Business consultant Hartwig (Teams That Thrive), pastor Crump (Renovate), and church researcher Bird (Better Together, coauthor) offer sensible advice for building professional teams that can tackle unexpected challenges. Resilience doesn’t develop through superficial team-building exercises, the authors write, it must be forged through the “pursuit of a shared purpose” and a focus on faith. First, it’s important for teams to discuss the broader goal that the organization is fighting for, which can be easily forgotten amid day-to-day work routines. Once that’s done, they should craft a charter that outlines their purpose, working norms, responsibilities, and accountability structure. It’s also worth inventorying each member’s skills and brainstorming how to harness them. And rather than leaving it all to top-level leaders, resiliency work should involve all employees, as each can exercise leadership skills, push colleagues to improve, and hone mutual respect rooted in Christian values. Drawing on solid business principles, the authors take a practical stance toward team unity and dispense plenty of brass tacks advice, much of which applies regardless of faith, whether on meetings (conduct only when necessary), deliverables (create team accountability systems) and evaluations (develop regular “after-action reviews” to assess projects). Christian leaders looking to refresh their organization’s approach will want to check this out. (June)

Reviewed on 03/31/2023 | Details & Permalink

Buddhist teacher Lhanang and Levine, creator of the Meditation Pro video series, deliver a slim but insightful take on the classic Buddhist text on dying well. Composed in the eighth century by Buddhist master Padmasambhava, The Tibetan Book of the Dead addresses end-of-life concerns but can prove inaccessible to the non-Buddhist. In this entry, the authors spotlight its central principles and recast them for a broader audience. Lhanang and Levine trace the life-death-birth cycle and discuss the importance of cultivating positive karma during life, which becomes “embedded in our consciousness” and remains there after death as one moves into a “transition state” before rebirth. It’s also important to exhibit compassion and wisdom in order to “transform our mind” and approach death with peace, they explain. As well, the authors suggest ways of helping as loved ones’ deaths approach, including maintaining a peaceful, quiet environment, and listening nonjudgmentally to dying wishes. Lhanang and Levine successfully boil down complicated Buddhist concepts without sacrificing depth or talking down to readers, who will appreciate the unpretentious guidance, prayers, and meditation suggestions. Novices will appreciate this primer to Buddhism wisdom on death. (June)

Reviewed on 03/17/2023 | Details & Permalink

“Every period of chaos brings with it a gift—an opportunity to disrupt [it],” contends bishop, musician, and entrepreneur Jakes (Crushing) in this energetic entry on the value of going against the grain. Jakes argues that difficult times require people to think in expansive ways; the 1960s, for example, saw explosive racial tensions and Vietnam war protests, as well as “great artistic creativity” from musicians like Jimi Hendrix. While those who counter social norms may face critics, Jakes argues, “standing up requires standing out.” He clarifies how readers can decide when to “disrupt” (they must be able to devote time and emotional resources to the endeavor) and outlines internal barriers to disruptive thinking, including ego. Describing Jesus as a disrupter, Jakes notes that by washing his disciples’ feet, Jesus upended leadership dynamics and “demonstrat[ed] that he was strong enough to be weak.” Jakes also emphasizes that the current cultural moment is ripe for disruption and urges readers to effect social change. Despite an inclination toward stock positivity (“If you don’t like the life you are living, you have the power to change it. It is inside of you”), Jakes is as charismatic as ever and bolsters his arguments with convincing personal anecdotes. The author’s fans will welcome this motivating entry. (May)

Reviewed on 03/17/2023 | Details & Permalink

Librarian Wightman debuts with a practical guide to help Christians navigate what’s true and what’s not on the internet. Though fake news isn’t new—Wightman cites instances of misinformation and rumors in the Bible—the internet’s ability to allow it to spread far and fast requires one to be able to effectively evaluate information and its sources. Wightman offers an array of tools for doing so, from using fact-checking websites to “lateral reading” (researching the content’s creator and credentials for context before using the information). She also urges readers to monitor their emotional states before attempting to discern what’s true and what’s false, as they may be more likely to spread misinformation when affected by negative or angry feelings. The author wades into related social challenges sparked by the online world, such as whether to engage in-person with loved ones who believe conspiracy theories (it’s important to approach these conversations with love and connect with God for guidance first, Wightman advises). While much of the advice boils down to common sense, Christians will particularly appreciate the author’s concrete tips—before talking to someone about misinformation, it’s important to determine one’s desired goal, whether it’s expressing personal values, or trying to spur that person to change. Christians overwhelmed by the media landscape should take a look. (June)

Reviewed on 03/17/2023 | Details & Permalink

In this comprehensive account, Hummel (Covenant Brothers), the director of university engagement at Christian study center Upper House, chronicles the history of dispensationalism and the “ideas, institutions, and individuals” that shaped it. Known primarily for its views of the end-times, including a belief in premillenialism (the idea that Jesus will return twice before ruling on Earth for 1,000 years), the theological system traces its roots to the 18th century, when Irish curate John Nelson Darby brought his writings to North America. Darby set out a theology that read the Bible as the story of God’s “redemption of all things through... Israel and the church,” reflecting a belief that hallmarked dispensationalism: the idea that Jews would be saved separately from Christians, during a “tribulation” period before Christ’s earthly rule. Later, the 1909 Scofield Reference Bible, annotated by premillenialist pastor Cyrus Scofield, made the religious framework of dispensationalism accessible to laypeople. Hummel discusses how 20th-century social critic Philip Mauro coined the term dispensationalism as a moniker for what he felt were “wrong beliefs,” and examines the system’s influences on 20th-century pop culture, such as Hal Lindsey’s 1970 The Late Great Planet Earth. Hummel leaves no stone unturned in this rigorous offering, and though his prose can get bogged down in jargon, those with a specific fasciation in end-times systems will find the detail valuable. This is well-suited to scholars of religious history. (May)

Reviewed on 03/17/2023 | Details & Permalink

“I’ve always been caught between worlds... struggling to find a firm place to land,” writes Jun of negotiating a biracial identity in this stirring debut. The daughter of a Korean mother and a white father, Jun recalls how, as a kid, she’d think of purging the fridge of kimchi before her friends came over—“Did we appear to be normal?” she’d wonder self-consciously—while also privately aching for the Korean language and traditions that had never been hers. (Her mother hadn’t spoken Korean at home.) Jun’s long struggle to accept her identity included traveling to Korea, where she was seen as an outsider, and navigating her fraught relationship with her mother, who slowly shared stories about a pain-filled past growing up during and after the Korean War, “bringing food to her dad in a dirt bunker [and] seeing dead bodies in the streets.” In high school, Jun built a devotion to Jesus that helped her find wholeness because of her biracial identity—which she’d once thought of as both “too Asian and not Asian enough”—rather than in spite of it. Jun writes in lyrical prose, with longing simmering below the surface on almost every page—“the [Korean] language has always pulled at me like a map that promises to show the way home.” This mesmerizes. (May)

Reviewed on 03/17/2023 | Details & Permalink

Contributors take aim at the intersection of Christianity and conspiracy theories in this eye-opening anthology edited by Austin (God and Guns in America), a philosophy professor at Eastern Kentucky University, and Bock (coeditor, Righteous Indignation), a philosophy and religion professor at the University of Texas at Tyler. One contribution analyzes how QAnon adopts Christian rhetoric to advance its aims by fashioning metaphors of “spiritual warfare” that frame adherents as “soldiers in an ongoing war of cosmic significance” and utilizing Christian nationalist tropes. Another suggests ways individuals can use faith to combat conspiracy theories, since the knowledge “that Jesus is in control” can make it easier to trust “authorities in their specific areas of expertise,” though a healthy skepticism should still be exercised. Elsewhere, a meandering entry tracks a parent’s quest to raise children in a church culture rampant with disinformation and suggests that the act of learning is a “neglected spiritual discipline.” Contributors cast an admirably wide net, examining conspiracy theories and the church from theological, political, philosophical, and educational standpoints, and while some entries are stronger than others (a section that charts the ways technology enables the spread of misinformation, for example, is less than groundbreaking), all will provoke thought and discussion. This is a fascinating, timely outing. (May)

Reviewed on 03/17/2023 | Details & Permalink

Laird (40 Questions about the Apostle Paul), a biblical studies professor at Liberty University, delivers a spirited take on how the New Testament was written and canonized. Beginning in the first century, Laird explains, Scripture writers didn’t work alone and often consulted with colleagues for guidance, narrative suggestions, and firsthand accounts of Jesus’s miracles. The author debunks ideas that canonical writings had an “original autograph” that became the basis for all future copies—multiple versions were likely produced, each with textual variations (though it wasn’t long before “large, established collections of canonical writings” became popular, decreasing demand for single works). As well, Laird posits that fourth- and fifth-century church councils didn’t play a central role in determining the canon, as previously believed. Rather, he writes, the canon’s formation was a “natural process” in which subcollections of apostolic writings gradually became associated as they circulated with one another. Taking on a broad range of canonical debates, Laird’s arguments are thought-provoking and thorough, and also graspable to those without an academic background in the topic. Armchair theologians should take note. (July)

Reviewed on 03/10/2023 | Details & Permalink

In this thought-provoking treatise, Eisen (Judaism and Violence), a religion professor at George Washington University, examines the roots of Jewish achievement in the modern western world. Jews have enjoyed disproportionate success in Western countries, Eisen writes—for instance, they currently represent 0.2% of the world’s population, but won 22% of the Nobel Prizes between 1901 and 2015—a trend that translates across artistic, intellectual, and economic fields. The author posits that rabbinic tradition primed Jews for success by centering the same values that helped modern western culture flourish: human autonomy, freedom of thought, the value of life, and education. For example, influential first- and second-century scholar Rabbi Akiva contended that humans have control over their daily choices despite divine omniscience. As well, Eisen explains how, after the destruction of the Second Temple, rabbis advanced a “deed-based” Judaism that prioritized laws and external acts of piety—but allowed ample latitude for individual freedom of belief. Eisen avoids framing Judaism as superior to other faiths, and makes clear Jews couldn’t have succeeded “had Christians not invited [them] to participate” in Western culture. Eisen approaches his subject with analytical rigor while also rendering complex subjects—such as the nuances of Mishnaic thought—comprehensible to the nonacademic. Those interested in modern Jewish history will want to take a look. (June)

Reviewed on 03/10/2023 | Details & Permalink

In this uplifting if flawed entry, activist Johnson (Skills in Action) calls on readers to address ancestral trauma and communal pain through spiritual rituals. Drawing from Buddhist tradition, feminist theory, and her own anti-racist work, the author asserts that, since “when any living being suffers, we all suffer,” humans must work toward a more just world for others as part of their own healing. Johnson delves into the link between grief and liberation (releasing unprocessed grief can unburden the soul), finding joy in the midst of suffering, and the importance of learning about one’s ancestors, particularly for readers of color. Spiritual rituals follow each chapter, and include journal prompts (“If I hold trauma in my body from my lineage, where is it showing up and how does it feel?”), yoga practices, and relaxation techniques. While the meditations on the power of community grow repetitive and there’s a surfeit of overly long recollections of retreats she’s led, readers will appreciate the author’s detailed, actionable ritual suggestions and strong social justice principles. The spiritually inclined will find some wisdom here if they’re patient. (Apr.)

Reviewed on 03/10/2023 | Details & Permalink