David Jeremiah’s The Coming Economic Armageddon rose to the top of the New York Times Hardcover Advice list in its second week there. The FaithWords title discusses the financial warnings pointing toward Armageddon.   ?

Each Bible chapter is outlined, analyzed and summarized in What Does Every Bible Chapter Say by John Hunt. Drawing on a range of Bible scholars, evangelists and preachers, the AMG Publishers book releases this month and retails for $29.99.   ?

At October’s Desiring God 2010 National Conference, Crossway recognized best-selling author and pastor John Piper with the release of For the Fame of God’s Name. Presented by editors Sam Storms and Justin Taylor, the hardcover volume offers 27 essays on the themes for which Piper is most well known, including Christian hedonism and the sovereignty of God. It retails for $35.   ?

After clinical experience and thorough research at the Cancer Treatment Centers of America, Michael Barry discovered a strong connection between the immune system and forgiveness. Through the stories of five cancer patients told in The Forgiveness Project, he aims to help readers overcome the barriers to healing and peace. TheKregel Publications title releases this month and retails for $14.99.   ?

Discovery House Publishers offers readers of the popular devotional Our Daily Bread a collection of its readings in A Story Is Told: Inspiring Stories and Illustrations From Our Daily Bread by Dave Branon, editor. Arranged topically, the readings cover a wide range of categories. Releasing this month, it retails for $9.99.   ?

Sally Dyck, a United Methodist Church bishop, and her niece Sarah Ehrman, who works in the world of science, encourage Christians to care for the environment in A Hopeful Earth, a unique study that sees the two in dialogue. The Abingdon Press title releases this month and retails for $10.

The Narnia Code

Michael Ward

Tyndale House Publishers

softcover, 208 pages, $13.99

978-1-414-33965-8

It's difficult, if not impossible, to approach Ward's The Narnia Code: C. S. Lewis and the Secret of the Seven Heavens without a giant's share of skepticism. Would Lewis have kept such a major underpinning of his most popular books secret? And yet, hard as it is to believe, Ward's answer to this question, and his explanation of his theory, has been joyfully convincing for many scholars and fans alike.

After describing how he came to his discovery, Ward examines how each of the "Narnia" books, while clearly retaining their biblical connections, are thematically linked to one of the seven planets—or "heavens"—of medieval cosmology. Intimately familiar with Lewis' work, Ward explains that Lewis, a literary classics scholar, admired the medieval "heavens" as portraits of the wonder of God's creation.

Aslan's faithful need not fear: The "code" does not diminish the centrality of Aslan, nor his role as a Christ figure. Ward's discovery does no harm to the biblical connections present in the series; on the contrary, it makes them clearer.

—Dave Stuart Jr.

Our Witchdoctors Are Too Weak

Davey and Marie Jank

Monarch Books (Kregel Publications)

softcover, 224 pages, $14.99

978-1-857-21008-1

Calling to mind Don Richardson's missions autobiography Peace Child, with its profound story of an unreached tribe receiving "God's Talk" for the first time, Our Witchdoctors Are Too Weak: The Rebirth of an Amazon Tribe tells of the Janks' 10 years among the Wilo from the Amazon village of Pikali.

Among witchdoctors and jungle animals, hiking trails and riding by canoe or outboard motor, the authors show how difficult it can be to live in a place with limited medical treatment, where the food is strange to one's palate and with people who have never had an opportunity to hear God's words to them.

With a sometimes humorous story that emphasizes the power and simplicity of God's Word, Our Witchdoctors Are Too Weak reads quickly, and will give each reader an understanding of the significance of being a witness, wherever one may be.

—Jennifer Toth

God's Guest List

Debbie Macomber

Howard Books

hardcover, 208 pages, $23

978-1-439-10896-3

Macomber—herself admired by fans as an author of New York Times best-selling fiction—confesses that she longed to meet certain people she admired or who inspired her. But, in doing so, she discovered some weren't all she had expected. Disappointed, she soon realized that the people who had the most profound effect on her life were the ones God wanted her to meet.

In God's Guest List: Welcoming Those who Influence our Lives, Macomber encourages readers to take their focus off of those they perceive to be important and begin to view every person as an opportunity to bless and be blessed. In her case, one of the people God wanted her to "meet" was her own mother, who she felt was perpetually disappointed in her, and one of her assistants, who was fond of being in control.

With humility, Macomber admits that she fell into a focus on celebrity. In God's Guest List, she helps readers who, like herself, are ready to take on God's priorities and look for His hand in their lives.

—Heidi L. Ippolito

Dancing With the Avatar

Jovan Jones

Destiny Image

softcover, 336 pages, $16.99

978-0-768-432718

Dancing With the Avatar, book two in the "Descent" series, is a continuation of Jones' fiction based on her true life story. In the novel, she incorporates her experience of living in India and exposes the spiritual powers of Hinduism.

Maya, a young American, continues her spiritual quest with guru Cha Ma while living at an ashram in India. As she dutifully participates, she seeks to reach enlightenment, but what she does not see is a spiritual realm where her chant for the deity Kali invites demons to surround her—demons who are trying to kill her.

With Christian parents back home praying for her, angels are positioned to protect her from the plans of the enemy. The battles between the angels and demons lay a foundation for the plans the Lord has for Maya and her parents.

Jones' characters address the differences of Western and Indian civilization and culture. She also provides a glossary and pronunciation aid to assist readers with unfamiliar terminology. With the popularity of best-selling book Eat, Pray, Love, Dancing With the Avatar should ride the wave of recent interest in Indian culture.

—Nicole Anderson

Dining With Joy

Rachel Hauck

Thomas Nelson

softcover, 320 pages, $14.99

978-1-595-54339-4

In Beaufort, S.C., Joy Ballard has become the host of her own cooking show; there's only one problem—she can't cook. In Dining With Joy: A Low Country Romance, Joy promises her father minutes before he dies that she will take on his show. All is well until her producer decides to sell the show to Allison Wild of Wild Women Productions—who was never told of Joy's lack of cooking skills.

Enter chef Luke Davis, who has lost his Manhattan restaurant and ends up working at a local café to pay off his debts. Joy and Luke, who is also in the dark about her secret, fall in love and, as young Christians, must fight the physical chemistry they feel for each other. Joy's secret is revealed on national television, and now both she and Luke must regain their dignity.

Hauck, a former president of the American Christian Fiction Writers, will attract fans of Southern fiction who have read her previous novels in the genre, including Sweet Caroline and Lost in NashVegas. Dining With Joy is a quirky romance to be enjoyed by readers even if they have never visited the South.

—Tanya Ohle

Common Prayer

Shane Claiborne, Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove and Enuma Okoko

Zondervan

hardcover, 512 pages, $24.99

978-0-310-32619-9

Not to be read alone but in community, Common Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals was not written alone either. Claiborne, an activist who lives in a "new monastic" community in inner-city Philadelphia; Wilson-Hartgrove, a Baptist minister also in a monastic community; and Okoko, a woman who was formerly director for Duke Divinity School's Center for Theological Writing, came together to create this volume.

Seeing liturgy as a tool to bring unity, the authors encourage every Christian, from the Pentecostal to the Benedictine, to use this volume of songs, prayers, ideas and memories meant to be spoken aloud and shared in some kind of community. Along with a well-organized liturgy, the guide includes prayers for special occasions and a selection of songs ranging from the Doxology to Taize chants and African-American spirituals.

Appealing to the liturgy veteran as well as the novice, Common Prayer encourages active prayer and worship as believers join to regularly refocus their lives on God.

—Christine D. Johnson

Letters to a Young Calvinist

James K.A. Smith

Brazos Press (Baker Publishing Group)

softcover, 160 pages, $14.99

978-1-587-43294-1

The apostle Paul wrote epistles, or letters, to instruct, edify and encourage. So, too, do contemporary authors such as Christopher Hitchens (Letters to a Young Contrarian) and George Weigel (Letters to a Young Catholic).

Drawing inspiration from this genre, philosopher Smith writes a series of letters and postcards to "Jesse," a fictional recipient who represents an amalgam of young believers—and their questions—whom Smith encountered during his ministry in Los Angeles. These letters serve as an introduction to Calvinism and the Reformed tradition.

Smith's work is especially relevant because Time magazine recently listed New Calvinism as one of today's most influential ideas, and this year marks the 500th anniversary of John Calvin.

Letters to a Young Calvinist is a crisp, conversational collection of theological education and spiritual formation presented in digestible form.

—Brian Smith McCallum

Two Christian Living authors published by Zondervan have reached 100,000 copies sold with their recent titles. The Christian Atheist (March 2010) by Craig Groeschel, pastor at LifeChurch.tv, and The Me I Want to Be (December 2009) by John Ortberg, pastor at Menlo Park Presbyterian Church, both reached the milestone since the books released less than a year ago

Mary Beth Chapman's Choosing to SEE: A Journey of Struggle and Hope has risen to No. 13 on the Sept. 17 New York Times Hardcover Nonfiction list, up three spots from its debut ranking. Chapman, the wife of recording artist Steven Curtis Chapman, co-authored the book with New York Times best-selling author Ellen Vaughn.

Jane Kirkpatrick's A Flickering Light (WaterBrook Press) has been awarded the 2010 WILLA Literary Award for Original Softcover Fiction. Presented by Women Writing the West, the award is chosen by professional librarians, historians and university-affiliated educators, and represents the best of 2009 published literature for women's stories set in the American West.

The executive board of Book Blogger Appreciation Week, held Sept. 13-17, announced that Francine Rivers' Her Mother's Hope (Tyndale House Publishers) was named "Best Spiritual/Religious/Inspirational Book" in voting by its registered book bloggers. Released in March, Her Mother's Hope is a New York Times best-seller and book one in the "Marta's Legacy" series.

Bryan Davis has been awarded the 2010 Clive Staples Award for Christian Speculative Fiction, a readers' choice award for the year's best Christian worldview science fiction/fantasy/allegory/futuristic/supernatural novels published in English by a royalty-paying press. The award was given to Davis for The Bones of Makaidos (Living Ink/AMG Publishers) in the young adult "Oracles of Fire" series.

Generous Justice

Timothy Keller

Dutton Adult (Penguin Group USA)

hardcover, 172 pages, $19.95

978-0-525-95190-2

How does the gospel affect our attitude toward the poor? In an intensely biblical, immensely practical eight chapters, pastor and best-selling author Keller provides the what, why and how of living justly in response to God’s grace. Generous Justice: How God’s Grace Makes Us Just argues that “our heart attitude toward the poor reveals our heart attitude toward Christ.”

And yet, Keller’s book is not a guilt-laden, moralistic journey through the Bible. On the contrary, he points out that guilt is not adequate motivation for doing justice—it may goad us into volunteering occasionally, but it will not lead us to “ponder long and hard about how to improve [the] entire situation” of the powerless.

Only the One who considered humanity’s miserable situation, entered it and sacrificed everything to free us from it can lead us into such a rigorous approach to justice. This is why Keller repeatedly draws his readers to consider the cross.

Readers will be strengthened in joy and inspired to seek genuine justice in practical ways, and their walk with the Lord will be renewed by Keller’s intimacy with the gospel.

Adventures in Daily Prayer

Bert Ghezzi

Brazos Press (Baker Publishing Group)

hardcover, 160 pages, $17.99

978-1-587-43267-5

In the well-named Adventures in Daily Prayer: Experiencing the Power of God’s Love, Ghezzi shares his experience in daily communication with God and encourages the reader to begin his or her own adventure of meaningful prayer.

Along with relating his personal experience, Ghezzi, a Catholic charismatic Christian, also offers the testimonies of Catholic saints and evangelical Christians as they developed their prayer life. At the end of each chapter, he encourages readers to think, pray and act, as they practice a more disciplined prayer time.

Adventures in Daily Prayer is a book to be experienced, not simply read. With topics such as praying in the Spirit and relying on God, it has the potential to lead to a richer, more rewarding prayer time for anyone seeking to draw near to God. It could also serve well as a study guide for prayer groups.

Between a Rock and a Grace Place

Carol Kent

Zondervan

hardcover, 224 pages, $22.99

978-0-310-33098-1

Best-selling author and speaker Kent continues the story of her son Jason’s life imprisonment and the emotional consequences to his family, in Between a Rock and a Grace Place: Divine Surprises in the Tight Spots of Life.

Kent reveals the hard truths she had to re-learn more than 10 years after Jason murdered his stepchildren’s father in order to protect the children after all other avenues seemed lost. She introduces people she has met along life’s road—from one woman who suffered with postpartum depression to another whose choir-director husband was arrested for homosexual activity. Kent reminds the reader that the cross is for everyone and that no matter how devastating their experience, the grace, mercy and love of God is always greater.

Mixing her heartbreaking tale with the redemptive qualities of the cross, Between a Rock and a Grace Place is for people in any stage of the grief process and for those who support them. 

The Next Christians

Gabe Lyons

Doubleday Religion

hardcover, 240 pages, $19.99

978-0-385-52984-6

In 2007’s UnChristian, Lyons and David Kinnaman shared research indicating what Christians had long been uneasily surmising: that younger generations were disenchanted with “church as usual.” In The Next Christians: The Good News About the End of Christian America, he builds on this work by describing the type of Christian practice that is drawing in new generations.

This is not a book of “relevant” techniques or successful programs. Rather, the Christianity that Lyons describes is rooted in historical orthodoxy and centered in a full-fleshed gospel. He portrays Christians who are viewing the world not as it is, but as it ought to be, and who fight for these “oughts.” The bulk of the book describes “restorers” who are creators of culture (rather than critics), who are living in community (rather than in isolation) and who are called (rather than merely employed).

With Lyons’ gift for observation, The Next Christians offers a glimpse at the Holy Spirit’s overall work in America today.

The God Hater

Bill Myers

Howard Books

softcover, 320 pages, $14.99

978-1-439-15326-0

Myers blends philosophy, science fiction and modern-day action in The God Hater, a tale that keeps the reader thinking while flipping pages.

Professor Nicholas Mackenzie loves to flay Christians with his razor-sharp thinking and atheistic philosophy, yet he’s loveless and friendless except for Annie Brooks, a molecular biologist who is also a Christian. Enter Travis Mackenzie, Nicholas’ errant brother who kidnaps him and starts him on a journey of self-discovery, thanks to Travis’ highly advanced cyberworld.

Nicholas tests all his pet philosophies—Darwinism, existentialism, relativism, Buddhism—yet none can save the cyberworld. He’s left with only one option—offering his cyber self as a sacrifice to save the people there. As Nicholas becomes enmeshed in the cyberworld, Annie and Travis must contend with enemies from all sides eager to steal or destroy the technology Travis created.

In The God Hater, Myers offers a well-thought novel that challenges ancient and modern philosophy, while offering a logical metaphor for creationism.

The Twelfth Imam

Joel C. Rosenberg

Tyndale House Publishers

hardcover, 384 pages, $26.99

978-1-414-31163-0

Author Rosenberg combines fears of a nuclear-armed Iran with speculation, in the espionage thriller The Twelfth Imam,the first of a new series. The title alludes to an event in Muslim eschatology tantamount to Christ’s Second Coming.

Iranian by blood, but born American after his parents fled Khomeni’s 1979 revolution, David Shirazi excels as an undercover CIA operative in the Middle East hoping to gain intelligence on Iran’s nuclear weapons program.

While Israel prepares for a pre-emptive strike on Iran, a miraculous healer reveals himself to Iran’s leadership as the long-awaited Twelfth Imam, calling for an apocalyptic attack on Israel and America to usher in the end of the age. Shirazi’s best hope for averting the crisis may be a high-ranking Iranian nuclear scientist who has begun to question the Muslim faith and converts after an encounter with Jesus.

Rosenberg’s narrative is fast-moving and engaging, despite a shifting point of view. Some readers may find the resolution overly dependent on the supernatural, but others will appreciate the reference to visions that many believe still lead Muslims to Christ today.

The Coming Economic Armageddon

David Jeremiah

FaithWords

hardcover, 272 pages, $23.99

978-0-446-56594-3

A pastor and author whose recent works have centered on the End Times, such as the New York Times best-seller What On Earth Is Going On? (Thomas Nelson), Jeremiah continues that trend with his debut FaithWords title, The Coming Economic Armageddon: What Bible Prophecy Warns About the New Global Economy.

Looking through the lens of biblical prophecy, Jeremiah presents the signs leading to a new global economy under the control of the Antichrist, including the recent economic recession, American debt and unemployment figures. He compares current news with historical milestones that brought the world to this point. At the same time, the book includes personal warnings to readers, such as resisting materialism and debt.

The Coming Economic Armageddon is sobering for casual readers, although the author still delivers encouragement for Christians in the Last Days.