Somers, A. B. (2005). Shaping the balanced scorecard for use in UK social enterprises. Social Enterprise Journal, 1(1), 43-56.

Pages:  14

Selected Quotes:

"The initial assessment of performance measurement tools revealed that those currently being piloted for quality and impact measurement focus on external results rather than internal analysis of the organisation. However, as much of the value created by social enterprises occurs inside, many existing tools overlook this contribution. The study presented in this paper found that the original Balanced Scorecard could be adapted successfully for use with UK social enterprises. The SEBC places social goals at the top of the strategy map, aligns social and economic priorities, and organises activity around the most important driver(s) whilst also ensuring financial sustainability. In the SEBC, social goals are prioritised over financial goals; the financial perspective is amended to refer to financial sustainability, thus creating an indicator for revenue growth, cost reduction, and the costs of advocacy and stakeholder engagement; and the stakeholder perspective is widened. It was found that the SEBC has the potential to communicate performance to internal and external stakeholders and presents an opportunity to build credibility among investors, funders, customers, and stakeholders."

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Gibbon, J., & Affleck, A. (2008). Social enterprise resisting social accounting: reflecting on lived experiences. Social enterprise journal, 4(1), 41-56.

Pages: 16

Selected Quotes:
"The process of getting social enterprises to agree to take up SA took much longer than anticipated. It has been suggested that it is “a good sign” that trustees and managers have a “sceptical curiosity” towards performance improvement methods (Paton, 2003, p. 164). Social enterprises ought not to immediately reject all forms of social impact measurement including frameworks within measurement can be reported, but think about which method is appropriate to their organisation (www.proveandimprove.org). The VtD project offered only SA, and this research supports other work recognising that “embedding new knowledge requires time and space in the
organisation” (Somers, 2005, p. 54). The layered structure of certain social enterprises with a voluntary board, management, employees and volunteers could make it a more difficult to embed SA throughout the organisation. The results from the experiences of VtD participants and JSP would agree with earlier findings that acceptance by senior management and the board was an obstacle (Raynard and Murphy, 2000)"

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Edwards, G. (2010). Mixed-method approaches to social network analysis.

Pages: 30

Selected Quotes: "Social Network Analysis (SNA) has developed as an approach for studying ‘social relations’ rather than ‘individual attributes’ (Burt 1978). The ‘social network’ at the focus of inquiryconsists of a set of actors and a set of relations between them (Wasserman and Faust 1994). Quantitatively-driven SNA generates numerical data on social relations by using quantitative methods like surveys, and maps and measures the structural properties of social networks using sophisticated quantitative techniques (Carrington et al. 2005). Despite the current dominance of this approach, there is also a tradition of qualitatively-driven SNA (see Heath et al. 2009), which builds upon early anthropological network studies (Barnes 1954; Bott 1957; Mitchell 1969) and generates observational, narrative, and visual data on social relations by using ethnography (Trotter 1999), in-depth interviews (Pahl and Spencer 2004), and participatory mapping techniques (Emmel 2008)."

"The strengths of a mixed-method approach were reinforced in Crossley’s (2008b; 2009) other work on the networks of the early Punk scene in Manchester and London, and in Edwards and Crossley’s (2009) examination of the personal network of a militant suffragette. In both these studies, relational data were constructed from historical archives, including suffragette letters and speeches, and secondary sources like published auto-biographies and newspaper accounts. This historical material provided not only relational data for quantitative network analysis about the structure of these networks, but rich, narrative accounts about the meaning of ties over time and the perception of the network from those within it. Using historical letters as a source of data on suffragette networks was seen as particularly useful for example, as letters contained relational data in terms of ‘who was writing to whom’, and writers would further ‘talk their ties’ within the course of letter writing. Also, letters tend to be dated, allowing for an analysis of the evolution of ties over time (Edwards and Crossley 2009)"

"Constructing relational data from historical sources is not an unproblematic exercise, however. In particular, consistent criteria of judgment need to be applied in terms of what ‘counts’ as a tie (e.g. any contact? Proven friendship?), but this can be difficult to sustain across different historical sources which contain varying amounts of information on the quality and content of ties. For example, there are big variations in how social relationships are written about in newspapers, compared with letters, or autobiographies or diaries. The advantage of using historical and archival sources however is that they can be referred back to when considering just what the ties presented in a sociogram mean to various actors involved, even if there are inevitable gaps. The sociograms in this research therefore never ‘stand alone’, but are in constant dialogue with the qualitative sources from which they were constructed in the first place. It is also important to acknowledge that sociograms are representations of the relational data specific to certain types of interactions (in Edwards and Crossley’s case, political activism) and as contained within these surviving sources. They are ‘abstractions’ and models rather than the actual network of interaction (Peay 1980)."

"There are both practical and theoretical arguments for combining quantitative and qualitative approaches to network research which arise out of the review in section two. The practical strand of the argument seems to suggest that different research questions require different methods. In particular, research questions about the structure of social relations require quantitative (sociometric) methods, whereas research questions about the processes that produce networks, the perception and meaning of networks, or change over time, require qualitative methods. In the business literature, Monsted (1995) for example, argues that quantitative methods can enable research of stable, well established network structures, but are not appropriate for looking at the processes by which new network structures emerge (in Monsted’s case this is the process of networking involved in establishing a new business). Monsted suggests therefore that ‘certain methodologies limit the concept [of network] and change its contents to more structural and static characteristics’ (Monsted 1995, 194, my italics). He suggests further that some types of ties, in particular latent, very weak, or emerging ties, are not readily recorded in data matrices but are sometimes the most important ties for bringing about change7 . Monsted argues that quantitative SNA ‘blinds us’ to the more fluid aspects of networks and their potential for transformation (1995, 201)."

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DeVault, M. L. (2006). Introduction: What is institutional ethnography?. SOCIAL PROBLEMS-NEW YORK-, 53(3), 294.

Pages: 5

Selected Quotes: "'Institutional ethnography' is the label that has come to be used for an approach to investigation of the social that focuses on “textually-mediated social organization” (Smith 1990b). Developed and named by Canadian sociologist Dorothy E. Smith (1987) in the early 1980s, institutional ethnography has matured over the past several decades and spread not only internationally in sociology but through a number of other fields such as nursing, education, social work, planning, and so on."

"Institutional ethnographies are built from the examination of work processes and study of how they are coordinated, typically through texts and discourses of various sorts. Work activities are taken as the fundamental grounding of social life, and an institutional ethnography generally takes some particular experience (and associated work processes) as a “point of entry.” The work involved could be part of a paid job; it might fall into the broader field of unpaid or invisible work, as so much of women’s work does; or it might comprise the activities of some “client” group. In any case, there is recognition that institutional ideologies typically acknowledge some kinds of work and not others. Thus, the investigator attends to all of the work that’s done in the setting, and also notes which activities are recognized and accounted institutionally and which are not. Analysis proceeds by way of tracing the social relations people are drawn into through their work (with the term “social relations” taken in its Marxist sense to mean not relationships but connections among work processes). The point is to show how people in one place are aligning their activities with relevances produced elsewhere, in order to illuminate the forces that shape experience at the point of entry. Many institutional ethnographers have adopted a rhetoric of “mapping” to highlight the analytic goal of explication rather than theory building; the analysis is meant to be “usable” in the way that a map can be used to find one’s way."

"In organizational studies textual coordination may be quite focused—relatively easy to see—and institutional ethnographies of organizational work often focus on specific texts such as policy documents (Eastwood 2005; Ng 1995; Stooke 2003), funding proposals and planning documents (Grahame 1998; Turner 2001), the accounting records of bureaucratic workplaces (McCoy 1998; Mykhalovskiy 2001), or the charts and records of professional-client relations in health care, social work, and educational settings (André-Bechely 2005; Parada 2002; Rankin 2001). Life outside of these formal organizational sites—in households and family groupings, for example—is more diffusely and unevenly coordinated through texts and discourses (indeed, the closer alignment of some individuals or households than others with the coordinative logics of other institutions may be a primary mechanism for the reproduction of inequalities)."

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Diani, M. (1997). Social movements and social capital: a network perspective on movement outcomes. Mobilization: An International Quarterly, 2(2), 129-147.

Pages:  19

Selected Quotations:  "By "social capital" I mean ties which, while they do not necessarily imply the presence of collective identity, are however based on sentiments of mutual trust and mutual recognition among actors involved. The broader the range of social capital ties that emerge from a period of sustained mobilization, the greater a social movement's impact is expected to be."

"In other words, social movements do not merely rely upon existing social capital: they also reproduce it, and sometimes create new forms of it (Sirianni and Friedland 1995). We can regard their performance in this regard as an indicator of their social and political impact. This implies that we move our focus away from causality, which we have seen can be properly addressed only at the cost of restricting our investigations to specific movement organizations or protest campaigns, and concentrate instead on the preconditions of success, i.e., on the structural position occupied by movement actors after phases of sustained political and/or cultural challenge."

"On the other hand, movement actors' chances to be influential will also depend on the extent and strength of their linkages to their environment, in particular to political and cultural elites. In this perspective, social movement impact will be higher when the conclusion of a wave of collective action will see a greater integration of movement leaders and activists within elite circles (both nationally and locally), or simply within the associational networks of their societies, than was the case before collective action started. Movement impact will be similarly higher the stronger the ties of movement intellectuals to the social circles (mass media, corporate cultural operators, intelligentsia) where dominant interpretations of reality are generated."

Click here to read "Diani, M. (1997). Social movements and social capital: a network perspective on movement outcomes. Mobilization: An International Quarterly, 2(2), 129-147."
or

Click here to watch "Mario Diani. Logic and Method of Social Network Analysis in Social Movement Research (NetGloW2014)"

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Small Changes in Teaching: The First 5 Minutes of Class (2016) by James M. Lang

Pages:  6

Selected Quotations:  "Another favorite education writer of mine, the cognitive psychologist Daniel Willingham, argues that teachers should focus more on the use of questions. "The material I want students to learn," he writes in his book Why Don’t Students Like School?, "is actually the answer to a question. On its own, the answer is almost never interesting. But if you know the question, the answer may be quite interesting."

"Take advantage of that fact in the opening few minutes of class by asking students to "remind" you of the key points from the last session. Write them on the board — editing as you go and providing feedback to ensure the responses are accurate — to set up the day’s new material. Five minutes of that at the start of every class will prepare students to succeed on the memory retrieval they will need on quizzes and exams throughout the semester."

"Asking students to tell you what they already know (or think they know) has two important benefits. First, it lights up the parts of their brains that connect to your course material, so when they encounter new material, they will process it in a richer knowledge context. Second, it lets you know what preconceptions students have about your course material. That way, your lecture, discussion, or whatever you plan for class that day can specifically deal with and improve upon the knowledge actually in the room, rather than the knowledge you imagine to be in the room."

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Review: Dead Aid (By Dambisa Moyo) By Madeleine Bunting

Pages:  2

Selected Quotations:  "The danger is that this book will get more attention than it deserves. It has become fashionable to attack aid to Africa; an overdose of celebrity lobbying and compassion fatigue have prompted harsh critiques of what exactly aid has achieved in the past 50 years. Not all of the criticism has been unjustified - $300bn of aid has gone to Africa since 1970, yet average incomes across much of the continent have stagnated or fallen. Dead Aid offers a disastrous history of how aid was used as a tool of the cold war.

The problem is that this kind of analysis (much of which is now only of historical relevance) provides ammunition for those who are sceptical of international responsibilities and always keen to keep charity at home. And here they have the perfect protagonist to advance their arguments: an African woman who speaks their language."

Click here to read Review: Dead Aid (By Dambisa Moyo) By Madeleine Bunting

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The Death of International Development (2014) by Jason Hickel

Pages: 4

Selected Quotations:  "This crisis of confidence has become so acute that the development community is scrambling to respond. The Gates Foundation recently spearheaded a process called the Narrative Project with some of the world's biggest NGOs - Oxfam, Save the Children, One, etc. - in a last-ditch attempt to turn the tide of defection. They commissioned research to figure out what people thought about development, and their findings revealed a sea change in public attitudes. People are no longer moved by depictions of the poor as pitiable, voiceless "others" who need to be rescued by heroic white people - a racist narrative that has lost all its former currency; rather, they have come to see poverty as a matter of injustice."

Click here to read The Death of International Development by Jason Hickel

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Drummond, R., & Stoddard, A. (1991). Job satisfaction and work values. Psychological reports, 69(3f), 1116-1118.

Article pages: 3

"Summary. - The purpose of the study was to examine the relationship of work values with job satisfaction. 69 graduate and undergraduate female education majors working in the helping professions were administered the Work Values Scale and the Minnesota Job Satisfaction Scale. Scores on five values scales, measuring instrinsic values, were correlated significantly with scores on job satisfaction. The correlations indicated a negative relationship. Way of Life, Altruism, and Achievement were rated the highest work values by the group."

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Modern Mysticism Brought to Light (2013) by Dave Fiedler

Pages: 46

Selected Quotations:

“Stay away from non-biblical spiritual disciplines or methods of spiritual formation that are rootd in mysticism such as contemplative prayer, centering prayer, and the emerging church movement in which they are promoted.” - Elder Ted Wilson, General Conference President, July 3, 2010.

“The warnings of the word of God regarding the perils surrounding the Christian church belong to us today. As in the days of the apostles men tried by tradition and philosophy to destroy faith in the Scriptures, so today, by the pleasing sentiments of higher criticism, evolution, spiritualism, theosophy, and pantheism, the enemy of righteousness is seeking to lead souls into forbidden paths.” - Acts of the Apostles, 474

“Living Temple contains the alpha of these theories. I knew that the omega would follow in a little while; and I trembled for our people.” - Selected Messages, Book One, 203

“The sentiments in Living Temple  regarding the personality of God have been received even by men who have had a long experience in the truth. When such men consent to eat of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil we are no longer to regard the subject as a matter to be treated with great delicacy. That those whom we thought sound in the faith should have failed to discern the specious, deadly influence of this science of evil, should alarm us as nothing else has alarmed us.” - Battle Creek Letters, 79

“I love Dr. Kellogg. He may be lost. I hope and pray not. If he is lost, let him go with you brethren standing by with your hands on his shoulders trying to save him.” - Sanford P.S. Edwards, Memoirs of SDA Pioneers, 13-14

“Even if someone is off track (as Kellogg and Paulson clearly were), we should do everything possible to save them from the cliff they are stepping off of - and to help others avoid following them like lemmings over the brink.”

“When Kellogg was asked [Where is heaven?] he said, “heaven is where God is, and his temple is here,” and he patted his heart. That, actually, was the whole point of The Living Temple;  the temple was the human body, and that’s where God lived - as well as in roses, meteorites, and dolphins, of course.”

“Ellen White put it this way: “In the Living Temple the assertion is made that God is in the flower, in the leaf, in the sinner. But God does not live in the sinner. The Word declare that He abides only in the hearts of those who love Him and do righteousness. God does not abide in the heart of the sinner; it is the enemy who abides there.” - Sermons and Talks, vol. 1, 343”

“The train of heresies is still chugging along. The cars come from all kinds of religious and spiritualistic traditions. They have all kinds of names, like meditation. It is about mind control - an altered state of consciousness. When taken far enough, it ends up in a supposed sense of “oneness” with God and/or the universe. It is a supernatural experience - but who is the originator of this feeling? Some may believe it is God Himself. But it is, in fact, the god of this world - another spirit.”

“The Lord made our minds to actively think along with His, not to be shifted into neutral. Other spiritual forces, however, delight to find a house swept clean but not filled with the Truth that sets us free. (Matthew 12:43-45; John 8:32)”

Click here to read the booklet Modern Mysticism Brought to Light by Dave Fiedler

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True Revival: The Church's Greatest Need (2010) by Ellen G. White

Pages:  94

Selected Quotations:
"It is not [only] the most talented, not [only] those who hold high positions of trust, or are the most highly educated from a worldly point of view, whom the Lord uses to do His grand and holy work of soulsaving."

"He will, by the use of simple means, bring those who possess property and lands to a belief of the truth, and these will be influenced to become the Lord's helping hand in the advancement of His work. - Letter 62, 1909"

"Wherever the word of God has been faithfully preached, results have followed that attested its divine origin.... The "light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world" illumined the secret chambers of their souls, and the hidden things of darkness were made manifest."

"With every truly converted soul the relation to God an to eternal things will be the great topic of life.... Before the final visitation of God's judgments upon the earth there will be among the people of the Lord such a revival of primitive godliness as has not been witnessed since apostolic times. The Spirit and power of God will be poured out upon His children. At that time many will separate themselves from those churches in which the love of this world has supplanted love for God and His Word."

"The enemy of souls desires to hinder this work; and before the time for such a movement shall come, he will endeavor to prevent it by introducing a counterfeit. In those churches which he can bring under his deceptive power he will make it appear that God's special blessing is poured out; there will be manifest what is thought to be great religious interest. Multitudes will exult that God is working marvelously for them, when the work is that of another spirit. Under a religious guise, Satan will seek to extend his influence over the Christian world."

"Yet none need be deceived. In the light of God's word it is not difficult to determine the nature of these movements. Wherever men neglect the testimony of the Bible, turning away from those plan, soul-testing truths which require self-denial and renunciation of the world, there we may be sure that God's blessing is not bestowed."

"In the truths of His word, God has given to men a revelation of Himself; and to all who accept them they are a shield against the deceptions of Satan. It is a neglect of these truths that has opened the door to the evils which are now becoming so widespread in the religious world."

"It is the world of conversion and sanctification to reconcile men to God by bringing them into accord with the principles of His law. In the beginning, man was created in the image of God. He was in perfect harmony with the nature and law of God' the principles of righteousness were written upon his heart."

"True sanctification is a Bible doctrine."

"And since the law of God is "holy, and just, and good," a transcript of the divine perfection, it follows that a character formed by obedience to that law will be holy."

"The Christian will feel the promptings of sin, but he will maintain a constant warfare against it. Here is where Christ's help is needed."

"The Scriptures plainly show that the work of sanctification is progressive."

"Those who experience the sanctification of the Bible will manifest a spirit of humility."

"The desire for an easy religion that requires no striving, no self-denial, no divorce from the follies of the world, has made the doctrine of faith, and faith only, a popular doctrine, but what saith the world of God? [Read James 2:14-24]."

"The testimony of the word of God is against this ensnaring doctrine of faith without works. It is not faith that claims the favor of Heaven without complying with the conditions upon which mercy is to be granted., it is presumption; for genuine faith has its foundation in the promises and provisions of the Scriptures."

"The Lord would have His people sound in the faith - not ignorant of the great salvation so abundantly provided for them. They are not to look forward, thinking that at some future time a great work is to be done for them; for the work is now complete."

"Christ made an end of sin, bearing its heavy curse in His own body on the tree, and He hath taken away the curse from all those who believe in Him as a personal Saviour."

"We would not enjoy heaven unless qualified for its holy atmosphere by the influence of the Spirit and the righteousness of Christ."

"In order to be candidates for heaven we must meet the requirement of the law: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself" (Luke 10:27)."

"By beholding Jesus we receive a living, expanding principle in the heart, and the Holy Spirit carries on the work, and the believer advances from grace to grace, from strength to strength, from character to character. He conforms to the image of Christ, until in spiritual growth he attains unto the measure of the full stature in Christ Jesus. Thus Christ makes an end of the curse of sin, and sets the believing soul free from its action and effect."

"Reconciliation means every barrier between the soul and God is removed, and that the sinner realizes what the pardoning love o God means."

"Many think they must wait for a special impulse in order that they may come to Christ; but it is necessary only to come in sincerity of purpose, deciding to accept the offers of mercy and grace that have been extended to us."

"No one can believe with the heart unto righteousness, and obtain justification by faith, while continuing the practice of those things which the Word of God forbids, or while neglecting any known duty."

"Genuine faith will be manifested in good works; for good works are the fruits of faith."

"It is by continual surrender of the will, by continual obedience, that the blessing of justification is retained."

"It is an evidence that a man is not justified by faith when his works do not correspond to his profession"

"The faith that does not produce good works does not justify the soul"


Click here to buy True Revival:  The Church's Greatest Need by Ellen G. White

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The Kellogg Imperative: John Harvey Kellogg's Unique Contribution to Healthful Living (2003) by Richard J. B. Willis

Pages:  110

Selected Quotations:

"We can know that Kellogg had an influence on the national Research Council, the National Academy of Sciences, and the ECC reports indirectly at least. Kuzma observes that over the past twenty-nine years more than one hundred and fifty-seven articles in various scientific journals have reported on the Adventist lifestyle which Kellogg did so much to shape ([Kuzma 1989:16]).

" Doctors Frank Lemon, Richard Walden, and P. William Dysinger started the scientific interest in 1958 when they reported that the incidence of heart disease and cancer was significantly lower in Californian Seventh-day Adventists than in Californians of comparable age (ibid). This led to other studies using Seventh-day Adventists either in direct experimentation or as a control group for studies taking place elsewhere."

"The Adventist lifestyle has been acclaimed worldwide. One American scientist commented, " It appears that the best insurance one can take out today is to follow the lifestyle of SDAs' (ibid 17). A Canadian official said, "I've got some advice on how to improve the health of Canadians, and, at the same time, lop billions of dollars off our annual costs. I think we should study the lifestyle of adherents of the Seventh-day Adventist Church and then explore ways and means of persuading the public to emulate the Adventists in at least some ways' (ibid). When the United States Congress examined guidelines for the health of the nation they utilised findings on Adventists, referring to the lifestyle as the 'Adventist advantage' (ibid)."

"World authority on hypertension Dr. Norman M. Kaplan, of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School at Dallas, told Adventist health professionals, 'You as Adventists may have espoused a certain dietary lifestyle on the basis of faith [through the influence of Ellen G. White], in the past; but now you can practice it on the basis of scientific evidence [through the influence of Kellogg and the professionals who have followed him]. Hopefully you will not go back and rejoin the mainstream again, but rather adhere to your health heritage' (Coon 1993;12). Dr. William Herbert Foege, an assistant US Surgeon General, declared, 'You Adventists are now the role model for the rest of the world' (ibid). It might be argued that Kellogg's greatest impact on health promotion is to be found in the lifestyle of approximately twelve million Seventh-day Adventists worldwide and their further influence through the church's community health promotion programmes."

"To quote again from Wilson as to how the reform in health will come about: 'Education for health is not simply an extra discipline similar to other clinical subjects. It is what health and illness are all about within the movement of man towards greatness. The first health educators in society are mothers of families' (Wilson 1975:102). Put more simply, 'Mothers create health or illness in their children by the information, attitudes and life-styles to which they introduce their children' (ibid 34). Eighty-two years before Wilson's statement Kellogg had said the same thing; 'State and national health boards and committees certainly do excellent work for communities and nations; but the real influence which they exercise over the health of individuals is insignificant when compared with that which may be, and indeed is, exercised by the matrons of the various households which make up the villages, cities, and nations' (Kellogg 1893:17). Again put simply, 'All reforms must begin at home to be effective' (ibid 18). Not only the home but the school, 'He [the physician] will follow the children to the schoolroom, and insist upon the training of the body a well as the mind' (ibid iv)."

"Kellogg's record for uninterrupted dictation to his secretary, who had four assistants, was a twenty-hour stretch. He would use the night hours to translate foreign medical books for his own edification or write a book of his own around the clock until it was finished (Powell 1956:57). In a fifty-year period Kellogg established more than thirty companies and publications (ibid 60)."

"Kellogg did not solicit funds for these activities. Apart from generous donations by interested parties, funding came from Sanitarium profits, the money generated by his health food companies, and writing royalties."

"Perhaps remembering the inadequacies of his own training at Trall's Hygieo-Therapeutic College and his subsequent attendance at Bellevue, Kellogg proposed to open a 'Hygienic School'. In the Health Reformer of August 1878, the school was announced as 'not only the first, but the only school  of the sort in America.' It was not to be a medical school but rather a health education school, able to provide the kind of background useful to either health promotion or as a pre-medical course."

"Kellogg's mental philosophy classes must have had some influence as Dr William Sadler, one of Kellogg's students, later became renowned as a Christian counsellor and psychiatrist. The school issued a certificate of study and proficiency which was accepted by any medical college in the United States, allowing entrance to a regular medical course."

"One of his former patients from Battle Creek, the famous aviator Glenn Curtiss, offered Kellogg a property in Miami, worth over a quarter of a million dollars, for one dollar! Remarking that it was being offered too cheaply, Kellogg sealed the deal with a ten dollar bill (GH. 1994:13).... The Miami location became a miniature Battle Creek as Kellogg spent the warmer winter months there."

"Doctors William and Charles Mayo credit their friend Kellogg with the idea for their founding of the now famous Mayo Clinic (Strange 1964:4B)."

"Despite the fact that the institutions referred to were started on Battle Creek lines, they had no direct link with the Sanitarium. The charitable status of Battle Creek as drawn up with the State of Michigan declared in one of its statutes: 'No funds of the institution can be lawfully sent outside the state to build or support other enterprises of any kind' (Kellogg 1912:25).

"The Battle Creek Sanitarium has no branches and is not allied to or affiliated with any other institution in the world."

"Dr Kellogg sought and found in nature many answers to life's ailments. In the simple elements of sunshine, fresh air and exercise he made the weak become strong. In light, heat and water he restored the handicapped to usefulness. For foods, he took grains and cereals, fruits and nuts, finding valuable minerals and vitamins; and to his discoveries added the invention of ways to process these foods to make them attractive to the eye and digestible in the stomach."

"Michael O'Donnell, the editor of the American Journal of Health Promotion, defines health promotion as 'the science and art of helping people change their lifestyle to move toward a state of optimal health. Optimal health is defined as a balance of physical, emotional, social, spiritual and intellectual health' (Nieman 1992:123)."

"Dr Gertrude Brown posed and answered the question, 'What made Battle Creek so famous throughout the world? Its God-given health principles, its facilities for treatment, a staff of devoted workers, and a combination of spiritual and physical interests' (Brown n.d.:90, 91). At its head stood a man totally committed to health promotion - Dr. John Harvey Kellogg. Health promotion was not his work - it was his way of life!"

"Dr Michael Fitzpatrick notes that in the 1960s Dr Rene Dubos contrasted the two traditions in medicine (depicting them as Hygiea and Asclepius known through classical myth). Dubos stated:
'For the worshippers of Hygiea, health is the natural order of things, a positive attribute to which men are entitled if they govern their lives wisely. According to them, the most important function of medicine is to discover and teach the natural laws which will ensure to man a healthy mind in a healthy body.'

On the other hand, Dubos said, stood the followers of Asclepius: 'More sceptical or wiser in the ways of the world', they believe that 'the chief role of the physician is to treat disease, to restore health by correcting any imperfection caused by the accidents of birth or of life' (Fitzpatrick 2001:133). Kellogg's road to Wellville brought both Hygiea and Asclepius together in his visionary Utopia, a task that few others could have accomplished, and set what was to prove an enduring pattern in all that folllowed in healthful living."

Click here to buy The Kellogg Imperative:  John Harvey Kellogg's Unique Contribution to Healthful Living by Richard J. B. Willis

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Caution urged over editing DNA in wildlife (intentionally or not) (04 August 2015) by Heidi Ledford

Pages:  3

This article in the journal Nature summarizes a set of recent articles in the journal Science which explain the scientific advances achieved in "gene drive." Scientists at the University of Carlifornia, San Diego published an article sharing how they used a gene-editing technique (CRISPR) to "insert a mutation into fruit flies that would be passed on to almost all of their offspring."

Some scientists are excited about this development as they see a potential to "render mosquitoes unable to carry malaria parasites or to wipe out harmful invasive species." Others are concerned that this technique "could also have unanticipated environmental costs and might be impossible to reverse."  Some at the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) in Arlington, Virginia have security concerns about this technique.

Click here to read Caution urged over editing DNA in wildlife (intentionally or not) by Heidi Ledford

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Guba, E. G., & Lincoln, Y. S. (1994). Competing paradigms in qualitative research. Handbook of qualitative research, 2(163-194).

Article pages: 13
In this article, Guba and Lincoln outline the differences between four alternative paradigms in qualitative research. These are positivism, post-positivism, critical theory (and related paradigms, and constructivism.

The articles suggests that there are important differences between these four paradigms which impact the practical approach one conducts research. The basis of the differences boil down to three questions.

1. Ontological question. What is the fundamental nature and form of reality/what can be known? 
2. Epistemological question. What is the relationship between the researcher, the researched, and what of the researched can be investigated?
3. Methodological question. How does a researcher investigate the researched?

Positivism was the dominating paradigm for about 400 years. However, the article indicates that once major challenges were presented in regards to positivism, the post-positivism in now the reining paradigm. Critical theory and constructivism are gaining legitimacy and acceptance.

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Last Day Events: Facing Earth's Final Crisis (2002) by Ellen G. White

Book's pages: 306

This is a compilation of excerpts from various of Ellen G. White's books. The compilation seeks to provide a "one-stop shop" to get a comprehensive quotes of Ellen G. White's views of the greatest challenges currently facing our planet. This book can serve as a reference for one who would like to identify books for further readings on Ellen G. White's views. At the end of each quotation, the compilers provide the original book from which the excerpt was taken.

Some of the key takeaways from this book include:

1. Natural and human-made disasters will increase. While we hope to see a more peaceful planet, in Ellen G. White's view peace is unattainable. National contentions will continue. This view seems consistent with the current challenges we see even between the continued chilling relationship between the United States and Russia especially after the Ukraine encounter. Also, the World Economic Forum and other research bodies foresee future conflicts popping up from seemingly simple things like water and land resources. 
2. Religious liberty/rights will be subverted. One would assume this would be a result of the new atheism movement. However, White indicates religious rights of minorities will be impinged by other religious groups. 
3. Life in the cities will increasingly become unbearable that some will leave the cities for their safety. This point is sobering considering that the majority of the planet's population lives in megacities. For example, Tokyo has a population of above 35 million.

Click here to read Last Day Events: Facing Earth's Final Crisis (2002) by Ellen G. White

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Interviewing as Qualitative Research: A Guide for Researchers in Education and the Social Sciences (2013) by Irving Seidman

Book's pages: 194

I think this an excellent book for anyone exploring interviewing as a method for social science research. Seidman synthesized the full process of interviewing within the research process in a relatively easy read. Please note this book focuses on in-depth phenomenological interviewing. In other words, the book focuses on interviewing as a method to research the experience of individuals. Regardless of that focus, I think this is a good book to cover various issues around interviewing (even for ethnographic, case study, or grounded theory research). A key benefit of this book is that Seidman synthesizes key references for the various issues an interviewer needs to consider. These include ethical, data collection, gender, or racial considerations. In short, Seidman introduces the reader to the three interview series through which a research conducts three separate interviews of the same participant. Each interview is 90 minutes. The first interview covers the life history of the participant. The second concentrates on the current details of the participant's experience. The third interview covers the meaning of the experiences to the participants. Seidman recommends taking 2 to 3 weeks to interview each individual; the three interviews should be spaced between 3 days to a week apart.

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3AngelsLCI, Global Community Development and the 1 Million Page Challenge

I grew up in a society which lacked a strong reading culture. However, in my quest to become an extraordinary Adventist, a responsible global citizen, a seasoned business consultant, impactful social entrepreneur, and an effective global leader, I became convinced of the importance of a robust reading habit. I came across the following quote by Dr. Pipim: "Those who read are those who lead. But those who write challenge the leaders to do right."

In 2011, I challenged myself to read one million pages or 2,500 books in 10 years. I desire to use the nuggets I gain through this challenge to make the best of my life and to become a committed and loving Adventist, husband, friend, employee, and global leader.

This readathon has now become a 3AngelsLCI initiative for extensive information collection to gather nuggets that are likely to be useful in global community development. The initiative was initially scheduled to start in 2011 and end in 2020. It now has been relaunched in 2015 to align it with the VISION 2025 timeline. Click here to read about 3AngelsLCI's VISION 2025.

Feel free to tweet or email me (see top right) with any books you recommend for my readathon.

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The Choice: A Fable of Free Trade and Protectionism 3rd Edition (2007) by Russell Roberts

Book's pages:  132

This is a easy and short read for anyone interested in understanding the basic operations, assumptions and even impacts of Capitalism. The author effectively uses a hypothetical example to show the different economic aspects and concepts of Capitalism.

A careful reading can help the reader also identify what I consider the limitations and even dangers of capitalistic thinking and prioritization. I recommend this book for anyone who feels economics is too complicated to understand. You may be amazed how well you many understand capitalism and its economic assumption after reading this book. For example, you will understand the principles advocated for international taxation from a capitalistic worldview.

Click here to buy a book of the The Choice:  A Fable of Free Trade and Protectionism 3rd Edition (2007) by Russell Roberts 

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The Called... The Chosen: God Has Always Had a People (2006) by Ken McFarland

Book's pages:  160

McFarland traces the origin of the Advent Movement. He differentiates between the many called groups and the select group which become chosen to finish the work. This book is targeted at Seventh-day Adventists to clarify their identity and indicate their cause of their existence. The author aims to identify the reasons why Adventists have a special work and continue to have a relevant calling which they have been chosen to fulfill in the 21st Century.

The foreword was written by Elder Ted Wilson, the current President of the General Conference of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

Click here to read for FREE the book The Called... The Chosen: God Has Always Had a People (2006) by Ken McFarland

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Face to Face With the Real Gospel (2008) by Dennis E. Priebe

Book pages:  89;

The following quotation from the book is probably a good summary of what the author hopes to impress in the reader: "We can actually have a sinless character in a sinful nature." This short book advocates what Pastor Priebe terms the "The Real Gospel." He endeavors to differentiate between two streams of beliefs which he argues leads to very different conclusions about the gospel. The definition of sin, he believes, influences the whole stream of one's gospel.

The book advocates that sin is not by nature but it is by choice. From this foundation, he leads the reader from this point to show how opposing views develop depending if a person agrees or disagrees with this premise of "choice." He argues that this foundation determines whether one would believe in infant baptism or not, whether Jesus had a sinful nature or not, whether one believes that individuals can be perfect or not in this lifetime, etc. 

The author insists that there are four different types of perfection that one needs to keep in mind. 

1. Absolute perfection. The author indicates that only God himself has absolute perfection. To support this, he quotes Ellen G. White who wrote, "Angelic perfection failed in heaven [Lucifer and the fallen angels]. Human perfection failed in Eden [Adam and Eve]." (Our High Calling, p. 45). Human decision has no control on this type of perfection because it only exists in God.
2. Nature perfection. According to the author, this was the nature Adam had but he lost it after eating the fruit in the Garden of Eden. This nature will be restored at the Second Coming of Jesus. Here also, human decision has no control. Pastor Priebe states that, in order to be our example, Jesus Christ adopted an imperfect nature but he maintained a perfect surrender and a perfect character (see below). According to the author, Jesus Christ gave up omnipresence, omnipotence, and omniscience. Although it is unclear in the book, it appears that the author may thereby conclude that, Jesus Christ gave up absolute perfection which he had possessed  before he became a human being.
3. Character surrender. An individual is able to make a choice to allow this to happen. At the point of conversion, our character surrender is accounted perfect by God. A person has to continually practice this surrender to maintain it at the level of perfection.
4. Character maturity. Humans have the ability to make choices that bring about this character perfection. The author believes character perfection can happen in this lifetime.

The author believes an individual is able to experience the last two types of perfection in this lifetime. Our choices in surrendering to the power of Jesus Christ are key in doing so. 

Click here to buy a copy of the book Face to Face With the Real Gospel (2008) or click here to buy the DVD series based on this book by Dennis E. Priebe

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