Book Reviews

An Essential Guide to Public Speaking Quentin Schultze, Baker Academic, 2006. Paper, 111 pages.

Shaping the Claim Marvin A. McMickle, Fortress Press, 2008. Paper, 86 pages.

Explosive Preaching: Letters on Detonating the Gospel in the 21st Century Ron Boyd-McMillan, Paternoster Press, 2006. Paper, 277 pages.

Why You Think the Way You Do: The Story of Western Worldviews from Rome to Home (Zondervan) by Glenn Sunshine offers an interesting survey of the development of the worldviews that have shaped the West.

What kind of legacy would you like to leave. In Find Us Faithful: Leadership that Leaves a Legacy (B&H), David Olford uses a variety of Scripture verses to demonstrate the kind of leadership that makes a difference and leaves a legacy of faithfulness.

In his new book Making a Good Church Great: Becoming a Community God Calls Home (Regal), Steve Sjogren tells church leaders not to focus on the external factors people often use to judge successful churches.

Just as the first Christians had to confront the false gods of their own era, today's believers must live out their faith in an age when there are many rivals claiming their allegiance. In Holy Subversion: Allegiance to Christ in an Age of Rivals (Crossway), Trevin Wax points out the idols of our own day, and challenges us to be "holy subversives" in challenging those powers.

What do you do when life isn't turning out the way you expected? You turn to Plan B: What Do You Do When God Doesn't Show Up the Way You Thought He Would? (Thomas Nelson), the title of the new book from Nashville pastor Pete Wilson. Wilson points readers to an understanding of the cross as the key to overcoming fear when life is going in the wrong direction.

D.A. Carson's new book The God Who Is There: Finding Your Place in God's Story (Baker Books) offers readers a basic understanding of Scripture and the nature of God. This would be an excellent book for group studies, as well as to share with persons new to faith--or even exploring Christian faith for the first time.

Based on a survey of more than 7,000 churches, plus interviews with hundreds of pastors, Ed Stetzer and Thom Rainer have written Transformational Church: Creating a New Scorecard for Congregations (B&H Books) to help leaders move beyond a "nickels and noses" mentality...