And of course this means we have begun a search for a new acquisitions assistant for Baker Books and God’s Word Translation. This is a terrific opportunity for someone who is interested in book publishing as a career.

We wanted to let our blog readers and social networks know, as we’d love to hire someone who is already a fan of what we do!

To find out more, click here: http://tinyurl.com/86q4vhx

 Men and women are equal as image-bearers, unique as men and women, Crabb says.  He invites readers to explore the core terror, the root desire, and the rich opportunity that belongs to each man and woman, and to understand how they reveal something unique of God’s loving and holy character by the way they relate. Crabb presents a fresh look at what it means to be authentically feminine and authentically masculine and to realize the impact we have on each other.

 “We’re delighted to partner with Dr. Crabb. His work has had a profound impact on how Christians think about relationships and church and our mission in the world,” said Chad Allen, Editorial Director, Baker Books. “His forthcoming book illuminates what it means to be a godly woman or man in today’s culture. It’s an enthralling read and, I expect, will be received as a landmark work on the subject.”

 Dr. Larry Crabb is a well-known psychologist, conference and seminar speaker, Bible teacher, popular author, and founder/director of NewWay Ministries. In addition to various other speaking and teaching opportunities, Dr. Crabb offers several weekend conferences throughout the country and a week-long School of Spiritual Direction held in Colorado Springs, CO or Asheville, NC. He currently is Scholar in Residence at Colorado Christian University in Colorado, Visiting Professor for Richmont Graduate University in Georgia, and serves as Spiritual Director for the American Association of Christian Counselors.  Crabb has authored more than 20 books including his best seller Inside Out and produced a variety of CD’s and DVD curricula. His latest book, God’s Love Letters to You, a 40-day Devotional Experience, based on his book 66 Love Letters, was released in 2010.  Dr. Crabb and his wife, Rachael, live in the Denver, Colorado area.  For additional information please visit www.newwayministries.org.

If you have a few minutes, please take this brief survey.

In appreciation for your feedback, if you take the survey during the month of Febuary, you’ll receive 40% off an item at www.BakerBooks.com.  We look forward to hearing from you and continuing to serve you well in the future.

Chris is particularly drawn to the poor.  The needy, the suffering… those who have little.  He beckons all of us to form a radical solidarity with the poor – for in serving and living with them, we experience the fullness of the incarnation; we in reality are loving Christ Himself who hides Himself in the poor.  Let me invite you to walk with Chris and his ‘kids’ this Lent, or in fact at anytime this coming year – a sacred season of fasting and prayer, a time in which  you will experience a 40 day radical journey of faith and extravagant grace.

You can fast these 40 days alone, with a group, or as a church community – but one thing is certain – you are never alone -  because hundreds of churches across the land are walking to Lent beginning on Ash Wednesday, February 22, 2012 and forty days later will arrive at Easter – Resurrection Sunday. 

In fact check this out… each day of your 40 day fast you can view a personal message from Chris Seay… to encourage you along the way…!

Our incredible ministry partners for this project are Compassion International and Living Water International… in a nutshell these are amazing groups of people.  While you fast, and while you drink water for 40 days… you’ll save money, and Chris has a great idea on what to do with that…  “bless the needy“… form a bond of solidarity with them by eating and drinking like them… and then take your excess and bless them in their needs   .. so how do we…

Move From Consumption to Compassion

During the 40 days of your fast,  as you walk with Chris, consume less food – as you begin to  identify with people living in need and poverty, and as you perhaps make water your only beverage of choice during the fast – consider turning your savings into a blessing.

With the money that you save by drinking water and eating less for 40 days, offer that as an act of love to a local charity of your choice in your region, or better yet, partner with Living Water International and Compassion International. 

Click on the icons below and find out how your contributions can provide health and life to women and children in need of medicine and food through Compassion’s Child Survival program, or partner with Living Water International and provide a cup of clean, safe water in Jesus’ name to billions in this world who are thirsty.

Moving from consumption to compassion is the definition of love; – partnering with Compassion and Living Water is a way to make that love real.

Thank you all very much.

Richard has written a marvelous book

One of Christianity’s best in 2011.

Certainly you need to read the sampler of The Colors of Hope, you need to watch the promo video, you need to download the free group discussion questions, and you need to know more about Richard and why he wrote what he wrote.

So I asked him to share some of his thoughts about the book in this interview.  It is a timely message, perhaps even more so as elections approach, threatening to further fracture churches everywhere.

 Why Hope?  Why Colors?  Why Artists? 

 Why Hope?  “The theme of hope is important right now because the world that so desperately needs the gospel (which, if you’ll recall, is just another word for ‘good news’) isn’t hearing the message of Christ proclaimed as good news very much these days.  They’re hearing about how awful things are.  They’re hearing about wars, rumors of wars, and political corruption in whichever party we choose to vilify.   They’re hearing all this bad news from, of all places, the church! 

I can tell you firsthand, that to the extent we learn to frame the gospel as the good news that Christ’s resurrection was the start of an entirely new trajectory for history, there are many people who will listen.  There are longings out there in our world for meaning, beauty, intimacy, justice, celebration, reconciliation.  Making such things visible is our calling.  Showing Christ as the source is our message.  This kind of life pours hope into the world. This is a very different approach to the life of faith than that which is often found as Christians come across as combative, fearful, isolated, and judgmental.   In the presence of such Christians, hope is sucked right out of the room.  I wrote Colors of Hope in order to help change that.

Why Colors?  Micah 6:6-8 is one of my favorite passages of scripture.  It’s one of the places in the Bible where you can almost taste the exasperation of people as they ask God what he wants from them.  They get down right sarcastic as they ask God if sacrificing their firstborn would be appeasement enough.  Micah’s response, on behalf of God, is a clarion call, almost a mission statement, inviting people to prioritize their lives around three simple exhortations: 

1. Do justice
2. Love mercy
3. Walk Humbly with God

It’s as if this world is a canvas, and each of us are uniquely gifted to paint beauty and hope onto it.  As any artist will tell you, the infinite shades of paint that find their way to the artist’s work all stem from three primary colors.  Likewise, wherever you find unique expressions of the reign of God, each expression will be uniquely derived from a blend of justice, mercy, and intimacy with God.  Search out God’s good reign in the Bible and you’ll find these three colors.  Do the same thing anywhere in the world – everything that brings hope derives from a blend of justice, mercy, and intimacy with God.  It can be no other way, for this is all God asks of us. 

 Colors of Hope goes into some detail, both from the scriptures and life example, to explain each of these elements; why they matter so much, and how do develop them in our lives.  As we grow in our capacity to paint with these colors, life takes on new dimensions of joy, meaning, and adventure.  This, of course, is as it should be – after all, Jesus didn’t invite us to religion, in-fighting, fear, and divisions.  He invited us to abundant life.  Learning these three colors and apply them to the canvass of our daily is where we must begin.  It’s primary. 

 Why Art?  I use the artist imagery to help people live into their calling because the lives of artists have many parallels to the lives of disciples.  The first thing artists are taught to do is pay attention; look at light, shadows, proportion; make sure you’re really seeing.  Fail here, and you fail utterly.  Christ’s followers need to learn, too, how to see God’s kingdom clearly.  Otherwise, we’ll misrepresent it, as we’ve done over and over again, with things like crusades, slavery, colonialism, and more, all done in the name of Christ.  If only we’d paid closer attention to our subject, which is the kingdom of God, we could have painted hope instead of despair.  Artists deal with setbacks, disappointments, and what sometimes feels like an appalling lack of progress.  I’ve yet to meet an honest Christian who can’t identify with some of those things.  In this book, I talk about how to develop patience and perseverance so that we can relax and actually enjoy our lives. 

 Artists and disciples are alike in many other ways as well but really, you should read the book!  It’s great for groups, or parents with their young adult children, because there’s a study guide to prompt discussion. 

Thank you Richard.  Get a copy today.

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A veritable truck load of bible knowledge, full color, maps, charts, graphs… a treasure  trove of knowledge and help on the bible is now ready for instant download from our friends at Olive Tree.

Get it today at a GREAT PRICE: for around 17 bucks you can own over 1,000 pages – ready at any moment wherever you are….imagine all that content living within the confines of your iphone, ipad, android…etc.  truly a miracle.

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Click here to get a copy.

1) What is the meaning of the word Sacrilege?

Simply put, it just means to remove religion from something or to tear away what some people might think is religious. Sacrilege isn’t about defiling, defaming, or profaning anything good. But it is about stripping away anything that hides the real deal, the real Jesus, and the real story of the Gospel and kingdom living.  I personally think the main reason people aren’t coming toward Jesus is because they can’t find him through all the mess of tradition, poor examples, judgment, rhetoric or religious activity…and that includes evangelical Christianity.

2) Hugh, most people know your writing as more geared for church leaders.  Why did you decide to write a book for “non-leaders?”  

Well, to be a bit crass, I think non-leaders or unpaid saints are much better positioned to affect the lives of real people than the pros.  As I have assessed the landscape of the lives of pastors, incarnational living seems to be quite elusive from those whose calling is to lead the church.  The peasants, the plumbers, and baristas and bar managers can easily take the sacrilegious way of Jesus and make it their own starting tomorrow!  

3) What was the hope of this book? In other words, if people really took what you’re saying to heart, what could change? 

First, I think Sacrilege will help people see Jesus clearly and thus it may answer a lot of questions many people have been afraid to address.  Secondly, I think it will help people understand what it really means to live incarnationally.  Missional has been the big buzzword of late and we definitely needed to focus on our “sentness.”  But if you are sent or ‘missional’ but you still don’t know how to live like Jesus in the culture around us, we won’t see much change.  Missional is going..Incarnational is how we go, what we do as we go, and how the culture interprets Jesus through our lives. 1 John 2:5 it says, “By this we may be sure that we are in him..Whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way Jesus walked.” This is what Sacrilege is really trying to help people with.  Not just knowing about Jesus, but patterning our lives literally after his. If we could even see 20% of the Christian population take on his life…that would change everything!

4) Why did you use the beatitudes as your biblical basis for the book?

Well, that’s where Jesus started when he began to try to re-orient religious people toward an entirely new faith system he called the Kingdom of God.   As each chapter takes a beatitude and then shows the sacrilegious alternative to religiosity, I hope to also give people an angle that will challenge but also release them into true incarnational living.  I also wanted people to know that the Bible gives them permission to be with, love, accept, and befriend sinners.  That the Bible gives them freedom to enjoy life and embrace the grey areas of life without fear, fundamentalism, or frigid faith.  

5) People that know you have come to expect that you’d probably tip a few sacred cows over.  Which ones do you think you’ll take the most heat for?

For sure it would be the chapter where I address the practice of communion, or the Lord’s Supper.  I suggest that Jesus never intended for the Eucharist to become an institution of the church.  In fact, I challenge that Jesus never intended the church to become an institution at all, and that the symbolic act of “remembering him” is MORE IMPORTANT to Jesus than it naturally becomes when you administer it with the common practices of judgment or professional clergy controlling who gets to receive it.   The Table of the Lord has become another ‘false” line in the sand instead of what was truly intended to be…that is an invitation to eat with Jesus and experience his mercy.  Three publishers said no to this book but agreed with my biblical and historical sketch but didn’t want to take the heat.  I do want the heat on this because I think it’s central to the larger call of Jesus.  I’m proud of Baker Publishing for letting the honest discussion come out.

6) How would you recommend a pastor use this book?  

Well, honestly, I don’t think I would just hand it out to everyone.  It’s sort of like a new pair brand new scissors.  It’s not safe for elementary users but could be highly practical for those in our congregations that are ready to engage the world like Jesus did.  I’d give it to small groups who are trying to become missional communities, I would give it to all church planters, I would give it to all pastors, elders or anyone setting vision for a church AND I would give it away like candy in kindergarten class to jaded Christians who have tapped out of church or friends who are not yet followers of Christ. It will help them see a completely different side of Christianity that they will like.  

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Congratulations to Baker Book author Richard Dahlstrom and his award-winning book in the Christian Living category in CT Magazine’s prestigious “2012 Book of the Year” Awards

 The Colors of Hope! 

Over 390 of the best books published in evangelical Christianity certainly must have made it difficult for the Christianity Today judges to pick only 12 winners… (imagine how hard that must have been?  390 down to 12?) but in the end Richard’s content of mercy,  justice, and love resonated with the reviewers.  In fact, the judging was so difficult in the “Christian Living” category that The Colors of Hope shared the award with another fine book “Jesus + Nothing = Everything” by Tullian Tchividjian – another excellent work from our friends at Crossway.

Here’s what CT said about Richard’s amazing work:

“I so appreciate the artistic metaphor, the emphasis on justice, mercy, and love, and the recognition of the complexity of life, including the Christian life.”

So let’s celebrate with Richard and – of course – spread the word.

• First, watch the great video trailer from Richard below.  
• Second, get a copy at your favorite retailer right now, read it, and tell others about it. 
• Third, send this link to your friends and family, and let them read a sample. 
• Fourth, use this FREE group discussion guide in your small group study, or Sunday School classes.   Pastors, consider a sermon series as well.

Finally, join Baker Books… in thanking God for the beauty and truth of The Colors of Hope and the compassionate heart of Richard.  Many years to you, and to this book!

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The January issue of Christianity Today highlights a new Baker Book release from Ross Clifford and Philip Johnson  which earned an impressive 4 of 5 stars.

 This is a challenging book that brings together apologetics, worldview analysis, biblical exposition, and theological reflection. 

The authors believe that evangelicals have unintentionally downplayed the theological significance of Christ’s resurrection, as well as the cultural connection points that the Resurrection provides for us in our evangelistic efforts.  Despite occasional hyperbolic statements that appear to pit the Cross against the Empty Tomb, the primary message is highly needed as Christians seek to witness faithfully in a postmodern age.” –Trevin Wax   4 0f 5 Stars

Read an excerpt and get a copy here.

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