Samuel Wells Eerdmans, 112 pages Samuel Wells is well known for his preaching and works of practical theology. Not as many people know of his pastoral ministry, guiding the congregation he serves to be fully present with the most vulnerable of their parish that includes the wealthy and the powerful. In this small book, Wells brings his wise counsel to those seeking to live fully alive with wonder and purpose. Wells encourages us to pay attention to our place in the universe, for that is when one discovers humility. The language here is direct. “Be a person of wonder,” he writes. “Every day, discover more about God’s goodness, truth, and beauty — in Scripture, in history, in the world, in the universe … and call that praise.” What is especially welcome is the appeal to all people, though he clearly grounds his reflections in Christianity. Wells writes with a winsome spirit that is compelling. Who would not want to discover the kind of full life that he commends? One comes away … [Read more...]

David Brooks Random House, 384 pages Reviewed by Linda Danney Britton The public man: Op-Ed columnist for The New York Times. Commentator on “PBS News Hour” and NBC’s “Meet the Press.” Author. The private man: “Something unexpected happens that knocks them crossways. … They are down in the valley of bewilderment or suffering. It’s never too early or too late to get knocked off your first mountain.” David Brooks, writing in “The Second Mountain,” uses the metaphor of mountains to tell his story. The first mountain is about climbing the ladders of success. The second mountain is “relationalist … where relation, commitment, and the desires of the heart and soul” bring meaning and purpose, “a better way to live.” In the book, he tries to show how people – and then societies – move from the first to the second mountain, “to show what the kind of deeper and joyful life looks like.” The first part of the book is Brooks’ story of getting knocked off his first mountain and living … [Read more...]

Ryan Althaus, co-illustrated by Noah Habib sweatysheep.com, 43 pages Reviewed by Eva Stimson This book is further evidence that its author, Ryan Althaus, is not your typical Presbyterian minister. A lanky young man with blond dreadlocks and an impish grin, Althaus doesn’t spend much time behind a desk or pulpit. You are more likely to find him frolicking in the surf with a group of homeless people or organizing a camping trip for folks struggling with addictions. In Louisville, Kentucky, Althaus created Sweaty Sheep, a ministry for athletes, and took it across the country to Santa Cruz, California, where he was ordained by the Presbytery of San Jose. Known as the “Pastor of Play,” he recently embarked on a new creative quest focused on overcoming divisions and building community. “Wally the Wave,” a children’s story with an introduction for grown-ups, is one step toward meeting those goals. The story follows a wave as it rises from the depths of the sea, then cruises along … [Read more...]

Jemar Tisby Zondervan, 256 pages Reviewed by Robert Melone Jr. It is humbling to be a Christian pastor these days, for in addition to pastoring a faith community, ministers are also providing sustaining leadership to a religious institution. And that institution has a very marred and checkered past — a past filled both with healing and with hypocrisy, compassion and complacency, peacemaking and prejudice. In his new book, “The Color of Compromise,” pastor and prophet Jemar Tisby tackles the lesser-known and often hidden side of the American church, providing his readers with a broad overview of the hypocrisy, complacency and prejudice that both stains and heretically denies the gospel we have sought to proclaim. American Christianity’s tragic complicity with centuries of racism is powerfully exposed — beginning in colonial times and during the turbulent years of the American Revolution, through the era of the Antebellum South and the Civil War, right on up to the days of Jim … [Read more...]