Coming to the Resource Center - June 10, 2014

As you’ve probably noticed, we haven’t had a “New Books” newsletter for several weeks, but rest assured, we’ve got plenty of great books coming your way soon! Here are just a few of the new titles you can find in the church Resource Center this Sunday, June 15. 

In this edition, we offer books on our vocations, peace, and why the incarnation matters to our faith. Plus - and I know many of our students just graduated - a book on preparing teens for college. (All text copy from Goodreads unless otherwise stated):

Visions of Vocation: Common Grace for the Common Good (2014) Steven Garber

Is it possible to know the world and still love the world? Of all the questions we ask about our calling, this is the most difficult. From marriages to international relations, the more we know, the harder it is to love. We become cynics or stoics, protecting our hearts from the implications of what we know. But what if the vision of vocation can be recovered--allowing us to step into the wounds of the world and for love's sake take up our responsibility for the way the world turns out? For decades Steve Garber has come alongside a wide range of people as they seek to make sense of the world and their lives. 

Vocation is when we come to know the world in all its joy and pain and still love it. Vocation is following our calling to seek the welfare of the world we live in. And in helping the world to flourish, strangely, mysteriously, we find that we flourish too. Garber offers a book for everyone everywhere--for students, for parents, for those in the arts, in the academy, in public service, in the trades and in commerce--for all who want to discover the virtue of vocation.

Real Peace: What We Long for and Where to Find It (2013) Andy Farmer

Peace is possible.

We all experience stress, anxiety, grief, conflict, depression and despair--pain that causes us to cry out for peace. Taking on these common yet critical hardships, seasoned pastor and biblical counselor Andy Farmer shows us where to find and how to experience true, lasting peace--peace with God, peace with each other, and peace with ourselves.

Incarnate: The Body of Christ in an Age of Disengagement (2014) Michael Frost

The story of Christianity is a story of incarnation--God taking on flesh and dwelling among the people he created. God appointing and sending people as his body, his hands and feet. Disciples of Jesus bearing the good news even as they bear the marks of his passion. Whatever Christianity is, it is at least a matter of flesh and blood and the ends of the earth. And yet so much of contemporary Christian culture is rooted not in incarnation but in escape--escape from the earth to heaven, escape from the suffering of this world, escape even from one another. Christianity is increasingly understood as something personal, conceptual, interior, private, neighborless. If Jesus was God incarnate, the church is in danger of being excarnate. Michael Frost expertly and prophetically exposes the gap between the faith we profess and the faith we practice. And he offers new hope for how the church can fulfill its vocation: to be the hands and feet of Christ to one another and to our neighbors, to the ends of the earth and to the end of the age.

Preparing Your Teens for College: Helping Them Face the Challenges: Faith, Finances, and Friendships (2014) Alex Chediak

More than ever, college is a big deal. It costs more than it ever has. A college education is needed more than it ever has been to get a good-paying job. And, on top of that, only half of those who go to college will find careers in the field that they studied. What teens do during their college years affects them more than ever. That's why college expert Alex Chediak is being asked by so many anxious parents: "How do I get my teen ready?"This book is Alex's answer. It covers everything from helping teens apply to the right college to navigating through the college financial maze. Alex covers all the hot-button issues: dating, premarital sex, dorm mates, career guidance, God, and much more. The book is designed for parents who have teens in high school and want some advice on how to prepare them. But it's also useful for parents and grandparents who are guiding their teens and young adults through the college years.You won't want to be without this essential survival manual for college.

Coming to the Resource Center - May 4, 2014

Coming Soon to the Resource Center - May 4, 2014

Here are just a few of the new books you can find in the church Resource Center tomorrow, May 4, 2014. In this edition, we offer two closely related books, one on the meaning of true beauty, the other on seeking our approval from God and not the world. There’s also a book on worldviews and a book on what the Bible says about itself... and why it matters. (All text copy from Goodreads unless otherwise stated):

True Beauty (2014) Carolyn Mahaney, Nicole Whitacre

What is true beauty?

Whether it's age-defying makeup or the latest diet fad, our culture continually tells women that beauty consists of flawless skin and a supermodel figure.

In True Beauty, Carolyn Mahaney and her daughter Nicole Whitacre direct us to the truth of God's Word, where we encounter an entirely different--and refreshingly liberating--standard of beauty.

Offering a path to freedom from the false idols that society, the Devil, and our sinful hearts so often create, this encouraging book will help you exchange the temporary glamour of pop culture for the unfading beauty of godliness.

Includes a discussion guide.

Love Idol: Letting Go of Your Need for Approval - and Seeing Yourself through God’s Eyes (2014) Jennifer Dukes Lee

We all want someone to think we're sensational. We desire to be recognized, to be valued, to be respected . . . to be loved. Yet this natural yearning too often turns into an idol of one of God's most precious gifts: love itself. If you, like so many of us, spend your time and energy trying to earn brownie points--at work, home, and church--all the while fearing that, at any moment, the facade will drop, and everyone will see your hidden mess . . . then love may have become an idol in your life. In this poignant and hope-filled book, Jennifer Dukes Lee shares her own lifelong journey of learning to rely on the unconditional love of God. She gently invites us to make peace with our imperfections and to stop working overtime for a love that is already ours. "The Love Idol" will help us dismantle what's separating us from true connection with God and rediscover the astonishing joy of a life full of freedom in Christ.

What’s Your Worldview? An Interactive Approach to Life’s Big Questions (2014) James N. Anderson

How Do You View the World?

It's a big question. And how you answer is one of the most important things about you.

Not sure what you'd say? Join James Anderson on an interactive journey of discovery aimed at helping you understand and evaluate the options when it comes to identifying your worldview. Cast in the mold of a classic "Choose Your Own Adventure" story, What's Your Worldview? will guide you toward intellectually satisfying answers to life's biggest questions--equipping you to think carefully about not only what you believe but why you believe it and how it impacts the rest of your life.

Taking God At His Word: Why the Bible is Knowable, Necessary, and Enough, and What That Means for You and Me (2014) Kevin DeYoung

The Bible stands at the heart of the Christian faith, but people disagree about its nature and authority. Can we trust the Bible completely? Is it sufficient for our complicated lives? Can we really know what it teaches? And isn't it more important to focus on Jesus instead of the Bible?

With his characteristic wit and clarity, Kevin DeYoung has written an accessible introduction to the Bible that answers important questions raised by Christians and non-Christians alike. This book will help readers understand what the Bible says about itself and the key characteristics that contribute to its lasting significance. Avoiding technical jargon, this winsome volume will encourage men and women to read and believe the Bible--confident that it truly is God's word.

Calvin and Hobbes

Here's a great article on Calvin and Hobbes (the comic strip, not the theologian and the philosopher), courtesy of Tim Challies's excellent blog Informing the Reforming. If you don't regularly read Tim's blog, you should, especially if you're a Kindle owner, since he passes on information about Kindle bargain books on a daily basis. Also don't miss his Friday book giveaway, which offers some great stuff. (I enter the drawing every week, but have never won. But hey, I don't hold that against you, Tim! :)  

Coming to the Resource Center April 6, 2014

Here are just a few of the new books you can find in the church Resource Center tomorrow, April 6, 2014. In this edition, we offer two more works by David Wells, a book celebrating the power and passion of Easter, and a gospel-driven book on productivity that will both challenge and encourage you regardless of your occupation. (All text copy from Goodreads unless otherwise stated):

God in the Wasteland: The Reality of Truth in a World of Fading Dreams (1994) David F. Wells

David F. Wells’s award-winning book No Place for Truth -called a stinging indictment of evangelicalism’s theological corruption by TIME magazine - woke many evangelicals to the fact that their tradition has slowly but surely capitulated to the values and structures of the modern world. In God in the Wasteland, Wells continues his work on a biblical antidote to the modernity that has invaded today’s church.

Above All Earthly Pow’rs: Christ in a Postmodern World (2005) David F. Wells

In our postmodern world, every view has a place at the table but none has the final say. How should the church confess Christ in today's cultural context?

Above All Earthly Pow'rs, the fourth and final volume of the series that began in 1993 with No Place for Truth, portrays the West in all its complexity, brilliance, and emptiness. As David F. Wells masterfully depicts it, the postmodern ethos of the West is relativistic, individualistic, therapeutic, and yet remarkably spiritual. Wells shows how this postmodern ethos has incorporated into itself the new religious and cultural relativism, the fear and confusion, that began with the last century's waves of immigration and have continued apace in recent decades.

Wells's book culminates in a critique of contemporary evangelicalism aimed at both unsettling and reinvigorating readers. Churches that market themselves as relevant and palatable to consumption-oriented postmoderns are indeed swelling in size. But they are doing so, Wells contends, at the expense of the truth of the gospel. By placing a premium on marketing rather than truth, the evangelical church is in danger of trading authentic engagement with culture for worldly success.

Welding extensive cultural analysis with serious theology, Above All Earthly Pow'rs issues a prophetic call that the evangelical church cannot afford to ignore. (Publisher’s description)

Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross: Experiencing the Passion and Power of Easter (2009) Nancy Guthrie, ed.

This collection of readings, drawn from the writings and sermons of 25 classic and contemporary theologians and Bible teachers, focuses on the wonder of Christ's sacrifice.

In a culture where crosses have become little more than decorative accessories and jewelry, how easy it is for even the most well-intended Christian to rush from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday without thoughtfully contemplating the cross and all that it means. Yet we miss out on spiritual riches when we do.

So that we all may linger at the cross during the Lenten season-and stay near it the whole year through-editor Nancy Guthrie has compiled this special anthology. It draws from the works and sermons of classic theologians such as Luther, Edwards, Spurgeon, Ryle, and Augustine, and from leading contemporary communicators such as John Piper, R. C. Sproul, Francis Schaeffer, John MacArthur, Skip Ryan, and Joni Eareckson Tada to help readers enter into an experience of Christ's passion and anchor their hope in the power of his resurrection.

Each essay in this collection holds to a high view of Scripture and expounds on a particular aspect of the Easter story using the appropriate Scripture passage from the ESV Bible. These readings are sure to prepare people's hearts for a fresh experience of the cross each and every Easter season.

What’s Best Next: How the Gospel Transforms the Way You Get Things Done (2014) Matt Perman

Do work that matters. Productivity isn't just about getting more things done. It's about getting the right things done---the things that count, make a difference, and move the world forward. In our current era of massive overload, this is harder than ever before. So how do you get more of the right things done without confusing mere activity for actual productivity? When we take God's purposes into account, a revolutionary insight emerges. Surprisingly, we see that the way to be productive is to put others first---to make the welfare of other people our motive and criteria in determining what to do (what's best next). As both the Scriptures and the best business thinkers show, generosity is the key to unlocking our productivity. It is also the key to finding meaning and fulfillment in our work. What's Best Next offers a practical approach for improving your productivity in all areas of life. It will help you better understand: 

Why good works are not just rare and special things like going to Africa, but anything you do in faith even tying your shoes. 

How to create a mission statement for your life that actually works. 

How to delegate to people in a way that actually empowers them. 

How to overcome time killers like procrastination, interruptions, and multitasking by turning them around and making them work for you. 

How to process workflow efficiently and get your email inbox to zero every day. 

How your work and life can transform the world socially, economically, and spiritually, and connect to God's global purposes. 

By anchoring your understanding of productivity in God's purposes and plan, What's Best Next will give you a practical approach for increasing your effectiveness in everything you do.

A Loving Life Paul E. Miller

A Loving Life: In a World of Broken Relationships (NF 2014) Paul E. Miller
Crossway, $12.99
ISBN 9781433537325

A few years ago I read Paul Miller’s A Praying Life (2009), a book that continues to change my prayer life. It’s a book I’ve recommended it to others and have sometimes given as a gift. When I heard about Miller’s new book, A Loving Life, based on the Book of Ruth, I was certainly eager to read it. 

Miller does a wonderful job of describing hesed love, which could be translated “steadfast love” and thought of as “love without an exit strategy.” It’s certainly not a self-centered, “What-can-I-get-out-of-this-relationship” love, but a love that gives, even when that love is not reciprocated. Such a love, as Miller often points out, is not based on feeling, which often drives a lot of what we normally call love. It is rather a love based on serving others, a love that loves in spite of the dangers of that love not being returned or even acknowledged. In short, hesed love is the way Jesus loves. 

Miller provides many examples of hesed love from the Book of Ruth, as well as from other Scriptures and stories he has encountered in his own life. The vast majority of the book is filled with helpful, biblical information and teaching. I particularly appreciate Miller’s idea of “God in the Shadows” (Chapter 19), giving examples of how Jesus often deliberately kept to the outer edges of several situations, humbly allowing others to have space in order that faith might emerge. (Examples include the sinful woman crashing the party in Luke 7, the woman caught in adultery in John 8, Jesus hiding his identity on the road to Emmaus in Luke 24, etc.) When we love rightly, we often “disappear” so that God can be discovered. 

A Loving Life is filled with many such valuable ideas based on biblical teaching. I do, however, want to make sure I’m not misreading parts of Miller’s book. For instance, while suffering in silence can certainly be an important part of hesed love, I can think of some situations (such as abusive relationships) where suffering should not be silent. I also felt Miller sometimes points a finger at our culture (Oprah, in particular) in a way that clearly identifies a problem (or the symptoms of a problem), but harps on those problems with more force than is necessary. Again, these instances could all be misreadings on my part. 

A Loving Life is a book that will challenge your thoughts on how we think about love in a biblical, God-honoring way. Please consider reading it. 

Some Interesting Thoughts about the Source Material for Noah

I hadn't really planned on seeing Noah, but I thought this review from Dr. Brian Mattson and the video follow-up to it were worth reading and watching. 

A Few Thoughts on Evolving in Monkey Town by Rachel Held Evans

Evolving in Monkey Town: How a Girl Who Knew All the Answers Learned to Ask the Questions (NF 2010) Rachel Held Evans

(The following is not so much a review as a few thoughts on the book.)

Imagine being a Christian when your hometown is Dayton, Tennessee, home of the famous 1925 Scopes Monkey Trial. You’d have to have a strong faith and some strong strategies for defending it. Yet after defending her faith for several years, Rachel Held Evans found she had some questions. Some serious questions. 

Evolving in Monkey Town is an honest look at questioning your faith, a memoir of discovery, and a candid examination of why we believe what we believe. It’s also an unflinching look at doubt. Is doubt necessarily a bad thing? It depends. Evans says (p. 219), 

Doubt is a difficult animal to master because it requires that we learn the difference between doubting God and doubting what we believe about God. The former has the potential to destroy faith; the latter has the power to enrich and refine it. The former is a vice, the latter a virtue. 

Doubt and questioning can be very strong components of drawing nearer to God. (Another excellent book on this topic is The Sacredness of Questioning Everything by David Dark.) 

Evans spends a significant amount of time in the first part of the book describing how convinced she was that she was right (and, by implication, that others were wrong) about faith and belief. This really hit home for me. I’ve been a part of churches that had the “We’re right, you’re wrong” attitude that can really cause you to distance yourself from the very people you should be trying to help. I still often ask myself, “Am I trying to serve others or just trying to be right?” 

“Most of the people I’ve encountered,” Evans says (p. 222), “are looking not for a religion to answer all their questions but for a community of faith in which they can feel safe asking them.” Sadly, when they find that they have disagreements with others, some Christians withdraw, saying, “Well, we have nothing further to talk about.” No, that’s when the conversations should just be getting started. Please don’t misunderstand: no one’s saying you have to water down your beliefs or change your convictions to talk to someone else, but differences in faith should not end conversations and/or relationships. 

  

Some of Evans’s struggles may surprise you, maybe even shock you. I know I found myself in many of these pages at different stages of my life. Maybe you will too. I was also reminded of some hard lessons. Maybe you will be, too. Evans isn’t afraid to ask hard, controversial questions, some of them questions I continue to struggle with as a Christian. Maybe you do, too. Evolving in Monkey Town is an excellent book for anyone who has questions, doubts, fears and struggles. It’s an even better book for those who think they have all the answers.