Well, I suppose you heard about the webinar a few days ago that was hosted and produced by my good friends at the Center for Parent and Youth Understanding (CPYU.)  Derek Melleby is their specialist researching and speaking on the College Transition Initiative (CTI) and he interviewed me mostly about summer reading ideas, tossing me softballs and giving me a chance to swing as hard as I wanted.  I don’t know if I batted 1000, but a few really took off.  Or course, it was easy.  He asked, “Tell us about why you and Beth started Hearts & Minds” and “Tell us why reading is important in Christian discipleship.”  He joked and prodded, trying to keep me moving, as he and I then together walked through a list of 10 categories, naming and describing over 50 books.  In just over an hour.

Those that signed up saw the covers pop up (and a few photo-shopped pictures; like the one of me with the cast of “30 Rock”, in case you wondered —  ha!) We zipped through titles and subtitles, quoted a couple of endorsing blurbs, sharing why I thought each book looks good and useful.  We invited folks to pick a few from a couple different categories and enjoy good reading this summer.

It was tricky, though, as I knew that the main audience was their mostly evangelical followers of pastors, youth workers, and parents but that it also would include a number of folks we didn’t know, and a handful of publishing world types, authors and scholars.  I knew some were pretty sophisticated, but also suspected some were newbies to intentional Christian reading.  So I put together a pretty diverse list.
 
Wanna watch our book review infomercial?  I never say “operators are standing by” but, well, we are.  Everything I mentioned is on sale here at the shop for 20% off.  Order in the next 24 minutes and we’ll send a month’s supply of… oh,  never mind.

For those that want the publisher and price, the actual list is below the show.  A link to our secure order form page at the Hearts & Minds website is just below that.

MEMOIRS & BIOGRAPHY
The Little Way of Ruthie Leming: A Southern Girl, A Small Town, and the Secret of a Good Life  Rod Dreher (Grand Central) $25.99  Have tissues handy; one of the great books of the year, as Dreher moves to a small town to be with his dying sister, and discovers a new pace of life and value-system among his new neighbors.

Sober Mercies: How Love Caught Up With a Christian Drunk  Heather Kopp (Jericho Books) $19.99 Incredibly interesting, really, really well-written. A window into the life of addiction and recovery, and the search for grace.  I could hardly put it down  — very highly recommended.

To Stir a Movement: Life, Justice, and Major League Baseball Jeremy Affeldt (Beacon Hill) $21.99  Classic Christian sports biography with a twist.  The guy leverages his fame and fortune on behalf of the oppressed, fighting sexual trafficking and working to end hunger.

7 Men and the Secret of Their Greatness Eric Metaxas (Nelson) $24.95  We need men of nobility and courage and sacrifice. The skilled and enjoyable storyteller Metaxas nails it in this collection of biographies of truly great men.  Very well done. (I hope you saw the hilarious, provocative discussion about this book between John Wilson of Books & Culture and his friend Eric Metaxas. Whewie! did the sparks fly!)

C.S. Lewis: A Life  Alister McGrath (Tyndale) $24.99  Do we really need a new Lewis bio?  Yes. Yes, we do.  McGrath is a genius and brings some new information. A great first bio (except maybe Lewis’ own Surprised by Joy) and certainly a must for any true fans.
 
Free Fall to Fly: A Breath-taking Journey Toward a Life of Meaning  Rebekah Lyon (Tyndale) $19.99  I admire Rebekah for her candor about her anxiety attacks and her struggle as a woman to discern her own call. A moving story of her move to New York with her husband Gabe and her young children and the lessons learned along the way.
 
SPIRITUAL FORMATION
Reordered Love Reordered Lives: Learning the Deep Meaning of Happiness David Naugle (Eerdmans) $18.00  I’ve raved about this repeatedly, a wonderful, wonderfully rich study of the deepest disorders of our desires and how to love the right stuff in the right way.  This invites us to profound change from the inside out.

Living into Focus: What Matters in an Age of Distraction Arthur Boers (Baker) $20.00  Hard  to explain, but this is about practices — focal practices of  daily embodiment — and  how these clarifying habits help us experience God, day by day.  Brilliant.

Noticing God  Richard Peace (IVP) $15.00  How can we attend to the Spirit’s presence, God’s revelation, moment-by-moment, as we walk with Christ day by day.  From experiencing God in nature to honoring mystical experiences, from hearing God’s voice in stillness, among friends, and of course in the Bible, this is a helpful, inspiring guide.

Pursuing God’s Will Together: A Discernment Practice for Leadership Groups Ruth Haley Barton (IVP) $20.00  Her previous, marvelous books are on the spiritual disciplines, learned even in solitude and silence. Here, she offers insights for leaders about communal practices of discernment.  Turn your board or leadership team into a community guided by God, not just one that argues and votes and decides stuff.
 
Spirit of the Disciplines: Understanding How God Changes Lives Dallas Willard (HarperOne) $15.99  The books of the late Dallas Willard have been game-changers for many, and each of the ones you see here are serious and important.  This may be the best one with which to start; a classic. You should read a few of his, for sure.
 
CHRISTIAN DISCIPLESHIP
Bad Religion: How We Have Become a Nation of Heretics Ross Douthat (Free Press) $16.00  No, not the punk band, although they are pretty cool, too.  One of the most impressive books of the last year — agree or not, anyone serious about being a disciple should know about the shifts in worldview, theology, and ways we may have accommodated our assumptions and views and attitudes to the me-centered world around us. By the way, it isn’t every day (although it does happen more than it used to) that the Christian Century and Christianity Today agree on the importance of a book.  This is one.

Renewing the Evangelical Mission  edited Richard Lints (Eerdmans) $34.00  This is a collection of essays compiled to honor the massive, important work of David Wells.  From Os Guinness to Miroslof Volf, from Michael Horton to Cornelius Plantinga, this is an incisive lament, following Well’s powerfully argued critique, of how evangelicals have sold out to the post-Christian culture, and what we must do to get back to first things.

How God Became King N.T. Wright (HarperOne) $25.99  My favorite book about Jesus this year, I think — with a good emphasis on the theme of the Kingdom.  Everybody should read a book or two about Jesus every year, don’t you think? And everybody should read them some Tom  Wrig
ht.  Very nicely done.

Imitating God in Christ: Recapturing a Biblical Pattern  Jason Hood  (IVP Academic) $22.00  For an academic book this is truly inspiring; for a book to help us in our Christian growth it is meaty and substantive.  What does it mean to imitate Christ?  Who knew you could mine so much from a single phrase?

Prototype: What Happens When You Discover You’re More Like Jesus Than You Think Jonathan Martin (Tyndale) $15.99  This is easy to read, includes powerful illustrations and stories, and is all about being more human, not less, as we are conformed to Christ, the protoype human. Wow – surprisingly insightful, powerful, important. Get it!

CMYK: The Process of Life Together Justin McRoberts (Justin McRoberts) $24.95 for the full-color, illustrated edition// $9.99 for regular paperback  I love, love, love this first time author and his self-produced collection of stories, letters, reflections, each part inspired by a real person and his or her struggles and joys and journeys.  Each of the four sections — the letters are each of the colors of the printing process —   has a CD to go with.  The songs stand alone, as does the book, but it really is a music/book combo.  The look of the full color designed one, by the way, is somewhat like the inside of Shane Claiborn’s famously artful Jesus for President. A stunning production, one of the most creative packages in years. You will be moved as you read it.  Thanks Justin, for allowing us to carry it.  It is a privilege and a joy.
 
FOR CLERGY/PASTORS
Pastor: A Memoir Eugene Peterson (Eerdmans) $16.99 A slow, quiet memoir of the life of the famous, down-to-Earth Presbyterian pastor. Pastors, who those who care about pastors, will enjoy it, and, frankly, it is commendable as it has much to teach us about what really matters.

Sensing Jesus: Life and Ministry as a Human Being Zack Eswine (Crossway) $19.99  This book is hard to explain.  It is about being real. About being human, even as a spiritual leader. Jeramm Barrs says it is one of the best books on ministry he has read. Really, really interesting, whether you are a ministry leader or not.

Handbook for Battered Leaders Janis & Wesley Balda (IVP) $16.00  This couple has extensive experience in corporate world and church leadership and knows the research on hurting leaders. Draws on Corinthians, too.

Resilient Ministry: What Pastors Told Us About Surviving and Thriving Bob Burns, Tasha Chapman & Donald Guthrie (IVP/Praxis) $17.00  If you are a ministry leader, get this book.  If you are not, get it for your pastor. The stats are remarkable, the insights drawn, life-saving. Nothing like it in print. A must-read resource.

Spiritual Influence: The Hidden Power Behind Leadership Mel Lawrence (Zondervan) $19.99  I mentioned in the webinar that Beth and I met Mel this Spring (at the Blue Conference in Fairfax VA.) I was very, very impressed with him.  I’ve read other books of his, and have enjoyed them.  This is really good, about how to have a spiritual influence on others, so they might pursue their own callings, and share God’s goodness with others.  Very useful — oddly, something every Christian leader does, but a skill/art we don’t actually think about much.  This can help.
 
FOR YOUTH LEADERS
Intergenerational Christian Formation: Bringing the Whole Church Together in Ministry, Community and Worship Holly Catterton Allen & Christian Lawton Ross (IVP Academic) $22.00 Granted, it is thick and serious —  a masterpiece to make you think in new ways about how we  do church.  Anybody in CE or family ministry  — heck, anybody who goes to church — should ponder this stuff.

Almost Christian: What the Faith of Our Teenagers is Telling the American Church Kenda Creasy Dean (Oxford University Press) $24.95  Two decades ago I pronounced (loudly and often) that her God-Bearing Life was truly seminal, the most important book in youth ministry in decades. Then she did some other important ones, including, recently, the amazingly interesting and important Theological Turn in Youth Ministry, which she co-authored with Andrew Root.  But this, a research-driven, very important book around which there have been essential conversations.  If you are in youth work and haven’t read this yet, you ought to do what you must to get on it. It’s that important.

You Lost Me: Why Young Christians Are Leaving the Church and Redefining Faith  David Kinnamen (Baker) $17.99  The author is a good friend of Derek’s and both Derek and Walt Mueller are in the back, offering suggestions on how to maintain relationships with our 20-somethings.  I love this book, hope you know it, and highly recommend that you buy a few for folks in your congregation.  The DVD curriculum is very well made.  Kudos.

Taking Theology to Youth Ministry, Unpacking Scriptures in Youth Ministry,Taking the Cross to Youth Ministry, and Unlocking Mission and Eschatology in Youth Ministry Andrew Root (Zondervan/Youth Specialties) $12.99 each.  These are small, handsome hardbacks, each a continuation of a fictional youth worker trying to figure it all out.  What fun to be invited into her world, joining her journey of being a better youth pastor, knowing why she does what she does, and what the focus of ministry should be.
 
FOR PARENTS
Christian Parenting Handbook Scott Turansky & Joanne Miller (Nelson) $16.99  50 heart-based strategies for all the stages of your child’s life. I’ve written about this before and think it is very helpful.

Road Trip to Redemption Brad Mathias (Tyndale Momentum) $14.99 An instructive memoir of a cross-country road trip as these parents try to reconnect with their teens, and build family memories along the way.
 
Secrets of Happy Families: Improve Your Mornings, Rethink Family Dinner, Fight Smarter, Go Out and Play, and Much More  Bruce Feiler (William Morrow) $25.99  One of the most enjoyable books I’ve read this season, this mainstream author reports on the best research and what he learned from nationally-known leaders in various fields, as he applied those findings to his family.  Funny, unexpected, clever, this is a hoot — and may be a perfect family book for those who don’t like family books.

Habits of a Child’s Heart: Raising Your Kids with the Spiritual Disciplines Valerie Hess (NavPress) $14.99  This is unlike any other book, following the chapters of Richard Foster’s famous Celebration of Discipline. How ’bout that?  Yes!
 
Space Between: A Parent’s Guide to Teenage Development Walt Mueller (Zondervan/Youth Specialties) $9.99  I swear I didn’t include this — among the dozens we might have listed — because Walt runs CPYU and was sitting right there.  No, this is a handy, accessible guide to stuff parents really ought to know.  Nice.

Walk with Me: An Allegory Annie Wald (River North/Moody) $15.99 We didn’t have time to list much on marriage renewal — email me if you want some other ideas — but this is so unique. It is essentially Pilgrim’s Progress for married couples.  The author went to Cambridge.  The forward is by Eugene Peterson.  A small, handsome paperback. What’s not t
o like?
 
CULTURAL DISCERNMENT
Popcultured: Thinking Christianly About Style, Media and Entertainment Steve Turner (IVP) $17.00 Steve Turner is one of the masters of this topic, a British rock critic and Christian thinker.  He breaks some new ground here, too.  Trust me — this is fantastic!

Of Games and God: A Christian Exploration of Video Games Kevin Schut (Baker) $16.99  Nothing like it in print; nothing even close. Excellent. If you know teens or young adults, work in campus ministry or high school settings, you know you should be thinking about this.

Shaping a Digital World: Faith, Culture and Computer Technology  Derek Schuurman (IVP Academic) $18.00  I wrote extensively and then raved about this at a previous BookNotes piece, and commended it again in the webinar as a wonderful example of how to think faithfully and critically through an intentionally Biblical lens, about something in which we are all awash. Excellent.
 
Digital Invasion: How Technology Is Shaping You and Your Relationships Archibald Hart and Sylvia Hart Frejd  (Baker) $14.99  I am partial to the theoretical work done by Schuurman, but this looks at the important research, asks how to alleviate some of the negative side effects of over-stimulation from our virtual lifestyles, and makes excellent applications to youth ministry, parenting, and for any of us wanting to use our devices in healthy ways. The author is a respected Christian psychologist and the other, his daughter, is a thoughtful life coach.
 
I’m No Angel: From Victoria’s Secret Model to Role Model Kylie Bisutti (Tyndale) $19.99  Her story of being drawn into the fast-paced, glamorous world of high-fashion modeling, the severe pressure to be unhealthily skinny, the pervasive drugs and sensuality, is simply told and a good reminder of much that is wrong in popular culture.

Echoes of Eden: Reflections on Christianity, Literature and the Arts Jerram Barrs (Crossway) $17.99  Tim Keller says this is the best book on a Christian view of the arts he’s ever seen.  It is, indeed, very good.  The last half is mostly about literature with insightful, interesting chapters on Harry Potter, Jane Austen, Shakespeare, Tolkien and the like.
 
LIFESTYLE
An Unhurried Life: Following Jesus’ Rhythms of Work and Rest Alan Fadling (IVP) $15.00  I  am not joking when I say that you should read it  now, when your schedule may be a bit less hectic.  It is one of the most important books on the list! I should have discussed it more on the broadcasted webinar, but we were, ironically, rushed.  How many of us struggled with busy-ness, or are oddly proud of it?  This raises some weird stuff, you know, for us all. The best thing I’ve read on it, and I’m not even finished, as I’m slowly savoring it.
 
Eat with Joy: Redeeming God’s Gift of Food Rachel Marie Stone (IVP) $16.00  There is a growing body of literature on faith and food, and this is the best all-around, helpful, solid, study we’ve yet seen.  Please, please, consider this. A really helpful resource and a delightful read.

Bread & Wine: A Love Letter to Life Around the Table (With Recipes) Shauna Niequist (Zondervan) $16.00  When I said on the air that some of these wonderful essays made me cry, I wasn’t being sentimental.  This is moving, powerful, beautiful stuff, one of the best-written and fascinating and splendid books of the year.  I am so glad for it and for the things she so honestly hares from her own life. And we haven’t even done any of the recipes. Beautiful!
 
More or Less: Choosing a Lifestyle of Excessive Generosity  Jeff Shinabarger (Cook) $17.99  Derek and I both know Shinabarger from the CCO Jubilee conference and we agree that his role there this past year was nothing short of breath-taking — so many people were so deeply moved by his synopsis of his thesis here: we can be more generous, we can take the initiative to do more interesting stuff with our privilege, power, and resources, but we won’t quite have the inner resources to do that unless we are clear about God’s love for us.  Christ is enough. This book rocks, and could be shared with nearly anyone.  Introduction by Bob Goff, so you know it is fun.

Sex, Economy, Freedom & Community Wendell Berry (Counterpoint) $15.00  I went out on a limb and said this is the book to get first if you haven’t read any of Berry’s acclaimed essays. Any collection of his, really, would do, but this is the one I recommend most.

The Space Between: A Christian Engagement with the Built Environment Eric Jacobsen (Baker Academic) $22.99  I promised to the webinar listeners (as you will hear if you download and listen) that you will never see your town or city the same way again, after having read this. That is quite a claim. I guarantee that you’ll get your money’s worth with this, learning new things that you will greatly appreciate.  God wants us to be attentive to the world around us, including what Jacobsen called in an earlier book, “the sidewalks of the Kingdom.” This is really, really interesting and would make a good on-the-ground study book, especially if you include some interactive field trips to look around, seeing anew, with greater understanding.?
 
NOVELS
Jayber Crow Wendell Berry (Counterpoint) $15.95  It is common to hear people say this is their all time favorite novel.

Hannah Coulter Wendell Berry (Counterpoint) $14.95  Hannah shows up in other stories of the Port Williams membership, and it is maybe my favorite.

Chasing Francis: A Pilgrim’s Tale Ian Morgan Cron (Zondervan) $14.99  I am so glad this fantastic story is back in print.  Cron is a great writer, and this novel feels like it really happened to him.
 
Frame 232 Wil Mara (Tyndale) $13.99  I wanted to put in something fantastic, fun, a bit wild, with a solid Christian message.  Yep, this is about the Kennedy assassination, so if you know about the Babushka Lady, you are going to want to read this novel.

In the Absence of God  (Xulon) Richard Cleary $24.95 Full-discloser: the author is a good friend, and I’m thanked in the book itself.  Okay, that doesn’t mean I have to promote it, let alone when I’m only picking a very few fiction works for this webinar.  But I felt strongly it really would be a cool beach book, a thoughtful summer read, as it is full of suspense and drama and real-world dialogue about important matters.  Set on a modern college campus, among curious students and open-minded professors (and some, uh, who are not so open-minded or interested in the benefits of authentic inquiry through the liberal arts), they have long talks on the meaning of truth, the plausibility of ethics, and wonder if we have a sustainable reason for morality if there is no God. And then some ugly stuff starts happening, and the point of it all becomes very, very clear. 
 
KEY CPYU RESOURCES
Youth Culture 101 Walt Mueller (Zondervan/Youth Specialties) $19.99  A standard, which every youth worker should have.  Share it with your volunteers, parents and grandparents.

Engaging the Soul of Youth Ministry Walt Muller (IVP) $18.00  I’ll tell you what: this book is one of the most thought-out, important, stimulating books on youth ministry that I’ve ever seen. This put CPYU o
n the map, showing their intentionally-constructed foundation for ministry.

Make College Count: A Faithful Guide to Life + Learning Derek Melleby (Baker) $12.99  You know all about this, and my advocacy for it.  Designed for high school students heading off to college, or first year students, wondering about the basic questions of who they are and what they’re doing in college. The best!

Outrageous Idea of Academic Faithfulness: A Student’s Guide  Donald Optiz & Derek Melleby (Brazos) $13.99  Nothing like it in print.  Am I self-centered to say that some of this came out of conversations with Derek right here in our shop? That he and Don both are doing work that we’ve promoted for decades? This is a must-have book for any serious Christian collegiate.
 
EXTRA INNINGS//OVERTIME
Desiring the Kingdom: Worship Worldview and Cultural Formation James K.A. Smith (Baker Academic) $22.99  You know that Derek, Walt and I all talk about worldview a lot.  Jamie isn’t sure that’s the best idea, and he tells you why.  Put on your seatbelt, get a fresh pot of coffee and dig in. I love this book — if you are a Hearts & Minds fan, I’m tellin’ ya, you should get a friend and read it together, wondering how it might alter your way of being in the world.
 
Imaging the Kingdom: How Worship Works James K.A. Smith (Baker Academic) $22.99  This is the second in the “cultural liturgies” series that brings theology, philosophy, critical cultural studies and a passion for the reign of God proclaimed in our churches into multi-layered conversation. Did I really say that these two books are among the most important books we’ve ever sold?  Yes. I. did.
 
Besides the Bible: 100 Books That Have, Should, or Will Create a Christian Culture edited by Dan Gibson, Jordan Green and John Pattison (Biblica/IVP) $15.00  Here are 100 great book reviews of mostly great books.  (A few were chosen because they were influential and therefore important to be reviewed, even if the authors don’t agree with or care for them.) There are surprises, too.  I like these editors, a lot and the choose some fascinating titles.  So if this hour’s-worth of suggestions didn’t fill you up, get this one book and I am sure you’ll find some important recommendations.

I even have a chapter in here, by the way — a short review of The Call: Finding and Fulfilling The Central Purpose in Life by Os Guinness (Nelson; $17.99)  which, for the record, is one of my favorite books ever.  I’m glad they wanted me to make a contribution, and glad they agreed that it could be that one. It, too, would make some very good summer reading.

BookNotes

                   Hearts & Minds 234 East Main Street  Dallastown, PA  17313     717-246-3333
                                                            read@heartsandmindsbooks.com
  

Top Ten (or so) Picks for Your Summer Reading:
The Best Books for Pastors, Parents and Youth Workers

Did I mention it was free?  Me talking about books.  At a freakin’ webinar.  I think a month or so ago when Derek Melleby of the very classy CPYU asked me to do this, I didn’t even know what a webinar was.  And, to be honest, I still don’t like the sound of it.

But Derek can talk people, or at least me, into anything. He is one of my very favorite people, for a dozen reasons, but that is another topic.  For now, just know that it is going to be fun, informative, nicely produced, and well worth your time.                                                                                                                 Derek Melleby in action.

Once you sign up (and you have to sign up, being it’s a webinar, after all) you can tune in live at 1:00 EDT this Thursday and you’ll be regaled with stories from the front lines of bookselling, Hearts & Minds style.  Derek will set me up to preach a bit about the significance of reading, why studying to develop the mind of Christ is so very important these days, and why the organization for which he works (CPYU) and his own ministry (College Transition Initiative) values what we do here at the shop.  I’ll tell some stories — maybe from church history, maybe from our experience — of how books well-chosen and carefully read can be life-changing.  We think that reading is a good pleasure and a necessary spiritual discipline. The best leaders and cultural influencers are readers.

I suspect I’ll be preaching to the choir, so we’ll keep that brief (unless I get wound up, and then there’s no telling what will be said. I’ll try to be reasonable.)

Then, for the main part of the program, that is, the aforementioned webinar, I’ll live up to my reputation of not being able to list just a few books.  We’ve announced it as a Top Ten List for your summer reading.  But noooo (spoiler alert!) I couldn’t do that.  So it will be Top Ten categories, with a handful of suggestions under each one.  Sort of a “choose your own” Top Ten Summer List.

I guess you should be prepared to take notes.

There will be good books mentioned, some juicy background about why I like ’em, and playful banter between Derek and I.  I’m not sure what educators or other professionals do at webinars, but we’re going to have a good time.  And you’ll be re-inspired to read some significant books and get a ton of good suggestions, free. 

Another perk, by the way: you will get an email afterwards, listing the titles.  Anybody who signs up gets that.  And, all of these books will then be on a special sizzlin’ summer sale — 20% off.  Or, I could say, a wonderful, wacky, winsome, webinar, sale.  Yep, that’s a special discount just for those who sign up for the CPYU webinar.

So, help us spread the word, right away, if you can.  I promise to describe some very profound works, highlight some brand new titles, and celebrate a few that you may expect. And, I’ll mention a few I bet you haven’t even heard of. 

A one-hour conversation about books in my Top Ten Categories for Summer Reading. 

Delivered live to your computer screen or phone, this Thursday, June 27, 2013.
1:00 to 2:00 Eastern Daylight Time.

GO HERE TO SIGN UP.

Date: Thursday, June 27, 2013
Time: 1:00PM – 2:00PM EDT
 

Here is how our friends at CPYU have described it:

Seminar Description:
Join Derek Melleby as he asks CPYU’s favorite bookseller, Byron Borger, to suggest the best books to read this summer. Byron owns Hearts & Minds, a bookstore in Dallastown, PA and has been in the book business for over 30 years. He enjoys crafting custom-made lists for specific audiences. He is a long-time friend of us here at CPYU and has agreed to offer a list for us. Listen in as he shares key titles to inspire us in our tasks as parents, youth workers and Christian leaders.

Categories include:
memoirs
spiritual formation
books for clergy
youth ministry
parenting
engaging culture
Christian discipleship
novels
and more!

Really, this is a great opportunity to hear us speak about the Biblical vision of being life-long learners, why books are tools for Christian discipleship, and how Hearts & Minds is trying, as a small-town family-owned business, to live up to the high calling of being a thoughtful Christian bookseller. And to get a boat load of ideas for your own top ten list this season.

And to say you’ve been to a webinar.  How cool is that?  Won’t you join us?

                                                            read@heartsandmindsbooks.com
  

In my last BookNotes piece I reminded you of a longer essay I wrote about neo-Calvinism and Kuyper and how they influenced us.  That is posted at the “columns” section of our website.

Then I listed and described 13 books —  just couldn’t do a top ten — that highlighted the strengths and interests of mainline denominational churches.  I had a few things about preaching the lectionary, a devotional based on Feasting on the Word Year C, and gave a shout out to our friends at the Alban Institute who do sharp stuff about church revitalization, congregational best practices and pastoral ministry resources.  It was occasioned mostly by our recent book displays with a group of Presbyterian educators, a retreat with UCC clergy, and a Synod Assembly of the Lower Susquehanna Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America. I think it is known that we are particularly interested in the health of our mainline denominational parishes.  I think those books were pretty useful.

So, to follow up, here are 6 more about church life.  I think they are extraordinary, each in their own way.  I often huff and puff about the role of the laity in the world, about vocation and calling and culture-making.  We here invite you to nurture the Christian mind for God’s missional purposes in the world, thinking faithfully about art, science, media, business and more.

But let’s face it.  We learn this stuff in church.  Our Kingdom vision for a being agents of God’s reconciling work in the world happens, mostly, in the often mundane practices of doing church together, week by week by week.  Amen?

Church Worth Getting Up For  Charles Gutenson (Abingdon) $16.99 Gutenson has done community development, health care ministry, public justice work, has been on staff at Sojourners, and now teaches systematic theology at Asbury Theological Seminary. A recent book looked at the practices of the early church (The Right Church.)  This is a distillation of much of his thought about congregational life that is vibrant, meaningful, missional, and inviting. He is a good writer, and this is exciting and clear; visionary and practical. He highlights well how churches must contextualize their ministry to their local  setting and reminds us of the need to keep younger adults involved.

We hear lots of talk about being “authentic” these days.  He shows us what it looks like.  There are chapter titles like “The Big Six” and “Focus, Focus, Focus” and “Right Belief, Right Practice – Equal Partners?” He is all about getting beyond the “sacred/secular divide” (did he read that Kuyper essay of mine? Ha!)  I think you learn something from this, see some things in a new light, and — for leaders who don’t have a lot of time to read too much in any one thing — will be brought up to speed in some of the latest missional conversations and insights about making congregational life what it ought to be.

Intergenerational Christian Formation: Bringing the Whole Church Together in Ministry, Community, and Worship  Holly Catterton Allen and Christian Lawton Ross (IVP Academic) $22.00  It is always a delight to see mainline denominational leaders (in this case, Karen Marie Yust, whose books are on Chalice Press, and who works at Union Presbyterian in Richmond) endorsing books on historically evangelically publishing houses.  There is little doubt in my mind that this is the definitive book thus far on this vexing and much-debated topic.  How do we live out Psalm 145: 4 which invite one generation to commend God’s redemptive words to the next?  Allen and Ross have given us a comprehensive, thorough, systematic, and provocative study.  This rejects seeing church as largely (market-derived) demographics — which may appeal to what one friend calls “generational narcissism.”  There is practical stuff here, but it isn’t mostly a how-to handbook.  It is a rich, serious, mature rumination on the theology of church, the nature of Christian pedagogy, and what it means to be an inter-generational, diverse Body of learners together.  They look at worship, education, service and more.

When “Spiritual But Not Religious” Is Not Enough: Seeing God in Surprising Places, Even the Church  Lillian Daniel (Jericho Books) $19.99 You may know I promoted this earlier in the spring, naming it as a certain front-runner for my favorite book of the year, especially in the category of short, devotional essays.  I think I filed this under memoir.  And it is memoir-like; Lillian is a great storyteller, good, good writer, and a wise reporter, calling out sightings of Godly life here and there, as she sees it.  Alas, she sees it — surprise! — in ordinary stuff of ordinary churches.  

I know, it is more sexy to plant a hip, cool church with an edgy website.  I know your elders are supposed to have skinny jeans and you should have a craft beer night and latte art competitions; maybe you don’t even gather  — hey, it is cool to have virtual church.  Or, as many say, just skip it  —  Jesus isn’t about religion, anyway. God is alive and well in the world, so let’s talk about design and culture, and justice and visioneering. We can all be just spiritual and let it go at that.  Yeah, yeah, I get it. And so does Lillian Daniel, who does find God in a yoga class, or celebrates Christ’s grace showing up when encountering animals at the airport. (What a chapter that is!)

 But Lillian also lives in the world of fairly small, fairly ordinary, often struggling (but not always) mainline churches.  There are old people, children, liberals and conservatives, debates about using the old hymnal, versus the new (that isn’t so new) and the hard work of doing, well, fairly mundane stuff. For the folks of these churches, faith isn’t spectacular. And they haven’t heard about Crazy Love or Not a Fan.  These are the churches that have not been shaped by evangelical publishing or televised mega-churches. And it is the world Daniel, and many of us, inhabit.  And she makes it all glow, beautifully honoring through real-world essays about real-live ministry in common-place congregations.  She can be biting — the first, wonderful essay, especially, just sizzles with sarcasm. But she can be light-hearted and fun, tender and wise. I loved this book, about God, faith, social concerns, and, yes, mostly about ordinary Christian faith lived in ordinary churches.  This would be a really enjoyable summer read and might relieve some anxieties that your church isn’t as cool as it might.  Love it!

Being Church: Reflections on How to Live as the People of God  John F. Alexander (Casc
ade) $29.00  I wrote about this book before, but have wanted to write with more depth about it, but haven’t been able to. Still, I simply can’t wait until I could review it at greater length to promote it again.  The late John Alexander took up the editorship of the magazine his father, Fred,  founded, The Other Side, which was about racial justice and inner city work and intentional community, and eventually so much more. They were fellow-travellers with Sojourners, in the 1970s and beyond. John Alexander’s writings have been exceptionally influential in my faith journey and his two previous books are among my favorites — they are feisty and radical and amazingly challenging, taking Jesus and the culture we live in, seriously. 

By the 80s he had ended up nearly losing his faith, nearly paralyzed with activism and high expectations about communal living; he left The Other Side and became a house church member out West, speaking, writing, pastoring. He had returned to robust, sustainable faith in a less ideologically left-wing way, and in a more intentional manner drawing on historic orthodox Bible teaching, including inputs from sources as diverse as the best of Francis Schaeffer and the radical Anabaptist folk.  He was influenced by the philosophical ethics of Stanley Hauerwas (and his rejection of liberalism’s view of rights) but more, his view of church as an alternative polis.  And he got cancer, and died in 2001.

John was a Wheaton trained philosopher, a justice and peace activist, and a house church/ intentional community advocate, and a servant of others.  This book is a collection of his pieces that were to become a book, put together posthumously.  It is a major work (with extraordinary footnotes, indicating a huge range of reading) on the nature of the church and happily, it does not feel unfinished.  It is truly amazing, challenging, wildly Christ-like, raw, real. It is witty and biting and well-thought out.  It is big on relationships (love and unity), on servanthood, social justice, grounded in grace, grace, grace and the mercy that flows from being forgiven sinners in a broken world.  There are glimmers of joy, but it isn’t upbeat.  There are signs of hope, but it isn’t cheap. There is theology, philosophy, pop-culture, Biblical study galore,  history, politics — making it a book that defies description.  There is an excellent forward by Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove, and it is featured as a part of the important series on new monasticism called the New Monastic Library. Here is a piece Jonathan wrote at Patheos about John, “The Soul Friend I Never Knew.” 

Intense endorsing blurbs on the back are by Ron Sider, Tony Campolo, Mark Scandrette and Chris Rice. All say the most amazing things about this most amazing book.  I dare you to read this and not be driven to profound consideration about the nature of church and the nature of discipleship itself.  Very, very important.

Letters to a Future Church: Words of Encouragement and Prophetic Appeals  edited by Chris Lewis (IVP) $15.00  We all know the letters to churches in the early part of Revelation.  Suppose the Spirit was inspiring people to write to churches today.  Suppose you could write a letter to church folk you know? You have one shot — what would you say?  How would you say it?  Lewis compiled this marvelously interesting, provocative, and stimulating book as a set of letters from all sorts of leaders, mainline and evangelical, Reformed and otherwise, social action-oriented and profoundly contemplative.  As the sub-title suggests there are gentle works of good encouragement and there are hard-hitting calls to prophetic action.  Here, you’ll real missives from Shane Claiborne and Tim Challies, from Rachel Held Evans and Walter Brueggemann.  There are pieces by John Ortberg and Will Willimon. The famous black preacher Gardner Taylor has an eloquent piece and so does Eugene Peterson.

Many of these letter-writers are young, or a bit on the margins of typical congregational life.  There are edgy thinkers like Peter Rollins and artist like Mako Fujimura.

One of the devices which adds an extra “wow factor” to this  interesting compilation is a set of four pieces by our acquaintance Janell Anema, who shares insights of her growing up as a super-churched kid, writing  a forward, a piece from her 16 year old self, as a 22 year old, as a 25 year old, and then a closing reprise.  Which is to say, these letters are not an excuse for pontification, but are all heartfelt hopes for real congregations — not abstractions! — that minister to and with people like Janell.  I’ve recommended this book before, and am happy to suggest it again.

Prodigal Christianity: 10 Signposts into the Missional Frontier David Fitch & Geoff Holsclaw (Jossey Bass) $24.95  I have respected these two deep thinkers for quite some time, and was glad to see this new book in the esteemed, useful “Leadership Network” series. I am not necessarily Anabaptist, but I greatly appreciate that Fitch and Holsclaw have brought a serious commitment to local body life in light of Yoder and other Mennonite theologians in their broad contribution to missional church conversation. That this book has gotten rave reviews from Scot McKnight, Alan Hirsch, Alan Roxburgh and others speaks a lot. They are both scholars and practitioners, so I want to hear their story.  I have not read this yet, but believe me, after just looking at the table of contents (and some videos of them speaking about it on line) I was hooked.  It is on my stack, one I will personally work through this summer.  I like what Gary Nelson, President of Tyndale University and Seminary in Toronto says, (they) “do something with Prodigal Christianity that most authors can’t pull off. They hold the tension between the prophetic and the priestly. As a result they make some readers squirm and others question.”  I like that there is an emphasis on the local, on being an incarnation of the gospel in the neighborhood.  I think these “10 Signposts into the Missional Frontier” are good pointers, and we should join the journey.

For what it is worth, I think our store carries almost every book published by mainstream publishers on the missional church.  Bunches; we’ve got bunches. We have some odd-ball ones, too, self-published and obscure, or specially ordered from overseas.  Too many start to sound the same.  I am confident this one does not, is a deep wrestling with real issues, and is an important contribution to the vision and practices that many of us trying to absorb and embody. Although this is largely around being missional faith communities in post-Christian North America, the authors are both very fluent in the emergent conversations, as well.  You may not like everything they say but I think anyone who reads this will be able to find something wise and good and useful here. 

Buying any of these will be money well spent.  Your church friends will thank you, as it always is g
ood to have folks in the church who are thinking intentionally about what it is we are and what it is we do. These are interest and raise the right questions. They each tell moving stories. I hope you find that they bear fruit in your place, for God’s glory. Let me know what you think. 

BookNotes

                   Hearts & Minds 234 East Main Street  Dallastown, PA  17313     717-246-3333
                                                            read@heartsandmindsbooks.com
  

A COLUMN AND A FREE BOOK
Back before my two Father’s Day posts, I did a long piece that you may not have seen.  It was a heart-felt cry but too long to share here at BookNotes so I posted it as a “column” at the website, where I publish longer pieces and bigger lists.  I hope you read that ramble through reformational distinctives, some of the problems with the too-narrowly focused (so-called) new Calvinists, and why many churches – mainline denominational and indie evangelical alike — despite their best theological instincts, sometimes fail to offer a rigorous, embodied, practical “in the world but not of it” sort of perspective for faithful cultural engagement.

I ended the essay by describing (among others) a serious book published by Eerdmans written by Richard Mouw called The Challenges of Cultural Discipleship and I offered a free book, too.  Check it out, here. 

Everybody talks about vocation these days, but there is still only meager interest in books that invite intentionally theological thinking about how to relate faith and work, and few churches do all that much to equip lay people to life faithfully in their various spheres of life.  Public theological, cultural engagement, living out a vision of vocation – these are hot topics, but not as much is actually happening, I fear.  We are still too embedded in a narrative that divides the sacred and the secular; we still fail to connect worship and work, Sunday and Monday, we still don’t fully appreciate the implications of the gospel of the Kingdom of God.  Anyway, that column and the books I name there was more of my lamenting all of this, and, again, reflecting on how we came to this vision, and why we offer the resources we do. Of course, as I’ve said before, it was Kuyper’s reformational worldview that caused us to want arrange our store with these kinds of interests in mind.

We are glad you care, and share these concerns.

WAS I TOO HARSH?
I may have been a bit harsh, especially regarding my own mainline Protestant heritage. I know that the culturally-transforming worldview of Dutch neo-Calvinist Abraham Kuyper isn’t known in most mainline churches and even his late 20th century popularizer Francis Schaeffer isn’t known, let alone valued and studied. So as I write about this stuff, I feel a bit weird, marginalized, cryptic, even.  I suppose I realize why more traditional Christian bookstores are more successful. I didn’t mean to be sound grumpy. But I am frustrated when church leaders don’t help people relate faith and daily life and professional callings, or draw upon the resources that best promote that kind of integration and engagement. We know you share these concerns, longing for communities of faith that read and study, learning to apply faith to work and culture and all areas of life.

It is obvious that many mainline leaders and their flocks are good, good people of profound faith who desire nothing more than to bear witness to the power of the gospel. We attend a mainline church, as you know. The evangelical world has more celebrities and ministries known in the media, and evangelical publishers are doing the most lively books these days.  Granted. But we see many signs of life in ordinary, mainline churches.

I still appreciate the book Christianity for the Rest of Us: How the Neighborhood Church is Transforming the Faith (HarperOne; $14.99) by my friend Diana Butler Bass. Whether you are firmly situated in a ordinary, traditional congregation, or a hipster new church plant, or a conservative-leaning community or mega-church, seeing the practices she holds up and reading the stories of smaller, faithful churches doing good Kingdom work is helpful.  This book was hugely popular a few years ago and I think remains a classic in the field.   

I started writing some of this while selling books with good friends who are clergy within the UCC.  What a great time we had with them. (And they bought a lot of books, too, including Diana’s more recent book Christianity After Religion: The End of the Church and the Birth of a New Spiritual Awakening (HarperOne; $14.99.) They didn’t need me to tell them what a good writer she is and how fascinating this thesis and research is.  They are eager to push envelopes where needed, and I admire their book buying gusto!

And then I wrote more while Beth and I were selling books at a large local Lutheran Synod gathering while they were prayerfully voting for a new Bishop.  I actually know a few of the candidates whose names had been lifted up and I know they are wonderful Christian leaders, who serve the church with energy and insight. 

We regularly experience similar congeniality among our good friends – very good friends! – in United Methodist, Presbyterian, Brethren, Moravian, Episcopalian, Anglican, and other denominations where we have served.  Many BookNotes readers are involved in independent, conservative or evangelical churches, but we know there are lots of mainline Protestant and some Catholic fans, too. For this we are grateful.

After my long-winded jeremiad over at the columns, I thought I should do a more typical H&M list.  I’ll try to be succinct.
 
Here are 12 books among the thousands we took to the Susquehanna Synod Lutheran assembly (not to mention a healthy display of books by and about Luther.) These recommendations illustrate what mainline Protestants are interested in, what sells at events like this, and the sorts of titles and topics we notice people chatting about.
 
As we did at Synod, we show the regular retail prices, but have the 20% off discount deal going on.  Click on the order form link at the end which will take you to our certified secure website page, and just tell us what you want.  We’ll take it from there, sending these out promptly to you or your church.  Enjoy this list, generated at a mainline church gathering, interesting books for typical mainline pastors and church leaders. Maybe you could call this a top list of things these churches do well.  Good stuff, for sure!

Finding God in a Bag of Groceries: Sharing Food, Discovering Grace Laura Lapins Willis (Abingdon) $15.99  Leave it to a major mainline publisher to have an endorsement by Desmond Tutu, Franciscan guru Richard Rohr and Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and journalist Jon Meacham. This is a great example of what mainline churches have done well for generations – motivated people who, without much hoopla, get in their cars and deliver food to others. (Both Beth and I grew up knowing our parents were involved in the service called “Meals on Wheels.” This memoir tells of a woman who considered becoming a priest, got involved in a small food pantry, and came to realize how this ministry of offering food to others transformed her own soul. Don’t we all hunger, for God and sustenance, for community and justice and love? This is a great story by a good writer and experienced community organizer.  I’m glad for the social service witness of our friends here in the display hall, where
more than half of the booths are great examples of concrete service and advocacy on behalf of “the least of these.”
 
The Welcoming Congregation: Roots and Fruits of Christian Hospitality  Henry G. Brinton (Westminster/John Knox) $17.00  Mainline churches are all abuzz talking about hospitality, inclusion, graciousness.  They are right about this, of course, that we are called to offer graceful welcome to all.  There have been many writing on this lately, good studies, and this one is in their debt (that is, it is theologically rich and astute.)  This is designed as a congregational study, a reflection on faithful practice of churches that build community and what comes of it all. Good reflection questions at the end of each chapter. This is a great read for anyone, and certain will offer guidance for those wanting to achieve greater openness and diversity.  The author is senior pastor of Fairfax Presbyterian Church in Fairfax VA.

Scattering Seeds: Cultivating Church Vitality  Steven Chapin Garner and Jerry Thornell (Alban Institute) $17.00  This is a recent book published by the Alban Institute, a publisher that does many research-based, best-practices sorts of books for mainline church leaders.  We take almost everything they do to these events, squeezing them all in.  So  many are useful, on church vitality, on leadership, on conflict or congregational systems, or congregational redevelopment and so much more.
 

This book is a fine example of much that we like about the mainline churches — the congregation seems balanced, politically progressive, deeply interested in the gospel and the leading of the Holy Spirit. I’ve read their other books, and this is full of stories and ideas.

Listen to what UCC pastor Martin Copenhaver writes:

The religious landscape of our country today is a picture of general decline, but with pockets of vitality — dynamic congregations energized by the Holy Spirit in ways that are inspiring and instructive. They play the role the abbeys played during the Dark Ages, preserving the tradition and building upon it. Chapin Garner and Jerry Thornell serve just such a faith community. There is so much we can learn from him and from the congregation they lead. 

An Unhurried Life: Following Jesus’ Rhythms of Work and Rest  Alan Fadling (IVP) $15.00  Mainline churches, like most people of faith these days, are interested in questions of spiritual formation, and know that principles of Sabbath are key to Biblical renewal.  Doesn’t the cover of this book speak volumes – the go, go, go of the speedboat with much noise and splash in its wake, and the slower, quiet, but somehow appealing paper boat floating along at a more graceful human scale? Are you a recovering speed addict?  Nobody suggests we ought not work hard  and there are times we do have to go fast.  But few of us have the work/rest rhythm quit right, so this book should have universal appeal.  Jan Johnson (we sold her book Abundant Simplicity the first day here!) says of it “greatness of soul requires an unhurried life.” She interestingly says it is a perfect follow up to The Contemplative Pastor by Eugene Peterson.  Whether you are a clergy person or not, this book is for you.  It is very profound; highly recommended, wonderfully written, and certainly speaking wisely to one of the great concerns of our era.

Church, World, and Kingdom: The Eucharistic Foundation of Alexander Schmemann’s Pastoral Theology  William C. Mills (Hillenbrand Books) $18.00  We always feel at liberty to bring Catholic and Orthodox books to mainline events, and this Lutheran gathering certainly shows interest in the liturgical tradition. I hope you know the must-read For the Life of the World by Schmemann – it gets at the sacramental nature of an enchanted, being-redeemed creation as well as almost anything – and this study reflects on his view of pastoral work.  As an Orthodox theologian, he wrote exquisitely about the assembly of God’s people in worship, and how liturgy shapes the calling of the pastor.  Maybe you, like me, don’t know that much about Orthodox views of Baptism and Eucharist, but any pastoral leader could surely learn from this brief book. Kudos to Lutheran clergy who desire mature and faithful worship, and know that any renewal of public witness will emerge from ministries of Word and Sacrament.
 
The Four Gospels on Sunday: The New Testament and the Reform of Christian Worship  Gordon W. Lathrop (Fortress) $49.00  Lathrop is the renowned and vibrant professor from Lutheran Theological Seminary in Philadelphia. I have often talked about his heavy three-volume set Holy Things: A Liturgical Theology, Holy People: A Liturgical Ecclesiology and Holy Ground: A Liturgical Cosmology, a powerful trio that brings to mind the aforementioned Alexander Schmemann. Those are certainly worth reading.  Lutherans should be glad for this new book which is both scholarly and beautiful, bringing together his two great specialties of Biblical studies and liturgics. We could all learn from this.  This is a truly beautiful, solidly-made book, of great importance, but I wish it weren’t so expensive. I know it would sell better here if it were more reasonable.  Maybe the discount will help.

Feasting on the Word Worship Companion Year C Volume 2 edited by Kimberly Bracken Long (Westminster/John Knox) $35.00  Most of our readers know of the extraordinary resource called Feasting on the Word, co-edited by Barbara Brown Taylor, a four volume set of preaching commentaries on each text of the lectionary for each liturgical year.  (That is, there are four volumes for Years A, B and C, making Feasting a 12 volume set, in all. Each volume offers four different perspectives on the pericapes of the day (an exegetical, theological, pastoral, and homiletical view) and they are by far the most talked about preaching resources we’ve seen in our 30 years of theological bookselling.) This new Worship Companion is the second of a two volume set for each year, offering liturgies drawn from Feasting.  This one, obviously, is for use now, the second half of Year C.  It starts on Trinity Sunday and ends right before Advent.  There are weekly calls to worship, c
onfessions, lectionary-based prayers, responsive readings, benedictions and the like. The wording is elegant but contemporary; theologically rich and generous. Comes  with a CD-ROM for easy use making bulletins, etc. Long is a Professor of Worship at Columbia Theological Seminary, which is Presbyterian CHurch (USA.)

Worship as Repentance: Lutheran Liturgical Traditions and Catholic
Consensus Walter Sundberg (Eerdmans) $18.00 Here is what it says in the
back.  A friend raved about this to me, so thought we’d recommend it:
“Against contemporary trends that conceive of Christian worship
primarily as entertainment or sheer celebration, Walter Sundberg argues
that repentance is the heart of authentic worship. He outlines the
history of repentance and confession within liturgical practice from the
early church to mid-twentieth Protestantism, advocating movement away
from the “eucharistic piety” common in mainline worship today and toward
the “penitential piety” of older traditions of Protestant worship.” 
This illustrates the significant discourse happening among the best
mainline clergy.  Not all are this astute, but when evangelicals
caricature traditional worship as nominal or blase, they simply aren’t
aware of the kinds of reforms happening within the mainline.  Important
conversations.

Zionism Through Christian Lenses: Ecumenical Perspectives on the Promised Land  edited by Carole Monica Burnett (Pickwick) $25.00  I am sure you know that mainline churches are strong on public justice advocacy, that their global denominational connections allow them to be in communion with brothers and sisters all over the world. In this powerful collection of essays you can get solid, Scripturally informed and political contextualized chapters by a Lutheran, two Roman Catholics, two Episcopalians, an American Baptist, and Eastern Orthodox Christian and a UCC pastor.  This explores ancient Israel’s covenant, the early church’s theological insights and the post-Reformation experiences of various branches of Christianity around this question of whether we are called to be pro-Zionist.  Naim S. Ateek, the Director of Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center in Jerusalem wrote the passionate forward.  The author, by the way, is not only a peace and justice advocate in the Middle East, but is an editor of the Fathers of the Church series and an adjunct professor of Latin and New Testament Greek at the Dominican House of Studies in DC.  We’ve met, and I can assure you she is sharp and thoughtful.  This is an excellent book.  I am glad for the way mainline Christians have led the way to a balanced concern for peace in the Holy Land.

Truth Speaks to Power: The Countercultural Nature of Scripture  Walter Brueggemann (Westminster/John Knox) $17.00  We take Brueggemann books anywhere we go where we take Bible stuff, and, naturally, he is esteemed in all sorts of circles. Lutherans know him as their publisher (Fortress) did many of his most famous books such as The Land, The Prophetic Imagination, and The Hopeful Imagination.  We are featuring a big stack of these right alongside others of his.  As I have mentioned in a previous BookNotes, he here looks at Moses, Solomon, Elisha, Josiah, and a final chapter called “Power and Truth Among Us.”  Amazing. Just amazing.  You should order this. Kudos to those in the mainline churches who have, in recent decades, redoubled their efforts to do serious Bible study in their parishes. I know there are some traditional denominations, who don’t have a particularly conservative view of the Scriptures, who study it more frequently and with more delight and intensity than their evangelical neighbors, who insist loudly that they are Bible-believing, but actually don’t study it that much.
 
 
Green Leaves for Later Years: The Spiritual Path of Wisdom Emilie Griffin (IVP/formatio) $15.00  Mainline pastors have been schooled well in pastoral care and it is evident that aging issues remain important for their congregations.  We take books about the greying of the church to all our religious events, and they are always discussed.  Here is one that we’ve sold a number of – Emilie Griffin is the author of a number of books, including some classics of contemplative spirituality; she knows formational literature very well, and has worked in this field a long time. Her good writing and her own life stage allows her here to offer a nearly one-of-a-kind book.  It is ideal for individuals or groups; it has great reflection questions and a prayer.  So well written – very highly recommended. By the way, we take all the formatio imprint of IVP almost everywhere we go — some of the very best stuff on spirituality out there.

Healing Marks  Bruce Epperly (Energion Publications) $14.99  Bruce Epperly gets around and is well known in many circles – he is a Disciples pastor, not long ago served Lancaster Theological Seminar tirelessly and is the author of oodles of books.  He has published with the esteemed Alban Institute (we carry all his Alban titles, which are very well done) and he has worked with larger and smaller presses.  Here, in a book that ought to be well known, he offers a study of healing and spirituality (mostly from Mark’s gospel.)  Healing is multi-faceted and grace-filled. As his friend Kent Ira Groff writes on the back, “Jesus’ touching dirt-poor sick folks and well-heeled tax collectors bids us to spiritual practices and social justice using scientific tools.” That is, it is grounded in a critical study of the Biblical texts, uses deep psychological awareness to see touches of grace and healing that comes in many forms, and it is medically sound. (Bruce spent more than a decade as chaplain at Georgetown University Medical School where he also taught, innovating courses on faith, medicine, healing and wholeness. This isn’t a book of cheap miracles, but neither does it keep gospel transformation at arm’s length.  It is fascinating to see how many mainline churches anoint with oil and have (liturgically-oriented) healing services. We have this propped up for all to see.  And many of his other titles, too.

Worship the Lord with Gladness: God’s Children in Worship
Rita B. Hays (Abingdon) $18.99  This brand new study reminds us of the
important interest in mainline churches of helping children learn to
worship in the main worship service of the church.  This is a tremendous
study, great for teachers as it is so well arranged, helping younger children (kindergarten through 3rd grade, they say) understand what worship
is, learn what the Bible teaches about it, and appreciating different
aspects of typical Protestant churches.  It is fun, uses crafts and
activities for each of the 13 sessions, and kids get to learn about everything from understanding a
worship bulletin to the Apostles Creed to passing the peace.  This is
very highly recommended.

Why Do We Have to Be Quiet in Church? And 12 Other Questions Kids Have About God  Clare Simpson (Paraclete) $14.99  This small hardback is a lovely little book, with great illustrations by Kay Harker, and is designed to answer typical questions younger children have about God and faith and church. We like this book and it is great here for at least three good reasons: it has a modern, contemporary feel; that is, it is artful and not too silly or cartoony.  Secondly, it has nuance and allusive hints to applying truth, unlike some books that are so didactic and heavy-handed. Thirdly, there are small hints of scenes of mainline church settings – pews, a pastor in a clerical collar, a Baptismal font. Children who attend ordinary mainline churches will recognize themselves in this. Why Do We Have To Be So Quiet in Church is a great little book, short and sweet, published by a contemplative Episcopalian publisher that we love.  That mouse is cool, too, eh?  Thanks to the Lutheran folk who bought kids books at their Assembly.  Kudos to all congregations who make room for kids of all ages and temperaments and needs. We have many, many more children’s books – I’ll list some others before too long.

BookNotes

                   Hearts & Minds 234 East Main Street  Dallastown, PA  17313     717-246-3333
                                                            read@heartsandmindsbooks.com
 

A friend oh so gently chided me, maybe in jest, for the Father’s Day list from a few days ago.  It was a good list, I think, with a rather curious mix of titles.  7 Great Men by Eric Metaxas (Nelson) itself carries some very good writing about some very important men — from  William Wilberforce to Jackie Robinson to Dietrich Bonhoeffer.  So we remain confident that many of our readers liked the list.  Thanks for those who send us some orders — glad to be of service to you.

But my friend’s insinuation was that, well, it did play up to some fairly standard themes — road trips, being a good dad, being a great man, a hunter’s/camper’s devotional, a Civil War book.  Obvious.  Good, but obvious.

So here are some other titles I might have listed, grabbed quickly to remind you that here at Hearts & Minds we enjoy suggesting things that you may not have heard of, or may not have considered.  Betcha didn’t see these suggested at the Christian bookstore down the street.  Or at the big box store, either. 

Families Living in the Fabric of Faithfulness: Parents and Children Describe What Works  Gloria Stronks and Julie Stronks (Outskirts Press) $18.95 Despite the bland cover, this is a book that I am confident will stretch you, make you think, invite you to deeper conversations, and will help you develop a worldview that is sufficient for the changing times and complex cultural crisis of the coming years.  The allusion in the title to Steve Garber’s serious, must-read study (you’ve heard us mention it here often) The Fabric of Faithfulness: Weaving Together Believe and Behavior (IVP; $17.00) is intentional.  It is a book taking Garber’s book and applying it to parenting. Stronks and Stronks have taught Garber’s book for years; they are educators and philosophizing moms, they are home-makers with a profound vision of how to struggle to raise families of compassion and service. They live the upside-down values of the ways of Jesus, in and for the world.

Ahh, but just how does one do that? How does one live what one claims to believe, how does one nurture sustainable, life-long faith, lived without cynicism, but with hope and vitality?

They take Garber’s 3-part thesis, and his elegantly told research, and his major points of cultural discernment and apply that work to parenting, teaching, home-making.  This book examine the way different Christians try to parent and raise families in keeping with their most profound believes, and what kind of “integration” of their faith story and their parenting they’ve experienced.

As they say on the back cover “this book captures moments in time as we live ina world that has been redeemed but not fully reconciled to God.  It captures our hopes, our beliefs, our struggles. And, it lets us learn not only from scholars, but from each other.”

If you’ve read Steve Garber’s Fabric of Faithfulness, you need to read this interesting, practical follow-up.  If you haven’t read Garber, but you like parenting books, do consider reading this.  You will then want to turn to his remarkable book, and dig in deep.  Kudos to Whitworth University in Spokane who helped fund the Stronks mother and daughter team and their own unique research, inspired by Garber.

Kingdom Family: Re-Envisioning God’s Plan for Marriage and Family  Trevecca Okholm (Cascade Books) $22.00  There are a lot of books by professional Christian educators and church school instructors, but it seems to me that most books on marriage and family are  not written by those who do ministry with children.  This woman has served for decades, currently at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian (USA) Church in Newport Beach.  With an MA in Educational Ministries from Wheaton Graduate School, she knows what she’s doing.  Her book should be better known among us. 

What sets this apart and makes me list it here, is, well, this Kingdom vision that permeates the book.  There is a lot of talk these days about being missional, or Kingdom-focused and we use that language ourselves, here.  Have for years.  But most books about upholding the family or inspiring parents are less than wholistic, not framed by Kingdom language, and fail to connect God’s redemptive work in the world with the intimacies of our daily lives in homes.  Or it takes for granted, as this book does not, the legitimacy of the consumerist culture in which we live. As S. Steve Kang (who has written well on inter-generational teaching in the church) writers, “Okholm invites readers to re-envision — namely, to reflect, remember, recommit, and rehearse — the life of God’s Kingdom.”  The world needs Kingdom people, and God’s reign a-coming needs Kingdom families. This invitation to a better way is very, very good.

Spirited Men: Story, Soul, & Substance  Brian Doyle (Cowley) $14.95  We only have a few of these left (it has gone out of print) but wanted to highlight it as it is so very interesting and, admittedly, a bit unusual. You may know Doyle as a fabulous Catholic writer, poet, storyteller, teacher.  He is the editor of the esteemed Portland Magazine.  There are endorsements on the back from poet Mary Oliver and the novelist David James Duncan, which gives you a huge clue to its caliber.  Here, Father Doyle ruminates in colorful prose about interesting soul men — from Van Morrison to Robert Louis Stevenson. What other book about men has a chapter on Plutarch of Greece (or William Blake or James Joyce?) Yep, many of these guys are shaped by their lives in the British Isles.  But there is an Australian, an American jazz man (Paul Desmond) and an American children’s author. Many you have heard of and a few you haven’t. Boyle suggests that he is offering “resurrections, restoration, reconsiderations, appreciations, enthusiasm, head-long solos, laughing prayers, imaginary meetings with most unusual and interesting men.”  Wow.

Cultivating Reality: How the Soil Might Save Us  Regan
Sutterfield (Cascade Books) $16.00 I don’t know if listing this here,
now, traffics in gender stereotypes (I’m currently reading a social
history of farm women in Iowa!) But for anyone who cares about land,
farming, the agrarian vision, or who just likes getting one’s hands
dirty, this is an amazing, perhaps one-of-a-kind book.  As Fred Bahson
writes of it, “Like tenacious alfalfa roots, which reach deep into the
ground and transfer essential nutrients to the soil’s surface, Ragan
Sutterfield digs deep into the subsoil of agrarian thought, Christian
faith, and his own experience as a farmer, and brings up life-giving
nourishment for all to share.”  What a graceful and creatively done
work, ruminating on land and place and the agrarian worldview of
farming, food, and faith.

Green Leaves for Later Years: The Spiritual Path of Wisdom  Emilie Griffin (IVP) $15.00  For those whose dads are getting up in years, and who are willing to read a book on contemplative spirituality by an older woman, this book is truly wonderful. She is a fantastic writer, has been writing about our interior lives for decades (and works still with Richard Foster’s Renovare ministry.) She has written about the workplace (she served in a corporate job in New York) and she has written about aging.  But she is most know as an eloquent teacher and fine writer about prayer.  This spiritual path of wisdom is for men or women, the aged, or those who plan to be.  Ha.  What a great little gem of a book.  Her friend poet Luci Shaw writes “Emilie Griffin writes grittily, wittily, and transparently. For Emilie, pain and transcendence live in the same body… A story of amazing grace and faithfulness.”
 

Lamentations of the Father Ian Frazier (WJK) $10.95  I almost forgot about this — we had so much fun with it years ago.  It is a small, comic, gift book, designed for dads with small children.  It is written to children as if by an Old Testament prophet, or maybe as if from Leviticus.

For instance,

Cast your countenance upward to the light, lift  your eyes to the hills, that I may more easily wash you off.  For the stains are upon you; even to the back  of your head, there is rice, thereon. 

This is how he starts a long diatribe about the complicate, but gracious, rules of getting desert.

For we judge between the plate that is  unclean and the plate that is clear, saying, first, if the plate is clean, then you shall have dessert. But of the unclean plate,  the laws are these:..

Or, a personal favorite,

And though your stick of carrot does indeed resemble a marker, draw not with it upon the table, even in pretend, for we do not do that, that is why.

Thou shalt howl with delight, thou wilt, and you will want to read it out loud to other irreverent parents.  The great illustrations by Bruce Zick are fun, too. We have this edition, while supplies last. The pieces found here are also found in a larger collection of essays by the author, without the illustrations.

Under Construction: Reframing Men’s Spirituality  Gareth Brandt (Herald Press) $13.99  Let it to the Mennonite’s to offer a profound, wonderful book that deconstructs the macho, pseudo-military, kick-butt, worldly vibe of many current evangelical men’s books. I have reviewed this before, and it celebrated it as a mature, wise, careful, nuanced, and good study of men’s ministry, pondering a truly Christ-like vision of masculinity. There is a foreword by the wonderful spiritual director and pastor Arthur Paul Boers.  There are candid stories, it is disarming (in more ways than one.) I appreciate his rejection of the warrior imagery as a main metaphor for Christian men.  He is a dreamer. He is a real man. He is a solid Christian.  He’s given us, here, one of the more important studies in the field.  Really, really nice.

From the Belly of the Whale: Poems of the Male Soul N. Thomas Johnson-Medland (Resource Publications) $17.00  Tom is an ordained United Methodist clergyman, has been a camp director, a garden-to-table chef, and now is CEO of a prominent hospice ministry. He is also a great writer and poet.  There are some good poems here about hiking, including a whole section called “Yosemite at Fifty: The John Muir Poems” which are very nice.

As his Franscian friend and popular men’s author Richard Rohr writes, “Men are rediscovering poettry if it speaks to their honest experience, people are rediscovering poetry when it is accessible and evocative. Well, here it is — for your discovery and enlightenment!”

Weakness is the Way: Life With Christ Our Strength  J. I. Packer (Crossway) $14.99  This is a small, compact hardback, sans dust-jacket, making it a cool-looking little gift. It is also a truly stunning work, a powerful remind of gospel-centered truth.  Christ is our strength.  We can embrace our frailties — whether one is wracked with pain, wracked with anxiety, or facing the common ailments of aging. Most of us try desperately to be sufficient on our own, and we resent our limitations and our needs.  Packer (who you should know is a very popular, thoughtful, Reformed theologian and gracious Bible teacher) was hit by a truck as a young man and is of course himself facing now his own older years and he is candid about that. Drawn from 2 Corinthians.  Watch this brief, but very moving,YouTube video of Packer talking about the book, here.

Like Dew Your Youth: Growing Up with Your Teenager Eugene Peterson (Eerdmans) $16.00 Holy moly, did you know that Peterson had a parenting book? Written early in the career of the careful, slow, mature theologian and spiritual author, it is nonetheless nearly timeless.  Granted, there isn’t anything in it about facebook or social networking with kids, but his wisdom is enduring and profound, his writing eloquent.  He claims that adolescence is a gift from God to the parent of middle-age.”  This is not your most typical book of can-do parenting advice but it is sage and solid.

Peterson is one of those authors that I think we should read anything he writes.  I’m glad this is still in print, and we commend it, for Father’s Day or for anyone who cares about teens.

BookNotes