Currently in books

7 Money Rules for Life
Author: Mary Hunt
Money – specifically, how to handle money – is an important subject in our materialistic culture. The media provides an abundance of business and investment news, but, other than the occasional article on personal debt levels, there’s little information on basic financial management.

Living Into Focus: Choosing What Matters in an Age of Distractions
Author: Arthur Boers
I would have finished reading this thoughtful book sooner if it weren’t for all the distractions! Arthur Boers, associate professor at Tyndale Seminary, Toronto, has crafted a fine, fully developed reflection on living with focus; being centred on what is truly meaningful.

Churches Engage Asian Traditions—A Global Mennonite History
Editors: John A. Lapp, C. Arnold Snyder
This history of the Anabaptist tradition in Asia is perhaps the best example of the extent and diversity of the Mennonite church around the world. Churches Engage Asian Traditions is the fourth in a series of five volumes arising from the Global Mennonite History Project launched 15 years ago.

At the Scent of Water: The Ground of Hope in the Book of Job
Author: J. Gerald Janzen
At the Scent of Water is a rare gift for those who want to explore the mysteries of Job.

Meditations on the Beatitudes: Lessons from the MarginsAuthor: Donald R. ClymerThis 75-page book, in which Donald R. Clymer reflects on the Beatitudes of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:3–11), is deceptively simple. There isn’t much traditional commentary, nor any intentional look at historical or literary context. Each chapter simply tells a story from the author’s experience in Latin America, mostly as an MCC worker.

A Second Cup of Hot Apple Cider
Editors: N.J. Lindquist and Wendy Elaine Nelles
Lindquist and Nelles have poured a nice variety of deeply personal, faith-centred stories into this second helping of “hot apple cider.” (Hot Apple Cider, an inspirational anthology of short prose and poetry, was published in 2008). Themes include marriage, parenting, friendship, career, loss, health issues, and even neighbours’ pets.

Peaceful Moments to Begin Your Day
Author: Grace Fox
For many women caught in the “rat race” of juggling family, work, church, and personal interests, it can be difficult to find time for quiet reflection in God’s Word. In Peaceful Moments to Begin Your Day, Grace Fox uses a mix of Scripture, prayers, and stories to provide brief reflections for daily personal devotion. Fox is engaging and accessible, and uses creative and memorable illustrations to emphasize scriptural truth.

Widening the Circle: Experiments in Christian Discipleship
Editor: Joanna Shenk
What’s more important: mission or survival? Since North American culture is steeped in materialism, consumerism, and individualism, the answer is obvious; survival is what matters. Sadly, the church has not been unaffected.

With
Author: Skye Jethani
Too often, Christians approach the Bible and God with an eye toward a three-step solution to whatever ails us. In the opening of With, managing editor of Leadership Journal and speaker Skye Jethani argues that we often see God as a means to an end, rather than the end himself.

Beyond the Dark Night: An Ethiopian Journey
Author: Ingrid Koss
There are so many stories that come our way; stories of economic hardship, of war and earthquakes, of survival, of struggle and grace. The constant barrage of news has the power to numb us to sorrow, and to God’s work in individual lives in the midst of a blur of global trends and realities.

Real Marriage: The Truth about Sex, Friendship & Life Together
Authors: Mark & Grace Driscoll
Real Marriage: The Truth about Sex, Friendship & Life Together takes the reader on a candid journey into Mark and Grace Driscoll’s marriage. The first part of the book deals with building a good marriage based on friendship; the second section is a discussion on sex.

You Lost Me: Why Young Christians are Leaving Church…And Rethinking Faith
Author: David Kinnaman
Following up with students who have graduated out of your youth group can be one of the most rewarding aspects of that ministry – or one of the most terrifying.

Jesus, My Father, the CIA, and Me
Author: Ian Morgan Cron
You’re at an outreach event listening to a special speaker flown in for the evening to tell his amazing testimony. This book is that story. It’s a first-person account of how the author survived an alcoholic father and went on to struggle with his own alcoholism. In the end, he winds up as an Episcopal priest.

Renewing Identity and Mission: Mennonite Brethren Reflections After 150 Years
Editors: Abe J. Dueck, Bruce L. Guenther, and Doug Heidebrecht
This book includes 17 of the 30 presentations given at the Renewing Identity and Mission consultation celebrating the 150th anniversary of the Mennonite Brethren at Trinity Western University, Langley, B.C., July 12–14, 2010. The consultation, attended by some 300 delegates, was planned by the Centre for MB Studies together with the MB Historical Commission

Missional Spirituality: Embodying God’s Love from the Inside Out
Authors: Roger Helland & Leonard Hjalmarson
Missional Spirituality by Roger Helland and Leonard Hjalmarson came to me at just the right time. It brought together two ideas I’ve spent a great deal of time thinking about and discussing with people.