I love writing about books and really appreciate those who have encouraged us, bought books from us, sent our BookNotes reviews out to their friends, pastors, church leaders, campus ministry staff. I know I often get a bit wordy, but, hey, that’s half the fun, eh?

Well, as they say, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet.  

Now you can listen to me talking about books, talking fast, trying to squeeze bunches of helpful book descriptions into an upbeat, 45 minute interview.

My good Texan friend Michael Schutt works in student ministry with law students through the Christian Legal Society (and is on staff at Regent University School of Law) and is the beloved, funny, emcee at the annual CLS national conference; Mike authored the serious-minded, one-of-a-kind book called Redeeming Law: Christian Calling and the Legal Profession which shows just how smart he is.

Mike hosts a bi-weekly podcast called “Cross & Gavel.”

It is designed for lawyers and others interested in the interface of religion and law. In a recent edition, for instance, he interviewed Professor John Inazu about his new University of Chicago Press book Confident Pluralism: Surviving and Thriving Through Deep Difference and they’ve hosted other excellent conversations about legal theory, justice, and issues of interest to those living out Christian conviction in the field of law. But sometimes offers conversations on less specialized topics. You can see the whole list of archived talks at itunes.

This new edition of the “Cross & Gavel” podcast features 45 minutes-worth of Mike asking me about books which I think are useful to help people of Christian faith sort through what to think about politics.

I start off talking about how we started the store and give quick descriptions of a few of my favorite books of this year — You Are What You Love by Jamie Smith, Andy Crouch’s Strong and Weak, Chris Smith’s fabulous Reading for the Common Good , the new Os Guinness, Impossible People — and then implored folks to pick up and study Uncommon Decency: Christian Civility in an Uncivil World by Richard J. Mouw.  It is one of my favorite books and it will give you many “aha” moments as you work through it.  Could a book possible be more timely?  I could have said more, but the clock was ticking and I had more than a dozen other books to talk about.

So here ya go:  listen in to Mike and me chatting about authors from Yuval Levine to James Skillen to Miroslav Volf, naming a couple of older classics about Christian views of government  to a few very new ones.  If you download and listen to podcasts often, you know the drill; you can even take this in the car with you.  (Or so I’m told.)  Even if you aren’t used to doing this, it’s simple. Just click on the link below and you’ll enjoy this fast-past chat about important books to help us “think Christianly” and approach our citizenship through the eyes of moderate, wise, winsome, interesting Biblical faith.

I love giving my quickie summaries of oodles of books, and you’ll hear a bit about us here at the shop, and you’ll learn about thoughtful Christian books that just might help us survive the crazy-making election season.

(Of course, even though we really packed a lot into that conversation, there are others I’d wished I had mentioned…. write me if you need a more thorough or diverse list. Really. But listen to the list, first.)

HERE IS AN INCENTIVE TO LISTEN TO THIS SOON:

25% OFF ANY BOOK MENTIONED.

You can get a 25% off discount on any of the books mentioned there at the “Cross & Gavel” podcast if you order by Saturday, August 20, 2016.  Just use the link below that takes you to our secure website order form page.

After 7/20 we will still offer a discount to our faithful on-line friends, a more customary 10% discount. But order now and get 25% off.

Click this link here to listen to the interview hosted by Mike Schutt.

Or, go to the nice Cross & Gavel site: http://crossandgavel.libsyn.com/byron-borger-talks-books-on-politics-more

TO ORDER BOOKS:

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