Perhaps no representative of Christianity embodied the spirit of a fighting faith as well as the apostle Paul, who suffered profoundly for Christ. He also penned the famous verses in 2 Tim. 4:6-7, which refer to the Christian life as the “good fight.”

Kids and teens who need a little more incentive to read just got it from Tyndale House Publishers. Running June 1-Aug. 31, the publisher’s Summer Reading program offers an opportunity to earn rewards for reading designated books and writing about them online.

Paul L. Maier, an expert in ancient history, takes readers on a sensational ride with his popular character Jonathan Weber (Skeleton in God’s Closet, More Than a Skeleton), a Harvard professor. Shannon, Weber’s archaeologist wife, make a startling discovery at Pella, Jordan, then a second discovery in the geniza—a storage place for decaying manuscripts—in the Eastern Orthodox Patriarchate in Istanbul, Turkey. What begins as a cataloging of ancient manuscripts ends with the revelation of long-buried portions of the New Testament in the Constantine Codex.

Thomas Nelson is promising “more relatable” characters in its new middle-grade titles, releasing this month and in August under the Tommy Nelson brand.

In addition to its continuing Amish series, “The Mysteries of Middlefield” by Kathleen Fuller, the company is releasing four new series.

NavPress Think imprint and best-selling author Melody Carlson are inviting readers to help develop the main character of Trapped: Caught in a Lie, the next installment of the “Secrets” series for teens.

In Trapped, the main character finds herself caught in a sticky situation after cheating in school. Readers can help mold this character's identity by submitting ideas for her name, hobbies, activities, job, what her family life is like, who her friends are and the types of people with whom she interacts.

The winner will receive a library of Carlson’s Think books (a $275 value), including the “True Colors,” “Secrets” and “By Design” series.

NavPress will first screen the entries, then forward them to Carlson, who will select the winner. She will use some or all of the winning characteristics Trapped, which is scheduled to release in April 2012.

The contest is open until midnight May 22. Click here to enter. 

The two of you co-authored the 1963 The Cross and the Switchblade. What was David Wilkerson like to work with?

Elizabeth: He was a very gentle and generous man. He never took on the kind of persona business that so many Christian leaders do. He was a humble person and remained that all his life. We’re so grateful about that. Some leaders of ministries that become big—his ministry did become big after the book came out—and we thought, "Oh, if he goes the way of ... ," as many people from humble backgrounds, from simple backgrounds, when they begin to get a little bit of cash flowing through and a little bit of notoriety, of fame, go a very different way from the way David went.

Eric Metaxas’ biography of World War Two German pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer—Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy--has been named the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association’s (ECPA) Christian Book of the Year.

The Thomas Nelson book was also voted Non-Fiction title of the year in the association’s 2011 Christian Book Awards, announced May 2 on the eve of the ECPA’s Annual Meeting and Executive Leadership Summit in Colorado Springs, Colo.

The other winners were: Bibles: HCSB Study Bible, Jeremy Royal Howard and Ed Blum, general editors (B&H Publishing Group); Bible Reference: Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary: Old Testament, John H. Walton, general editor (Zondervan).

Children: The Action Bible, Sergio Cariello, illustrator; Doug Mauss, general editor (David C. Cook); Fiction: Almost Heaven by Chris Fabry (Tyndale House Publishers); Inspiration: You Changed My Life by Max Lucado (Thomas Nelson).

Three of the ECPA winners were also named in Christian Retailing’s 2011 Retailers Choice Awards, announced April 26. Bonhoeffer was voted Auto/Biography, The Action Bible was named Children’s Bible and You Changed My Life took the Gift Book category.

Lillian enjoyed the thrill of courtship, or so her granddaughters thought, considering the eccentric Southerner was married seven times. No matter her flaws, she was loved by her three granddaughters, Ginger, Penny and Rose.

Rob Bell’s Love Wins (HarperOne) continues to enliven the online world.

David Platt—author of Radical and Radical Together—responded with a video from India. He not only challenges intellectual universalism—“thinking that in the end everyone is going to be OK”—but also what he believes is worse, functional universalism, “living like in the end everyone is going to be OK.”

Rob Stennett’s Homemade Haunting examines the paranormal using allegory and humor, as high school English teacher Charlie Walker takes a six-month sabbatical to write a horror novel.

When Charlie moves his family into an older house that they can afford, he has a poltergeist experience. He realizes then that as a method writer, he needs to actually feel the horror himself to fix the novel he’s been writing—one that’s not scary at all.