A. J. Swoboda

75 Masterpieces Every Christian Should Know

Arts & Literature

“Thousands of Christian books are published every year. In the midst of the steady torrent of clamoring voices, there will inevitably stand above the rest a few that make a unique mark. This is one of these books. My friend Terry has penned a gem here, helping us see and appreciate the voice of God's Spirit in the cultural matrix of the now and the past. 75 Masterpieces Every Christian Should Know is simply magical. Trust me. This stands way out.”

A Captive Mind

Ethics, Culture & Social Issues

“Nye has done it again. A welcome invitation to Christ’s peace in a painful matrix.”

A Compelling Faith in a Compromising Culture

Ethics, Culture & Social Issues

“My friend Mike Tatlock has always been a model for how to be a Christian on mission in a context of hostility and compromise. I've seen his ministry in the flesh—and he has modeled what it means to live faithfully in a cultural context swirling with difficulty, chaos, and pain. This book is a testimony to that fruitful ministry. And it is a gift to the church as he is sharing his secrets for faithfulness. I commend this. And hope you find it a helping hand from an elder brother ahead.”

A World Without God

Philosophy

“Christopher Palmer’s book A World Without God is a biting critique of the way we have chosen to live: free of God. Its prophetic message and graceful invitation will leave you wondering how we’ve lived so long without a deep and hungry heart for God. Read this at your own risk. It won’t feel good. But it will wake you up.”

A Year of Slowing Down

Bible Studies & Devotionals

“The brilliance in this book cannot be overstated. Resting takes time. Lord knows, it takes great grace as well. When Israel came out of Egypt, it took a long time to learn the new rhythms of God under the lordship of Yahweh. This book invites us to a conversion of rhythm. And if you are like any of us, it may take a whole year. Highly recommended.”

Analog Christian

Christian Living

“I can't express the inner jubilee I am having that this book is finally here. What a marvelous invitation to the primal Christian movement that is solely and singularly focused on Jesus as Lord of all in our fragmented and distracted moment. Analog Christian gives voice to a part of all of us that longs for a day when Christians are known for their fruit over their fame. This work will set Jay Kim up as an enduring voice for the church for this generation. Highly recommended. A must-read.”

Becoming God's Family

Theology

“Carmen Joy Imes's Becoming God's Family is a breath of clean and hopeful air! She shows us why God, in his sheer brilliance, would do much of his work in our life through a broken, slow, imperfect, cumbersome, and at times frustrating community of people called the church. Indeed, as the author shows, the church still matters—perhaps more than ever before. This book will bring waves of healing to God's people.”

Being with God

Christian Living

“There is a dizzying litany of books about God in the contemporary marketplace. Many of them are good and helpful. Some not so much. But far too few have been penned to help us know how we relate to God. In the rugged history of Christianity, some of our heroes and saints have offered beautiful descriptions of how they found the God of Scripture. Their tales are so needed today. This book mines our history and theology for these tested and true gifts. I commend Sherrill’s miraculous book. And I believe God will show you a whole new way to know him.”

Claimed by God

Bible Studies & Devotionals

“Identity is a word we are all hearing about today. And while our culture has much to say about it, something feels oddly vapid, empty, and unsatisfying. What Amy Bragg Carey and Anna Marie Carey have done in Claimed by God is offer something deeper and more satisfying—a humble exploration of what it means to walk in the identity that God has given us. I commend to you the authors and their words in this powerful book.”

Creation Care

Theology

“advance what [they] think is a faithful and balanced vision of the created world as it is presented in the Bible.” They do so by engaging historical and systematic theology, cultural analysis, and science, resulting in a balanced understanding of how Christians are to care for creation. I recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a resource on earth keeping that is both faithful to Scripture and incredibly incredibly relevant to the pressing environmental concerns of today. A critical contribution and one that will have an impact for years to come.”

Creation Care Discipleship

Theology

“I was twenty-one years old when I read my first Steven Bouma-Prediger book. I remember the moment as if it were yesterday. For the first time in my life, I was seeing someone connect the dots between loving Jesus and caring for creation. I had no idea they could go together. From that moment on—from doing a PhD on the topic to writing three books to founding an urban farm on our property—my life has been a sequence of events reverberating from reading this brilliant thinker. This book will have the same effect on a whole new generation. I can’t commend it enough. Indeed, caring for the earth isn’t merely part of discipleship. Caring for the earth is discipleship.”

Dallas Willard on God

Theology

“I never got to meet Dallas Willard. But like so many, I find that his love of Christ, theology, and understanding of the kingdom continue to enrapture my life with wonder, joy, and excitement. Reading Robb's book, Dallas Willard on God, is like sharing a long weekend with the man himself. Robb captures so much of the beauty of Willard's work, offering us a luminous gift that captures the heart and soul of everything Dallas was all about. Highly commended as a faithful guide to the tradition.”

Earthkeeping and Character

Theology

“Bouma-Prediger's groundbreaking For the Beauty of the Earth woke me up to Christ's call to care for the earth. One might struggle to imagine how he could top that prophetic book. He has done it. This book will change the way we think about discipleship. And it will change the way we think about how a discipled people can transform the world.”

Friendship Leadership

Work, Money & Leadership

“Jesus called his leaders friends. . . . Can a leader be friends with those they lead? I always said: ‘no.’ This book, however, changed my mind. Not only have Messner and McMurray-Branscombe written a brilliant exposé on the traps and dangers of failing to befriend those we are trusted to lead, we now have an argument for why it’s ideal—if not Christ-like—to befriend those we lead. I hated this book. It held up a mirror to my folly.”

From the Dark Domain

Fiction

“This is a beautiful blend of grace, history, and theology. Potter is a brilliant writer and super insightful. He has penned a gift.”

Glorious Weakness

Christian Living

“Christians worship One who came as a baby and lived a humble, rejected, and homeless existence. God came as a weak man. How we got to the place where we began to believe—and market—that his kingdom mostly comes through strength is beyond me. This book is a massive leap in the right direction and is long overdue. It is through weakness, not our perceived victories and strengths and accomplishments, that the kingdom of Jesus mostly comes in our world. And the sooner we listen to voices like Alia’s in her beautiful Glorious Weakness, the faster we can get out of the way and God’s will can be done here on earth.”

Go and Do

Christian Living

“Being a peacemaker is hard work. Especially in the midst of the culture wars. Is there an intersection between nonviolence and our polarized, othering, and fragmented society? Yes! John Perkins and Shane Blackshear are paving a critical path forward for us—how do we enact the way of Jesus in a world marked by the way of the beast? By God’s grace, this book will impact you the way it did me.”

Grace Sticks

Christian Living

“I imagine Kristina Robb-Dover as a kind of mechanic of the soul--reaching down into the depths of our souls to whisper not what we want to hear but what we need to hear. . . . Standing over the hood of our hearts with oil on her face and a used rag in her hand, she tinkers. . . . So open your hood.”

His Face like Mine

Christian Living

“To have been the beneficiary of sitting in the front row—getting to watch Russell Joyce shine his light for all to see—is one of the greatest gifts of my life. His Face like Mine adds to this story. Joyce's brilliant, vulnerable, and fierce exploration of the power of wounds and scars will leave you breathless. If we are healed by Christ's stripes, then this book gives us a door to the doctor's office. Must read.”

Hopeful Lament

Counseling, Grief & Mental Health

“In no less than two seasons of life when lament and grief became a close friend, I was faced with a question: What can I do in my season of pain? Often the pain can cause us to neurotically keep busy just so we don't have to feel. That isn't the way. What so many of us need is understanding of how to constructively walk through grief in such a way that we are crawling and inching our way toward grace. This book offers a path. There is perhaps no greater a read than this.”