Featured Titles Tuesday: September 16, 2026

Here is a selection of print and ebooks recently added to our collection.

  1 & 2 Thessalonians: a life in letters /Johannes W. H. van der Bijl.   In this second installment of A Life in Letters, Rev. Dr. van der Bijl once again weaves together details from the book of Acts and the Pauline Epistles, this time focusing on 1 and 2 Thessalonians. The result is a narrative commentary that is both highly engaging and easy to follow. The theological principles at the heart of Paul’s writings are creatively explored in the context of his life and ministry, as readers are invited to accompany Paul – alongside Silas, Timothy, and Luke – on the first half of his second missionary journey. Footnotes provide a rich biblical backdrop to the narrative, as well as offering historical, cultural, and archeological insight into the world of first-century Christianity. Like Paul’s letters themselves, this book offers readers compelling reasons to hope in times of external pressures and internal conflicts – for Christ is faithful to build his church.

 2 Corinthians /Ben Witherington III.  This commentary on 2 Corinthians by a New Testament scholar from the Spirit-filled tradition emphasizes how we listen alongside ancient audiences for the Spirit’s voice in our time and contexts.

A new and ancient evangelism: rediscovering the ways God calls and sends /Judith Paulsen.  Shows that God uses ordinary people of faith within their everyday spheres of influence to draw people to himself, offering a truly biblical understanding of evangelism that is ideally suited for sharing the good news in our current cultural context.

  An empire speaks: kavya narratives of India’s cultural history /poems by Rupinder S. Brar ; edited with introduction by Paul Michael Taylor.  An Empire Speaks: Kavya Narratives of India’s Cultural History, presenting poems by Dr. Brar, is designed with selected illustrative artworks relating to the themes of the poems. The title An Empire Speaks references an expression that Ralph Waldo Emerson used when he wrote of the Bhagavad Gita, “In the great books of India, an empire spoke to us.” This book recounts, in English yet in the “kavya” poetic format, tales of Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Buddhist and other South Asian traditions. The readers coming across historic figures or place names can surely enjoy the poetic presentation of these lively stories even without deep background. The editor’s introduction provides an initial overview of the narrative, by prefacing the poems with some brief summaries of each poem’s subject-matter and historic context, in the hope that readers will better see the consistency of narrative as spoken by this historic “Empire” through the words of the poet-author.

Defending sin :a response to the challenges of evolution and the natural sciences /Hans Madueme. Offers a striking biblical and theological account of the doctrine of sin in dialogue with difficult questions from the natural sciences, helping readers engage with a range of controversial debates surrounding human origins, the fall, and original sin.

Mountaineering :the freedom of the hills /edited by Eric Linxweiler.  For more six decades, this how-to guide has endured as the classic mountaineering text, informing and inspiring both novice and experienced climbers.

Numbers 1-19 /L. Michael Morales.  In this comprehensive commentary, Morales sheds fresh light on a part of the Bible often referenced yet rarely preached and understood. Often overlooked and regularly misunderstood, the Book of Numbers is a daunting prospect for scholars, preachers and students. It covers part of the Israelites’ wilderness years between Egypt and the land of the promise – seemingly very different to and detached from our modern context. Yet God’s covenant love remains the same, and the book of Numbers remains extremely relevant for ecclesiology and for the church’s life within the already-not yet of the present ‘wilderness’ era. In his magisterial new commentary, Morales carefully demonstrates the ongoing relevance of Numbers, it’s positive vision for life and the surprising challenge it offers to contemporary Christians.

Organizational behavior in Christian perspective:  theory and practice for church and ministry leaders /Franklin A. Markow.   This introduction to organizational behavior accounts for the unique dynamics of Christian organizations, providing key insights and guidance to those studying or practicing leadership of churches and ministries.

Othered: finding belonging with the God who pursues the hurt, harmed, and marginalized /Jenai Auman.  God’s people are meant to be a blessing to others. Yet in the Scriptures, throughout history, and in our own times we too often see the people of God causing harm to people on the margins. Rather than caring for the widowed and the orphaned or loving the sojourner, too often we see abuse of power that breaks spirits and inflicts lasting harm. For anyone who has felt left out or pushed out of the church, Othered is your invitation to find spiritual rest and belonging in a God who loves, restores, and blesses the outcast and the marginalized. Jenai Auman draws on her experience growing up as a biracial kid in the American South as well as working within toxic ministry environments to reveal a hopeful, trauma-informed way forward. This book illuminates how hurt and betrayal in the church are longstanding problems that God neither sanctions nor tolerates. It offers holistic responses to the grief, anger, and trauma that come with being ostracized or oppressed by the church. And it shows how God provides shelter and provision in the midst of the wilderness. Because God sees, hears, and loves you–even if the church has failed you.

The art of preaching Old Testament poetry /Steven D. Mathewson.  A leading pastor theologian guides readers through preaching the Old Testament poetic books, introducing foundational issues and offering basic methodology and preaching strategies that are faithful to the text and attuned to listeners.

 The blurred cross:  a writer’s difficult journey with God /Richard Bauckham.  Esteemed New Testament scholar Richard Bauckham offers profound theological reflection on God’s providence amid life’s difficulties.

The Sage handbook of nursing education /edited by Carol Hall, Mary Gobbi, Kathryn Whitcomb Parker, Patricia S. Yoder-Wise.  This handbook provides and updated and detailed account of the factors impacting and changing education in nursing. With contributors from across the globe, this is the perfect resource for understanding this new phase of learning and teaching.

Why religion went obsolete:  the demise of traditional faith in America /Christian Smith.  The decline of traditional American religion has been well documented. Many books, articles, and reports leave no doubt that a major shift has occurred. There is no need to rehash the details here. Still, a fundamental principle of social science is the need to “establish the phenomenon” before attempting to explain it. So, while the rest of this book will focus on the why, we begin here with the what. What has happened to traditional American religion? What do things look like to religious leaders on the ground? The evidence offers multiple empirical indicators of a larger latent fact about traditional American religion: that it has not only suffered weakening and decline, but has become obsolete-at least among Americans under the age of 50, which is to say, nearly all of America in the not-distant future.