RESURRECTIONARY LIVING

Okay, I’ll admit. Maybe it’s hokey word.

I know it hasn’t caught on since I last used it here.

(Look back at some of the archived post-Easter BookNotes columns if you’d like; I’ve done a few on this very theme.)

I do kinda like the contrast with the over-used “revolutionary” word. (With apologies to N.T. Wright, whose book The Day the Revolution Began on the new-creation implications of the cross I truly, truly love.) I’m no political philosopher but I think Abraham Kuyper, the early 20th century pastor turned public theologian who became the Prime Minister of Holland, was on to something when he called his Christian political party the anti-revolutionary party. They were protesting the ugly “throw the baby out with the bathwater” overturning everything zeal of the French Revolutionaries, with their secularizing ideologies and guillotines. So Kuyper wanted reformation, not revolution. One doesn’t need to read Edmund Burke to see the wisdom of that.

But yet there is something pretty dramatic — in a way, revolutionary — about the claim that God came to Earth in a real human body, died, and was risen as a foretaste of the restoration of creation project God is all about. What Jesus called His Kingdom. What Wright calls, in his brand new one, God’s Homecoming. With Christ the crucified as risen King — “you can trust at God with scars” says Jared Ayers in his book by that name — we are, the Bible says, swept up in the movement, participants in the regime change, fueled by the Holy Spirit power that rose Christ out of the grave.

Here are a handful of books that come to mind that would help you double down on this essential truth. I know you’ll be told on Easter Sunday that the resurrection is everything. Maybe these books will help explore more of what that means and help you live it out.

You may know I love the old Rob Bell video simply called Resurrection. It is so spot on. There’s a line part way through when he stops amidst the visual sizzle and dramatic words about all of life being redeemed and he looks at the camera and asks Do. You. Believe. This?

As you’ve entered the story of God’s passion in these weeks we call Lent and especially when you experience the services of Holy Week and feel the horror of it all anew — for some of us it is reassuring that we are not alone in our suffering and the Holy Week church services are so very meaningful — you will then be primed for the mystery of Holy Saturday and the glories of Easter. It’s too early to say it now, but you know what we will shout on Sunday morning.

So if He is risen (indeed) then, so what?

Here are two handfuls of titles that could help connect some dots or inspire you anew. Some are for those who want sophisticated reading and others are a bit more basic; there is something for everyone. I won’t say as much about them as I could. Order them now and you’ll be glad next week to have some hefty help in being a resurrectionary.

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12 about the cross and resurrection

Resurrection: 8 Lessons on How God Restores Us Derek Vreeland (NavPress) $17.99 // OUR SALE PRICE = $14.39

“Never again will death have the last word.” This is large on the back of this “God in the Neighborhood” Bible study, a really fine and creatively done group study perhaps inspired by the Eugene Peterson paraphrase (from The Message) of John 1 where Christ “moves into the neighborhood.” The first excellent study in this series was Incarnation, followed by Crucifixion, and then this recent Resurrection which leads us through the Easter story where — as they put it — “God joins us in life anew.”

Life anew. I like that. Sounds resurrectionary. Or maybe like that line from the old Anglican and Lutheran liturgy (from Romans 8:4) about “walking in newness of life.”

I’m a fan of Vreeland’s books. He has a degree from Asbury and works with Brian Zahn at Word of Life Church in Missouri. I so appreciated his book Centering Jesus which reminds us that Christian discipleship is about conforming our ways to Jesus, becoming Christ-like. Anyway, he’s a good thinker and fine writer and in this 8-session study we explore the Easter story and how it leads to new life. Part of this newness, this study shows, is our own restoration to wholeness, with and in God.

There’s a small bit of reading and a closing prayer so even if you don’t have a group with whom to study this, you can use it devotionally or in your own bit of quiet time. The Message paraphrase of the Biblical texts keeps this fresh and applicable.

Journey into Joy: Stations of the Resurrection Andrew Walker (Paulist Press) $21.95 // OUR SALE PRICE = $17.56

We only have a few of these in stock but it is a wonderful book — full color art on sturdy, glossy paper — that adapts the classic Roman Catholic “Stations of the Cross” with a set of studies that follow Jesus and his disciples after the resurrection. It’s designed for the 40 days between the Resurrection and the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, highlighting the different places and ways in which Christ appears.

Not only is this richly illustrated with classic art, graphic quotes, and good design, there are Scripture reflections, poetry and prayer to help “lead the reader into an experience of the profound and transforming joy found in our risen Lord.”

Of the many paintings you’ll find pieces from Caravaggio, Fra Angelico, El Greco, Grunewald and more. Walker’s own good words are enhanced with lines from Chesterton, Kierkegaard, Niebuhr, Maya Angelou, and the powerful poem by Latin American poet and activist Julia Esquivel, “Threatened with Resurrection.” Very nice.

The Bedrock of Christianity: The Unalterable Facts of Jesus’ Death and Resurrection Justin W. Bass (Lexham Press) $18.99 // OUR SALE PRICE = $15.19

I could say a lot about this short (under 225 trim-sized pages) and punchy book, but suffice it to say it is a really solid argument explaining the evidence for and reliability of the historical information about the death and resurrection of Christ, the very bedrock of faith.  Bass is a good scholar (he’s been in friendly debates with everybody from Bart Ehrman to Mufti Hussain Kamani) and teaches New Testament at in Amman, Jordan.

This is an excellent succinct look at the historical data about Jesus, including a clear summary of what we know about the cruxificition, the resurrection, and the eye-witnesses who encountered him in his new body. The last big chapter is called “The Rise of the Nazarenes” and its a fabulous look at the influence of the followers of Jesus, including brief shou-outs to the great art, literature, music, and social reforms created by followers of Jesus or those in the wake of those living as resurrectionaries down through history. This is informative and useful for anyone, believer or not.

Living the Resurrection: The Risen Christ in Everyday Life Eugene Peterson (NavPress) $9.99 // OUR SALE PRICE = $7.99

Speaking of brother Eugene. This little book by Peterson has three short chapters opening up the post-resurrection appearances of Jesus. Resurrection wonder,  resurrection meals, and resurrection friends. There’s a truly memorable introduction by his son Eric Peterson.  Blurbs include lovely comments by Orthodox writer Frederica Matthews-Green, evangelical spiritual director Ruth Haley Barton, Catholic spiritual writer Susan Muto, Methodist preacher William Willimon, and more.

Easter: The Season of the Resurrection of Jesus Wesley Hill (IVP) $21.99 // OUR SALE PRICE = $19.99

I’ve talked about the Fullness of Time series endlessly but for those who have missed it, they are a set of seven small, compact hardbacks (curated and edited by Esau McCaulley) reflecting on the history of one season of the church calendar. Done by different folks of a generally Anglican bent, they offers insights about Biblical teaching informing the season and how that shapes the liturgy, habits practices, and spirituality for those who enter into those phases of Christian living. They are not daily devotionals but they are concise and really, really inspiriting. From Advent to Christmas to Epiphany, from Lent and now to Easter, they are all fabulous. The Pentecost one — to be read anytime, of course, but we celebrate the “day of power for all people” in May — by Fr. Emilio Alvarez is good and the most recent — Ordinary Time: The Season of Growth by Amy Peeler is fantastic.

Anyway, if you want a reminder of the Biblical, theological, and spiritual basis of a resurrectionary lifestyle inspired by rituals and habits experienced at church — and why Easter is a full season, not just a single day — I can’t say enough about this wise and celebratory reflection by the great Wes Hill. Order it today.

Wes is an Episcopal priest and energetic professor of New Testament at Western Theological Seminary in Holland, Michigan.

Living Easter: 50 Days to Practice Resurrection Laura Kelly Fanucci (Ave Maria Press) $24.95 // OUR SALE PRICE = $19.96

She starts with the words of St. John Paul II, who said, “We are an Easter people, and Alleluia is our song!”

What a great idea from this beloved Roman Catholic writer, speaker, and blogger (her Substack is The Holy Labor.) She has been on many Catholic media outlets as well as NPR’s Morning Edition, On Being, and The Kelly Clarkson Show. She is upbeat and down to Earth (and funny; her Substack on surviving cancer is called Not a Caring Bridge But a Compassionate Brigade.)

This is her new book which is a simple but clear-headed, wise set of Biblical reflections on the post-resurrection accounts of Jesus, each arranged with a reflection, a invitation to pray, and an (almost always very practical, do-able) action suggestion. There is brightly colored ink in the headlines and nice paper and a few colorful super graphics. Living Easter captures the spirit of living Easter. She has dual degrees from Notre Dame and an advanced MDiv but keeps this plainspoken and inspirational.

This book is not only thoughtful but also profoundly practical, offering ways to make Easter a daily reality. I recommend it to anyone who longs to carry the light of Easter into every corner of life. — Fr. Patrick Mary Briscoe, OP, cohost of the Gosdplaining podcast

The Wood Between the Worlds: A Poetic Theology of the Cross Brian Zahnd (IVP) $24.99 // OUR SALE PRICE = $19.99

I have written a bit about this before, always saying how beautiful it is, how it includes full color art, that it draws in history and literature and Dylan, of course. (Zahnd is a famous preacher and writer and he knows his Dylan.)  He explains that theologians and anyone who speaks about God must do so at the foot of the cross, that in this singular event, all that we need to know about God is present. I’ve suggested this for Lent, of course, but I think it would be wise to visit it any time. The penultimate chapter is about resurrection  — “The Lamb Upon the Throne”— and the final piece is resurrectionary, a reflection on Christ holding all things together as it says so poetically in Colossians 1.

To the apostolic witnesses, the cross of Christ was never a theory to be solved by theologizing, as if the calculative mind could solve its mysteries through abstraction. The cross can only be narrated, beheld, and shared as a transforming testimony–proclaimed in sermons, symbols, and parables, in the poetry and hymns of lives it has rebirthed. For over four decades, Brian Zahnd has been a poet-preacher-prophet of the cross. I daresay he’s an eyewitness theologian who kneels at its foot. This book is his revelation of who he has seen there. — Bradley Jersak, St. Stephen’s University, New Brunswick,  author of A More Christlike Word

The Suffering and Victorious Christ: Towards a More Compassionate Christology Richard Mouw & Douglas Sweeney (Baker Academic) $19.99 // OUR SALE PRICE = $15.99

This short, older book is accessible if on a deep topic. It is asking how it is that the Christ who made all things — include his fellow humans — also suffers with them. That is, it is that “you can trust a God with scars” thing, again. Yes, it is about the cross, but it is also about who Christ is (that’s the “Christology” word in the subtitle) and how Christ’s suffering is part of His glory. And it is about his victory.

What are the lived implications (they have a chapter on “application”) of the idea that the victorious Christ is also the Christ who suffers? Shouldn’t any resurrectionary project or missional sort of discipleship be shaped by the very ways in which Christ is victorious?

Here’s the thing: they get at this bit of “divine empathy” by exploring African American images and the spiritual insights of people of color. They look at Japanese Christians and black theology and listen to the pain of the oppressed. There is an excellent afterword by one of the most astute thinkers about race, Willie James Jennings.

Arise: A 50-Day Journey into the Mystery of the Resurrection Laura Bedingfeld (Sophia Institute Press) $18.95 // OUR SALE PRICE = $15.16

I have not looked at this big volume much but Bedingfeld’s biblical spirituality has been informed by years of Lectio Divina and careful, prayer and study. She is a dedicated Roman Catholic laywoman (in London) who has written widely about contemplative spirituality and living with theological understanding.

Alfred J. Freddoso, Professor Emeritus at the University of Notre Dame says, “This book promises a depth of understanding that we can translate into concrete resolutions for the daily living out of our role as witnesses of the Resurrection.” Gayle Somers (author of Whispers of Mary: What Twelve Old Testament Women Teach Us About Mary) says it is so wonderfully done that “it will fill your heart with joy and exaltation.”

Resurrection and Renewal: Jesus and the Transformation of Creation Murray A. Rae (Baker Academic) $28.99 // OUR SALE PRICE = $23.19

Murray Rae, with a PhD from the University of London, is a professor of theology and an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church Aotearoa, New Zealand. He’s written a lot, and this new one on the renewal wrought by the resurrection is (according to Joel Green) “both learned and theologically formative, even edifying.” Lucy Peppiatt of the Westminster Theological Center says it is “beautifully written, biblically-rooted, and theological rich.” It is heady, but insists that the bodily resurrection truly changes everything.

Allan Torrance (emeritus at University of St. Andrews) says it is “the most important and, indeed, exciting book on the resurrection to have emerged in half a century.”  Wow.

Whispers of Revolution: Jesus and the Coming of God as King Michael Bird (Baker Academic) $39.99 // OUR SALE PRICE = $31.99

There’s that revolutionary word, again, but I trust Bird so very much I’ll give him a pass. He certainly doesn’t imply we are sweeping away all of history; Bird explore’s how Jesus’s work is a fulfillment of ancient prophecy and that He is Israel’s savior. For him, this Kingdom “revolution” will be a restoration of all creation — not a demolishing but a healing. This is not as spicy and applicable as some of the stuff has done with N.T. Wright — think of Jesus and the Powers: Christian Political Witness in an Age of Totalitarian Terror and Dysfunctional Democracies — but it shows his academic writing as a historical theologian.  It is said he “forges a path through the tangle of” theories and scholarly debates about the historical Christ to propose the compelling idea that “Jesus was driven by the conviction that through his words and work, his mission and message, God was unveiling his kingdom in a way that would rescue Israel and eventually restore the whole world.”

He studies and explains the relevance of archaeology and Judean history and apocalypticism and “scrutinizes the sayings of Jesus” to show how this man, crucified by the Romans, “became the catalyst for a movement that would defy and then consume the Roman Empire.”

Liberated at the Cross: Peace and Reconciliation in God’s Kingdom Kristel Acevedo (IVP) $19.99 // OUR SALE PRICE = $15.99

 I said something like this a while ago when I commended this as a Lenten study. But, just as much, it is ideal for your group to study together to learn to be cross-centered resurrectionaries. Listen:

I am telling you, I have never seen such a rich and thoughtful small group Bible study on the topic of the cross and the social implications of a theology of atonement for peace and public justice. Okay, I’ve never seen any kind of Bible study on this (although there is a huge body of often academic literature showing how the cross brings both personal justification and cosmic reconciliation, how Christ’s death defeats the principalities and powers, how the victory of Christ in resurrection leads to a Kingdom of healing and restoration, etc. etc. etc.)

If you know that vast literature — whether its the teaching about the cross from John Stott or Ron Sider or James Cone or Jorgen Moltmann or Brian Zahnd or Sylvia Keesmaat or NT Wright or others with their unique contributions — you may have longed for their full-orbed visions of the transformative power of the cross to be offered in accessible Bible study formats. This is it and I am excited and grateful to Kristel Acevedo and to IVP for daring to do such a helpful, radical, faithful resource. Get a bunch and spread the word. This helps unpack what we should have known all along (but usually missed) about the resurrectionary implications of this climax of the Biblical story.

Each section is enhanced with bold super-graphics and bright headlines and cool, colorful design and each week has QR codes that have amazing videos to watch; this is not your father or mother’s fill-in-the-blank Bible study booklet. Nope, this is chock-full of ideas and activities and good, good conversation starters to help you be rooted in the cross and dream for a better world. The best part, of course, is the solid Biblical study you’ll do for six or more sessions. There are review pieces, “self-check” notes, closing prayers and more. Kristel, by the way, is discipleship director at Transformation Church a multiethnic community (pastored by Derwin Gray, author most recently of Lit by Love) near Charlotte NC. Highly recommended.

12 that could be useful for resurrectionary living

A Beautiful Year: 52 Meditations on Faith, Wisdom, and Perseverance Diana Butler Bass (St. Martin’s Essentials) $28.99 // OUR SALE PRICE = $23.19

I wouldn’t say this if I didn’t believe it, but I believe that thinking about time in a truly Biblically way, cultivating a deeply theologically and spiritually-imbued sense of our calendar is a key to living full of resurrectionary vigor. Hope isn’t a thing that is time-less, abstractly future, but something we live into anticipating the new creation that has actually begun. Now but not yet, we say. To think well about time we need philosophers like Jamie Smith (and his 2022 treasure, How to Inhabit Time: Understanding the Past, Facing the Future, Living Faithfully in the Now) or studies of the church calendar like, say, Sr. Joan Chittister’s The Liturgical Year: The Spiraling Advent of the Spirit Life. But for the most immediate way into thinking about time in a renewed way, to have your vision of your year shaped by the liturgical seasons, Bass’s A Beautiful Year is a can’t miss, fabulously written, oh-so-relevant set of reflections about just this. Yes, it starts in Advent but you can dip in anywhere, starting now in her excellent session about Holy Week and then Eastertide. These are very good.

This has been one of our biggest selling books of late last year and early this year, and I am very proud to call Diana a friend and supporter of our work here. I’m biased, true, but I think this book of weekly reflections is a great resource for anyone wanting to live wisely and fruitfully in these days.

In a blurb on the back cover, ecologist and activist Bill McKibben notes that in our cultural moment “many can’t summon the energy or hope required.” That’s why this book is important and how it can help. As Mariann Edgar Budde says, Bass is, “at once a teacher and fellow pilgrim” and “a wondrous guide.”

God’s Homecoming: The Forgotten Promise of Future Renewal N.T. Wright (HarperOne) $32.99 // OUR SALE PRICE = $26.39

I won’t say much more about this as I’ve highlighted it a few times. It could be seen as a more thorough, deeply Biblical, sequel to his game-changing Surprised By Hope. The vivid and important subtitle of that one explains this new one, too, it seems: “Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church.” You see, this bit about God’s offering future renewal — the very good news of a very wonderful second coming — is central. As it says on the back cover of God’s Homecoming: “Everything changes when you begin to believe God’s plan has never been to leave the world secreted and loves, but to dwell with us.”

Of course the cosmic (that is, creation-wide) restoration of all good stuff is shouted at loudly in bodily resurrection. We’re not waiting around until we die to get to heaven, we are living as new creatures now, full of grace with hints of glory.

I jumped ahead to peek at chapter 14 entitled “Life Beyond Death and the Calling of the Church.” What are we waiting for? We’re going to have to switch up the script a bit (as he notes in chapter 8) and learn to re-read texts more faithfully. We need to think about God, the Bible, and the human vocation in fresh ways. His chapter on worship, evangelism and pray gives plenty to chew on. His chapter on sacraments points towards a deeper understanding of a sacramental universe.  What a book!

What If Jesus Was Serious About Heaven? A Visual Guide to Experiencing God’s Kingdom Among Us Skye Jethani (Brazos Press) $16.99 // OUR SALE PRICE = $13.59

I’ve described these cartoony, multicolored, cleverly illustrated field guides to Christian living before. He did What If Jesus Was Serious which was about the Sermon on the Mount and follow that up with What if Jesus Was Serious About Church and What If Jesus Was Serious About Prayer, all wonderful little books falloff resurrectionary zip and clever teaching. Teens would even get a kick out of them, I’d think. Eventually  he did one called What If Jesus Was Serious About Justice which, again, is fun and illustrated, a real visual guide, as he puts to what the Bible demands on us.

The one, What If Jesus Was Serious About Heaven is brilliant. It is about the theme of the Kingdom of God and how our final destination is not living as disembodied souls in heaven, but in the return of God to create the new city, a restored culture in a renewed world. This “new heavens and new Earth” is straight Bible, but new to many. To live out of the resurrection experience — as resurrectionaries, as I put it — we must embrace a Kingdom vision. We have to admit that we’ve missed much Jesus’s own teaching about His inauguration of the reign of God.

It may not be exactly right to say this, and I have no idea if Jethani would agree, but in a way, this book is N.T. Wright’s eschatology for beginners. Surprised by Hope and now God’s Homecoming are extraordinary books, accessible and yet a bit demanding. What If Jesus Was Serious About Heaven — that is, what he really said and meant — could be your quick introduction tooth’s big picture stuff. It exalts Christ and helps us (especially visual learners) with cartoons and arrows and illustrations and charts. So fun! Let’s go!

Return from Exile and the Renewal of God’s People Nicholas G. Piotrowski (Crossway) $21.99 // OUR SALE PRICE = $17.59

This is another in a series which we’ve sometimes highlighted, Crossway’s “Short Studies in Biblical Theology.” This one explores themes of exile and homecoming, the restoring grace shown to God’s people in several instances in Scripture as the plot unfolds towards the fulfillment of the promises of God. Humankind’s separation from God begins with Adam and Eve exiled from Eden and then “echoes in the events throughout the Bible.” From various characters and even the imagery of tabernacle and temple, there is a promise of return and hope of restoration.

As it says on the back cover, “All of this climaxes in Jesus as he restores his people from exile into the joyful exception of the coming renewal of all things.” In fact, one chapters is called “Jesus into and out of the tomb.”

This little gem of meaty thinking can offer at least one big metaphor for living in these resurrectionary times. Maybe we can start thinking of ourselves (as Walsh & Bouma-Predigar suggest in Beyond Homelessness: Christian Faith in a Culture of Displacement) as stewards of renewed homes in restored places, anticipating cosmic homecoming from our displacement. The themes in Piotrowski’s little book of Biblical scholarship can fund insightful considerations of new ways to live into this central theme of return and renewal and restoration.

The Last Supper: Conversations That Led to the Cross Will Willimon (Abingdon) $17.99 // OUR SALE PRICE = $14.39

If I’d been more on top of things I would have realized this came out a few months ago, in time for a perfect Lenten read. Some of you (if your preachers follow the lectionary) were hearing sermons about the parables this season.  And if not, if you are a church-goer, or a Bible reader, you know a bit about the parables, right?

Willimon calls some of the riddles. Every page a blast. His moving introductory chapter I’ve read twice already, it is so rich. He offers these curious reflections on the parables (many quite brilliant) in the context of the time in Jesus’s life when he was heading to Jerusalem. He was heading towards the last supper. It is remarkable how this seasoned preacher and Bible exegete weaves the conversations Jesus was having with his disciples into the very actions of the last supper.

These “conversations that led to the cross” are so good, they are not to be missed. So what if you just did a sermon series of parables — all the better for this fresh take. So what if we’re in the season of Eastertide, living into the power of the resurrection. Part of resurrectionary living is always being grounded by our fundamental story, which certainly climaxes in what we now call Holy Week. So bring it on, anytime. I’ve read a lot of Will Willimon, and this is one of his best in a very long time.

If you journey with Jesus as he heads toward his last meal you’ll have to put up with his riddles.

What kind of Son of God, Prince of Peace, Savior of the World, would end up at super, the night before his death, with a cluster of losers, promising them a place at the table in his coming Kingdom?

This book is your answer.

Living Toward a Vision: Biblical Reflections on Shalom (revised edition) Walter Brueggemann (Santos Books) $18.99 // OUR SALE PRICE = $15.19

This was one of the earliest books by the great Walter Brueggemann, written for his UCC community in 1972 (that is, before his ground-breaking Prophetic Imagination or The Land.) It went through a reprint, and, then, a different publisher (Chalice) put it out under the title Peace (in their “Understanding Biblical Themes” series.) Now, Brueggemann’s late-in-life good friend, Conrad Kanagy, put it out in an expended, updated edition that has a new foreword by Walter. I wonder if it was the last major thing he wrote before his death last year.

I was deeply influenced by this book; most of my peace studies were by New Testament scholars and evangelical peaceniks. Brueggemann was not Anabaptist and a vibrant Old Testament guy. His words were life-changing for me, and I am delighted that Conrad got permission from Brueggemann to re-do this book with a fresh reprint.

It seems to me that for anyone who is living in the power of Christ’s resurrection, rooted in His reconciling work through His death on the cross, must work out what they think about being a peacemaker, working for shalom in this fracturedworld. Such peacemakers will help us resist the dangerous idols of Mammon and Mars, will “hunger and thirst” for the righteous of God which, in a word, can easily be summed up as shalom. If we don’t know the many usages of this in Scripture (and the contexts, often military and strategic) we will be ill-prepared to faithfully bear witness to the restoration of creation that God promises.

The Bible attests, writes Brueggemann in his new foreword, “that God is willing and able to tame, domesticate, and finally defeat the power of chaos…” Later, after naming the current threats of chaos, he proclaims that “the gospel is a summons and an empowerment to an alternative.” That’s resurrectionary! Get this book!!

To Live Well: Practical Wisdom for Moving Through Chaotic Times Alan Noble (IVP) $24.99 // OUR SALE PRICE = $19.99

We had highlighted this earlier as one to pre-order and it has now arrived (and we sent out copies to those who pre-ordered it.) Skip back a week or two if you’d like to see more of my initial comments. But trust me, Noble is a wise and good writer, somebody you will enjoy reading and appreciate for his clarity and insight. He’s culturally savvy, deeply Biblical, a bit of a philosopher — he’s a literature professor, actually — and yet deeply practical. His previous book was about emotional health and psychic and moral resilience, called On Getting Out of Bed, which I myself found reassuring and helpful.

This new one is fantastic, direct and no-nonsense, a study of virtue. If we are going to be resurrectionaries, pushing for God’s reform in all areas of life — honoring our place in history, making peace with the proximate, alive to the Spirit’s dreams — we are simply going to have to be deeper, better people. We have to live well.

One of the marketing pieces from the publisher said, “You were told to live a meaningful life but n one ever told you how.”  We are exhausted from the competing messages, with little clarity about what really matters and how to embody coherent values. In To Live Well you’ll be helped with explanations of our fragmented culture (and the mixed messages we get and the battering of our attention.) He writes about our moral imagination and true, human flourishing.

I love the simple structure of this with titles about renewed habits and conscientious practices. (That Justin Whitmel Earley wrote the foreword says something of the practical edge to this.) The chapters are Choosing Decisively, Acting Justly, Suffering Steadfastly, Living Moderately, Believing Soundly, Hoping Resolutely,  and Loving Rightly.

Near the end he writes, “As society continues to spin away from any sort of central moral standard, and as norms continue to shift, we will continue to feel an aching anxiety about what it means to live as a full human person.”  This means we need community, we need to be aware of our own failures embracing a God-based perseverance; we need grace.

Better Than Normal: Virtues for an Off-Script Life MaryAnn McKibben Dana (Eerdmans) $19.99 // OUR SALE PRICE = $15.99

If the carefully-written, sober book by Alan Noble (a Baptist university professor) seems a bit heavy, then this one— written by a mainline denominational pastor and stand up comic — might be more your speed. I love her assumption in this brand new release that “normal is a myth — and recognizing that truth can free us all.” If the world is obsessed with fitting in, Better Than Normal gives us a better image, a better way, a vision of knowingly not fitting in. (Didn’t the Bible say something about being “non conformed.”) Think of MLK’s call to be righteously “maladjusted.”

I was captivated by Dana’s first book, a fun memoir called Sabbath in the Suburbs and really enjoyed her book called God, Improv, and the Art of Living. A few years ago she did Hope: A User’s Manuel. She is an associate pastor at Trinity Presbyterian Church in Herndon, VA, a generous PC(USA) church that underscores the essential dignity of all. It seems to be a “better than normal” community.

In Better Than Normal McKibben Dana shares a bit about the mental health struggles in her family and critiques how society shapes our understanding of worthiness and belonging. As it says on the back (I haven’t read it yet as it just came a day ago) “Her expansive vision encompasses anyone living outside society’s narrow bounds: neurodivergent individuals, LGBTQ+ people, racial minorities, those with disabilities and more. And she demonstrates that liberation comes not from adjusting to dominant culture, but from creating spaces where all people can thrive authentically.”

Here’s are the chapters, three in each of two sections.

• Part 1: Individual Values
• 1. From Certainty to Curiosity
• 2. From Comfort to Courage
• 3. From Productivity to Presence
• Part 2: Communal Values
• 4. From Artifice to Authenticity
• 5. From Blandness to Beauty
• 6. From Competition to Community
• Perhaps we could describe this as an upbeat guide to “the collective work of transformation.”

Lifting the Veil: Imagination and the Kingdom of God Malcolm Guite (Square Halo Books) $18.99 // OUR SALE PRICE = $15.19

Oh my, surely we know that a part of bearing witness to the newness Christ is bringing to His fallen world is a renewed focus on goodness and beauty. We simply must have the renewed mind (as Romans 12:2 calls it) and more generally, must work to place ourselves under the influence of those who will stoke our imaginations in life-giving ways. There are so many books these days about the arts and creativity, about renewing our efforts to promote the allusive gifts of imagination and play. Not all of us are artists, of course, but we all are call to steward and cultivate the imaginative sides of our lives. We need novels and paintings, poets and singers, potters and playwrights. You get the picture.

Malcolm Guite is a world-class poet from the UK (we stock all of his poetry volumes) who has also given considerable time pondering a Christian aesthetic. He wonders about the imagination and seems to be on a quest. (Some think he may actually be some sort of hobbit.) His work, here, now in this lovely short book, was originally given as dynamic lectures at Regent College in British Columbia; these presentations have been handsomely compiled and illustrated with all kinds of great art — old etchings by Blake and modern charcoal by Wayne Forte and handsome woodcuts by Stephen Cross and a famous illustration of The Prodigal Son by Rembrandt, and more. He gives rightful kudos to Square Halo Books for releasing this important contribution, sort of a foundation for his poetic work.

You may recall that I invited folks to pre-order Guite’s now brand new Galahad and the Grail, so very handsomely done by Rabbit Room Press ($34.99 // OUR SALE PRICE = $27.99.) It is the first time in over a century that a poet has done an epic ballad telling the whole Knights of the Roundtable, Guinevere, Lancelot and King Arthur stories. We heard him lecture on this last week and it fired our imaginations greatly. We have some autographed copies left, if anybody wants to order them at our 20% off. Galahad, by the way, is the first of a projected four volume set that will come out over the next two years. This first one is one of the most handsome and well-made books I’ve seen this year.

Anyway, for resurrectionaries needing a short but weighty reminder or some guidance about a faithful use of our imaginations, the four talks in Lifting the Veil: Imagination and the Kingdom of God by Malcolm Guite might be good for you. The chapters are, “Imagination and the Kingdom of God”, “Christ and the Artistic Imagination”, “Christ and the Moral Imagination”, and “Christ and the Prophetic Imagination.”

In an epilogue Malcolm cites a Blake poem and reminds us that “all prophetic art is intended to arouse us and stir us to action. How do we awake from the deadly sleep?” This is the resurrectionary question — how do we lift the veil?  Pondering this book is part of the answer.

Made to Belong: Five Practices for Cultivating Community in a Disconnected World David Kim (Thomas Nelson) $19.99 // OUR SALE PRICE = $15.99

I suppose sometime I should do a whole BookNotes column about living in community, about relationships transformed and healed, about church life and such. From the classic Life Together by Bonhoeffer to the treasure Living Into Community by the late Christine Pohl, there are so, so many good ones. Just yesterday we got The Way Back to One Another: How to Live as People Created for Community by Jeff Galley & Phillip N. Smith (IVP; $18.99 // OUR SALE PRICE = $15.19. One of the authors is a central Pennsylvania guy and it looks really good.)

For this list, I want to list something for resurrectionaries who want to make a difference in their lives, living well for God’s Kingdom without falling into quietude and personalism on one hand or zealous revolutionary idealism on the other. How do we keep our spirits up in these crazy times? How do we discern what is ours to do? How do we continue on in spiritual practices that are hard (even if life-giving and transformative in the long haul.) Where can we find healing from our wounds and brokenness? How do we really become resurrectionaries in practice?

One part of the answer is that we simple have to have a band of friends around us to help us on the Christian journey. As every such books insists, we cannot go it alone. The Christian life is by definition a matter of being enfolded intern alternative community, a fellowship of friends, a support network, a life-shaped tribe. Each and every one of us needs supportive community.

David Kim’s book is one of the best we’ve seen on this question about how community can help shape our deepened discipleship. Sure, we have the felt need of a “great ache of loneliness” and community is the antidote to that. (Justin Earley’s Made for People: Why We Drift Into Loneliness and How to Fight for a Life of Friendship [$19.99 // $15.99] is a great resource on that — highly recommended. )

Made To Belong is ideal for reading alone or in a group, and it seems to me to have an air of resurrection about it. That is, you can do this! It is positive. These are practices taken up by those who believe God is at work in the world and want to participate in Christ’s redemptive mission. Kim draws from Biblical wisdom and has plenty of personal stories. It’s a good read. He has experience in pastoral ministry and he knows how to guide us into how to get involved with others, on how to really belong. From research about best practices to theology and spiritual formation to practical guidance, Made to Belong shares plenty.

He offers five simple, powerful practices for creating a meaningful and transformative community. I am sure that this book will help you deepen your relationship with others and you relationship with God.

Hints of Hope: Essays on Making Peace with the Proximate Steven Garber (Paraclete Press) $24.95 // OUR SALE PRICE = $19.96

I quipped a previous time I highlighted Steve’s important and altogether lovely recent book that I was going to keep telling folks about it, over and over, if needs be. I really do think, in ways perhaps to complicated to explain here, that it is a very rare books, unique in it’s impact and extraordinary for the ways in which those who love it become very humble but devoted fans of Steve and his work. Part of it is that Steve evokes a seriousness of relationships on line and in his rigorous speaking schedule. If somebody wants to take ideas serious, if someone is seeking coherent and meaning and stamina for living meaningfully in our time, in their own ways and places, he will talk. He will stay in touch. He will recommend books and articles. (He will send them to us, sometimes, so we can be their personal bookseller.) He wants quite earnestly to be of service so the words he labored over come to life in the lives of readers.

The heart of this book seems resurrectionary to me. That is, he is asking, even if we are alive in the power of the Spirit, shaped by vibrant worship, aligned with the risen Lord, there is, for most of us, the very tough question of how we sustain what Peterson’s famous book calls us to: a long obedience in the same direction. How do we keep on keeping on, knowing what we know about the brokenness of the world. Can our story be sustained by framing it by the bigger Story of all stories?

The lovely cover hints at a story early in the book about Steve’s love of seashells. He’s eloquent in showing how beauty shines through the brokenness of each one. Drawing on great literature and film he draws us in, over and over, to visions that can sustain us for the long haul. He tells wonderful stories from around the world, many which are woven together in such as way that they would resonate deeply with each other. He will write of an urban doctor who cares for the homeless or a fabulous vignette about his hero John Perkins or a window into the lives of those working in the Telos Group who labors for peacemaking among Israeli’s and Palestinians, brave folks who offer goodness day and night, and then he’ll highlight the Japanese art form using broken pottery called kintsugi, as told by Mako Fujimura. The book covers so much — it meanders a bit, in the best way — but hangs together to help readers deeply understand and cultivate this way of seeing.

A chapter called “Love in the Ruins” (swiping from Walker Percy) maybe says it best.

The book looks hard at this sad world but it is — get this! — not bleak. It is full of hope and invites us to habits of hopefulness that will endure. His key is “making peace with the proximate” and you’ll have to read the book to get all the nuances and wisdom of that.

Can we continue on in hope of the coming restoration by living into the resurrection now, bit by bit, honoring the deepest realities of life? With gladness of heart, even, yes, indeed.  Without simplistic formulas or more to-do lists, Hints of Hope is a book to live with in this season of joy.

Resurrection & Contemporary Spirituality: Navigating Faith in an Uncertain World edited by David Ponta & Amanda Avila Kaminski (Paulist Press) $32.95 // OUR SALE PRICE = $26.36

This is an academic book for serious scholars of theology and spirituality, maybe what might seem a tad arcane, but the title makes it too good not to share in this list. The overarching question in this anthology of 13 chapters (and a fine epilogue by Philip Sheldrake) is what the relationship is between the facts and creedal affirmation of the resurrection of Christ and our own spiritual lives in the “the secular age.” In the heady but captivating preface they suggest the book is seeking “A Resurrection Spirituality: An Easter Imagination for Everyday Life.” See what I mean! So apropos and so exciting.

The book Resurrection and Contemporary Spirituality offers a wide-ranging and appreciative conversation  with Sandra Schneiders,

The first major chapter is, in fact, by the world class scholar Sandra Schneiders, a nun with degrees in philosophy, patristics, New Testament, and spirituality from prominent Catholic institutions like Institute Catholique in Paris and the Gregorian in Rome who taught at an important Jesuit school in Santa Clara, California.  Her opening piece is called “Christian Spirituality in an Age of Uncertainty” which sets the stage. The next chapter is a response to Schneiders (by Bernard McGinn of the Divinity School at the University of Chicago) called “Insights from the Easter Sermons of Three Mystics” (which briefly looks at Easter messages from Augustine, Gregory, and Eckart.)

More substantive is “The Transfigurative Hermeneutics of Sandra Schneiders: A Strategy for Transformative Knowing in an Age of Deconstruction and Despair” by Amanda Avila Kaminski (who notes that trauma is “the zeitgeist of a generation” which calls forth “the theopoetics of possibility.” In her hands the Transfiguration becomes a metaphor for “seeing and unseeing.” Kaminski, like Schneiders, is attuned to the suffering of this world and yet says “her work is a tour de force in the theopoetics of hope, one not passively awaiting for further eschatological glory or triumphalistically proclaiming political power or economic might. She asks: if we cannot see here camped in the midst of misery then where?”

There are other good, academical pieces, laden with the strengths and weaknesses of this genre of writing. But a few are clear and delightful.  Lauren Winner has a wonderful chapter on resurrection and prayer. Her vignettes are super smart — as always she weaves together insights from her wide reading — and colorful. She prays in graveyards and art museums.

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BookNotes