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Books: Bookselling Being Destroyed by Bookselling???


The link below is to an interesting article on the battle over ebooks in the USA particularly – an interesting article.

For more visit:
http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/barry-eisler-on-amazon-it’s-pretty-hard-to-see-how-someone-could-destroy-bookselling-by-selling-tons-of-books_b48474

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Changing the World: December 9 – Time Capsule


Today’s suggestion is a very interesting one and is all about preserving memories of our current culture by burying a time capsule. The time capsule is of course buried and dug up at some point in the future by another generation (or more) into the future.

What a great idea and I would suggest a good one for a family to do. Perhaps it could be an extension of a family history project.

For more information visit:

http://www.naa.gov.au/services/family-historians/looking-after/time-capsules.aspx 

A response to reading ‘365 Ways to Change the World,’ by Michael Norton

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Changing the World: November 14 – Become an Entrepreneur


Today’s suggestion for changing the world is not quite what I expected – become an entrepreneur. Hmmm, interesting. I doubt I have the sticking power, finances and a plethora of other requirements necessary to pull this one off!

Ahhh – the suggestion is for becoming a social entrepreneur. Still have the same problem in putting this one into effect none-the-less.

Interested in anything like this? Have a look at:

www.ashoka.org

www.socialventures.com.au

www.pioneersofchange.net

Well worth a thought – and if you have an idea for effecting social change in the world, one of the above sites may be able to help you.

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Changing the World: November 12 – Compiling a Directory


Today’s suggestion for changing the world was to create a directory of local community events/groups. This suggestion is something that intrigues me a little. Why? Well, it would be interesting to know just how many groups are operating in and around Tea Gardens in New South Wales, Australia.

I can think of quite a number just off the top of my head – so a directory for Tea Gardens would be quite large. It is certainly something I could do – but it could be quite time consuming to do properly. One never knows, I may do this in the future at some point.

But not today.

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The History of the English Baptists – Update


from the Reformation to the Beginning of the Reign of King George I, by Thomas Crosby

Preface_Image001 As noted in a previous post, I have been reading ‘The History of the English Baptists from the Reformation to the Beginning of the Reign of King George I,’ by Thomas Crosby. I have also been adding this work to my website (a link to this book appears at the end of this post).

I have now completed reading and adding the preface, table of contents and part of the first chapter.

The preface covers the period from the early church through to the first Baptists in England, tracing the origins of the Baptists and disproving their rise to that of the Anabaptists at Munster and the disaster that occurred in that city as a result of the Anabaptist rebellion.

Though a lengthy preface, it briefly touches on such as the Albigenses, the Waldenses, Wickcliff, Donatists, etc. Crosby goes back through history, from the reformation to the first century finding evidence of Baptistic beliefs and practices. It is a very interesting study, even though it is brief. Another interesting aspect of this study is the evidence for early Baptistic existence, even in the writings of Paedobaptist authors and the evidence against the early practice of infant-baptism in the early church.

To read the preface and further, please follow the link below:

http://particularbaptist.com/library/Crossby-Thomas_Vol1_HistoryEnglishBaptists_contents.html

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BOOK REVIEW: The Noticer, by Andy Andrews


The first book I will be reviewing for Thomas Nelson is called ‘The Noticer,’ by New York Times bestselling author Andy Andrews. It is actually an ebook that I have.

The hardcopy book is available at Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0785229213/thomasnelsoni-20

There is an online web site associated with the book called ‘The Noticer Project’ at:

http://www.thenoticerproject.com/

I haven’t started to read the book yet, but will be doing so today. Certainly the web site looks interesting. The site encourages visitors to think of 1 to 5 people who have played an important role in their lives. You then post a message sharing your thoughts about these people on the site and an email is also sent to those people. The message is meant to be an inspiration and encouragement to others who visit the site.

A quote from the site will perhaps help:

"The Noticer Project is a worldwide movement to "notice" the five most influential people in your life! Noticing those five people can be as private (just a letter or email) or as public (posting to your Facebook page or joining The Noticer Project Facebook group) as you choose, but the movement is meant to encourage us to step outside our busy schedules and avoid waiting until a wedding, graduation or even a funeral to take notice of the special, influential people in our lives. By noticing those who have made a difference for you, you not only acknowledge their contribution, but you may gain a new perspective on your own journey. If you are noticed, you are encouraged to continue the movement by ‘noticing’ five people in your life!"

There is also a Facebook Group that can be joined and ‘The Noticer’ can be followed on Twitter.

The web site has a number of suggestions as to how you can ‘notice’ that important person in your life, be it from writing a private letter, making a donation to a charity in the name of that person, etc.

The site encourages you to notice a person before a birthday or funeral.

Overall, I quite like the concept of noticing others. It certainly has you thinking in a more ‘other-centred’ manner and encourages you to not be so ‘self-centred.’ I wouldn’t try and blend what is a secular concept into a Christian one, but the project does warrant comparisons with many Christian virtues.

Visit the web site by clicking on the banner below:

Noticer_Banner2_728x90

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THE STORY OF THE ENGLISH BAPTISTS: John C. Carlile


I have recently posted on the particularbaptist.com library site ‘The Story of the English Baptists,’ by John C. Carlile. The book can be found at the following link:

http://particularbaptist.com/library/englishbaptists_john-carlile.html

I own the 1905 edition which was printed as a hardcover by James Clarke & Co. in London, England. My copy is quite aged and is in quite poor condition. The version I have placed online is of course in pristine condition and will undoubtedly stay that way.

There are a number of illustrations and photographs in the book – all of which can be found in the online version.

The book provides something of an introduction to both the General and Particular Baptists, and as such is probably a useful book in that it whets the appetite to research deeper into the history of Baptists in England – which in my case is especially true of the Particular Baptists (of whom I am one).

There are some very interesting and useful chapters in the book, though the treatments of some of the ‘big’ names in Particular Baptist history are quite brief – as I say, something of an introduction. Perhaps an overview may be a better way to describe the book.

I don’t think everyone will necessarily agree with all of the conclusions and statements made by the author of the book. For example, there is something definitely hinky about his comments regarding possible unification of General and Particular Baptists. I’m not sure that he really grasps the significance of the differences between the two camps.

Out of 5 I’d probably give the book a generous 3. I think the book has merit, but is yet disappointing.