Supergroup in the making? Third Day recently caught up with Bono during the Oct. 6 Atlanta stop of U2's current tour. As if the picture wasn't interesting enough, apparently it was taken on comedian Jeff Foxworthy's camera.

The author of the new book explains what it means to be introverted in an extroverted world and how the church can create a welcoming environment for all personalities.

Name: Adam McHugh

Current Project: Introverts in the Church (IVP Books)

Currently reside in: Claremont, CA

Currently reading: Tell it Slant by Eugene Peterson (Eerdman's), Culture Making by Andy Crouch (InterVarsity Press) and Mad Church Disease by Anne Jackson (Zondervan)

Just as publisher-sponsored book blog review programs continue to grow, the Federal Trade Commission this week announced the introduction of fines for bloggers who don't disclose financial compensation, even if they only received a free copy of the book.

Christian retail offers for the week of Sept. 28

Family Christian Stores is cutting book prices in half through Oct. 3.

Among the titles spotlighted in the "while supplies last offer" are Rob Bell's new Drop Like Stars, reduced from $34.99 to $17.99. Also featured are bestsellers Blue Like Jazz by Don Miller and John and Stasi Eldredge's Captivating, each down from $14.99 to $7.49. The audio edition of William P. Young's The Shack is reduced from $27.99 to $13.99.

The Family Christian email promotion is limited to five copies of each item per customer, and also available at the chain's Web site. The emailing also offers 40% off selected titles for women. Among the titles spotlighted are Stormie Omartian's The Power of a Praying Wife (from $13.99 to $8.99) and Kay Arthur's A Marriage Without Regrets (from $12.99 to $7.79).

Mardel Christian & Educational Supply's latest promotion centers on DVDs from the "Love Comes Softly" series, on sale for $7.99 each. The six titles include Love Comes Softly, Love's Enduring Promise and Love's Unfolding Dream.

Mardel has also reduced Francis Chan's new book, Forgotten God, from $14.99 to $10.99, while What Difference Do It Make? is cut from $16.99 to $12.99.

Margaret Feinberg talks about her experiences in writing her newest release, Scouting the Divine. Feinberg spent time with shepherds, a beekeeper, a farmer and a vintner in order to get up close and personal with some of the Bible's most powerful imagery.

Chynna Phillips and Vaughan Penn each have achieved extraordinary success in the mainstream music arena. Now they are collaborating as the duo Chynna & Vaughan and using their talents to glorify God. Listen as Christian Retailing's assistant editor DeWayne Hamby sits down to talk with the group about their new CD One Reason that released Sept. 22. Get a sneak listen to the cd's debut single "One Reason" featured on the podcast.

Singer-songwriter Jennifer Knapp, who rose to fame with a series of best-selling albums on Gotee Records in the '90s and disappeared from the music scene after her 2001 release, The Way I Am, has announced a return to music.

The Pillar frontman talks about the new sounds of Confessions (releasing Sept. 22 on Essential Records/Provident Music), working with a new producer and a unique element to its live shows.

When you approached this new record, what were some of the things you wanted to accomplish musically and lyrically?

New Reunion Records' duo Chynna and Vaughan visited the Christian Retailing offices on Friday, Sept. 11. The duo, comprised of Chynna Phillips (formerly with pop group Wilson Phillips) and Vaughan Penn, told the story of their musical partnership and shared background on the songs from their Oct. 6 release, One Reason.

Pictured, from left, are Phillips, DeWayne Hamby and Vaughan.

Both developments are of great significance to the Christian retailing world, where the core Bibles market has become increasingly competitive in recent years. As we noted in a report earlier this year, Christian stores' Bible sales in 2007 covered more than 7,000 SKUs. That's a lot of variations on a theme.

Those behind the NIV and TNIV--the Committee for Bible Translation, Biblica and Zondervan--have launched a Web site (http://www.nivbible2011.com/index.php) explaining the move and inviting comments and questions.

At the Zondervan blog (http://zondervan.typepad.com/zondervan), President and CEO Moe Girkins says that she hopes the new edition will be "the first step toward an NIV that's even easier to read and understand, and that it will continue to find its way into the hands and hearts of millions."

Critics of the TNIV have responded to the news of its demise: Randy Stinson, president of the Council for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood (http://www.cbmw.org/Blog/Posts/CBMW-leader-very-encouraged-by-NIV-announcement) and Albert Mohler, president of Southern Seminary (http://www.cbmw.org/Blog/Posts/The-NIV-Announcement-A-Statement).

Not everyone is happy about the announcement, though: http://www.emergingwomen.us/2009/09/01/zondervan-the-tniv-and-gender/

Here (http://www.biblica.com/bible/cbt/index.php)
you can find details of the team that will be working on the new NIV.

What do you think? Let us know by joining the conversation at our Christian Retailing Community forum, https://www.christianretailing.com/index.php/retail-focus/forum.

No one exemplifies the ministry heartbeat of Christian book selling more than the folks at CLC International--missionaries staffing bookstores around the world.

So the list of "ten reasons why I still love the local Christian bookstore" by David Almack, the U.S. Director of CLC International, makes for inspiring reading.

In his new FaithLit blog, the Philadelphia-based leader offers his encouragement because he's been "dismayed of late at the rampant media attention to the apparently imminent demise of the local Christian bookstore."

Among his reasons, Christian bookstores are:

- a place of Christian ministry in the midst of a secular retail landscape.
- a place of refuge in a hostile world.
- a connecting point for the Christian community.
- a house of prayer.
- a place of positive influence in the local community

With this last point in mind, Almack recalls his team and some customers gathering in the store's parking lot to pray on September 11, 2001. "(We) prayed for half an hour, many strangers breaking' the prayer circle as we prayed to make the circle even bigger. When I closed my eyes to pray, we had maybe twenty people in the circle. By the time I opened my eyes, we had over fifty."

Almack concludes: "I pray that even with the current economic struggles we are all facing, the importance and special place of the local Christian bookstore will not be overlooked."

Read his complete list here and then let us know what you think about his reasons, and add your own, in our online forum, here.

It's three months until best-selling Casting Crowns' fourth album arrives on shelves, but LifeWay Christian Stores is banking on strong interest in the release with its pre-buy email offer.

The chain is making the CD, Until The Whole World Hears, available for $9.99 (regular retail price, $15.99) and throwing in two $5 savings cards, one valid through Nov. 20 and the other to be used between Nov. 30 and the end of the year.

Family Christian Stores also promotes a Casting Crowns pre-buy at its Web site, where the chain lists a regular retail price of $13.99. Offering the new CD for a pre-release price of $11.97, the chain also says it will tithe 10% of the money to its James Fund Foundation, helping feed two children for a day.

Mardel Christian & Education Supply's latest emailing promotes 50% off books, with Don Piper's best-selling 90 Minutes in Heaven reduced from $13.99 to $6.49 and the same pricing for Francis Chan's Crazy Love.

The mailing also points shoppers to stores' Super Bargain Book Section where "up to 90% off already reduced prices" is available on titles by authors including Max Lucado, Beth Moore and Karen Kingsbury.

Last month, LifeWay Christian Resources (LCR) launched three iPhone applications based on The Love Dare by Fireproof movie-making brothers Stephen and Alex Kendrick (B&H Books/B&H Publishing Group), which has sold more than 2 million copies since it was released Sept. 28.

With the July 4 celebrations approaching, patriotic themes lead the way for Parable and LifeWay Christian Stores.

Parable's emailing invites shoppers to support the Operation Worship Bible distribution campaign by purchasing copies of the special Tyndale House editions for just $4.99 each. "Our troops are serving far from their families," the invitation says. "Help them connect with their Heavenly Father."

Also featured is Certain Jeopardy, the new novel by Capt. Jeff Strueker and Alton Gansky, reduced from $14.99 to $13.19. The Parable promotion also offers an online-only 15%-off coupon for any children's item,. Through July 4.

LifeWay's "Summertime Savings" presents Oliver North's American Heroes, reduced from $24.99 to $17.99, and Thomas Nelson's new The American Patriot's Bible, NKJV, marked down from $39.99 to $24.99. The CD, America the Beautiful: Patriotic Songs & Hymns, is reduced from $6.99 to $1.99.

LifeWay's emailing includes two coupons for an additional 33% off, one for a clearance item and one for a regularly priced product. The offers are valid July 2-4.

Family Christian Stores presents two exclusives. Shoppers pre-ordering Max Lucado's Fearless for $17.49 (regular price, $24.99) can get a free download of the audio edition, usual price $17.49, while supplies last. The chain is also offering The Angus Buchan story, a DVD documentary of the South African evangelist whose life is portrayed in the movie, Faith Like Potatoes, for $5, reduced from $9.99.

Mardel Christian & Education Supply's "Bargain Bibles" promotion includes an online code for an additional 25% off other reductions. The offer reduces Nelson's Princess Bible, NKJV to $7.49 (from $24.99 regular retail) and Nelson's Next Generation New Testament Bible on CD to $14.99 ($49.99).

For those of you who remember the huge success of Mark Schultz's previous songs in both the Christian and mainstream markets with story-songs like "He's My Son," "Letters From War" and "Walking Her Home," you will be happy to hear that he is releasing a new album, Come Alive, Aug. 25. The album from Word Records is the first release from the artist in three years. The CD is already creating buzz for the soon-to-be-released single, "He Is," which Schultz was inspired to write because of two separate families' battles with cancer.

Guest songwriters Bart Millard and Barry Graul of MercyMe, Matthew West, Joy Williams and Bernie Herms (music producer) add their collaborations to the album.

Along with news of the forthcoming album is word of a fall tour, starting Sept. 10 in Decatur, Ill., featuring Point of Grace. To find out if the tour is coming to a city near you or for more background on the upcoming album, visit Schultz's Web site.