I taught this book to a class of thirty on saturday mornings and we were riveted by its depth. So often books fall into the shallow "how to" trap. This book moves way beyond the popular craze of "The Prayer of Jabez", to challenge the believer to stretch their prayers to reflect the mind of Christ. Rather than praying about what we want, Carson shows us Paul's New Testament Prayers and leads us to ask for what God wants in our lives. You will be glad you studied this book.

This is quite simply one of the best Christian books I have ever read, short of the Bible itself, and is one of the books I find that I keep coming back to time and time again, for new insight and for its continuing challenge and reminder to think about the way I pray.

In this book, Carson systematically works through all of Paul's prayers in the New Testament. For each one, he presents a careful exegesis - working carefully through the passage and explaining its meaning. He then goes on to show Paul's priorities in his prayer - which are inevitably caught up with Paul's focus on trusting God intimately and on his other-person centredness. Finally, for each prayer, Carson presents some background theology on surrounding issues and shows how this relates to our lives today.

In addition, Carson is extremely practical in the way he provides practical advice and pointers for the way we should be praying. He gives useful advice on what and how we should be praying, based on the passages he works through, but also on how to manage a daily prayer time.

If you are a Christian, you should definitely read this book, particularly if you are keen to think more about the way you should be praying or if you are looking for pointers on how to pray in a Biblical way. If you are not a Christian, this book will still give you a useful insight into what Christians are doing when they pray and why they do it. And you never know - you might even find it challenging and realise that there is something in this Christianity 'thing' after all...

This book is biblical, theological and passionate!! Dr. Carson analyzes the Paul's prayer and traces its cause. So the reader can learn the way Paul prays. The author does not stop here. He explores the applications for christians.

It is so nice that we have a book, written on a very solid Biblical foundation, provides a intelliectual way so that people can learn how to pray according to God's will.

Forget about all that Autobiography stuff, and definitely try to forget all the recent stuff this chick's been writing. Anne Carson is at her best in the first section of this book, "The Glass Essay."

What makes this book worth it is the very first essay in the collection, The Glass Essay, a work that is written in verse and that is tinged with the kind of mix of immagination and scholarship that has made Carson's work so popular. By far, however, this is one of her best works. Certainly better than the journeys she has made into poetry exclusively recently. Read this essay before any of her other work and you will have an excellent primer for this evocative writer!

This book contains one traditional essay, a fascinating study of language and gender (classical Greece to Freud), and five poems which blur the line between essay and poetry. The net result is the exploration of very complex thoughts in a very readable form - a form that hides the complexity behind very concrete, common life images.

In "The Glass Essay" grief over a lost relationship, the relationship between the Bronte sisters, the relationship between mother-daughter, and the writings of Emily Bronte are explored in a seamless manner.

"The Truth About God" is a search for the meaning of God in our era. The opening stanza sets the tone for the exploration: "My religion makes no sense / and does not help me / therefore I pursue it." It draws from Beethoven's life, from Teresa of Avila, from the apophatic theology ...

"TV men" mixes Greek heroes and Gods with filming - meet Hector and Socrates in a new environment. "The Fall of Rome: A Traveller's Guide" explores personal relationships (or lack thereof) when language becomes a barrier not a bridge. "Book of Isaiah" explores the mindset behind the Biblical text of Isaiah.

The strength of this book is that the vast knowledge behind the writing is made accessible to the reader rather than being required of the reader. This is a book that makes the reader want to read more of the author's work.

If Philanthropy is about building a better life for everyone in the world community, i.e. seeing ourselves as citizens of the planet; then, Opening Doors: Pathways to Diverse Donors, is a useful guide for thoughtful fundraisers. This book is a well-researched, well-documented look at different cultural perspectives on giving...how to include and empower those ethnic groups who are living the American Dream and want to give back in ways that are culturally meaningful to them. Bravo to Diana Newman for taking a broader view of community and studying in-depth what have heretofore been invisible groups of resourceful, caring people.

As Emmet Carson points out in the introduction to Opening Doors, "successful fund development occurs from effectively carrying out and communicating the organization's mission" and to succeed the "heretofore largely taboo" issues of culture and race must be dealt with appropriately and sensitively. Ms. Newman provides a panoramic view of what these issues are and provides practical, step by step advice in how to deal with them.

Diana Newman provides a overview of the problems faced by community philanthropic agencies and provides detailed strategies on how to deal with them. Newman has extensive experience herself in these areas and has invited other contributors to provide detailed insights based on their experience. The book discusses cultural groupings that really matter in philanthropic fund raising and these are subtly and importantly different than groupings used by the US Census. There is an extraordinary level of detail and statistics that are brought to bear on this topic. This is book that anyone who is managing a community philanthropic organization should read and should consult as a reference.

Opening Doors by Diana Newman not only provides excellent background and statistics on diverse donors, but many concrete suggestions and examples of "how tos" which are already proving to be extremely helpful as our foundation develops its outreach to attract more diverse donors.

Okay, this has got to be every bored suburban housewife's ultimate fantasy--hot young hunk falls inexpiicably in love with the most ordinary woman in the neighborhood! She's not particularly witty or charming or confident. She's never been anywhaere or done anything--so aside from a mother figure, what does sexy YOUNG Ian want with her? She likes to bake and sew and play bridge; she wants a man who'll curl up and watch Masterpiece Theater with her--wow! Sounds like Saturday nite at the retirement home! Toss in a bag of Depends and you have one sexy package. Her tastes in music, pastimes (honeymoon bridge, for crying out loud!), manner of speaking and attitudes all add up to OLD. I found myself wondering if she was 48 or 68! The author gives Samantha attributes that never come through in her character; she describes her as being high-spirited and humorous, but we the readers never SEE it. Ms. Goudge contradicts herself in many places. She says Samantha felt unlovedby her late husband, who made her feel like she was the only person in the world. Huh? Her sister can't imagine this earth mother sewing curtains. Huh? Samantha and Ian are supposed to be in love, she's insulted when other sugest it's ony about the sex--yet that's all they ever do when they're together. They spend less than one-fourth of the story together, and all he wnats to do is have sex with this gal who doens't seem to know which end is up in this regard, but they're madly in love. Huh? And ona final note...Ms. Goudge, an artist WOULD know the difference between peach and pink!!!

Eileen Goudge never disappoints her readers. She delivers well-written, engrossing books about characters you come to feel are friends. STRANGER IN PARADISE offers all this and something more--an inside look at small-town California life--which is very different from life in L.A. or San Francisco. I especially enjoyed the bee keeping nuns and the descriptions of the lush countryside. Thanks, Eileen, for another great read. Can't wait until the next book in this series.

After becoming a devoted fan of Eileen Goudge with her first novel Garden of Lies. I could not wait to get started with her latest. Stranger in Paradise was a joy to read from beginning to end. I cannot wait for the 2nd book in this trilogy to come out. She took me to a place called Carson Springs and into the lives of Samantha Kiley and her two daughters. On the day of her daughter Alice's marriage to Wes, none are aware how much each of their lives will be changed by this event. Widowed for 2 years Sam finds love where she least expects and upsets both the community where she lives and the relationship she has with both her daughters. This leads them all down the path to growth and understanding. This story has it all. From family conflict, love and mysetry it grips from the beginning to the end in hopes that it all will come together and the end is no disappointment.

A solid evangelical treatment, but content is a bit too tough to chew for the undergraduate classroom. In my teaching experience, it's tough to sell undergraduates on the importance of studying issues of "special introduction," which receives heavy emphasis in this book. Undergraduates expect to focus on Bible content instead. (Also, this is the most poorly edited book--in terms of format--that I've EVER seen!)

I have found this an indispensable work. Its conservative / evangelical framework gives great glory to the unity and message of the New Testament. Discussions of authorship, canonisation, audience etc etc are generally clear and readable by the lay Christian (though admittedly dry - it is not a novel by no means). Highly recommended as an antidote to much of the liberal concepts so common today.

If you like to know the views of Biblical scholars on Authorship, Style, Date, Location, Occasion, etc. for each New Testament book, this book goes into great detail on these subjects!

This book was written by three well respected "conservative/evangelical" scholars, and they not only give their views, but they give the more liberal views as well.

They also give some great references to which books are the best on the market today for study of each NT book.

This is defintly "Seminary" material, but written in understandable English.

I highly recommend this book for any student of the Bible!

Eric

The first two parts of this book were inspiring. Dr. Carson started out by illustrating the "Big Picture" with stories from his work. In the second part he went on to talk about the importance of things like parenting, setting goals, etc. I found the last part not at all interesting. In it Dr. Carson talked about his ideas on how to overcome different social issues. This portion was atypical of his normal writing style and I found it neither captivating nor especially thought provoking.

I read Dr. Carson's first two books and thought they were really good. But then I read The Big Picture and it was really great. I am a firm believer in the Bible but have a hard time seeing that BIG PICTURE. Ben Carson did a wonderful job in conveying what the Big Picture is suppose to look like for those of us who have a hard time seeing it. Reading the book is one thing - doing what is says in there is another. After reading this book, my thinking has changed and my life with it. If anybody is questioning their life in any way, this book is a must.

Dr. Ben Carson is not just a gifted surgeon. He is a healer who thinks about the spiritual dimensions of human life as well as the physical ones. In this book, he distills his experiences into a compendium of anecdotes, thoughts, and guidelines which spell out "The Big Picture" of human existence. Carson is not afraid to take controversial positions based on his deep Christian beliefs. Even readers who disagree with him, though, will come away profoundly moved by Carson's thoughts. Simply put, this is a book everyone should read. No one who reads it will come away unmoved.

I use to tell people that unless one speaks a foreign language and has read other Koine Greek material besides the New Testament, they shouldn't offer an opinion on Bible translations.
Far too many people who speak un poco Spanish and work from an Interlinear weigh in on this subject.
After reading this book, I am going to tell people that unless they have done expository preaching in a foreign language they shouldn't weigh in on this subject. DA Carson has (I haven't but I'll finish this review)
There is an irony in this book, open it in the middle and you will find a very good survey of grammatical gender across languages. Yet in the end, Prof. Carson focuses in on the real key.
It comes down to modern English and not Greek. The question is, "Do millions of English speakers when they hear the word 'he' understand it to mean 'he, not she'?
The answer is yes.

This book offers
a truly insightful discussion of translation
a survey of grammatical gender
discussion of many verses
discussion of gender in modern English
a willingness to speak the truth

bravo Dr. Carson, molto bene

This book is excellant but in places a bit lengthy. It approaches the subject without emotional rationalism and addresses the real issues that have been missed in the current verbal and written debate. Few have responded to Dr. Carson's carefully thought through points.

The book does need to be updated and the author needs to speak out publicly.

Don Carson's book on the use of inclusive language is sane and balanced. It is pleasing that he has been prepared to show some of those in his theological neck of the woods where their understanding of translation issues could be improved.

The book is at times rather technical, but even in those challenging sections, there is much to gain, if you can plough through Carson's sometimes less than user-friendly writing style. You will also find Mark Strauss' book "Distorting Scripture" well worth reading.

(Both books also deal with the issue of dynamic equivalent versus literal translations in an engaging and helpful fashion.)

Carson's introduction about the passions aroused by new Bible translations is entertaining. I liked the quote from Bruce Metzger: "Though in previous centuries Bible translators were sometimes burned, today happily it is only a copy of the translation which meets such a fate."

A highlight is Carson's account of his bilingual childhood, and his discovery of the peculiarities inherent in a particular Bible version, when he tried to preach a sermon in French, having prepared it with an English Bible, and vice versa.

I also enjoyed Carson's sometimes cheeky ways of showing that our language has changed.

It would be helpful if Strauss and Carson could update their books to evaluate the TNIV and other versions completed since their books appeared in 1998.

I have only one complaint to make about this book. All the examples Carson Graves uses to illustrate the nine zones appear in black and white photographs. What I would really like to see in order to previsualize the various zones as I see them, which is in color, would be a side by side comparison of the same photos in black and white, in color. Is a light blue sky zone III? What zone is a light yellow leaf? A dark yellow leaf? A simplified pantone chart translating the various color tonalities into the various zones would be very helpful. Otherwise, the book is a marvelous learning tool. If any of you reading this know of such a book, please let me know.

In general I agree with all previous comments about the simplicity in explanation of such a hard topic as zone system. However, I write this review hoping that author or editors, or whoever responsible for one mistake, or typo will review their book before publishing (or maybe I didn't understand something and shouldn't accuse people of such a thing). Anyway here it is. On page 35 there is sketch of a photograph that explains how photographer may previzualize exposure by reading lightmeter and putting its results in zone 4 and 6. Zone 4 indicated by F5.6 at 1/125 and zone 6 indicated by F11 at 1/250. For the matter of better understanding we can assume that F5.6 at 1/125=F11 at 1/30. So now we have zone 4 represented by F11 at 1/30 and zone 6 represented by F11 at 1/250 clearly one stop too much. It is wrong because according to the book each following zone has one stop difference with its adjacent zone. I sincerely hope it was just typo, otherwise excellent book.

I have been taking Black and Whites for about a year now, and every chapter I read my pictures improve. While the Zone system can be presented as hard core math, Grave uses Black and White images to define the Zones and help you think in grey scale. His book is extremely practical and is based on using the light meter in the camera. This means that you are not forced to buy extra equipment such as spot meter or hand held meters unless you want them for convience. The book really is good in making you think about the black and white print that will be produced. The proper exposure give you or your developer maximum latitiude in making prints. As well great effects can be made by adjusting your preceptions an adjusting the camera to capture what you precieve. The part on developing looks good also. There are film test and exposure test to determine if your camera is fuctioning normally or if needs work. If you are not getting good results then I suggest using these test to determine if your camera is functioing correctly the test seem unnecessary if you are getting good results. The Pictoral examples in this book are great. The text is about seeing a picture in your mind and then telling you how to create it on film for priinting. This book will greatly improve your black and white skills if you are a beginner without creating a great deal of confusion. Some of the lessons translate well to color photos. And there is a chapter onthe zone system for color.

Well written and easy to understand narrative to understanding the easy to learn but hard to master game of Hold-em. Thanks to the author's explanations, I'm able to see the game alot more clearly. Recommend the book highly to any beginner or as a good brush up to any Thursday night gamer.

I have read "Hold'em Poker for Advanced Players", "The Theory of Poker", "Winner's Guide to Hold'em Poker", and "Ken Warren Teaches Texas Hold'em" in addition to this book. After reading all those, I was consistantly making profit, and placing in the top 4 or 5 in tournaments. After reading this one on a flim (because of another review here, actually), I won my first tournament.

He teaches you how to think in Hold'em poker. The other books touch on that subject, especially "Ken Warren Teaches...", but its just not done in a way I was able to "get". I learn from books, not from being taught in a classroom, and this book is icredible in my opinion. At one point the author recommends reading some of the other books, but says you should finish his first: He couldn't have said it any better.

I highly recommend this book for anybody who wants to learn how to play Texas Hold'em. To put in perspective, he only lightly touches no limit/pot limit games, or tournaments for that matter (although more than some of the other books), but yet the tournament I won was a no-limit. I think that speaks volumes!

I purchased this book when it was published and have read it several times. I have many other books in my poker library but this one has done the most to turn my game around. Carson gives another side of how to look at Holdem' poker. He doesn't give hard and fast rules to follow, instead he trys to get you to think. There is so much here to think about, I still go back to individual chapters and re-read them. When I run into trouble, or have the time to study poker, instead of play it that is. This book will pay for itself many times over.

The main character in this story is Private Ellgae Williams. It is set in an Army Post. Private Ellgae Williams is a shy but determined young man. He is very dedicated to the army and his assigned work. Even when not on duty the private likes to hang around the post. The antagonists in this story are Captain Penderton and his wife. Captain Penderton is a very hostile man. He comes off as a strong man, but in reality he is very weak. He is a coward in many ways, he never stood up for himself especially to his wife. Mrs. Penderton isn't a modest person at all. She is the strong person in the family and takes advantage of that in every way. She is the kind of person that runs around on her spouse and doesn't even think twice about it. Carson McCullers used flashbacks in this book as well as metaphors. She portrayed real problems that happen in real life. McCullers did a very good job on this piece of work. The way she described the characters, I could picture each one, vividly. McCullers did a very good job at proving that the world was not only all about the "American Dream" and the people's goals toward that, but also the ones that rebelled and were not afraid to do the unusual. If you like books with twists and turns from the usual plots then you will enjoy this book as much as I did.

Carson McCullers (a woman, by the way, despite another reviewer's assumption to the contrary) wrote much fiction involving the nature of love. She was never quite as romantic as that may sound: McCullers was one of the masters of the Southern Gothic genre, and Reflections in a Golden Eye is her best work. Her characters are stark and clear, her style crisp, and the action visible. While this is an easy novel to read in some senses, it is more of a prose poem in a novel form. The story deals with two couples on a drab and dull Army base and a young private's animalistic "awakening." His awakening coincides with those of the Captain and the Major's frail yet strong-willed, and bordering-on-insane, wife (whom McCullers seems to identify with most). McCullers dips in the consciousnesses of the five major characters and the result is chillingly beautiful. It's a shame this, McCuller's second novel and most unique of all her works, is out of print.

One would expect a 20-something year old in 1940s southern USA to be all prim and nice, with no knowledge of such things as deep emotional trauma and burning homosexual desires. Well Carson McCullers defied conventional wisdom and not only was aware of such matters but deftly encapsulated it in a short, brutal novel. Reflections in a Golden Eye is a painful examination of the wrecked lives of two couples (, and other characters, ) on a military base in the South. There is little in the way of action or story per se, but it is her examination of characters which makes this novel such a winner.

This novel is not for everyone. It is rather depressing, with everyone leading neurotic lives. No happy endings, and one has to wonder if there is moral to the story. But those who can tolerate looking at the world without wearing rose-colored glasses will appreciate this masterful work.

PS - the novel is MUCH better than the film. And I enjoyed it better than her other famous novel The Heart is a Lonely Hunter.