GREEN BEANS & ICE CREAM―The Remarkable Power Of Positive Reinforcement

Wednesday, April 10, 2013


GREEN BEANS & ICE CREAM
The Remarkable Power Of Positive Reinforcement
By Bill Sims Jr.

OVERVIEW: Green Beans & Ice Cream is the culmination of nearly thirty years work in the area of positive reinforcement and employee motivation/behavior change at large and small North American firms. This book will teach you how to pinpoint the behaviors you want from others and positively reinforce them immediately when you see them. That means deciding what you want people to do. Then focusing on the behaviors that drive the results you need.  Green Beans & Ice Cream will help you find specific things to reinforce positively every day in the actions of people whom you live and work.

AUTHOR: Bill Sims, Jr., is president of The Bill Sims Company, Inc. For nearly 30 years, Bill has created behavior-based recognition programs that have helped large and small firms to deliver positive reinforcement to inspire better performance from employees and increase bottom line profits. Bill has delivered his "Green Beans & Ice Cream" leadership workshop and keynote speeches in Europe, the Middle East, most of the USA, Australia and many parts of Africa.

MY REVIEW: Joe Rea who is Operations Manager at Pacific Aluminum in Gladstone, Australia said, "This is a must read if you're serious about achieving sustainable behavior change with your team." And I agree.

"Human behavior has been a subject of discussion since man emerged from the dust." Understanding behavior presents a big challenge. But the rewards are tremendous if we can just do it. I spent fifty years working in full-time ministry with the church. I was trying to change behavior. Many people assume that culture is what it is, and can never be changed. At best, they will say that culture change requires a long time. Bill Sims, Jr. believes culture can be changed and that it doesn't take a long time. He give many examples to prove his point. He says that all we have to do to change culture is to change behavior. And that is what this book is about―changing behavior. If you are a parent, husband, wife, teacher, boss, supervisor, professor, cop, or anything else in life, what you often want from the people around you is behavior change. Read this book. It will help!

(I received this book for free from The Cadence Group for this review.)

REASONS FOR BELIEF― Easy-to-Understand Answers to 10 Essential Questions

Wednesday, April 03, 2013



REASONS FOR BELIEF
Easy-to-Understand Answers to 10 Essential Questions
By Norman L. Geisler and Patty Tunnicliffe

OVERVIEW: Trusted theologian and bestselling author Norman Geisler teams up with teacher'speaker Patty Tunnicliffe to provide concrete, step-by-step reasons for why Christians believe what they do. Organized around the most basic questions of faith, Reasons for Belief offers clear evidence for the existence of God, the reliability of the Bible, Jesus' resurrection, and more.

Do you know what you believe...and why? Regardless of your age or experience, if you're looking for clear, easy-to-understand answers to the questions: 1. How can you know God exists? 2. Why should you trust the Bible? 3. How can you be sure Jesus is the Son of God? and others, this is  the book for you.

AUTHORS: Norman L. Geisler (PhD, Loyola University of Chicago) is distinguished professor of Apologetics and Theology at Veritas Evangelical Seminary in Murrieta, California. He is the author of some 80 books, including the Baker Encyclopedia of Christian Apologetics. He and his wife live in Charlotte, North Carolina. Patty Tunnicliffe (MA, Southern Evangelical Seminary) is a former public school teacher, Bible teacher, and conference speaker. She and her husband make their home in Santa Barbara, California.

MY REVIEW: "Whether you're a curious skeptic or a believer wanting to learn how to defend your faith, Reasons for Belief will give you the answers you're looking for."

During a ministry covering fifty years I acquired a huge library. Many of those books helped me answer the question, "Why are you a Christian." Not every Christian has access to such a library. This small book will be of great benefit to those wanting answers to the basic questions surrounding one's faith. Many times we are challenged with statements like, "God does not exist," "Miracles don't happen," "The New testament's many errors make it unreliable," "Jesus did not rise from the dead," "Christianity is too narrow. There are many ways to God besides Jesus," and others.

I agree with Paige Patterson from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, who said, "Reasons for Belief is vintage Geisler―crisp, correct, concise, and courageous. Written for the Christian who needs answers, not encyclopedias."

( I received this book for free from Bethany House Publishers for this review.)

ALTAR EGO―BECOMING WHO GOD SAYS YOU ARE

Tuesday, April 02, 2013


ALTAR EGO―Becoming Who God Says You Are 
By Craig Groeschel

OVERVIEW:
Altar Ego will help you discover how to trade in your broken ego and unleash your altar ego to become a living sacrifice. It will help you know your true identity for the first time. You will grow in Christlike character, be bold in your behavior, in your prayers, in your obedience. Alter Ego reveals who God says you are, and then calls you to live up to it.

AUTHOR: Craig Groeschel
is the founding and senior pastor of LifeChurch.tv, a pacesetting multicampus church and creators of the popular and free YouVersion Bible App. He is the author of several books, including Soul Detox, Weird, The Christian Atheist, and It. Craig, his wife, Amy, and their six children live in Edmond, Oklahoma.

MY REVIEW:
We are not very far into this year, but I have the feeling Altar Ego may be one of the most helpful books I read and reviewed this year. Helpful, not just for me, but for everybody who reads it. It reminded me in a forceful way that my true identity is found in Christ, not in what others think of me.

I like what author and pastor Kyle Idleman said, "Most of us would like to change a few things about our lives, but Craig Groeschel helps us understand that we can't have a new life until we have a new identity in Christ. Once we let Jesus tell us who we are, it changes what we do."

These words from the back of the book sum up my feelings about Altar Ego: "Instead of living with an ego that is outward-driven and based on other people's approval, discover how to live with your altar ego―the truth of who you are in Christ. His masterpiece. Created perfectly  in his image to do what he planned in advance for you to do."

(I received this book for free from BookSneeze for this review.)