Marva J. Dawn

28 Hymns to Sing before You Die

Preaching & Worship

“This is a hopeful book and a tremendous collection of my favorite hymns. . . . I'd like to keep this book handy, to sing these hymns when I am dying!”

A Gathering of Memories

Theology

“This is a beautiful and powerful book--and one urgently needed in our forgetful times. With compelling stories and richly stimulating reflections on family, nation, and church as communities of embodied memories, Charles Pinches teaches us the wisdom, authority, and mystery of the act of remembering. Along the way, he offers persuasive insights into the relationship of the potency of sacrifice to memory, the 'commandment' of ritual memory, and the church as the trainer of memories. This volume is a superb gift to all.”

A Guidebook to Prayer

Prayer & Spiritual Formation

“Certainly everyone who reads this thorough handbook will learn at least one or several new approaches to prayer! . . . This is the most extensive and fruitful compendium I have ever found!”

An Unjust God?

Biblical Studies & Commentaries

“Jacques Ellul reads the Scriptures closely, consequently getting surprising--and brilliant--insights that stun us. I don't always agree with his conclusions, but he always stimulates me to contemplate afresh. May this book propel us all to cherish Israel and its biblical task more wholly.”

Becoming the Answer to Our Prayers

Prayer & Spiritual Formation

“Not everyone will agree with every particular detail of biblical interpretation in this book by Claiborne and Wilson-Hartgrove, but no one can deny the truth of their main argument: God is calling each and all of us to be eager agents fulfilling His purposes in the world! This book compels us passionately to ask, in the power of the Holy Spirit, 'How am I "putting legs on my prayers"?' This is a tested book and a necessary one!”

Beyond Doubt

Bible Studies & Devotionals

“At last! — a faith-building book that could spark life-changing discussions in churches and families, as well as formative reflections for those who read it alone. Beyond Doubt offers meditations with sudden turns and theological surprises deep enough for adults, yet with a clarity and plainness for youth — and all this with a freshness that is warmly inviting. The book's effortless flow hides its eminently skillful craftsmanship. Cornelius Plantinga does much more than answer questions astutely; he also calms our fears, nurtures our longings for God, and strengthens our hopes in these tense times. The best theology is rooted in worship, and this book immerses us in prayer — and God!”

Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places

Prayer & Spiritual Formation

“There is no pastor in the world that I trust more than Eugene Peterson, and this book offers us Eugene at his best — poet, storyteller, wonderer, biblical scholar, sage, practiced disciple, and lover of God. He woos us into exquisitely perceptive Bible readings, diagnoses the dangers of our common shortcuts, and immerses us in the community of those who live the truth of the Trinity in Jesus' way. This is a life-transforming and liberating book. I pray that many people will give it thoughtful, reverent attention.”

Colossians Remixed

Biblical Studies & Commentaries

“Brian and Sylvia are phenomenally wise, profoundly formed by their immersion in biblical language, astutely aware of the pains and anxieties of residents in postmodernity, and outstandingly alert to the dangers of enculturated Christianity. This is a brilliant book--using multimedia of imaginative stories, probing conversations, alternative readings. Their targums alone are more than worth the price of the book because they make the Bible come alive with its deepest referents to Israel, to the community at Colossae and to our world, caught as it is in the throes of the empire.”

Creator Spirit

Theology

“A brilliant book! Guthrie makes nuances exceedingly accurately, so that his readers are able to distinguish various ideas in Christianity from their mistaken use in historical and postmodern philosophies about the arts. Guthrie consequently frees us to recognize more clearly and biblically the labors of diverse artists and the liberating presence of the Holy Spirit. You will devour this volume, and it will increase your faith!”

Creed without Chaos

Theology

“In this superb commentary on Sayers, Laura Simmons brilliantly helps church members and leaders of all sorts recover the task of speaking biblical truth clearly. Not only did this book inspire me immensely with Sayers's (and Simmons's) keen theological insights into such topics as how the writing process illustrates the Trinity, but it also offers great suggestions for future study of Sayers. A concise glossary of recurrent doctrinal deviations helps us avoid and combat them, and encouraging excerpts from Sayers's letters show us the kind of people we need to be to serve God in our present circumstances. This is an exceedingly timely book.”

Decoding the Church

Church Leadership & Ministry

“A superb guide to a biblical and dynamic 'ecology' of worship, community, and witness.”

Dumbfounded Praying

Prayer & Spiritual Formation

“Everyone will wrestle with these prayers--even as we rejoice in them--for they tug out truths about ourselves that we don't want to face. However, God will use these pieces powerfully in our lives to mature us as saints and, meanwhile, will reveal to us illimitably sweet Truths about the Triune's healing Love, redeeming forgiveness, and mysteriously multiplying Grace. You need this book--as do we all!”

Ecstasy and Intimacy

Prayer & Spiritual Formation

“Edith Humphrey invites us into the rich heritage of the Church throughout time and space and thereby into orthodox, catholic, evangelical spirituality in the best sense of all four of those words. She introduces us especially to Eastern theologians and takes the elitism out of mysticism to welcome us into deeper worlds than we have previously known. This is an intimate conversation that spurs us toward enlarged response to God and ecstatic involvement in the world.”

Finishing Our Course with Joy

Christian Living

“J. I. Packer is his usual wise self as he gives his counsel herein for older people to pursue their aging with ‘zeal’! He urges us to serve God and his church however we can while we can. This is devout and inspiring motivation.”

Grounded in the Gospel

Christian Living

“Having been initially formed by Lutheran catechetical practices, I heartily endorse J. I. Packer and Gary Parrett’s efforts to encourage evangelicals to adopt similar procedures for training both young and old in the foundational elements of faith. I want to prod parishes of all denominations to listen to Packer and Parrett’s cries and constructive proposals to better equip new believers. This is an urgently needed book!”

Head, Heart and Hands

Christian Living

“We are all unbalanced, we begin to realize, as Dennis Hollinger unfolds for us the intertwining necessities for faith to be that of head, heart and hands. However, this book does not just diagnose our lopsidedness; it also offers counsel for deepening all aspects of vital and whole faith and for nurturing their mutualities. The result is not just 1 + 1 + 1 = 3, for each dimension in the totality of faith makes the other two more influential. Share this book with other 'unsound' believers.”

Kicking at the Darkness

World Religions

“YOU need to read this book! Bruce Cockburn is a shrewdly observant prophet and a graciously compassionate psalmist, ‘a troubadour on the way home,’ Brian Walsh calls him. Walsh, who has studied Cockburn’s music for forty years, here sings out his theological insights and political perceptions as a cantata that seeks to engender in us an alternative imagination. May Cockburn’s clear melodies of truth in this carefully nuanced book pique new imaginations for Christians and others throughout the world.”

Liturgy as a Way of Life

World Religions

“'Call and response' and 'improvisation' are only two of the many ideas Benson fleshes out in this book. I appreciate these two especially because our culture has so misunderstood the terms 'liturgy' and 'creativity' (which is God's alone). We need a philosopher to set us right.”

Living into Community

Christian Living

“Every Christian should read this provocative book! Christine thoroughly delineates the interlocking relationships and dangerous deformities of practices that could deepen our communities but often destroy them. This volume is pertinent to our families, churches, even places of work.”

Loving Jesus

Christian Living

“''This book is a sublime love feast! Powell enthralls us with how lovely Jesus is and how love-worthy we are by God's grace. His book quickens our faith and outreach by teaching us how desperate for true love our world is and how thoroughly our spirituality can be imbued with love as it becomes more deeply formed by the Scriptures, prayer, and worship.''”