.

I have read several of the Chicken Soup books and love them all. A five star rating is not high enough, it should be ten! I recommend all of the ones that I've read to all of my friends and even give out the Chicken Soup Calendars as gifts. I want them to experience the feelings that I have when I read the books. (My favorite story is the one about adoption when a child says that an adopted child is one that grows in her mommy's heart instead of her belly.)

I found this book by chance one day in my local bookstore. It is an awesome encouraging, view-changing book! It is very easy to read. Kent uses allusions to the bible and to everyday examples to prove his points. It discusses such topics as:

Burn Out
Fear Of Death
Faith
Depression
Forgiveness
Criticism
and many others....

It opens your eyes to the way God views these issues, rather than the way the world views them. I was disillusioned for too long, this book was truly a life changer for me.

**In addition, last Saturday night I went to his website and wrote a "comment to Kent Crockett" thinking it would go to a secretary and generate an automated response. To my great surprise he wrote back a personal email within an hour!! He seems to be a man of great character and truly down to earth.

I highly reccommend his books to any new christians, or those who like me had become disillusioned with life.

This book is awesome. It has a chapter, it seems, for every problem area in my life and a Biblical solution to those problems in easy to understand terms. Informative and witty, this book has been a pleasure to read.

Pastor Kent has written an outstanding book which is a real asset to any library, large or small.I am a United Methodist pastor in the Kansas City, Missouri area. I have repeatedly recommended this book to people in all walks of life. The book has great commonsense insight with a strong spiritual foundation. This is a practical, easy read, which makes effective use of stories and illustrations! Get it-you won't be sorry

Over the last ten years I have read many books relating to self-help and religion. Most of these have offered useful insights, such as Scott Peck's The Road Less Traveled. Others such as The Lies We Believe by Chris Thurman have been enlightening and helpful. However, Kent Crockett's book cuts to the chase to give the reader immediate access to the scriptures which identify our problems and present Biblically sound solutions. Pastor Crockett has a fresh and genuine outlook and style which is non-judgmental and comforting. His words deliver unpretentious wisdom and a message that God is alive and available to help us in today's world.

A friend of mine gave this book to her son who could not seem to even get interested in reading the Bible. He had made several attempts to grow in his faith before. She gave him this book. Once he started to read the 911 Hnadbook, he could not put it down. He found real practical answers to his problems. He began to grow for the first time in his spiritual life. He died tragically shortly after he read this book. At the funeral service his mother gave the Lord through this book credit for saving her son !!!! Give it as a gift to those who struggle with their faith.

I came across this book while burning some time in a Tampa Christian bookstore last Summer. After I read the blurbs on the back and skimmed the book a bit, I decided to buy it.

What I found interesting is how the author portrays Christians, Jesus and wealth. I think many of us "traditionally" think the apostles and Jesus where generally poor. I think this again comes from "traditional" thought of wealth being "evil."

Wealth in and of itself is not evil. Do we see our identity in our wealth? Do we see it as a gift from God to be shared trusting He will replenish it? Does wealth control us?

This book showed me Jesus and the apostles actually had earthly wealth and great spiritual resources Why wouldn't they? The apostles were with Jesus, the son of the living God incarnate, who created everything.

I also find the author puts out a challenge to take God into the marketplace. I agree with him. Too many Christians leave their Christianity behind; they mistakenly believe it has no place in business. I believe the business world is a fertile field for Christians.

I would highly recommend this book.

This book has been such an inspiration and motivation to me. Faced with working in a secular environment, we must look at each situation as an opportunity to share our faith with those around us.

Ed Silvoso zeros in on the missing link between knowing the written Word and living it. He brings home meaning and purpose in our everyday lives and how we impact our society in the workplace. What I liked most is that it puts Christians in all walks of life on an equal footing with those considered the "full-time" Christian workers. Christians are all called to be full timers for God and every workplace becomes our parrish, a holy calling. Silvoso, is not heavy in theology, just clear and practical. He hits us where we live today. I recommend this book to everyone who desires a more productive lifestyle for God.

I've read some pretty terrible books on this very topic. Anointed For Business, however, is different. It is an incredibly easy read, yet at the same time very liberating. Pardon the cliche, but it is just so true: every Christian needs to read this book. As I got deeper and deeper into the chapters, I felt a very heavy burden of guilt being lifted off my soul. The Lord has set me free through this book, and through Ed Silvoso, has given me a renewed purpose in life. I really can't stress enough how important this book is to any Christian even slightly interested in business - or even "full time ministry" for that matter. Every person that reads this book is delivering a heavy blow to satan's deceptions and attempt to strangle the kingdom of God out of our most important aspects of society.

A must-read for those in some aspect of business who don't believe that business is a ministry when compared to overt ministries like the church. Highly recommended! The examples Mr. Silvoso gives in Anointed for Business can transform your workplace from just a functional business to a ministerial one!!! Don't believe the lie that you can't reach others for Christ in the corporate world. In fact, you are in a position to reach those who the church & Christian ministries cannot because some won't ever enter a church... but they will enter your office.

Very good. Really, you will learn not only about OBI divination using Abata Obi, but also, you can learn a lot about Ifa. Attention few book tech how to divine using the Abata Obi, most of authors teach to use the coconut or a kind of substitute. Here you will learn all.

Without doubt the best book on Obi Abata divination. Osundiya provides an easy-to-follow format that surpasses any previous attempt. Experienced diviners can apply the instructions in the book to take the divination process to a more in-depth level of interpretation.
Obi Abata fails to provide a historical background of the system, and leaves out a few important points that are not well known among the followers of this religion.
In the early 80s, Babalawo Afolabi Epega introduced Obi Abata divination in New the York with his famous "little red booklet," which was being sold together with a set of Obi. At that time, the booklet became the standard guide for those that had the time and patience to digest a system of divination that had more questions than answers. Very few had the training to tackle this new tool on their own. Babalawo Adeleri of Brooklyn, New York was the exception. He took the Obi Abata to deeper levels of interpretation, and he is presently the utmost authority on Obi Abata.
Babalawo Chief Carlos Collazo of the Bronx, New York was credit with the invention of the Obi substitute used today in the Diaspora. On several occasions, priests in the religion have pilfered his invention for their own profit, and never gave Babalawo Collazo the credit that he deserves.

Author of Esu Osanyin

Baba Osundiya has produced a book that works on so many levels. You can feel his love and respect for Ifa in the pages of the tome. I only wish he were near me so I could study with him. At least I have this book. There is no filler here,no wasted pages of ego.Just an example of Iwa Pele on display for discerning eyes. Buy it.

Without exclamation marks and words of praise, this book is a must-have for initiates and non-initiates of the Orisa/Ifa traditions. It is concise yet thorough. The author does well to provide information, and training, within easy reading format. Baba Osundiya's work in this book proves vaulable to both academics and the serious learners. He approaches the unacquainted and well-versed students with appropiate tact. The information, wisdom and science provided in his text are stripped of denominational and regional overtones therby benefiting those academics/learners from various religious backgrounds. It is exactly what the title presents: theory and practice.

Elegantly concise, morally and ethically compelling, profound in the simplicity of the explication of the symbolism, as also in the tutelage, not only of the understanding of the oracle itself, but of the depths of human/cosmic nature that inform it.

Even if one never resorts to using this particular oracular system, the understandings that Mr. Osundiya lays out are eminently readable and usable, and compellingly so. They will likely be helpful to practitioners of any other divinatory system.

It's probable that initiates of the esoteric schools will find his ease of expression to be refreshing and most revealing. He speaks from the heart, and from the gut, and with an unobstructed mind. His writing flows like music.

Our meditation class is reading this book and we all think very highly of it. Lama Surya Das makes Buddhist practice practical for the common person. He gives clear and interesting examples and he does a great job of defining Buddhist terminology. The practices themselves are the best things we can do for ourselves and for all beings. I recommend diving into "Buddha is as Buddha Does" with gusto and giving the practices a try. Start small and see what happens!

Debra
www.mainstreetyoga.com

One part Jerry Seinfeld, one part Dalai Lama, one part Steve McQueen = The Mighty Das! The man is a force of nature, and this latest entry packs a powerful jolt of humor, uprightness, and spiritual power. You've hit the main nerve with this one: the meaning of life propounded by one of today's true heavies.

This is the first of Lama Surya Das's books that I have read and it will not be the last. Buddha Is as Buddha Does is the most practical and useful book I have read yet on Buddhism for the modern American mind. The wisdom within its pages can be appreciated and applied by Buddhists and non-Buddhists (such as myself) alike.

Lama Surya Das guides his readers along a ten-step path towards spiritual enlightenment utilizing the original six paramitas (perfections) of the Buddha: generosity, ethical behvaior, patience, heroic effort, mindfullness through meditation, and wisdom, and appends the four additional practices of Mahayana Buddhism: skillful means, spiritual aspirations, higher accomplishments, and awakened awareness. It is as if this book has two parts, the first encompassing the original six practices on how to live a life of selfless compassion. The second part outlining the latter four practices borders on the mystical or miraculous, but enlightnment itself is a miracle in our modern world.

For those like myself who wish to live a better, more fullfilled life while still adhering to the mundane necessities of contemporary life, such as meeting sales quotas to pay the mortgage, etc., this is a useful book. What I appreciate the most is that although Lama Surya Das is a lama trained in Tibetan Buddhism, he demonstrates a knowledge of all religions, including in this book inspirational passages from the Christian bible, Sufi mystics, and his own Jewish roots, as well as other schools of Buddhism such as Zen. It is this inclusiveness that has attracted me to Buddhist literature. Furthermore, Lama Surya Das is a rarity in that he is a Buddhist who openly seems to believe in God, although he describes the word "God" as a placeholder for an abstract higher consciousness or reality. The title of my review is an actual quote from the book. He also includes such messages as "Thank God for the Dharma," and "When you learn to give yourself, it may claim all of your energy, body, and soul, but you will receive in return God's heart, Buddha's mind." He even ruminates on the possibility of reuiniting with deceased relatives in Heaven. On the surface, these may seem like contradictions to the Buddhist faith, but on further investigation, it is not hard to see the value of such wisdom as a means of transcending this world of pain and suffering into an existence that is truly enlightened through compassionate living.

Author, meditation teacher, and poet, Lama Surya Das is the founder of the Dzogchen Medition Center and one of the most learned and highly trained American-born lamas in the Tibetan tradition. In "Buddha Is As Buddha Does", he addresses just how to cultivate 'bodhicitta', the spirit-engine of enlightenment that allows human beings to embody and actively practice the Buddha's teaching while engaged in the real world. Lama Surya Das shows how to actively practice the ten 'paramitas' which are the transcendental virtues of daily life: Generosity, Ethics, Patience, Energetic Effort, meditation, Wisdom, Skillful Means, Higher Aspiration, Powers, and Pristine Awareness. An important and strongly recommended addition to personal and community library Buddhist Studies collections, this superbly recorded, five hour, 4 CD audiobook edition of "Buddha Is As Buddha Does" also provides contemporary examples of enlightened action based on the realization of the fundamental Buddhist tenet regarding the oneness of life.

I saw the title and thought to myself, "Is Lama Surya Das, beloved author of Awakening the Buddha Within" writing a Recipe Card style personal development book cloaked in the Buddhist tradition? Argh!"

Well - this is a book about personal development. It is a book that has a touch of that "recipe style" that American authors "eat up" - but in this case what is delivered to "the table" is so much more than I could have ever hoped for or expected it is challenging to put it succinctly into words.

Right from the beginning I knew there was something happening.

In the preface, Surya Das is teaching about the term "Bodhisattva" - as "an awakened being" or"helpful spiritual altruist, activist, service-oriented leader, seeker of wisdom, truth, unconditional love, deathless peace and ultimate enlightener."

Wow.

And that is what the book then goes to teach its readers.

How to be a Boddhisvatta - using wisdom not only from ancient Buddhist teachers but also the likes of Edna St. Vincent Millay, Dr. Seuss, Mother Teresa and lets not forget "backyard Bodhisattva" known to the reader as "Exxon Ken"... an owner of a service station who once helped out the young Surya Das through generosity and caring....

The entire book is filled with stories, lessons and examples and ends, quite fittingly, with a Spiritual Revolutin and Enlightenment Prayer.

This is a phenomenal title that needs to be experienced, not simply read.

If you are new to Children's Liturgy of the Word, this is a great book to start with! It is easy for anyone to use to facilitate Children's Liturgy of the Word, and it has all the Sundays for all three cycles. My parish has been using this book as a resource for two years.

A wonderful resource to use for Children's Liturgy of the Word or for catechesis.

I have been in charge of the children's mass at my church for a few years now. We had some old books from the 1970's that we were using, but they had inadvertantly got recycled during a clean out that I missed at our church. So, I went on several sites trying to find a replacement. When I found this book, I was apprehensive about what might be inside. I was very happy when it arrived. Not only does it cover the gospel for each week, but it has a suggested activity to go along with it that you can photocopy. I have requested that my church order one to keep with the children's mass supplies as I plan on keeping this one for myself to use not only for the mass, but also as a reference for the sunday school class I teach. This book will help anyone who wishes to teach a child about their religion in an easy and fun way.

we bought this book this summer, as a workbook/instruction manual for our church's recently re-introduced children's liturgy program. it's perfect! completely scripted, any one of the 4 couples who take turns leading, can just pick it up the night before, read over it and be ready to lead the next morning. in years past, the leaders spent so much time preparing and planning that they could offer only ONE children's liturgy a month! but with so much of the work done for us, in this book, we are happy to offer it EVERY sunday. the gospel is kid friendly, the discussion questions are very helpful and the kids love the activity pages....we love that they directly correlate to each sunday's gospel reading. 5 STARS! highly recommend!

This book is a wonderful resource for RE teachers and catechists. I teach 2nd grade catechism and use the readings in this book at the beginning of each lesson (once a week). The kids love to hear the stories and have told me that it makes "Father's readings more interesting!" The activities are very relevant and complement the readings very well.
The only problem I've had, is that a couple of the readings were too condensed and left out some key details. Therefore, it took a little more effort and time to explain them, and they left the kids a bit confused. But, with careful research and comparison from the readings at Mass, I've been able to clarify any uncertainty.
I highly recommend this book to catechists working at the elementary levels! It is a great addition to the curriculum and helps the kids get more involved in the Mass.

This is an excellent book to enrish your marriage and/or to help couples who are considering ymarriage to have a deep understanding of marriage. Emma Haggarty

Waiss makes controversial statements -- statements that will make you say, "How could he believe that?" And then he goes on to show why, and by the end, you say, "Why didn't I believe that before?"

Also, it's well formatted, so you can read what you want to read and skip what you don't. But there's not much you'll want to skip. And he answers most questions that people ask.

This book smoothly facilitates discussions between parents and their teens on healthy relationships and the role of sex in dating and how both affect marriage. Easy read, written in colloquial style-explores and answers issues from the secular males' perspective.
Note to Catholics; good intro on the basics of Theology of the Body.

Fr. John Waiss' "Couples in Love" is a solid, clear presentation of Catholic teaching on sexuality and related topics. Fr. Waiss grounds his presentation in John Paul II's personalist philosophy, focusing on the intrinsic meaning of sexuality as created by God, which is much more helpful than enumerating lists of "dos and don'ts".

The dialogue format gives the book an engaging, easy-going feel, and yet Waiss is completely faithful to what the church has taught "always, everywhere, and by all". Waiss' great strength is to present Church teaching positively. He calls on the reader's love of God, and emphasizes the abundant life to be had by living in correspondence to God's design for human sexuality. As I read the book, I was inspired.

The dialogues are composites drawn from Fr. Waiss' pastoral experience, so they have an "authentic" feel to them, although at times "Margie" and "Sam" seem to accept "Fr. JP's" input a bit easier than I would expect in "real life" (I am sure this is mainly due to space considerations, and the fact that in "real life", there would be a lot more repetition and restatement than would be tolerable in a book).

While the main focus of the book is in the first three-quarters, focusing on sexuality, marriage, and dating, the final section on vocation (and the discernment thereof) presents valuable insights that don't get much "airplay" these days. Thanks to Fr. Waiss for including them.

This is a solid book, and I highly recommend it for teens or twenty-somethings dating and/or thinking of marriage, their parents and youth ministers, and to anyone who wants to clearly and faithfully understand what the Church teaches us about our sexuality.

With his newest book Couples in Love: Straight Talk on Dating, Respect, Commitment, Marriage and Sexuality (Crossroad Publishing Company, November 2003, paperback, 224 pages), author John R. Waiss has provided a valuable primer for committed couples looking to live in conjunction with the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church with respect to the theology of the body. Written in dialogue format, the book covers the many delicate, yet crucial issues that confront young couples in relationships.

Based on his many years of counseling couples, Fr. Waiss introduces Margie (recently returned to practicing her Catholic faith) and Sam (raised Jewish and perplexed by his girlfriend's refusal to be sexually intimate with him prior to marriage). Sam is committed to his relationship with Margie and suggests a visit and conversation with her parish priest, the popular and highly regarded Father JP, who is involved with preparing young couples for marriage. Sam and Margie open their hearts to Father JP, asking many hard questions on topics ranging from the meaning of love and marriage, to contraception, to learning to communicate and much more.

Couples in Love provides a comprehensive, yet approachable and enjoyable overview of the Church's teachings. Written from the perspective that human sexuality is "an affirmation of love", the book presents its subject manner in a kind, loving and non-judgmental fashion. The book's Foreword, written by Cardinal Roger Mahony, Archbishop of Los Angeles, underscores the importance of Couples in Love as a helpful tool for not only learning Church teaching, but also for exploring the reasons behind those teachings.

This book was an asset. I used it instead of my assigned text when working to pass the TExES Principal exam. This book was much better and more reader friendly than anything else I had used. The special ed section is a Must Read as is the part on employee rights! I highly recomment this book!

The title doesn't sound overly interesting but it actually is an interesting book. Teaching is an important job but there are a lot of things that a teacher could do to get in trouble (such as breaking privacy laws). The book also covers the law regarding starting a job contract, which I found to be particularly enlightening. It also covers some of the changes to Texas law since No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and laws regarding English language learners and illegal immigrants (they have the right to public education like anyone else). These are all important issues for the Texas teacher.

This book arrived quickly and has proved to be everything I needed it to be. Thank you very much

This book was used for a school law class. This is a great cheat sheet for educators in Texas, including teachers.

We have been using this text in our Texas Public School Law class in a chort of SFA in Mabank, and it has proven to be a wonderful resource book, sparking interesting discussion and debate.

This book is a very small but precious gem.
I will carry it with me

By this time I am into the double digits on Thich Nhat Hanh books and do,
indeed, feel he is an old friend. Published in 2006, this book is from a
compilation of talks given ten years earlier. Many of its themes will be
familiar to those who have read other books by him on meditation. In this volume, I found particularly interesting his openness/comparison of Buddhism to other religious practices, including Buddhist and Christian parallels in The Lord's Prayer. The author takes a quite broad view of the subject of prayer, which I find inviting and accessible. This fits with his always encouraging view that a calmer, more contemplative life is available
to us all.

I love the work of Thich Nhat Hanh. This book is very inspirational and I read it regularly. It is filled with important reminders that help to make sense of my life. I am giving it for Xmas to those I love.

This is a wonderful book for deciphering what prayer/meditation is all about. It arrived more quickly than expected and is in wonderful shape.

I keep this book in my purse. When stress at work is starting to get to me,
I take it out and read any page. I breathe deeply, close my eyes and am refreshed.

False Holiness Exposed is an excellent book that delves into the topics of Religious Law and totally reveals the false teachings of "having to earn" holiness from God. Pastor Bob Hellman scripturally discounts this wrong theology. After reading this book, I learned of the 3 tenses of "Holiness", as well as it being a gift from God with what Jesus did for everyone. I would greatly recommend this book to anyone!

Wonderfully written and a must read, for the saved and unsaved. After reading this book you will realize just how Amazing His Grace REALLY is. You will be set free from mans rules, self comdemnation and any self inflicted hinderances keeping you from enjoying your relationship with God, and the gift of life He has given us.

i have read the book three times and was blessed every time i read it. the books content is exactly what america needs to be taught from our pulpits. you can not work your way to god or be good enough to receive any of his gifts, holiness is a gift given to us by god through jesus and is not works but does bear friut in our inner man which is our being conformed too his very own image(character and nature)which produces outward works. dr. bob hellmann has made this as plain and simple as possible. i commend him for his work.

This book brings back into focus the simple truth and the awesomeness of the gift of saving grace through the Lord Jesus Christ. Only after we come to truly experience this gift of grace do our works and motives line up with our salvation. Everything lines up with the realization that it is grace that has positioned any of us to do anything for God. We are free to be drawn into an intimate relationship with God and not be driven. Saved by grace only, not by anything we do for God.

It is an awesome research thru biblical facts that created an electrifying result on religious practices. Recommended reading to all christians that are in search of truth. Dr. Hellmann has opened a new door to bring us closser to truth.