A New York Times Notable Book A Kirkus Reviews Best Book of 2012 A bold approach to understanding the American evangelical experience from an anthropological and psychological perspective by one of the country's most prominent anthropologists. Through a series of intimate, illuminating interviews with various members of the Vineyard, an evangelical church with hundreds of congregations across the country, Tanya Luhrmann leaps into the heart of evangelical faith. Combined with scientific research that studies the effect that intensely practiced prayer can have on the mind, When God Talks Back examines how normal, sensible people—from college students to accountants to housewives, all functioning perfectly well within our society—can attest to having the signs and wonders of the supernatural become as quotidian and as ordinary as laundry. Astute, sensitive, and extraordinarily measured in its approach to the interface between science and religion, Luhrmann's book is sure to generate as much conversation as it will praise.

The hard work required to make God real, how it changes the people who do it, and why it helps explain the enduring power of faith How do gods and spirits come to feel vividly real to people—as if they were standing right next to them? Humans tend to see supernatural agents everywhere, as the cognitive science of religion has shown. But it isn’t easy to maintain a sense that there are invisible spirits who care about you. In How God Becomes Real, acclaimed anthropologist and scholar of religion T. M. Luhrmann argues that people must work incredibly hard to make gods real and that this effort—by changing the people who do it and giving them the benefits they seek from invisible others—helps to explain the enduring power of faith. Drawing on ethnographic studies of evangelical Christians, pagans, magicians, Zoroastrians, Black Catholics, Santeria initiates, and newly orthodox Jews, Luhrmann notes that none of these people behave as if gods and spirits are simply there. Rather, these worshippers make strenuous efforts to create a world in which invisible others matter and can become intensely present and real. The faithful accomplish this through detailed stories, absorption, the cultivation of inner senses, belief in a porous mind, strong sensory experiences, prayer, and other practices. Along the way, Luhrmann shows why faith is harder than belief, why prayer is a metacognitive activity like therapy, why becoming religious is like getting engrossed in a book, and much more. A fascinating account of why religious practices are more powerful than religious beliefs, How God Becomes Real suggests that faith is resilient not because it provides intuitions about gods and spirits—but because it changes the faithful in profound ways.

Suppose you could ask God any question and get an answer. What would it be? Young people all over the world have been asking those questions. So Neale Donald Walsch, author of the internationally bestselling Conversations with God series had another conversation. Conversations with God for Teens is a simple, clear, straight-to-the-point dialogue that answers teens questions about God, money, sex, love, and more. Conversations with God for Teens reads like a rap session at a church youth group, where teenagers discuss everything they ever wanted to know about life but were too afraid to ask God. Walsch acts as the verbal conduit, showing teenagers how easy it is to converse with the divine. When Claudia, age 16, from Perth, Australia, asks, "Why can't I just have sex with everybody? What's the big deal?", the answer God offers her is: "Nothing you do will ever be okay with everybody. 'Everybody' is a large word. The real question is can you have sex and have it be okay with you?" There's no doubt that the casual question-and-answer format will help make God feel welcoming and accessible to teens. Conversations with God for Teens is the perfect gift purchase for parents, grandparents, and anyone else who wants to provide accessible spiritual content for the teen(s) in their lives.

Tommy Newberry's message is simple, relevant, powerful, and timeless. In this New York Times bestseller, Newberry takes a single biblical principle and teaches us how one simple truth can magnify the joy we experience in our marriage, with our parenting, and in our life as a whole. Unfortunately, we live in a society bent on nursing old wounds and highlighting what is wrong with just about everything. As a result, we have grown accustomed to viewing the world, our lives, and ourselves through a lens of negativity—and that negativity stands in direct contrast to the passionate, purpose-filled people God wants us to be. This is where The 4:8 Principle grabs our attention. First, the author skillfully persuades us to acknowledge the link between the thoughts we choose to think and the joy we experience. Next, he shows us how we can grow our potential for joy by refusing to dwell upon the problems and pressures that are enduring and inevitable. Finally, he challenges us to pay the price of joy by becoming “extraordinarily picky” about what we read, watch, and listen to on a consistent basis. The strength of the book, though, is in Newberry's ability to clearly explain how to put this principle into daily practice through a series of quick, easy and even fun adjustments. The 4:8 Principle is loaded with specific suggestions and helpful advice for going beyond the ordinary and experiencing life as it was meant to be.

How do I know it's God? is one of the most commonly asked questions of new and mature Christians alike, and the aim of God Conversations is to both equip and inspire the reader and show them that hearing the voice of the Spirit is accessible to everyone who chooses to follow Jesus. Most Christians know that God speaks, yet struggle with how to recognise his voice in their everyday lives. What does God's voice sound like? How do we know if what we're hearing is from God? Stories of God talking to his people abound throughout the Bible, but we usually only get the highlights. We read; "And God said to Joseph; 'Go to Egypt'," and then; "Mary and Joseph left for Egypt." We don't get a blow-by-blow description of how God spoke. We don't receive a detailed explanation of how they knew it was God, and we don't get to see what was going on inside their heads as they acted on what they'd heard. In God Conversations, international speaker and pastor Tania Harris shares insights from her own journey about hearing God's voice. You'll get to eavesdrop on some contemporary conversations with God in the light of his communication with the ancient characters of the Bible. Part memoir, part teaching, this unique and creative collection of stories will help you to recognise God's voice when he speaks and how to respond when you do.

We live in an age of skepticism. Our society places such faith in empirical reason, historical progress, and heartfelt emotion that it’s easy to wonder: Why should anyone believe in Christianity? What role can faith and religion play in our modern lives? In this thoughtful and inspiring new book, pastor and New York Times bestselling author Timothy Keller invites skeptics to consider that Christianity is more relevant now than ever. As human beings, we cannot live without meaning, satisfaction, freedom, identity, justice, and hope. Christianity provides us with unsurpassed resources to meet these needs. Written for both the ardent believer and the skeptic, Making Sense of God shines a light on the profound value and importance of Christianity in our lives.

The most celebrated story collection from “one of the true American masters” (The New York Review of Books)—a haunting meditation on love, loss, and companionship, and finding one’s way through the dark that includes the iconic and much-referenced title story featured in the Academy Award-winning film Birdman. "Raymond Carver's America is ... clouded by pain and the loss of dreams, but it is not as fragile as it looks. It is a place of survivors and a place of stories.... [Carver] has done what many of the most gifted writers fail to do: He has invented a country of his own, like no other except that very world, as Wordsworth said, which is the world to all of us." —The New York Times Book Review