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Investigating the undocumented mysteries of the past is similar to analyzing the remains of an old campfire pit. Only black, charded ashes remain of what once was a blazing fire. The smoke from the old campfire has long since disappeared into the atmosphere. the cracking sounds of hot flames dancing through the burning longs have long since vanished into memories of the past. The author's quest for information on the early pioneers of Second Fork has taken him from the State Museum in Augusta Maine to the Civil War prison in Andersonville, Georgia, visiting historical societies, libraries, museums, battlefields, cemeteries and other points of historical significance in between. He has interviewed numerous pioneer descendants and historians. The family profiles of these pioneers takes the reader on an adventure from the Court of Queen Catherine in England to the shores of Plymouth Harbor and on to Los Angles, California, founded by a son of a pioneer born and educated in the backwoods of Second Fork. Emerging from the bits and pieces of information, the author has rekindled the old campfire into an illuminating history of the Pioneers of Second Fork. James Burke is President of the Mt. Zion Historical Society. The Mt. Zion Historical Society has developed and currently is expanding a historical park dedicated to acknowledging and preserving the history and heritage of the Bennett's Branch. ... Read more

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A comprehensive oral pharmacology book that reviews the principles of pharmacology and their application to dental hygiene practice. Extremely practical,  this book discusses many oral manifestations of drugs that the dental hygiene student should be aware of. Quick drug guides in the beginning of each chapter,  fun facts, and unique rapid dental hints within each chapter help the reader understand different pharmacologic principles while reinforcing key information.  Case studies extensively review the medical conditions, potential drug interactions and dental management of these interactions.  Readers will easily be able to apply information learned from the book to everyday dental hygiene practice. ... Read more

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Volume 1 of the Writings and Speeches of Edmund Burke presents Burke's early literary writings up to 1765, and before he became a key political figure. It is the first fully annotated and critical edition, with comprehensive notes and an authoritative introduction. The writings published here introduce readers to Burke's early attempts at a public voice. ... Read more

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When a Nazi submerine is discovered off the coast of Louisiana it soon becomes clear that the dark forces it represents are alive and all too well. Neo Nazis are on the march in New Orleans. ... Read more

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complex, interesting story
I really enjoyed this book, esp Billy Bob and Lucas.I do agree with the one reviewer who stated that the female characters were a bit wooden, however.I found myself completely unable to fathom billy bob's obsession with Peggy Jean, and how he was so oblivious for so long to Temple's feelings for him.But if you can overlook the romantic aspects, the story is complex and gritty.I read it in one sitting.James Lee Burke has quite the way with words, and I enjoyed his phrasings. Will be looking for more of his work. ... Read more

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Follow the stories of these "formers" who were steeped in their beliefs--a former fundamentalist, Pentecostal, liberal, feminist, communist, and several others--and walk with them on their journeys. ... Read more

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Through doubts and fears tounexpected grace in church
Mike Yaconelli, Stories of Emergence: Moving from Absolute to Authentic (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2003)

Reviewed by Darren Cronshaw

This is a collection of stories about Christians moving on from previously-held convictions, through their doubts and fears, to new senses of community, spiritual formation, and unexpected grace. For example, Mike Yaconelli describes his transformation from preoccupation with efficiency, pretending and doing to being real and free to 'frolic in God's presence'. Tony Jones the youth pastor discovered he was really an event manager, and so reinvented his ministry with contemplative prayer and intergenerational community. A former fundamentalist, former Pentecostal, former liberal, former communist, former feminist and others describe their crises and discoveries about faith, worldview or ministry. Experience of this sort of `emergence' can be disconcerting but is almost inevitable for Christians as they mature and as they grapple with the changing context of postmodernity. More stories are collecting at [...] , where you can add your story as well. And look out for the growing list of emergentYS books (which publishes on emerging church and culture).

This review originally appeared in Darren Cronshaw, `The Emerging Church: Introductory Reading Guide', Zadok Papers, S143 (Summer 2005).

PASTORS/PEW MEMBERS BARE THEIR SOULS
Not knowing much about post-modern thinking, I found EMERGENCE informative and interesting as various writers bared their souls, telling their frustrations with the way church is usually done. Much of what they said, I could resonate with.

Most of the writers appeared to be in the experimental stage of trying to discover a more meaningful way to connect with fellow church attendees and the world at large. However, for me, Jo-Anne Badley articulated the best solution.
She is a Baptist, teaching Biblical Theology in Newman Theological College in Canada, a Catholic institution.

She discusses the modern church at length then goes on to say that "the post modern world looks like the same dissonance I have always known..." What she fears is an arrogance that assumes you know the truth, that you are like God, is always a danger, whether that arrogance is found in individuals or communities."

"In all this dislocation I expect to experience unusual grace. My responsibility is to faithfulness, so that I recognize grace even when it comes in unusual forms. Measured amounts of food cooked on cow dung. Or a vision of a temple. Or a Jesuit priest. Or my female body. Laugh. God makes good jokes."

Betty L. Sheldon, author of OMNIPIECE

Stories of Grace
The multi-authored Stories of Emergence showcases personal stories of church disillusionment and suspicion with the institutionalised, doctrine-oriented church, out of which emerges (you knew I was going to use this word, right?) new thinking and (perceived) authenticity in spirituality and the understanding of what this whole 'God' thing is about.

For the book's sake, it probably isn't a good idea to read all the stories at one go. Treat it like Dilbert and make it a friend for a time-out. Two stories max per reading should suffice.

And there are some good ones. The story I started with, Frederica Mathewes-Green's chastisement her earlier feminist attitudes, was one of the best, for me:

"It's not what feminists say, but how they it...An attitude of self-righteousness. A tendency to pull rank as a victim. A lack of humility. A blindness to the fact that women, just as talented as men, are just as sinful too. Smugness, touchiness, judgmentalism, and even darkner notes of condescension, ridicule, and anger toward men.

"Pretty much the opposite of every line in 1 Corinthians 13. My brothers and sisters, 'you have not so learned Christ' (Ephesians 4:20)" (p.134)

I also enjoyed Tony Jones sharing of his character-shaping encounters with people like James McClendon, Nancey Pearcey and Miroslav Volf. It's strikingly coincidental how barely a few hours after I first heard the word 'liminal' during a meeting, I saw it again in Jones' essay, talking about liminal times - the "thin times, the border times when we're in the midst of cultural change". (p.66)

Todd Hunter's piece brought back some cute memories of friends telling me about the un-Christian it was to have drums in church(!). And how can I not resonate with Spencer Burke's paragraph on spiritual McCarthyism:

"In today's evangelical world, one of the worst things you can be called is liberal. Challenge an accepted belief or confess doubt and you're the equivalent of a card-carrying communist. Brows furrow. Eyes narrow. Lips purse." (p.30)

Brian McLaren echoes this tension when he writes in his afterword:

"(Can) the gatekeepers of modern evangelicalism see these brothers and sisters as resources, pioneers, a research-and-development wing of the movement...or will they see them as a threat?" (p.224)

I also suspect God planned it such that I had to be at an unfamiliar section of town at 5.30 in the morning (after dropping my dad off at the bus station), drinking coffee and reading these words by Chris Seay, "Jesus understood that it's not only the truth that changes us, but also the journey of seeking truth."

This book isn't for those who want some idea on how to "move forward" in one's walk and ministry with Christ. It'd be a mistake to take any one story and say, "That's how I/we should progress". Unless I'm completely mistaken, the very idea of progress isn't even a category in emergent thought.

There are no "doctrines" in the book, no new theology, no new "synthesis of ideas" and what-nots. This will undoubtedly leave the reader with the impression that the authors care more about praxis than about doctrine (eliciting, as much of Emergent output has, the occasional remonstrance). They probably do.

In an experimental mode, getting things right is less important than doing as many helpful things as you can. And there's really no other to explain this - except maybe via stories?

Thus, I read these essays - some were dull (because predictable), some sad, most were fun - and emerged (there we go again) a more hopeful person. Hopeful because God does not does not does NOT require super-holy, all-doctrine-knowing perfection from us prior to giving us His joy and using us as conduits of his love.

The stories of emergence are stories of grace.

Note: Don't treat the two-star rating as implying that I'm not *recommending* it. I am. Sorta. It's just that I don't think it need be all that high up on one's "to-read" list. It's a good book to have but there are lots of better stuff out there.

Emergence: The Step Child of the Seeker Movement
STORIES OF EMERGENCE is a collection of stories (or conversations as they like to put it) of "former" evangelicals who have walked away from ministries and institutional Christianity to embrace post-modern Christianity that focuses on being authentic followers of Jesus Christ than on just being absolute (right).

The stories vary since each person has their own unique background but the common thread is an utter dissatisfaction with popular Christianity as given to us by the evangelical church.The writers tell their stories of not losing faith in God while losing faith in the modern church.The stories range from bizarre trails to simply being influenced by such emergence leaders as Brian McLaren to former PTL's son Jay Bakker.

The positives of this book are:
- A good division of the book.Editor Mike Yaconelli did a good job of breaking the book into divisions such as stories of ministry crisis, stories of worldview crisis, and stories of faith crisis.
- Short, fast paced stories.The stories are not boring to read (even if you disagree with them).They move quickly and each writer does a good job of staying focused on their subject.
- Issues that the Church must address.The book does present several key issues that we must present from the Bible.Only Scripture can help us to work through the problems of modern modernity.

Problems with the book:
- Lack of theological substance.While the book is a book of stories, the book lacks Scripture.In fact, the authority of the Bible is never addressed.The emergence movement seems to want to throw Scripture out the window and yet still be Christians.How can this be?The Bible is where we learn about Jesus (John 20:31) and the Bible alone is the truth (John 17:17).The stories lacked truth.They were filled with common themes of experience ("I don't like the church because of this") but no biblical proof.
- Too experience driven.Feeding off the above, the emergence movement seems to be more about common experiences and not sound doctrine.However, experience must flow from Scripture (1 Timothy 4:16; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:16-22) lest we be deceived (1 John 4:1-2).Experience is no basis for truth.Only the Bible is able to save our souls (James 1:21).As a disciple of Jesus, I must hold to His word (John 8:31-32).
- Shallow view of sin.From homosexuals to drugs, the emergence movement has a shallow view of sin.In fact Mike Yaconelli admits that he has spoken about sin in the Church only twice in 12 years (p.18)!The book even says that homosexuality might not be a sin (pp.30-31).How did they embrace this world-view?Not from Scripture (1 Cor. 6:9-11; Rev. 21:8)!This is what happens when the Bible is not your authority.How do we expose man's need for Jesus without first addressing our depraved nature?

Conclusion:
The emergence movement has grown out of the seeker movement which has come from the charismatic movement which came from the Pentecostal movement.What do all these movements have in common?Experience as the basis for fellowship.If anyone tries to critique the movements based on the Word of God, they are often viewed as a Pharisee or a Puritan.I for one believe we need to hold firmly to the Bible despite our changing culture.God does not change (Numbers 23:19; Malachi 2:10) and neither does His Word (Psalm 119:89).I will not embrace the philosophies of Hume or Blaine over the Word of God but if I did then I would be heading down the emergence movement road.

The Stories we find ourselves in.
I have a love hate thing going on with the emergent church. I love the critique of modernity and willow creek, but I sometimes wonder what positve contribution emergent people have brought to the dialogue. It is easier to tear down than destroy. But this is not a negative book. Not even a little. The people in this book are all very cultural engaged. And are all very diverse, and they focus on their story.

You don't get the same boring rehash of where the enlightenment got us, and what to do about it analysis. These stories have a more personal dimension to them. Every person writing decided what ways they should engage the culture in their context. There is nothing formulaic about it.

If I have one criticism, it is that I wish a few other authors were included. But that doesn't mean what others offered will be found wanting. Excellent book.

Mike Yaconelli lives on in his uber-chellenging introduction ... Read more

Product Description
This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process.We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide.We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Product Description
This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process.We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide.We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Product Description
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Product Description
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

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This scarce antiquarian book is included in our special Legacy Reprint Series. In the interest of creating a more extensive selection of rare historical book reprints, we have chosen to reproduce this title even though it may possibly have occasional imperfections such as missing and blurred pages, missing text, poor pictures, markings, dark backgrounds and other reproduction issues beyond our control. Because this work is culturally important, we have made it available as a part of our commitment to protecting, preserving and promoting the world's literature. ... Read more

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This new collection is proof that new ways of telling the history of photography still exist. Featuring a selection of works from the very personal collection of Cologne-based connoisseur Baroness Jeane von Oppenheim, "An American in Europe" experiences the development of photography in the 20th century not in a chronological fashion, but according to genre: from portraits, to landscapes, to architectural photography, to still lifes, to fashion and film. Oppenheim gave her outstanding collection of about 700 photographs to the Norton Museum of Art in Palm Beach in 1999. This book focuses on surprisingly atypical choices from the oeuvres of 125 seminal artists, such as Walker Evans, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Alexander Rodchenko, Albert Renger-Patzsch, and Ulrich Tillman. Over 130 images in duotone and color illustrate the aesthetic differences between various styles, genres, and authors, and show diversities and affinities among different continents, cultures and periods. This extraordinary recombination of photographs by master artists offers viewers a fresh look at the world of photography. ... Read more

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This introductory textbook offers students a first view of the exciting world of travel and tourism.Its unique approach covers the marketing cycle as well as dedicated chapters on such topics as consumer profiles, sales distribution network, service quality, and salesmanship.Close-ups of professionals working in the field, as well as marketing profiles of leading companies, provide students with meaningfulreal-world examples.Exams, discussion questions, exercises, and case examples help students integrate what they have learned.This first glimpse of the excitingworld of travel and tourism will leave students wanting to learn more. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Very little written in a lot of words
I use this book for a course in marketing at my college only because it had been used by a prior instructor. The first half of the book has so many technical terms, that students get lost easily trying to remember what is what. The second half of the book is so basic, that each chapter could be rewritten into less than half of the content. I have searched for a better textbook and found none so I am stuck with it. The instructor's manual is useless. It is the poorest written. ... Read more

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A very pleasant read
Edmund Burke's Philosophical Enquiry, though it presents to modern sensibilities, so shaped by scientific certainties to which Burke had no access, an extremely dated and at times ludicrous impression, nevertheless is an important document for the historical development of aesthetic theory in the eighteenth century, and indeed is a pleasurable read in its own right, owing to Burke's vigorous and lucid prose. Though no-one to-day will read the Enquiry only on the merits of its ideas, it has undeniable value as a legacy of the history of philosophy.

This edition is very satisfactory. Boulton's lengthy introduction is very helpful and informative despite being some fifty years old, and the apparatus criticus is meticulously complete.

Burke's Sublime and Beautiful
The categories of the sublime and the beautiful seem, on first contemplation, an 18th-century distinction with little meaning for our own time. I read this book while preparing a course on J.S. Bach's"Goldberg" Variations and Beethoven's "Diabelli"Variations.The idea was to find a wayof talking about the differencebetween the two pieces.At first brush, the Bach is "beautiful",the Beethoven "sublime", but only a little thought leads to amore complicated view.Both pieces have aspects of both qualities. Nevertheless, my students found the question a fascinating one.

Ofcourse, the book goes well beyond the characteristics of the two qualities. It focusses on the interesting question of how human nature leads us toexperience the two qualities.To me much of Burke's discussion of thispoint seems quite contemporary.

Burke's preference for the sublime overthe beautiful reflects his time at the beginning of the Romantic period inliterature, and anticipates Goethe's (and Beethoven's) celebration of theindividual and direct appeal to the emotions. His essentialist views of thebeautiful as a feminine characteristic seem gratuitous.

I wonder whatBurke would have found to say about, say, the Goldberg, with its formalityand artifice.These characteristics would seem to place the piece in thebeautiful rather than the sublime.But the piece is clearly not merely afrill, nor is it at all sentimental.

Burke's book is well argued andchallenging tothe modern reader.Give it a try! ... Read more