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.

June 8, 2008

Christian Standard

FROM MY BOOKSHELF: Beyond Normal

By LeRoy Lawson Today”s preacher has to be able to do much more than talk. He is not unlike an orchestra conductor creating beautiful sermonic music, pointing now to the lighting technicians, waving at the sound man, calling in the computer operator, relying on the prep work of the graphics personnel and creative artists, and weaving in TV and movie clips to present a harmonious worship experience that inspires the congregation and, it is hoped, pleases God. It is not now as it was in days of yore. We had then, instead, to rely on words: uttered, quoted, organized, explained,

May 4, 2008

Christian Standard

FROM MY BOOKSHELF: Looking for God

By Leroy Lawson The Best American Spiritual Writing 2007, ed. Philip Zaleski (Boston, New York: Houghton Mifflin, 2007). The title raises several questions, doesn”t it? What exactly is “spiritual” writing? How do you decide what”s the best? And who is qualified to say? Philip Zaleski”s anthology doesn”t answer. The literary range is wide: essays, poetry, meditations, biographies. The sources are varied: Buddhism, Christianity, atheism, New Age, Islam, and to be determined. The quality is, as you would expect, uneven. But the reader who perseveres to the end will be rewarded, for there, in the penultimate selection, is Garry Wills objecting

September 2, 2007

Christian Standard

Scandalous Risks

By C. Robert Wetzel “Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made” (Genesis 3:1). Some time ago I read Susan Howatch”s novel Scandalous Risks. It is the fourth in a series of six novels about the Church of England in the 20th century. I was surprised to see the novel introduced by a quotation from the book of popular theology entitled Honest to God, written by Bishop John A. T. Robinson in 1962. Honest to God was one of those books that attempts to revise Christian faith to make it more

May 29, 2005

Mark A. Taylor

Love, Laughter and Leadership

Beyond Laughter

Mark A. Taylor introduces Wayne Smith’s example of joy and servant leadership, pointing readers to Rod Huron’s biography Love, Laughter and Leadership. Lessons in work, humility, giving, and intentional leadership make it “good medicine.”

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