Ada, Mich. (July 6, 2017)—Winners of Christian Retailing’s Best Awards were announced Wednesday morning, June 28, at CBA’s UNITE convention in Cincinnati, Ohio. Two nonfiction titles and three fiction titles from Baker Publishing Group won awards. The Healing Breakthrough by Randy Clark won in the Charismatic category, and Think and Eat Yourself Smart by Dr. Caroline Leaf won in the Health and Fitness category. The three winning novels were The Atonement by Beverly Lewis in the Amish category, Always Watching by Lynette Eason in the Contemporary category, and Risen by Angela Hunt in the Historical category. These awards are viewed as a significant way of recognizing some of the most impactful and life-changing new products in the Christian retail industry. For the complete list of winners, please visit http://christianretailingsbest.com/winners.html.

The Healing Breakthrough by Randy Clark
(Chosen Books; ISBN 9780800797836; ebook ISBN 9781441230027; $14.99)
Foremost healing expert and bestselling author Randy Clark unwraps the hard questions that baffle most Christians about healing prayer. Speaking from Scripture as well as from personal experience, Clark helps readers learn to walk in an atmosphere of effective healing ministry, navigate the balance between faith and expectation,pray with confidence, and expect results every time.

Think and Eat Yourself Smart by Dr. Caroline Leaf
(Baker Books; ISBN 9780801015717; ebook ISBN 9781493401529; $19.99)
Scientist and therapist Dr. Caroline Leaf combines current scientific research with biblical teaching to help readers understand the connection between thinking and eating, empowering readers to manage their weight and improve their health. Anyone who is tired of traditional diet plans that don’t work, who struggles with emotional eating, or who simply isn’t satisfied with their level of health will find in this book the key to discovering how to begin developing a healthier body, brain,and spirit.

The Atonement by Beverly Lewis
(Bethany House; ISBN 9780764212482; ebook ISBN 9781441229373; $15.99)
The mistakes of the past haunt Lucy Flaud, now twenty-five and beyond Amish courting age. Instead, Lucy focuses on volunteering in both the Plain and fancycommunities of Lancaster County. Then her father strikes up an unexpected friendship with an Englischer in search of a simpler way of life. Lucy forms a connection of her own with the thoughtful young man even as she rejects courtship with her longtime Amish friend. Is it too late to embrace redemption . . . and the power of love?

Always Watching by Lynette Eason
(Revell; ISBN 9780800723262; ebook ISBN 9781441245502; $14.99)
Bestselling author and fan favorite Lynette Eason drops readers right into the action in this fast-paced new series. When it becomes clear that popular psychiatrist and radio personality Wade Savage has a stalker, his father hires Elite Guardians to protect his son. But when Wade’s bodyguard is attacked, agency owner Olivia Edwards must step in and fill the gap. Olivia’s skills are tested to the limit as Wade’s stalker moves from leaving innocent gifts at his door to threatening those closest to him, and she has the feeling that she’s next on the list.

Risen by Angela Hunt
(Bethany House; ISBN 9780764218453; ebook ISBN 9781441230416; $15.99)
Epic in scope yet deeply personal, this novelization offers a unique perspective on the story of the resurrection. Roman Tribune Clavius is assigned by Pilate to keep the followers of the recently executed Yeshua from stealing the body and inciting revolution. When the body goes missing, Clavius must hunt it down. His investigation leads him from the halls of Herod Antipas to Gethsemane. As his search continues, Clavius commits to a quest for the truth—and answers that will not only shake his life but echo throughout all of history.

Baker Publishing Group publishes high-quality writings that represent historic Christianity and serve the diverse interests and concerns of evangelical readers.

Contact: Lynnae Lubbers
(616)676-9185 x193  llubbers@bakerpublishinggroup.com

 

LISBON, Portugal – July 6, 2016 – Biblion, the Portuguese-based online magazine dedicated to Christian literature, reaches a new milestone with the release of its Interactive Edition: a new format developed to take full advantage of digital platforms and provide a richer, more intuitive experience to its readers.

After a successful debut with both printed and web editions last year, Biblion now completes its transition into an exclusively digital magazine devoted to promote reading awareness through book reviews, interviews with authors, and several other forms of literary content. The publication is complemented by the BiblionApp, a mobile application available on the AppStore and Google Play.

Since its inception, the Biblion magazine has reviewed numerous books from authors and theologians famous worldwide, as well as up-and-coming writers both domestic and from abroad. The Interactive Edition’s July/August issue features reviews on the works of authors such as Eric Metaxas, Nick Vujicic, Wayne Grudem and Sam Storms, an interview with prominent Brazilian author Maurício Zágari, articles on Martin Luther and George Müller, and much more.

Ever loyal to its goal of sparking in its audience a desire for healthy reading habits, Biblion has crossed denominational barriers and brought insightful awareness to books that nourish both mind and soul. The magazine also seeks to reach non-believers through a friendly and transparent approach, in the hopes of establishing grounds for constructive dialogue between different faiths and worldviews.

In its effort to grow beyond the Portuguese-speaking community, the Biblion magazine will be available in English, starting in the September/October issue. That is only one of the several new features and initiatives Biblion is developing to better serve its purpose and its audience in the upcoming issues.

About Biblion Media
Biblion Media is the editorial branch of UC – Unique Creations Ltd., a small Christian-led business, committed to preserve biblical ethics in the corporate environment, which publishes bi-monthly Biblion Magazine (www.biblion.pt), a portuguese-speaking Christian publication devoted to promote awareness on reading and creating innovative initiatives to ease people’s access to books.

Media contact:  Paulo S. Gomes, + 351-969784543, psg@biblion.pt

WESTMONT, IL—InterVarsity Press (IVP) and Global Mapping International (GMI) announce the acquisition by IVP of GMI’s Operation World product line.

For the past five years IVP and GMI have been publishing partners serving the Operation World team in publishing the seventh edition of Operation World. With this acquisition, IVP is now the sole owner and publisher of the Operation World CD, DVD, ebook, and Prayer Map. IVP also acquired the digital rights toThe Future of the Global Church by Patrick Johnstone, founder of Operation World, and Johnstone and Dean Merrill’s subsequent books, Serving God in Today’s Cities and Serving God in a Migrant Crisis.

“GMI has made a tremendous impact on the global missions community throughout its history, and we have been privileged to partner with them on Operation World since January of 2012,” Jeff Crosby, IVP’s publisher, said. “We are saddened by GMI’s closure but are honored to continue a portion of their work through the acquisition of these publishing assets they have curated and helped to promote.”

“As GMI closes, we are encouraged that our partnership of over thirty years with Operation World will be continued through InterVarsity Press,” said Jon Hirst, CEO of GMI. “Their passion for global mission and commitment to quality make us confident of the future availability of the Operation World resources.”

About Operation World
Operation World is widely regarded as the definitive volume of prayer information about the world and is the recipient of the ECPA Gold Medallion Award for Excellence in Evangelical Christian Literature.Operation World is published by InterVarsity Press.

About InterVarsity Press
Founded in 1947 as an extension of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA, InterVarsity Press serves those in the university, the church, and the world by publishing thoughtful Christian books that equip and encourage people to follow Jesus as Savior and Lord in all of life. For more information, visit ivpress.com.

Contact:  Krista Clayton | 630.734.4013 | kclayton@ivpress.com

The story of Charles Spurgeon and his friendship with former slave Thomas Johnson overcomes not just a century and an ocean, but a still simmering racial divide in the culture and church

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (July 10, 2017) – B&H Publishing Group is set to release Steal Away Home: Charles Spurgeon & Thomas Johnson: Unlikely Friends on the Passage to Freedom (August 1, 2017) by Austin, Texas-based pastors Matt Carter and Aaron Ivey.

Steal Away Home, written in narrative form, is the previously untold story of the unlikely friendship between the world’s most famous preacher, Charles Spurgeon, and Thomas Johnson, who spent 28 years as a slave in the United States before training at Spurgeon’s college and being commissioned to Africa as a missionary.

“I was introduced to the works of Charles and Susannah Spurgeon a while back and have since grown to love not just their writings, but their friendship and deep love for each other,” Ivey said. “Then, when the story of Thomas Johnson surfaced, I knew we had a treasured story that must be told. Truly, it’s an honor to tell this story of hope and endurance.”

Along with telling the story of Spurgeon and Johnson’s friendship, Steal Away Home also offers a unique glimpse into Spurgeon’s day-to-day life: his marriage to Susannah Spurgeon, his daily struggles, and his bouts with depression. Many passages and dialogues in the book are word-for-word quotations from Spurgeon or Johnson’s writings.

“During a visit to Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, while looking through Spurgeon’s personal library and talking with Dr. Christian George (America’s top Spurgeon scholar), we first heard the story of Thomas Johnson,” Carter said. “Then, we found his out-of-print autobiography, ‘Twenty-Eight Years a Slave,’ and knew … it was a story we had to tell.”

Steal Away Home is the second in a succession of books this year from B&H centering on the life and teaching of Spurgeon. In March, B&H released the first of 12 volumes of The Lost Sermons of C.H. Spurgeon, edited by George. Later this fall, the second volume releases, as does the new CSB Spurgeon Study Bible, edited by Alistair Begg.

Marketing of the book will include a July 30 – August 3 tour of historic sites in both London and Cambridge such as the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Spurgeon’s College and the Stockwell Orphanage, where Carter, Ivey, George and Begg will host and participate in, among other things, panel discussions and Facebook Live broadcasts.

For more information about Steal Away Home, visit www.bhpublishinggroup.com.

Matt Carter serves as the Pastor of Preaching and Vision at the Austin Stone Community Church in Austin, Texas, which has grown from a core team of 15 to over 8,000 attending each Sunday since he planted it in 2002. Matt has co-authored multiple books including a commentary on the Gospel of John in The Christ Centered Exposition Commentary series and two group studies, Creation Unraveled and Creation Restored, which traced the gospel message through the book of Genesis. He holds an M.Div. from Southwestern Seminary and a Doctorate in Expositional Preaching from Southeastern Seminary. He and his wife Jennifer have been married for over 20 years, and they have three children, John Daniel, Annie and Samuel.

Aaron Ivey is the Pastor of Worship at The Austin Stone Community Church in Austin, Texas, where he pastors a team of nearly 300 worship leaders, artists, storytellers and musicians. Aaron has written and produced ten worship albums, and has written hundreds of congregational worship songs. His songwriting includes works represented in Worship Together, Jesus Culture, Capital Music Group, Doxology & Theology and Austin Stone Worship. Passionate about mentoring and developing young leaders and world changers, Aaron spends much of his time communicating on topics of leadership, theology, art and culture. He and his wife Jamie have been married for 15 years, and have four children, Cayden, Amos, Deacon and Story.

B&H Publishing Group, an imprint of LifeWay Christian Resources, is a team of mission-minded people with a passion for taking God’s Word to the world. Because we believe Every Word Matters^® we seek to provide intentional, Bible-centered content that positively impacts the hearts and minds of people, inspiring them to build a lifelong relationship with Jesus Christ. Among our print and digital releases for the trade, church, and academic markets, titles include The New York Times No. 1 bestsellers The Love Dare and The Vow, #1 CBA bestseller I Am a Church Member as well as the newly-revised Christian Standard Bible (CSB) version.

About Steal Away Home:

ISBN: 9781433690655
Trim Size: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.58
Page Count: 304
Weight: 0.8
Binding: Hardback – With dust jacket
Status: NYP
Publication Date: August 1, 2017

Media Contact: Jenaye White
Jenaye.White@BHPublishingGroup.com  615-251- 2964  www.bhpublishinggroup.com