Book Cover: Will The World End in 2012

I recently got a copy of the book Will The World End In 2012? by Dr. Raymon Hundley. Will the world really end on December 21, 2012? The book analyzes the circumstances and theories behind the predictions by studying the claims of scientists, theologians, technologists, and others. Dr. Hundley listed the arguments circulating right now regarding the coming doomsday.

1. The Mayan Factor – Mayan prophesies of the end of this age come from the abrupt ending of the Maya Long Count Calendar.

2. Solar storms – Scientists are saying that a massive solar storm will hit earth in 2012.

3. CERN and Large Hadron Collider – The experiments at the Large Hadron Collider in Geneva could bore hole through planet Earth and destroy it.

4. Nostradamus predictions – Who isn’t familiar of Nostradamus? Followers of the prophet say that the world will end on December 21, 2012.

5. Reversal of North and South magnetic poles – The solar flares could cause the reversal of the North and South magnetic poles, causing chaos.

6. Earth Collides with Planet X – There are beliefs that our planet will collide with another planet in 2012.

7. Alignment of Earth with other bodies – There are beliefs that the alignment of the Earth with other galactic bodies such as the sun and planets could produce huge gravitational influences on Earth and could knock it off its axis.

8. Super Volcano eruption – Will a super volcano eruption happen next year that could cause Earth to heat up?

9. Web Bot Project – A study affirmed that futuristic trends through internet communications indicate major cataclysmic event in 2012.

10. Religion predictions – Is your religion one of those that think the date of the holocaust will come soon?

If any of these would happen, are you ready? Get a copy of the book and read what Dr. Hundley suggests you should do.

Check out the book with 60% discount: Will the World End in 2012?: A Christian Guide to the Question Everyone’s Asking.

Plan B book by Pete Wilson

What do you do when your dreams are shattered? What do you do when your life isn’t turning out the way you thought? What do you do when you have to turn to Plan B? These are questions author Pete Wilson asked and tried to answer in his book “Plan B.”

I love the honesty of Pete Wilson and how that translates to his writing. The sections of the book relate to his personal experiences being a lead pastor of Cross Point Church. His thoughts will help readers come to grips with the truth about life’s realities and hardships. He makes people understand that in the midst of crisis, there is hope, that God has a purpose in every circumstance.

Here are my favorite quotes from the book:

- When people ask me how they can know God’s will for their lives, I will tell them the best first step is to know God. Beyond that I really don’t have any steps.

- God’s power generally gets released when somebody trusts him enough to obey him.

- God does his best work in hopeless situations.

- When you respond in your current circumstances as if you were confident that God is there, you will see God in the circumstances.

- If you don’t remember God’s faithfulness, you’re going to have a hard time trusting him when you are up against the wall.

- You need to know the cross is not just the starting line. It’s the very centerpiece of your story with God. It’s the place where the pain of “you will have trouble” meets the triumph of “I have defeated the world.”

- Instead of an answer, God offers us something better. He offers us a solution. He offers us the cross.

The Plan B book is offered with 32% discount on Amazon: Plan B: What Do You Do When God Doesn’t Show Up the Way You Thought He Would?.

Book Cover: The Craft of Scientific Presentations

1. Giving the wrong speech
This has something to do with not orienting yourself on the various fields of expertise your audience is into. Before any presentation, make a quick background information of the attendees. This way, you will have at least a general idea of whom you are talking to.

2. Drawing words from the wrong well
Do not be overwhelmed by the outstanding results you have. Remember, you have to communicate what you have and know to your audience. If the listening participants are able to grasp the points you want to convey, then you are on the right track. To accomplish this, make sure you do not read from your slides. Be spontaneous with your talk.

3. Leaving your audience at the dock
This means that you left your passengers at the dock. As the captain of the ship, ensure that everyone is on board and ready to head for a journey to the sea. Get your audience oriented on what you are trying to present — let them see where you are heading to. Have a clear transition between slides and your thoughts. Leaving the audience wandering somewhere is a big mistake.

4. Losing the audience at sea
When you have brought them all to the sea, don’t let them fall off the ship. This situation could easily happen when you take everything in detail (with all the technicalities). Bear in mind the disparities in expertise inside the room. Do not drown them with details. Tell them only what they need. Get the momentum going through a smooth flow of ideas and warning them if you are about to end.

5. Presenting a slide no one reads
I am guilty of this. This is like serving pork steak to a vegetarian. Leave out the absurd ideas and focus on the essentials. Serve the audience a buffet of slides following the proper format — observing the number of lines in a slide, the font size, and the images that must be in it. For the buffet to be sumptuous, get the color combination correct. Dark texts to a dark background is a big no-no!

6. Presenting a slide no one remembers
Make your slides count and last. Make the audience own it. It is more of quality than quantity.

7. Not taking Murphy’s Law into the scene
Murphy’s Law has to be taken into account. What goes wrong, could go wrong. Prepare before the presentation by coming in early.

8. Not preparing enough
This is related to no. 7. Prepare for the consequences to happen. Memorize what is needed to be memorized. You do not want to suddenly become blank in the middle of your presentation.

9. Not paying attention
Pay attention and be sensitive to your audience and their responses. Do not try to avoid the issues that may arise along the way.

10. Losing composure
Very normal to experience this if you are not used to giving presentation. However, you can overcome this through days of practice and preparation.

These are the major critical errors that must be avoided in a scientific presentation. If you have some other ideas to share, leave me some comments below.

Will you wallow in your own worldly desires or step into a journey of God-filled life? This is what “The Vertical Self” tries to tell the readers. There is a horizontal self that people usually give importance to. This is the selfish side of man. And there is a vertical self too, the holy side that people often neglect.

I highly recommend the book. It is easy to read. It also confronts us of the reality of our identity.

You can check out the discounted “The Vertical Self” by Mark Sayers at Amazon store: The Vertical Self: How Biblical Faith Can Help Us Discover Who We Are in An Age of Self Obsession.

There is the story of Father Mychal Judge, the chaplain for the New York Fire City Department who was killed inside the tower after giving last rites to a fireman. In his pocket was a prayer he had composed and would often hand out:

Lord, take me where you want me to go;
Let me meet who you want me to meet;
Tell me what you want me to say, and keep me out of your way.

Where is America’s politics going? Will there be an end game to war and conflict in the near future? Read the “Century Turns New Fears, New Hopes” for answers.

Buy the book with 34% discount from Amazon Store: A Century Turns: New Fears, New Hopes–America 1988 to 2008