Renewal

He is somewhat verbose in his writing, and the book would benefit from a dose a Reader's Digest type editing. He makes valid points about the rise of coaching as a model for encouraging change. There is a whole life coaching movement in progress, I guess in reaction to disenfranchisement with psychotherapy. If you want to wade through the many detailed illustrations it is worth the read.

Written by one of today's greatest spiritual leaders, Bill Bright has had a unique place in my heart as a believer from the very start of my Christian life. His simple yet dynamically impacting presentation of spiritual truths will easily stand the test of time, even to the fulfillment of the Great Commission.

The Coming Revival is a great work on fasting and prayer! It cuts right through many of the divisive issues in the church to the heart of spirituality, which is a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. But why is the church seemingly so impotent today? Why has our relationship with Jesus not been impacting our country in any obvious ways? Is it real, or is our relationship with God completely out of touch with the needs of the world around us? How exactly do we get 'in touch' with God anyway? What does it all mean, and how can it all start with me? What's my part in all this?

Bill Bright explains, in his wonderfully simple way, that's it's all about drawing near to God by humbling ourselves, praying, seeking God's face and turning from our wicked ways: then, and only then, will God hear our prayers and heal our land. The power of fasting and prayer in relation to all this is what this book is about.

It's about the only book on fasting and prayer I've ever read, and it is certainly true that in giving instructions on fasting Jesus said 'when' we fast and pray, and not 'if'. Fasting has already been a blessing to me, but I'm not anywhere near a forty day fast... yet. My only criticism of the book, and the reason for my giving it 4 stars instead of five, is that I get a little uncomfortable with language that seems to tie our nation too closely to the Christian faith. I say it with the deepest sense of humility though, because I've been greatly blessed by Bright's teachings in my life. More specifically, my complaint is in regards to when he says that failing to vote is a sin against our country (p.130). I believe in the right not to vote, as well as the right to vote. But I want to be absolutely clear on this: I'm practically nit-picking here. Ultimately, we are not just citizens of this world, and our kingdom is not to be considered an earthly kingdom. Bill Bright, being one of the greatest evangelical leaders of our time, surely understands this point. It's just that I like to hear more about the salt and light of believers, and less about the role of the United States in the world. It's just a humble opinion, though, on the book, and not the man who wrote it. Praise God for the leadership of Bill Bright, and his work on fasting and prayer!

An interesting view on Congress' effort to aid society . . . for a change. Lassiter presents nice examples of what our Representatives and Legislators are doing to solve community related problems that would otherwise go on unnoticed. It was a little eye-opener for me, so I'd recommend it. Hell, if our Congressmen can show through their actions that they care, then hey, maybe there's hope yet for "Civil Society" and humanity.

This book consisted of four chapters, the first and last of which were a fast and intriquing read. The two middle chapters were full of complex and iffy statistics which lead to very interesting conclusions. However, one couldn't help feeling that the said conclusions could have been made without the tedious statistics. Especially since data from the ancient world is spotty at best. However, if you ever see this book sitting in a used book store I recommend that you purchase it, I guarantee that you will not come across many books like it very often. The theme of the book seems to be death oriented, and a bit, well, odd. This book is sure to be an unique experience.

For anyone fascinated by the urban landscape--and who seeks explanation for what they see--this book will probably hold your interest through to the end. It is unquestionably an excellent summation of most research on urban dereliction. I recommend it to anyone who, like me, is fascinated by the decay of American cities and who seeks explanation. However, there are three things that may bother you about the book: 1) the authors state it is a structurationist approach to the topic, but that turns out to be only posturing--it seems more structuralist, in fact, as it presents a world that seems the result of unseen forces acting themselves out through passive marionettes, not people capable of independent action; 2) the author's language is a little thick and somewhat ideosyncratic and, may I add, the tone leaves little doubt that this is the fact of the matter and further discussion of causes and meanings is unnecessary; 3) it does not reflect any of the more interesting possibilities recently evolving on the topic of cities in change--no discussions of narratives, memory, or the reader. Still, it's a great place to start, an excellent background read, and it's packed full of scholarship (even if it's a little dated). And it gives you the story the way most people understand it--if you want to develop a new interpretation, do it--but make sure you read this first!

Oswald and Friedrich have given us a wonderful source book for doing congregational planning. But in addition, they have given strategic planning consultants and facilitators in many fields a concept that opens new horizons in strategic planning. The idea of discerning, rather than planning, future direction says that there is a way we ought to go and our job is to find it. This concept, when coupled with systems thinking and organizational learning (see for example Senge, _The Fifth Discipline_), provides a way of reframing the strategic planning process. The exercises, while generally unsuited to the board room, can be adapted to that environment with a little imagination, once the planning consultant creates a safe place for those invovled in planning to access the part of their mind capable of discernment.

Here we have a very interesting investigation about the stories of the american cities and specially its downtowns, how they have growned, its shinning past and its following falldown. We can learn about very brilliant redevelopment projects that are intending to rebuild and to regain once again progress and live to some parts of the modern cities that have been in a great depression since long decades of desinvestments. It is very important to take in accounts the stories very well written by the authors about how the joining between public and privates forces is the only way to rebulit american ( and everywhere) abandoned downtowns!

Educational Renewal Review By John Goodlad

Reason the author wrote the book:

1)Packaged 19 postulates for better teacher preparation. 2)Said schools should be and have a center of pedagogy, which includes outside sources-collaboration.

Purpose/theme of the book:

1)To be a proponent of better teacher preparation-thus having better schools 2)Center of pedagogy-school of education, arts and sciences, and local school districts make up this center. 3)Collaboration between K-12 and universities

Application to educational administration:

1)Have better teacher preparation programs 2)Have involvement in different departments-collaboration 3)Communication, collaboration, and common purpose are essential to good leadership, better schools, and teachers 4)Leadership must be shared and spread around

Key thoughts or ideas

1)Good societies have good school not the other way around. 2)Ambiguity is not a dirty word one should embrace it. Closure is a dirty word. 3)A partnership ethic must be encultured. 4)Concept of lifelong learning should be a part of the socialization process from the onset of education. 5)Inquiry and reflection should be habitual.

We are planning a trip to Yellowstone and this book has gotten me excited to see the different kinds of forests that exist throughout the park. Not only does the book cover how fire affects forests, but how time affects forests -- by looking at the types of growth in a forest you can tell how old it is (i.e. how long it's been since the last major fire). Fascinating. The only slight critique I have is that I wish the book were longer -- it's a good length for upper elementary and middle school children, but high schoolers and adults will want more.

In 1967, Newark, New Jersey, once the third largest industrial city in the United States, became an exemplar of urban disorder and decay, a status that it has still not completely abandoned. The riots in July of that year and later revelations of widespread corruption in the highest levels of the city's government made the name Newark synonymous with the worst conditions of urban life. From Riot to Recovery by Stanley B. Winters focuses on the ten years following the riots rather than the riots themselves, which form the baseline for comparisons and contrasts.

The book is one of the first to offer carefully framed, factual, and comprehensive views of how one city coped with the trauma of the post-riot era in the United States. It contains 42 essays by persons closely connected with Newark as well as several experts from outside, including urbanologists Robert. C. Wood, Charles V. Hamilton and Frances Fox Piven. The opening essay by Stanley B. Winters, professor of history at New Jersey Institute of Technology, details political and economic developments in the city since the riots. Those following are placed under the rubrics of Unrest in the City, Dynamics of a Changing City; Housing, Transportation, and Public Services; Medicine, Health, and Community; Reflections on the City, and Information About the City. Their authors include the directors of Newark's Fire and Police Departments, the president of the College (now University) of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey in Newark, members of the Criminal Justice Faculty of Rutgers University, city planners and engineers, sociologists, and librarians.

The essays are readable and documented. There are maps and photographs, a bibliography of publications about Newark, and an index of names and subjects. The book acknowledges the enormous tasks the city faces, but looks with hope toward the future of the third oldest large city in the United States as it recovers from its past woes.