Global Arts and Christian Witness by Roberta R. King

★★★★ ☐ The publisher has provided a copy for review.
This is part of a series on Mission in Global Community for students and others. Music and other arts are an integral part of culture. They have always been part of the worship of the Church and part of the way we tell God's story. As a musician, this topic is dear to my heart. Though there is nothing startlingly different here, the book is encouraging and comprehensive about creative and proven ways to intersect culture.

With many illustrations, King encourages artists and musicians to create space for God's work in and through their art. She also promotes the idea of engaging and understanding cross-cultural settings by listening and looking at the art of other places, particularly in non-reading cultures.

Art is always a two- (or more-) way conversation. Showing, telling, and playing through voice, instruments, and artistic mediums allows a deep heart engagement, which nonetheless comes with some parameters and cautions. King gives a good overview of the process and the possibility of offering Good News through the arts. Recommended.

Nine Thoughts That Can Change Your Marriage by Sheila Wray Gregoire

★★★★ ☐ The publisher has provided a copy for review.
Marriage is no easy relationship. It is not something that can be treated lightly after the white dress is hung up, the flowers have wilted, and the new furniture is moved into a house.

This, written in an easy-to-read style, could be called "The nine secrets of a happy marriage." Gregoire examines damaging assumptions with which women enter and maintain their marriage.

She encourages wives to continue to pursue health and strengthen their marriages by changing their thinking ... and thus their actions. There are chapters on treating our husbands as friend and neighbor, accepting them as they are, not competing, and being a person of peace.

If you have been struggling in marriage or if you need a book that offers hope for a wife who wants to bring health to her marriage relationship, pick this us.

Life Coaching: The Key to Your Future by Alexander R. Davis

★★★★ ☐ The publisher has provided a copy for review.
This book is like having a life coach sit down and ask you questions. It explains the process of life coaching from one appointment to the next. If you've considered hiring a coach, this will explain how the process works.

Looking forward from where you are - want to go from here to there (even if you don't know where "there" is?

Want your assumptions challenged? This is for you if you'd benefit from examples on how to attract a life you have only hoped for.

Always On by Angela Williams Gorrell

★★★★ ☐ The publisher has provided a copy for review.
The author views 4 general categories of new media - social networking, user content, marketing/trading sties, and gaming - and their implications for the Christian community. Many of our interactions now take place online.

Gorrell looks at ways people engage online, as well as how to maximize the opportunities in communities of faith. Many of our friendships are found, broadened, and developed through media. Thus, God, who is present with us, is present in those interactions.

This is a book for community leaders and thinkers. How do we integrate our journey of faith with all the opportunities and challenges media puts on our phones and laptops, our businesses and homes? Sharing our human experience - with its true nature of crises and joys - lets believers bring Christ into real (no performed) conversations that are happening 24-7 with the world around us. Recommended.

The Culture of Theology by John Webster

★★★★★  The publisher provided a copy for review.
Six lectures and a lifetime of theology. In the two decades after these talks were presented in 1996, Webster continued to explore what it means to think theologically within "the sphere in which Christian faith and life have their existence by the miracle of God's grace." The extended editorial notes explain a great deal of his theology and enthusiasm for the truth about God and humanity as found in scriptures.

For Webster, theology was a conversation rooted in Christian culture and praxis as well as a deep astonishment that God is present with us and active among us. The personal search to know God better will be a conversation between the theologian's activity in the Church and beyond it, in his/her culture and relationships, measured by God's goodness and favor.

What I felt was an invitation to join an intimate quest - to know God theologically. That may be the legacy left by Webster, who passed away several years ago. Well worth reading, reflecting on, and perhaps even - letting it change your life.

Stars in the Grass by Ann Marie Stewart

★★★★★ This book was given me by a friend, also a writer.

I thought it might be interesting, but didn't expect to be captivated by the story. It flowed with good character development - I was interested in the people I read about and felt they could be my neighbors.

When a child dies, how does a family cope? How do parents process the grief and absence of a son or daughter? How do siblings readjust to their place in the family? Stewart understands the sense of loss and the repercussions.

The story is wonderful - tender and sweet. If you want a tear-jerker, something to make you laugh and cry, something to touch your heart and make you cherish your relationships ... read Stars in the Grass.