Renewal

Flora Wuellner writes, "One of the most important things I have learned is that our growing closeness with God was never intended to be a burden or one more task added to all the other tasks. Personal relationship with God was meant to remove the sense of burden and to infuse all tasks with new vitality." Flora has done a wonderful job of identifying the places where Christian leaders need healing and renewal, utilizing her deep insight into scripture and beautifully written guided reflections and meditations. The book is easy to read, rich in images, and refreshing for the soul. Get a copy, take a few days off, and come back revitalized for your ministry!

The last twenty years has brought much literature dealing with clergy burn-out and the ways clergy are wounded as they go about the daily task of ministry . Flora Wuellner has contributed to that literature in the past (most notably in her book Release: Healing from Wounds of Family, Church, and Community), and here she offers healing for wounded clergy and other congregational leader by examining the post-Resurrection appearances of Christ to the first generation of wounded leaders. In her examination of those wounded followers (Mary, Peter, and others), Wuellner also notes the healing that happened in those biblical encounters. She relates that first century woundedness to contemporary issues and she offers guided imagery meditations for healing .

Wuellners's work is filled with power and love. She offers a genuine understanding of salvation--that sense of wholness that comes from God.

I have been a skeptic about non-conformist activities usually sighted at so-called revivals. This book has convicted me of not being "ready" to receive Jesus Christ, even though I thought I was "born again", and in every way, a practicing, serving Christian. Well written, well researched, but easy to read. This book is one of those few things that might well be life changing! A must read for those who are searching for Christ's coming.

Dr. Brown gives a soul stirring treatise of the need for revival in our society. Taking past occurances and past revivalists he shows how we are so lacking today. He points out the glories and the pitfalls of the manifestations of revival as well. Makes you want to read more.

Out of all house church books, this is my favorite because of the straightforward and concise dissertation on the hinderances to Biblical community, outreach, service, and fellowship that most Institutional Churches naturally inhibit.

Easy to read yet deeply profound in meaning, Smith gives adequate Scripture and documented research as to the problems hindering true revival in our churches today. Free from bitterness or complaining, the author recognizes that God is still sovereign over all His church, regardless of our flawed platforms, yet advocates the house church model as one that is most Biblically centered on Christ's purpose for believers. He also leaves plenty of freedom to enjoy variety within the house church model, structure, and operation, using language free from a dogmatic and know-it-all pretense.

In all his proposals, most readers will feel quite convicted by their dependence upon being a spoonfed benchwarming puppet on Sunday, their wasted resources on useless building expenditures, their prideful disunifying sectarianism within their denomination, and their lack of concern for the needs of others in their community. Smith admonishes a 24/7 Christianity where EVERYTHING you do is glorifying to God...including your job, family, chores, free time, etc., instead of just doing the usual list of spiritual things proscribed by the church. No wonder we can't feel the power of God or the freedom for the Holy Spirit to move in our hearts and our gatherings!

A MUST HAVE BOOK for any student of the Scriptures or those who feel there has to be more to the Christian life than the usual Sunday morning routine.

Christian Smith goes to the heart of the problems within the organized Christian church. He does more than just complain about the way things are though ... he offers practical solutions to each problem in easy to understand text.

If you are still in the organized church -- yet, you see that "the emperor has no clothes," this book is for you. It will confirm many things that the Lord has been showing you. It will give you the strength to leave the "horse and pony show" (the performance-based church) and to forge out in the land that the Lord will show you.

If you desire to meet in a simple way with other believers and develop true relationships -- then this book is for you. It will give you the tools you'll need to begin your journey.

Understanding new institutions, like building them, takes sensitivity, wisdom and patience. Sir Nicholas Bayne has those assets in abundance, and in this new history of the annual Western economic summits he deploys them with great skill. No other observer can match Bayne's combination of extensive personal knowledge and sophisticated interpretive skill. This book surveys the first quarter century of summitry against the wider backdrop of globalization and institutional change. A must-have for anyone interested in contemporary global political economy.

An indespensable guide for all students of this subject, from the man who probably knows more about its history than anyone else.

In Gotham's Shadow examines three towns in the Mohawk Valley region of New York State. He looks at economic changes in the city and suburbs of Utica as part of the general pattern of economic restructuring found in eastern cities. He shows that Utica has struggled with the loss of the textile industry, a bazarre scandal that hit the political machine in the 1950s, and the closing of a nearby air force base. He then compares this "metropolitan" pattern to similar changes in the rural towns of Cooperstown and Hartwick. Both lost retail and agriculture during the same time period (since World War II), but whereas Cooperstown could rely on tourism and a small hospital to keep it afloat, Hartwick just kind of withered away. I think this is a great book, and anyone interested in addressing the problems in upstate New York should read it.

Alexander Thomas wrote about three towns in upstate New York, which has been having pretty bad economic problems. What makes this book worth reading is that he shows how what's happening today developed from the end of world war II. He talks about Utica and the urban renewal programs, the highways, the effect of companies moving out, and how the state of the city today is really the product of fifty years of events. Then he shows how small towns like Cooperstown and Hartwick have suffered the same trends but, because theyre small towns, they experienced them differently. Everybody interested in upstate New York needs to read this book! Anybody interested in social change needs to read it too.

Ali Shariati is the quintessential example of why institutions and governments fear intellectuals. Ali Rahnema's biography is probably a textbook example of how to write biography.

Dr Rahnema has given us an example of objective writing. He offers insights into the complex life, actions and writings of Shariati while never burdening us with judgement or synthesizing the matter for us. He lays the story out and let's us draw our own judgements. Rahnema gives us facts from the sources and doesn't draw conclusions or lead us to a thesis. He let's us draw our own.

The story is divided into three parts - the young Shariati at odds with his intelligence finding a haven in poetry. He then takes up the struggle between classical poetry and modern poetry. Rahnema uses this to prepare us for the last third of the book where Shariati carves out a modernist theology of Shia Islam in the face of the classical and institutionalized system. In the middle we learn of his education and exposure to the post war critical thinkers in Paris. Rahnema takes us through Shariati's complex synthesis of Economic theory, political theory, liberation theology, Sunni and Shia thought and how Shariati wove these sometimes with his own fictive additions to arrive at a living Shia ism which was definitely at odds with the traditional interpretations. Shariati found himself trying to change Shia thoughts and beliefs into a dynamic revolutionary system -- not anti western, but true to Iranian culture and history and the problems of Iran, not regurgitated problems of the West. His was definitely an Iranian centric view of the world, but taking from and using Eastern and Western thought where it was appropriate.

To Rahnema's credit he never bothers us with his judgement or critique of Shariati's work. He presents a man whose thoughts are complex and who often revised his own thinking. He presented the facts as he could of Shariati's concessions to SAVAK and his role as one of the flames of the Revolution. But through all this we see a man who was often frustrating to his supporters and critics and yet true to himself, even as his ideas may have evolved.

This isn't a quick read but it will definitely enlighten you and fuel your desire to go further with Shariati and inner complexities of Iran, the Shia themselves, Sufism and ideological transition and revolt.

Bravo *****

For those of us still struggling to understand who Dr. Shariatie was and the role he has played in shaping the lives of many of us, this book is a must. Rahnema's depiction of the other Ali's life is a well documented, smart, and poetically presented masterpiece. Definitely put this book on your reading list.

This book does not give you any kind of useless psychological babble. It gives you a lot of basic information that you would not think of on your own. I found it to be extremely helpful because it gave me a better understanding of my clients. When I put some of the simple techniques to use my sales increased!

This is the most creative book I have read on selling in 10 years. I give it to all my sales- people. I would recommend it to any sales manager!

This book is invaluable for anyone in leadership in the established institutional churches. It made me squirm more than once, but it also gave me the clearest picture of why the mainline churches are in decline I've gotten from any source. Bandy uses a narrative of a young couple who are church shopping to illustrate his points, and it hits very close to home. You'll recognize it all.

The title, incidentally, is a bit too narrow for the topic -- this is a work about change in every system of church life.

Everyone who wonders what the heck has happened to make churches that used to work in the 50s fall into irrelevance and decline should read this book.

This book is a must for any believer, but specially leaders. You will see, in a very compeling and "oiled" way the reality of the pathetic present system of "church as usual". You will see that we, the church at large, are designed as a franchise of boredom and institutionalism. It is not a book for those who love the "status quo" and are controling freaks. Is not a book for people who seek accomodations and think that being a good christian means going to Sunday school for a thousand years and never graduating. It is a great book and everyone in the new church we are starting is reading it. The book, above all, calls you to be true and vibrant with the message of Jesus and not with the carpet in the fellowship-hall.

Leaf Bird Days & Firefly Nights: Personal Renewal Through Nature Journaling by veteran nature writer Beverly Letchworth is an elegant, eloquent example of the spiritual tranquility and uplifting beauty that can be experienced through keeping a nature journal. The author's own words describing birds and animals evoke a gentle warmth and faith in the natural world. Appendixes offer ways to entice birds and creatures to visit one's backyard. Leaf Bird Days & Firefly Nights is a welcome, rewarding, and inspiring addition to any environmental activist, nature lover, or bird fancier's personal reading list.

In this book, author Beverly J. Letchworth takes you on a journaling trip through nature. Sharing with you helpful tips and things to observe, she keeps each page brimming with pelasure.

As in the March 8th entry, Leaf Bird. She brings to life the excitement of seeing a bird she thinks is a hawk. She spots the bird in a tree while doing other chores, and quickly reaches for her binoculars to verify the identification. She scrutinizes the tree limbs, then spots the object of her excitement. There it is. Quiet, still. A big clump of leaves!

And so it goes. The seasons change and grow. Winter tiptoes to spring, and summer twirls into a new winter. You journey with nature's surprises, joys and misfortunes. You learn ways to make your own nature journal, or add to the one you all ready keep.

Creating a haven for creatures, in you own backyard, is described with simple easy ideas and valuable information. Finding comfort and a way to relax after a hectic day is easier when you embrace nature. Leaf Bird Days & Firefly Nights will show you how.

Fr. Guardini, even in his early writings such as this collection of letters, never spoke with anything less than compassion, courage and clarity. In these reflections, he opens himself up to both the authentic good and the undeniable evil which accompanies modern technological progress, and critiques this progress unyieldingly by the measure of humankind's genuine needs and desires--needs and desires that have a driving force in culture for all of human history, and not the mistakened pseudo-needs of an disillusioned modern humankind. As with many of his writings, Guardini faces intimidating and dreadful challenges to all humanity with honesty and humility. And as many a great individual of faith, from this honesty and humility he finds the inspiring courage to speak the truth beautifully and forthrightly.

These letters address similiar concerns expressed by many of his comtemporaries, such as the philosopher Martin Heidegger. This book is highly recommended not just to the Christian, but to anyone seeking prespective on the existential challenge of technology and modernity.

This edition also includes a wonderful introduction by Louis Dupre which should not be overlooked.

Letters from Lake Como is a short book containing musings by Romano Guardini on technology, the evolution from a pre-technological world to our modern age, and, ultimately, the impact, or spirituality, in all of this. Guardini, a product of pre-technological Italy and post-technological Germany, and a thinker who could draw together science, art, philosophy, and theology (with great ease) shows the reader the profound difference between "organic" living (living before the machine) and a world centered around the machine, both in environmental and human terms. It is a poignant, thought-provoking look at what many people have (a) taken for granted and (b) not questioned, which is the direction current trends are taking us, and the impact this has on us as beings created in the image of God. It is at once a reminiscence, a warning, a critique, and a prophecy both taking to task technology, and enumerating its good points. That it was written so clearly and brilliantly in the early 1920s only highlights Guardini's gift as a spokesman and prophet for this century - he had truly inspiring insight and foresight on these matters. Highly recommended.