The most important book of the year … arrived today

My advance copy of Phyllis Tickle’s The Great Emergence arrived in the mail today. It is a treasure. Here’s the endorsement I wrote for it:

The Great Emergence offers a sweeping overview of church history and locates us in a moment of great opportunity and challenge. To some, this analysis will come as a rude awakening, and to others, as a dream coming true. My hunch is that this will be one of the most important books of the year, and will shape the conversation among a wide range of Christians for years to come.

I highly, highly, highly recommend this book. It’s deep, rich, provocative … and really well written. It will release soon, and is available for pre-order now.
Now going from sublime to hilarious … I also just read Nadia Bolz-Weber’s book Salvation on the Small Screen. Nadia watched TBN for 24 hours straight in the company of some interesting friends, and the book records their responses. It’s edifying in a “sarcastic-Lutheran” kind of way, but even more, it’s the kind of book to just plain cheer you up. The guy next to me on a Southwest flight the other day leaned over and had to ask me what was so funny …