Book Reviews

Book Reviews provides thoughtful, biblically informed reviews of books that serve churches, leaders, and disciples. Explore summaries of key ideas, theological and practical evaluation, and clear recommendations on who each book is best suited for—pastors, elders, small group leaders, students, or everyday believers. You’ll find reviews across theology, ministry, discipleship, Christian living, and church history, helping you choose resources that are faithful, helpful, and worth your time. Whether you’re building a library or selecting a study for your church, this hub offers trusted guidance for discerning readers.

February 1, 2017

Christian Standard

Insider or Outsider?

By Jim Tune In the book How Jesus Saves the World From Us: 12 Antidotes to Toxic Christianity, Morgan Guyton includes a provocative chapter with the title, “Insiders, Not Outsiders: How We Take Sides in Conflict.” In it he refers to something known as the Valladolid debate. I had not heard of it. It seems that in the decades following Christopher Columbus”s discovery of the Americas, the conquistadors and invading Spanish colonizers had been ruthless in their domination of the native peoples, enslaving, displacing, and slaughtering tens of thousands. Troubling reports made their way back to King Charles V, who called

December 31, 2016

Christian Standard

These Speakers Are Writers

By LeRoy Lawson Unashamed: Drop the Baggage, Pick Up Your Freedom, Fulfill Your Destiny Christine Caine Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2016 The Scent of Water: Grace for Every Kind of Broken Naomi Zacharias Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2011 Love Does: Discover a Secretly Incredible Life in an Ordinary World Bob Goff Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2012 The Serengeti Rules: The Quest to Discover How Life Works and Why It Matters Sean B. Carroll Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2016 I had the good fortune to attend the 2016 North American Christian Convention in Anaheim, California. I can”t remember an NACC that was more upbeat, more focused

December 1, 2016

Christian Standard

A President, a Poet, and Prescriptions for the Church

By LeRoy Lawson Eisenhower in War and Peace Jean Edward Smith New York: Random House, 2012 For All of Us, One Today: An Inaugural Poet”s Journey Richard Blanco Boston: Beacon Press, 2013 Why Nobody Wants to Go to Church Anymore: And How 4 Acts of Love Will Make Your Church Irresistible Thom and Joani Schultz Loveland: Group Publishing, 2013 Why Nobody Wants to Be Around Christians Anymore: And How 4 Acts of Love Will Make Your Faith Magnetic Thom and Joani Schultz Loveland: Group Publishing, 2014   Dwight Eisenhower was America”s president during my teen years. To this Oregon adolescent he loomed

October 28, 2016

Christian Standard

Reconsidering Lawrence, Rediscovering Conversation, and Recently Recommended

By LeRoy Lawson Lawrence in Arabia: War, Deceit, Imperial Folly and the Making of the Modern Middle East Scott Anderson New York: Anchor, 2014 Reclaiming Conversation: The Power of Talk in a Digital Age Sherry Turkle New York: Penguin Press, 2015 Above the Waterfall Ron Rash New York: Ecco, 2016 Fools Crow James Welch New York: Penguin, 2011 (originally published in 1987) For a reader, seeing is never enough. Neither is being there. You have to read up on it, get another”s point of view, reflect on and modify previous impressions. That happened with a vengeance earlier this year. My wife, Joy, and

October 21, 2016

Christian Standard

It Takes a Library: An Interview with C. Christopher Smith

By Jennifer Johnson In Reading for the Common Good: How Books Help Our Churches and Neighborhoods Flourish, C. Christopher Smith makes a compelling case for the importance of reading as he discusses our reading with others and using what we”ve learned to discern our call and our identity as faith communities.  CHRISTIAN STANDARD recently interviewed Smith about some of the big ideas in his new book. _____ One of the themes running throughout your book is that the church needs to become a learning organization. Can you give us a brief definition of what that means and explain why reading

September 4, 2016

Christian Standard

Work as Worship (Book Review)

Work as Worship: How the CEOs of Interstate Batteries, Hobby Lobby, PepsiCo, Tyson Foods and More Bring Meaning to Their Work Mark L. Russell, author and editor Boise: Elevate Faith, 2012 A book review by Matt Johnson Worship is not just a Sunday event; it is a lifestyle. Decades of worship wars often focused on worship as what happens only on Sunday mornings, but an examination of our practices and the Scriptures has expanded our definition of worship to include both nonmusical and non-Sunday events. With the proliferation of books on leadership, it was only a matter of time before an interdisciplinary entrepreneur like

August 20, 2016

Christian Standard

Discovery and the High Cost of Finding

By LeRoy Lawson How Dante Can Save Your Life: The Life Changing Wisdom of History”s Greatest Poem Rod Dreher New York: Regan Arts, 2015 Water to Wine: Some of My Story Brian Zahnd Spello Press, 2016 High Price: A Neuroscientist”s Journey of Self-Discovery that Challenges Everything You Know About Drugs and Society Carl Hart New York: HarperCollins, 2013 The Undertaking: Life Studies from the Dismal Trade Thomas Lynch New York: W. W. Norton and Co., 2009 Today”s column is about discovery, with what happens when the lost becomes found””and the high cost of the finding. Let”s begin with Rod Dreher”s How Dante Can Save Your Life: The Life Changing Wisdom of

August 1, 2016

Christian Standard

Car Talk, Gay Marriage, and the Death Journey

By LeRoy Lawson The Reckoning David Halberstam Available via Kindle; first published in 1986 God and the Gay Christian: The Biblical Case in Support of Same-Sex Relationships Matthew Vines New York: Convergent Books (reprint edition), 2015 A Long Letting Go: Meditations on Losing Someone You Love Marilyn Chandler McEntyre Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2015 For decades America”s automotive industry dazzled the whole world as it drove itself to the pinnacle of creative, organizational, and mechanical success. No other nation could compete. Detroit ruled supreme. That was then. This is now. David Halberstam”s The Reckoning was published 30 years ago. It still captivates a reader

July 7, 2016

Christian Standard

Miracles, Marvels, and the Vulnerable Minister

By LeRoy Lawson The Miracle of Dunkirk Walter Lord New York: Open Road Media; for Kindle, 2012 The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon Brad Stone New York: Little, Brown and Co., 2013 The Vulnerable Pastor: How Human Limitations Empower Our Ministry Mandy Smith Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 2015 Just about everything I thought I knew about the “evacuation” of Dunkirk (read “retreat”) was wrong. Or at least wildly romanticized. I could picture the thousand-plus boats of all sizes and types crossing the English Channel to rescue soldiers fleeing for their lives from the Nazis. My mind”s eye saw them push up against the

June 3, 2016

Christian Standard

Lawlessness and Poverty, Freakonomics, and Strategies for Succession

By LeRoy Lawson The Locust Effect: Why the End of Poverty Requires the End of Violence Gary A. Haugen and Victor Boutros New York: Oxford University Press, 2014 Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner New York: HarperPerennial, 2009 SuperFreakonomics: Global Cooling, Patriotic Prostitutes, and Why Suicide Bombers Should Buy Life Insurance Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner New York: William Morrow, 2011 Think Like a Freak: the Authors of Freakonomics Offer to Retrain Your Brain Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner New York: William Morrow, 2014 Next: Pastoral Succession that Works William

April 28, 2016

Christian Standard

Life and Death, Racism, and Responsibility

By LeRoy Lawson   Do No Harm: Stories of Life, Death, and Brain Surgery Henry Marsh New York: Thomas Dunne, 2015 The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America”s Great Migration Isabel Wilkerson New York: Random House, 2010 To Heal a Fractured World: The Ethics of Responsibility Jonathan Sacks New York: Schocken Books, 2007 So what do you think of Obamacare? Has any topic in recent years generated more sound and fury, or more heat and less light than America”s medical care? (OK, maybe immigration policies, or same-sex marriage, or. . . . You get my point, though, don”t you?) For years

March 31, 2016

Christian Standard

Empires, Philosophies, Biases, and Jesus

AUDIO BOOKS I, Claudius Robert Graves The Inexplicable Universe: Unsolved Mysteries Neil deGrasse Tyson History”s Greatest Voyages of Exploration Vejas Gabriel Liulevicius The History of Ancient Rome Garrett G. Fagan Will to Power: The Philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche Robert C. Solomon and Kathleen Higgins (narrators) TRADITIONAL BOOKS Blindspot: Hidden Biases of Good People Mahzarin Banaji & Anthony Greenwald New York: Delacorte Press, 2013 I Knew Jesus Before He Was a Christian . . . and I Liked Him Better Then Rubel Shelly Abilene: Leafwood Publishers, 2011   By LeRoy Lawson Heard a good book lately? I confessed in an earlier column that sometimes (regularly) I read with my ears,

February 28, 2016

Christian Standard

Wrestling with Faith and Disagreeing on the Bible

By LeRoy Lawson My Bright Abyss: Meditation of a Modern Believer Christian Wiman New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2013 The Civil War as a Theological Crisis (The Steven and Janice Brose Lectures in the Civil War Era) Mark A. Noll Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, reprint edition, 2015 When a speaker is teetering on the brink of death, ravaged by bone marrow cancer, you pay attention. When he is poet Christian Wiman, sharing his personal insight into the Bright Abyss, readers””religious and nonreligious alike””ponder his every thought. Wiman is struggling””against death, against the danger of being

February 27, 2016

Christian Standard

Finding the Right Answers

By Matt Johnson Everyday Theology, as its subtitle promises, tells us How to Read Cultural Texts and Interpret Trends.  How does your faith speak to human rights, pop music, or designer funerals? Is there any benefit to buying a ticket for the latest Hollywood blockbuster? When should we embrace the hurry of modern American culture, and when should we slow down? What does the proliferation of the blogosphere mean to our culture and the church? Complicated questions have complicated answers, and anyone who tells you otherwise is selling you something less than the gospel. So I appreciated Everyday Theology (Grand Rapids:

January 22, 2016

Christian Standard

Evangelical Warning, Improbable Convert, Uncommon Ministry

By LeRoy Lawson The Great Evangelical Recession: 6 Factors That Will Crash the American Church . . . and How to Prepare John S. Dickerson Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2013 Good God, Lousy World, and Me: The Improbable Journey of a Human Rights Activist from Unbelief to Faith Holly Burkhalter New York: Convergent Books, 2013 The Insanity of God: A True Story of Faith Resurrected Nik Ripken Nashville: B&H Publishing, 2013 John Dickerson”s The Great Evangelical Recession is depressing reading. Being told the truth isn”t always an “upper.” This book tells the truth. At least it tells the truth as things stand

December 17, 2015

Christian Standard

Pursuing Unity, Revisiting Assumptions, Winning with Winsomeness

By LeRoy Lawson Disunity in Christ: Uncovering the Hidden Forces That Keep Us Apart Christena Cleveland Downers Grove: IVP Books/Intervarsity Press, 2013   Jesus Feminist: An Invitation to Revisit the Bible”s View of Women Sarah Bessey New York: Howard Books, 2013   The Best Kept Secret of Christian Mission: Promoting the Gospel with More Than Our Lips John Dickson Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2013   Hearing Her Voice: A Biblical Invitation for Women to Preach (Revised Edition) John Dickson Grand Rapids: Zondervan 2012, 2014 I like introducing people to authors I”ve just met. Recently I read three books that made me want to become better

December 11, 2015

Christian Standard

A Book for Those Who Make Art

By Tim Neuenschwander For the Beauty of the Church: Casting a Vision for the Arts Edited by W. David O. Taylor Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2010 For the Beauty of the Church brings together a collection of noted voices of art making (the craft of making art) and art makers (the people who create art) from religious settings, churches, and forums. There is something in this collection for everyone who is looking for ways to manifest arts in his or her religious venue. While some chapters held little interest for me, others were spot on and I gleaned much from the encouraging and

November 28, 2015

Christian Standard

Competitors, Charismatics, and Caregivers

By LeRoy Lawson Birdmen: The Wright Brothers, Glenn Curtiss, and the Battle to Control the Skies Lawrence Goldstone New York: Ballantine Books, 2014 Prototype: What Happens When You Discover You”re More Like Jesus Than You Think Jonathan Martin Carol Stream: Tyndale Momentum, 2013 Call the Midwife: A Memoir of Birth, Joy, and Hard Times Jennifer Worth New York: Penguin Books, 2012 Disillusioned. There”s a sad word for you. It means that something you believe or want to believe or thought was true but never checked out turns out to be not so. You believed an illusion, and now you know. Sorrow comes

November 22, 2015

Christian Standard

Leading the Church to Look Like Heaven

Review by Dick Alexander Leading a Healthy Multi-Ethnic Church: Seven Common Challenges and How to Overcome Them Mark DeYmaz and Harry Li Zondervan 2013   Why would a person be interested in a book titled Leading a Healthy Multi-Ethnic Church? Most likely for the same reason Mark DeYmaz got interested in the subject””a growing burden, born of a prompting of the Holy Spirit, that the church on earth should look more like the church in Heaven. If that”s you, and if you”re seeking answers to complex questions and direction for the journey, DeYmaz can help. Biblical Principles, Practical Strategies Leading a Healthy

October 25, 2015

Christian Standard

The Book that Saved My Ministry

Seven leaders tell how reading made all the difference for them. ____ TODD CLARK, teaching pastor, Christ”s Church of the Valley, Peoria, Arizona Too Busy Not to Pray: Slowing Down to Be with God by Bill Hybels (InterVarsity Press, 1998) Choosing to Cheat: Who Wins When Family and Work Collide? by Andy Stanley (Multnomah, 2003) The Life You”ve Always Wanted: Spiritual Disciplines for Ordinary People by John Ortberg (Zondervan, 1997) Soul Keeping: Caring for the Most Important Part of You by John Ortberg (Zondervan, 2014) A Tale of Three Kings: A Study of Brokenness by Gene Edwards (Tyndale House, 1992) As I

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