New and Noteworthy, August 2013
PARENTING
Ted Cunningham. Trophy Child: Saving Parents from Performance, Preparing Children for Something Greater than Themselves. Colorado Springs, Colo.: David C. Cook, 2012. 240 pages, $14.99.
Not so much a parenting to-do, but a what-not-to-do, this book, by a community church minister, helps parents identify “overparenting” behaviors and shows why these fail children and damage marriages. The final chapters focus on nurturing independent Christian kids.
GRIEF AND SUFFERING
Bruce W. Martin. Desperate for Hope: Hanging On and Finding God During Life’s Hardest Times. Ada, Mich.: Revell Books, 2012. 224 pages, $13.99.
Martin, a minister and counselor who has suffered hardship with attempts at bearing children and failed adoptions, offers advice to people who question God and try to manage their lives back to normal. With Scriptures and personal experiences, he counsels readers to adjust to a new normal and to seek grace and hope.
CHURCH TRENDS
John S. Dickerson. The Great Evangelical Recession: Six Factors That Will Crash the American Church … And How to Prepare. Ada, Mich.: Baker Books, 2013. 256 pages, $14.99.
Dickerson discusses factors causing churches in the U.S. to crumble — smaller and fewer donations, the younger generation leaving, hatred for conservative Christians. The pessimism of the first half is balanced with positive solutions in the second half.
BIBLE STUDY
Gordon Dabbs. Epic Fail: Gaining Wisdom from Failures of Biblical Proportion. Abilene, Texas: Leafwood Publishing, 2013. 208 pages, $14.99.
The Bible includes many stories of people who failed — from the famous failure of Jonah to the grievously regretted treason of Judas. Dabbs, minister for the Prestoncrest Church of Christ in Dallas, gives in-depth studies of 10 failures, with discussion questions at the end of each chapter, making this book suitable for group study.
PARENTING
Ted Cunningham. Trophy Child: Saving Parents from Performance, Preparing Children for Something Greater than Themselves. Colorado Springs, Colo.: David C. Cook, 2012. 240 pages, $14.99.
Not so much a parenting to-do, but a what-not-to-do, this book, by a community church minister, helps parents identify “overparenting” behaviors and shows why these fail children and damage marriages. The final chapters focus on nurturing independent Christian kids.
GRIEF AND SUFFERING
Bruce W. Martin. Desperate for Hope: Hanging On and Finding God During Life’s Hardest Times. Ada, Mich.: Revell Books, 2012. 224 pages, $13.99.
Martin, a minister and counselor who has suffered hardship with attempts at bearing children and failed adoptions, offers advice to people who question God and try to manage their lives back to normal. With Scriptures and personal experiences, he counsels readers to adjust to a new normal and to seek grace and hope.
CHURCH TRENDS
John S. Dickerson. The Great Evangelical Recession: Six Factors That Will Crash the American Church … And How to Prepare. Ada, Mich.: Baker Books, 2013. 256 pages, $14.99.
Dickerson discusses factors causing churches in the U.S. to crumble — smaller and fewer donations, the younger generation leaving, hatred for conservative Christians. The pessimism of the first half is balanced with positive solutions in the second half.
BIBLE STUDY
Gordon Dabbs. Epic Fail: Gaining Wisdom from Failures of Biblical Proportion. Abilene, Texas: Leafwood Publishing, 2013. 208 pages, $14.99.
The Bible includes many stories of people who failed — from the famous failure of Jonah to the grievously regretted treason of Judas. Dabbs, minister for the Prestoncrest Church of Christ in Dallas, gives in-depth studies of 10 failures, with discussion questions at the end of each chapter, making this book suitable for group study.
