One of the greatest stories of visionary leadership in history is the one found in Nehemiah. Paul Bates has aggressively tackled the herculean task of bringing the truths of this book into the 21st century. If you read Virtuous Vision with a 'teachable spirit' you will learn much! – Dr. James G. Merritt, President, Southern Baptist Convention (2000-2002) In Virtuous Vision, author Paul Bates teaches that every believer has a vision and a dream. But how can we know our plans from God's plans? And when we know, then what? Paul draws deeply on principles gleaned from one of the most successful dreamers in the Bible—Nehemiah. In the face of ridicule, Nehemiah looked above his role as a servant and took up the call that God had placed upon his life. Paul Bates brings those ideas back to life by rebuilding them into simple, easy-to-follow lessons that will: • Help you confirm your vision • Show you the tools you need to maintain your vision • Give you the inspiration to complete your vision • Reveal warning signs that could endanger your vision Paul doesn't try to help you acquire a vision, but he seeks to reveal that you already have a vision from God. His conversational style offers an insightful, accessible way to take the dreams God has given you and to make them a reality.
Technology + Design leads to breakthrough in large meeting productivity Virtuous Meetings: Technology + Design for High Engagement in Large Groups breaks out of the confines of the meeting room to show the reader what is possible when you need to get large groups of people talking and making decisions together. The book shows that it is possible to achieve effective outcomes in large, important meetings – the kind of meetings that most organizations rely upon for aligning their leaders with strategy or managing change, innovation, and crises. When it matters most what the participants are thinking—even thousands of them at once, who may be in the room, at satellite locations or on laptops at home—this book liberates meeting designers from traditional assumptions and business-as-usual Q&A and discussion tactics with an approach for hearing and working with the contributions of all participants, live. From the Introduction, "Virtuous Meetings is a simple notion—give participants back their voice, and enable them to generate ideas, solutions and understandings that move the whole group, no matter how large, forward together." The book shows how meetings can be virtuous in intent as well as design, and how technology can help in this work. The book shows the reader how to use Virtuous Meeting Cycles, in which all participants' voices are heard, and shared understanding is generated, which in turn is used by participants, as a group, to generate plans and solutions, over which all feel a sense of ownership. As participants and leaders see the value of the outcomes of their interactions, their trust in each other, in the process, and intent to do good increases. With an increase in trust, the engagement becomes fuller and more robust. And so each revolution of the cycle continues... The book shows how to choose, anchor, design, facilitate, and scale virtuous meetings. In each part, the authors speak from the front lines—from experiences with clients and their critically important large meetings. The "View from Inside the Meeting" and Case Story features of the book share important lessons from some of the authors' most memorable engagements. Author Karl Danskin is an authority on psychology and group energetics. Lenny Lind is a pioneer in the field of technology-assisted group process and is a co-author of Facilitator's Guide to Participatory Decision-Making, by Sam Kaner, et al. Together, they draw on the collected experiences of over two decades of consulting to multinational corporations, having supported thousands of top-level client meetings, to share a methodology proven to engage participants like never before. Topics include: A new model for thinking about large meetings: Two levels of participant experience – table group, and whole group Exploring the "meta-conversations" that virtuous meetings enable Introducing the Virtuous Engagement Cycle The heart of virtuous meeting design: The Design Team The critical roles in a virtuous meeting An expanded view of (and platform for) leadership Participant-centered meetings of the future Virtuous Meetings is a comprehensive guide to getting the best out of large, strategically important meetings.
The Politics of Values examines the emergence, climax, and gradual erosion of the symbiotic relationship between the Republican Party and the Evangelicals from 1998 to 2008. It argues that their similar, conservative, social values tied them together in moral, ideological, and partisan ways during the last decade, thus jeopardizing the principle of the separation of church and state and doing irreparable harm to the American political process.
Shanxi Seven Star Praying Mantis Continuous Fist evolved from Chinese Shaolin Boxing styles and includes a comprehensive combination of the essence of Internal and External martial methods that, in turn, make up this unique style. Besides the excellent fitness results of training, there is a unique expression of fighting and self-defense, the practice method is simple, it is rich in content with great value in its research and promotion. From its inception this martial method has been held in high esteem by fans of the martial arts. At present, Chinese traditional martial arts are in need of saving and great effort should be directed toward their promotion. My wish is that this book will serve as a wake up call. Shanxi Seven Star Praying Mantis Continuous Fist is the same as other martial styles, it makes the body strong and healthy while preventing disease and prolonging life. What makes our style special are the unique fighting techniques, thus it has received praise from the martial arts community and is favored by the learned.
Thirty-five years ago Alasdair MacIntyre’s After Virtue established virtue ethics as a major challenger to competing visions of morality, but there is still considerable disagreement concerning which version of virtue ethics provides the best approach. The Supremacy of Love describes and advocates an agape-centered vision of Aristotelian virtue ethics that portrays love as the most important moral virtue, and the goals of love as a partial constituent of every genuine virtue. This structural improvement to Aristotelian virtue ethics—found originally in the ethics of Thomas Aquinas—enables this account to address several controversial topics in contemporary virtue ethics, including why the virtues cannot be used badly, in what sense is there a unity between the virtues, how the virtues benefit the virtuous person, and how virtues provide action guidance. Eric J. Silverman demonstrates how and why a distinctly love-centered approach to virtue ethics should make the view widely attractive in comparison to alternative accounts of virtue ethics, duty based deontological theories, as well as results-based consequentialist views.
