I’ve received a number of new titles from Concordia Publishing House in the last two weeks, so many that I better tell you all about them now so as not to forget!
Holding Up the Prophet’s Hands: Supporting Church Workers, by Dr. Bruce Hartung
Author Bruce Hartung presents the challenges church workers face daily, along with positive and encouraging strategies for congregations to support their workers. This book deals with job stress, finances, marriage, housing, and other important issues in the lives of professional church workers, pastors, teachers, and DCE’s. Workers of the church are at increased risk of sadness, despair, stress, frustration, anger, and disappointment. There are inherent vocational risks involved when your job is to serve others and these risks are increased when one’s vocation is to connect human experience and the Gospel of Jesus Christ. These risks are increased even more as workers of the church walk closely with the life experience of the people that they serve. When a worker of the church walks closely with his or her people, sees the Gospel-to-human experience connection in the lives of people and acts on that connection, often meets more-than-the-average stressors, and is in a people-oriented service vocation, the odds rise dramatically in terms of the risks to body, spirit, and self. Here is a
sample from the book. Price: $12.99.
Order online. Author Dr. Rev. Bruce Hartung holds a doctorate (PhD) in Pastoral Psychology and Counseling and is currently Dean of Ministerial Formation at Concordia Seminary, Saint Louis.
Isaiah 40-55: The Concordia Commentary Series, by Dr. Reed Lessing
The Concordia Commentary Series: A Theological Exposition of Sacred Scripture is written to enable pastors and teachers of the Word to proclaim the Gospel with greater insight, clarity, and faithfulness to the divine intent of the biblical text. This landmark work will cover all the canonical books of the Old and New Testaments, interpreting Scripture as a harmonious unity centered in the person and work of Jesus Christ. Every passage bears witness to the Good News that God has reconciled the world to Himself through our Lord’s life, death, and resurrection. The commentary fully affirms the divine inspiration, inerrancy, and authority of Scripture as it emphasizes “that which promotes Christ” in each pericope. Authors are sensitive to the rich treasury of language, imagery, and themes found throughout Scripture, including such dialectics as Law and Gospel, sin and grace, death and new life, folly and wisdom, demon, possession and the arrival of the kingdom of God in Christ. Careful attention is given to the original Hebrew, Aramaic, or Greek. Further light is shed on the text from archaeology, history, and extrabiblical literature. Finally, Scripture’s message is applied to the ongoing life of the church in terms of ministry, worship, proclamation of the Word, Baptism, the Lord’s Supper, confession of the faith–all in joyful anticipation of the life of the world to come. Isaiah is the Old Testament evangelist par excellence. The prophet’s saving message, soaring language, and unforgetable imagery are tightly woven into the fabric of Christian hymnody, liturgy, and prayer. This commentary expounds the text, theology, and Christology of “the fifth Gospel.” Price: $42.99; Order online, or call 800-325-3040 to inquire about subscribing to the series with substantial savings. Click here to view all the volumes presently available in the Concordia Commentary series.
Lord’s Prayer: Commentary on Luther’s Catechisms, by Albrecht Peters
The German edition of Commentary on Luther’s Catechisms by Albrecht Peters has long been the gold standard of research on the catechetical texts of the great reformer. This translation makes the wealth of research available in English for both the researcher and the catechist. Separate volumes address the Decalogue, the Creed, the Lord’s Prayer, the Sacraments, and Confession with the Table of Duties, prayers, and the Marriage and Baptismal Booklets. For Luther, God’s action in creation, redemption, sanctification, justification, and prayer are inseparably tied together with one another, and all true prayer finds the seed around which it can crystallize in the Lord’s Prayer. The reformer develops these central insights throughout his several different explanations of the Lord’s Prayer. This book shows what types of changes took place in Luther’s explanations before reaching the present form in the catechisms and provides the needed context of Luther’s interpretation within that of the Western tradition.
Order it online. Price: $42.99. Take a look at a sample from the book, by
clicking here. Other Books In This Series
Commentary on Luther’s Catechisms, Ten Commandments ; Commentary on Luther’s Catechisms, Creed
Daily Devotions from 75 Years of Portals of Prayer
For 75 years, Portals of Prayer has provided God’s Word as a source of assurance, comfort and strength. Over the years these portable devotion booklets have been found at the dinner table, in purses, in doctor’s waiting rooms, in nursing homes, and in military rucksacks around the world. In honor of Portals of Prayer’s 75th anniversary, Daily Devotions presents memorable and timeless devotions straight from every issue of Portals of Prayer. Many appear on the same day of the year as they orginally appeared, some will even make note of the historical event that happened on the original date the devotion was published. Despite the span of years, the variety of authors, and the topics written about, one thing above all connects the devotions together: the Gospel of God’s love and mercy in Christ Jesus is proclaimed. Daily Devotions is perfect for both the Portals of Prayer lover and the customer who is simply looking for a year-long daily devotional. This high-quality hardback book features a ribbon marker and makes for the perfect gift. $24.99.
Order online here.
For the Life of the Church: A Practical Edition of Pastor Walther’s Prayers and Addresses
We are God’s mouth and hands in this world, and how we pray is important to our life together in Christ’s Body, the Church. The prayers in this book help reflect what Scripture has to say in a manner that engages the times, needs, joys, and sorrows of a congregation. This updated translation reunites today’s Christians with a treasure-trove of prayers that relate to all facets of public Christian life. These prayers reinforce basic Christian principles even as they bring the sweet message of the Gospel to those who need to hear God’s Word for their lives. Additionally, a series of addresses explains both the cost of discipleship and the rewards of church membership.Carrying forward the 1930 translation of Rudolph Prange while updating the language for modern ears, this book is not a word-for-word rendition of C.F.W. Walther’s original German. Instead, the texts presented here capture Walther in a meaningful way for a contemporary English audience. This book guides pastors, teachers, church workers, elders, and any Christians who need to pray in public. All Christians will reap the benefits of using these prayers in their life together. Price: $19.99.
Order online here. Take a look at the book by
reviewing this sample. Click Here to see other books by Walther. C.F.W. Walther (1811-87), known as the American Luther, is one of the most dynamic Christian leaders of the modern era. In 1847, when Walther helped to found the Missouri Synod, the church body included 19 pastors, 30 congregations, and 4,099 baptized members; at the time of his death forty years later this church body had grown to 931 pastors, 678 member-congregations, 746 affiliated congregations, 544 preaching stations, and 459,376 baptized members. Walther also helped found the log cabin college that became one of the largest seminaries in North America: Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, Missouri. He became the first president of The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod.
What Others Are Saying “No other book better illustrates why God chose C.F.W. Walther to serve as a pastor, professor, and president for the growing Lutheran churches on the American frontier. Walther’s prayers and addresses are filled with the Spirit-given, Gospel-centered wisdom that startles those who would lead the Church today. They are so immediate in their concerns for the parish, so focused on God’s Word and Sacraments that they draw us to wonder at the devotion of this man of God. Yet these same prayers and addresses sound most beautiful on the lips of laypeople, for whom Walther first spoke and wrote them. What more-fitting anniversary tribute could we bring to the One who raised up Walther than to turn our eyes heavenward, join our hearts in prayer, and raise up to God’s throne these sincere petitions, which still define our highest spiritual needs as His children?
-Rev. Edward A. Engelbrecht-
General Editor of The Lutheran Study Bible
A Year with the Church Fathers: Meditations for Each Day of the Church Year, by Dr. Scott Murray
People who have used the Treasury of Daily Prayer are particularly fond of the daily readings, this book, though a stand-alone volume, follows the pattern set by the Treasury by offering daily readings from Church Fathers, with suggested Scripture readings and meditations. The daily readings and meditations begin on January 1 and continue through the whole year, organized around the Church Year. This is an anytime/anywhere book. Drawn from the themes of Scripture itself, these devotions consider the salvation plan of God fulfilled in Jesus and carried to the world through the Church. The in-depth, thought-provoking content offers rich insight into Scripture and the Christian life and encouragement in the faith. Along the way you will drink deeply of the fountain of eternal life and gain in understanding of the message of God’s Word. The daily devotions of A Year with the Church Fathers follow the seasonal movements of the Christian Church Year in a broad, general fashion, but not in the more focused and specific way that one expects for the lessons appointed for particular Sundays and festivals of the Church Year. $29.99.
Order online here.
Totally different subject, but what are your thought on Harper-Collins buying out Thomas Nelson?
Just a larger publishing effort to produce, mainly, a lot of watered down so-called “Christian” books.
True. I was wondering if NKJV royalties will inflate. I like the NKJV – especially the text critical notes. Too bad it is now owned by Murdoch.
I look forward to the Isaiah commentary. Have it shipped to subscribers yet?
One other question: has the TLSB been updated to the ESV 2011 revision, or is it still using the one from 2007?
Can you give us some idea when the Daily Meditations on the Old Testament readings will be ready?
Thanks for this post. This is sort of related and I would love to see what you have to say on book fairs at Lutheran schools. Our school was not so thrilled with the Scholastic book fairs and now for the second year, we are having a book fair from http://www.carolinachristianbookfairs.com
Now, I am sure they are really sweet people at the Carolina book fair company, but it would be nice if we could offer our school families a CPH christian book fair instead of a generic Christian book fair. Last year at our LWML district convention in Austin, there was a very nice couple who had and extensive offering of CPH products in their booth at the convention. They drove down from Missouri to set up their booth there for the 3-4 days of the convention. We could buy directly from them and they could also place orders when they ran out of items.
So, I don’t know if that is a service that CPH would like to promote, or subcontract to folks like that couple who had the booth at the LWML convention. There are many LCMS schools and competing book fairs seem kinda mediocre. It could be a valuable service to our school families by introducing them to better materials. I would like to see what you think.
It sounds like a great idea, and it is, but how it works out never produced any adequate return on our investment in such things. Any Lutheran school is more than free to buy as many copies of the books we sell as it wants, and will get a discount, and then put them on display for resale.
@Mrs. Hume
I just read this comment to my husband and he said: “No kidding. Why is this not a given?”
–Can we please do something about this state of affairs! We need to have some alternate way of distribution that penetrates more deeply.
I always purchase extra copies when I order and I try to place them with people where ever I can, but it makes me just one local fanatic and my house is stacked with religious books.