Beth and I and the rest of our team here at Hearts & Minds — Amy, Debi, Diana, and our little dog Rory — offer you greetings for a Merry Christmastime. We hope your Advent yearning has in some ways shifted to a celebration of the in-breaking of the Kingdom of God, discerned most clearly in the story of the incarnation. A pastor and author we admire, Rich Villados (author of Good and Beautiful and Kind), posted on Facebook some words of advice to preachers who were prepping before last Sunday’s services, and he said to just “trust the story.” Yes, yes, indeed. We hope you are learning with your families and faith communities to indwell this unfolding redemptive story where the long-awaited Baby King comes to heal the groanings of all creation. It’s a story of comfort and joy we hope you have found your own place in that story.

One of the ways we are reminded to do that — over and against the secularizing creep of the world’s pressures and its encroaching upon our imaginations — is to see our days and seasons in light of the big story told by the church calendar. One need not be in a highly liturgical church to have one’s sense of time shaped by the liturgical calendar, and there is (we are slowly finding) a unique benefit of spiritual formation when we pay less attention to the worldly and American celebrations and are instead more intentionally shaped by the church reminders over the course of a year of the life of Jesus. Sometimes these reminders are allusive and symbolic, which I think might be part of their normative power.

This was, in fact, why we hosted a webinar a month ago with my friend, the theological rock star, Paul Louis Metzger. We chatted for more than an hour about a book released not long ago done in association with the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship, a lovely study called Setting the Spiritual Clock: Sacred Time Breaking Through the Secular Eclipse (Cascade; $34.00; OUR SALE PRICE = $27.20.)

It is almost a daily devotional, written with thoughtful pieces to last a whole year, through and about the church seasons and we really, really appreciate it. It is a different book than his previous More Than Things: A Personalist Ethics for a Throwaway Culture (IVP Academic; $48.00.) IVP expertly hosted a free webinar with me and Paul discussing that book earlier in the year — you can check that out, HERE if you’d like. It was an impressive hour, believe me.

If More Than Things was a studious, deep bit of theological work on public life, social ethics, offering a Biblically-inspired vision of caring for people as people well (in contexts as diverse as disability studies, gender and sexuality, war, racism, medical ethics, and so forth) this Setting the Spiritual Clock one is easier to read, a guide full of Biblical reflections that help us focus on the highlights of the church year. (But the author’s wise, socially conscious worldview seeps through, offering more than an internal piety that doesn’t touch the real world or a fastidious traditionalism.) Starting in Advent, Metzger offers inspiring pieces that will surprise, delight, and challenge. On it goes through Christmastide and Epiphanytide into Holy Week, Eastertide, and Ordinary Time — with a couple of surprising devotionals on Memorial Day, the 4th of July, on Mothers and Fathers Day, Halloween, Earth Day and the like — this book promises to help us “reset” if we are “out of joint.” And who isn’t?

Setting the Spiritual Clock: Sacred Time Breaking Through the Secular Eclipse (Cascade; $34.00; OUR SALE PRICE = $27.20) invites us to and gives us tools to live into the story of God, to imagine time as sacred, to have the seasons and rhythms of God inform our days and lives. It’s almost 290 pages and one of the grandest devotionals you can get. It was an honor to talk with him about it at that webinar and it is our delight to share it with you here.

HERE is the free link to the on-line conversation we had about Setting the Spiritual Clock. It is about a book we truly value by an author whose friendship means much. It was a discussion about a book that we were honored to help promote and I wanted to suggest it even now as we are soon to turn our calendars ahead to a new year. We hope you enjoy the recording of the webinar. Part way through you’ll discover that there were provocative questions offered by online participants and we jive around all over, with Paul masterfully responding to all sorts of questions and comments. One or two were a bit skeptical, one or two wondered how he might expand his insights about the rhythms and seasons built into the creation, and others wanted some practical help about how to get one’s spiritual formation practice more attuned to the liturgical seasons. Can this really help us as people? And what about church — what about worship styles and practices? As always, Paul invites us to read more and think together, to pray and seek God, to trust the Spirit. I think you’ll enjoy the chit chat and appreciate his warm and wise insight.

Dr. Paul Metzger is an excellent scholar (Professor of Theology & Culture at Multnomah University and Seminary and the Director of the Institute for Cultural Engagement: New Wine, New Wineskins) and yet is so personable and gracious and helpful. It’s a fun conversation. (Thanks to publisher Wipf & Stock for helping us pull it all off.)  Again: here it is, the link to the webinar we held in late November. Enjoy.

7 MORE BOOKS TO HELP YOU THINK ABOUT TIME & THE CHURCH YEAR – all 20% off

Epiphany: The Season of Glory Fleming Rutledge (IVP) $20.00  OUR SALE PRICE = $16.00

I really appreciate the “Fullness of Time” series edited by Esau McCaulley, including the most recent — and quite timely — Christmas: The Season of Life and Light by Emily Hunter McGowin. Here is what I wrote when I advertised it in an Advent BookNotes column more than a month ago:

Well, if Tish Warren’s warm but serious study of Advent in the Fullness of Time series made me cry and Emily Hunter McGowin’s remarkable study, Christmas, made me gape in wonder at the full 12 days, this brand new one by the great Fleming Rutledge is nothing short of spectacular. I was so very glad when I heard that she was invited to contribute to this series — how could she not be included! — and while she has the magisterial, definitive collection of sermons on Advent and Holy Week (in Advent and , respectively) she has not written much about Epiphany.

I have skimmed this already, not really wanting to study and underline and ponder its glory quite yet — it feels like cheating — but I can tell you that it is substantive, serious, excellently researched, loaded with Bible exploration and preacherly cadences. It is just over 160 pages (granted, the compact sized hardback isn’t huge) and she offers wisdom, insight, some rebuke, some warning, and lots of very good news. This little release is, in fact, a huge publishing event. I don’t know if it is Fleming’s last book but it is important and to be cherished.

In Epiphany: The Season of Glory, Rev. Fleming Rutledge shows how recovering a delight in the glory of God in Jesus Christ is ‘needed by the church right now as a drowning person needs a lifeboat.’ Written with joyful urgency yet patient wisdom, this book should be required reading for pastors seeking to recover the wonder of Epiphany. Veterans and newcomers to celebrating the liturgical year will find a treasure of biblical and theological insight in this succinct yet potent work. Moreover, anyone who aches for an alternative to the empty ‘glories’ so widely pursued today will be nourished by this exposition of the strange yet beautiful reality of God’s resplendent glory, displayed in the crucified Lord. — J. Todd Billings, professor of theology at Western Theological Seminary, author of The End of the Christian Life

With palpable reverence and predictable erudition, Fleming Rutledge unearths the riches of the most overlooked season of the liturgical year. Epiphany is all about glory, chiefly the glory of the person of Christ revealed in majesty and power as the King of the Jews and Lord of the Gentiles in key moments of the biblical drama. In Epiphany and the season leading up to Lent, the church gathers a fresh chance to behold the glory of her Lord and to renew itself in the work of proclaiming his glory to the world. — Katelyn Beaty, journalist, author of Celebrities for Jesus

How to Inhabit Time: Understanding the Past, Facing the Future, Living Faithfully Now James K.A. Smith (Brazos Press) $24.99  OUR SALE PRICE = $19.99

Those who follow BookNotes know I am a big fan of Jamie Smith. While a few of his books are very philosophically deep, and all are informed by his work as a Christian philosopher, many of his books are ideal for what we imagine as the thoughtful layperson. Not technically a scholar, but readers willing to spend the time to read substantive, important books. Smith can move from deep theological truths to contemporary culture in the blink of an eye and is one of the very best writers showing us how to “hold the Bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other,” as the saying goes. (And he’ll have a footnote saying who first said it, and another about a scholar who might warn us from misguided attempts.) I love him dearly and his book on time was a bit more elusive than some. It is a bit more demanding than You Are What You Love or even On the Road with Saint Augustine but it is not academic. One of the things that maybe made How to Inhabit Time a bit challenging is because, well, to be honest, as Metzger put it, there is this “secular creep.” We just find it hard to think about time, to imagine it, let alone to do so influenced by what Christian thinkers with Biblical wisdom have taught. Your typical pop-level book about Christian living just doesn’t touch this foundational stuff, even if it is the very air we breathe.

This offers sustained reflections on “the spiritual significance of time” starting with a riff on why many of us don’t even consider it. Like our “geography of nowhere” we are, too often, “nowhen” We are disconnected from the past and (at least some brands of Christianity) have us suppose that are above the fray, “above the flux of history” or immune to it.  And get this, as it says on the back cover (and as he makes an remarkable case in several important chapters) our “lack of an awareness of time and the effects of history — both personal and collective — (cause us to be) native about current issues, prone to nostalgia, and fixated on end times.”

This question of how we think about time sounds a bit heady, sure. One of the blurbs on the back is by Sophfronia Scott, who is a student of the mystic Thomas Merton. Granted. But even the great Archbishop of Canterbury (The Most Rev. Justin Welby) — who knows a thing or two about the liturgical calendar, obviously — has said, simply, that “this book has helped me — genuinely.” If the distilled wisdom and applied cultural thinking has helped him “think about time in a fresh way” I am sure it can do the same for you.

Living the Christian Year: Time to Inhabit the Story of God. Bobby Gross (IVP Formatio) $25.00  OUR SALE PRICE = $20.00

I have admired Bobby Gross for years and when he released this lovely daily devotional about the church year and sacred time, we wanted to host him here — our book party ended up being an Epiphany worship service. Ever since I’ve been very touched by certain devotional readings in this year-long collection and recommend it often. Usually, we display it whenever we set up a section at a book table that includes daily devotionals. But here, when pondering the influence of the “spiritual clock” and highlighted this webinar with Paul Metzger, I have to give it a renewed shout out. Bobby did not grow up in the liturgical church and so when he started attending a solid Episcopal church in New York (with his friend writer and poet and spiritual guide Madeleine L’Engle) he wanted to write a guide to this practice of keeping time in a way that those unfamiliar with the seasons would appreciate. Add to this one of the most influential essays I have ever read — the brief introduction by Lauren Winner — Living the Christian Year is a fine, conventional devo with 366 succinct daily readings, including a Bible text and a closing prayer. Highly recommended.

Ancient-Future Time: Forming Spirituality Through the Christian Year Robert Webber (Baker) $20.00  OUR SALE PRICE = $16.00

I could say much about the late, great Robert Webber, an liturgical evangelical who was raised in a low church, Baptist-like setting. He rose to prominence by writing several extraordinary books about Christian and culture (The Secular Saint and People of the Truth) but increasingly was drawn to writing about worship. He predicted in the 1970s (in Evangelicals on the Canterbury Trail) that more evangelicals would be drawn to liturgical churches and his work on worship — dozens of books both large and small — invited everyone to think harder about the form, content, and aesthetics of true worship. He began calling his project “ancient future” which had certain resonance with younger evangelicals and postmodern emergents. His Ancient Future Church was seminal and his Ancient Future Worship and Ancient Future Spirituality were excellent. This, then, Ancient Future Time, invited the newbies to more liturgical and artful forms of worship and prayer to consider the influence of the historic practices of the seasonal church calendar. For Bob, as he was called, it was more than simplistic rules about colors or holy days, but about how we construed time, our worldviews, our spiritual formation as Christians in the modern world. Metzger and Smith and Gross (above) all are quick to affirm that they are in his debt.

The Liturgical Year: The Spiraling Adventure of the Spiritual Life Joan Chittister (Thomas Nelson) $18.99  OUR SALE PRICE = $15.19

In the years before she died, the great literary, down-to-Earth spiritual writer (and advocate for healthy change within the book industry) Phyllis Tickle curated and edited a set of books called the “Ancient Faith” series. More could be said about each — they included titles like Sabbath by Dan Allender and Fasting by Scot McKnight and a beautiful one on fixed hour prayer by Robert Benson and more — but this one, on keeping the church calendar, was a highlight for many. Written by a progressive Catholic Benedictine nun (who has long been an active peacemaker and public justice leader), Sister Joan is beloved by many. About half of the book’s 30-some short chapters are about time, calendars, spiritual formation, following Jesus, worship, sabbath-keeping, feast days, and how the liturgical life “is not a relic from the past, but a resounding reality of life in the present lived out of an ancient but living faith.” She is wisely setting the stage for the second half which reflects on each of the seasons and times important in the cyclical church seasons. As Sister Joan puts it, “the liturgical year is an adventure in bringing the Christian life to fullness, the heart to alert, the soul to focus…it concerns itself with questions of how to make a life.”

Feasts for the Kingdom: Sermons for the Liturgical Year Khaled Anatolios (Eerdmans) $19.99  OUR SALE PRICE = $15.99

Who better than pastors and priests in the Byzantine Orthodox tradition to teach us how to understand the highlights of the church calendar? And what better way than to spend time reading sermons preached in keeping with the liturgical calendar, by an eloquent Orthodox preacher. These remarkable sermons are just that, messages offered in a real congregation (in a Melkite Greek Catholic Church, actually, a denomination that has its roots among Arabic-speaking Christians in the Middle East.) The messages are not generic, but specific, always based on the Bible, with a focus on Christ. Most sermons are about what their tradition calls Feast Days, which is to say, the celebrations of the seasons. They are made germane, even if deeply theological and festive, by being related to issues of the day. A few sermons are unique (one is an “election homily” entitled “Voting in Christ: Evangelical Counsel Before a Federal Election” and a few funeral and wedding homilies.

In a stirring forward, Reformed Protestant preacher Cornelius Plantinga notes that Father Anatolios trusts the text. He does not try to supply “his own juice” but trusts the power of the gospel. These messages are guided by their place in the liturgical seasons, but, finally, they are about the Kingdom of God, about salvation, about union with Christ in the struggle of daily discipleship. They will prepare your heart for feast days and other sorts of days as we grow into “resetting our spiritual clocks.”

Sacred Seasons: A Family Guide to Center Your Year Around Jesus Danielle Hitchen with illustrations by Stephen Crotts (Harvest House) $29.99  OUR SALE PRICE = $23.99

Here is what I wrote about this marvelous, handsome, big family devotional when we highlighted it at BookNotes a few weeks back:

Kudos to publisher Harvest House for doing a evangelically-rooted family prayer book that is attentive to the liturgical calendar. Some of you enjoyed that webinar we did with Paul Louis Metzger last week (around his book Setting Your Spiritual Clock ) and had I found time, I would have given this new resource a big shout-out. It is just slightly oversized, a nice hardback, with some handsome etchings and woodcuts in gold and red ink — it’s fabulous; very cool without being too glitzy.

UK Anglican poet Malcolm Guite has a great endorsement on the back (which is sort of rare) saying that Sacred Seasons is “a warm, winning, and above all practical introduction to the traditional church year.”

It is a handsomely designed book but it also has fun activities, delicious recipes, alongside the meaningful liturgies. It gently invites families into the ancient Christian disciplines of attending to the rhythms and cycles of the church calendar with a clear gospel focus on Jesus. Very nicely done.

+++

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It is helpful if you tell us how you want us to ship your orders.And if you are doing a pre-order, tell us if you want us to hold other books until the pre-order comes, or send some now, and others later… we’re eager to serve you in a way that you prefer. Let us know your hopes.

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There are generally two kinds of US Mail options and, of course, UPS.  If necessary, we can do overnight and other expedited methods, too. Just ask.

• United States Postal Service has the option called “Media Mail” which is cheapest but can be a little slower. For one typical book, usually, it’s $4.12; 2 lbs would be $4.87. This is the cheapest method available and seems not to be too delayed.
• United States Postal Service has another, quicker option called “Priority Mail” which is $8.50, if it fits in a flat-rate envelope. Many children’s books and some Bibles are oversized so that might take the next size up which is $9.20. “Priority Mail” gets much more attention than does “Media Mail” and is often just a few days to anywhere in the US.
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If you just want to say “cheapest” that is fine. If you are eager and don’t want the slowest method, do say so. It really helps us serve you well so let us know. Keep in mind the possibility of holiday supply chain issues and slower delivery… still, we’re excited to serve you. Blessed Advent.

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As we move from the nearly somber, yearning season of waiting — longing to get out of the “bleak mid-winter” even as we know we aren’t truly out, yet — and into the festive 12 days of Christmas (leading then into what Fleming Rutledge in her must-read little book Epiphany calls “the season of glory”) we are eager to celebrate some forthcoming titles that will be released soon in the month of January.  See what I did there?  I’m causing you to wait with eager expectation, hoping to bring even some joy here, now, along the way as we anticipate what’s just around the bend.

Maybe that’s a clever metaphor or maybe a down-to-Earth rehearsal of our awaiting God’s restoration of all things when the final climax of history unfolds, but for now, it’s fun, (isn’t it?) to pre-order some forthcoming books.

Or, maybe you can pre-order one as a special Christmastime gift for someone — print out the book cover and tell ‘em Hearts & Minds will be sending them one in a couple of weeks.

I will highlight seven that we are very, very excited about.

Naturally there are many more a-coming and plenty of good ones coming further out — think about the grand collection of Brueggemann pieces curated and edited by Conrad Kanagy to be called The Emancipation of God: Postmarks on Cultural Prophecy (January 30, 2024) or the moving memoir by Mike Cosper, Land of My Sojourn: The Landscape of a Faith Lost and Found (expected mid February from IVP) or the already much-discussed Reading Genesis by novelist and essayist Marilynne Robinson (due March 12, 2024.) And I can hardly wait to see a major March release by Square Halo Books, which will surely be a fabulous work on the Holy Spirit in Narnia, called (what else?) Aslan’s Breath: Seeing the Holy Spirit in Narnia by Matthew Dickerson (with some illustrations by Ned Bustard.) April seems a long way off but some BookNotes readers will want to pre-order Thriving on a Riff: Jazz and the Spiritual Life by our friend Bill Carter, a Presbyterian pastor, preacher and jazzman. See what I mean!

HERE ARE 7 COMING IN JANUARY THAT YOU SHOULD PRE-ORDER NOW. ALL ARE 20% OFF.

If you pre-order these now we won’t send an invoice or charge your credit card until we actually send the books. A few have specific street-dates and we cannot send them early; others we will get early and we are allowed to send them. Order now and you will be among the first to receive them. We are grateful for your support.

It is helpful if you are pre-ordering more than one if you tell us if you want them consolidated and shipped together or, rather, as soon as each releases. 

Black Liturgies: Prayers, Poems and Meditations for Staying Human Cole Arthur Riley (Convergent Books) $22.00  OUR SALE PRICE = $17.60  //  ON SALE January 16, 2024

Granted, we have a number of friends and customers that have known Cole so her debut memoir, This Here Flesh, was a very good seller for us. It was very well received, got some serious attention by poets, black activists, folks who appreciate her theme that stories are how we best recall the meaning of our lives. That stunning book was nearly breathtaking at times as she ruminated on memories and her earlier and current life. She admits to issues of chronic pain and illness and yet loves the sensual embodiedness of this here life. What a book.

Another reason that book sold well and was eagerly received was because of her huge circle of folks engaged with her social media posts — started informally in the wake of the George Floyd murders and too much public discourse mocking anti-racist perspectives — followers of “Black Liturgies.” Sometimes poetic sayings, sometimes affirmations, sometimes more conventionally prayerful/liturgical forms, the project grew and many swore it meant the world to them. Quiet and humble Cole is, nonetheless, a born storyteller and a good writer and she continued to do good work and the project (I hate to call it a “brand”) expanded. Her Instagram “Black Liturgies” are impressive and meaningful.

Black Liturgies includes prayers and poems, yes. It has liturgies and short readings. We may stock it under “devotionals” or prayers I suppose. But it includes creatively rendered essays, introductions to each unit, and these are simply excellent, very moving, very honest, very well done. The opening chapter (a long introduction called “Architecture”is so captivating I have read it three times.

The first twenty-one entries (under the heading “By Story”) include reflections on calling, artistry, justice, rest, repair, body, fear, rage, memory, place, joy…  Each chapter starts with an epigram or quotes by black authors, followed by her essay in the form of a letter. This is not a cheap contrivance (even if it may be in the hands of another author.) She writes as if she is talking right to you, dear reader, and I can tell you she is speaking with candor and spirit, from her heart and soul, to yours. It is beautiful and fierce.

These quotes and the letter set the stage for a poem and prayers. There are many prayers under each chapter’s topic, and they are themselves creatively imagined and well-crafted. She then gives you some questions to muse over, ponder, consider, in the section called “Contemplation.” This first portion is offered in almost 200 pages.

The second portion of the book — about the next 80-some pages — is under the heading ‘By Time” and here she arranges Biblical texts and the prayers around times (dawn, day, dusk) and seasons (the main seasons of the Christian liturgical calendar, including Kwanzaa and Juneteenth) and a few occasions such as Mother’s Day and Father’s Day, birth, reunion, home going. This is extraordinary stuff, deeply Christian but with a generous, expansive tone.

At the end she offers a “liturgical template for alternative occasions” so you can reliably make your own poetical liturgies. There is even an index so you can easily find her prayerful words by topic or occasions

Black Liturgies: Prayers, Poems and Meditations for Staying Human is amazing and I invite you to pre-order it now. It will be much-discussed in some circles this year, I am sure. Order your copies today.

I am delighted that several prominent black scholars, historians, and spiritual leaders have endorsed Cole’s good work. It is an honor for her that I’m sure she doesn’t take lightly. This is impressive; very impressive. Read on, please:

Readers will be deeply moved by the beauty of Arthur Riley’s writing and her moral clarity, tenderness, and wisdom. — Imani Perry, National Book Award-winning author of South to America and columnist at The Atlantic

Cole Arthur Riley is a spiritual guide and a gift in our lives. Restoring us to ourselves and reminding us of our humanness, our fragility, and the strength of faith, she calls us back to community, to breath, to our god-given selves. Black Liturgies is true spiritual balm for our troubled times. — Michael Eric Dyson, New York Times bestselling author of What Truth Sounds Like and Entertaining Race

Black Liturgies is a garden for the soul. With rare wisdom, beautiful clarity, and generous vulnerability, Cole Riley brings her whole self to these letters, verses, and promptings, offering bright, deep truths about who we are and can be as Black women, Black people, and human beings. Hold these luminous words close and let them be your balm. — Tiya Miles, National Book Award-winning author of All That She Carried

Practicing the Way: Be With Jesus, Become Like Him, Do as He Did John Mark Comer (Waterbrook) $26.00  OUR SALE PRICE = $20.80 //  ON SALE January 16, 2024

Well, if the previous book was by a very excellent writer, a former English major sharing her faith from her embodied black experience — informed, yes, by some of which she told about, like growing up in Pittsburgh, in This Here Flesh — this one is by another excellent writer I like, a very white guy from a very white town (Portland, OR.) Okay, groovy rock star that he nearly is, John Mark Comer has now moved to LA where he works at Vintage Church. The book’s title draws on the name of a nonprofit he started which is designed to help folks clearly understand and embrace deep stuff about spirituality and being an on-the-ground follower of Jesus. In a way, Comer is a hip version of the late, great Dallas Willard. He’s like Rob Bell but with a straight-arrow, utterly orthodox theology. His books are all really great; Garden City remains an often-recommended title on work and rest (“and what it means to be human.’) So good.

This “practicing the way” by following so closely behind Jesus that he starts to rub off on you is not new news for those wanting deep spiritual formation to become more Christ-like. From Willard and John Ortberg to Ruth Haley Barton, Tish Warren, and Ronald Rolheiser, from Richard Foster to Kallistos Ware, he draws on a careful appropriation of the best work out there. The footnotes are tremendous (and when he says, “my favorite book on this topic is such and such” because…” you know you are reading somebody who has studied well and is sharing insights gleaned and offered as a true gift. Don’t you love an author who cites a lesser known Henri Nouwen book and tells a story about Dorothy Sayers and recalls a sermon by Tim Keller and explains why the Philokalia still matters for serious seekers? He knows the church fathers, the mystics, and yet is in good conversation with modern psychologists and cultural critics, from Janet Hagberg to Jamie Smith.

John has been on a bit of a trajectory since his wonderful, hard-hitting (but still fun) book called The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry: How to Stay Emotionally Healthy and Spiritually Alive in the Chaos of the Modern World which then moved into the excellent (if a bit surprising, what with his exploration of evil and the demonic, even) Live No Lies: Recognize and Resist the Three Enemies That Sabotage Your Peace. You should know those two sharp hardbacks (sans dust jackets) and, now, consider this forthcoming one.

In this spacious, eminently readable volume, John Mark Comer meditates on how Christian discipleship is, at its root, the radical task of becoming an apprentice of Jesus — to be with him, to become like him, and to do as he did. The deceptively simple call is to take Jesus at his word, to open ourselves fully to him, to organize our schedules, our routines, our study, our daily practices around him, and, by doing so, to become people who can do as he would in our day and our culture. Comer’s experiences as a pastor, teacher, thinker, and an apprentice himself are helpfully on display here. Sit with this book slowly and let it be your guide into a life of apprenticeship to Jesus. — Tish Harrison Warren, Anglican priest and author of Liturgy of the Ordinary and Prayer in the Night

Have a Beautiful Terrible Day! Daily Meditations for the Ups, Downs & In-Betweens Kate Bowler (Convergent Books) $26.00  OUR SALE PRICE = $20.80  // ON SALE January 23, 2024

Don’t let the goofy, clever title or the purdy book cover fool you. (And, yep, those are thistles on that pastel cover — yikes.) Bowler is known for her pair of brilliant memoirs about having terminal brain cancer while a young theological faculty member at Duke Divinity School — those are, as I hope you know, Everything Happens for a Reason (And Other Lies I’ve Loved) and No Cure for Being Human: (And Other Truths I Need to Hear) and I highly recommend them. Not as serious or Reformed (let alone seriously Reformed) as some good studies that some of our customers tend to like, she is a wordsmith with a wit on par with Anne Lamott.

She’s got a fairly scholarly work on Oxford University Press (nearly an ethnography of women prosperity preachers) and a great, honest, down-to-earth devotional called Good Enough. Catch the subtitle: “40ish Devotionals for a Life of Imperfection.” She just recently co-authored a slightly oversized hardback book of blessings and affirmations called The Lives We Actually Have: 100 Blessings for Imperfect Days. I suspect you’ve caught her glorious, human and quite humane theme: we are loved by God, ragamuffins that we are, and life in this fallen world can be a bitch. And we need some help attending to some of this in real-world prose that honors our “beautiful terrible days.”

Is this a bit of a snorting nod to Mary Oliver? I don’t know — it might be like her, snarky saint that she is. But it’s good and rich stuff. We can’t just tell people to “have a nice day” or for God’s sake, to “cheer up.”  But yet, she knows the gospel is good news, truly good news, and to walk into that tension of the fallen-being-redeemed, and the now-and-not-yet of God’s Kingdom’s presence, well, it’s complicated. And so best to proceed with some snark and bluster.

And yet, hear this: her good writing allows her to embrace really painful stuff; not just being witty and light-hearted, altho she is at times. She looks honestly at regret and grief; she knows sorry and literal pain. She knows that you are often overwhelmed. She dares not make light of your anxiety or fears; she knows some have done us harm.

These poetic reflections are Bible based and the prayers are honest and raw. The “reflection prompt” is not cheesy or simple. She draws (even in these little closing prompts) thoughts from Tolkien and Tina Fey. She invites, gives permission, encourages, and the book just sings. Pre-order it today, why don’t you?

The Servant Lawyer: Facing the Challenges of Christian Faith in Everyday Law Practice Robert F. Cochran (IVP Academic) $28.00  OUR SALE PRICE = $22.40 // AVAILABLE NOW

This tremendous 2024 release just arrived. Hooray!

I often mention that we have books to help ordinary Christian folks live out their faith in the work-world, thinking Christianly about various vocations, callings, and occupations. From the proverbial butchers, bakers, and candlestick makers, to school teachers and engineers, doctors and sociologists, artists and counselors, we’ve got something for almost everybody. Alas, these books don’t sell well — there is a huge gap between Sunday and Monday, worship and work, it seems — and most pastors don’t buy them for the young disciples they are mentoring. Even campus ministers, who work with thoughtful, energetic students who want to learn everything about following King Jesus, often fail to relate faith and studies, spirituality and jobs.

One reason, by the way, I’ll admit, is that some books about faith and the marketplace are a bit complex, heady, theoretical. And this is good, helping professionals grapple hard with foundational stuff. But, still, some workers need resources that are not academic tomes. I get it. This brand new book is an example of just exactly what we need, serious but practical, not too scholarly and aimed at the ordinary working attorney. Thanks be to God.

The Servant Lawyer is for ordinary lawyers who go to work in ordinary law practices. As the back cover says, most lawyers “spend their days drafting documents, negotiating with other attorneys, trying cases, researching the law, and counseling clients.” The book sets out to answer how this “everyday law practices relates to Jesus’s call to follow him in servanthood.”

My, my, this is brilliant; this is good. Cochran is a published legal scholar and has written and edited other work on how a robust understanding of the Scriptures might shape our jurisprudence and theories of justice. He has clerked for the important Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals but mostly, he has practiced law with a real law firm in a medium sized city. He takes seriously the call (as he has written in academic works) questions of moral responsibility and care but here he distills a lifetime of experience into this huge, basic question — what does it mean to be a servant in this career? He is a master teacher and has been a practitioner. Every field should have a book like this written by a servant-leader of thoughtfulness and integrity like this.

It is fascinating to me that the Harvard Law School professor Mary Ann Glendon says it is “a much needed-book… Lawyers of all faiths and no faith will find valuable guidance in this wise book.”

Yes, Cochran has ringing endorsements of his rich scholar by the likes of heavy-weight thinkers like John Witt (of Emory University.) It has a great forward by John Inazu of the University of Chicago. But, happily, he also gets a rave review by the fun-loving, down-to-Earth, “love does” guy, Bob Goff.

Listen to what Goff says, noting that Bob understands the “monumental and mundane” about being a Christian professional in a world of temptations. Goff summarizes The Servant Lawyer nicely:

“Cochran winsomely shares his wisdom and experience. The unexpected key, he reveals, is service — serving clients, serving the common good, and most of all, serving Jesus.”   — Bob Goff, author of Love Does, Everybody Always, Dream Big

This book officially releases in February 2024 but we have it now! Maybe it is because I, too, have an endorsement on it or maybe they just got it out early. In any case, we have it. And we are thrilled. If you pre-order it now, we can actually send it right now. Hooray.

Flannery O’Connor’s Why Do the Heathen Rage? A Behind-The-Scenes Look at a Work in Progress Jessica Hooten Wilson; with illustrations by Steve Prince (Brazos Press) $24.99  OUR SALE PRICE = $19.99 // ON SALE January 23, 2024

Well, if you have any literature-loving folks you want to give a gift to that will shock their socks off, as we used to say, man, this is a literary event that will be unmatched in 2024. Yes, believe it or not, an unfinished work of fiction by Flannery O’Connor is seeing the light of day, explained, explored, and in some ways brought to greater fruition, if not actually finished, by the great scholar and teacher Jessica Wilson Hooten. The publisher calls it an excavation.

Esau McCaulley calls it a “part detective story” and the Booker Prize award winner George Saunders says it is “a true labor of love” for which “the literary world will be wildly grateful.”

Here is what Brazos say about it — get this!

In this work of literary excavation, an award-winning author transcribes, compiles, and organizes a final, unfinished novel by celebrated American fiction writer Flannery O’Connor. This book introduces O’Connor’s final work to the public for the first time and imagines themes and directions the novel might have taken.

Ms Hooten WIlson is the right person for the job, too, believe me. She is an incredibly smart, very well read literary critic, an excellent teacher and a very good writer. You may know her exceptional Reading for the Love of God: How to Read as a Spiritual Practice — on our list for Best Books of 2023 that we will share before long — and her 2022 treasure, The Scandal of Holiness: Renewing Your Imagination in the Company of Literary Saints (with a lovely, astute forward by Lauren Winner.) I am fond of her big, co-edited book Learning the Good Life: Wisdom from the Great Hearts and Minds That Came Before where, of course, there is an introduction to and excerpt of O’Connor alongside nearly 40 other key writers.

What an honor for her to get to be the one to explore and arrange and share this rarely seen novel of Flannery O’Connor with the world. (O’Connor died in 1964, leaving Why Do the Heathen Rage unfinished.) How fun to see excerpts and insights about the famously cranky, Catholic woman illuminating excerpts of this “work in progress.” I assume the literary world will be agog — there should be stories in The New York Review of Books, The Paris Review, The Southern Review (famously founded by Robert Penn Warren),The New Yorker, and the like.

Pre-order it now and brag a bit about it over the holidays. It will be a handsomely designed volume, too, with black and white etchings/woodcuts by a son of the deep south, and former Pennsylvanian artist, Steve Prince, now at William and Mary, who has also penned a moving afterword.

The Spirit of Our Politics: Spiritual Formation and the Renovation of Public Life Michael Wear (Zondervan) $18.99  OUR SALE PRICE = $15.19 //  ON SALE January 23, 2024

Oh how I wish I had an advanced copy of this to tell you about. Trust me, though, I’m sure it is going to be excellent, one I will surely promote all year long as we move into this tense election cycle. Michael is a young man I admire as much as most politicos and his career and thoughtfulness is exceptional.

You may know a bit about his story — some of our local friends will remember when we crowded in to hear him here at the shop when we had him in Dallastown to share about his first book, Reclaiming Hope: Lessons Learned in the Obama White House about the Future of Faith in America. A white guy converted mostly by black music, the youngest person to ever find employment in a White House administration, he both worked for and loved Barack Obama and left before the second term due to his own personal disappointment about a few policy shifts. Some of our local folks came out because they loved the idea that he worked for Obama. Others came out because he had quit his job with Obama. All in all, our bi-partisan crowd appreciated that Mike invited us to think about Christians in politics as agents of God’s Kingdom — not primarily carrying water for any secular party or ideological movement — and exploring how working out a public theology as we serve for the common good can give us insights about the nature of hope in a fallen world. Geesh, I thought we had a light-hearted Saint Augustine on our hands, if Augustine like soul music and knew what kind of healthier iced tea Michelle Obama wanted her husband to drink.

Michael has subsequently started a nonprofit educational organization and has been consulting, speaking, networking, and helping deepen a conversation about civic life from an ecumenical, balanced, nonpartisan Christian perspective. A few years back he co-wrote the excellent, clear-headed primer, Compassion (&) Conviction: The “And” Campaign’s Guide to Faithful Civic Engagement and now serves as the CEO of the Center for Christianity and Public Life.

The Spirit of Our Politics looks to be just what it says; literally it is about spiritual formation as our souls are shaped for public engagement. I know he likes and draws on Dallas Willard; I know he has been influenced by the teaching about spiritual disciplines from Renovate (founded by Richard Foster.) There are a few such books deeply relating spirituality and justice, but very few will do what I imagine this book will do.

Here is a line from the book that seems evidently true enough, but a notion we simply must grapple with:

“We cannot separate out the kind of politics we have — our laws, our political leaders and institutions, our political culture — from the kind of people we are.”

The endorsements on the back are from all across the legitimate political spectrum, with names like Josh Dubois and Ben Sasse and Tim Shriver on the back. Here is a blurb by Senator Chris Coons:

The Spirit of Our Politics gets to the heart of our current divided politics. Michael Wear has written a powerful call that affirms the agency each citizen has to contribute to a healthier and more just politics and society. As a Christian, I found here an inspiring path to return to the heart of our faith and build a culture of engaged, faithful service. Our politics would be dramatically healthier if The Spirit of Our Politics was our guide, and I encourage my colleagues, and all readers who seek a positive future for our politics, to read it. —Chris Coons, US Senator from Delaware

Listen to another writer, exceptionally wise for her age, the great Kaitlyn Schiess (author of the wonderful Liturgy of Politics and the recent The Ballot and the Bible) who says this:

If you are exhausted by and exasperated with politics, this book is for you. The Spirit of Our Politics won’t try to drum up your enthusiasm for our broken political system; it will draw your attention to a greater and truer story–and the way that story should then shape our common life together. Michael Wear has given us the gift of diagnosing the deeper spiritual problems underneath our divisions and disagreements–and proposing a better path forward.

The Wood Between the Worlds: A Poetic Theology of the Cross Brian Zahnd (IVP) $24.00  OUR SALE PRICE = $19.20 //  ON SALE February 6, 2024

This is another precious, provocative work that is going to be one of the key titles of this winter (into Lent, which starts early this year, by the way.) The Wood Between the Worlds as a title comes from an allusive phrase found in Lewis’s Magician’s Nephew, of course; I can’t wait to hear what author Zahnd (who is quite the literature lover) makes of it.

In any case, Zahnd is known for exceptionally interesting Bible teaching and for being a creative, solid communicator; I have an affection for him and his work (and his love of Bob Dylan) even though I know some find his Sinners in the Hands of a Loving God a bit troubling. I think he is right in insisting that we read the big, unfolding, Biblical narrative with a Christ-centered hermeneutic, and I like his high Christology. Like his friend Brad Jersak would put it, we need a more “Christ-like God” — which is not shallow, unbiblical, liberal theology but an effort at doing theology in light of true truths that we bank on: that the second person of the Trinity (you know the one we celebrate for the incarnation at Christmastime), the Lord Jesus Christ, is the best and fullest way to understand God the Father.

And such a Christ-centered orientation has hugely practical implications. Zahn has written about aesthetics (Beauty Will Save the World) and nonviolence (A Farewell to Mars) so is eager to show how radically Christ-centered discipleship can transform us, allowing us to bear witness to the work God is doing in the world.

The publisher has given us this much, for starters:

“Everything that can be known about God is in some way present at the cross. The cross of Christ is the wood between the worlds. There is the world that was and the world to come, and in between those two worlds is the wood upon which the Son of God was hung. As in C.S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia, the wood between the worlds is a portal. In this world of sin and death we do not despair because we believe there is a portal that will transport us to a world where, in the beloved words of Lady Julian, “All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well.”

In any case I am guessing that this book is, among other things, a reflection on the notions of the atonement, the work of the cross, the questions of how best to understand the sacrifice of Christ. I suspect he will draw on (among others) the scapegoat theories of Girard. I hope he engages the exegesis of N.T. Wright. I have watched several times a great Lenten sermon Zahnd preached at his Oklahoma church a few years ago on the cross of Christ and its beauty. If this book unpacks any of that it will be one of the books of the year! From the table of contents I note that he covers a lot of ground. Julie Canlis calls it “kaleidoscopic.”

Listen to this from Julie Canlis, a Calvin scholar and author of A Theology of the Ordinary:

In the liminal Wood Between the Worlds, Brian Zahnd encounters the inexhaustible cross. Perhaps you are more familiar with the absent Protestant Christ or the afflicted Catholic Christ or the victorious classical Christ? Each one is true and speaks a faithful message. (Which one speaks to you? Which one pushes you away?) Brian’s book invites us to contemplate the kaleidoscopic mystery of Christ. Will we stop and be still before the mystery? Will we let this irreligious symbol transform all our notions of religion?

Or this, from our friend Eric Peterson, a thoughtful, gracious, PC(USA) pastor:

With the heart of a pastor, the mind of a scholar, and the soul of a Jesus follower, Brian Zahnd here shares the fruit of his long, unhurried contemplation of the cross of Christ. His keen insights liberate us from flawed atonement theories based in retributive justice that have persisted for far too long, and he breathes new life into the mystery of the cross: the supreme centerpiece of God’s love that radiates redemption and ushers us into the peaceable kingdom. — Eric E. Peterson, pastor of Colbert Presbyterian Church, author of Letters to a Young Congregation: Nurturing the Growth of a Faithful Church

It is helpful if you are pre-ordering more than one if you tell us if you want them consolidated and shipped together or, rather, as soon as each release. We want to serve you well so please let us know your preferences. THANKS.

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TO PLACE AN ORDER 

PLEASE READ, THEN SCROLL DOWN AND CLICK ON THE “ORDER HERE” LINK BELOW.

It is helpful if you tell us how you want us to ship your orders.And if you are doing a pre-order, tell us if you want us to hold other books until the pre-order comes, or send some now, and others later… we’re eager to serve you in a way that you prefer. Let us know your hopes.

The weight and destination of your package varies but you can use this as a quick, general guide:

There are generally two kinds of US Mail options and, of course, UPS.  If necessary, we can do overnight and other expedited methods, too. Just ask.

• United States Postal Service has the option called “Media Mail” which is cheapest but can be a little slower. For one typical book, usually, it’s $4.12; 2 lbs would be $4.87. This is the cheapest method available and seems not to be too delayed.
• United States Postal Service has another, quicker option called “Priority Mail” which is $8.50, if it fits in a flat-rate envelope. Many children’s books and some Bibles are oversized so that might take the next size up which is $9.20. “Priority Mail” gets much more attention than does “Media Mail” and is often just a few days to anywhere in the US.
• UPS Ground is reliable but varies by weight and distance and may take longer than USPS. Sometimes they are cheaper than Priority. We’re happy to figure out your options for you once we know what you want.

If you just want to say “cheapest” that is fine. If you are eager and don’t want the slowest method, do say so. It really helps us serve you well so let us know. Keep in mind the possibility of holiday supply chain issues and slower delivery… still, we’re excited to serve you. Blessed Advent.

BookNotes

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Owning a small business comes with a lot of headaches and the book industry is notoriously complicated — nobody but the big executives and top tier of celebrity authors make much so it is a given that those of us who try to make a living selling books do so because we love books and want to encourage the reading life. For people of faith working in the subcategories of theological books and other resources to help followers of Christ (especially if we view that with a wide-as-life angle of vision) well, it’s down-right disheartening most days.

We are so glad for our customers who are kind enough to send us orders from far away and who regularly ask for book advice. We thank God for you who read BookNotes and buy your books from us. But, still, often the vocation of being in the hot-seat here can be stressful, to say the least.

Which is why some days I’m struck with a profound realization of how lucky we are to be around book people, church folks, seekers and readers. And for good books that keep appearing and take our breaths away even in this busy time of year.

For this BookNotes I’m going to share a handful of mostly new books that just make me glad. (ALthough that old picture the day we got a bunch of Bob Goff’s Dream Big still makes me smile. It was a hard day, as I recall, and then that happened.)

These are mostly not that heavy, not all that game-changing, just titles that are reminding me this week to smile awhile. Maybe you, too, are happy for entertaining books that bring some joy, some goodness, a little bit of light.

I’m very sincere in this moody introduction, since it is often hard in this business of business, trying to serve customers well, and the scrooge in me is never too far below the surface. And yet I am delighted —yes! — when I see books that I know will make people happy.

But, I have this up my sleeve as well: maybe you need a gift for somebody that has some sense of meaning or joy to it but isn’t overly religious (or not at all.) Not all of our customers are Christians, and not all of our customers want Christian books. Or maybe they want such theological works for themselves, but they want to give a gift to a friend or loved one who is not particularly churched. Maybe I’m saying the obvious, but these might work, ya know? Order today so we can ship them pronto.

But first, the one that came today.

BRAND NEW: a new prayer book by Padraig O Tuama and TEN MORE RECENT BOOKS THAT MAKE ME SMILE — 20% OFF.

Being Here: Prayers for Curiosity, Justice, and Love Padraig O Tauma (Eerdmans) $22.99  OUR SALE PRICE = $18.39

I love it that this arrived early! Hooray! I quoted this in a talk I did not long ago (I had an advanced copy) and have been pondering the long introductory essay for a month. As only an Irish peace-making poet can, he tells some stories (including about being laid up sick with a very big, favorite novel) and moves to the big question of this new book — what is prayer? It is, finally, “a way of seeing here, a way of being here.” This book is the perfect, delightful, lovely, challenging, and raw (and at time aesthetically eccentric) combo of poetry and prayer.

Being Here offers thirty-one collects crafted to invite readers into a deeper engagement into their world. They are, like a devotional, presented alongside scripture (and with illuminating literary texts.) Collects are, as you most likely know, a certain sort of prayer (that have a certain literary structure, even.) These prayer-poems offered as collects “recalibrates the language of literacy in a way that both contains and reenergizes ancient spiritual practices.” The essays included make it a really great read and while there is an overtone of lament, crying out for the abused, it makes me smile.

O Tauma is best known for hosting the Poetry Unbound podcast from On Being. His recent books include Poetry Unbound: 50 Poems to Open Your World (highly recommended) and Feed the Beast, a recent chapbook which we also carry.

Paidraig’s prayers balance doubt and devotion in a way that feels at once impossible and also desperately needed. I am in love with his unsentimental orientation to the holy. — Nadia Bolz-Weber, Accidental Saint

Being Here: Prayers for Curiosity… is a great new book and I’m rightfully enthused but you want to know something that really makes me smile. The very artful cover on it is a painting by Lanecia Rouse Tinsley of Houston and — get this — she also created an original painting for the forthcoming cover of a long-awaited book coming out next month by our friend Cole Arthur Riley, Black Liturgies. That little connection makes me grin. We’ve been taking pre-orders for Cole book, of course (at 20% off) and I’ll write about it soon. Be very glad.

The Book of (More) Delights Ross Gay (Algonquin Books) $28.00  OUR SALE PRICE = $22.40

Do you know Ross Gay, the best-selling author of The Book of Delights and the lovely Inciting Joy? He is a poet and known for his love of gardening; he teaches at Indiana University in Bloomington. This is a sequel to the phenomenal Book of Delights and it follows the same pattern. It is a set of short essays, one a day, naming something he took delight in. Some are fairly profound and may take your breath away and some seem, at first blush, a bit silly. He makes a gentle case for all, including good stuff from the sublime and the mundane.

He’s got an admirable outlook and these “small daily wonders” (written over the course of a year) explores allusively what brings us delight. It is, many say, a volume “to savor and share.” He’s an amazing person, a good wordsmith, but it will help you discover delight as well. Cue Bruce Cockburn’s “Don’t Forget About Delight” and start this one, soon. Enjoy.

Build the Life You Want: The Art and Science of Getting Happier Arthur C. Brooks, with Oprah Winfrey (Portfolio) $30.00  OUR SALE PRICE = $24.00

Arthur Brooks, not to be confused with David Brooks (who has a truly great new book out, Who To Know a Person, which I have written about already) is a conservative social science guy, who used to do more with policy and civic life and shifted to being known as a writer of sophisticated advice columns that matter for relationships, aging, and, in this case, being “happier.” Many of these pieces, in one way or another, appeared in his revered The Atlantic columns.

And Oprah saw them. She says in the preface that if she were still doing her TV show, she’d be having Arthur on the show, a lot. She’s a big fan.

It’s a little curious — she a liberal black woman, he a conservative white man — but they forged this friendship exploring science and neuroscience and habits and virtues. As she says forcefully, “I see myself in so much of this book. My hope is that you will see yourself, too. Not just the person you’ve been, but the truly happier person you can become.”

She explains that she is having fun — a word she never used previously about her own life. “May this book serve as a reminder,” she intones almost like a benediction, “ to embrace and share your happiness.”

The book is jam-packed with stories and data, wisdom and all manner of truth about things that matter. Oprah has an introductory chapter in front of a few of the major sections and another at the end. Most of the pieces are Arthur’s. Some are visionary, some are practical. It makes me glad to see such thoughtful public figures speaking graciously about ordinary folks and their ordinary lives. There’s even a chapter about finding your “amazing grace.” Not bad.

Round Here and Over Yonder: A Front-Porch Travel Guide by Two Progressive Hillbillies (Yes, That’s a Thing) Trae Crowder and Corey Ryan Forrester (Harper Horizon) $29.99  OUR SALE PRICE = $23.99

This travelogue book by two stand-up comedians is both dumb and smart, low-brow and sophisticated (well, a little, anyway.) There’s a lot of drinkin’ and some cussin’. These guys are live comics from the South and this is their travel guide to “Round Here” (that’s their own homeland, the American Southland), “Over Yonder” (which is the “Rest of America”), and “Yonder, Yonder” (which covers places they went on their trip to England and Scotland.) The thing about many funny guys? They just can’t help themselves. Even the footnotes are funny.

One of things they say often (especially in the great introduction) is that it’s okay to make fun of stuff, and that, frankly, mocking and joking around, when done well, shows more of what we have in common than what we don’t. So they’ve got a pretty grand ethical project here, and, off-color and rude as they are (you’ve seen stand up these days, I bet) it seems to have a decent moral core. Some of the jokes are okay and a few made me holler out loud. The whole thing was a fun trip.

As they put it, “When it comes down to it, we’re just two Southern boys who, by virtue of luck and little hard work, have been lucky enough to see the world beyond Mamma’s front porch.”

“When it comes down to it, we’re just two Southern boys who, by virtue of luck and little hard work, have been lucky enough to see the world beyond Mamma’s front porch.”

This is an irreverent summary of cities they know, major cities and the smallest of towns. “We even hop the Atlantic to review some of them fancy kings-and-castles places that PBS Viewers Like You can’t stop yapping about.”  That’s funny, no?

Chickamauga and Cheyenne, Napa and New Orleans, Seattle and Scotland. As they put it, again, “it turns out that no matter where we go, there’s something to roast, something to toast, and something to learn about what ties us together as humans.”

How to Be Married (to Melissa): A Hilarious Guide to a Happier, One-of-a-Kind Marriage Dustin Nickerson (Thomas Nelson) $19.99  OUR SALE PRICE = $15.99

This was the funniest book I read all year, the one that made me laugh the most. I wanted to read it and read it again to Beth, and, well, you had to be there. It is a hoot. And it lays down some serious advice, mostly by way of his telling of his own foibles and failures (and some darn funny sidebars by wife Melissa, who tells her side of things making clear what really happened.) As they both agree, “marriage isn’t always funny. But that doesn’t mean you can’t laugh about it.”

Nickerson, who has ordered books from us and has become a bit of an online friend, is a popular stand up comedian (and podcaster, I’m told.) I bet he knows Crowder and Forrester, and many stand-ups have somewhat similar stories of being on the road, the grueling schedules, and crowds, and late night temptations. Nickerson tells only a bit of this, but he makes it a point to explain how this on-the-road lifestyle effects his family. He is aware of it and he compensates the best he can. It’s a bit extreme but I suspect many of us can relate. I sure do. He’s a good guy.

The first major chapter (after he disses buying marriage books — just skip that paragraph) is about fighting well. And man, do they. It is a bit cringy at times, hearing how candid he is about these legendary battles that have become part of their story. But he explains it all with lots of drama and starts the pitch about laughing about stuff, even in hard times. He observes that, with marriage (unlike Southwest Airlines) your baggage does not fly free. He explains what sex has to do with Legoland; yup. (There’s a lot about sex in this book — not too much, but, well, you’ll see.) He tells why you should never put Scattergories on your wedding registry. As you might guess, they laugh until they don’t and even their dumb party games can turn professional-level hurtful.  Dustin does not like to lose.

It’s a wild ride and I’m glad they are still together. Their faith matters to them although they are pretty loose about it. Spoiler alert — part way through they admit to a fairly fundamentalist past. He even worked in a well-known toxic church for a while, which blew me away.

Anyway, this is just out in paperback, and that makes me smile, too. I enjoyed this book a lot and I am glad for them — they’ve got a lot to teach, even if they diss marriage advice books. From eating healthy to parenting to finances to church attendance, they get into it all. No formulas and no charts and no promises, even. Every relationship is one-of-a-kind, so good luck with your actual married human. You’ll need it. Especially if you don’t learn to laugh. This story of “how to be married” (to Melissa, at least) can help.

And get this: there is a foreword by the up and coming, very hip Taylor Tomlinson, who has toured with Dustin and thinks the world of him. She’s a real rising star and affirms his brand of raw, clean humor, explaining some serious respect for Dustin, Melissa, and their kids.

The Just Kitchen: Invitations to Sustainability, Cooking, Connection, and Celebration Derrick Weston & Anna Woofenden (Broadleaf Books) $29.99  OUR SALE PRICE = $23.99

This came to us a bit early in October and we’ve been happy to see our stack here ever since We took some pre-orders and it is remarkable how many people have heard of this. There’s a big buzz and it is well-deserved. It makes us glad — it’s a book about celebration, after all, as it says on the cover, so hooray.

Here’s an updated version of what I wrote when we first announced this. I want to celebrate it again:

Derrick is an old Pittsburgh Presbyterian, a righteous urban ministry guy, and now a food and faith podcaster and gardening activist in Baltimore. His official bio says that he manages the Rockrose City Farm on Baltimore’s east side, growing food for ministries that distribute to those who are food insecure. A documentary filmmaker, producer, and former Presbyterian minister, Derrick is a firm believer in using one’s voice and the media to inspire and enact social change. Indeed!

You may know of Anna, who wrote a book we adored and that I wrote about briefly a time or two here at BookNotes, This Is God’s Table: Finding Church Beyond the Walls. That great memoir was about her essentially creating a fresh expression of the inclusive church by inviting folks to urban gardening. Her bio notes that she remains the pastor of both The Garden Church and Feed and Be Fed Farm in San Pedro, California. She is said to be “passionate about spirituality, justice, food, the earth, beauty, compassion, and community.” She is now based in Northampton, Massachusetts. We are fans and you should be, too.

This recent book is a delight. Slightly oversized like a good cookbook (it does have recipes!) it is, as one Colorado reviewer put it, “a heart-warming, soul-satisfying, and salivating meditation on the spiritual dimension of foodways.”

As you might guess if you follow any of this sort of writing at all, there’s a lovely endorsement by the important leader in the field, Nate Stucky, who directs Princeton Seminary’s “Farminary.” Read this, please. Rev. Stucky says:

Like a carefully and lovingly prepared meal, Derrick Weston and Anna Woofendon have given a rich and generous gift in Just Kitchen. With honesty, humility, and great generosity of spirit, Derrick and Anna echo a truth I learned from the keepers of the kitchen in my own family–there’s more going on in the kitchen than we usually realize. Yes, it can be a complicated and difficult space, but it can also be a space of interaction, preparation, transformation, reflection, healing, community, mutuality, celebration, and hope. For anyone who has longed for a guide to a more meaningful relationship with the kitchen, Derrick and Anna graciously show the way–recipes included.

Just Kitchen was one of our most anticipated books of the fall. There are short, smart pieces scattered throughout it with rich sidebars, interviews, and inserts. From a questionnaire about what you bring to your kitchen to a recipe for Collard Greens to a “breath prayer” for doing dishes to a reflection about church cooking (and a good bit on compost) there is a lot of good stuff here, all framed by justice and hope. There are stories galore, reflections, meditations, poems and recipes. It is both serious and inviting, profound and friendly. Did I mention hope? And joy? Cheers!

An Invitation to Joy: The Divine Journey to Human Flourishing Daniel Denk (Eerdmans) $24.99  OUR SALE PRICE = $19.99

I won’t recite the story of this amazing book again — I wrote about it months ago — but I’ll note that it is about joy so I sort of have to list it here. Really: who doesn’t want a deeper sense of gladness, a study of joy that leads to authentic flourishing, not just cheap laughs or momentary happiness. This is the real deal, a book about finding joy even in very unpleasant times and hard seasons.

As Christopher Wright the missional, Biblical scholar from Langham Partnership (John Stott’s old ministry) puts it in the helpful forward, “If you have lost your joy, this book will help you find it again.” It is “refreshing, rebuking, reviving, rewarding, and richly biblical and practical.” The author has been through a lot and is a respected PCA pastor. He’s as solid as you go and the book has gotten good reviews.

There ya go. What more do you want? Even serious scholars like George Madden of Notre Dame and Joel Carpenter of Calvin University have blurbs — Marsden calls it “winsome and thoughtful” and Carpenter says “Listen to Denk. He knows life in its depths, he knows God, and he knows joy.”

Every Step Is Home: A Spiritual Geography from Appalachia to Alaska Lori Erickson (WJK) $20.00  OUR SALE PRICE = $16.00

Ohh, this makes me smile and I’m glad to share it for those who want a good read. There’s several reasons that this is a lovely, interesting — even fascinating — book and I’ll be brief. First, the writer captivated me with a book several years ago where she travelled around the world exploring end of life practices and beliefs of various peoples. That was called Near the Exit: Travels with the Not-So-Grim Reaper and I loved her fair and open-minded reports of these various ways of coping with death. She is a professional travel writer (and explores how this deepened her faith in Holy Rover: Journeys in Search of Mystery, Miracles, and God) and this new one picks up again on her penchant for travel and for observing spiritual stuff along the way. So there’s that — I don’t get out much but I like reading about far-away places and I appreciate her glimmers of meaning found in her “holy roving.”

But more, this one is exactly a study of what we might call liminal or spiritual or sacred space in the United States. She is an Episcopalian Christian but this isn’t church history locations or even particularly Christian insights about things, but open-minded study of several places that must have been deemed sacred by ancestors. Some of these reports are fairly restrained — you can tell she is pumped but tries not to be too nerdy about it all in front of her husband and kids who sometimes accompany her on these seeking road trips. But some are just wild.

Have you ever heard about the Mounds (including the Serpent Mound) in Ohio? Ancient Native peoples built thousands of huge mounds all over the mid-West and by the 1800s most had been ploughed under, dug up, or farmed over. The newly founded Smithsonian Institute got some of them in Ohio to be protected historic places and their first book is a study of these unusual (and unusually large) markings. Some have astronomical connections. You’ve got to read this if you’re curious about this kind of thing.

There are moving chapters about holy dirt in the Southwest, about the Aura Borealis seen in Alaska, and her trip to the Redwoods in Northern California is awe-producing. There is a chapter on stone, she studies fire, and, of course, water. These are each set in great places and, again, you may have heard of some of these locations but I bet some will be new to you. Unless your a junior cultural anthropologist I suspect her explorations of the transcendent meaning of many of these spots will be new, as well. Who knew? — hidden in plain sight, as they say. In any case, the wit and family stuff as they make these road trips, looking for trails of divinity and rumors of glory, will make for an interesting read.   

Sacred Strides: The Journey to Belovedness in Work and Rest Justin McRoberts (Thomas Nelson) $18.99  OUR SALE PRICE = $15.19

I have written about this before and it continues to make me smile. Man, I’m glad for this guy’s presence on the planet; he is a good friend, a real encourager, a spiritual guide and life coach. He’s an artist, a singer-songwriter, storyteller, writer, and one of the coolest dudes I know. He’s fun, funny, and yet is serious about faith and mentoring others into a life of healthy, caring, discipleship. It would make me really happy to introduce you to him, so buy this book, okay? Buy a few and give them away, to sinners and saints and anybody young at heart.

As I’ve explained, he’s been on the road with rock bands, he’s opened for big names, and he’s got stories of the glory and the flame.He’s done radical mission work, has written about creativity for makers and entrepreneurs, and, here, he is using his experiences and storytelling to help us understand a few deep things.

The book is about rest. It is about work. It is about getting them working together, a rhythm, a “sacred stride.” This is brilliant, but it may take some practice. He makes it fun. You may shed some tears and I bet your laugh. He’s got a light tough but he is drawing on the best thinkers and profound mystics. His notion of discovering and resting in our belovedness is precious. This book makes me happy, even though I don’t stride very well. Maybe you don’t either. No worries, Justin will help.

Don’t Tell Anyone You’re Reading This: A Christian Doctor’s Thoughts on Sex, Shame, and Other Troublesome Issues Lina Abujamra, MD (Forefront Books) $26.00  OUR SALE PRICE = $20.80

For starters, the title is fun, isn’t it? It’s a religious book about s-e-x and while that isn’t as startling as it used to be, in this age of book bans and super-critical creeps using religion to tell everybody what they can and can’t even read about, the era needs some healthy candor and strong wit. Abujamra is an evangelical, a passionate follower of Jesus, and a woman who works with refugees and other marginalized folks. She has been a pediatric ER doc, and, like that guy on the insurance advertisement, she has “seen a thing or two.” She actually says she has seen it all and nothing surprises her. It’s a good place to start.

She notes that most people have some secrets — she does, too, she says up front — but that hidden part sooner or later comes out. So she decides to be transparent, talking about her own struggle with sexual temptation with openness and vulnerability. She admits her brokenness. She is clear that our “church and purity culture have failed our communities.” She “gets real about the excuses we make and the lies we tell ourselves, even when our behaviors point to a larger problem.”

Do you want a no-holds barred discussion on what and what the church needs to be doing to support Christians who struggle with sexual sin and with the community at large? I’ll tell you what: she shows that it has something to do with Jesus.

This is nearly a memoir, not a serious Biblical study or discourse on sexual ethics. It’s what she has learned.

As her publisher puts it, “If you’re going to have a difficult conversation, you might as well have it with a doctor.” Not that it’s that difficult. But she makes it real. And fun.

I’ve not studied all of this carefully, but people I know who admire her make me smile. She makes me smile. The book title — confusing as it may be — is trying to send a message against secrets and shame. That’s kind of subversive, actually  — the “don’t tell people” in the title comes quickly undone with the book which affirms candor and transparency. You should tell people you’re reading this! And while you’re at it, tell ‘em you got it here. Ha.

Psalms of My People: A Story of Black Liberation as Told Through Hip-Hop Lenny Duncan (Broadleaf Books) $27.99  OUR SALE PRICE = $22.39

This compact sized hardback makes me smile for a couple of reasons. Lenny Duncan is a gay, proud, Lutheran pastor from the inner city, originally from the streets of Philly. His call to the church to be just and inclusive, Dear Church, his memoir about his own homelessness, United States of Grace, and the little Dear Revolutionaries really touch a number of our friends and customers. These are not for everyone, admittedly — he’s blunt and colorful in his language, but his call to God’s grace and radical anti-racist justice is solid. He is currently a media producer (with a podcast called BlackBerryJams with PRX.) And this brand new release feels like some sort of major project, a life-giving side project that has become the big thing.

Psalms of My People is a study of the black experience in the US which, he insists, is vitally connected to the history of hip hop. It is a guide to the history of the genre, telling winsomely about the artists, the lyrics and their cultural context. He treats hip-hop as revelatory and (as it says on the back cover) “reveals its role as a conduit to tell the modern story of Black liberation in this country.”

It is a lot to ask of a genre of popular art that, like most genres, is laden with the good, the bad, and the ugly. But he brings “soft tenderness and sharp critique.” As Elle Dowd (a pastor who wrote Baptized in Tear Gas) puts it, it is “both delicious and, at times, bitter.” She insists it is “full of the contradictions we see reflected in all sacred texts and pregnant with possibilities for transformation.”

In a season when it seems there are lots of retrospective music projects, and not a little nostalgia, we need a book like this. It is demanding, fun as it seems. It features handsome black and white illustrations on every page along the borders. Much of the book is lyrical, poetic, a hip-hop style, for sure. I’m sure this isn’t enough for this topic — can you imagine only one book on Dylan or rock or Bach or country? But it is cool, it is hot, it is righteous, it is snappin’.

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TO PLACE AN ORDER 

PLEASE READ, THEN SCROLL DOWN AND CLICK ON THE “ORDER HERE” LINK BELOW.

It is helpful if you tell us how you want us to ship your orders.And if you are doing a pre-order, tell us if you want us to hold other books until the pre-order comes, or send some now, and others later… we’re eager to serve you in a way that you prefer. Let us know your hopes.

The weight and destination of your package varies but you can use this as a quick, general guide:

There are generally two kinds of US Mail options and, of course, UPS.  If necessary, we can do overnight and other expedited methods, too. Just ask.

• United States Postal Service has the option called “Media Mail” which is cheapest but can be a little slower. For one typical book, usually, it’s $4.12; 2 lbs would be $4.87. This is the cheapest method available and seems not to be too delayed.
• United States Postal Service has another, quicker option called “Priority Mail” which is $8.50, if it fits in a flat-rate envelope. Many children’s books and some Bibles are oversized so that might take the next size up which is $9.20. “Priority Mail” gets much more attention than does “Media Mail” and is often just a few days to anywhere in the US.
• UPS Ground is reliable but varies by weight and distance and may take longer than USPS. Sometimes they are cheaper than Priority. We’re happy to figure out your options for you once we know what you want.

If you just want to say “cheapest” that is fine. If you are eager and don’t want the slowest method, do say so. It really helps us serve you well so let us know. Keep in mind the possibility of holiday supply chain issues and slower delivery… still, we’re excited to serve you. Blessed Advent.

BookNotes

SPECIAL
DISCOUNT

20% OFF

We have lots and lots of children’s books for all ages — from board books to picture books, fiction and nonfiction for kids and youth. We can make recommendations for all sorts of kids if we know something a bit about them.

It wouldn’t be the best Christmas season, though, without some little kid’s picture books about the holidays. Here in the midst of a somber Advent with wars and ugly politics and rising Covid rates again, we’re eager to find small joys where we can.

Here are some. All are 20% off. (Scroll down to the end to find the link to our secure order form page.) We don’t have tons of any of these, so order soon. We’ll reply promptly to confirm everything.

We don’t have all of the titles we shared in last year’s great list of Christmas children’s books, but check it out, too. We still have a lot of them.

Order now. We’ll get ‘em right out.  Ho, ho, ho.

Holy Night and Little Star: A Story for Christmas Mitali Perkins, illustrated by Khoa Le (Waterbrook) $15.99  OUR SALE PRICE = $12.79

We raved about a number of books written by Mitali Perkins in the last year or two (not least her Steeped in Stories which is an adult book reminding us of the joys and benefits of reading YA books.) This new Holy Night and Little Star is one of the best new nativity ones of the year, a companion to her allusive and brilliant Bare Tree and Little Wind. This tells the Biblical nativity story with a lovely view of Little Star who “loves to glow softly above Bethlehem’s low hills.” But when Make brings the galaxy together and starts handing out important new jobs, she begins to worry. (She likes things the way they are and doesn’t feel ready for big changes, as the back cover tells us.)

Of course the Holy Night comes. And listen to this — “the Child who’s changing everything is more familiar than she imagined?”

The artwork is truly wonderful. The human and animal scenes are soft watercolors and quite realistic — the slightly pained face on pregnant Mary’s face is the best I’ve seen, and Joseph bounding on a door with both hands makes their dilemma clear and poignant. But the angles and spiritual creatures are weird. I like that — it is good to shake off the views of sentimental renaissance cherubs and Hallmark angels — and there seems to be some sort of ethnic style here. In any case, the night is full of stars, some shaped like diamonds, which makes me think of Bruce Cockburn’s “All the Diamonds” but that’s just me. The color and swirls and vivid dark sky are unique enough, deeply envisioned, to capture everyones attention. Kudos.

The King of Christmas: All God’s Children Search for Jesus  Todd R Hains, illustrated by Natasha Kennedy (Lexham Press) $17.99  OUR SALE PRICE = $14.39

I hope you recall how we raved about the excellent The King of Easter: Jesus Searches for All God’s Children; this is an obvious companion, a lovely, great book — with a black holy family — which offers a clarity about the gospel and the point of the story that sends shivers. The end as it explains his resurrection and how He is present in the preaching of the Word, and shows a banquet, you’ll realize this is not merely a sentimental story about the birth of a baby. This is the King, the suffering servant, the One who reigns in grace among a renewed people. Nice. 

This is in a great set of books featuring a fat cat who shows up rather inconspicuously so it is called a FatCat book. The brand new one in that series just came out on the Ten Commandments by Harold Senkbeil, also illustrated by the talented Natasha Kennedy.

The Christmas Light Claudia Cangilla McAdam, illustrated by Igor Kovyar (Sophia Institute Press) $16.95  OUR SALE PRICE = $13.56

This conservative Catholic publisher has done some beautiful, rich, good books for little children and this one has an exceptionally realistic angle of vision, with lots of stone walls and strangers packed into the extra rooms of a Bethlehem innkeeper. It is a cold night and the daughter of the innkeeper gets up to tend a fire for warmth. As the publisher tells us, “…she approaches the newborn Baby asleep in the manger and has an encounter that changes her mood and alters her life forever.

This is a great retelling of the classic nativity story and shows to children how an encounter with Christ can change their lies, eternally. Moody, moving, beautiful.

Lullaby for the King Nikki Grimes, illustrated by Michelle Carlos (Beaming Books) $19.99  OUR SALE PRICE = $15.99

I saw a good article on the internet today from the London Institute for Contemporary Christianity saying “Let’s Keep Creation in Christmas” and I’m all for that. Song of the Stars (by Sally Lloyd-Jones) which shows all creation getting in on the praise of the newborn Babe, has been a favorite for years, in full size and board book. Yes and yes.

Lullaby for a King is about a caravan that “traveled through wilderness, uphill and down, for hours that spun into days.” It is not unusual for storytellers and children’s illustrators to talk about in the animals in the stable/manger/barn. But this is awe-inspiring; truly. Nikki Grimes, as you may know, is an esteemed, award-winning black poet, and here she spins a tale of unexpected animals wending their way to Bethlehem with gifts for the newborn King.

Each animal — coming from all over, so it’s imaginative — brings unique gifts. There is something magical and allusive and playful and yet deeply honoring in this wild tale; the art is big and bold. Hooray.

All Creation Waits: The Advent Mystery of New Beginnings Gayle Boss, illustrated by Sharon Spitz (Paraclete Press) $20.99  OUR SALE PRICE = $16.79

I mentioned this a few weeks ago in a children’s Advent list, but I just have to mention it again. Here is most of what I said last month:

In the last few years many customers have ordered — and re-ordered, to give away to friends and loved ones, even seekers who are not yet in the Christian world of Advent devotions — the original book by Gayle Boss, All Creation Waits: The Advent Mystery of New Beginnings, which wonderfully explores animal hibernation to allusively open up insights about night, waiting, new possibilities after a quiet season. The black and white illustrations in that volume are excellent, and it made sense when Paraclete last year issued a very handsome, bright red, deluxe, hardback gift edition. (And, as an aside, you should know the paperback Lenten edition, about animal extinction, called Wild Hope: Stories for Lent from the Vanishing, also with stunning illustrations by David Klein.)

This year, Paraclete released a stunning, full color children’s picture book edition. It has similar but considerable abbreviated text, amazing artwork, and is a generous, lavish, children’s Advent book unlike any you’ve ever seen.

In a nice word of advice in the beginning, author Gayle likens this book to an Advent calendar and encourages readers to only read one spread a day, reading and pondering, slowly. She writes,

This will not be easy. The pictures are beautiful and the animals amazing and you likely will want to rush ahead and see and read all twenty-five at once!

A bit later she explains,

You can join creatures in their Advent waiting by staying with just one animal each day. One Advent 1, sink down with Painted Turtle. On Advent 2, huddle with Muskrat. You’ll be excited to see who’s waiting for you each day. By December 25, you will have discovered that the animals companion us and speak to us.

There is more animal wonderment and facts at the end, with some very nifty ideas of things to do, so they should surely follow along with those things to learn and do.

The Christmas Swallow Ben Harris, illustrated by Estelle Corke (Lion Press) $13.99  OUR SALE PRICE = $11.19

  We love the UK publisher Lion and their children’s BIbles are among our favorites. This is lovely, nicely illustrated, telling in young child’s prose, the standard Christmas narrative. As the swallow flits around there are a few repetive pharses making this good for very young chlldren. The author, though, is a specialist in Classical Studies at Oxford.

What is special is how the swallow gives us the birds-eye view, and her presence in each spread is artful, curious, and just a bit symbolic (maybe?) Lovely.

All Is Bright.. When God Came Down One Silent Night Clay Anderson, illustrated by Natalie Merheb (Swing High! Children’s Books) $18.95  OUR SALE PRICE = $15.16

We enjoyed this simple telling of the story with some nice poetic cadences. There are a few lines that are just so well put…

We like that Jesus and Mary and Joseph are not at all white Europeans. There are various shades and hues among the shepherds appropriately, but the child-like angels are from all over the world. It’s nice.

There is, also, hidden in each picture, a Bible verse. You’ll find most of them easily, but your little ones will have to hunt (written on the leg of a table, over the door of a building, one in a shepherd’s crook. You’ll have to look up those verses, then, to see what they have to do with the story.)

Jesus te llam: La historia de Navidad Sarah Young illustrado por Katya Longhi (Grupo Nelson) $15.99  OUR SALE PRICE = $12.79

We don’t have a lot of demand for Spanish language children’s books we wanted to highlight at least one. This is oddly entitled Jesus Calling and it is by Sarah Young, but it is not her famous adult one. It is “the story of the nativity” and it is a fairly cute, straight explanation of the events of that first birth and the flight into Egypt. I don’t know Spanish so can’t say much but it is the standard Biblical story with lots of text and lots of illustration for la ninas y el ninos.

Saint Nicholas the Giftgiver Ned Bustard (IVP Kids) $18.00  OUR SALE PRICE = $14.40

You know our affection for this storyteller, artist, and book publisher (yes, this is by the manager of Square Halo Books.) This, though, is on a larger press and in hardcover — what a delight. We celebrated this last year — it is a little kid’s rhyming tale with playful art in Ned’s unique style. It is in the cadence of “The Night Before Christmas” and you will learn quite a lot about at least some of the legends of this ancient Saint.

But what is the truth,

And what are the legends?
Who is this giftgiver,

And why all the presents?

Another super-fun matter: a half a year ago Mr. B and IVP did an equally vivid and even more interesting book on Saint Patrick. It’s fantastic. And — yep, get this: soon, his brand new one on Saint Valentine is coming. Ned has a blend of highly liturgical instincts and Reformed theology, all hued more colorful by his artistic sensibilities. These three colorful books are tons of fun and quite informative. We are, of course, taking PRE-ORDERS for Saint Valentine the Kindhearted which I suspect will be out soon.

Joy to the World! Christmas Around the Globe Kate DePalma, illustrated by Sophie Fates (Barefoot Books) $17.99  OUR SALE PRICE = $14.39

Most years we look for a well done book of this nature, playful, fun, interesting, full of the many different customs/ways of celebrating experienced around the world. We like the multi-cultural stuff, we appreciate the invitation to realize that Jesus’s birth is not just an American custom, and that many families from all over have fun customs and traditions. Not to get to philosophical about it, but you may recall that webinar we hosted with author Paul Metzger (and his book on the liturgical calendar, Setting the Spiritual Clock); well, these little customs and habits are pushing back against global modernity and what Paul calls “secular creep.” Who knew this colorful book was so important!

Joy to the World! Is all that one more. It is moderately detailed (not too much, though — it is a picture book designed for younger ones) and introduced Christmas traditions from 13 countries around the world. It has a small section about the Coptic Church in Egypt and explains the ancient congregations of Lebanon and the Middle East.

All About…Christmas Alison Mitchell (The Good Book Company) $17.99  OUR SALE PRICE = $14.39

We enjoy many of the solid books from The Good Book Company (from the UK.) They are Biblically faithful, always with a good sense of the gospel. They are Christ-centered, God-glorifying, and always well done. This one is, as one reviewer put it, “Chock-full of amazing pictures and facts and figures. Just wonderful!!”

This is one of those nifty resources for curious children who like real history, encyclopedias, factoids. This admits that the beloved Christmas story is 2,000 years old and it is interesting to ask how we know it is even true.

This allows kids to dig into the Christmas story (from Matthew and Luke) to investigate what life was like in that time and place and to discover why we still celebrate this birth. In a way, this handsome, colorful, engaging book is good for all ages, with plenty to learn, lots of pictures (of everything from Roman soldiers to the nature of sheep to modern day holiday customs from around the world.)

Christmas: 25 Stories About Jesus’ Arrival The Action Bible, art by Sergio Cariello (David C. Cook) $19.99  OUR SALE PRICE = $15.99

This is slightly oversized, with well told stories dipping in to various parts of the story, starting with Isaiah, unfolding it, closer and closer to the birth. It’s full of action and adventure and yet nuance and thought-provoking questions. It is fun, great for families to read together, inviting young readers into the story. What would you feel if an angel invited you to see Jesus? Or if you were a young astronomer who noticed a new star in the sky? Or a donkey??

What’s fun is that on each facing page is a drawing from the comic book / graphic novel illustrations of The Action Bible. As you know, it’s a regular seller (especially for boys, but certainly not only for boys) by by Cariello who has left a mark in the world of DC Comics and Marvel Comics.

The Lion Book of Five-Minute Christmas Stories John Goodwin, illustrated by Richard Johnson (Lion Press) $12.99  OUR SALE PRICE = $10.39

Maybe you are gifted enough to paraphrase with color and whimsy the stories of Mary and the angel, Joseph’s dream, the no room in the inn bit, on through the warning dream, King Herod, and such. If not, no worries — this nicely made paperback Book of Five-Minute Christmas Stories is just perfect. They are each told warmly with wit and energy, some in the first person, creatively. A kid could read them, but they are designed to be read aloud. The art is nice, rich, playful, but not odd.There are nine Bible-based stories included in Five Minute Christmas Stories and the last is a very creative story about the first Christmas tree.

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TO PLACE AN ORDER 

PLEASE READ, THEN SCROLL DOWN AND CLICK ON THE “ORDER HERE” LINK BELOW.

It is helpful if you tell us how you want us to ship your orders.And if you are doing a pre-order, tell us if you want us to hold other books until the pre-order comes, or send some now, and others later… we’re eager to serve you in a way that you prefer. Let us know your hopes.

The weight and destination of your package varies but you can use this as a quick, general guide:

There are generally two kinds of US Mail options and, of course, UPS.  If necessary, we can do overnight and other expedited methods, too. Just ask.

• United States Postal Service has the option called “Media Mail” which is cheapest but can be a little slower. For one typical book, usually, it’s $4.12; 2 lbs would be $4.87. This is the cheapest method available and seems not to be too delayed.
• United States Postal Service has another, quicker option called “Priority Mail” which is $8.50, if it fits in a flat-rate envelope. Many children’s books and some Bibles are oversized so that might take the next size up which is $9.20. “Priority Mail” gets much more attention than does “Media Mail” and is often just a few days to anywhere in the US.
• UPS Ground is reliable but varies by weight and distance and may take longer than USPS. Sometimes they are cheaper than Priority. We’re happy to figure out your options for you once we know what you want.

If you just want to say “cheapest” that is fine. If you are eager and don’t want the slowest method, do say so. It really helps us serve you well so let us know. Keep in mind the possibility of holiday supply chain issues and slower delivery… still, we’re excited to serve you. Blessed Advent.

BookNotes

SPECIAL
DISCOUNT

20% OFF

We’ve still got weeks before Christmas so we’re happy to keep suggesting books — perhaps to put on your list (send your elves here, please) or for you to buy for a lucky loved one. Maybe you just need to know about these so you can order them later. Whatever the case, we are thankful for your willingness to “shop small” and support our very indie family business. We are grateful for you all.

Here are a dozen very recent books (some brand new) and then I’ll remind you of twelve others that we’ve already highlighted but that are so great I wanted to mention them again. If your stuck for gift ideas, just ask. I love playing book match-maker.

As always, scroll down to the end of this column and click on the link to the secure order page. All books mentioned are 20% off.  If you need them much before Christmas, be sure to let us know. We’ll figure it out for you. I’ll reply promptly to confirm everything.

TWELVE BRAND NEW ONES — all 20% off

Zero at the Bone: Fifty Entries Against Despair Christian Wiman $30.00  OUR SALE PRICE = $24.00

Those who have seriously followed serious poetry in the last decades know Wiman; he was rightly known in the last 20th century as poet, translator, editor. When his memoir My Bright Abyss took the literary world by storm — it was a luminous book about his return to faith after his seemingly terminal brain tumor — he became known in wider circles and more conventional Christian readers took up his volumes of poetry and a few on the work of writers and artists. Few writers are esteemed in the New York Times Books Review and The Christian Century and CT. I have followed him closely, especially after sitting next to him at an IAM event (hosted by Mako Fujimura) in New York years ago. Zero at the Bone just came this week.

You may have seen a number of interviews Wiman has done already and if you, you know this is an important work. The flyleaf notes that Zero at the Bone begins with Wiman’s “preoccupation with despair, and through pity brief pieces, he unravels its seductive appeal.” Some have linked his serious work to novelist and essayist Marilyn Robinson; like her work, he is very highly regarded as a public intellectual. Amit Majmudar says this quintessentially Wiman work is “astringently, transcendently human.”

 If there is one word to describe this beautiful and unsparing book, it is ‘truthful’: Christian Wiman interrogates pain, joy and God with a rare depth of honesty and a wonderful range of conversational partners, literary, mystical, scientific and more. — Archbishop Rowan Williams

Jesus Through Medieval Eyes: Beholding Christ with the Artists, Mystics, and Theologians of the Middle Ages Grace Hamman (Zondervan Reflective) $29.99  OUR SALE PRICE = $23.99

I know I’m not the only sucker for good stuff on the Middle Ages. From knights and peasants, high literature and remarkable art, weird theology and amazingly astute thinkers (not to mention nuns and monks and mystics!) this was a truly generative time in Western history. And this brand new book looks like a lovely masterpiece — not even 200 pages, so not overwhelming, but great.

Good, classical thinkers like Jessica Hooten Wilson remind us that we enter a “school of love” under author Grace Hamman’s tutelage. Endorsements are robust and lovely, from the poetical Catholic writer Fritz Bauerschmidt to black literature prof (and pastor) Claude Atcho. Knowing how appreciated she is by sharp folks, I invite you to turn these pages and encounter Margery Kemp (1373-1440) and Fra Angelico (1395-1455) and the likes of Marguerite of Oingt (1240-1310.) And so much more.

Jesus Through Medieval Eyes has a foreword by historian Beth Allison Barr. You can hear Hamman on her podcast “Old Books With Grace.” Hooray.

Working from the Inside Out: A Brief Guide to Inner Work That Transforms Our Outer World Jeff Haanen (IVP) $18.00  OUR SALE PRICE = $14.40

I hope to describe this in greater detail later, but for now you should know three quick things, three audiences for this fabulous, accessible work.

First, if you are (as we are) a fan of the faith and work conversation — that is, thinking Christianly about labor, careers, the vocations we take up, our call to work, to serve in marketplaces and labs and schools and homes and cubicles and more — if you like those Christian perspectives on serving God in the work world, you will love this. There are a lot of books on this (and yet, some churches still speak nothing of the 9 – 5 lives of most congregants) but don’t miss this one. It is for us, friends, direct from one of the epicenters of this movement, the Denver Institute for Faith and Work, where Haanen has creatively served.

Secondly, if you do not know much about this impressive movement, the organizations and think-tanks and ministries and blogs and books about Christ’s Lordship over our labor, and how to relate work and worship, then this book really is for you. Not as dense as some, and yet not simplistic as some, it really is a truly excellent primer on all things about work. That it carries rave endorsements from two leaders of the movement (Katherine Leary Alsdorf, founding director of Redeemer Presbyterian Church’s Center for Faith and Work and Tom Nelson, president of Made to Flourish) speaks volumes. Philip Yancey doesn’t endorse many books, but there he is, opining that Jeff is an expert in this crucial “intersection of faith and work.” He’s right.

Thirdly, maybe you don’t care about this crucial intersection. This book is still for you. Catch the title’s theme — how does our interior life effect our normal lives? How does our “outer world” come to be shaped by our “inner work”? This “pulls back the veil on the deep emotional and vocational challenges faced by the majority” of North American folks, offering a way out of the “disintegration” both of our culture and our lives. In this, he is a master of the literature and theology of our emotional, relational, vocational, intellectual, and civil health. He wants to change the world and knows it has something to do with our inner worlds.

If you are into this topic, you have may even have been waiting for this. It’s here! If you’re new to this call, start here. If you aren’t particularly interested in the marketplace and shop floor, still, you surely care about the relationship of the journey inward and the journey outward and how discovering a reintegrated life can help heal our land. I highly recommend Working from the Inside Out.

A Different Kind of Fast: Feeding Our True Hungers in Lent Christine Valters Painter (Broadleaf Books) $19.99  OUR SALE PRICE = $15.99

I know, I know, a Lenten book listed during Advent? Well, there are connections between the seasons — read the magnificent Advent: The Once and Future Coming of Jesus Christ by Fleming Rutledge if you don’t believe me — but in any season, this invitation to reflect on your true hungers as a way to nourish your soul (as she puts it) is a blessing. Right?

Fasting is an act of letting go, she says “making more internal space to listen to the sacred whispers of our lives.” In this stunning, little book she unpacks seven different kinds of fasts (including fasting from control, from our attachments, from our grasping, from multi-tasking and inattention, from the idol of certainty, and more.)

This is arranged very nicely, in a handsome compact paperack with a great cover. It has been called a “multistory approach to contemplation that is sensitive, thoughtful, and inclusive.”

Adam Bucko, author of the recent Let Your Heartbreak Be Your Guide: Lessons in Engaged Contemplation, says, simply, that it is “a transformative pilgrimage of self-discovery and spiritual growth.”

“A transformative pilgrimage of self-discovery and spiritual growth.”

The Book of James: The Power, Politics, and Passion of LeBron Valerie Babb (Public Affairs) $30.00  OUR SALE PRICE = $24.00

I’m just going to admit it: I have no interest in basketball. At all. I hardly knew who LeBron James was until, reading a collection of essays by a writer I adore (David Giffels) about growing up in rust-belt Akron, Ohio (The Hard Way on Purpose) he told of the importance of the sport to his high school, the town, and the general importance of King James who had lived and played there. I came to realize that he was a larger than life figure, a black role model, philanthropist, activist. If Giffels liked him, I would care, too.  I started to pay attention.

And now we have this brand new volume that is said to be stunning, brilliant, exquisite, sharp. It is about the ethics of fame, the loyalty to place and family, about race and injustice. Mirin Fader says it is “an outright clinic on how to write about basketball, race, culture, and America itself.” It just came out, but it’s on my wish list. Ha.

 The Book of James is bigger than LeBron and bigger than basketball. Be careful handling this work because Babb’s insights are so sharp you might hurt yourself. Basketball fan or not, this book will take you places you never intended–and you will enjoy every moment of the ride.– Tayari Jones, author of An American Marriage

You Are Changing the World Whether You Like It or Not David LaMotte (Chalice Press) $19.99 OUR SALE PRICE = $15.99

Okay, David LaMotte is not a cool, urban, basketball staff. With his signature cowboy hat and acoustic guitar he may be more akin to Neil Young or maybe Wendell Berry. But yet, he’s a mystic (and has a great endorsing blurb on the back by author and poet Kathleen Norris.) He is friends with Bishop William Barber, who knows a thing or two about the “rhythm and artistry” that fuels changing the world for the better.

This recent book is truly one of the best guides I’ve ever seen to learn how to put feet to your ideals, to get involved in deeper forms of activism and social change. We are all planting seeds, all the time, he notes, and the question is whether we know it or not, and whether we are asking about what kind of seeds we are sowing. This book will help you take steps to be more wisely and fruitfully involved.

David LaMotte himself is a gift and he comes through in this new book. It is, in a way, a large gift, a resource, a manual, a hope-filled antidote to the myth of powerlessness. We can make a difference. He has the stories — some global and exciting, others more routine and local — to prove it.

He knows a bit about toxic movements, too, organizations and groups that are not empowering, not healthy. His discernment about this (sometimes learned the hard way) is excellent. He’s a fun and funny teacher, a fine folk singer, and a great storyteller.

LaMotte, from the Black Mountain area of North Carolina, is rooted in the Christian faith. Indeed. Yet he is generous and gracious about others, interested in collaboration and interfaith work. He has done thousands of concerns and talks all over the world. He is a Rotary Peace Fellow, has started a non-profit in Guatemala, and has set down here just about everything one needs to know to become a better human, engaging in the world, willing to work to turn around hopelessness and find joy in service. Brian McLaren is really right: it “rings true and will touch you deeply.”

Pilgrim: 25 Ways God’s Character Leads Us Onward Ruth Chou Simons (Harvest House) $34.99  OUR SALE PRICE = $27.99

I’m not always a fan of social media influencers and instagram stars and fashion gurus; okay I’ll admit, I don’t even know who most are, but I mostly don’t care. Increasingly they all have books and it irritates me. Too much rizz, not enough substance.

And then comes along an artist who is a conservative evangelical, an obviously Godly woman with much to say and a lovely touch. I’ve been won over by Ruth Chou Simons and her artfully illustrated journals and Bibles and all the stuff. Her actual books are good and this one is a hefty, larger-sized devotional inviting us on pilgrimage, to “travel the path Jesus sets before you.” This uplifting mediation on the character of God can accompany you on your pilgrim journey.

There are here twenty-five mature devotions that explore God’s faithfulness, explore a theological teaching about God’s attributes, supplemented with hymns that “illuminate the timeless truths about who God is.”

I think what is so appealing about this solid hardback are the pastel flowers, the illumination, the design, the tender watercolor art. She calls it a collection of “guideposts of grace” and some of that surely is in the presentation itself. Very handsomely done.

Sacred Seasons: A Family Guide to Center Your Year Around Jesus Danielle Hitchen, art by Stephen Crotts (Harvest House) $29.99   OUR SALE PRICE = $23.99

Kudos to publisher Harvest House (who did the nice Chou Simons book, above) for doing a evangelically-rooted family prayer book that is attentive to the liturgical calendar. Some of you enjoyed that webinar we did with Paul Louis Metzger last week (around his book Setting Your Spiritual Clock ) and had I found time, I would have given this new resource a great shout-out. It is just slightly oversized, a nice hardback, with some etchings and woodcuts in gold and red ink — it’s fabulous, very cool without being too glitzy.

Malcolm Guite has a great endorsement on the back (which is sort of rare) saying that Sacred Seasons is “a warm, winning, and above all practical introduction to the traditional church year.”

“A warm, winning, and above all practical introduction to the traditional church year.”

It is a handsomely designed book but it also has fun activities, delicious recipes, alongside the meaningful liturgies. It gently invites families into the ancient Christian disciplines of attending to the rhythms and cycles of the church calendar with a clear gospel focus on Jesus. Nice.

Meaning in the Moment: How Rituals Help Us Move Through Joy, Pain, and Everything in Between Amy F. Davis Abdallah (Brazos Press) $19.99   OUR SALE PRICE = $15.99

Amy Davis is an amazing writer, poet, liturgist, pray-er. She is a theologian and minister and here she quite simply offers tools for “creating effective rituals that explore their meaning and mystery.” She invites us to mark “ends, middles, and beginnings of life.”

Get this: she’s got a PhD from Drew and she teaches practical theology and worship at Alliance University. She has been involved in Missio Alliance and the North American Academy of Liturgy. She obviously gets around.

In our forty years of bookselling we’ve seen some fads come and go, trends both good and weird. Ritual studies are fascinating and while some of this sort of thing can go off-kilter pretty quickly, Abdallah is a reliable guide and Meaning in the Moment never gets too woo-woo. It may not be what your fundamentalist grandma wants and it may be a bit much for some strict dogmatists, but for most of us in the vast middle — wanting healthy faith, solid doctrine, practical ways to live out faith in the real world, and a pinch of mystery and ritual — this is fantastic.  As Mimi Haddad of Christians for Biblical Equality International puts it, “If life’s transitions find you confused, discouraged, and stuck, this is your book!”

It is, I should be clear, more than a handful daily liturgies or mystical rituals. It actually has plenty about the topic so you can get under your belt the key notions of ritual, how it all works and why, what ritualization means and ways it can enhance our sense of God’s inbreaking Kingdom. There is a short but wise forward by David O. Taylor (who recently wrote the stunning A Body of Praise: Understanding the Role of Our Physical Bodies in Worship.)

Somebody I trust in all of this is Dru Johnson (we reviewed his Human Rites quite favorably when it came out years ago and still commend it.) Now at Hope College in Holland, Michigan, Dru  writes:

Davis Abdallah gives us a feast of ritual thinking and actual rituals to ponder and practice. This is not just a book about rituals; it helps us navigate our ritualed world with a trustworthy guide. — Dru Johnson, author of Human Rites and Knowledge by Ritual

Receiving This Life: Practicing the Deepest Belonging Kara K. Root (Fortress Press) $25.00  OUR SALE PRICE = $20.00

I hope you recall that more than a year ago I reviewed Kara Root’s amazing, rich, heart-rending, moving story The Deepest Belonging: A Story about Discovering Where God Meets Us. She is a pastor of a small Presbyterian Church (and the wife of scholar Andrew Root, whose serious work on the church in the secular age we’ve touted here.) That book, the first of Kara Root’s, was on our “Best Books of 2022” list and, importantly, was honored by others. It told a few stories about church life and, somehow, drew us into care about God’s love shown in the reality of hospitality, a church of where people belong. Mark Yaconelli wrote, “This is simply the best book of Christian faith I’ve read in over a decade.”

Okay, so this brand new one, Receiving This Life, is a bit of a sequel, a follow-up, offering devotional reflections, prayers, practices, and liturgies that “invite attentive receptivity to ordinary moments.” She invites us to think about resting, noticing, surrendering and “empowers readers to embrace life as sacred, practice belonging to God and each other, and receive all of life as a gift.”

I loved this book! Being with Kara Root in these pages is a pure gift. Part spiritual director, part kitchen-table friend, Root gently unzipped every article of anxious faith I own and left my “worry time” self on the floor. Every chapter was a flood of relief. Don’t reach for this book. Receive it. — Kenda Creasy Dean, Professor of Youth, Church, and Culture, Princeton Theological Seminary, and author of Almost Christian: What the Faith of Our Teenagers Is Telling the American Church

Receiving This Life is a true gift of a book. Root is an inspired storyteller, and the wisdom and care shared in these pages will be life-giving and faith-shaping for pastors and lay readers alike. I will be quoting from this book and drawing from it as a resource for my own ministry for years and years to come. Again, what a gift. — Austin Carty, author of The Pastor’s Bookshelf: Why Reading Matters for Ministry

Dancing in My Dreams: A Spiritual Biography of Tina Turner Ralph H. Craig III (Eerdmans) $26.99  OUR SALE PRICE = $21.59

Eerdmans long-standing series of religious biographies is respected for their scholarly acumen and, usually, for their accessible writing style, bring pleasure to countless, curious, nonfiction readers. Some are about admirable religious leaders, others less so. All are fascinating, combining history, social context, surveying the religious landscape, and the foibles of the personal faith of the person under consideration. Some, like Dr. Allen Guelzo’s Abraham Lincoln: Redeemer President, have been very widely recognized, others less so. In recent years they’ve done great ones on Sojourner Truth, Ruth Bell Graham, Jackie Robinson, Dwight Eisenhower, Winston Churchill, and more. I’m looking forward to the February release of A Prairie Faith: The Religious Life of Laura Ingalls Wilder.

I applaud their newest in this Library of Religious Biography, one of the few they’ve done on a pop star, and a pop star who is, in her own way, a Buddhist. Who knew?

Ralph Craig here explores Tina Turner’s spiritual journey from her Black Baptist upbringing to her “uniquely syncretic Buddhism.” As the back cover invites, you will discover “how the Queen of Rock n Roll found power and enlightenment against the dynamic backdrop of late twentieth-century America.”

Read these early reviews. Some folks are very, very excited about this, and not just as fans, but as those seriously pondering faith in the modern setting. Fascinating.

Ralph H. Craig III has gifted the field of religious studies and the world with this critical, ambitious, and beautifully written religious biography of Tina Turner, Black Buddhist woman and pop culture icon. . . . This indispensable volume blends together the myriad worlds and religious ways of knowing at the helm of Turner’s artistic and aesthetic productions, and it offers a daring challenge to earnestly sit with and learn from Tina. Dancing in My Dreams is, without question, a must-read. — Ahmad Greene-Hayes, Harvard Divinity School

A deep, exciting journey through Tina Turner’s Black Christian roots, adult explorations of American metaphysical religion, and embrace of Soka Gakkai International Nichiren Buddhism. This insightful biography casts new light on Turner’s ‘combinatory religious repertoire’ and artistic spirituality beyond lay status. For religious studies and Africana studies, Ralph Craig’s comprehensive scholarship introduces a fresh understanding of spiritual leadership with Tina — a Black woman, survivor, global music superstar, and Buddhist teacher. — Vaughn A. Booker, author of Lift Every Voice and Swing: Black Musicians and Religious Culture in the Jazz Century

The New Revised Standard SBL Study Bible Society for Biblical Literature (HarperOne) hardback; $50.00 / paperback; $39.99 OUR SALE PRICES = $40.00 (hardback) / $31.99

Someone more knowledgeable about Bible translations and such might have more insight but I can say four quick things about this long-awaiting, nearly magisterial, newly updated SBL study edition.

First, it is in the updated NRSV and while there have never been many options for good study Bibles in the NRSV, this is the only study edition we know of in the NRSVue (with ue, standing for “updated edition.”) It includes the Apocryphal / Deuterocanonical Books.

Secondly, it is prestigious in its own way — SBL is the professional gathering of the best ecumenical scholars working in the field of Biblical studies. There are some evangelicals involved (some of great standing who helped with this, such as Nijay Gupta and Ray Van Leeuwen.) There are towering figures in the field (Beverly Gaventa, John Goldingay, Leander Keck, Ralph Klein.) There are many contributors who seem to be from the global church, lots of women, lots whose names I do not recognize. Some are classic — Patrick Miller on the Psalms, Kathleen O’Connor on Lamentations, Richard Hays on Galatians. From Carol Bechtel on Esther to Richard Bauckham on 2 Peter and Mark Allen Powell on Matthew, it’s a grand and diverse set of experts helping illuminate the texts.

Thirdly, it is, for those who aren’t aware of this, very ecumenical, and, frankly, fairly guided by critical scholarship. (That is, I gather they just assume there are three Isaiahs, not one; that the Genesis narratives were shaped over time by various sources, and, happily, that the shape of the canon and canonical context matters.) It is very different than, say, the lovely spiritual guidance offered in the plainspoken and generally very helpful Life Application Study Bible and the dogmatically conservative and generally Reformed ESV Study Bible. All study BIbles have their biases, and while these may be what some call theologically liberal, they are nonetheless often helpful and generally honest about all of that. I’ve only skimmed it and it will take years before a consensus develops about how good it is. For now, it seems to be the best of its kind.

Fourth, it is handsomely done, with a fairly decent size print, lots of sidebars and such (no color pages or photos, though, like, say, in the NIV Study Bible.) However, all of the ones we got in (and we got a lot) have page bleed through. It may be a deal-breaker for some that the gray sidebars that look so handsome on one page bleeds through to the other side, making reading the backside less than pleasant. Same with bold type, lines, graphics. HarperOne really dropped the ball on this. I don’t know what to tell you but to be honest about this unfortunate feature.

TWELVE PREVIOUSLY ANNOUNCED 2023 THAT WE WANT TO HIGHLIGHT AGAIN. All 20% off.

The Language of the Soul: Meeting God in the Longings of Our Hearts Jeff Crosby (Broadleaf Books) $26.99  OUR SALE PRICE = $21.59

You will recall that I said much about this, how it is so nicely written, gracious, thoughtful, with lots of stories and allusions to music. One of of my favorite books of spiritual formation this year. I’m pretty sure this is going to be on a number of year’s end “best books” lists — it sure is on mine. Highly recommended.

N.T. Wright (Zondervan) $29.99  OUR SALE PRICE = $23.99

What can I say. Wright has developed some new thoughts on Romans, seen largely in this close reading of one of the most important chapters in the whole Bible. If you love God’s Word, I’d say you should read this book.

“Like a falcon in a dive, Tom Wright takes readers on a majestic and soaring flight through Romans 8, the heart of Paul’s letter to the Roman house churches. There’s so much to see on atonement, spirit versus flesh, adoption, love, and hope, and Tom does not disappoint with his amazing mix of explanatory insights and easy readability. For many readers, reading this book will be the first time Romans actually makes sense to them.” — Rev. Dr. Michael F. Bird, Ridley College, Melbourne, Australia, author, Seven Things I Wish Christians Knew About the Bible

What If Jesus Was Serious About Heaven? Sky Jethani (Brazos Press) $16.99  OUR SALE PRICE = $13.59

Do you know this little series of “What If Jesus Was Serious?” There is one about the Christian life, one about church life, one about prayer. This new one is about the Kingdom of God, the reign of Christ over all things. It is not far off to say this is a quick and playful intro to stuff like Surprised by Hope or How God Became King by Tom Wright. There are illustrations, full-color graphics. It is a hoot, and brilliant. Yay.

Creation Care Discipleship: Why Earthkeeping Is An Essential Christian Practice Steven Bouma-Prediger (Baker Academic) $25.99  OUR SALE PRICE = $20.79

I am not kidding to say this is one of the best books on discipleship that I’ve read all year. Give it to anyone who loves nature, and anyone concerned about the environment, anybody who understands ecology — or those who don’t. Fantastic!

How To Stay Married: The Most Insane Love Story Ever Told Harrison Scott Key (Avid Reader Press) $27.99   OUR SALE PRICE = $22.39

When a sophisticated humorist writes a book about his wife cheating on him and you realize it isn’t a joke, it becomes a page-turning train wreck that you want to look away from but can’t. And you shouldn’t because this book is tragic and funny, awful and hopeful, good and bad and better. It’s complicated and weird — the life of recovery from bad relationship habits and bad religion and newfound trust and hope makes this one of the best memoirs I’ve read all year. I couldn’t put it down. I’m not kidding, I laughed and I cried.

Now I Lay Me Down to Fight: A Poet Writes Her Way Through Cancer Katy Bowser Hutson (IVP) $16.00  OUR SALE PRICE = $12.80

This small book of poems and essays means the world to some of us who care about the author, but, more, to anyone who needs honest lament, and serious reflection on God’s grace and the gospel’s hope, even in darn hard things. She is amazing. Get a few to have on hand…

Walter Brueggemann’s Prophetic Imagination: A Theological Biography  Conrad L. Kanagy (Fortress Press) $24.95  OUR 20% OFF SALE PRICE = $19.96

I hope you recall my long review of this first and very good “theological biography” of one of the most important religious leaders of our time. Brueggemann’s recent friend, central Pennsylvania’s Conrad Kanagy really gets him, and the many interviews he did with Walt pulled out bunches of stories from Brueggemann’s storied past. This is a great read. At the very least, if yoiu are in a mainline denominational church, you could give this to your pastor and she will be very impressed.

The Evangelical Imagination: How Stories, Images, & Metaphors Created a Culture in Crisis Karen Swallow Prior (Brazos Press) $26.99  OUR SALE PRICE = $21.59

Karen has made a vital contribution to our understanding of the religious landscape, to our understanding of the vital history — the good and the bad — of revivalism and evangelicalism. She works on the metaphors that have shaped the imagination of many, and unpacks the weight of those stories and images as they have both motivated and damaged so very many. This is a must-read, and it is truly fascinating.

The Spacious Path: Practicing the Restful Ways of Jesus in a Fragmented World Tamara Hill Murphy (Herald Press) $18.99  OUR SALE PRICE = $15.19

I hope you recall my little review of this, a gentle and thoughtful guide to the spirituality of spaciousness, of rest, of the ways of following Jesus. She is a spiritual guide and invites us to live well in Christ’s grace. Lovely, insightful, helfpful.

“Many people feel overwhelmed by life these days, and for good reason. ‘Normal’ appears as a distant dot in the rearview mirror. But what if instead of normal, we sought a graced and spacious life? Tamara Hill Murphy invites us into such a life. In The Spacious Path, we are reminded that God has provided wide-open spaces for us, and that we can live a life ‘earthed in Christ.’ Tamara graciously invites us, and then walks with us, on the path toward engaging a rule of life–one that points to Jesus as our firm foundation.” —  Gem Fadling, cofounder of Unhurried Living, Inc., and author of Hold That Thought: Sorting Through the Voices in Our Heads

Holy Unhappiness: God’s Goodness, and the Myth of the Blessed Life Amanda Held Opelt (Worthy Publishing) $27.00  OUR SALE PRICE = $21.60

Oh my, this caught me by surprised and I loved it. Give it to anyone who is struggling and wants to be okay with not being okay. Just maybe it is “holy unhappiness” and a gift, actually. Being “blessed” as typically understood maybe isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Held Opelt showed in her great book about grief (A Hole in the World) that is she a good writer. Here she is a good thinker, too, fun and nearly brilliant. Exceptional.

How Far to the Promised Land: One Black Family’s Story of Hope and Survival in the American South Esau McCaulley (Convergent) $27.00  OUR SALE PRICE = $21.60

If you follow Hearts & Minds and this BookNotes newsletter you know of McCaulley. His name comes up in recent months since he curated and edited that series called “The Fullness of Time” about the church calendar and the liturgical seasons. Previously he wrote the excellent collection of New Testament studies Reading While Black. He has a kids book, too. Here he tells his life story, from growing up poor in the Pentecostal south to his journey towards Anglicanism. It is a glowing memoir, fascinating, well-written, and surprisingly entertaining. It includes some hard stuff and is important for all of us. What a gift of vulnerable storytelling. Get it. Give it.

Where the Waves Turn Back: A Forty Day Pilgrimage Along the California Coast Tyson Motsenbocker (Worthy Publishing) $27.00  OUR SALE PRICE = $21.60

Back in the summer I did a long review article of maybe ten different memoirs that we were big on, and this was one. Tyson is a singer-songwriter, an indie folk guy who has released albums and done very artful work. In this meandering memoir he tells of his life, his faith, his doubt… it is grounded in a forty day hike in California as he carried his mother’s ashes, waiting for the moment to spread them in an appropriate place. This is a fabulous memoir, a great story, and his journey on the road is illuminating and quite the adventure. Cool stuff. Give it to any young adult who wants to be “on the road” or is trying to work out grief and confusion. He’s a good guy and this is a very fine book.

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There are generally two kinds of US Mail options and, of course, UPS.  If necessary, we can do overnight and other expedited methods, too. Just ask.

• United States Postal Service has the option called “Media Mail” which is cheapest but can be a little slower. For one typical book, usually, it’s $4.12; 2 lbs would be $4.87. This is the cheapest method available and seems not to be too delayed.
• United States Postal Service has another, quicker option called “Priority Mail” which is $8.50, if it fits in a flat-rate envelope. Many children’s books and some Bibles are oversized so that might take the next size up which is $9.20. “Priority Mail” gets much more attention than does “Media Mail” and is often just a few days to anywhere in the US.
• UPS Ground is reliable but varies by weight and distance and may take longer than USPS. Sometimes they are cheaper than Priority. We’re happy to figure out your options for you once we know what you want.

If you just want to say “cheapest” that is fine. If you are eager and don’t want the slowest method, do say so. It really helps us serve you well so let us know. Keep in mind the possibility of holiday supply chain issues and slower delivery… still, we’re excited to serve you. Blessed Advent.

BookNotes

SPECIAL
DISCOUNT

20% OFF

Among other things both wondrous and mundane, two revelations stand out from our day-to-day work last week that lead me to this BookNotes listing of some new books about the arts, creativity, the imagination, and such.

First, we did that fabulous hour-and-a-half webinar conversation with Dr Paul Louis Metzger on his fabulous book Setting Your Spiritual Clock: Sacred Time Breaking Through the Secular Eclipse on the significance of the church calendar. Thanks to all who joined in — we’ll soon offer a free link (at least at the Hearts & Minds Facebook group) to that Zoom discussion so you can join it. One of the things that struck me — besides Paul’s cheerful charm in his serious call to radical discipleship (not to mention his love of rock & roll and the blues) — was that conversations about the church calendar pretty quickly move towards symbols, metaphors, images. Talking of sacred time and practices to attune ourselves to the holy requires some imagination. To press against the encroaching modernist secularism — “secular creep” Metzger playfully called it — we need all the help we can get and some sort of sanctification can happen (slowly, perhaps) when we pay attention to rhythms and rituals and colors. We didn’t talk about aesthetics and the arts as such, but I know we were on the edge of that mystery that evening.

Secondly, some saw on my own Facebook page (and, again, at the Hearts & Minds group page) a link to an informal Sunday school class I helped with to kick off the first Sunday of Advent. We are doing a series at First Presbyterian Church (of York, PA) on poetry called “Waiting Words.” Our oldest daughter, Stephanie, did a really fabulous job setting the table with a little talk on Advent, slowing down, and how the practice of listening to or reading poetry can help. She cited, nicely, from the introduction to the marvelous book When Poets Pray by Marilyn McEntyre. After reading this BookNotes, jump over to our Facebook group to hear her good words, at least, and stay, if you’d like, to hear words by the great Presbyterian pastor and poet, Thomas J. Carlisle, Madeleine L’Engle, Luci Shaw, Drew Jackson, and Joan Rae Mills. I was inspired to think about how creativity and the arts, imagination and aesthetics can help us all.

And so, here are a handful of recent books which you may or may not know about. I hope you consider them for yourself, for creatives you know, and certainly for anyone interested in the art world.

We have many BookNotes lists — some quite extensive — showing some of the selection we have regarding books about faith and art. From classics like Madeleine  L’Engle’s Walking on Water: Reflections on Faith and Art or one of my all-time favorite books, Rainbows for the Fallen World by Calvin Seerveld, to the must-have anthology edited by Ned Bustard (It Was Good: Making Art to the Glory of God) published by Square Halo Books or even their lovely, small one called Naming the Animals: An Invitation to Creativity by Stephen Roach, there are so many good ones. For serious folks, we have all the IVP Academic ones in their great “Studies in Theology and the Arts” series. Visit our website, click on BookNotes, and enter “the arts” or “creativity” into the little search box and you’ll be surprised by how much it will bring up from past BookNotes. The prices might have changed, but some of those old lists are really good. Enjoy!

For now, here are some fairly new ones, all 20% off. Order today.

The Artistic Sphere: The Arts in Neo-Calvinist Perspective edited by Roger Henderson and Marleen Hengelaar-Rookmaaker (IVP Academic) $45.00  OUR SALE PRICE = $36.00

This splendid, extraordinary, remarkable book deserves its own full review but that will have to wait. For now, just a few quick words to say how much this means to me, how much we recommend it, and how wonderfully affirming it is to those who are both seriously theological and intentional about forging a faith-informed sense of aesthetics, a Biblical-driven vision of the imagination, and a critical (if gracious) view of art history.

First, this: the “neo-Calvinism” in the title is a faith tradition emerging from Holland in the early 1900s. The preacher/social reformer/Prime Minister Abraham Kuyper and his associates created a fresh take on the ways in which the sovereignty of God works in the world, and a call to be serious about cultural renewal. There are some who appropriate this tradition in stodgy, doctrinaire ways, but the thinkers — some art historians, some philosophers, some artists —  show that the tradition (with its delightful emphasis on common grace for the common good) need not be sectarian. dogmatic, or traditionalist (as some pitch it these days)

Two names come up on occasion in this fascinating collection who represented various strains or tones of Dutch neo-Calvinism; one is Hans Rookmaaker (whose artful daughter co-edited this volume from Holland), a Dutchman who found faith in a Nazi concentration camp (and who had, perhaps, the best record collection of American jazz and blues in all of Europe in those years) who later influenced early Francis Schaeffer.

The other is the extraordinary legal scholar and Dutch philosopher Herman Dooyeweerd, whose followers nearly started a  movement which in the 1960s and 70s created Toronto’s Institute for Christian Studies. Co-editor Roger Henderson studied at ICS (with Calvin Seerveld, the legendary philosopher of aesthetics there) and so represents that unique, mostly North American form of culturally engaging, smart, neo-Calvinism. These are two streams of the theologically-Reformed “neo-Cal” tradition that influenced Beth and I; those that know the origin story of Hearts & Minds have heard us talk of friends from Toronto’s ICS and the Swiss L’Abri that formed our vocation as booksellers.

This big, new book does have a tiny bit of insider baseball lingo, I suppose — Henderson gives us a good chapter on Dooyeweerd’s view of spheres of life and it is a gift for any serious thinker, it seems. There is a chapter swiping a line from Canadian singer-songwriter Bruce Cockburn (“Rumors of Glory”) that explains how the theme of the Kingship of Christ over all of life in Abraham Kuyper reformed Calvin’s view of the arts. Whether readers are Reformed or not it’s a great chapter!

Most of The Artistic Sphere, though, will be fabulous for anyone even vaguely interested in the conversation about faith and the arts. I can hardly think of a better follow up to, say, the Square Halo Books anthology, It Was Good: Making Art to the Glory of God, or the good books by Mako Fujimura. It is truly interesting, a winning case study of what folks mean when they talk about the integration of faith and scholarship. With the variety of top notch authors — from E. John Walford to Nicholas Wolterstorff to William Edgar to Adrienne Dengerink Chaplin to Calvin Seerveld (whose essay is spectacular, by the way) just to name a few — this book is nothing short of magnificent.

And it is a visual delight. Kudos, again, to IVP. Most authors have been given a way of showing how their theories or insights work out in practice by them doing a second, companion chapter where they celebrate and evaluate art pieces. From James Romain on “I See the Promised Land” in the collaborative work of K.O.S. and Tim Rollins to Seerveld’s piece on the meaning of the crucifixion in Grunewald and Perugino to several pieces on contemporary protest art, the book is a full color feast. It is serious, of course, but there are playful design touches and light colors throughout. Full color art enhances every chapter.

There is, for those who care, a re-printed chapter from a previous book by Hans Rookmaaker and his lovely “Letter to a Christian Artist” from The Creative Gift. Also, Victoria Emily Jones has an excellent closing essay about the books and movements and scholars who have contributed over the last decades. It will be very important for scholars, students, and fun for aficionados.

More should be said — this is one of the grand releases of 2023. Whether you are familiar with the broad themes of a good creation that is drastically damaged by sin but that is being redeemed by a saving Lord, who promised to bring restoration even as we now live into the Kingdom of “all things (re)need” or not, The Artistic Sphere will inspire you to want to live a more full, more human, more full, richer life.  Five stars — very highly recommended.

For many decades, the Kuyperian tradition has been at the forefront of nourishing a Christian imagination in the world of the arts. This excellent collection proves the point, as well as demonstrating how Neo-Calvinism can resource artists and Christian thinkers to tackle together the challenges of the future. — Jeremy Begbie, Duke University, author, Abundantly More: The Theological Promise of the Arts in a Reductionist World

The Artistic Sphere is an engaging antidote to stereotypes that often cluster around Calvinism and visual images. These essays are not characterized by a uniform viewpoint. There are refreshing differences of emphasis and interpretation in the way topics like beauty, the imagination, or the social roles of art are discussed. This book is an excellent introduction to how the visual arts were and are shaped, understood, and used in Reformational cultures. — Theodore Prescott, emeritus professor of art at Messiah University, author, A Broken Beauty

Abundantly More: The Theological Promise of the Arts in a Reductionist World Jeremy S. Begbie (Baker Academic) $39.99  OUR SALE PRICE = $31.99

I’ve highlighted this previously, but surely it is, as one reviewer insisted, “A remarkable achievement that breaks new ground.” So it’s very worth whilte naming again.

We’ve obviously appreciated — and carried — every Begbie book since his extraordinary (and scholarly) work on music, released years ago. A few years ago he did one exploring what theology has to say to the arts, and another one on what the arts have to say to theology. He is prolific, academic, passionate, and a master of classical music. He is one of our finest writers in this whole genre, at least for those who want rigorous, dense prose.

Here he is surely doing much more than affirming that God cares about our creative juices or saying that our faith should give us lenses through which we can perceive goodness and delight in the arts of our fellow humans. It is even more than saying that beauty should be a key notion for our theological efforts. Sure.

In Abundantly More Begbie is making a major argument against one of the grand themes of Western philosophy and culture, what is summed up in the word “reductionism.” Think of C.S. Lewis’s The Abolition of Man, perhaps, or other critics that explain how reducing life to just this or that is always troubling and never ends well. No, we need a robust, opened-up, multi-dimensional view of things, the very “teeming” creation God has given us.

As it says on the back, “In a culture that so often seems to shrink and flatten our vision, reducing the world to mere atoms and us to mere things, the arts can break our imaginations open.”

James K.A. Smith has written much against this anti-creational vision or reductionism, and recently, in a column in Image (the arts journal he edits) he explained how very important this new book is.  Here is what Smith said on the back cover:

As only Jeremy Begbie can do, this book weaves theology and music, philosophy and poetry, science and Scripture to explore and celebrate the uncontainability of the triune God and the irreducible complexity of creation. Beginning with an astute analysis of our modern tendency to reduce, flatten, and de-complexify the beautiful, swirling kaleidoscope of divine and created reality, Begbie articulates a creative, constructive pneumatology that deepens our understanding of the resonance between theology and the arts. A remarkable achievement that breaks new ground. — James K. A. Smith, Calvin University; editor, Image; author How to Inhabit Time.

Redeeming Vision: A Christian Guide to Looking At and Learning from Art Elissa Yukiko Weichbrodt (Baker Academic) $29.99  OUR SALE PRICE = $23.99

Funny, as I pulled recent books off the shelf that I wanted to list alongside our lead title on the neo-Calvinists insights about the “artistic sphere” (above), this is the one I first grabbed. I selected it because it is the brightest, most interesting, best-done arts book of the recent past and it just shouted to be listed again. It is colorful and wise. Fun,too.

Yes, I highlighted it last February — we had it before the official release date and celebrated it by releasing it at the CCO’s great Jubilee conference in Pittsburgh last February. Now, this coming year, Elissa is a keynote, plenary speaker there and doing a workshop on the arts. Hooray. This is righteous!

Redeeming Vision is somewhat like other books which invite people of faith to a deeper awareness of the aesthetic gift, of redemptive moves in interpreting art, in seeing goodness and learning from it by way of engaging classic and contemporary art. It is a Christian guide but, frankly, is so very well done with so many full-color reproductions and insightful comments, that nearly anyone could appreciate it. It is rich and thoughtful and gives actual tools for evaluation and a helpful framework — so much so that Rachel Hostetter Smith of Taylor University says it provides a “useful toolbox.” It is one of those books that deserves a very, very wide readership. We are very happy to suggest it.

Redeeming Vision is an erudite and yet wonderfully hospitable invitation for the layperson to engage deeply with art and art history through a profoundly Christian theological perspective. A vital contribution to the library of any sincere student of visual culture and its central importance in our lives. — Bruce Herman, gallery director, Barrington Center for the Arts

Weichbrodt has provided what Christian discourse about the visual arts over the last fifty years has lacked: an on-the-ground guide to looking. Redeeming Vision is a remarkable text that will play a crucial role in helping to initiate countless curious but often confused seekers into the practice of looking at art. — Daniel A. Siedell New York City, author, God in the Gallery: A Christian Embrace of Modern Art

Rembrandt Is In the Wind: Learning to Love Art Through the Eyes of Faith Russ Ramsey (Zondervan) $24.99  OUR SALE PRICE = $19.99

Okay, this came out late last year and isn’t brand new. We celebrated it as one of our favorite books of 2022. I mention it here, now, not only because it fits this column so nicely but because I wanted to suggest it as a great gift for a wanna-be art lover. Russ is a good writer, a beloved pastor, a cool guy, but he is not a professional critic, not an artist by vocation, not one who is known for this sort of book. But that’s it’s strength — call it “growing your faith by learning a bit about the arts” and coming to appreciate art more by learning some of the spiritual backstory of the artists. It does what it sets out to do, which is, frankly, to help ordinary folks learn to appreciate visual art better and to do so religiously.

In this sense, this fabulous 2022 narrative reminds me of two favorites we very often recommend — Terry Glaspey’s tremendous 75 Masterpieces Every Christian Should Know: The Fascinating Stories Behind Great Works of Art, Literature, Music and Film and his very useful Discovering God Through the Arts: How We Can Grow Closer to God by Appreciating Beauty & Creativity.

But Rev.Ramsey’s Rembrandt Is In the Wind is so, so interesting! The foreword by Mako Fujimura is excellent, the full color plates are great, and the back-cover endorsement of Karen Swallow Prior is punchy and to the point. She says, “The artists featured in these pages, artists who devoted their life and work to that which is good, true, and beautiful, remind us that we can — and should — do the same.

Imagining Our Neighbors as Ourselves: How Art Shapes Empathy Mary W. McCampbell (Fortress Press) $28.00  OUR SALE PRICE = $22.40

Again, this is a 2022 release, another of our favorite books of last year. It deserves another big shout-out, as does the fabulously interesting author, the great Mary McCampbell. Anyone who has heard me speak about the importance of books and reading have surely heard me insist that reading widely has a benefit of deepening our sense of empathy — walking a mile in another’s shoes, ya know. This documents that with as much vigor and passion and scholarly wisdom as you can imagine. The opening chapter on what empathy is and the Biblical warrant for it is excellent and shapes her evangelical vision of why and how narrative works its magic on us.

Imagining Our Neighbors… is, unlike the other books on this list, about narrative art, which is to say novels, movies, plays, TV shows, music. She explores graphic novels, YA fiction, the big classics of contemporary fiction, and pop culture. I simply cannot say enough about this but it is a gem; thoughtful, serious, but utterly engaging. Hooray.

McCampbell takes the ingredients of the familiar and invites us on a theological and experiential journey to self and neighbor compassion. In her book, both storytelling and story analysis, from film to Holy Scripture, inspire and equip us to grow what seems so lacking today: empathy. — Christina Edmondson, psychologist, cohost of the Truth’s Table podcast, and author of Faithful Antiracism: Moving Past Talk to Systemic Change

God and Wonder: Theology, Imagination, and the Arts edited by Jeffrey W. Barbeau & Emily Hunter McGowin (Cascade Books) $35.00  OUR SALE PRICE = $28.00

This book is not brand new but it is new to me, and perhaps new to you. I discovered it from two sources — there was a great review in the recent Christian Scholars Review that made me sit up and wonder how I missed this great anthology. And then I realized the co-editor, Emily Hunter McGowin, is the author of the little “Fullness of Time” book on Christmas, called Christmas: The Season of Life and Light. I loved that little book (that precedes the equally brilliant Epiphany:The Season of Glory by Fleming Rutledge.)  Maybe I was right, as I alluded to above, that thinking about the liturgical calendar and church year allows one to think about the imagination, about wonder and light and glory.

God and Wonder is a rigorous set of various academic pieces, mostly by theologians of sorts, some academics, some not. Here you’ll read an array of multi-ethnic and trans-denominational voices (Scott Cairns, a poet, is Orthodox; Karen An-hwei Lee is a provost and poet at Wheaton College and here writes on the Psalms; Cheryle Sanders is a beloved and respected professor of ethics at Howard University in DC (and a pastor of the well known Third Street Church of God there.) Nijay Gupta is a New Testament scholar and seriously published  Pauline scholar — he teaches at Northern. In any case, these various writers are weighing in on the question of wonder. How does a Biblical and spiritual sense of awe lead to not only an enhanced imagination but a passion for the arts?

There are chapters on children, on a theology of the imagination, of “radiant awe.” Jeremy Begie has a piece called “Encountering the Uncontainable in the Arts” that is akin to his new book that I mentioned above.

A few chapters that I’m diving into soon:

• “Making as an Act of Longing and Lament” by Tish Harrison Warren
• “The Artistry of Place” by Andrew Peterson
• “Placed Wonder through the Arts” by Jennifer Allen Craft
• “The Wonder of Cinema in Dorothy L. Sayers and Spike Lee” by Crystal Downing
• “Songs and Symbols for an Overcoming Church” by Cheryl J. Sanders

Doorway to Artistry: Attuning Your Philosophy to Enhance Your Creativity Esther Lightcap Meek (Cascade) $32.00  OUR SALE PRICE = $25.60

This, my friends, is a very impressive book with which we have great affection. Esther Lightcap Meek is a friend and a retired philosophy professor we admire very much. Her other books are about (get this) knowing. That is, to use the fancy-pants works, epistemology but she brings a common person’s tone to it because her deeply Biblical / covenantal view of knowing is, as the Bible seems to teach, with head, heart, and hand. That is, we are full-bodied creatures, not only brains, and to “know” in the Bible is much, much more than mere cognition or brain knowledge. We know with our bodies, actually.

She makes this point in several important books drawing on the amazing 20th century philosopher of science, Michael Polanyi (and, I’d guess, somewhat in league with that great popular writer, Steve Garber.) In any case, Esther has inspired students — even a rock band who did an album called Esther to show how much her courses influenced their artistry — and now, here, she is showing how all that works for artists.

The subtitle says it all — this is about attuning one’s philosophy so that we might have a proper framework that elicits an attentiveness to our creative impulses. Being an artist — or inhabiting that “artistic sphere” whether an artist, formally, or not —“involved you intimately with the world around and beyond you.” So, she says, “your artistry involves profound but simple philosophical matters.” It goes to the very core of your being.

This book is grand, with a big, caring vision. It offers philosophy for the common person, but, especially designed to help them with their creative side, offering exactly what the title promises: a “doorway to artistry.”

There are nifty illustrations by Martin Smith and a great, collaborative foreword by Makoto Fujimura. She draws on thinkers and writers from Wendell Berry to Robert Farrar Capon to Lewis Hyde to D.C. Schindler — especially his Love and the Postmodern Predicament.  Can you know in order to love? Want to learn to love in order to know? This book will help.

Oasis of Imagination: Engaging Our World Through a Better Creativity Ted Turnau  (IVP-UK) $39.99  OUR SALE PRICE = $31.99

We import this one from the UK and we couldn’t be happier. Well, it is a bit big and a bit pricey, but, man — what an inspiring manifesto. Turnau is a leader in both church and the arts community in Prague. He wrote a very thoughtful book a decade ago called Popologetics, which offers a method of classic apologetics drawing on popular culture. (He also wrote last year and published on New Growth Press one called The Pop Culture Parent.) He is currently Chair of Literature and Culture at Anglo-American University in the Czech Republic.

This book is upbeat and readable — even at 450 pages you will not be wearied — and although he draws on serious philosophers and theologians (from Heidegger to Kundera to N.T. Wright, from Dooyeweerd to David Dark to Neil Gaiman. Wow.)

Turnau here offers a consistently Christian, thoughtful overview of a theology of imagination, drawing on worldviewish thinkers like Al Wolters and artists like Makoto Fujimura. He is indebted to Tim Keller and even Francis Schaeffer. And like each of those thinkers (each in their own way) he interacts with contemporary scholars, European thinkers, playwrights, artists, cultural critics. He has Biblical work (including some great footnotes) and helps Christians in their creative culture-making. His hope is to “help the Christian church enter into and contribute to this conversation in ways that build bridges, ways that heal rifts, even in a world that might no longer welcome Christian commitments.” We excited about this.

Imagination Manifesto: A Call to Plant Oases of Imagination Ted Turnau & Ruth Naomi Floyd (IVP-UK) $14.99  OUR SALE PRICE = $11.99

Okay, this (as you can tell from the cover) is a companion volume to the bigger Oasis of Imagination. This is, as they put it in the back of Oasis, “to put theory into practice.” Nice

Three quick things: Jesus calls us into the world so we should be intentional about our engagement with our cultures. This book helps us quickly get up to speed about how the imagination is an important part of how God made us and why it is part of God’s call to seek the good of our communities. It is about why Christian artists need the church but also about why the church should not only be helpful to artists, but should be planting some kind of artistic / creative works in our community.

Secondly, you should know that Turnau’s co-writer here is, in fact, a vibrant black woman — from Philly! — who is a jazz composer and singer (and who has worked with the anti-trafficking work of the International Justice Mission.) She is known for exciting lectures of art and justice, on music and beauty and racial reconciliation. We are fans.

Thirdly, this is not only a distillation of his bigger book, but this team-effort offers a path beyond culture wars with a compelling call to action; Naomi is an artist and activist and perfect for this on-the-ground manual. This little guide offers practical suggestions for “getting started with planting oases right where you are.” Wow.

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TO PLACE AN ORDER 

PLEASE READ, THEN SCROLL DOWN AND CLICK ON THE “ORDER HERE” LINK BELOW.

It is helpful if you tell us how you want us to ship your orders.And if you are doing a pre-order, tell us if you want us to hold other books until the pre-order comes, or send some now, and others later… we’re eager to serve you in a way that you prefer. Let us know your hopes.

The weight and destination of your package varies but you can use this as a quick, general guide:

There are generally two kinds of US Mail options and, of course, UPS.  If necessary, we can do overnight and other expedited methods, too. Just ask.

• United States Postal Service has the option called “Media Mail” which is cheapest but can be a little slower. For one typical book, usually, it’s $4.12; 2 lbs would be $4.87. This is the cheapest method available.
• United States Postal Service has another, quicker option called “Priority Mail” which is $8.50, if it fits in a flat-rate envelope. Many children’s books and some Bibles are oversized so that might take the next size up which is $9.20. “Priority Mail” gets much more attention than does “Media Mail” and is often just a few days to anywhere in the US.
• UPS Ground is reliable but varies by weight and distance and may take longer than USPS. Sometimes they are cheaper that Priority. We’re happy to figure out your options for you once we know what you want.

If you just want to say “cheapest” that is fine. If you are eager and don’t want the slowest method, do say so. It really helps us serve you well so let us know. Keep in mind the possibility of holiday supply chain issues and slower delivery…

BookNotes

SPECIAL
DISCOUNT

20% OFF

PLEASE REGISTER NOW FOR OUR FREE WEBINAR WITH PAUL METZGER

TUESDAY NOVEMBER 28TH – 7:00 PM (Eastern Standard Time.)

REGISTER HERE.

I know it is a busy weekend with many folks travelling to be with relatives, meeting up with turkeys and parades and — hopefully — offering prayers of gratitude and hopes for peace. Our last BookNotes was sent into the holiday maelstrom of Facebook ads, email spam, and social media posts about everything from great family meals to profound losses. I hope, somehow, you saw it, and spent a little quiet time pondering the great books we described about Advent. We’ve got ‘em, and if we can help, we’re here to serve you further. Thanks.

In that last BookNotes column I started with a book by my friend Dr. Paul Louis Metzger, and now we are inviting you to join me as I chat with him in a free webinar this Tuesday evening. Maybe you tuned in to the last conversation I had with him and if so, you know the time went fast. We think this one is going to be a blast.

Paul is a scholar at Multnomah University and Seminary in the Pacific Northwest town of Portland, Oregon — it’s the place where, among other things, the popular Bible Project guys came from. Metzger teaches there and also directs The Institute for Cultural Engagement: New Wine, New Wineskins, which is a think-tank/learning center to help Christians more intentionally and faithfully engage, as they say, the culture of which we inevitably are a part. As Calvin Seerveld has written, “culture is not optional” — it is where God has placed us, like it or not. We can study our context and enjoy God’s world and work to repair the dark and broken parts — alert to even the subtle things that erode human flourishing in this secularizing era —or we can go with the flow and get carried along by the ubiquitous social forces and steams, which, well: you know how that ends. For God’s glory and our neighbor’s good, we’ve got to put on holy armor and (with whimsy and joy and faith and hope) resist with all we’ve got.

It isn’t just the big stuff we must fight — starvation, racism, ecological destruction, elder abuse, porn, war, dishonest politics, the ideologies that give us the idolatries of nationalism and technicism and such. (As a matter of fact, Paul has written a scholarly work of applied theology about these very things called More Than Things: A Personalist Ethic for a Throwaway Culture.) Actually, though, the deeper questions are matters of the heart — sure, they flow out to shape culture and society for better or worse, but the Bible suggests there is a profound interplay between the state of our hearts (the things we love and value) and the state of our cultures. Idols are personal — oh, so personal — but also social, communal. We live within our social contexts, our habitus, as some call it, and yet we shape the very contexts. If we’re not careful, we end up looking like the idols we serve.

We need the mind of Christ and the practice of virtues and some friends along the way. We need churches who are aware of all of this and whose worship is thoughtful, intentional, and formative for us. I think this is why the Setting the Spiritual Clock is part of a series (“Worship and Witness”) put out by the Calvin Institute on Christian Worship.

It is not uncommon knowledge that we live in a secularizing culture, what the grand philosopher Charles Taylor has famously called “the secular age.” James K.A. Smith is an expert and helpful companion as we try to learn Taylor’s insights (see his How (Not) To Be Secular: On Reading Charles Taylor) and I am glad that Paul Metzger has studied this stuff well.

This Tuesday night we here at Hearts & Minds are hosting a webinar with Paul to help us figure out how — even in the hectic month of December — we can keep this secular age from eclipsing the meaning and joy of our days. Please join us.

REGISTER HERE:  https://bit.ly/3G8XOR8 

If the page this takes you too seems a little funky — no worries. They’ll send you a conformation for the event 7:00 PM this Tuesday. You’ll be able to chime in with questions and comments, too, via a Zoom chat, although your face won’t be on the screen. 

The word “eclipsing” in the subtitle is important, as we will see. Paul is drawing on the sorts of cultural studies offered by Smith and Taylor (and others) to make a case why the seasons of the church year are so important.  What some call the “liturgical calendar” is that orientation we get as people in the church (or at least we should!)  Waiting in Advent, honoring the incarnation at Christmas, standing in the glory of epiphany, moving with Christ towards the humility and sacrifice of the cross during Lent. You know the rest, right? Holy Week, the death and bodily resurrection of Christ, the promise of power and presence, ascension, Pentecost.

If we are attentive to this cycle of events our days will, sooner or later, be less attuned to or shaped by back to school and Halloween and April 15th and Memorial Day and July 4th but rather more profoundly by the moments and seasons that teach us, year by year, about the life of Christ and the Triune God of the Bible.

Paul’s book Setting the Spiritual Clock has a lengthy introduction which includes some of the best writing I have read about all of this. The bulk of the book is a big devotional (not exactly a daily devo, but a bit sporadic, weekly, seasonal) just chock-full of teachings, explorations, inspirations, and applications of the practical stuff of this kind of life, a life shaped by sacred time. I love it.

One need not be a high church Episcopalian (I am not) to appreciate the gist of this approach to time, to seasons, to counting our days in truly Biblical fashion. And one need not be a cultural historian or social critic to realize that we live in a fast-paced, ever-changing world, what Len Sweet used to call “hot wired” and it is getting to us, eroding our faith, deforming our habits, hurting our children. We need to learn a new way of considering not just our daily discipleship, but the frame that gives it all meaning, subconsciously informing all we do. This framing context for a uniquely Christian habitus to counter the secular creep comes from our understanding of our calendar. It comes, by keeping time, in church and at home.

Join us, won’t you, for this free Zoom presentation. All you have to do is REGISTER HERE and then you’ll get the free access code sent right to you.

The fun begins at 7 EST this Tuesday. We’ll go a bit more than an hour, I’d guess.

Our event is graciously co-sponsored by the great Calvin Institute on Christian Worship in Grand Rapids and the publisher, Wipf & Stock, out in Oregon. What a joy that these institutions are trusting me to interview Paul and give him some Hearts & Minds hospitality, setting the stage for him to share a bit about the book, why he wrote it, its goals and value, and how we might make sense of this new year, Advent season 2023.

I know this is short notice — could you please share this with folks who might appreciate it? I’m sure most BookNotes fans will enjoy it, but we’re especially hoping pastors, worship leaders, church liturgists and musicians, educators, youth ministers, and other ministry workers might join in. It’s going to be lively, interesting, and I believe helpful as you set your face to the new year.

HERE IS WHAT I SAID ABOUT THE BOOK IN THE LAST BOOKNOTES:

Setting the Spiritual Clock: Sacred Time Breaking Through the Secular Eclipse Paul Louis Metzger (Cascade) $34.00  OUR SALE PRICE = $27.20

I’m starting our BookNotes Advent list here for two reasons, at least. First, this is an absolutely fantastic devotional with some excellent Advent content, one I can hardly speak of with enough vigor and enthusiasm. I’m absolutely not just saying this because I did a Facebook Live session with Paul around his previous IVP Academic Book More Than Things: A Personalist Ethics for a Throwaway Culture when it first released last August. Granted, I loved that heady book and came to admire the author very much (and had a blast chatting with him.) But, no, I’m not just pushing the work of a friend. I really, really value Setting the Spiritual Clock and think it adds much to the conversations on these themes about the importance of understanding time and the flow of our days. There is hardly anything like it (as Gordon Lathrop implied in a fabulous Christian Century review.) I will speak in greater detail in another BookNotes, soon.

We are doing another Facebook Live gathering on the evening of Tuesday, November 28th where I interview Paul about this book (register here) and I couldn’t be happier, set, as it will be, right after Christ Our King Sunday and what will then be the week before the first Sunday of Advent. Paul is an ecumenically-informed, learned evangelical scholar, and he will tell us why the church calendar is important, how understanding sacred time helps us focus our lives around the life of Jesus. It’s going to be fun (really, it will be.)

Setting the Spiritual Clock is not only an Advent devotional although there are a good handful of excellent devotional readings for the season. It covers the whole year, so you’ll find good pieces on Christmas and Epiphany as well. From there, he has smart and theologically wise reflections on all the major church seasons (and a few other important days, from Black History Month to Mothers Day to a fascinating entry on Hanukkah.) We all worry about the “secular creep” in our lives and not only has Paul read Charles Taylor and Jamie Smith’s important How (Not) to be Secular, he realizes that one of the great tools to resist creeping secularity is keeping the ecclesial year. This is part of our spiritual formation and his book can help. As Kristen Deede Johnson of Western Seminary puts it,

“This is a gem of a book…. Its content deserves to be mined and treasured as we seek to follow Jesus in these complex cultural and political moments.”

If you purchase this hefty volume you not only get some great ruminations on Advent and Christmas and Epiphanytide, but more than 275 pages on the whole year through. Whether you are in a high liturgical church, part of a more moderate mainline Protestant congregation, or worship in a free-flowing nondenominational auditorium, this is a book that “serves as a guide and traveling companion for the liturgical year, which circles the glorious Son as he breaks through the secular eclipse.” Fantastic.

+++

TO PLACE AN ORDER 

PLEASE READ, THEN SCROLL DOWN AND CLICK ON THE “ORDER HERE” LINK BELOW.

The weight and destination of your package varies but you can use this as a quick, general guide:

There are generally two kinds of US Mail options and, of course, UPS.  If necessary, we can do overnight and other expedited methods, too. Just ask.

• United States Postal Service has the option called “Media Mail” which is cheapest but can be a little slower. For one typical book, usually, it’s $4.12; 2 lbs would be $4.87. This is the cheapest method available.
• United States Postal Service has another, quicker option called “Priority Mail” which is $8.50, if it fits in a flat-rate envelope. Many children’s books and some Bibles are oversized so that might take the next size up which is $9.20. “Priority Mail” gets much more attention than does “Media Mail” and is often just a few days to anywhere in the US.
• UPS Ground is reliable but varies by weight and distance and may take longer than USPS. Sometimes they are cheaper that Priority. We’re happy to figure out your options for you once we know what you want.

If you just want to say “cheapest” that is fine. If you are eager and don’t want the slowest method, do say so. It really helps us serve you well so let us know.

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I want to open this 2023 Advent book list with a heart-felt appreciation for the customers and friends who wrote thoughtful, supportive (and occasionally scolding) replies after my last BookNotes listing some recent books about war and peace from a Christian perspective and a handful about Jewish, Palestinian, and Christian perspective on the going crisis in the Middle East. As Israel’s war to root out Hamas terrorists continues, the savagery is to be lamented and only the most heartless or ideologically-driven are glib about the sorrows and complexity in this sad situation. Our friends understand this and we are grateful.

Our customers are exceptional folks and even though I am sure many would disagree with one another on this, and with me — some thinking I’m too critical of Israel, others thinking I’m too generous to them — we keep reading widely, talking together, trying to figure out a faithful response. We listen to scholars and ethicists, theologians and wise Christians who have worked hard to develop Biblically-informed, nonpartisan perspectives. We listen to the hurting and the fearful, especially. Sometimes, poets and novelists, and memoirists and journalists, say it best. In any case, thanks for being such a great crew of customers who read books about the world God so loves. Beth and I and our staff are grateful. We hope we are helpful in your long obedience in the same direction.

Please know we have a large selection of a variety of Advent and Christmas books which we have written about in past years. I’d love for you to study those BookNotes columns, here, here, here, here, or here. I like this one a lot, too, here. You’ll find treasures including things like the great poetry volume God Speaks Through Wombs: Poems on God’s Unexpected Coming by black poet and justice advocate Drew Jackson and the popular, liturgical poems and devotional reflections of Anglican priest Malcolm Guite, Waiting on the Word: A Poem a Day for Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany and classics like Watch for the Light from Plough Publishing. From Fleming Rutledge to Tim Keller, you’ll find something to ponder. A few of the older items may, in fact, be out of print, and we don’t have everything we have ever mentioned, but do study those older lists and see if something seems right for you and yours. Prices may have changed, naturally. Happy reading.

We will do a list full of fun children’s books for Christmas later in December.

BOOKS FOR ADVENT 2023

The new church year begins with Advent Sunday on December 3rd. Here are some anticipated book suggestions about, well, anticipation. But first, some about this whole liturgical calendar thing. Here we go.

Setting the Spiritual Clock: Sacred Time Breaking Through the Secular Eclipse Paul Louis Metzger (Cascade) $34.00  OUR SALE PRICE = $27.20

I’m starting here for two reasons, at least. First, this is an absolutely fantastic devotional with some excellent Advent content, one I can hardly speak of with enough vigor and enthusiasm. I’m absolutely not just saying this because I did a Facebook Live session with Paul around his previous IVP Academic Book More Than Things: A Personalist Ethics for a Throwaway Culture when it first released last August. Granted, I loved that heady book and came to admire the author very much (and had a blast chatting with him.) But, no, I’m not just pushing the work of a friend. I really, really value Setting the Spiritual Clock and think it adds much to the conversations on these themes about the importance of understanding time and the flow of our days. There is hardly anything like it (as Gordon Lathrop implied in a fabulous Christian Century review.) I will speak in greater detail in another BookNotes, soon.

We are doing another Facebook Live gathering on the evening of Tuesday, November 28th where I interview Paul about this book (REGISTER HERE.) and I couldn’t be happier, set, as it will be, right after Christ Our King Sunday and what will then be the week before the first Sunday of Advent. Paul, an ecumenically-informed, learned evangelical scholar, will tell us why the church calendar is important, how understanding sacred time helps us focus our lives around the life of Jesus. It’s going to be fun (really) and I invite you to stay alert for our next column all about it. You can register now for this free event by clicking HERE. 

Setting the Spiritual Clock is not a just an Advent devotional although there are a good handful of excellent devotional readings for the season. It covers the whole year, so you’ll find good pieces on Christmas and Epiphany as well.  From there, he has smart and theologically wise reflections on all the major church seasons (and a few other important days, from Black History Month to Mothers Day to a fascinating entry on Hanukkah.  We all worry about the “secular creep” in our lives and not only has Paul read Charles Taylor (and Jamie Smith’s important How (Not) to be Secular), he realizes the one of the great tools to resist is keeping the ecclesial year. This is part of our spiritual formation and, as Kristen Deede Johnson of Western Seminary puts it, “This is a gem of a book…. Its content deserves to be mined and treasured as we seek to follow Jesus in these complex cultural and political moments.”

More info will be coming soon, but if you get this hefty volume you not only get some great ruminations on Advent and Christmas and Epiphanytide, but more than 275 pages on the whole year through. Whether you are in a high liturgical church, part of a more moderate mainline Protestant congregation, or worship in a free-flowing nondenominational auditorium, this is a book that “serves as a guide and traveling companion for the liturgical year, which circles the glorious Son as he breaks through the secular eclipse.” Fantastic.

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Speaking of the liturgical calendar, I hope you recall us speaking of this marvelous set of small books (curated by Esau McCaulley) called “The Fullness of Time” series. There are not daily devotionals, as such, but are short studies of each particular season. Some of you have gotten Esau’s 2022 inaugural volume in the series, Lent: The Season of Repentance and Renewal and Emily Alvarez’s Pentecost: A Day of Power for All People that came out last Spring. Both were quite good.

But the next three are spectacular.

Advent: The Season of Hope Tish Harrison Warren (IVP) $20.00 OUR SALE PRICE = $16.00 

Already this season, many have gotten from us the brilliant Advent:The Season of Hope, which is so wonderfully written it made me weep. I love the Advent season and all its yearning and longing for new creation and I admire Tish a lot. Her husband Jonathan helped a bit, making this the best little overview of the significance of Advent I have ever read. I very highly recommend it. As one reviewer put it, “Her effort to ‘make Christmas weird again’ succeeds from start to finish.” Alas, we are out of it now, but I felt like I needed to name it, for the record.

Much like Mozart’s music and Shakespeare’s plays, the season of Advent satisfies at so many different levels–theologically, imaginatively, affectively, ethically, liturgically, and so on. In this beautifully compact book, Tish Harrison Warren invites readers to experience the multilevel richness of Advent and to discover thereby the full richness of the triune God. Tolle lege, friends; take up and read, and let Christ himself fill you to the fullest with a life that was and is and is yet to come. — W. David O. Taylor, associate professor of theology and culture at Fuller Theological Seminary, author of Open and Unafraid

Christmas: The Season of Life and Light Emily Hunter McGowin (IVP) $20.00  OUR SALE PRICE = $16.00

Oh my, this is so fantastic I am reading it through for my second time. Like the others in this great series, it combines some historical information (so interesting!) and personal anecdotes (McGowin is, happily, quite a zany Christmas person.) But its greatest strength is the clearly explained but fairly deep theological truths of the season. From her reflections on the speculations about the dating of Jesus’s birth (I don’t think I ever quite understood this but there are good reasons) and her discussion of the nature of incarnation, Christmas is simply one of the best seasonal books I’ve ever read. It is short and solid, thoughtful and enjoyable, wise and serious, even with her fun stories.

Theologically rich, historically anchored, liturgically alert, socially alert, wide ranging, culturally connected, and all this always with an eye on the church–such expressions reveal the value of this small, timely, and wonderful book about Christmas. Buy it during Advent, wrap it up under the tree, and give your friends or family a gift that will stimulate their faith during Christmastide. The gift of Christmas will be made more generous by the gift of this book. — Scot McKnight, professor of New Testament at Northern Seminary, author of The Audacity of Peace

I’ve wanted to make Christmas more spiritual without nagging about nonreligious symbols or being an impolite guest while partygoers sip champagne to the melody of ‘Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire.’ Thank you, Emily, for showing the way! Christmas: The Season of Life and Light both reveals the history and mystery of the birth of Jesus and shows us how to celebrate it in truly spiritual ways. —Todd Hunter, founding bishop of the diocese of Churches for the Sake of Others, author of What Jesus Intended: Finding True Faith in the Rubble of Bad Religion

Epiphany: The Season of Glory Fleming Rutledge (IVP) $20.00  OUR SALE PRICE = $16.00

Well, if Tish Warren’s warm but serious study of Advent made me cry and McGowin’s remarkable study, Christmas, made me gape in wonder, this brand new one by the great Fleming Rutledge is nothing short of spectacular. I was so very glad when I heard that she was invited to contribute to this series — how could she not be included! — and while she has the magisterial, definitive collection of sermons on Advent and Holy Week (in Advent and , respectively) she has not written much about Epiphany.

I have skimmed this already, not really wanting to study and underline and ponder its glory quite yet — it feels like cheating — but I can tell you that it is substantive, serious, excellently researched, loaded with Bible exploration and preacherly cadences.  It is just over 160 pages (granted, the compact sized hardback isn’t huge) and she offers wisdom, insight, some rebuke, some warning, and lots of very good news. This little release is, in fact, a huge publishing event. I don’t know if it is Fleming’s last book but it is important and to be cherished.

In Epiphany: The Season of Glory, Rev. Fleming Rutledge shows how recovering a delight in the glory of God in Jesus Christ is ‘needed by the church right now as a drowning person needs a lifeboat.’ Written with joyful urgency yet patient wisdom, this book should be required reading for pastors seeking to recover the wonder of Epiphany. Veterans and newcomers to celebrating the liturgical year will find a treasure of biblical and theological insight in this succinct yet potent work. Moreover, anyone who aches for an alternative to the empty ‘glories’ so widely pursued today will be nourished by this exposition of the strange yet beautiful reality of God’s resplendent glory, displayed in the crucified Lord. — J. Todd Billings, professor of theology at Western Theological Seminary, author of The End of the Christian Life

With palpable reverence and predictable erudition, Fleming Rutledge unearths the riches of the most overlooked season of the liturgical year. Epiphany is all about glory, chiefly the glory of the person of Christ revealed in majesty and power as the King of the Jews and Lord of the Gentiles in key moments of the biblical drama. In Epiphany and the season leading up to Lent, the church gathers a fresh chance to behold the glory of her Lord and to renew itself in the work of proclaiming his glory to the world. — Katelyn Beaty, journalist, author of Celebrities for Jesus

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The First Advent in Palestine: Reveals, Resistance, and the Ongoing Complexity of Hope Kelley Nikondeha (Broadleaf) $24.99  OUR SALE PRICE = $19.99

I won’t say much, but we raved last year, and highlighted it in our previous BookNotes on titles to read to understand some of the situation in Palestine.  Have you ever heard of the “Women Behind the Wall” podcast, produced by Shadia Quit, a Palestinian Christian peacemaker? She says of this that Kelley “makes the Palestinian experience visible in a world that has made them invisible. If you are looking for an Advent read that divers into new and raw paths, then The First Advent in Palestine is for you.”

I recommended this last year and one globally-known, internationally-influential Christian leader got it from me. He wrote the other day to remind me how much he appreciated it, truly one of the best books on the Nativity, he said, that he had ever read. So there ya go. Now, with the Gaza war sadly not over, we commend this more than ever.

Naim Ateek (director of the Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center in Jerusalem) writes that many Palestinian Christians “connect with the Holy Family” during Advent. It makes sense, given that Jesus was born to parents on the margins of society, where ruling powers sent death squads to kill the baby. In this age of massacres and Middle Eastern atrocities, Kelley’s amazing book should be on the top of your list.

Fully Human, Fully Divine: An Advent Devotion for the Whole Self Whitney R. Simpson (Upper Room Books) $14.99  OUR SALE PRICE = $11.99

I could write a lot about this but I’ll just say that it is by the founder of Exploring Peace Ministries and it is holistic, thoughtful, full of vivid insights about our senses. It is a four-week devotional that “invites you to embrace this opportunity and experience an embodied Advent.” With guided prompts, exercise suggestions, prayer suggestions and full color art to ponder, this really does lead readers though daily contemplative practices (such as breath prayer, mindful movement, lectio divina) engaging the whole body.

The Afro-centric art in Fully Human… is done by Rev. Lauren Wright Pittman, Director of Branding and Founding Creative Partner of Sanctified Art, a multi-media ministry.

The Advent of Glory: 24 Devotions for Christmas R.C. Sproul (The Good Book Company) $14.99  OUR SALE PRICE = $11.99

Those that know very much about us know that I was in some ways influenced by R.C. back when I was still in college, and then in campus ministry, in Western Pennsylvania, when the famous Reformed theologian and wonderkid was still in Ligonier, PA. Part heavy, Puritan scholar, part North American Francis Schaeffer, I was a dumb enough punk to argue with him about any number of things (and I recall it was Sprouly that turned me on to the classic Jonathan Edwards volume on serving the poor, Charity and Its Fruits. Years later he would remind me that he was friends with rock star Alice Cooper.)

Be that as it may, Sproul’s dramatic voice here is much-loved and he offers thoughtful, doctrinally astute, evangelical messages, coupled with prayers by Sinclair Ferguson, Joni Eareckson Tada, Steve Lawson, Tim Challies, Rosemary Jenson, and others. Each chapter has a one-word title, drawn from the Christmas narratives. It’s good, even if no quotes from Alice Cooper.

A Radiant Birth: Advent Readings for a Bright Season edited by Leslie Leyland Fields and Paul J. Willis (IVP) $22.00  OUR SALE PRICE = $17.60

This may be my favorite new devotional this year — okay, it is! — and I think many of our BookNotes readers will love it. If you’ve thrilled to the literate glory of the good essays in God with Us: Rediscovering the Meaning of Christmas (edited by Greg Pennoyer and Gregory Wolfe) or loved the theological breadth of the must-have Plough volume, Watch for the Light, this, then, is, quite simply, the best new volume in years. Kudos to the great Alaskan writer Leslie Leyland Fields and her co-editor and colleagues at IVP for pulling together such an amazing volume.

This reader of short reflections (and some poems) offers wise and beautiful pieces by Richard Foster, Matthew Dickerson, Tania Runyan, Lauren Winner, Philip Yancey, Walter Wangerin, Eugene Peterson, Luci Shaw, Marilyn McEntryre, Madeleine L’Engle and other top-notch mostly evangelical writers. I was thrilled to see Dordt College’s James Calvin Schaap and older readers may know Jill Pelaz Baumgaertner.  I’m a fan of poet and outdoorsman John Leax and the philosopher and memoirist Daniel Taylor. I was glad to see moderns Diane Glancy and Sarah Arthur, right alongside a piece by St. John Chrysostom. A Radian Birth is imaginative, a bit contemplative, yet often vivid, as befits this season of incarnation.  Hooray.

This is destined to become a true classic. You might want to order more than one.

Star of Wonder: An Advent Devotional to Illuminate the People, Places, and Purposes of the First Christmas Angela Hunt (Bethany House) $17.99  OUR SALE PRICE = $14.39

I ordered this sight unseen, knowing the author is a fine storyteller and writer. We knew it would be engaging, uplifting, fun, even, if captivating in a way that brings forth wonder — and the realities — of the first Christmas. With a deft endorsement from evangelical novelist Francine Rivers (who says it is “written with passion, showing patterns and prophecies that filled me with renewed hope and wonder”) you’ll know it is touching, straight forward, but lovely. The author “weaves together visceral storytelling and overlooked biblical historical truths.”

I take that back — it isn’t fully straight-forward, although it is not obscure and it is not overly poetic or clever. This is just good, engaging stuff, with Scriptural insights and nicely explained historical truths to help us learn about the “people places and things” of the grand drama leading up to the Nativity.

Explore Bethlehem and Nazareth. Walk with Mary, Joseph, and others, Be amazed by the words of the prophets of old. And be warmed by God’s great purpose that culminated in the birth of the Messiah.

I really like the woodcuts that accompany each chapter, giving it a classy sort of feel. Nice.

Light From Afar: An Advent Devotional from Around the World Nadiyka Gerbish, Joel Bengbeng, Claudio Carvalhaes & Sidwell Mokgothu (Upper Room Books) $17.99  OUR SALE PRICE = $14.39

There is nothing like this as far as we know, quite apart from the fact that one author is from Ukraine, and serves to be supported. Advent is, of course, celebrated differently throughout the world. As it says on the back cover, “Some cultures barely observe the waiting and focus on the Christmas celebration. Others feel deeply the contrast between present circumstances and God’s promise of a better future, making for a season of fasting and prayer.”

Nicely, almost everyone focuses on Christ as the Light of the world.

Light from Afar is a daily Advent devotional that illuminates the season from the unforgettable stories and reflection of four writers who are themselves from four very different global settings.

One writer is from Ukraine, one from the Philippines, one is from Brazil and one from South Africa. Each share cultural and religious traditions of the Advent season in their pieces, including a Scripture reading and prayer. A cool feature is a link to a song from the author’s home country.

Heaven and Earth: Advent and the Incarnation Will Willimon (Abingdon Press) $17.99  OUR SALE PRICE = $14.39

I suppose many readers of BookNotes know the name William Willimon. A few weeks ago I highlighted his clever ABC book of Christian belief called God Turned Toward Us. He has done major, big volumes, and smaller, inspirational volumes. He is known for calling us to complete dedication to Christ’s Kingdom and has written with charm but substance on everything from preaching to worship to racism to sin to the Lord’s Prayer.

Yet, I do not think he has ever done an Advent devotional. He does have a great little book on the incarnation in the “Belief Matters” series (Incarnation: The Surprising Overlap of Heaven & Earth; $16.99 – OUR SALE PRICE = $13.59) that could warm you up to read the early church classic On the Incarnation by Athanasius — we stock that year-round. In any case, Heaven and Earth is the first Willimon book for the holidays.

It shouts out on the back cover, “Watch out. God is on the way.” He wisely continues, “It’s not within our power to make a fresh start. If we’re to have a future different from the past, it must come as a gift, something not of our devising. What we need is a God who refuses to be trapped in eternity, a God who not only cares about us but is willing to show up among us and do something with us, here and now.”

That’s gospel good news. Willimon, in a way that is both punchy and somehow comforting, introduces us to the God who does just that, “bringing heaven to earth and changing everything.”

“In Advent we celebrate and anticipate the earth-shaking, life-transforming good news that God is coming to us. Watch out. Get ready. God is on the way.”

There is also a DVD ($39.99; OUR SALE PRICE = $23.99) of Will briefly teaching these four lessons and a separate leader’s guide to enhance conversation. ($15.99; OUR SALE PRICE = $12.79.)

Winter Fire: Christmas with G.K Chesterton compiled and edited by Ryan Whitaker Smith (Moody Press) $24.99  OUR SALE PRICE = $19.99

This, my dear literate readers, is what some of us have been waiting for. We know that the great G.K. wrote much about Christmas but never have I found such a clear-headed, useful, and delightful arrangement, turning his many random essays, letters, and oddball pieces (“Conderning Hearty Breakfasts and the Pleasures of Being Flung Headlong into the Sea”) into a marvelous Advent devotional. I’d say that for solid, Biblical, Advent teaching, read Fleming Rutledge to get that under your belt. The aforementioned Setting the Spiritual Clock is a must for the broader liturgical calendar.

But for sheer holiday cheer (from a bit of a curmudgeon about some things) for wit and wonder, snark and joy, philosophy and mythic story of the truest myth of all, this rare collection is hard to beat. He ruminates on the “liberal and conservative balance of Christmas” and how Christmas is an antidote to a disenchanted imagination.”  He believes Christmas is “a litmus test for spiritual buoyancy” and famously noted the season’s “utter unsuitability to the modern world.”  One of the readings is “In Regard to the Enormous and Overwhelming Everything.” But then, again, another offers a brief “celebration of the boomerang.” Chesterton insists that we “pause, reflect, and laugh — that we draw warmth and wonder amid the winter frost of life” Young artist and filmmaker Smith has done a marvelous job — he knows a lot about Chesterton, I can tell you that.

Listen to this marvelous Chesterton line from which Smith has drawn the title of this collection:

Chirst is not merely the summer sun of the prosperous but a winter fire for the unfortunate.

Perhaps you, like many, need a winter fire. Could Christmas be “the story from which all stories draw their fire”? Smith guides you through it with added Scripture and reflection questions.

Besides 30 readings there are eleven poems, five essays, two short stories, a good number of recipes (everything from wassail and mince pies to fruit crumble, hard sauce, and giblet gravy.) Oh yes, and don’t miss “A Word on the Wholesomeness of Christmas Pudding” published in The Illustrated London News in 1906.) There is even a description by the happy Chesterton on all manner of games traditions.

As you might expect this is laden with period illustrations, lavish (if often pastel) pictures of Saint Nicholas or Santa Claus, and all kinds of Victorian stuff that might be seen as nearly campy, at least fun and festive. Ironic or not, this is way cool. Thee cheers and cheerio!

Stay Awhile: Advent Lessons in Divine Hospitality Kara Edison (WJK) $17.00  OUR SALE PRICE = $13.60

This special volume has four major chapters and then shorter ones for Christmas eve and “Christmas Day and Beyond.” Cool, thoughtful stuff, very nicely done. There are discussion questions that can be used on one’s own, but this would be good for an adult ed class or book group since it has daily readings plus these weekly conversations ideas. There is also a free code to a companion video link to enhance study and conversation for each week. Nice!

There are also in the back pages lots of suggestions for worship leaders or liturgists with prayers and liturgies and even a short Christmas Eve children’s program. She has a degree from Duke, has been a United Methodist campus ministry in the midwest, and knows how to add lots of extra resourcing to make the most of this title.  Adam Hamilton says Stay Awhile brings “a scholar’s insight, a pastor’s heart, and a storyteller’s gift…” And who of us doesn’t want to learn more about the habits and practices of hospitality as a Christian witness? Very nicely done.

The Holy in the Night: Finding Freedom in a Season of Waiting Shannon W. Dycus (Herald Press) $16.99  OUR SALE PRICE = $13.59

Shannon Dycus is an exceptionally thoughtful (black) Mennonite leader so, naturally, there is teaching in here hinting and Scriptural peace and justice themes, but is mostly about how we are waiting for something, and our waiting isn’t wasted. Hear that! The book is asking, in various, creative ways, a huge, provocative question: “What if we were free enough to long for God?”

The Holy in the Night follows the lectionary texts for the seasons and draws in voices of black and brown folks, inviting us all to search for God amid the waiting. It draws on deeper contemplative spirituality, with a “breath prayer” for each session. There is a thorough six-session leader’s guide for a small group, book club, or class. Like the above listed one, this is a daily reader (good for personal use) but they are grouped into six sessions. There are some responsive readings, prayer ideas, even a few sermon hints if a church is using it together. Fabulous and really useful.

An Unlikely Advent: Extraordinary People of the Christmas Story Rachel Billups (Abingdon Press) $17.99  OUR SALE PRICE = $14.39

This is a great new resource this year and we are happy to recommend it. The author is an upbeat, conversational woman who has pastored at the United Methodist megachurch in Ginghamsburg, a quintessential place that blends the best of mainline denominational identity and evangelical fervor. You can tell in her style, which is both broadly ecumenical but warmly spiritual, inviting personal awareness of God’s action in the lives of people. Maybe even in ways that are a bit unlikely, even.

There are four weeks to the structure of An Unlikely Advent as she brings new insights about the characters of Christmas; Billups tells lively stories and cites a number of known Biblical scholars. Smart and fun.

There is a DVD, too. It says on the back “expect the unexpected this Christmas.” Billups is a good communicator and you’ll enjoy these brief lessons, leaving plenty to talk about with your group.

The An Unlikely Advent DVD sells for $39.99; OUR SALE PRICE = $23.99) and there is a separate leader’s guide to enhance conversation. ($15.99; OUR SALE PRICE = $12.79.)

Prepare Your Heart: A Guided Advent Journal for Prayer and Meditation Fr. Austin Torres, illustrated by Valerie Delgado  (Ave Maria Press) $11.95  OUR SALE PRICE = $9.56

We’ve carried each new edition of this resource each year and are happy to suggest this new one for you. (The others are excellent, too, Behold by Sr. Miriam Heidland and Adore by Fr. John Burns.) These are each guided journals that invites a close reading and meditative experience around the Biblical text. There are questions for consideration, prayer prompts, some nice, bright, almost icon-like contemporary artwork/illustration, and some lined spaces for journaling. It is designed with some colored ink, making it handsome and inviting. Although most likely designed from Roman Catholics, it is our sense that anyone from any faith tradition could enjoy it.

Ordinary Blessings for the Christmas Season: Prayers, Poems, and Meditations Meta Herrick Carlson (Broadleaf Books) $17.99  OUR SALE PRICE = $14.39

Do you know the previous two prayer books done by Meta Carlson — Ordinary Blessings and Ordinary Blessings for Parents? These are edgy and contemporary, using accessible language to unhand meaningful ritual. She likes to say that her words are “inspired by God’s delight in our real and ordinary lives.” She’s upbeat and fun, progressive theologically and adept at inviting people to seek the holy in the ordinary (and not-so-ordinary) moments of the holiday season.

There are short prayers for holiday anticipation in families, poems about church, prayers for seasonal travel, and a particular blessing for each day of Advent. There is a prayer for each of the 12 days of Christmas, too.

Filled with ancient truths and modern realities, the seasonal blessings in this book flow from Carlson’s sacred gift of noticing. Her honest wonderings and reflective words invite us to exhale, reminding us that we aren’t alone–and never have been. — Kayla Craig, author of Every Season Sacred and To Light Their Way; creator of Liturgies for Parents

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CHILDREN’S & FAMILY ADVENT DEVOTIONALS

The Christmas Promise: A Three-Session Curriculum with a Family Service Outline The Good Book Company) $14.99  OUR SALE PRICE = $11.99

Several years ago we shared — as we have every year since — the tremendous hardback children’s book The Christmas Promise, and then again the handsome, colorful board book in the same “Tales That Tell the Truth” line of excellent Bible stories. Now they’ve taken that great book (and/or board book) and developed these comprehensive, easy-to-use lesson outlines to show children how God promised a unique forever rescuing King, how God kept that promise in the birth of the son, Jesus the Christ, and the joy it is for us today to live under the living rule of King Jesus.

This detailed leader’s guide contains everything you need to run the sessions, including good Bible teaching, age-differentiated discussion guides, and even application questions. There are game suggestions, craft ideas, things for children to do at home during the week, and even generous links to downloadable resources.

These can be used as Sunday school lessons for ages 3-5s, 5-8s, and 8-12s. The Family Service outline is nice, solid, creative but not eccentric. I am inspired by it and hope you will be too. Whether you are in a small congregation or a house church or  have a small group of parents with kids, there’s a whole lot to use here, and it is a truly great, inexpensive investment. Love it!

The Jesus Storybook Bible Advent Activity Book: 24 Guided Crafts, Plus Games, Songs, Recipes, and More Yoli Brown (Zonderkidz)  $16.99  OUR SALE PRICE = $13.59

One of our very favorite children’s Bibles is, of course, the rightly famous Jesus Storybook Bible (where “every chapter whispers His name”) authored by Sally Lloyd-Jones and creatively illustrated by the designer Jago. A few years ago they released the  The Jesus Storybook Bible: A Christmas Collection: Stories, Songs, and Reflections for the Advent Season which we made a big deal about. It had little buttons children could push to hear songs, and some other Bible-based devotions, with the cool art from Jago. Yay.

This season sees another new product in this line inspired by Sally Lloyd Jones, a lovely and jam-packed activity book with daily stuff to do, from recipes to games, craft items and more. It includes a set of punch-out Advent ornaments, too. It is really great with lots of pictures and arranged well so will provide hours of fun and edification, even if you don’t do all the activities. Wow.

’Tis the Season Family Advent Activity Book Ink & Willow (Ink & Willow/ Waterbrook/Random House) $19.95  OUR SALE PRICE = $15.96

This is a great new hardback book that has a retro sort of lift-the-flap Advent calendar (with nice drawings of bunnies and gnomes and classic, homey, Christmasy scenes.) Retro as it may be, this is good stuff, with family devotions, reflection questions, prompts for various age levels, games, activities, fun facts, recipes, even a place for keeping record of family traditions — use it as a keepsake of Christmases past.

This lovely hardback opens with a delightful quote from Henri Nouwen, and invites families to prayer practices and nuanced Bible reflection, around the four themes of hope, faith, joy, and peace. It has guidance for making a wreath and the “games of anticipation” are pretty neat. If you use the recipe for Christmas Morning Caramel Rolls, let me know.

Families Celebrate Advent and Christmas 2023-2024 card deck (Augsburg Fortress) $10.99  OUR SALE PRICE = $8.79

As we search for great ideas for our customers, we were delighted last year to discover the Augsburg Fortress card deck, and they happily did them again this year. Slightly smaller than usual playing cards, this little deck has 56 cards. Each card features a ritual, prayer, reflection, or activity for families with kids ages 3 – 12. Cards are dated for use each day from the first Sunday of Advent (December 3, 2023) to the first Sunday after Epiphany, January 7, 2024. With some extras thrown in… what a blast.

God’s Big Promises Advent Calendar pack (The Good Book Company) $9.99  OUR SALE PRICE = $7.99

This pack contains an Advent calendar and devotional booklet to help families enjoy the story of the first Christmas through each day of December.

This is drawn from the recent hardback God’s Big Promises Storybook Bible done by the great Carl Laferton (who did The Christmas Promise and other clever titles in the “Tales That Tell the Truth” series.) We are excited about this new Bible and about this lovely little Advent calendar and booklet. 

Call us if you’d like us to describe other Advent calendars, from bigger and rather lavish to inexpensive. We have a pretty great selection — for now, at least…

Jesus Calling Advent and Christmas Prayers Sarah Young, illustrated by Katy Long (Tommy Nelson) $9.99  OUR SALE PRICE = $7.99

This is a cute board book with padded cover that tells the Christmas story, with little circles throughout with one-phrase prayers of worship and praise interspersed. This may have been one of the very last projects the late Sarah Young did. Frankly, it seems to have nothing to do with the famous Jesus Calling series, and has none of the “Jesus speaking directly to you” imaginative, narrative style of those books. This just tells the story and offers prayers.

I’ll mention this again in a list of kid’s Christams books but I’ll note that it is not an Advent book and I wonder why the publisher was misleading in putting that on the cover?  It does start with a prophecy of the coming of a King, noting two texts from Isaiah, and the prayers for the children thanking God for loving us and for the promise of Jesus. Then it dives to Mary and Joseph and the more typical Christmas Eve story. It’s fine, I guess, if mis-titled, but the little one phrase prayers are actually pretty useful.

The Light Before Christmas: A Family Advent Devotional Marty Machowski illustrated by Sarah Bland-Halulko (New Growth Press) $16.99   OUR SALE PRICE = $13.59

We listed this last year, but it is such a popular guide for Advent family devotions that I wanted to suggest it again It’s a fairly simple four-week Advent devotional on the theme of light and darkness following the story of eleven-year old Mia and her blind grandmother —who loves Jesus and loves to share her faith as they prepare for Christmas. Maybe Mia can help your family see Light in these dark days…

All Creation Waits: The Advent Mystery of New Beginnings Gayle Boss, illustrated by Sharon Spitz (Paraclete Press) $20.99  OUR SALE PRICE = $16.79

In the last few years many customers have ordered — and re-ordered, to give away to friends and loved ones, even seekers who are not yet in the Christian world of Advent devotions — the original book by Gayle Boss, All Creation Waits: The Advent Mystery of New Beginnings, which wonderfully explores animal hibernation to allusively open up insights about night, waiting, new possibilities after a quiet season. The black and white illustrations in that volume are excellent, and it made sense when Paraclete last year issued a very handsome, bright red, deluxe, hardback gift edition. (And, as an aside, you should know the paperback Lenten edition, about animal extinction, called Wild Hope: Stories for Lent from the Vanishing, also with stunning illustrations by David Klein.)

This year, Paraclete released a stunning, full color children’s picture book edition. It has similar but considerable abbreviated text, amazing artwork, and is a generous, lavish, children’s Advent book unlike any you’ve ever seen.

In a nice word of advice in the beginning, author Gayle likens this book to an Advent calendar and encourages readers to only read one spread a day, reading and pondering, slowly. She writes,

This will not be easy. The pictures are beautiful and the animals amazing and you likely will want to rush ahead and see and read all twenty-five at once!

A bit later she explains,

You can join creatures in their Advent waiting by staying with just one animal each day. One Advent 1, sink down with Painted Turtle. On Advent 2, huddle with Muskrat. You’ll be excited to see who’s waiting for you each day. By December 25, you will have discovered that the animals companion us and speak to us.

There is more animal wonderment and facts at the end, with some very nifty ideas of things to do, so they should surely follow along with those things to learn and do. Hooray.

The World Waits Elizabeth Pham, illustrated by Jen Olson (Sophia Institute Press) $16.95  OUR SALE PRICE = $13.56

Oh my, this is a remarkable book, very simple, a few words on each page, poetically opening up our hearts to the notion that the world may feel sad or cold but can be warmed as it remembers and waits. The artwork shows the globe, with hints of the Nativity narrative, wise men and such, too, even as some picture show modern items (cargo boats, telescopes, cityscapes) and then transitions to allusive scenes of worship, lighting candles (in a Catholic Church, presumably) and the reminder that every moment the world waits. I love the simplicity of this, even as there are glimmers of sophistication beneath the simple clarity. Many faithful BookNotes fans will know what I will say next: I love how it shows the whole world waiting, the globe, hinting at the cosmic scope of the redemptive moves of God. Yes!

There is in small print on the title page saying the story was inspired by this line from Saint Thomas Aquinas, paraphrased, they tell us, by the great poet Gerard Manley Hopkins:

The Godhead here in hiding, whom I do adore, masked by these bare shadows, shape and nothing more/ Gerard Manley Hopkins

Winter Gifts: An Indigenous Celebration of Nature Kaitlin B. Curtice, illustrated by Gloria Felix (Convergent) $14.99  OUR SALE PRICE = $11.99

For those who want some wintery feel to their little children’s reading habits this month but don’t want to jump to Christmas quite yet, this is a nice, even provocative choice. Alert readers will recall that I highlighted it a few weeks back in a BookNotes dedicated to children’s books. Here is some of what I said, then:

This is a lovely, sweet book showing the life (and interior thoughts and fears and joys) of a modern-day American girl of Native descent. It is unclear from the story what tribe the girl, Dani, is part of, but the story describes her friends who are Anglo, black, and Asian American as they play in the snow and drink hot cocoa. The author, herself a follower of Jesus, is an important writer of indigenous insights (we carry all three of her books) and how they inform her Christian faith.

The plot is simple — she learns from her family about listening well to Grandmother Nature and caring for creation, but her friends don’t get her. She shares with her parents how she was teased and they resolve to be faithful to their indigenous wisdom, looking for gifts from creation itself. Dani takes comfort in speaking with a favorite tree. Eventually her classmates come around and want to see her tree and a fort she built and all ends well.

It was moving, actually, that there was this tension in the story when the kids didn’t understand her wisdom about Winter being a time of receiving creation’s gifts of darkness, waiting, resting. That a few Potawatomi words are used makes this a special treat.

By the way, the girl’s name in the story is Dani, and a brief note tells us that Dani (Dah-nee) is the Potawatomi word used to describe the affection toward a beloved or special daughter. Curtice tells us that “Dani represents not just the special love we share with our human families but also our special status as the beloved children of Creator and of Earth, who was made by Creator to be our mother.”

Gloria Felix, the illustrator and animation artist, is Purepecha, born and raised in Uruapan, in Michoacán Mexico.

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This is a hard column to write, but I have felt led to do this for a while, now. We have a lovely Advent book list in the wings, but need to do this first. A few customers asked, so here we are: a few recommended titles to help us think about the ongoing sorrows in the Middle East.

Please know this isn’t comprehensive; it’s not even close to all of the titles we have on our shelves on this topic here at the Dallastown shop. We may be a small-town bookstore but we’ve carried a wide range of selections about this topic since we opened almost 40 years ago. And we still have some on the shelf, solid, if a little dated.

In this arena, there are so many adjacent topics, too, on which we have many good books— from Christian-Muslim dialogue (and evangelism) to theological questions about Christians and Jews and the God of the Hebrew Bible, not to mention Christian postures towards the secular nation of Israel. How to grapple with a just response to terrorism has been a hot topic since even before 9 -11 and we are glad for those who raise profound questions about the nature of such a fight. Of course there are questions of what sorts of principles or values should guide US foreign policy and their relationship to Biblical teachings about peace and public justice.

I have been engaged in some good discussions online in recent weeks with a handful of friends who take issue with my own calls for a cease fire in the war in Gaza. Everyone I know (except for some extreme Trump followers) opposes Russian aggression in Ukraine. But regarding Israel’s war in Gaza, views are seriously divided. Those I’m reading, and friends who write to me, are good thinkers, well-informed historically, and most are deeply agonized by the horrors that they believe need to be inflicted on the terrorists who have been a vile menace to Israel for decades.

We should all be shaken by the horrific massacre of innocent civilians in Israel on October 7th. There is no justification at all, ever, for such gross evil.

Still, everyone should know that this whole last year has been an increasingly dangerous time in the Gaza Strip with an unusual number of Palestinian deaths, long before the atrocities committed by Hamas on 10-7. This has long been more than a cold war; my own friends with connections in the region are all just devastated. Please pray.

I observe two things about my friends who routinely try to hold my pacifist feet to the fire. One is related, or so it seems to me, to the thesis of that famous book by Mark Noll, The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind; they send me articles from nothing but secular sources. That they are often from unusual, far-right papers only highlights the main problem of Christian citizens forming their opinions largely by reading secular thinkers and ideologically-driven reporters. From this camp, there seems to be no desire to “think Christianly” or to nurture the particular habits of the Christian mind; they seem immune to concerns found in Noll et al and offer nothing theological, distinctive, uniquely Christian. This is not good.

For instance, a person of long involvement in church life (in a conservative church more fussy about doctrinal details than most) has little to no theological substance to his opinions, knowledgeable about one side of the conflict as he may be. I don’t know if he is right or not, but his method, the way he comes to his political opinions, are, for a serious Christian, wanting, if not scandalous. When he is advocating for violent methods to achieve the peace of Jerusalem, I keep pressing for a methodology to his analysis that is consistently Christian. A simple read like The Liturgy of Politics: Spiritual Formation for the Sake of Our Neighbor by Kaitlyn Schiess (IVP; $18.00 – OUR SALE PRICE = $14.40), which asks how we form our political opinions, would be good for such folks. I also recommend the heavier, more scholarly call to resist ideologies of both the left and the right, found in the brilliant Political Visions & Illusions: A Survey & Christian Critique of Contemporary Ideologies by David Koyzis (IVP Academic; $35.00 – OUR SALE PRICE = $28.00.)

Another concern about recent discourse here in my inbox. One correspondent essentially thinks that the direct teachings of Jesus and Paul are not exactly relevant in the public complexities of contemporary geo-politics. He is a principled guy, morally serious, ethical, even, and I admire him immensely. His ethical approach seems to be one of counting up the greatest good outcome and then sadly limiting overt Biblical political teachings. Some thinkers in this camp call themselves realists, admitting that their approach smacks of pragmatism, teetering near the bad adage that “the end justifies the means.” Some who tend to think like this wouldn’t exactly say out loud that specific Bible texts are inadequate for social ethics but might say that as we use our sanctified imaginations to “work out with fear and trembling” our views, we can support terrible violence as the least of other awful options, no matter what a Bible prooftext says.

One guy worries that my own tendencies to side with the most suffering people — clearly in this situation the Palestinians and civilians in devastated Gaza — is naive. Even if motivated by a desire to show God’s love and follow Christ’s command to be peacemakers, hopes for diplomacy and gospel-centered peacemaking initiatives finally are unhelpful (they say) as such proposals fail to deal adequately with real evil; in this case the deep hatred of many Jihadists (and fighters in Hamas) and their tenacity in their goal to destroy Israel. Not a few Christian pundits have been saying this lately, at least those who justify the thousands being killed in Gaza. (Many other generic evangelical folks I see on Facebook and other places don’t even try to think Christianly/ethically about the war, they just parrot the uncritical, pro-Israel line that they somehow think is proper. I guess they’ve never read Amos or Jeremiah.)

I do not believe it, exactly, but it is a helpful way to remind us of the complexity of Middle Eastern peace talks: some say that if Palestinians lay down their arms there could be Middle East peace but if Israel lays down their arms, they would be annihilated by those who have promised to do so.

Do the Bible and the teachings of the Lord Jesus matter in a world like this? Is there a way to lean into the thrust of the Scriptures’ call for reconciliation, for us to take up the way of Jesus and to be lovers of enemies and peacemakers, without being naive or resorting to immature proof-texting? What should honest, Biblically-shaped citizens think and do in this fallen world? These are admittedly big, hard questions. Most of us just gape at the complexity and struggle to discern some good thing we can do.

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A FEW MOSTLY RECENT BOOKS ABOUT WAR and CHRISTIAN FAITH

Before we look at a handful of books about the Middle East, and particularly the Israeli/Palestinian conflicts, here are a few titles to help us think about the hard teachings of Jesus about what some call Biblical nonviolence and the more typical position that suggests that war is sometimes the best option, even for those who love God and want to do right in the world.

I’ve written about this before and commend at least these two BookNotes columns to you: HERE and HERE, for instance. Use the search bar at the website to perhaps find other pieces I’ve written.

War: A Primer for Christians Joseph Allen (Texas A&M University Press) $14.99  OUR SALE PRICE = $11.99

This is as thin and easy a book on the topic as you’ll find, an entry-level overview of three perspectives. It has succinct chapters on those who hold to Biblical nonviolence, seeing all war as always sinful, those who hold to the historical just war theory (a model that allows that war might be the tolerable, best option to restore just order, even if it must be determined to be legitimate and constrained) and those who fall into a crusading mentality, suggesting it is God’s will and a noble thing to fight for the good.

Too many fall into that foolish third option, I think, but the debate between the two responsible options down through church history, remains a live conversation. This little book is a fine orientation to the different views.

War, Peace, and Violence: Four Christian Views edited by Paul Copan (IVP Academic) $26.00  OUR SALE PRICE = $20.80

This is one of those great back and forth volumes with four different authors from four different perspectives. When you are finally done, you’ve got four main arguments under your belt, and everybody’s rebuttals. What a classroom this book can be. (And only in about 225 admittedly dense pages.) I very highly recommend it.

You’ll have to get into it yourself to see how compelling each argument can be but the four views are described as a “just war view”, a “Christian realist view”, a “nonviolence view”, and a “church historical view.” All of these writers are dedicated Christians and good scholars of topics such as Christian ethics, political philosophy, and international affairs. In a sense, two have two different takes on why Christians should sometimes go to war and two others are less clear about that, standing with those who resist the worldliness and brokenness of war.

Is coercive force and the violence of war ever legitimate? Must Christians always advocate that their country turn the other cheek? Are pacifists who take Jesus’ injunctions literally the only ones that can help us do justice and love mercy? If we should endorse war, are there ethical limits that must constrain the waging of battle? These are huge questions for any time and in any place, but are burning for us now. Please consider this book.

(For what it is worth we have a copy or two of a very old book just like this, published in the 1970s by IVP called War: Four Christian Views edited by Herman Hoyt.)

A Basic Guide to the Just War Tradition: Christian Foundations and Practices Eric Patterson (Baker Academic) $22.99  OUR SALE PRICE = $18.39

Patterson is a scholar-at-large who has served in the US military and at the US State Department. I’ve read a number of books about the history and execution of the just war theory and this may be the very best. It is thoughtful but lively, a very accessible introduction showing, then, how the just war theory works out in a number of specific areas of statecraft and security issues.  I highly recommend it.

Patterson has written widely on public theology and international issues, including the 2022- released, edited volume, an anthology (co-edited with Robert Joustra) Power Politics and Moral Order: Three Generations of Christian Realism: A Reader (Cascade Books; $39.00.)

A Basic Guide to the Just War Tradition has been getting great reviews, too.

A marvelously clear book on just war. Patterson shows a profoundly deep grasp of the two-thousand-year-old Christian tradition by explaining when war is just and when believers may participate. This is no dry treatise; it is loaded with examples: from The Hunger Games to Harry Potter, from The Lord of the Rings to Narnia–not to mention Augustine, Tertullian, and Origen. A must-read for church leaders.” — Captain David Iglesias, JAG, US Navy (retired); Wheaton Center for Faith, Politics, and Economics, Wheaton College

A Field Guide to Christian Nonviolence: Key Thinkers, Activists, and Movements for the Gospel of Peace David C. Cramer and Myles Wentz (Baker Academic) $21.99  OUR SALE PRICE = $17.59

It may be that this book — co-authored by a Mennonite with a PhD from Baylor and a Baptist professor from Abilene Christian University — is one of the most indispensable such books offering excellent and fresh explorations about the Biblical basis for peacemaking. It looks at eight slightly different forms/styles of Christian nonviolence — who knew?  As Eric Gregory of Princeton University writes, “this book lifts up diverse representatives that reveal the breadth and urgency of Christian nonviolence in a world where violence wears many faces. This accessible volume is highly recommended for the church… and all who care about peace.” Yes!!

Whether you argue with their interpretations or relish the gift of their expansive vision, you will find an impressive Christian exploration of lived practices and traditions of nonviolence. — Traci C. West, Drew Theological School

Disarming the Church: Why Christians Must Forsake Violence to Follow Jesus and Change the World Eric A. Seibert (Cascade) $40.00  OUR SALE PRICE = $32.00

I bristle at the high price, but the book is almost 325 pages and covers as much as almost any we know. It has Biblical study, theological reflections, true stories and careful analysis leading to concrete proposals for conflict resolution and hope for a better way that war and violence.

Dr. Eric Seibert is a Professor of Old Testament near us at Messiah College and has struggled long with healthy approaches to the ugly and violent texts of the Bible discerning how to use them within the church and public life. This fairly recent book is a major compendium of much that should be known, moving from Biblical studies to practical application in both international issues, and in our personal lives. Whether you are most interested in the basic doctrinal/Bible content or the complicated geo-political concerns or how to be a peacemaker in various aspects of daily life, there is much here. What a book.

Dr. Siebert’s brand new one, by the way, is Redeeming Violent Verses: A Guide for Using Troublesome Texts in Church and Ministry (WJK; $25.00; OUR SALE PRICE = $20.00.)

It makes a case why we should include these hard passages in preaching and Christian education and offers seven constructive ways to do so. It is readable and well-considered, with good reviews from Philip Jenkins, Caryn Reeder, O. Wesley Allen, and others. Adam Hamilton says, “Every pastor and those responsible for teaching children and youth in the church should read this book.” Wow.

Speak Your Peace: What the Bible Says about Loving Our Enemies Ron Sider (Herald Press) $16.99  OUR SALE PRICE = $13.59

I recommend this whenever anyone asks (rare as it is, admittedly) for an easy to read, Biblically-sound, evangelically-grounded, nicely written survey of the topic of Biblical nonviolence. It is an adapted, easier-to-use version of one of Ron’s major works, If Jesus Is Lord: Loving Our Enemies in an Age of Violence (Baker Academic; $28.00 – OUR SALE PRICE = $22.40.) Whether you chose the adapted, shorter edition or the bigger one, everybody should grapple with this beautifully compelling stuff. As Duke’s Stanley Hauerwas writes in the foreword of, “By providing close readings of Jesus’ work and teachings, Sider helps us see that nonviolence is not a side issue in Jesus’ ministry, but rather is at the very heart of the kingdom Jesus proclaimed.”

In times when most Christian institutions are focused on how to preserve, protect, and gain more earthly positions, a prophetic voice emerges to remind us of our core calling and duty in life as followers of Christ. As does any prophet in history, Ron Sider reminds us and challenges us to become the true peacemakers that Christ calls us to be. —Sami Awad, founder and programs developer of Holy Land Trust

Speak Your Peace is a timely word in a world where violence is a daily global occurrence. Ron Sider’s love for Jesus, Scripture, and others comes through in his humble and thorough exploration of nonviolence as radical action. Sider dares us to consider Jesus’ call to love our enemies not as an idealistic goal, but as a realistic policy to be implemented in word and deed by individuals and communities.  — Kathy Khang, co-author of Loving Disagreement and Raise Your Voice.

The Gospel of Peace in a Violent World: Christian Nonviolence for Communal Flourishing edited by Shawn Graves & Marlena Graves (IVP Academic) $40.00  OUR SALE PRICE = $32.00

If ever there was a book that proves the silliness of the claim that theologically traditional evangelicals have little to say about social concerns or public ethics, this surely lays that old story to rest. Shawn and Marlene are pious, Godly folks and sharp scholars. They’ve spent enough time in the trenches of activism to know the important issues and they know their Bibles well enough to weigh in thoughtfully and graciously. It is a bit on the academic side, but, whew, what a fresh batch of essays and a great resource this is. I have announced it before, but it’s good to recommend it again, now, when it is so needed as the world’s issues are pressing down upon us urgently.

Here in The Gospel of Peace they have gathered contributions from all sorts of pastors, theologians, peace activists and social change practitioners, showing how a Biblical nonviolence framework can help bring light and hope around any number of contentious issues, from race and gender to disability and immigration. A holistic vision of shalom will call us to resist war but to work against food insecurity, to care for the ecology of Earth and the outcasts on the earth.

I’ve raved about this grand resource before, and think it is useful now more than ever. There are (to just name a few) contributors such as Drew Hart, Mae Elise Cannon, Randy Woodley, Kathy Kang, Ted Grimsrud, Lisa Sharon Harper, Thomas Yoder Neufeld, and more. Hooray.

Nonviolent Action: What Christian Ethics Demands But Most Christians Have Never Really Tried Ronald J. Sider (Brazos Press) $19.99  OUR SALE PRICE = $15.99

Those who follow the just war theory — as does the Reformed thinker Richard Mouw, who wrote the excellent forward — are supposed to believe that war is to be a last ditch effort. Every imaginable option is to be tried before moving to death and destruction. In this extraordinary book — drawn somewhat on the classic research of Gene Sharp, among others — Sider documents how war has been turned away or lessened and mitigated the damage and suffering, when citizens unite to resist the war-makers. Can nonviolent direct action work? Can organized citizen action play a truly helpful role?

We know the famous stories of Gandhi and MLK in the racist American south, but are they just anomalies? Sider shows that, no, they are not. Nonviolent intervention has worked and sometimes worked remarkably well. This book was close to Ron’s heart as he attempted to make a case that Biblical nonviolence was not idealistic Mennonite wishful thinking, but should be aggressively pursued by people who claim to love the ways of Jesus. Sider’s Nonviolent Action is an exciting and inspiring book and, as Mouw and others have shown, it really is a must for those in the just war theory, who promise to support war only when it is the last resort after other peaceful efforts have been tried and found wanting.

Listen to Dr. Robert George, an esteemed, conservative ethicist at Princeton:

When Ron Sider talks, I listen. When he writes, I read. Whether or not one is a pacifist — I am not — one has something to learn about the power of nonviolent protest and resistance from Dr. Sider’s careful and thoughtful study of successful nonviolent movements against tyranny and oppression.

 

Not In God’s Name: Confronting Religious Violence Rabbi Jonathan Sacks (Schocken Books) $16.95 OUR SALE PRICE = $13.56

I do not want to spend too much time explaining the exceedingly thoughtful, deep, compelling, and wise insights from the late and greatly esteemed thinker and Jewish leader, Jonathan Sacks. Published in 2015, this was, still, seemingly done in the awful years after 9-11, with the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and ISIS. Many of us in the West learned about suicide bombers and fatwas and jihad. Of course, Christians have their own ugly history of crusades and religious wars and disgusting inquisitions. It seems that from time past to now, God is used to motivate religious violence.

What does an astute scholar and Jewish leader say about all this? This book is nothing short of brilliant — and he warns that ISIS-like extremist attacks will be more prevalent as years march on. I highly recommend it for serious readers, those wanting an eloquent study of this complicated topic.

The rave reviews go on and on. Here are two:

Sacks’s sobering yet soul-stirring new book . . . [offers] an ingenious rereading of Genesis. . . . His brilliance as a theologian radiates. — Irshad Manji, The New York Times Book Review

Sacks’s analysis reflects an erudite mind fully engaged with philosophy, politics, and social studies of the most rigorous kind. It is when he turns his attention and all these resources to a theological engagement with the connection between religious faith and violence that he makes his greatest contribution . . . I cannot think of a more important new book for people of faith to read and study together . . . Jonathan Sacks is an enlightening presence for the whole world, and his message resonates today more powerfully than ever. — Michael Jinkins, President, Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary

ABOUT THE ISRAELI / PALESTINIAN CONFLICT

in no particular order…

A Land Full of God: Christian Perspectives on the Holy Land edited by Mae Elise Cannon (Cascade Books) $40.00  OUR SALE PRICE = $32.00

When I want a balanced, faithful, astute, and caring guide into the complexities of the Holy Land I think of Mae Elise Cannon and her leadership at the outstanding nonprofit ministry, Churches for Middle East Peace. With a PhD in history (and a speciality area of studies on the history of American Protestant church engagement in Israel and Palestine) and a host of books about the interface of spirituality and social justice, she is nothing short of an international treasure.

A Land Full of God (the back cover says) “gives American Christians an opportunity to promote peace and justice in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The 30-some essays are accessible, from diverse authors and perspectives, and sure to be received as immensely informative. From the historical, political, religious, and even geographic tensions, this book “walks readers through a biblical perspective of God’s heart for Israel and the historic suffering of the Jewish people, while also remaining sensitive to the experience an suffering of Palestinians.”

I like that they talk about being pro-Israel and pro-Palestine, for the poor and for public justice. Ultimately, it is “a pro-Jesus approach to bring resolution to the conflict.”

Ron Sider was still alive when this came out and he was happy to offer a lovely blurb. He was a friend to Mae and her team and admired them greatly. He wrote:

If you care about peace and justice in the land where Jesus lived and died, then read this excellent collection of thoughtful, probing essays from a wide range of viewpoints. The writers are scholars, pastors, activists, theologians, all struggling — from their vigorously different perspectives! — to be faithful to the Prince of Peace. A good read that will leave you much better equipped to understand all sides and therefore work more effectively for just reconciliation in the Holy Land.

A Day in the Life of Abed Salam – Anatomy of a Jerusalem Tragedy Nathan Thrall (Metropolitan Books) $29.99  OUR SALE PRICE = $23.99

Several years ago there was a bus accident in Israel. The bus was filled with Palestinian school children. As Nathan Thrall explains in this captivating, immersive bit of world-class reporting (it has been called “luminous and “a masterpiece”) five-year old Milan Salama died in the crash. This is a gripping and poignant story of his father (Abed) as he gets word of the accident and sets out to find if his little boy is alive.

“The scene is chaos — the children have been taken to different hospitals in Jerusalem and the West Bank; some are missing and others cannot be identified.” Abed sets off on an odyssey, of sorts. It is, of course, every parent’s worst nightmare.

The dust jacket explains that horror is compounded by the “maze of physical, emotional, and bureaucratic obstacles that he must navigate because he is Palestinian. It was in the early parts of this book that I realized the accuracy of the apartheid (for which, you may recall, Jimmy Carter was criticized as it was in the title of his book on the Middle East conflicts.) From being on the wrong side of the separation wall, to holding the wrong ID to get t through military checkpoints, to having the wrong papers to enter Jerusalem, “Abed’s quest to find Milan is interwoven with the stories of a cast of Jewish and Palestinian characters who lives and histories unexpectedly converge.”  The story has been acclaimed with Thrall being hailed for his “indelibly human portrait.”

Please read these illustrative endorsements. They are important.

I know of no other writing on Israel and Palestine that reaches this depth of perception and understanding… One could read the book as a précis of modern Palestinian history embedded in the personal memories of many individuals, each of them drawn in stark, telling detail. To get to know them even a little is a rare gift, far more useful than the many standard, distanced histories of Palestine. — David Shulman, New York Review of Books

Propels the reader across a geography that is partitioned behind walls and into enclaves, revealing in visceral, human detail what Israeli subjugation means, and how it shapes the most intimate corners of the Palestinian experience. With empathy and grace, Thrall transforms this incomprehensible, avoidable loss into an ode to a father’s love. — Tareq Baconi, author of Containing Hamas

Nathan Thrall’s book made me walk a lot. I found myself pacing around between chapters, paragraphs and sometimes even sentences just in order to be able to absorb the brutality, the pathos, the steely tenderness, and the sheer spectacle of the cunning and complex ways in which a state can hammer down a people and yet earn the applause and adulation of the civilized world for its actions.    — Arundhati Roy, Booker Prizewinning author of My Seditious Heart

The Vanishing: Faith, Loss, and the Twilight of Christianity in the Land of the Prophets Janine Di Giovanni (Public Affairs) $30.00  OUR SALE PRICE = $24.00

This is one of those little known books that has gotten extraordinary acclaim.  Aidan Hartley of the Daily Telegraph says she is “One of our generation’s finest foreign correspondents.” While a write for the Financial Times says, commenting on how crucial it is to real the human stories behind the news, that “Janine Di Giovanni does this with heartbreaking eloquence” Michiko Kakutani wrote in the New York Times that Ms di Giovanni “writes here with urgency and anguish — determined to testify to what she has witnessed because she wants “people to never forget.”

Even the for the first five hundred years of its existence, the Christian church hardly left the Middle East — it spread to Egypt, Iraq, Palestine, and Syria. The Vanishing is, in a way, a study of how the story since then “is of a slow-moving catastrophe, a gradual but seemingly inexorable erasing of the Christian faith from the land its origins.”

Apart from the wars and persecutions of recent years, this is a fascinating and beautifully rendered story. She is a war reporter, though, and as she set out to document the stories of disappearing people, she traveled to “some the most beleaguer Christian outposts” (many that had been neglected or mostly abandoned. To get at what she is writing about, think of Iraq’s Assyrians to Egypt’s Copts, to the few remaining Gaza Christians. About a fourth of this remarkable 2021 book is set in Gaza.

Blood Brothers: The Dramatic Story of a Palestinian Christian Working for Peace in Israel Elias Chacour (Baker Books) $16.99  OUR SALE PRICE = $13.59

I will not go on and on about this as I am hoping you have heard of it. The book that first came out in the 1980s is now maybe in its fourth cover design and we have had them all. Elias Chacour is the Archbishop of the Melkite Church (with a degree not only from a seminary in Paris but from Hebrew University in Jerusalem) and is, to put it simply, considered the MLK of the Middle East. He is Arab (he grew up in a small Palestinian village in Galilee.) When the tens of thousands of Palestinians were killed (and nearly one million forced into refugee camps in 1948) Fr. Elias began “a long struggle with how to live out his personal spirituality.” As the back cover puts it, “In Blood Brothers he blends his riveting life story with historical and Biblical research to reveal a too-little known side of the Arab-Israeli conflict. It is an international bestseller and one of the most enduring books we’ve sold here in the past 40 years.

I’ve got some stories around this book, how it has influenced many — not to mention a fun story of how Chacour charmed his way into a Bible study at the home of then US Secretary of State, James Baker, shown hospitality by Baker’s wife, Susan. (Baker surprisingly met with him and they became dear friends in faith and now has a great afterword to the updated edition of Blood Brothers.) Elias Chacour has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize and we could pray that someday his witness will bear fruit. This book is simply unforgettable.

The Other Side of the Wall: A Palestinian Christian Narrative of Lament and Hope Munther Isaac (IVP) $20.00  OUR SALE PRICE = $16.00

I have friends that helped arrange and speak at a major conference several years ago called “Christ at the Checkpoint” which called for contextualized theology set in the horror of the checkpoints, symbolizing the crass repression commonly known by Palestinians. That event and movement is now directed, actually, by this Lutheran pastor, who is pastor of — get this — Christmas Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bethlehem. Yes, that Bethlehem. You know where it is, right? This is a deeply moving story, starting with Rev. Isaac’s boyhood amidst the decades of occupation and war. As his friend Mae Elise Cannon writes, “The reading of Isaac’s Palestinian narrative in no way negates Jewish ties to the land” but it does tell an often-unheard side of the story. It is, in the words of Mark Labberton (President of Fuller Theological Seminary) “a clear, passionate, honest, rendering of this ignored and distorted narrative of Palestinian Christians.”

Did you know there is a wall encircling Bethlehem which, for many, stands as a sad symbol of the segregation between Palestinian Christians and Muslims in this era of occupation. This sort of political and social context is unsustainable Biblically speaking and Pastor Isaac — who has a PhD from the Oxford Centre for Mission Studies — exposes the disinformation and misuse of Scripture, not least around uncritical North American evangelical support for Israel.

Evangelical mission educator and leader Vinoth Ramachandra says The Other Side of the Wall is “a heart-rending cry for truth and justice on behalf of the Palestinian church.”

Christ at the Checkpoint: Theology in the Service of Justice and Peace edited by Paul Alexander (Pickwick Publications) $24.99  OUR SALE PRICE = $19.99

At the time of compiling and editing this, Paul was the Professor of Christian Ethics and Public Policy at Palmer Theological Seminary at Eastern University and a leader of Evangelicals for Social Action. Not bad for a Pentecostal guy (who has done remarkable research on the early anti-war views of the Assembly of God denomination.) I admire him a lot.

This book invites us to think about everything from land in the Bible to the end times, memories of the holocaust and the possibility of peace in the Middle East. Is Christian Zionism a faithful stance, and what about the possibility of a Palestinian state? Palestinian evangelicals along with others from the USA and Europe gathered to pray and talk, seeking insight about these crucial topics. This book came out of that historic event and is exceptionally important. I think it should be known as important testimony (a record of the hearts and minds of those gathered in those years) and for the wisdom and guidance that emerged. As one critic put it, “the result clarifies difficult, complex issues and points the way toward a just solution.”

There are thirteen serious chapters from authors you should know — Jonathan Kuttab, Mitri Raheb, Alex Award, Colin Chapman, Gary Burge, and Mae Elise Cannon, among others.

Israel Matters: Why Christians Must Think Differently about the People and the Land Gerald McDermott (Brazos Press) $19.00  OUR SALE PRICE = $15.20

I suppose most BookNotes readers know that there is more than one view of the relationship of Christians and the Jews and the land of Israel. Some think that since Acts 10, at least, when the gospel went out to the Gentiles, the church of Jesus Christ is the “new Israel” mentioned in the New Testament. Such folks think that all peoples (including Jews) need Jesus and God plays no favorites, as Peter preached. Jewish or not, people need the church.

But what is the church if not a movement following the Messiah of the Old Testament people of God, grafted in to that very people of God. It isn’t hard to realize that to think about covenants and God’s promises will make complicated a simple “supersessionism” (the theology that the church replaces Israel in the grand drama of redemption.)

This book is at once wary of uncritical dispensationalist Zionism but yet, in the words of one reviewer, “not content to only take on supersessionism, McDermott reworks covenantal theology to argue that there remains a covenant with Israel, which includes the land.” Ecumenically-minded Lutheran scholar Robert Jenson (of the Center of Theological Inquiry) suggests that “this book could be a historic breakthrough.”

Israel Matters is, in the words of Rabbi Eugene Korn (of the Center for Jewish-Christian Understanding and Cooperation, in Israel)

…a balanced interpretation of Christian theological tradition regarding Judaism and a close reading of the Bible that both strengthens Christian belief and makes room for the Jewish people in their covenantal homeland.

For what it is worth, after a bit of fiesty conversations around this book, Dr. McDermott — the Anglican Chair of Divinity at Beeson Divinity School — complied and edited a major volume of various contributors entitled The New Christian Zionism: Fresh Perspective on Israel & The Land (IVP Academic; $30.00 – OUR SALE PRICE = $24.00.) With serious scholars on a variety of topics, this is a major rethinking.

One of the chapters that might be important now is “Theology and Morality: Is Modern Israel Faithful to the Moral Demands of the Covenant in Its Treatment of Minorities?” by Shadi Khalloul.

Zionism Through Christian Lenses: Ecumenical Perspectives on the Promised Land edited by Carole Monica Burnett (Pickwick Publications) $25.00  OUR SALE PRICE = $20.00

This is edited by a woman who is a Catholic scholar (specializing in the patristics and church fathers) who also teaches New Testament Greek at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington DC. She has several advanced degrees and here pulls together a Lutheran, two Roman Catholics, two Episcopalians, an Eastern Orthodox Christian, and a UCC pastor, all who explore the ramifications of ancient Israel’s covenant. What should we think, today?

Naturally, she invites her team to explore the early church’s theological insights as well as post-reformation experiences of these various branches of mainline Christianity. It is a rare ecumenical project and urgent, so urgent.

In the midst of the dilemma and crisis of the quest for peace, each contributor uses his or her lens to analyze the problem and offer helpful suggestions to promote a solution based on the demands of international law, as well as a solution worthy of faith in the God who loves all, cares for all people equally, and works through us to include rather than exclude the other. . . . It is time to listen to the voices of these insightful contributors.  — from the foreword by Naim S. Ateek, Director, Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center, Jerusalem

Mapping Exile and Return: Palestinian Dispossession and a Political Theology for a Shared Future Alain App Weaver (Fortress Press) $39.00  OUR SALE PRICE = $31.20

Wow, what a scholarly, imaginative, and fascinating read book this is! Weaver is a big name in the prominent Mennonite Central Committee relief organization but before his job as Director for Strategic Planning he served Palestine, Jordan, Iraq and was a project coordinator in the Gaza Strip. (Did you know that peace-loving, Jesus-following Mennonites have a presence there?) With a degree from the University of Chicago Divinity School, Epp Weaver is ecumenical and a brilliant scholar. He has written widely on the Middle East (for instance Under Vine and Fig Tree: Biblical Theologies of Land and the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict.) Weaver knows how vexing “issues facing not just theology but also political theory, sociology and other disciplines” are for this Middle Eastern conflict.

Get this: he here studies Christian appropriation of Zionism but — through an analysis of Palestinian refugee mapping practices for returning to their homeland, he argues against “political theology embedded in Zionist cartographic practices that refuse and seek to eliminate evidence of coexistence” Can we redraw the territory? Yep, he studies mapmaking as a key to understanding how home-coming is dreamed of.

As one writer said about this head volume, saying that this is a “beautifully conceived and beautifully written book.”

Stan Hauerwas exclaims:

Maps and trees: good God — is it all about maps and trees? It is about maps and trees if Alain Epp Weaver’s brave and no doubt controversial reading of  the Palestinian exile and return is close to being right.

He continues,

Agree or disagree with Epp Weaver, no one will come away from reading this book without a better understanding of the complex relationship between Israel and the Palestinians. But more important is that Epp Weaver’s philosophical and theological suggestions give hope.

Chosen? Reading the Bible Amid the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Walter Brueggemann (WJK) $14.00  OUR SALE PRICE = $11.20

I’ve highlighted this before and affirm Rabbi Michel Lerner’s words when he says that “Brueggemann has done a great service to the Jewish people and to all who rely on the Hebrew Bible as a guide to life by demonstrating in the this book that there is no straight line between those ancient holy texts and the oppression of the Palestinian people by expansionist Zionist government in modern Israel.” Okay, wow.

Brueggemann is a wild scholar, a passionate thinker and preacher, and he loves justice (as he knows the God of the Bible loves justice.) He also has very close relationships with Jewish scholars and modern day Israelites. Was the promise of land to Moses permanent and irrevocable? How should we read the Bible in light of the modern situation? It is complicated and we think this is a useful tool to help us understand more of how to read the Bible well.

Chosen? has four succinct chapters and a Q & A section with Brueggemann, even a glossary of terms and a good study guide. There are even some guidelines for respectful dialogue as this could get heated. This is a good little resource and we are glad to recommend it.

The First Advent in Palestine: Reversals, Resistance, and the Ongoing Complexity of Hope Kelley Nikondeha (Broadleaf Books) $24.99  OUR SALE PRICE = $19.99

When we do our 2023 Advent list next week you can be assured that this will be high on that list. It came out last year and we were thrilled to recommend it. The author, as I’ve explained, has written two other excellent books — she is a white woman married to an African and has written evocatively about themes of adoption (literally and theological.) When she told me she was hoping to study this topic of Palestine by way of an Advent devotional I thought it was nothing short of brilliant.

Now, with war waging, there is a deeper urgency for this moving set of 10 good chapters. Brueggemann is right when he says as only he can that “the good new of Advent-Christmas is news that destabilizes and emancipates.”

Kelley Nikondeha eloquently weaves together the first Advent story and the present-day stories of Palestinians, creating invigorating insights for present-day Christians. Palestine then and now, its people, and the politics of the land are a common thread throughout the book, bringing us to a place to genuinely grapple with the meanings of deliverance, peace, justice, and hope. Through her personal encounters, Kelley makes the Palestinian experience visible in a world that has made them invisible. If you are looking for an Advent read that dives into new and raw paths, then The First Advent in Palestine is for you. — Shadia Qubti, Palestinian Christian peacemaker and co-producer of Women Behind the Wall podcast

After On the Incarnation by Athanasius, The First Advent in Palestine by Kelley Nikondeha is the best book I’ve read on the incarnation, peace, and hope. Buy it, read it, and embody it in your community! — Peter Heltzel, author of Resurrection City: A Theology of Improvisation

Jerusalem: The Biography Simon Sebag Montefiore (Vintage) $23.00  OUR SALE PRICE = $18.40

I recently started a book about entrepreneurs in Israel looking at data that explores why there is so much tech, art, so much good health, a lot of happiness regardless of attacks from neighbors and the routine threat of war. (It is called The Genius of Israel: The Surprising Resilience of a Divided Nation in a Turbulent World by Dan Señor & Saul Singer, the new follow-up to their bestselling Start-Up Nation.) I wanted something more historical, though, a really big picture. Jerusalem by Montefiore (which has sold over a million copies since its release in 2011) is magisterial, a New York Times Notable Book and a Jewish Book Council Book of the Year. This big book is what I wanted although I’ve only started it, finally.  Some have said that it helps you fall in love with the city, that it is itself a treasure. Bill Clinton said it is “spectacular.”

At over 735 pages, you can imagine that it tells the whole epic history. The Wall Street Journal said it is “Magnificent… showing it’s “breathless tension.” The Economist says the author has “an elegant turn of phrase and an unerring ear for the anecdote that will cut to the heart of a story. A joy to read.” In these hard days, this might be a joyful and wise read.

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BookNotes

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I sometimes like to switch it up a bit, as they say, doing at BookNotes here a little thing we call Five About Five. I’ve got five categories of books and I’m going to name five fairly new or recent books in these five categories. I’m going to try to be brief, at least in comparison to our usual wordy BookNotes, and hope the five new books I mention for each grouping are sort of in conversation with each other. I could do other categories, of course, and name other new books, too, but, for now, let’s do five recent books in five categories. That’s 25 titles. This is fun.

FIVE NEW BOOKS EACH in FIVE CATEGORIES

HOW TO READ THE BIBLE

The Beginning of the Story: Understanding the Old Testament in the Story of  Scripture Timothy J. Geddert (Herald Press) $18.99  OUR SALE PRICE = $15.19

I want to suggest this as a great guide to the Old Testament, maybe especially for those looking for a fresh approach that shows both the integrality of the story, how it holds together, and also how the violence and hard sections are to be understood. Can we rediscover the essential beginning of the most important story ever told?

Geddert understands the Bible as a grand story (which is not that unusual these days) but his teaching about it is fresh and powerful, clear and helpful. It is informed by good scholarship but it is easy to read. It points us to the God of the Bible, who, of course, is seen most clearly in the person of Jesus Christ. This, therefore, is a “must read” for followers of Jesus (as Derek Vreeland author of Centering Jesus puts it.)

Timothy Geddert is a long-standing professor of New Testament at Fresno Pacific Biblical Seminary; he has a PhD in NT from Aberdeen in Scotland. We’ve carried his other books and we are grateful for his visionary, solid, helpful work.

Light of the Word: How Knowing the History of the Bible Illuminates Our Faith Susan C. Lim (IVP) $18.00  OUR SALE PRICE = $14.40

As Randolph Richards puts it, “Lim invites you to walk alongside, to see how faith in Jesus is enriched by faith in God’s Word.” Nancy Wang Yuen, a sociologist (and host of The Disrupters podcast) notes that she “absolutely loves how Light of the Word reads like a poignant memoir and drops wisdom like a well-researched history book.”

I like that this book “unpacks how the history of the Bible bolsters our faith and anchors us through the changing tides of time.” It is designed to help Christians not only acknowledge that the Bible is God’s Word but, more, that we can have confidence in the reality of its trustworthiness.

Being in a Bible study with Susan and her family for the last five years, I have witnessed firsthand Susan’s passion for the Scriptures and the powerful and gracious work God has done in her life through the Scriptures. My confidence in Scripture has been strengthened and my heart has been refreshed by reading Light of the Word, and I believe this book will serve you well, no matter where you are in your faith journey. It is a book I will come back to again as a trusted resource. — Eric Geiger, senior pastor of Mariners Church

Reading the Bible Around the World: A Student’s Guide to Global Hermeneutics Federico Alfredo Roth and others (IVP) $22.00  OUR SALE PRICE = $17.60

As the back cover shouts, “It’s an exciting time to be reading the Bible.” We are, most of us, encountering readers with perspectives, experiences, and cultural  orientations different than our own. Anyone honestly learning about how to read the Bible simply must grapple with the diversity of perspectives. This is, of course, a question of hermeneutics, and how our social location influences the questions we ask, even the naive reading of the text. That some of our diversity comes from other cultures around the world is a given. This book helps us gently enter this varied, complicated world.

Who we are shapes how we read, as it says on the back cover. Guided by these expert teachers, readers will gain a deeper understanding of the influence of theor own social location and how to keep growing in biblical wisdom by reading alongside the global Christian community.

Behold and Become: Reading Scripture for Transformation Jeremy M. Kimble (Kregel Academic) $24.99  OUR SALE PRICE = $19.99

Kregel is a conservative Christian publisher that is respected by evangelicals, and this book highlights a fairly creative, surprisingly open minded perspective on how the Scriptures can help us “not merely for information, but for being saved by God and changed through his words.”

We all know the stories of the Bible are often rhetorically powerful. And those who believe it is God’s Word, believe the power is also, well, Spirited. Right? But how does that work? How can we more properly understand and explain that the Scripture’s authority is based on the truthfulness of the texts? Can the Bible’s own efficacy operate in a way that helps us come to know the Triune God?

This is a complex book — I haven’t studied it carefully enough to say if I even agree with it all. But if, as they say, we “become like what we behold” it may be important to ask what the Scriptures allow us to behold.

The prophet Isaiah assures us that God’s Word will accomplish the purpose for which God has sent it, but what is that purpose? To give God’s people need-to-know information for salvation is clearly part of the answer. The title of Jeremy Kimble’s timely book gives us the other part of the answer: Behold and Become. Head knowledge alone is not enough. The church needs to retrieve this Pauline insight: beholding the glorious God with unveiled faces is a gracious means of becoming more like him (cf. 2 Cor. 3:18). God’s Word gives God’s people what they need to grow, the material for formation unto godliness and Christlikeness. — Kevin J. Vanhoozer, Professor of Systematic Theology, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School

Listening to Scripture: An Introduction to Interpreting the Bible Craig G. Bartholomew (Baker Academic) $24.99  OUR SALE PRICE = $19.99

I have written about this one in more detail in a previous BookNotes, explaining how I so very much respect this learned, eccentric, solid Biblical scholar. He has studied a lot, and brings so much together, from reformational philosophy to Christian aesthetics to solid hermeneutics to a palpable passion for living out the Biblical story, in the modern world. In a way, Listening to Scripture is sort of a shorter and more personal version of a much more academic, scholarly text that was widely acclaimed. I’m so glad for this rigorous read, aimed at thoughtful laypeople.

Please consider this. It is one of the best books of its kind — how to read wisely and thoughtfully and fruitfully — that we have seen in quite some time. Highly recommended. Know and Bible study leaders, Sunday school class teachers expositors of Scripture, Bible thumpers, preachers or pastors? This is solid and a serious but engaging read.

FAITH & SCIENCE

God Speaks Science: What Neurons, Giants Squid, and Supernovae Reveal About Our Creator John Van Sloten (Moody Press) $15.99  OUR SALE PRICE = $12.79

You might recall that I raved about this the week it was released, just a few months back. It is a “joy filled expedition into experiencing God’s majestic, everywhere presence.”

In a way, this book isn’t a sophisticated philosophy of science, seeking to integrate general revelation in nature and Biblical revelation. It isn’t even exactly about what some call the “faith and science” conversation. It is a flat-out, wholesome, energetic, celebration of Christian folks who serve in a variety of scientific callings and how their insights can enhance our common knowledge. — scientific information matters! — and our faith. It is, finally, a book about doxology.

“We were made to wonder, “ Van Sloten says. As a Calgary-based writer and former pastor, he knows how to touch people’s lives, and in this exceptional book, he honors those who do scientific research by explaining, in each chapter, something about their work, and blesses us all by showing how these insights of common grace can point us to God and the Kingdom of Christ. We can live with greater awe of our Creator when we know a bit about how science works.

Whether you are a beginner in learning about the sciences or whether you are yourself a serious scholar in a certain scientific discipline, you will enjoy this upbeat, deeply ponderous book. Hooray for John and his lovely curiosity and fabulous storytelling.

What Hath Darwin to Do With Scripture: Comparing the Conceptual Worlds of the Bible and Evolution Dru Johnson (IVP $24.00  OUR SALE PRICE = $19.20

This new book is written not by a scientist but by an impressive, multi-disciplinary Biblical scholar. He is extraordinarily gifted, theologically wise, solid and reliable, and yet — get this — says that “Believe it or not, the book of Genesis might have been the most Darwinian text in the ancient world” Throughout the opening books of Scripture, we find ideas, he says, “that would become prominent insights of the biologist Charles Darwin, interlaced with the Bible’s one-of-a-kind origin story.”

The Hebrew creation accounts, Johnson argues, “weave together three key themes” on the origins and development of humans and animals. These are nearly Darwinian, it seems — the connection of scarcity, cooperation and violence, the fitness of creatures to their environment, and the genealogical aims of sexual reproduction.

Granted, this is intriguing, even provocative, thoughtful stuff. It is what might be considered imaginative. It is what the famous University of St. Andrews scholar Andrew Torrance says is “at once both cautious and creative.” It is what the IVP Academic editor calls “mind-blowing.”  For what it is worth, Dr. J is not a wildly liberal theologian, but has exceptional regard for the Holy Word.

He admits it is a bit of a “weird project” and, among many others, from Templeton Research grants to folks at the Creation Project at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, he thanks philosopher Esther Meek. Wow.

What hath Eden to do with the Galapagos Islands? As Dru Johnson explains, more than one might expect —  Kenneth Keathley, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary

Christianity & Science Herman Bavinck (Crossway) $32.99  OUR SALE PRICE = $26.39

I am not theologically learned enough nor scientifically informed enough to say much of great import about this book other than to say that Bavinck helped create (with his colleague the great Dutch statesman Abraham Super) a movement of Reformed Protestants who desired to honor God by thinking Christianly about all of life. Before the “culture wars” made Darwinism and climate change and such fighting words, he wrote clearly, if densely, about how a uniquely Christian worldview would help us shape our thinking about the natural sciences. First published in Holland in the  very earthy 20th century, this shows our orthodox, Biblical faith can inform the natural sciences and how a Biblically-infused worldview can enhance our scientific learning. Indeed, Bavinck was influential in shaping the first non-governmental, Protestant Christian University (the Freje, in Amsterdam.)

This was translated by N. Gray Sutanto, James Eglinton, and Cory C. Brock.  Any Kuyper or Bavinck fans out there?

The God of Monkey Science: People of Faith in a Modern Scientific World Janet Kellogg Ray (Eerdmans) $19.99  OUR SALE PRICE = $15.99

Okay, just to be clear, Janet Ray is an enthusiastic science educator, explainer, and communicator. She holds a PhD in curriculum and instruction and has been teaching biology in colleges for nearly twenty years. She has great experience and, as a person of faith, understands the debates and conversations and what is often behind them. She gets it. She is hoping readers will learn how to hold true to your faith and also embrace modern science.

As an evangelical Christian and science educator, she dives into various contemporary hot button issues, from Covid-19 and vaccines to genetic research and (of course) questions about the compatibility of the Bible, Christian theology, and evolution. As Thomas Jay Oord puts it, “Janet Kellogg Ray writes like a journalist, thinks like a scientist, and makes connections to everyday life like a pop-culture expert.” She’s got wit and moxie and doesn’t take herself too seriously.

Jim Stump (of BioLogos and host of the Language of God podcast) says the book is “accessible and engaging.”  Love that! Highly recommended.

Navigating Faith and Science Joseph Vukov (Eerdmans) $19.99  OUR SALE PRICE = $15.99

Joseph Vukov is a professor of philosophy at Loyola University, Chicago. He is sharp and thoughtful, deeply aware of the philosophical assumptions surround this conversation about science and faith. The relationship of the two (faith and science) need not be oppositional, of course, and the discussing don’t have to be inherently full of contention. The book and its approach seems really, really wise.

Curiously, the aforementioned Janet Kellogg Ray has a nice endorsement. She explains:

Joseph Vukov has good news for you! Vukov sets the table and invites us to sit down. He asks us through three frameworks for productive dialogue and skillfully equips us to know how and when to apply them in the context of science and faith.

WOMEN IN THE BIBLE

Tell Her Story: How Women Led, Taught, and Ministered in the Early Church Nijay K Gupta (IVP Academic) $24.00  OUR SALE PRICE = $19.20

I’ve mentioned this before but Gupta is such a rock star in the guild of Biblical scholars that we are delighted to recommend it again. This book is fascinating, well researched, clear, passionate without being strident.  One reviewer called it a “an important journey throughout the New Testament” Another says he “skillfully uncovers the stories of a range of female leaders, teachers, and missionaries, and highlights their relevance for today.

With a PhD from the University of Durham, Dr. Gupta is professor of New Testament at Northern Seminary. He has several commentaries and edited the huge second edition of the IVP Academic Dictionary of the Paul and His Letters.

Mary and the Interior Life Jeremiah Miriam Shryock, CFS (Paraclete Press) $18.99  OUR SALE PRICE = $15.19

While some of the latest batch of books about women in the Bible are exegetical and making a case about women’s role and tasks and work, this is a different sort of work, careful, thoughtful, but contemplative and meditative. It seems to be a delightful read (I’ve only dipped in briefly.) The foreword is by Father James Dominic Brent, OP (who is at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington) notes how complex it is to write about Mary and our relationship with her. Catholic or Protestant, it is an important question and while this book is more than a study of what some call Mariology, it is, Brent says, well done, showing how a love for Mary points us to a love for Jesus.

Father Shrycock, a Franciscan, studies spiritual direction and it shows; in this book he tells of his own devotion to Mary, how he learned that “the whole world needs your ‘yes’ to God.” We, too, can learn from Mary how to follow Christ with all of our heart.

Fr. Donald Haggerty (who wrote a notable book of St. John of the Cross) says it is “a must-read for everyone aspiring to enter more deeply into the life of holiness…”

Jesus Through the Eyes of Women: How the First Female Disciples Help Us Know and Love the Lord Rebecca McLaughlin (The Gospel Coalition) $14.99  OUR SALE PRICE = $11.99

I have written about Rebecca McLaughlin before, highlighting her books of apologetics, the award-winning, Confronting Christianity and it’s follow up, Confronting Jesus, and her small screed, The Secular Creed and honor her work as a thoughtful, sharp, writer. Geesh, she has a PhD in Renaissance literature from Cambridge (not to mention a theology degree from Oak Hill College in London.) We notice whenever she gets a new book published.

This is a trim-sized, smaller book, fairly brief (about 175 pages) easy-to-read and helpful, even, a book that Julius Kim (of The Gospel Coalition) said was “mind-stimulating and soul-stirring.” That’s a great endorsement, eh?

Naturally, we see and learn more about Jesus than just about the women, and as we use their eyes to see the Master, we can find new angles and fresh insights. These life-changing accounts of women who met the Lord are mostly well-known and often-discussed. There are lots of books like this. And we should never tire of them.

Rather than view women as risks, liabilities, or burdens, Jesus invites them to draw near. With her characteristic and refreshing blend of scholarship and empathy, Rebecca McLaughlin invites us to examine the stories of women woven throughout the ministry of Jesus, searching for the common threads of good news. And a clear, unhesitating message emerges: ‘Suffer the women to come unto me.’ Herein is instruction and encouragement for women and men alike seeking to live as brothers and sisters in God’s family. — Jen Wilkin, author, In His Image: 10 Ways God Calls Us to Reflect His Character and None Like Him: 10 Ways God Is Different from Us (and Why That’s a Good Thing)

Women Who Do: Female Disciples in the Gospels Holly J. Carey (Eerdmans) $29.99  OUR SALE PRICE = $23.99

Holly Carey is professor of biblical studies and chair of the Biblical Studies Department at Point University in Georgia. She examines here what it means to be a dispel — and makes the narrative-critical case that women best embody discipleship in the Gospel and Acts. What? Whoa!

As Joel Green of Fuller Theological Seminary notes,

If asked to name Jesus’s disciples, most of us would focus on the well-known men — Peter, James, John, and the rest. In this important, well-crafted study, Holly Carey fills out that picture by emphasizing Jesus’s overlooked female disciples.

We need books like this — granted it is not the first on this topic, but still feels pioneering. In their socio-political context, this really is something, and her unpacking “women who do” is surely going to be inspiring for many women and men. As Joel Green writes, “If we want to talk about what it means to follow Jesus, we do well to take her advice: Follow the women!”

“If we want to talk about what it means to follow Jesus, we do well to take her advice: Follow the women!”

Eve Isn’t Evil: Feminist Readings of the Bible to Upend Our Assumptions Julie Faith Parker (Baker Academic) $22.99  OUR SALE PRICE = $18.39

Again, I have highlighted this one already, but wanted to give it an encore push. Julie Faith Parker is a fascinating and perceptive writer. With a PhD from Yale she is a visiting professor at Union Theological Seminary and “biblical scholar in residence” at Marble Collegiate Church. She has taught at General Theological Seminary, Trinity Lutheran Seminary, at New York Theological Seminary and among incarcerated students at Sing Sing Prison. She is a good teacher and very deeply respected. She writes with energy and has great empathy.

The great Lutheran New Testament scholar Mark Allan Power writes,

A wonderful book. Readers will inevitably be convinced of two things: feminists can love the Bible, and Bible lovers can (and probably should) be feminists!  — Mark Allan Powell, professor (retired), Trinity Lutheran Seminary, author of Introducing the New Testament

AFRICAN AMERICAN and MULTICULTURAL STUDIES

Black Theology and Black Faith Noel Leo Erskine (Eerdmans) $26.99  OUR SALE PRICE = $21.59

I suppose it isn’t important but the hardback cover is striking to me, seeming to harken back to a 1970s title, something seminal, pioneering. Yet this is fresh, new, if connected to the great tradition of black theology. Erskine, who teaches at Candler School of Theology (at Emory), has written several scholarly books about faith and black history, about Caribbean theology (even one about Marley and Rasta.) He feels deeply and has been involved in the project of decolonizing theology, has reflected on pastoral care from a third world perspective. A book of his from years ago that influenced me a bit is King Among the Theologians.

The important Dwight Hopkins (now at the University of Chicago) has said that:

Noel L. Erskine has gifted us with the definitive argument and persuasive proof that Black faith and Black religion in the western hemisphere began with the majority populations of enslaved Africans in the Caribbean and Latin America, and not in the United States. This is a foundational paradigm shift, and Black theology and womanist theology, if they are to remain authentic, must shift as well.

After a lifetime of these unique books about subsets of black scholarship, he now brings to us what might be his magnum opus. He covers Marcus Garvey and various views of sin and redemption in the older black church. He works with salvation and liberation, womanist writers, theology after Cone, up to BLM activists.

Kamari Maxine Clarke of the University of Toronto says it is “a phenomenal contribution to the field.”

Troubling the Water: The Urgent Work of Radical Belonging Ben McBride (Broadleaf Books) $27.99  OUR SALE PRICE = $22.39

When Cornel West has a blurb on the front cover saying a book is “visionary and courageous” I take notice. We all should. Agree or not, this is important, vivid stuff, and West is an extraordinary scholar whose advice we should heed. Another blurb that I found compelling and made me want to stock this one is Father James Martin (whose new book, Come Forth, is about the resurrection of Lazarus) who called it “an urgent, vibrant, and necessary call for justice, which is just what God asks — demands — of all of us.”

This really is a clarion call, a manifesto, an exploration, of the call to justice. Yet, it brings into that “urgent work” the question of belonging.

This author is a seasoned urban activist (you’ll love his insightful story about a public hearing about bike lanes in Oakland) and you’ll appreciate, I hope, his drawing on the great work of Bryan Stevenson and Rev. William Barber. The deep stuff here is going to be helpful for anyone on the road to this kind of witness, or anyone who has been in the trenches.

Listen to Lisa Sharon Harper, author of The Very Good Gospel and Fortune:

At once practical and profound, Ben McBride’s Troubling the Water reflects the hard-earned wisdom of the author — a practitioner and prophet. McBride’s own story offers invaluable guidance for all who wish to be healing agents in our writhing world. But this is not a simple how-to book. McBride leads readers to the heart of the problem–we are failing to see each other (and ourselves) as human. Then he casts a vision and points the way toward a radical kind of belonging that challenges us all to the core. Read this book. It will change you.

Read this book. It will change you.

A Longing to Belong: Reflection on Faith, Identity, and Race Michelle Lee-Barnewall (Zondervan Reflective) $19.99  OUR SALE PRICE = $15.99

I just started this and it is gracious, kind, and thoughtful, a book about belonging, also, but not from the vantage point of a seasoned black activist (see above) but by an Asian American professor at Talbot School of Theology at Biola in Los Angeles. She has written a good book on the parables of Jesus and won a number of awards by the gracious, reasonable Neither Complementarian nor Egalitarian. In this book she does nothing less than “exhorts readers that standing in awe of God transforms us.”

This looks to be an excellent, excellent, uplifting study of identity, who and whose we are, in light of her own passion for reconciliation. Can our longing for belonging “shape the way we think about ourselves and our life together?” She says yes, and that includes our mutual responsibilities to and for one another.

She is a good writer, a gracious storyteller, a beautiful person, surely, with lovely endorsements from colleagues like Octavio Esqueda.

Although it is a lovely, challenging thoughtful read, this endorsement cuts right to the chase:

This book can facilitate a conversation that will reduce the racial divines in our Christian organizations, ministries, and churches. — Sheryl Takagi Silzer, multicultural consultant for SIM, author of Biblical Multicultural Teams

Unfractured: A Christ-Centered Action Plan for Cultural Change Shot Welch (Chosen) $26.99  OUR SALE PRICE = $21.59

I first read Skot Welch a few years back when we highlighted the powerful and important Plantation Jesus: Race, Faith & A New Way Forward (Herald Press) that he co-wrote with Rick Wilson and Andi Cumbo-Floyd. It was very good and I’ve had my eye on him ever since.

I ordered this sight unseen, and thought maybe it would be about more general questions of societal change and renewal within the institutions of our saying culture. But, no, it is, quite specifically, about racial and multi-cultural tensions and the need for a Christ-centered plan to do, well, all the things the above books are lamenting and proposing. Can Unfractured be a tool to actually live out in practical ways answers to our fractured world?

So far, I can say that this is clear-headed, honest, not too controversial, practical, useful. It is for the church, thinking that Christian organizations must get their own house in order and that we “hold the redemptive solution our world needs, one that puts Christ at the center, modeling conciliation that leads to lasting reconciliation.”

He invites readers to “celebrate your identity in Christ and our diverse cultural makeup.” I like that he proposes that we “embrace a new kingdom language” and, as said, that we explore a Christ-centered perspective. Can we build united, diverse community? Can we create a setting where hard but crucial questions are explored with compassion? If you don’t need help with any of that, you can skip this book. But I am sure that we all need a lot of help. This is, at least, for those new to this project, or those who are faltering.

Welch has been a key advisor on diversity and inclusion (he tells stories from churches but also from Fortune 500 Companies and folks in the arts and entertainment world.” He is the founder of Global Bridgebuilders.

The Humanity Archive: Recovering the Soul Black History from a Whitewashed American Myth Jermaine Fowler (The Row House) $28.99  OUR SALE PRICE = $23.19

I have not yet studied this recent New York Times bestseller but it has gotten excellent advanced publicity and critical reviews. It is one of those books that is going to be talked about and perhaps considered a must-read for those working in this field of equity and inclusion, justice and reconciliation. Fowler is a clear writer, a good storyteller — the couple of pages I’ve dipped into had me captivated. I like that he calls himself an “intellectual adventurer.”  (And, yes, he grew up going to the free library, being inspired by books of all sorts.)

There are those, even in religious circles these days, who say that slavery was somehow benign. There are those who, even if they are disgusted by the injustices of slavery or the years or Reconstruction that gave us the growth of the KKK, still care to know little about black history. This offers good words in the context of broader human history. I think it is going to be tremendous and want to suggest it here.

Fowler sees historical storytelling and the sharing of knowledge as a vocation and a means of fostering empathy and understanding between cultures. A deft storyteller with a sonorous voice, Fowler’s passion for his material is palpable as he unfurls the hidden histories.—Vanity Fair

CULTURAL CRITICISM AND ANALYSIS

Culture Making: Recovering Our Creative Calling – Expanded Edition Andy Crouch (IVP) $25.00  OUR SALE PRICE = $20.00

When this book first came out — 15 years ago (hence, this new anniversary edition) I could hardly believe it. This. This. This was much of what we were about here at Hearts & Minds, why our little contribution to the world mattered, and why we tried to create a bookstore that was somehow a different sort of place than most Christian bookstores (remember them?) Or most big chain bookstores that were popular. Andy explained, with erudition and wise insight, so much about the Bible and faithful discipleship and social responsibility and the possibilities of change and the nature of our cultural artifacts. The phrase “culture making” became a watchword, and his stuff on various postures, if heeded, might have prevented the worst of the subsequent culture wars and church-influenced disasters. It is one of the most important books we’ve seen in the forty years we’ve been in business and we were glad to have had a very tiny connection to its promotion early on. We admire Andy and he and his family are, I am proud to say, customers of ours. We are grateful.

We are now glad for this new, updated edition. It is mostly the same magisterial volume it first was — but with a lengthy afterword which takes the shape of a dialogue between Andy and Tish Harrison Warren. It is excellent, insightful, provocative and such a joy to read thoughtful Christians (who aren’t so arcane as to make us scratch our heads.) They note that one big cultural artifact that isn’t discussed in Culture Making is the iPhone, which had not come out yet, 15+ years ago. Of course, Crouch has gone on to write about our digital culture (I adored The Life We’re Looking For) and the conversation with Tish in the new afterword explores wisely this new milieu and the ongoing call by God to steward well the potentialities of our life and times.

In this expanded edition there is also a very extensive study guide, good for anyone, of course, but especially designed for small groups, book clubs, entrepreneurs, or church folk wanting their congregation to learn to be more faithfully savvy about the world God calls us to. It’s important, not incidental or only for artists. Lauren Winner said, “I am hard-pressed to think of something that twenty-first century American Christians need to read more”  Indeed.

“I am hard-pressed to think of something that twenty-first century American Christians need to read more”

Beyond Homelessness: Christian Faith in a Culture of Displacement – 15th Anniversary Edition Steven Bouma-Prediger & Brian J. Walsh (Eerdmans) $39.99  OUR SALE PRICE = $31.99

Speaking of 15th anniversary editions, this, too, is one of my all-time favorite books and I am thrilled that it has recently been reissued in a new, expanded 15th anniversary edition. It is a fairly hefty volume but there is so much going on that it could nearly be seen as several books in one. Yet, in holds together brilliantly, moving from studies of the poor and unhoused to the ways in which we disregard place (our individualistic, nomadic culture) and why, for some, we are less enthused about placed embodiment because we have a view of heaven that is disconnected to the real world of creation. That one of the authors — the great Steve Bouma-Prediger at Hope College in Holland, MI — is an ecologist (his own recent book Creation Care Discipleship is one of my choices for “best books of the year”) the disregard for climate change and creation care fits into this study of why, really, we have a crisis in housing. They offer a big picture and they connect the notes with pathos and hope.

There are vivid Biblical vignettes scattered throughout showing just how very “Jesusy” (to use Anne Lamont’s famous word) their project is.

This is no simple call to care for the poor, although nothing would please the authors more if we and our churches opened our doors to those in need with a bit more conscientious energy. More, this is a multi-dimensional study of our “culture of displacement.” Why is it, they ask, that there are people with houses (perhaps multiple houses) but who have no sense of place, no belonging, no true home, really, and even while there are, in fact, people who are unhoused or under-housed and yet who have a network of loved ones, people they care about, a place to belong. In a way, they may not have houses, but they have homes. What is a home? What is the task of homemaking? How does the Biblical meta-narrative shape our understanding of home, exile, and homecoming? What might be done for those on the margins of our society when we learn to counter our “culture of displacement”? This book is more urgent now, and more relevant, than it was when it first came out.

There is, in this new anniversary edition, a new foreword by Ruth Padilla DeBorst which is excellent. And, significantly, there is what is called a Postscript but which is really a long, new chapter. It is amazingly good. In this full, new chapter the authors bring their story up to date, looking at the current crisis of homelessness, they cite some more moving poetry and songs and Bible verses, interact with some good theologians (such asThe Home of God: A Brief Story of Everything by Miroslov Volf and Ryan McAnnally-Linz) engage some philosophers and ethicists (and of course, Wendell Berry) as they propose a “phenomenology of homefulness.” Importantly, they spend some time in a place in Austin, Texas with a guy named Alan Graham, creator of Mobile Loaves and Fishes and author of Welcome Homeless. (You can listen to a podcast of Graham chatting with Brian about the new edition of the book and Graham’s work HERE. Check it out.)

I can’t say enough about this new edition, it’s big picture cultural criticism and it’s imaginative reforms for how we think about these matters. It really is a graduate course in contemporary contextual theology and the best thinking I’ve seen yet on these very themes. The book, in that sense, is a bargain.

We are hoping to arrange having a livestream online conversation with Brian about the book that will be hosted by their good publisher, Eerdmans, before long. Stay tuned! In the mean time, buy the book, now on sale.

The Church in an Age of Secular Mysticisms: Why Spiritualities without God Fail to Transform Us Andrew Root (Baker Academic) $28.99  OUR SALE PRICE = $23.19

I may have given this a shout out previously but it is so important it deserves to be on this little list of five about culture. As I hope you know Andrew Root has a series of five other books about how the culture of the world around us has infiltrated and shaped the thinking that goes on in most churches. He draws on various important social critics (think of Charles Taylor and his influential work on our “secular age”) and shows how congregations and pastors have to think hard about all that in order to find faithful renewal and appropriate growth. (I love the title of one The Congregation in a Secular Age: Keeping Sacred Time Against the Speed of Modern Life and The Church After Innovation: Questioning Our Obsession with Work, Creativity, and Entrepreneurship. See what he’s doing there?

Well, this one explores our recent fascination with spirituality, with (again) our view of the very self. He brings in some pretty heady social critics, and you will learn a lot. His helping us get a better grasp on the cultural context in which many perceive our talk about spirituality is a great gift. Wow, this is really important stuff, cultural astute, insightful, and somewhat provocative.

It is also (he says in the introductory pages) the final book in this six-book series. He has to make some arguments about late modernity, do some review, build a framework and then tackle the “spirituality” question. Near the end he goes to the Rhineland mystics and tells of an encounter with Jewish scholar Franz Rosenzweig, connecting that with Martin Buber.  It is what a prof at Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary calls “a theological gem.”

Remaking the World: How 1776 Created the Post-Christian West Andrew Wilson (Crossway) $29.99 OUR SALE PRICE = $23.99

One might think this would be put in our history section, and I suppose that is where it goes. It is a close and fascinating reading of things that happened in 1776, starting with seven events, actually. So, obviously, history, right?

However, the creative argument Wilson makes in this extraordinary book has such implications for our understanding our times, too, I’m listing it here with other titles of cultural and social concern. In short, he maintains that the seeds of the post-Christian West were sown in the late eighteenth century. This revolutionary era was decisive in many ways — he explores 7 — shaping the way in which faith and life developed subsequently. This is cultural analysis of the highest sort — and fun! For what it is worth, this isn’t a woke liberal complaining about Jefferson enslaving people (which, of course, is it’s own valuable criticism that must be said, over and over) but it is a moderately conservative evangelical theologian wondering how we became “Western” and “Democratic” and “Romantic” and more. While historian Thomas Kidd says it is “an intellectual tour de force and a model of Christian scholarship” it is, frankly, more. Matthew Lee Anderson says it is “arresting.” It certainly is interesting.

Note this, from two of our great Christian public intellectuals:

Andrew Wilson’s book is extraordinary in every way: extraordinary in the breadth of research; extraordinary in the multitude of world-significant events that Wilson identifies for 1776; extraordinary in the depth of his insight on what those events meant (and continue to mean); extraordinary in the verve with which he makes his arguments; and, not least, extraordinary in the persuasive Christian framework in which he sets the book. Remaking the World is a triumph of both creative historical analysis and winsome Christian interpretation. — Mark Noll, Professor of History, Regent College; author, America’s Book: The Rise and Decline of a Bible Civilization, 1794-1911

Andrew Wilson is a wise and witty guide through the eventful year 1776 (eventful in, as he shows, sometimes surprising ways). He convincingly demonstrates that we’re still living in the wake of that historical moment–and offers shrewd suggestions for how Christians might navigate those rough waters. — Alan Jacobs, Distinguished Professor of Humanities, Baylor University, author of Breaking Bread with the Dead

Christ Among the Classes: The Rich, the Poor, and the Mission of the Church Al Tizon (Orbis Press) $35.00  OUR SALE PRICE = $28.00

I respect my old pal Al Tizon very, very much. He has written much (including some great record reviews) and even in this book there is an appendix, a tribute written to his friend and mentor Ronald J. Sider, who died almost two years ago, now. For those of us who knew Ron, Al’s tender and helpful eulogy is nearly worth the price of the book.

It isn’t am inexpensive book, though, so you need a bit more than his tender and wise overview of Sider and his influence nice as that is. And you get it, for sure. This is an exceedingly thorough, careful, rigorous study of the Biblical visio not economic justice and how, in fact, our income inequality is such these days that God surely groans, along with the oppressed. It is no surprise this bit of liberative economics is published by Orbis Press.

Professor Tizon (He teaches adjunct at North Park in Chicago ad pastors Grace Fellowship Community Church in San Fransisco) is known for his book Whole & Reconciled: Gospel, Church, and Mission in a Featured World which is one of the very best evangelical studies of the wholistic nature of the gospel and how Kingdom visions of reconciliation ought to be central to the redemptive mission of God’s people in the world.  Here, he provides the prophetic denunciation of injustice a bit more bitingly and invites us to understand, really understand, classism. As Fr Benigno Beltran puts it, “Al Tizon’s book goes right to the heart of the matter: classism is an affront to the God of justice, and if the wealthy do not repent, the human are will soon perish from the face of the earth.”

All sorts of missional leaders and missionary thinkers have endorsed this as a powerful bit of cultural critique. An East African worker for SIM International, a Bishop in the Church of Uganda, even Jonathan Bonk, executive director emeritus of the Overseas Missions Studies Center. Bonk, by the way, raves, saying how everyone could benefit from a careful reading of this volume. He notes that if change is going to occur, “it might begin with this modest but hard-hitting book.”

Rev. Eugene Cho (President and CEO of Bread for the World) says it calls the reader and Church “to deeper self-examination of classism, while calling us to follow and embody Christ.”

As the good pastor and evangelical he is, Tizon has provided thoughtful discussion questions so Christ Among the Classes can be used in a small group, book club, or adult ed class. There are also sidebars of “action steps” and proposed ideas for further engagement with the material, moving us to experiment and work towards a more reconciled world. This is a really useful resource.

By the way, on this theme, we recently got into the store the new book by bestselling nonfiction author Stephanie Land, author of Maid, which was made into a popular Netflix show. Land’s new one is called Class: A Memoir of Motherhood, Hunger, and Higher Education (1 Signal Publishing / Atria) $28.00 – OUR SALE PRICE = $22.40. I know that is six in this category, but I had to sneak it in. Publisher’s Weekly calls it “stirring” and Neil Gaiman says it is “a beautiful memoir.”  Insofar as economic anxiety and class differences are part of our cultural make-up, this could be important for anyone wanting to understand the times.

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