Towards Jerusalem: A pilgrim’s regress and progress to God’s Holy City by Steve Brady (BRF, £7.99 (£7.20); 978-0-85746-560-3).
“God has an agenda for cities. Steve Brady is convinced of it. The Bible is full of significant cities and the biblical story is full of imagery of cities-culminating in God's ‘holy city’, birthed in and through his people. Towards Jerusalem is a unique Lent book, a call to live for a vision bigger than ourselves, marching to a different drumbeat towards ‘Zion’, God’s New Jerusalem and all that this means in transformative terms for today's Christian believer.”
What’s Age Got to Do with It? Living out God’s purpose at all ages by Louise Morse (Monarch, £8.99 (£8.10); 978-0-85721-748-6).
“If you think that being old is about having a rocking chair and an easy life style, think again. You’re looking through the binoculars backwards. What’s Age Got To Do With It? turns the lenses the right way around and gives a clear, Scriptural view of God’s purpose for old age.”
New World, New Church? The theology of the emerging church movement by Hannah Steele (SCM Press, £25 (£22.50); 978-0-334-05490-0).
“The emerging church movement has quickly become one of the fastest growing ecclesiological phenomena in the west today. But there is still a debate to be had about how the church understands its identity and purpose within postmodern culture.”
Wonder Beyond Belief: On Christianity by Navid Kermani (Polity, £25 (£22.50); 978-1-5095-1484-7).
“What happens when one of Germany’s most important writers, himself a Muslim, immerses himself in the world of Christian art? In this book, Navid Kermani is awestruck by a religion full of sacrifice and lamentation, love and wonder, the irrational and the unfathomable, the deeply human and the divine – a Christianity that today’s Christians rarely speak of so earnestly, boldly and enthusiastically.”
The Way of the Carmelites: A prayer journey through Lent by James McCaffrey (SPCK, £8.99 (£8.10); 978-0-281-07529-4).
“Carmelite spirituality is based on a deep relationship with God in prayer, focusing on the presence of God within us, and leading to a life permeated by closeness with God and concern for our neighbour. This book, rich in reflection on the Bible, is a spiritual companion and guide for Lent, and indeed the rest of the year, that will introduce readers to the riches of Carmel.”
Selected by Frank Nugent, of the Church House Bookshop, which operates the Church Times Bookshop.