Life not death

Recently I read a nice book description about "Christianity Beyond Belief" which is specifically addressed to the American Christians, but the trend, to reduce the faith in a system of truths, only to be true, but not lived, are here also:

You've prayed the sinners prayer's. You know that if you died tonight, you'll go to heaven. But Todd hunter believes that Christianity is a life, not merely a secure death. Which means that eternal life ... begins on earth as soon as we become followers of Jesus.

Originally written by Kerstin Hack on Thursday, February 12, 2009 @ 14:38

Books 2008 - My Top 10

Of the 33 books I have read 2008, I found the best:

Business Books + + Coaching Education (8) 13
R. Kiyosaki: Rich Dad, Poor Dad
V. Steiner: Energy Competence
M. Rosenberg: Nonviolent Communication
K-D. Gene, p. Paztor: I hear what you do not say CD

Inspirations and spiritual books
R. Bell: Velvet Elvis
E. Peterson: A long obedience ...
R. Bell: Sex.God


Stories / novels / biographies
Amos Oz: Love and Shadows
B. Obama: Dreams from My Father
W. P. Young: The Shack

I can - depending on what you are interested, highly recommend these books. If you want to order click on the Amazon link on the right page, I get a little commission ... not much, but I can finance a white coffee from time to time.

For 2009 I made a resolution, that I will read one of my old (or borrowed from others) books, for every new book that I buy, because I have a whole series of good, unread books here.

Originally written by Kerstin Hack on Thursday, January 15 2009 @ 12:35

Solace in suffering

Last weekend I read 'THE Shack", an allegorical story on the topic" Why does God allow suffering? " The book touched me - even where, as it represents God's nature. I can recommend it!

Originally written by Kerstin Hack on Tuesday, November 25, 2008@ 09:23

Afghanistan

I am pretty tired. I have got sore muscles and therefore I have not slept so well. This morning I finished reading the book "A thousand splendid sun" - a very moving book about two women`s fates in Afghanistan. The author Khaled Hossein interweaves masterfully personal destinies and the tragic history of Afghanistan.
When I was in Afghanistan in 2003, I was moved by the unbroken courage of the Afghans, despite of all the blows of fate, wars, drought and hunger to start again. The people I met there were strong and courageous and have not lost the smile in the eyes - not even the old man, who has been locked with dozens of other people in a container by the Taliban - without water and food. As days later someone could open the container, he was the only survivor. Now, he is rebuilding his village and supports returning refugee families. I will never forget his warm, loving eyes that showed his gratitude for the restoration of the ancient, destroyed Karazees [channels] during the war, which supplied his village with water. [An aid organization helped the villagers in the reconstruction by giving them materials and devices].
I can not forget Afghanistan and its people. I am currently working together with Shelter Now, an organization that is doing fantastic work there for decades. We are trying to establish a fundraising campaign. My idea: many people still have old DM or pfennigs at home, which they cannot use any more. By collecting and changing this money, new planting of fruit trees could be financed for example. Millions of trees withered in the drought years or have been chopped by the Taliban. We just think of the organizational details of the action - we are going to do it in any case.


Originally written by Kerstin Hack on Saturday, 9th August @ 11:05

The way to the best

A few years ago I read the book "Good to Great". The author describes the way companies have gone, which have developed from good companies with good yields to a great company with outstanding earnings. Although the companies described with sometimes tens of thousands of employees in the size significantly differ from Down to Earth, the book inspired me.
Especially the idea that success doesn´t happen suddenly has touched me. Success is the result of a process of continuous improvement and change. The author compared this with a flywheel, which gets more momentum by every change.
After reading that, I decided to go on the "long march", steadily, step by step through improvements in work: Better communication, home layout, distribution, etc. Many of the measures were good and right, but didn´t have an impact on the operating profit (sales figures, etc.) immediately.
Yesterday I received figures from July: It was financially one of the ten best months in the history of Down to Earth. The best: There were better months, but these were all "exceptions": High sales figures at conferences, through special promotions. July, however, was almost without extraordinary events (only a few new books). A good result in a relatively normal months indicates that the long process of continuous improvement seems to bear fruit.

Originally written by Kerstin Hack on Thursday, 7th August 2008 @ 09:29 0 Comments