Assist Me to Proclaim: The Life and Hymns of Charles Wesley, by John R. Tyson. Charles Wesley (1707-1788), along with older brother John, co-founded Methodism. It was Charles, the “lyrical theologian”, who wrote 9,000 hymns and sacred poems. This biography connects his journey of faith to the two communities that shaped his life and faith—his family and the Methodist societies. The author’s judicious use of material from journals, letters, and sermons add color to the portrait.
Inside Prince Caspian: A Guide to Exploring the Return to Narnia, by Devin Brown. As we await the debut of new Prince Caspian movie, Brown traces through Prince Caspian chapter by chapter, exploring fascinating symbols, hidden meanings, and easily missed details.
A Walk with Jane Austen: A Journey into Adventure, Love and Faith, by Lori Smith. At the age of 33, dealing with a difficult job and a creeping depression, Lori Smith embarked on a life-changing journey following the life and lore of English novelist Jane Austen (died 1817) through England. The Austen she finds is a woman of family and of quiet but sustaining faith. Along the way, she explored the small things, both meanness and goodness in relationships, to discover that Austen herself knew: the worth of an ordinary life.
Solomon Among the Postmoderns, by Peter J. Leithart.The author shows how Solomon in the book of Ecclesiastes resonated with the themes of today’s postmodernism. Neither lionizing nor demonizing postmodernism, Leithart engages in conversation rather caricature, confident of the power of the biblical narrative to pull down all of our towers of Babel.
Breakfast with Fred, by Fred Smith, Jr., edited by Brenda Smith. Fred’s speaking engagements and books inspired excellence in countless people, but even more influential were his famous breakfast meetings. Now you can hear the wisdom that he imparted to countless Christian leaders that he personally mentored. Each selection of Fred’s musings is followed by a response from one of Fred’s friends—such as Philip Yancey, Zig Ziglar, or Bob Deffinbaugh.
One Month to Live: Thirty Days to a No-Regrets Life, by Kerry and Chris Shook. What if you found out that you only had one month to live? How would you make each day really matter? What would you start, or stop, doing?
The Faith: What Christians Believe, Why They Believe It, and Why It Matters, by Charles Colson and Harold Fickett. A clear, concise, and compelling summary of the apostolic faith which was “once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3)
Beyond Opinion: Living the Faith We Defend, by Ravi Zacharias, author and general editor. A new vision for apologetics in this century, whose aim is an apologetic governed by human relationship and committed to winning people rather than arguments.
Catch the Vision: Roots of the Reformed Discovery, by John J. Murray. A fascinating read about D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, J.I. Packer, Iain Murray, and other notable leaders who were used by God to revive Reformed, Puritan, experiential truth in the mid-20th century United Kingdom.
The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism, by Timothy Keller. The author is founding pastor of New York’s booming Redeemer Presbyterian Church, and in this book mines material from literary classics, philosophy, anthropology, and a multitude of other disciplines to make an intellectually compelling case for God.
The Promise: How God Works All Things for Good, by Robert J. Morgan. Reveals the remarkable power of a single Bible verse: Romans 8:28.
My Dearest Friend: Letters of Abigail and John Adams, edited by Margaret A. Hogan and C. James Taylor. Adams was a leader of the American Revolution and the second president of the United States, and his marriage to Abigail was one of the most moving love stories in American history. These letters reveal how a husband and wife can sustain their love over a lifetime of struggle and tragedy, and they become an epic tale about the making of American history and a great love story all rolled into one.
The Civil War as a Theological Crisis, by Mark A. Noll. Noll shows that the American Civil War was a crisis not only for theology, but also of theology. Even theologians who disagreed profoundly over slavery concurred that the fate of Christianity rested on the fate of the nation, and Noll says that this consensus not only paralyzed Reformed theology during the sectional crisis, but it crippled its development after the war.
The Words of Jesus: A Gospel of the Sayings of our Lord with Reflections, by Phyllis Tickle. The author has compiled and arranged the sayings of Jesus from the four Gospels and the first chapter of Acts in a way that creates a new kind of encounter with the texts.
Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes, by Kenneth E. Bailey. The author spent 40 years living and teaching NT in Egypt, Lebanon, Jerusalem and Cyprus. In this book, he leads readers on a kaleidoscopic study of Jesus throughout the four Gospels, employing his trademark expertise as a master of Middle Eastern culture to lift away the obscuring layers of modern Western interpretation to reveal Jesus in the light of his actual historical and cultural context.
The Cross and the Prodigal: Luke 15 Through the Eyes of Middle Eastern Peasants, by Kenneth E. Bailey. Where is the cross in the parable of the prodigal son? For centuries, Muslims have used the father’s forgiveness to question the need for a mediator between humanity and God. Bailey presents this parable from a Middle Eastern perspective, powerfully showing how the compassion of the cross is present already in the teaching ministry of Jesus.
The Prophets Speak of Him: Encountering Jesus in the Minor Prophets, by Anthony Selvaggio. The particular focus of this book is what the Minor Prophets had to say about Jesus Christ.
Faith in Reading: Religious Publishing and the Birth of Mass Media in America, by David Paul Nord. The story of the unlikely origins of our modern media culture. The beginnings were early in the nineteenth century when a few visionary entrepreneurs, whose publishing enterprises were not commercial businesses but nonprofit religious organizations, determined to combat ignorance and apathy with the new technology and the written word, and ended up giving birth to the American mass media. The author made substantial use of the library and archives of the American Tract Society in Garland.
Lies Young Women Believe and the Truth That Sets Them Free, by Nancy Leigh DeMoss and Dannah Gresh. Addressed to teenage girls and young women, and exposes 25 of the lies most commonly believed by their generation (DeMoss was the author of Lies Women Believe and the Truth That Sets Them Free).
The New Eve, by Robert Lewis and Jeremy Howard. Defines Christian womanhood in the context of the modern world, and urges women to choose God’s best for their life.
The New Atheist Crusaders and Their Holy Grail: The Misguided Quest to Destroy Your Faith, by Becky Garrison. Restless from sitting on the sideline while the latest crop of New Atheists attempts to pulverize Christianity into oblivion, a professional religious satirist has decided to throw down the gauntlet, pick up her pen, and meet the challenge of the anti-God gurus head on.
Before You Live Together, by David Gudgel. Will living together bring you closer or drive you apart? The author uses true stories to illustrate different living-together situations and their outcomes, and presents biblical values in a loving way, without lecturing.
Praying in Color: Drawing a New Path to God, by Sybil MacBeth. To improve her prayer life, the author devised a new prayer form using art by drawing the objects of her petitions or favorite Bible passages, providing visual memories or actual images to carry with her as she prays throughout the day.
BOOKS BY CORRIE TEN BOOM: Amazing Love: True Stories of the Power of Forgiveness (amazing encounters with people in camps and jails, with students and actresses, with the sophisticated and the illiterate); Each New Day (365 simple reflections); A Prisoner and Yet…(a belief in Christ that carried an innocent woman through some of the worst agonies man can devise); Not Good If Detached (the necessity of abiding in Him if our lives are to bear fruit and have meaning).
COMMENTARIES: A Study Commentary on Job, by Hywel R. Jones (series: An Evangelical Press Study Commentary); Minor Prophets: Hosea-Malachi, by Richard D. Patterson and Andrew E. Hill (Cornerstone Biblical Commentary).
ADULT FICTION: Someday, by Karen Kingsbury (Sunrise #3); Sons of Glory, by Craig and Janet Parshall (Thistle and the Cross #3); The Whole Truth, by James Scott Bell; A Hope Beyond and A Promise for Tomorrow, by Judith Pella and Tracie Peterson (Ribbons of Steel #2-3).
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