Books from the Banner Desk

With so many books and so little time, we can’t review all the books that come our way. But you might still be interested in hearing about them, so here are a few noteworthy titles!

Aging Matters: Finding Your Calling for the Rest of Your Life  by R. Paul Stevens
Retirement is not the end of work; our vocation continues throughout our lives. Stevens offers biblical wisdom and helps readers discern that vocation in new stages of life. (Eerdmans)

ListenTalk: Is Conversation an Act of God? by Kirk Livingston
Kirk Livingston, who works in marketing and communications and has degrees in philosophy and theology, has a lively interest in the way we listen and converse. Exploring the important function of both talking and listening with God in our churches as well as in our own personal relationships, Livingston offers questions for discussion at the end of each section. (iUniverse)

Night Comes: Death, Imagination, and the Last Things by Dale C. Allison Jr.
After a nearly fatal car accident as a young man, Dale Allison took a serious interest in death and what comes next. A professor of New Testament at Princeton Theological Seminary, he brings a scholar’s depth to the questions we often think about—or try to avoid thinking about. (Eerdmans)

Pastors and Public Life: The Changing Face of the American Protestant Clergy  by Corwin E. Smidt
Based on surveys of Protestant clergy, Smidt’s book analyzes the ways pastors’ work and lives have changed over the last quarter-century, particularly in terms of their relationship with politics, and what those changes mean for the church and for society. (Oxford University Press)

The Power of Together: Discover the Christian Life You’ve Been Missing  by Jim Putman
In a culture that emphasizes personal faith and decries the vagaries of organized religion, Putnam brings to light the fact that sharing God’s love together is, in fact, the way we follow Christ. (Baker)

The Riddle of Life  by J.H. Bavinck
This new translation of a classic Calvinist work examines the meaning of life: why we are here, how we should live, and where we fit into God’s plan. (Eerdmans)

Sacramental Preaching: Sermons on the Hidden Presence of Christ  by Hans Boersma
This collection of exegetical sermons, preached in 2007 or later, opens up passages from many places in the Bible, finding Christ and the God’s story of love throughout. (Baker Academic)