Customer Reviews (21)

An Oldie, but a goodie
Over five years ago a friend gave me a copy of Spiritual Leadership and it sat unread in my bookcase until I was compelled to read it for a graduate class. Too bad, it is an excellent book that presents the biblical basis for strong pastoral leadership. I especially appreciated the emphasis he puts on the role of the Holy Spirit in the life of the Christian leader. True spiritual leadership is not the result of natural charisma, but results from one giving his or her life totally to God.

As I read though it, I was constantly amazed at the amount of Scripture containing leadership principles which I had overlooked in my studies of the Bible. The style, however, was difficult for me to get use to. Although I do not recall any specific place where his nationality is mentioned, he seems to be British, perhaps explaining his style.

Being converted, trained and preaching within the Christian Churches/churches of Christ, this book has given me great biblical insight into the subject of anointed leadership. Traditionally, Christian Church pastors have been very weak, serving at the discretion of the board in a chaplain role with every pastoral decisions, no matter how small, needing board approval. Woe to the pastor who showed the slightest sense of godly independence. This weak role has doomed many of our churches to a mediocre stagnation. The emphasis on anointed leadership is just what I needed to head. Spiritual leaders are appointed by our sovereign God. We can truly say, "I am here neither by selection of an individual nor election of a group, but by the appointment of Almighty God."

Excellent for the Layperson and Pastor!
Chambers' book is brief (about 170 pages) yet chock full of wisdon for the person in Christian leadership, applicable for both laity and the pastorate.

The book consists of 22 chapters, each containing about 5-15 pages on a certain aspect of Christian leadership. Among the more interesting chapters were:

1. Leaders have to pay a great price to lead.
2. Reading is necessary for the leader (never stop
learning!).
3. Leaders must reproduce others.
4. Prayer is imperative for the Christian leader.
5. Honest evaluation is required for potential leaders.
6. There is a difference between natural and spiritual
leadership.
7. God searches for those who are willing to be spent for
Him.
8. God is always in control!

All in all, an excellent and highly recommended read!

Sound Godly Wisdom!
I've read several books on Spiritual Leadership, but none maintained that consistent focus on God's pattern of leadership, as this book did. This work is a classic, one of those books that you don't simply read but infuse in your walk with God. The Godly wisdom of J. Oswald Sanders is evident in every page. If I was a pastor I would make this book required reading for all ministers in the church. Whatever stage of ministry you may be in, this book will address the issues. If you desire to be an effective servant for the Lord, I highly recommend this book! Make sure you read the the Editor's Preface, it will help you understand the era in which Oswald spoke these truths. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Christian leadership   2. Christianity - Church Administration - General   3. Christianity - Pastoral Ministry   4. Leadership   5. Religion   6. Religion - Church Administration   

Customer Reviews (46)

Don't Wait Till the New Year to Get This
I'm embarrassed to say I didn't know anything about Oswald Chambers until I came across this book at a reduced price and bought two copies, one for a sick friend and one for myself. What a blessing it turned out to be for both of us!

The one-page essays, one for each day of the year (even February 29!), are deeply thought provoking and can be the basis for a daily meditation session. Be warned that the essays can be challenging. For example, Chambers pressures readers to consider whether we are trying to "perfect" ourselves as some kind of model Christian that God can display on a trophy shelf we imagine He has, rather than truly trying to perceive and submit to His will? Or are we interfering with God's will by trying to be an "amateur providence" who helps people through their difficulties by telling them what we think they should do rather than leading them toward Christ so He can tell them what they should to do?

For those who don't want to follow the day-by-day format there are two indexes referring to the relevant essays: one by subject or key word and the other by Scripture verse. The Scripture verses are from the New King James Version translation.

I HIGHLY recommend My Utmost for His Highest to Christians of all persuasions as an aid for contemplation, encouragement and spiritual growth. This is a rare devotional book that you'll want to keep and refer to or reread frequently.

Don't Wait Till the New Year to Buy This
I'm embarrassed to say I didn't know anything about Oswald Chambers until I came across this book at a reduced price and bought two copies, one for a sick friend and one for myself. What a blessing it turned out to be for both of us!

The one-page essays, one for each day of the year (even February 29!), are deeply thought provoking and can be the basis for a daily meditation session. Be warned that the essays can be challenging. For example, Chambers pressures readers to consider whether we are trying to "perfect" ourselves as some kind of model Christian that God can display on a trophy shelf we imagine He has, rather than truly trying to perceive and submit to His will? Or are we interfering with God's will by trying to be an "amateur providence" who helps people through their difficulties by telling them what we think they should do rather than leading them toward Christ so He can tell them what they should to do?

The Scripture verses are from the New King James Version translation.

I HIGHLY recommend My Utmost for His Highest to Christians of all persuasions as an aid for contemplation, encouragement and spiritual growth. This is a rare devotional book that you'll want to keep and refer to or reread frequently.

Give us this day our daily bread...
"My Utmost for His Highest" is daily bread, hot and fresh from heavenly ovens!

This was the first devotional I read after I was saved and have rediscovered its relevance, convicting power, and probing insights.

I gave a copy to my best friend in June. He told me that he started reading it from January 1st, 5 days at a time, because he didn't want to miss anything God had for him in the previous months!

That's the it is with Utmost - every day brings the Word of God in an interesting, very personal and amazingly relevant way to the reader. This is a precious gem for the believer. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Devotional   2. Devotional calendars   3. Meditations   4. Religion   5. Religion - Classic Works   

Customer Reviews (6)

Great Read!
I simply could not put this book down! Its amazing. It really allows you to get to know Oswald so well. I found in the book many similarities between myself and Oswald. Oswald Chambers was a beautiful humble and unselfish man. In the back of the book are many of his poems too.

A worthy read, a noble life
After reading Chambers' word daily for the previous three years, I had already been changed by the man's insights into the God's Word and the disciple's walk. As Richard Halverson (former Chaplain of the United States Senate) said of My Utmost for His Highest, "No book except the Bible has influenced my walk with Christ at such deep and maturing levels."

When I began to read what I thought would simply be a pleasantly uplifting and inspiring life story of a man I already admired, I did not imagine how much McCasland's biography would enrich my appreciation of Chambers' words and life. The book is quite well written, and was most certainly enjoyable, but it provided far more enriching rewards. The details of Chambers' life and thinking that McCasland's work painted became a context which greatly deepens the significance of Chambers' writing - especially My Utmost for His Highest. Provided with Chambers' background, upbrinning, struggles, failings, loves, sacrifices, ambitions, convictions, conversations, correspondences and more, his own writing has led me to even deeper appreciation and understanding of the walk of a faithful servant of Christ. I am still astounded that he died at my own age - how could such a young man come to know the Lord and the yoke of service so well in such a short time?! I am grateful that McCasland went on to relate the story of Biddy, Oswald's widow, and her incredible faithfulness to the work that Oswald was unable to continue.

I have already purchased and given away several copies of Abandoned to God, and will continue to recommend and share it. McCasland has done more than simply told the story of a man, he has revealed and shared a noble life with us. In summation, I must say that this book has become my favorite biography, and has probably made more difference in my life than any other I have read. Thank you, David McCasland!

life changing
As a reader of Oswald Chambers work, I was anxious to read more about the man. This book was life-changing, spiritually challenging and inspiring. Although an "easy" read in many respects, it's content was not easy to digest. I found it thought provoking and a time of self-examination. It's difficult to identify any current day lives so devoted not to "what God does, but who God is", as Oswald Chambers refers to early in the book. It's a book one would recommend without hesitancy. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 1874-1917   2. Biography   3. Biography & Autobiography   4. Biography / Autobiography   5. Biography/Autobiography   6. Chambers, Oswald,   7. Christian poetry, English   8. Christianity - History - Protestant   9. Clergy   10. Evangelists   11. Great Britain   12. Inspirational - Protestant   13. Religious   14. Chambers, Oswald   

Customer Reviews (7)

Just like Abuelita.
Finaly I know the secret behind making 'pasteles' and 'sancocho'. Looking through the recipes I was so touched I felt like crying. Perhaps it's silly but food is a huge part of the Puerto Rican culture and there are many foods that take years to learn and perfect, (especially since Abuela didn't believe in measuring anything). A pinch of this, a dash of that. Now I have a strong foundation to build on. It's so wonderful to be able to bring our tradition into my home. This is the most authentic account of Puerto Rican and Nuyorican cooking I have ever read. It's given me a peek at my Grandma's magic in the kitchen and reminds me of home. I strongly recommed this book, no matter what culture you are from. Read, cook, and enjoy!

I can make rice!
This is a fantastic cookbook. I am of English/Irish heritage but my husband is Puerto Rican and I LOVE Puerto Rican food. Puerto Rican family and friends have showed me how to make many dishes but I could never get my rice to come out good. I followed the recipe in this book and perfect! One nice feature is, on several recipes, the author includes 2 or 3 ways to make the same dish based on variations on the recipe within her family. So, there are several ways to try. It also includes how to make a lot of the powdered store bought seasoning (like Adobo) from scratch. I highly recommend this book to ANYONE who loves flavorful food...

Found recipes I thought I'd lost
I'd been looking for a good Puerto Rican cookbook..When I saw "Nuyorican" in the title I was like Alright!..I'm a Nuyorican and it's been years since I'd tasted any of the old recipes - papas rellenas (stuffed potatoes), pernil (roast pork), tostones (fried green platains) just even some of the basic spices used. There aren't alot of puertorican restaurants here, one cuban restaurant that I know of. I picked up the book and just reading about the spices used helped me figure out what I was missing when cooking some of my Mom's recipes.

There are recipes that call for frying, that's true but as the author states, the idea is cook on very high heat and not to cook too much at once - for me having a deep fryer works great for the recipes that call for it.

I've gone through some of the recipes so far and I haven't been disappointed yet. I've either taken them directly as stated adn/or compared them to my recipes to see what I might be missing.

For those looking to make pasteles, this book even has a diagram on how to wrap them up. Just seeing the recipe for pasteles had my eyes lit up. If you think making tamales is a project, try making a pasteles :-)

This book is definitely worth the price and if he makes another edition, I'll buy it :-) ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Cooking   2. Cooking / Wine   3. Regional & Ethnic - Caribbean & West Indian   

Customer Reviews (2)

ridiculous piece of trash
Roffman's book would be an excellent text for a class in faulty logic. He contrives outlandish reasons for NOT believing compelling evidence (e.g., Oswald's fingerprints on the rifle and sniper's nest show that he was the shooter) and then contrives more outlandish reasons to suggest that a timeline of events shows Oswald could not have been at the 6th floor window. In Roffman's world, some conspirator would have had to steal Oswald's rifle from his wife's landlady's garage, fire three bullets, plant the rifle with Oswald's fingerprints on the 6th floor of the Book Depository, plant the three shells in the "sniper's nest," make sure Oswald's palm print was on the cardboard boxes of the nest, plant one of the bullets on Gov. Connally's stretcher, plant another bullet (what was left of it) in the floor of JFK's limousine. And, of course, someone other than Oswald would have had to shoot JFK and Connally with another rifle and then disappear. I found this book at the library. Can't believe people pay money for this stuff.

best book on the subject
book is written in black and whites, no grey areas. It deals with only a few indisputable facts, for example: time line and placement. The book draws no conclusions nor does it make any suppositions. The book is very short and to the point, a must read for any one who has any intrest in the death of J.F.K. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Assassination   2. Kennedy, John F   3. Oswald, Lee Harvey   

Customer Reviews (1)

Leave a legecy for your children by recording your thoughts.
The immortal devotional classic in the original language. Conveniently located section for recording your thoughts and reactions to OC's insight in the margins. Larger than normal print makes reading easier. I leave it open on my desk to get me started each day. Nothing more needs to be said about My Utmost..., the unique thing about this version is the space given for keeping a journal. This is an excellent gift new, but also as a gift to a child or grandchild years from now to catalop your spiritual journey for those that follow. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Devotional   2. Inspirational - Gifts   3. Religion   4. Religion - Prayer & Spirituality   

Customer Reviews (233)

Enlightening and absorbing
As I write this, Amazon contains 42 prior reviews of this book. Most of them were positive, but a few conspiracy-addicts denounced Posner's work as propaganda. I find his work persuasive and well-researched, but of course I cannot prove that every piece of it is accurate.

Nonetheless, please do not take the word of the negative critics who call the book junk. I read this book over a period of four consecutive days, and I literally just finished it, so it's very fresh on my mind. As such, I think many of the critics didn't actually read it. One person charges that Posner spends "most of the book" defending the single-bullet theory. Not so - it takes up part of one chapter. All of Posner's sources are "official"? Not so - many are citizens who knew Oswald or Ruby or who witnessed the assassination. Posner also discredits many "official" sources and he explains issues that the critics say he avoids; for example, he takes great pains to explain why the Parkland doctors misinterpreted JFK's throat wounds.

Don't believe the (negative) hype. "Case Closed" provides a thorough and convincing argument that those with their EYES OPEN will embrace.

A strong argument, but it doesn't "close the case"...
There have been several books published in recent years which argue that the Warren Commission's infamous "lone gunman" theory is correct, and that Lee Harvey Oswald, acting alone, did assassinate President John F. Kennedy. However, "Case Closed" by Gerald Posner is easily the best and most reliable of these "anti-conspiracy" books. Posner offers devastating arguments against many of the "loonier" conspiracy theories - such as that Lyndon Johnson or FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover murdered JFK. He also presents detailed arguments against many of the more "respectable" conspiracy theories, such as that Kennedy was killed by the Mafia or by Anti-Castro zealots who were angry at JFK for "abandoning" them during their CIA-sponsored Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba in 1961. However, I don't believe that Posner has completely "closed the case" on the JFK assassination, and I doubt that anyone will ever solve the case to the complete satisfaction of most people. If you are going to read this book (and I would highly recommend it), then I would also strongly suggest that you read one of the more credible "pro-conspiracy" books for balance, as there are always two sides to every story. In my opinion, the two best "pro-conspiracy" books are Josiah Thompson's "Six Seconds in Dallas", which is respected even by Posner and most defenders of the Warren Commission; and Anthony Summers's "Not In Your Lifetime". This book was originally published in 1980 as "Conspiracy", and it received rave reviews by such prestigious publications as Newsweek, The New York Times, and The Washington Post, and former JFK aides such as Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. praised it. In "Case Closed" Posner made several stinging criticisms of "Conspiracy", so Summers responded by writing a completely revised and updated version in 1998 (with the new title) in which he offered detailed rebuttals to Posner's criticisms, as well as making his own criticisms of Posner's statements. I'm not saying that I fully agree with these "pro-conspiracy" books either - I just believe that if you read them, as well as "Case Closed", then you'll have seen the best and most credible arguments for and against a conspiracy to assassinate President Kennedy. As for my own personal beliefs, some fifteen to twenty years ago I was convinced that there was a conspiracy, but over the years I have come to believe that it is entirely plausible that Oswald could have killed JFK all by himself, and that the "lone gunman" theory is credible. However, I also believe that there are still enough unanswered questions about the assassination that there will always be some legitimate doubt about whether there was another gunman, and that we'll never be able to state with total finality that the murder of JFK is "case closed". Bottom line: Posner's "Case Closed" is a detailed, well-written and persuasive argument for the "lone gunman" theory - but make sure that you get the "other side" of the story and read some credible "pro-conspiracy" books before you make a final decision about whether or not there was a conspiracy to kill John F. Kennedy.

Another Untenable Defense of the Warren Commission
The New York Times Book Review, The Boston Sunday Globe, and the Chicago Tribune have all praised Posner's "Case Closed" as "The most convincing explanation of the assassination" and "Case closed, indeed" With all the praise surrounding the book, the average reader might come to believe that Posner has indeed solved the case. But unfortunately, nothing could be further from the truth. The most that can be said about Posner is that he has destroyed some untrue conspiracy arguments that have been around for too long. But on such issues as the single bullet, the medical evidence, Lee Oswald's role, etc., Posner stumbles and offers strained and doubtful theories.
First of all, Posner's book is extremely arrogant. He often uses the disrespectful term of "conspiracy buff" to designate anyone who disagrees with his opinions. He holds all other views points with great disdain.
Secondly, Case Closed contains many factual errors. Here are just a few of them:

*Pontchartrain is not a river but a lake

*James Tague stood twenty feet east of the triple underpass, not beneath it

*The testing he refers to was done by the Army, not the FBI

*The Warren Commission had no investigators

*Leftists are not the only critics of the Warren Report; there are evangical Christians who reject the single bullet theory and Earl Warren was a die-hard liberal

Unfortunately, the list goes on and on.

Also, all the evidence that Posner presents is taken out of context, corrupted, nonsourced, or is the opposite of what the sources actually say. As with the case of Linnie Mae Randle, who swore the package that Oswald carried was 28 inches long, too short for the package to have carried the rifle. Randle swore that Oswald held the end of the package in his hand and let it almost touch the ground. Posner converts this into "tucked under his armpit, and the other end did not quite touch the ground"
Posner also offers some very bizarre theories about the James Tague wounding. Posner asserts that the first shot hit a branch of a tree and its lead core instantly separated from the metal jacketing and traveled in a straight line from the TSBD to the curb over 400 feet away, somehow landing with enough force to send concrete fragments streaking toward Tague. How is this possible? ... Read more

Subjects:  1. (John Fitzgerald),   2. 1917-1963   3. Assassination   4. Conspiracy & Scandal Investigations   5. Criminology   6. History   7. History - General History   8. History: American   9. Kennedy, John F   10. Oswald, Lee Harvey   11. Political Process - Leadership   12. U.S. History - 1960s   13. United States - 20th Century   14. History / United States / 20th Century   

Customer Reviews (8)

Little to learn from this book
Aside from personally destroying potential evidence in the Oswald case--a note from Oswald in November 1963 that could have shed light on Oswald's frame of mind around the time of the assassination--what does Hosty know to increase our understanding of the JFK assassination? He knows nothing about the real nature of Oswald's activities in New Orleans in 1963--events leading up to the assassination. He knows nothing about the possible role of the USG in the assassination. Forget about Cuba or Russia's role in the assassination events. Could they have switched key frames in the Zapruder film for the use of the Warren Commission? Hoover himself admitted to the FBI's role in this "mistake." Did the Cubans or Russians hide information from the Warren Commission? No, Allen Dulles did so. Did the Cubans or Russians manipulate the writing of the Warren Report? No, Gerald Ford admitted that he changed the language of the report regarding where one of the bullets struck Kennedy (making the report inaccurate but trying to force data into a preconceived notion). Try the books of Dick Russell or Jim Garrison or Gaeton Fonzi instead in order to gain understanding of the events of 1963.

An interesting read
Like I said in the title, it is an interesting read. Hosty deals with the assasination as he perceived it (and it was he who investigated Oswald). He also tries to brush off any conspiracy theories pertaining to the shooting, in particular Stone's "JFK". I must say he does a pretty good job at it, with his claims being solidly motivated. However, I still stubbornly choose to believe in the conspiracy.

A Candid Recounting of JFK Assassination
Hosty's book provides a candid recounting of the tragic events of Nov. 22, 1963. While Hosty acknowledges his own mistakes, he tries to put the president's assassination in proper context and explain what was really happening behind "closed doors." An exciting read, and a must read for buffs. Hosty's candid recounting will surely get under the skin of conspiracy theorists. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. (John Fitzgerald),   2. 1917-1963   3. Assassination   4. General   5. History - General History   6. Kennedy, John F   7. Oswald, Lee Harvey   8. Politics/International Relations   9. U.S. History - 1960s   10. United States - 20th Century/60s   11. Biography & Autobiography / General   

Subjects:  1. Children's Baby - Fiction - General   2. Children: Preschool   3. Concepts - Counting   4. Juvenile Fiction   5. Movie Tie - In   6. Preschool Concepts   7. Juvenile Fiction / Concepts / Counting   

The nameless narrator has revealed snippets of the lovable, lascivious Uncle Oswald's life in other collections, but this is the only novel--brief though it is--dedicated solely to the diaries of "the greatest fornicator of all time." Inspired by stories of the aphrodisiac powers of the Sudanese blister beetle, the palpable seductiveness of the lovely Yasmin Howcomely, and the scientific know-how of Professor A. R. Woresley, Uncle Oswaldanticipates the concept of the Nobel sperm bank by some 40 years,flimflamming crowned heads, great artists, and eccentric geniuses into making "donations."The life of a commercial sperm broker has a few surprises even for a sophisticated bon vivant, and Dahl manages his signature sting-in-the-tail ending even in one of his lightest comic works. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (30)

A delighting, funny, totally weird story
Those who only knew Dahl as a writer of funny short stories and haunting children's books, should look here. This is one of his more lengthy stories, although it doesn't have much more than 200 pages. His witty and capricious style hasn't changed either: this is a book as funny as you'll seldom read them. It's not for the youngest kids though, mainly because of its main subject. For there is just one thing this whole book depends on: sex. Not the kind of it you meet in most books, though: the story is rather a caricature of all sexual values that have ever existed. The story's main person, Oswald Cornelius (who is called 'uncle' because the whole story is quoted from his 'diaries' by a nephew), is, according to Dahl, "the greatest rogue, bounder, connoisseur, bon vivant and fornicator of all time". He seems to get every lady, not regarding age or whatever else, into bed with utmost ease. This gentleman comes across a lot of absolutely ridiculous adventures that are all described in this wicked book.

This story takes place around 1912, when Oswald is barely seventeen. In spite of his young age, he is already a great diplomat and communicator. When he hears about a mysterious African beetle that, when stamped to powder, increases a man's potency highly, he's the first to go on expedition to Africa and get hold of some of these beetles. He accomplishes his mission and gets back to Europe where he sells his 'high-potency pills' at exorbitant prices to noble people from all over the world. But then he realizes there's much more (money) to get. Oswald then develops an ultimately ridiculous plan. Take a look at the cover if you're curious about it, I'd say. Anyway, to execute this plan he needs help. He picks out two people as his sidekicks: a chemist called A.R. Woresley and his schoolmate Yasmin Howcomely, "a girl absolutely soaked in sex" as Dahl describes it. And off they go for their mission...

While Oswald is presented as a great bon vivant in the beginning, I need to say that his person changes during the story. At the start he's an audacious boy who fears nobody and even dares to challenge older ladies, but during the second part of the story Oswald is mainly a witness of Yasmin's actions. He has become a businessman who lets others do the work for him. And as with real businessmen, not everything goes as they had planned it... But in the end any kind of character development doesn't matter all that much, for this novel is just a very humorous story that made me laugh as I'd seldom did before with any book. The undertaken actions, and especially the way Dahl describes these, are incredibly funny. You're really in for a (hopefully positive) shock if you haven't read anything like this before. I can absolutely recommend this book for anyone who likes a very lucid and deliciously weird read.

My favorite book of all-time!
My Uncle Oswald has always been one of the best, funniest, and most-cherished books I have ever read. My sister recommended it to me at the library years ago, and I just recently ordered a copy to have myself, and have read it twice through! It could be read repeatedly and not become tiresome! I have also purchased Ah, Sweet Mystery of Life and Switch Bitch. Boy and Going Solo are next on my list. Roald Dahl has become one of my heroes! I just wish he was still alive and writing!

Everything we would come to expect from Dahl
This is a typical Roald Dahl book, which shows the authors fantasy and imagination at work.

I read somewhere that Dahl was embarassed about this book being published but it is an entertaining read.

The book is quite short, and is a continuation of one of his short stories.

Dahl always gets to the point in his writing, as he does so here with a kind of soft core porno novel. Naturally there is a liberal dosage of black humour from Dahl also.

I would recommend this book, as Dahl is in my opinion a hugely original and exceptional author, the likes of which we will not see again for 100 years. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Fiction   2. Fiction - General   3. General   4. Modern fiction   

Customer Reviews (2)

Understanding God's Kingdom and then staying in it.
This is a magnificent book for understanding God. It takes you further into God's ways of bringing us closer to his heart and learning how to live there forever. It tells of the wonderful power of the Holy Spirit and understanding,what we use to think before reading this book, "unanswered prayers". Beautifully written with heartfelt prayers at the end of each chapter. Great book!

An extrordinary, easy to read, wonderful commentary
"If You Will Ask", by Oswald Chambers, is a wonderful book! In the very first chapter, Mr Chambers explains HOW we should pray. He says,"very evidently, our ideas about prayer and Jesus Christ's [ideas], are not the same. Prayer to Him is not a way to get things from God, but so that we may get to know God. He goes on to say that "our Lord never once referred to unanswered prayer; God always answers prayer, if we pray in the name of Jesus. Furthermore, he writes that it's not so true that {prayer changes Things} as that prayer changes Us and then We change things. We're not to ask God to do what He created us to do. When we pray, Things remain the same, but We begin to be different. He explains that, "the good of praying is that it gets us to know

god and enables God to perform His order through us. Just reading it "lifts you up". It's a wonderful book, what a great feeling to know that every time we pray, we are getting that much closer to God. It is a small book, but it's 95 pages are full of the author's wisdom, and the power of God in his life. It's a wonderful book!!! I recommend it to everyone who wants to know more about prayer. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Christianity   2. Christianity - Christian Life - General   3. Inspirational   4. Inspirational - General   5. Prayer   6. Religion   

Customer Reviews (7)

Excellent read
The book of Hopi is an amazing and beautiful book, revealing the story of this ancient tribe as told by the Hopi elders to John Walters, who spent years to research the traditions and myths of the people living in the dry and hot Southwest.
The book begins with the creation myths and the believes of Hopi for the seven worlds, three past, forth - the present one and three more to come.
It introduces us to their deities, nature spirits and mysterious cachinas - star people who descend to Earth when Hopi need them most. This enchanting story describes their constant migrations in North and South America, petrogliphs and arthefacts they left along their trails, the origin of their rituals and traditions, their connection to the nature and the animal world, the stories of the lost white brother, their cosmology and even their prophesies. Finally the book deals with the present misfortune of the Hopi confined in a small piece of inhospitable and bare land and the problems they have with the neighboring Navajo indians. Book of the hopi has gathered the wisdom of the Ancient America and is an excellent book for people interested in native American traditions.

Very helpful
The descriptions of Hopi religious practice and folklore are beautiful. Read this book before visiting ANY native American community.

Comprehensive and enjoyable
I truly enjoyed my time reading Book of the Hopi. It is low on cutesy Native "folk tales" and packed with actual information about Hopi clans, ritual, and migratory history. It walks you step-by-step through a series of ceremonies in striking detail.

I admit that I found Frank Waters writing style to be clinical at times, but the information he is presenting was interesting enough to overlook this.

By the time you are done with this book, I imagine there is very little you won't know about the Hopi. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Ethnic Studies - Native American Studies   2. Fiction   3. Hopi Indians   4. Native American   5. Sociology   

Customer Reviews (28)

Challenging but Accessible.. with some effort
History ebbs and flows. The illusion that we are somehow at the 'end of history' and that civil organization and values as they now stand are beyond history's broader and deeper currents might be the great popular Myopia of our time. Spengler in this book has applied his voluminous knowledge and interpretive skills to the rise and fall of civilizations. Does the 'West' conform to the definition of a civilization in the age of global communications and entertainment? If so, are its prospects different than those of its predecessors? Schools no longer prepare the mainstream student for learning and argument at this level. Spengler's thesis hinges on the leading intellectual & aesthetic edges of the last 1000 years of our culture as compared to those of civilizations of antiquity, notably the Greco Roman.

There are scholarly contrasts to Spengler's study. William McNeill's 'Rise of the West' provides a direct challenge to many of its conclusions. Gibbon's 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire' or Werner Jaeger's 'Paedeia' (on Greek classical culture) might be good comparative reference books, but these have now been relegated in public familiarity to dusty and esoteric academic departments. Spengler's work, however, falls squarely and uniquely into the realm of a great work of the Deist tradition of Western social philosophy, from which its reputation for skepticism comes. Its apparent mysticism emanates from the deep investigation into the intellectual attitude of the Western mind. There are, of course, other traditions in the 'Western' mix which have broad and predictive implications. This opus should not be misconstrued of as a work of pessimism. Constructive action and faith are, in fact, its basis for the prospect of vigorous and sustained regeneration of the human cause.

This is an exacting study. It requires a critical attitude to penetrate and to see that it has a fundamentally human and hopeful (and debatable) message. Decline of the West does in fact provide drama, grandeur, context and understanding to the sweep of history. It is accessible, though, to the determined general reader and constitutes a significant contribution to 20th Century thought. Those who do not learn from history are bound to repeat it.

"The Decline of the West" is a Guiding Light of Our Time.
Decline of The West is a book squarely beyond the range of typical modern literary critique.
The fact that Dr.Spengler discovered a true existence of a living form in the history- and life-cycles of civilizations has been deliberately ignored by critics. The importance of this discovery for History as a science is on a level of Copernican helio-centric (Sun-at-the-Center) discovery in spatial sciences which inaugurated the modern advance of physical science. Yet it has not brought the official recognition that is its due.
Today, as it was 500 years ago in "The Middle Ages", the ruling spirit of the establishment feels threatened by the new revolutionary discovery and is trying to find ways to live with it without the consequences and implications of Dr.Spengler's discovery presented in this book. The Roman Catholic Church tried to spread ignorance of Copernicus as well, but will its modern-day equivalents be more successful in hiding the discovery?
It is up to the interested reader not to let this crime happen any longer.
Having in mind the huge scope and distance both in Time and Space that Dr.Spengler's book covers, the enormous energy and time spent by him in creating the material presented in this book becomes even more astonishing considering that the book is so deeply involved and touching upon the daily events of the times we live in.
Dr.Spengler in his work definitely belongs to the realm of the modern "TABOO," and precisely uncovers all the important facts and ideas, that our "accepted" intellectuals of the day DARE NOT touch upon, and prefer to avoid and misinterpret and misrepresent Dr.Spengler's thought and observations---for these are all too unnerving to them and too uncomfotably revealing about the character and direction of the times we live in.
Even though the Author has died many years ago, his insight and thought is squarely present in our every day problems, troubles and uncertainties.
Seldom will one find a philosopher, political scientist and a natural scientist-all in one and yet so penetrating in his thought and truly relevant and accurate to the daily life many years after his death.
Despite our civilization's boasting about the hitherto unheard-of levels of progress, creativity and prosperity unimaginable only a few dozen years ago, "Decline of the West" deals with the significance in them. The vision, understanding and practical forecasts of Dr.Spengler's scientific discipline of History encompass all of those and go beyond, at all times maintaining the "eagle's view from above" of life.
The 20th century is known for its false prophets and broken ideologies, yet amid all the storm and dust raised in the conflicts of this century, people have not noticed that all this time there existed a profound voice of calm unshaken in his beliefs and unmistaken, unshakeable in the strength of his experience and position, always proven right by facts beyond his control.
This is Dr.Spengler, and that makes him a lone example of a true scientist of politics.
This revelation then has to tell us something profoundly significant about the nature of our Western civilization's Information Age stage and the direction it is heading in, when a person from a 100 years ago can tell us so much more intimate and relevant things about the politics, science and life of people many years after his death, than the leading historians of the day can.
The average person's inability to tell truth from faleshood in the news goes beyond mere wealth of information phenomenon, and the popular Computer represents the vehicle of the Information Age, nothing more.
Today it is easy to be unaware of the profound and deep metaphysical roots underlying our advanced technical civilization's materialistic developments, yet Dr.Spengler in this work masterfully uncovers them.
That is why this book, Decline of The West is so important, and will help the modern reader understand much better, than through any other immediate means, the true scope, understanding and meaning of the age we live in and of the age our descendants will live in.
It is a true example of the intellectual nihilism of our times when works such as those of Dr.Spengler are deliberately passed by the intellectual elite keenly aware of its inability to deal with the disturbing insights of Dr.Spengler's mind, and consequently of its inability to rise to the rank of Spengler, prefering instead to sometimes select quotations from this great thinker in order to make themselves look bigger and wiser, --thinkers such as Hughes, Fischer and Connelly are among those.
To paraphrase Spengler, nobody can escape from History's all-encompassing reach, we humans only have a luxury of pretending that we can, and like a grotesque Ostrich we bury our heads into the daily mass-circulation media training our minds, making us increasingly less capable of exercising independent thought and judgement.
In the introduction, Spengler quotes his spiritual father, poet-philosopher Goethe with the description of confidence in life:"Inward form of significant life which unaware and unobserved inspires every thought and every action." That this description is no longer adequate for the life of Western Man provides a food for thought, since everything genuine in the way of feeling and thought is left open for unrestrained dissection and criticism by the standard-bearers of the modern intellectual inquisition which stifles any richness in the modes of thought in our universities, and has assumed the role of the judge, prosecutor and the jury in Media's daily virtual courtrooms, alias mass-circulation news. Hence the public truth of the moment holds sway.
The lack of inward form in our daily personal lives should not therefore come as a surprise since we are trained daily to seek programmable inspiration from the external world of the macrocosm, shunning away from our own inbred microcosm and the wealth of inspiration it could have provided us with, had we given it a chance.
At the very least "Decline of The West" enables the interested reader to form his or her own conclusion, which is something that Spengler's past critics could not afford to do.

Interesting contrast with our time
There is no doubt about how Spengler defined the West: In terms of race. Not religion or democracy or capitalism or any other sort of philosophy. On the TV and magazines and such of the 21st century "The West" is variously defined in terms of liberalism, democracy, sexual expression, multi-culturalism, fee-market economics--anything except Spengler's definition.

In the early 1920s, before Hitler was heard from and after WW I, Spengler wrote a little article in which he stated his definition of The West, gave an appraisal of its then current health and gave a prescription for its survival. He said in this article that the German defeat in the Great War (WW I of course) was the first great step in the decline of the West via its subordination to the "colored world". Spengler stated that the SINGLE hope for the survival of the West was "The Prussian spirit, not only in Germany but in other countries as well." He went on to say that the "next war" would determine whether the West lived or died.

It is, looking back, as if Spengler wrote the history of WW II in advance, with the ending he seems to have expected but not wanted, omitted. It is interesting to ask the degree to which Roosevelt, Churchill and Hitler were aware of themselves playing out roles in Spengler's vision, with hopes of saving or destroying the West as Spengler defined it. It is tempting to think so. British and American war policy, the fire-bombing of Dresden as the best bit of evidence, seems specifically bent upon destroying Spengler's West. It seems, on the other hand, that Hitler's extreme rish-taking was driven by a vision that now was the time to save the West, which would be soon destroyed if not now preserved for the years to come. Spengler's race-based view of decline appears to be the rotting away of the "Transendental Aesthetic" to use Kant's term.

The presence of large numbers of non-Europeans in London and Amsterdam today seems to support Spengler's argument in the article I cited, but as an overall theory about the decline of Civilizations Toynbee's "Nemesis of Creativity" (control over creativity being in hands not supportive of the civilization)seems more generally appealing than Spengler's biological model. Perhaps they are both right. Or both wrong. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Civilization   2. History   3. History - General History   4. History: American   5. World - General   

Customer Reviews (1)

This good book needs to be re-issued.
Shortly after the assassination of President John Kennedy, Priscilla McMillan contacted Oswald's widow, Marina, and spent considerable time with her. McMillan had interviewed Lee Oswald when he defected to Russia and had the added advantage of knowledge of Russia and Russians. She used this to persuade Marina to give an account of her life with Oswald. To this day, 2000, nobody has given a better account of Marina's view of their relationship. It is very worthwhile reading. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 1941-   2. Biography   3. Biography/Autobiography   4. Oswald, Lee Harvey   5. Oswald, Marina,   6. United States   7. Assassination   8. Kennedy, John F   9. Oswald, Marina   

Customer Reviews (60)

"Plots carry their own logic" ...
First thing, the larger of the two reviews (I think Publisher's Weekly?) featured by Amazon for this book is very good. Don't expect an explanation of an event disguised as a novel. In Libra, DeLillo is not trying to explain an event in history; he wants to drop us into the lap of that event in all its complexity and nuance. "If we are on the outside, we assume a conspiracy is the perfect working of a scheme. .. A conspiracy is everything that ordinary life is not. It's the inside game, cold, sure, undistracted, forever closed off to us. Or perhaps not." This is the ambiguous world of the Kennedy assasination, the subject of this jewel of a novel. Particularly vivid in these pages is Jack Ruby: explosive and insecure, cruel in one moment, caring the next. And of course, Oswald. We watch Oswald's slow loss of identity. In Libra he disappears from history -- gradually losing touch, direction, hope, meaning. He does not appear to drive himself, nor is he driven by CIA or FBI or other operatives who, try what they will, essentially find him impregnable. Yet, history it what he makes, or finds. It is the Russian character so much involved in Oswald's ersatz defection, Kirilenko, who best seems to understand Oswald as "some kind of Chaplinesque figure, skating along the edges of vast and dangerous events. Unknowing, partly knowing, knowing but not saying, the boy who had a quality of trailing chaos behind him, causing disasters without seeing them happen, making riddles of his life and possibly fools of us all." He is encouraged by an operative not to find a place in history -- "wrong approach Leon" -- but "to get out. Jump out. Find your place and your name on another level." Reading Libra is participating in a waking dream, a graceful juxtaposition of conspiracy and coincidence, coverging at a point in time, at a place in Dallas. Libra is evocative of the whole tragedy, a novel that puts you on edge, not because the outcome is uncertain, but because, at a deep level, one fears to follow DeLillo's exploratory threads. Not a pleasant ride, but a powerful read.

Dark, but still very good writing...
Don DeLillo's novel "Libra" is a novel that focuses on the assassination of President John Fitzgerald Kennedy on the 22nd of November 1963. Rather than telling us completely why he was shot and the complete details of the assassination(which to his credit he does well without giving too many Clancy-esque details)it focuses on the man who's name and face is synonymous with the assassination, the man who allegedly shot the President with 3 bullets from a bolt-axle rifle with a defective aim in less than 6 seconds whilst being a poor shot: Lee Harvey Oswald. His life. the significance of the title being that Lee Harvey Oswald's star sign was Libra.
It starts from Oswald's childhood with the rantings of his bizarre mother and how his childhood was spent in poverty which led him to have left-wing ideals. This was one of the factors that led to his downfall, his ideals. It charts his career in the navy, his association with characters involved in the asassination(like David Ferrie) and his rather strange years in Russia and back to the USA again.
This book hoever does have a few technical inconcistencies(which I can't help but point out as I am quite an anorak on the details of the case). The main one being that the backyard photos were never taken by Oswald but were of a man with the assassination rifle and holding some left-wing literature and Oswald's face superimposed upon it. This has been proved by certain shadow inconsistencies in the photos.
DeLillo does have a gift for writing and his writing style is very poetic. This combined with the historic even of the assassination of a President imposed on some social satire (the satire being the nature and views of the American people in that era and the impact of the assassination in that it deprived the people of a sense of security and of an influencing figure, especially to the youths, to whom JFK was a godfather figure) combnie to make an ever-relevant book which shares the twin badges of being well-written as well as well-regarded.

Delillo's Fourth Best Novel
A fun read, vintage Delillo, loaded with what we've come to expect from an American literary master.

A must read for any Kennedy assassination conspiracy theorist.

Behind (in order) Underworld, Mao II, and White Noise, Libra is Delillo's fourth best novel. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. (John Fitzgerald),   2. 1917-1963   3. Assassination   4. Assassins   5. Fiction   6. Fiction - General   7. General   8. Kennedy, John F   9. Oswald, Lee Harvey   10. Presidents   11. Modern fiction   

Customer Reviews (24)

First of its kind, well written, but doesn't close the door
This is the first of its kind.

The Tippit killing is the most overlooked portion of the Kennedy assasination puzzle and Myers has worked hard to put together what some might see as definitive proof that Lee Oswald killed Tippit.

The problem is, that no one other than Tippit and Oswald, both dead, can explain why Tippit stopped Oswald, if it is was him.

Myers can not explain the source of the Dallas Police dispatchers description of a similar person to Oswald, although Warren Commission supporters will point to Howard Brennan. Without writing a book within this review, it has been proven by Brennan's own testimony that he did not give a description until after the time of Oswald's arrest.

Still, this book brings together a lot of evidence and concentrates solely on the Tippit angle which is refreshing.

I personally think there are too many contradictory facts to make an open and shut case here and I would suggest that any would be reader takes note of Anthony Summers' writing in the editorial review section above.

I would still buy this book despite the above because it is the first of its kind.

Let's Get Real
Dale Myers has an agenda. It's probably fair to say we all do. However, people who reject assasination researchers out of hand, miss a very important point. There are many in that community who carry credentials and pedigrees which far surpass Mr. Myers. They are, for the most part, honest, intelligent, professional and concerned people who simply seek the truth. There certainly are crackpots; and the legitimate researchers deplore them since they damage the value and credibility of their work. A question: Are the crackpots planted to make the rest look foolish? It would be a great tactic wouldn't it? Then you have the discredited Gerald Posner's and Dale Myers of the world. Who subsidizes them?
It's disturbing when someone authors a book and selectively decides the outcome of the research before it is completed. And/or if an author decides to selectively choose only those components of the entire case which support a preconceived conclusion, there is reason to cry foul.
Part of the problem is that many people are NOT serious researchers and lack the background to make critical judgements. In fact, we might not still be hashing over the murder of JFK (and Officer Tippit) if we didn't so quickly buy into the government and media rush to judgement on this issue.
I find it interesting that editorial reviews stated here include a number of Dallas police officers. If you do your homework, you will find that the Dallas police force in November of 1963 was a textbook study in ineptitude. Don't take my word for it, do some reading and research.
The reason I give this book two stars is that it is the first real study of the Tippit killing; and , for that reason, is worth a look. But only if you have some knowledge and understanding of the "facts." For example, the wallets. Oswald left a wallet at the Paine residence the night before the shootings. There are either one or two more Oswald wallets on November 23rd. Sound at all unusual to you?
The route Oswald supposedly took from his rooming house to his encounter with Tippit has been measured with an instrument at 1.1 miles, not .9 miles. A recreational runner, which Oswald wasn't, is clocking decent times if he runs a mile in under eight minutes. If Oswald wasn't wearing running garb and setting a decent pace, the extra two tenths of a mile can be significant.
Myers makes a big deal of the keying of a (the) mike on the police radio band. Fact is, keying mikes was rather routine (especially that day) and NO ONE can trace the keying to Tippit's radio. THAT is a fact that Mr. Myers doesn't mention, as it weakens one of his arguments that sets his timeline.
Consider the following points brought up by a previous reviewer, then be very alert for the spin and imagination Mr Myers employs.

These are just a few of the problems I have found with Dale Myers' book WITH MALICE:
* Myers repeatedly omits important information that contradicts his conclusions.
* On several occasions, Myers buries important contrary information in his endnotes, which he surely knows most readers will not bother to study.
* Myers repeatedly reaches conclusions that are contradicted by his own raw data.
* Some of Myers' speculations and theories are later stated as though they are established facts.
* Myers is noticeably harder on witnesses whose accounts contradict his views than he is on witnesses whose accounts he likes.
* Myers frequently relies on FBI interview summaries, but he never mentions that numerous witnesses complained that those summaries were inaccurate and incomplete.
* Myers fails to mention that many witnesses changed their stories in ways that favored the lone-gunman scenario by the time they testified before the Warren Commission months after giving their initial statements.
* Myers fails to mention that some witnesses, to include a former Marine sergeant and two former Kennedy aides, reported that FBI agents pressured them to change their stories because what they had to say tended to refute or contradict the lone-gunman scenario. Given Myers' frequent reliance on FBI witness statements, the reader would be well served to know this fact.
* Myers fails to inform the reader that everything we know about what Oswald allegedly said during his interrogations comes through the filter of Dallas police officials, postal inspector Holmes, or FBI and Secret Service agents. Incredibly, not one of Oswald's interrogation sessions was recorded or even stenographed.
* Myers either ignores or only superficially deals with several well-known, widely discussed problems with the case against Oswald in the Tippit slaying.
* Myers' timing reconstruction is contradicted by the Sheriff's Department dispatch tapes and by credible eyewitness testimony.
* Myers obscures the fact that eyewitnesses Helen Markham, T. F. Bowley, and Domingo Benavides gave statements that clearly indicate the shooting occurred several minutes BEFORE Myers' time of 1:14:30. This means Oswald simply would not have had enough time to reach the crime scene in the first place.
* Myers relies on the "identifications" of Oswald from the police lineups. But those lineups were markedly unfair. Furthermore, one witness who picked Oswald from a lineup quickly reversed himself and said Oswald was NOT the man he had seen. Another witness who picked Oswald then went on to select a different man from photos shown to him by federal agents. Myers mentions none of this.
* Myers says nothing about the serious questions regarding the authenticity of the Dallas police dispatch tapes and transcripts.

Caveat Emptor!

Informative, thought provoking... and entertaining.
The assassination of JFK has become a world in itself. It is mostly populated by "buffs" and conspiracy theorists of various kinds, that at the end of the day attest to the fact that L.H. Oswald, who did it, was a weirdo endowed with a wicked "talent" of his own, to do evil, since the web of mystery he tried to cast has been consistently injuring his enemies over the years, and has even gained first rate "accessories after the fact", not in a legal sense, but in a moral and political sense.

What I say above is simply the opinion of this reviewer. In DALE K. MYERS masterly book we have a paragon of investigative journalism-history, the conclusions from the facts he unfolds with thorough accuracy and interest for detail and source, are left to the reader. Mr. Myers doesn't conceal anything, in fact he devotes dozens of pages to discuss puzzling issues that could undermine the firmness of the acknoledged facts he makes available in the main chapters.

There is no doubt that this book has been very well researched and the subject honestly handled. The autor offers a considerable number of original documents reproduced. B&W and color photos give an unccanny sense of immediacy. Maps are provided showing the positions of the people involved.

I say that the book is entertaining, although it could look as a not so respectful statement (given its grim subject and the seriousness of purpose felt along the work) because you can read it as a crime mystery, and Myers writing skills are considerable in that deparment, with no need to budge an inch from evidence and reliable sources -or any kind of sources-. I've had a great time reading it and I am sure that any person interested in Oswald's fateful goings-about on 22nd November 1963 will, provided that you don't have prejudices or emotional attachments in these matters.

So that Mr. Myers deserves high praise for his painstaking endevor: this book is the result of twenty years of serious and active research, no less, and this calls for reward and recognition. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. (John Fitzgerald),   2. 1924-1963   3. Assassination   4. Case studies   5. Criminology   6. Dallas   7. History   8. History - General History   9. History: American   10. Kennedy, John F   11. Murder - General   12. Oswald, Lee Harvey   13. Police murders   14. Texas   15. Tippit, J. D.,   16. U.S. History - 1960s   17. United States - 19th Century   18. United States - 20th Century/60s   19. Tippit, J. D   

Customer Reviews (9)

Legendary Works of a Heart Devoted to Christ Himself!
When I first read "My Utmost for His Highest" (also available online on http://www.gospelcom.net/rbc/utmost/), Oswald Chambers' popular and serious devotional, I was mesmerised by the integrity of his words. All his books were based on all his sermons and only exist thanks to his faithful wife Gertrude Hobbs (Biddy, as Oswald calls her), who transcribed all his sermons. Since then, I was looking for more of his work that were published. I stopped looking when I came across "The Complete Works of Oswald Chambers"! A dream come true - all his works in one single volume. This volume comes with a CD-ROM containing an electronic version of the volume plus other additions such as the King James Version Bible and helpful cross-references.

Oswald Chambers was born in Scotland in 1874 and was educated at London's Royal College of Art and the University of Edinburgh. Perhaps it was the fact that he was gifted in the arts, that his decision to move into a preaching ministry that spanned Britain, America and Japan, turned out to be such a legacy for people of today like you and I.

When World War I broke out, he left London to become Chaplain to the Allied troops in Egypt in October 1915. His wife Biddy and their 2½ year old daughter, Kathleen, followed in December 1915. "My Utmost for His Highest" was written primarily in that time of war. Oswald died of complications following an operation to remove his appendix in 1917. The telegram which his wife sent simply read: "Oswald, in His presence."

As J. I. Packer wrote in ChristianityToday.com, Oswald Chambers, like C. S. Lewis "had a brilliant mind, a stout faith, an uncannily empathetic and perceptive imagination, and a masterful way with words. Each was a teacher by instinct and gift. Each was spiritually honest and down-to-earth to an almost frightening degree. Each was well versed in the Western theological heritage, and in Western philosophy, literature, and history. Each adored the Lord Jesus Christ unstintingly as his Savior and Master. And each had a similar approach to the nitty-gritty of living through a war."

Oswald Chambers' works are truly inspirational and soul-piercing. I suggest buying "The Complete Works of Oswald Chambers" not only because of that. Some of his work will NEVER be reprinted ever again! It has been decided that some of the lesser-known individual titles will go out of print including:
- Approved Unto God
- Bringing Sons to Glory
- Daily Thoughts for Disciples
- God's Workmanship
- He Shall Glorify Me
- Highest Good
- Making All Things New
- Not Knowing Where*
- Our Portrait in Genesis*
- Place of Help
- Shade of His Hand
- Shadow of an Agony

(*Published in the UK as "Gems from Genesis")

That makes this volume about the MOST complete works of Oswald Chambers ever, now and for the future!

So buy it. NOW.

Excellent Collection
If you have read Oswald Chambers then you know he was a man that had a keen insight into the heart and mind of God. This definitive collection of his works is a must have. If you haven't read Oswald Chambers then save yourself the trouble of buying book after book and buy his complete works for a very reasonable price.

This man has fangs!
Oswald Chambers is one of this age's greatest Protestant preachers. He has keen insight into the human condition; consequently, his is able to call all our bluffs. His is also one of the greatest Christ-centered preachers ever. These two axes are the reason why this man, though he was an active preacher for only a decade, has such sticking power.

Chambers was an active preacher for only one decade. He died of appendicitis at age in Cairo, due to complications with his appendicitis. Providentially, his wife was a trained stenographer, and she kept copious notes of her husband's sermons and lectures. This book preserves these great sermons for all posterity.

He had a very broad mind. He has studies on the Sermon on the Mount, Ezekiel, Jeremiah, Lamentations, and other topics. This book also has his book "Baffled to Fight Better," his very substantive and piercing study on the book of Job, and, of course, his daily devotional "My Utmost For His Highest." Also included are "Biblical Psychology," "Christina Disciplines," and "The Shadow of an Agony."

To think he did all of this in the short space of ten years. If he had lived, we would place him on the level of A. W. Tozer, C. S. Lewis, and Billy Graham. Even as it is, this book is not merely impressive, but absolutely mind and soul-blowing! Oswald Chambers embarrasses everyone: he did more in ten years than most do in their entire life.

The book itself is textbook size, and is printed on thin scripture paper. The font is contemporary and has an impeccable look to it, so it is easy to read. The text is also in double columns, which for some reason always impresses me with importance, probably because the scriptures and Shakespeare are usually in double column format. This also allows for two more margins to write notes and cross-references.

The CD is the perfect companion, and compensates for the rather skimpy index, and absence of illustrations. Personally, I believe the perfect index could only be a CD ROM-instant access to everything. In addition to containing the text of the book, it also has the e-text and pictures of "Abandoned to God," David McCasland's biography of Chambers. I give many brownie points and many tips of the hat to the compilers for including the King James Version of the Bible on the CD, which can only help your study of Chambers thoughts and insights into Christ. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Christian life   2. Christianity - Christian Life - General   3. Devotional   4. Religion   5. Religion - Christian Living   6. Spiritual life   

Customer Reviews (17)

A fascinating and exhaustive study.
If you are,like me,intrigued with every aspect of the Kennedy assassination,this book will add a mass of information on one of the lesser known aspects.The facts of Oswald's life raise more questions than answers,and little is straight forward.Mr.Mailer,however,has produced a plausible,scholarly though entertaining biography of a man who will forever stand at the centre of the 20th century's greatest mystery.Exhaustive but essential stuff,infused with Norman Mailer's unique voice.

decent book from a decent writer
Mailer is a skilled writer and thanks to him being allowed access to thousands of KGB surveillance files compiled on Lee Oswald he is able to paint an almost human picture of Oswald's time in Russia and one almost forgets the crime he is accused of commiting.

I do believe though that the charting of Oswald's life when he returns to the USA is perhaps tainted by the opinions of people who did not have any respect for him prior to his infamousy and this may be why the book cannot be wholly trusted as a truthful study.

Furthermore, he relies too heavily on the work of Pricilla Johnson, the biographer who had met Oswald in Moscow and became a so-called confidante to Marina Oswald after the assasination, a friendship she exploited to write a best selling story of Marina's time with Oswald.

Clearly, Marina does not know what she believes as over the years her account of life with Oswald has changed as often of as the weather.

Mailer himself does try to keep away from the controversy surrounding Oswald's possible guilt and gives little away as to what his own opinion is in this matter.

For this reason he does redeem the book coming across as a genuine story teller in this regard.

In Mailer's own words the subject remains as great a mystery as it was all those years ago.

Worth buying to read about Oswald's time in Russia.

Lee Harvey, We Hardly Knew Thee
Mailer exorcises Lee Harvey Oswald's ghost in this in-depth journey through the adult life of a man whose very name haunts our memories with confusion and dismay. Oswald, heretofore a seemingly uninteresting fool, is shown to be familiar in many respects and even forgivable in his distorted perception of the world. Along the way, Mailer fills us in on rationally consistent explanations of many interesting facts which have been construed variously by numerous conspiracy theorists. Curiously, Oswald seems more of a tragic character than an evil conspirator. Ironically, what he destroyed seems to be the starry-eyed American dream that was no more real to begin with than his prey's burnished public image.

Blending background from his preceding novel about the CIA, Harlot's Ghost, Mailer spins out a chronology of facts, quotes, and opinions in a gripping, sultry tale which pulls the reader easily through hundreds of pages. The author's comprehension of this vast topic is incredible. To share in such wealth of knowledge is truly a privilege, clarifying this monstrous mystery in uncountable ways. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Biography & Autobiography   2. Criminals & Outlaws   3. Historical - U.S.   4. Mystery & Detective - General   5. SALE BOOKS   6. Sale Adult - Biography / Autobiography&nbs