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A Book of Prayers, by Arthur A. R. Nelson (IVP)
The Scriptures say that the Spirit will help us pray whenever we don’t know how to pray. Arthur Nelson gives a helping hand as well. This fresh collection of prayers (old and new) provides words for the feeble-hearted in all kinds of situations. There are prayers for grief and for our children, prayers for the seasons and for global concerns, prayers for healing and marriage and celebration. Nelson will help us to pray, which is no small thing.
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Visiting Tom, by Michael Perry (Harper)
When a friend showed me a video trailer (yes, they do this for books now) of an elderly, wizened Tom Hartwig firing his Civil War-era cannon across the field next to his house, I knew I had to snag a copy. In these pages, Michael Perry narrates his friendship with Tom and Arlene, married for almost 60 years. If you want to live well and love well and remember the “roughneck grace” of true friendship, you’ll want to settle down with Visiting Tom.
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Imagining the Kingdom, by James K.A. Smith (Baker Academic)
With this much-anticipated sequel to Desiring the Kingdom, Smith continues his exploration of what he calls “cultural liturgies,” the many ways that social realities form our character and our beliefs. In other words, it isn’t simply our ideas that make us Christian. If you think that forms of worship and aesthetics and the stories that we rehearse to another are of minimal importance, you’ll really want to read Smith.
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Winn Collier (winncollier.com) is author of three books, a columnist and pastor of All Souls in Charlottesville, Va.