Nashville, Tenn (December 11, 2018)–B&H Publishing is proud to announce that “The Storm-Tossed Family: How the Cross Reshapes the Home” by Russell Moore has been named the Christianity Today 2019 Beautiful Orthodoxy Book of the Year. This honor is given to a release “best embodies CT’s pursuit of truthfulness and loveliness” and is Moore’s second time receiving the award, as “Onward” won in 2016.

“We live in strange times, when some Christians question the value of the family, and others think that devotion to family is the same as devotion to God. Moore refuses to let the conversation remain on the extremes,” comments Mark Galli, Christianity Today editor-in-chief. “Moore recognizes that the family is crucial in God’s economy, but he doesn’t turn it into an idol. He explains persuasively how the church is our first family while giving practical, realistic direction in how to nurture and maintain a healthy, biblical family life, one that reflects the life, death, and resurrection of our Lord. In other words, he tells the truth about what it means to be a biblical family (orthodoxy) and does so in a way that makes the family good news (beautiful).”

Published in September 2018, “The Storm-Tossed Family” addresses questions such as “why do our families have so much power over us?” and explores how family makes us who we are and how understanding this can liberate us to live without fear.

A longtime pastor, a former professor and provost of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and current president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, Moore brings theological insight and pastoral approach to this most sensitive of topics.

“Dr. Moore’s work–really, everything he writes–is a rare combination of equal parts truth and beauty,” said B&H Trade Books Publisher Devin Maddox. “It’s fun to see Dr. Moore receive honor he so richly deserves.”

For the complete award announcement and additional judges’ comments, click here.

Russell Moore is president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, the moral and public policy agency of the nation’s largest Protestant denomination. He is a frequent cultural commentator, an ethicist and theologian by background and an ordained Southern Baptist minister. Moore is the author of several books, including ”Onward: Engaging the Culture without Losing the Gospel.” A native Mississippian, he and his wife Maria are the parents of five sons. For more information, visit russellmoore.com.

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,” No. 1 CBA bestseller “I Am a Church Member” as well as the newly-revised Christian Standard Bible (CSB) version.

WESTMONT, IL—Christianity Today has released the winners of its 2019 Book Awards, and InterVarsity Press is pleased to announce that it received top honors in four categories: Church/Pastoral Leadership, Fiction, Missions/Global Church, and Politics and Public Life. IVP also received the Award of Merit in the Apologetics/Evangelism category.

The IVP title that received the 2019 Book of the Year in the Church/Pastoral Leadership category was Preaching as Reminding: Stirring Memory in an Age of Forgetfulness by Jeffrey D. Arthurs. Jason Helopoulos, author of The New Pastor’s Handbook said, “This book just became required reading for any young pastor I have the privilege of ministering to in the future. Thankfully, the evangelical church over the past half century has emphasized the need for expositional preaching. Yet much of what passes as expositional preaching today lacks impact. It tends to feel more like a running commentary on the text, rather than preaching. Arthurs underscores the importance of remembering in preaching. He provides a helpful biblical theology of the role of memory, cites modern science’s help in this area, and then applies the knowledge to the discipline of preaching. This book is engaging, informative, and lively—just like our preaching should be.”

Megachurch Christianity Reconsidered: Millennials and Social Change in African Perspective by Wanjiru M. Gitau was the winner in the Missions/Global Church category. Building from a behind-the-scenes case study of Kenya’s Nairobi Chapel and its “daughter” Mavuno Church, Gitau expands their story into a narrative that offers analysis of the rise, growth, and place of megachurches worldwide in the new millennium. Megachurch Christianity Reconsidered is part of the Missiological Engagements Series from IVP.

“Gitau’s even-handed examination of Mavuno Church in particular (and megachurches in general) is a welcome addition to an ongoing conversation that tends either to glorify or denigrate the megachurch model,” said Jaclyn Parrish, writer, editor, and social media associate for the International Mission Board. “Moreover, Gitau provides a poignant example of contextual understanding that Christians around the world would do well to emulate. Her examination of Mavuno Church’s history and growth takes into full account the living, breathing world in which this congregation took root and grew. Sociological and cultural insights are combined with an incisive understanding of theology, politics, and globalization, opening new horizons for understanding how these factors affect the local church. As such, Gitau’s work exemplifies the process of gospel contextualization for churches of every size and in every culture.”

The top title in the Politics and Public Life category went to Scars Across Humanity: Understanding and Overcoming Violence Against Women by Elaine Storkey. Acts of violence against women produce more deaths, disability, and mutilation than cancer, malaria, and traffic accidents combined. Storkey offers a rigorously researched overview of this global pandemic, exploring how violence is structured into the very fabric of societies and cultures around the world.

Mae Elise Cannon, writer and minister, executive director of Churches for Middle East Peace, said, “Elaine Storkey courageously identifies how violence against women—be it physical, sexual, psychological, or economic—is, as her title suggests, a scar across humanity. Her work addresses the broad-sweeping manifestations of patriarchy in Christian history, the internalized gender discrimination and justification of abuse in societies around the world, and the church’s inadequate response to these violations and injustices. But this book isn’t just a broad-sweeping condemnation of Christian failure, as Storkey offers direct and clear recommendations for how violence against women can be overcome. Not an easy read, Scars Against Humanity is an essential work calling the Christian community to address one of the greatest injustices of our day.”

The top fiction winner for Christianity Today’s 2019 Book Awards was An Extra Mile: A Story of Embracing God’s Call by Sharon Garlough Brown. In this final installment of the Sensible Shoes Series, readers are invited to travel with these beloved friends as they endure trials that test their trust and their willingness to walk an extra mile.

“Even for those who have not read the first three books, Brown does a masterful job familiarizing readers with her four main characters and providing the necessary backstory,” said Rebecca LuElla Miller, freelance writer and editor, blogger at A Christian Worldview of Fiction. “Each character is realistic and believable, faced with inner and outer struggles that intermingle in ways that readers may recognize. These aren’t ‘strong females’ after the fashion of Hollywood blockbusters—they aren’t leading armies or embracing their destiny as the chosen one—but they prove themselves strong in the truest sense of the word: they face the needs in their everyday lives, recognize their spiritual condition, and struggle to walk with Christ day by day.”

The Morals of the Story: Good News About a Good God by David Baggett and Marybeth Baggett received the Award of Merit in the Apologetics/Evangelism category. Tawa Anderson, professor of philosophy, Oklahoma Baptist University, said, “The Baggetts are convinced that the moral argument for God’s existence and nature is among the most resonant and persuasive arguments available in contemporary society, and they do a masterful job of pooling the relevant resources. They highlight the inability of secular ethical theories to account for objective good and evil and human moral obligation. They also demonstrate the rich explanatory power of the Christian worldview in accounting for those same moral realities. If humanity’s deep and unshakable moral intuitions are correct, then The Morals of the Story demonstrates that the rational observer should embrace Christian theism in response.”

For a complete list of IVP award winners visit ivpress.com/award-winners.

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

CT’s 2019 Book Awards recognize works “most likely to shape evangelical life, thought, and culture”

Colorado Springs, Colo. (December 12, 2018) – Christianity Today has announced that NavPress’s (@NavPress) White Picket Fences: Turning toward Love in a World Divided by Privilege, by Amy Julia Becker (@amyjuliabecker), has received an “Award of Merit” as part of the iconic Christian magazine’s 2019 Book Awards. The entire list of winners is available here: CT Book Awards.

In White Picket Fences, Becker welcomes readers into her life, from the charm of her privileged southern childhood to her adult experience in the northeast, and the denials she has faced as the mother of a child with special needs. She shows how a life behind a white picket fence can restrict even as it protects, and how it can prevent us from loving our neighbors well. The book invites readers to respond to privilege with generosity, humility, and hope, and presents to us questions we are afraid to ask, so that we can walk further from fear and closer to love, in all its fragile and mysterious possibilities.

“What an honor to be included on this list,” said Becker. “I have been so encouraged by the responses from people across the country who are eager to engage in conversation about the challenging topic of privilege. I’ve learned so much in conversation with women and men who are considering the painful aspects of social divisions and who are seeking out ways to participate in God’s healing work.”

In all, twenty-seven books were recognized in thirteen different categories, which included “Theology/Ethics,” “Politics and Public Life,” and “History/Biography,” among others.White Picket Fences, which released October 2018, was one of two books recognized in the “CT Women” category, along with Perfectly Human by Sarah C. Williams.

“We couldn’t be more pleased for Amy Julia,” said Don Pape, Publisher, NavPress. “The CT Book Awards are recognized as some of the most prestigious book awards in Christian culture, and White Picket Fences deserves to be in that discussion. It is a culture-shaping book that will have a profound impact on how privilege is studied and discussed for years to come.”

Wrote Ruth Everhart, pastor of Hermon Presbyterian Church in Bethesda, Maryland, and author of Ruined: A Memoir about White Picket Fences in the Christianity Today awards announcement, “Amy Julia Becker writes from her context as an affluent white woman who could live comfortably within the white picket fences of suburbia. Yet she chooses to broaden her definition of neighbor. Told with grace and humility, this memoir will be a helpful companion to those who are wrestling with similar questions about privilege.”

Added Gabe Lyons, author and founder of Q Ideas, “Without shaming or victimizing, Becker considers painful truths and beautiful possibilities for healing the divisions of our present moment.”

Additional information about White Picket Fences and other NavPress resources are available at www.navpress.com.

About NavPress:  The NavPress mission is to advance the calling of The Navigators by bringing biblically rooted, culturally relevant, and highly practical products to people who want to know and love Christ more deeply. Through The Message Bible and other insightful resources, NavPress seeks to bring positive spiritual movement to peoples’ lives. In January 2014, NavPress entered into an alliance with Tyndale House Publishers to strengthen and better position NavPress and its rich content for the future. NavPress provides books and other content that bring spiritual impact and life transformation, and help lead in the mission of making disciples.

WHEATON, Ill. (December 12, 2018)—Crossway is pleased to announce that Rosaria Butterfield’s book The Gospel Comes with a House Key: Practicing Radically Ordinary Hospitality in Our Post-Christian World (Crossway, April 2018) has won the 2019 Christianity Today Book Award in the Christian Living & Discipleship category.

The Christianity Today book awards honor outstanding books of special interest to the Christian community. Winners are awarded in 14 categories including Apologetics/Evangelism, Biblical Studies, and Christian Living/Discipleship.

“It seems that God has raised up Rosaria Butterfield, with her incredible background, example, and prophetic voice, as a gift to the twenty-first-century church for such a time as this,” commends Justin Taylor, Crossway’s publisher for books. “We were honored to partner with her on this book, urging Christians to live out their calling in radically ordinary ways.”

In The Gospel Comes with a House Key, Butterfield shares engaging stories from her own life-changing encounter with radically ordinary hospitality to equip Christians to use their homes as a means to showing a post-Christian world what authentic love and faith really look like.

“Those who live out radically ordinary hospitality see their homes not as theirs at all but as God’s gift to use for the furtherance of his kingdom,” Butterfield writes. “They open doors; they seek out the underprivileged. They know that the gospel comes with a house key. They take biblical theology seriously, as well as Christian creeds and confessions and traditions.”

Available in both hardcover and ebook formats, The Gospel Comes with a House Key has received commendations from Russell D. Moore (president of The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission), Sam Allberry (speaker with Ravi Zacharias International Ministries), Gloria Furman (author of Treasuring Christ When Your Hands Are Full), and many others.

Butterfield is also the author of The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert (Crown & Covenant, 2012) and Openness Unhindered (Crown & Covenant, 2015). For more information about the author, visit rosariabutterfield.com.

Rosaria Butterfield (PhD, Ohio State University) is an author, speaker, pastor’s wife, homeschool mom, and former tenured professor of English and women’s studies at Syracuse University. She is the author of The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert and Openness Unhindered.

About Crossway: Founded in 1938, Crossway is a not-for-profit global Christian publishing ministry that publishes gospel-centered, Bible-centered content, to honor our Savior and serve his Church. Crossway seeks to help people understand the all-encompassing implications of the gospel and the truth of God’s Word—for all of life, for all eternity, and for the glory of God alone. Crossway is the global publisher of the ESV® (English Standard Version®) Bible, more than 1,000 Christian books, and an extensive list of gospel literature. For additional information, visit crossway.org.

Contact: Lauren Harvey, lharvey@crossway.org, (630) 682-4300, ext. 6031, crossway.org

WHEATON, Ill. (December 12, 2018)—Crossway is pleased to announce that Cameron Cole’s book Therefore I Have Hope: 12 Truths that Comfort, Sustain, and Redeem in Tragedy (Crossway, July 2018) has won the 2018 WORLD Magazine Accessible Theology Book of the Year.

“Many Christian authors have produced tear-jerking books centered on a child’s death or a friend’s demise. It is good and right to cry about death stalking those we love—Jesus wept and thus gave all of us permission to weep—but manipulating emotion to gain more clicks or sell more books seems not only unseemly but sub-Christian,” writes Marvin Olasky, World Magazine editor in chief. “That backstory is why Cameron Cole’s cry from the heart and mind is our Accessible Theology Book of the Year. Therefore I Have Hope can benefit both sufferers and their friends who want to help. Not settling for bathos, Cole steps through the Bible honestly in pursuit of—as the subtitle says—12 Truths That Comfort, Sustain, and Redeem in Tragedy.”

WORLD Magazine honors 5 nonfiction books, 25 short-list honorees, and four theological honorable mentions each year. Awards are given in the following categories:

• Science
• Understanding America
• Understanding the World
• History
• Accessible Theology

Therefore I Have Hope was written after the sudden death of Cole’s three-year-old son, when he and his wife found themselves clinging to Christ through twelve key theological truths—truths that became their lifeline in the midst of unthinkable grief. Weaving together their own story of tragic loss and abiding faith, Cole explores these twelve life-giving truths to offer hope and comfort to those in the midst of tragedy.

“Partnering with Cameron for this book has been a unique privilege and a holy responsibility,” says Dave DeWit, Crossway’s vice president of book publishing. “His poignant storytelling ability and his exposition of Scripture against the backdrop of the terrible grief and pain of loss serves readers well as he pictures the brilliance and power of the gospel in the midst of tragedy. Cameron epitomizes 2 Corinthians 1:3–4.”

Available in both paperback and ebook formats, Therefore I Have Hope has received commendations from Jen Pollock Michel (author of Teach Us to Want and Keeping Place), Scotty Ward Smith (pastor emeritus of Christ Community Church), Jay and Katherine Wolf (founders of HOPE HEALS), and many others.

Cameron Cole (MA, Wake Forest University) serves as director of children, youth, and family at the Cathedral Church of the Advent in Birmingham, Alabama, and is the chairman of Rooted, a ministry dedicated to fostering gospel-centered student ministry. He is the coeditor of Gospel-Centered Youth Ministry.

About Crossway: Founded in 1938, Crossway is a not-for-profit global Christian publishing ministry that publishes gospel-centered, Bible-centered content, to honor our Savior and serve his Church. Crossway seeks to help people understand the all-encompassing implications of the gospel and the truth of God’s Word—for all of life, for all eternity, and for the glory of God alone. Crossway is the global publisher of the ESV® (English Standard Version®) Bible, more than 1,000 Christian books, and an extensive list of gospel literature. For additional information, visit crossway.org.

Contact: Lauren Harvey, lharvey@crossway.org, (630) 682-4300, ext. 6031, crossway.org

Six Additional Crossway Titles Named Runners-Up

WHEATON, Ill. (December 12, 2018)—Crossway is pleased to announce that John Onwuchekwa’s book Prayer: How Praying Together Shapes the Church (Crossway, August 2018) has won the 2018 TGC Book Award in the Ministry category.

Each year, the Gospel Coalition awards winners in nine categories, including Public Theology & Current Events, Children’s, and Evangelism & Apologetics. The books selected are written and applied from a gospel-centered perspective, exemplify faithfulness to Scripture, encourage discernment in contemporary issues, and build up the church locally and globally.

In Prayer, part of the 9Marks: Building Healthy Churches series, Onwuchekwa emphasizes corporate prayer in the local church—not just as a tool in times of major crisis, but in all aspects of church life. He examines Scripture’s teaching on prayer, the early church’s example of prayer, and practical advice for individuals and churches looking to prioritize prayer.

“We—by which I mean we as Christians and church members together—should pray bigger and better and more biblical prayers,” writes Onwuchekwa. “In a sentence, that’s the goal of this book: learning how to pray better and more as churches. Just as our private prayer lives can be improved by God’s grace, so too can our corporate prayer lives.”

Available in both hardcover and ebook formats, Prayer has received commendations from Mark Dever (pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church), Thabiti Anyabwile (pastor of Anacostia River Church), Trillia Newbell (author of Enjoy and Fear and Faith), and many others.

Onwuchekwa also serves as the pastor of Cornerstone Church in Atlanta, Georgia. He was a contributor to 15 Things Seminary Couldn’t Teach Me (Crossway, March 2018).

Six additional Crossway titles were named runners-up in their respective categories:

• Remember Death by Matthew McCullough (Christian Living)
• Echoes of Exodus by Andrew Wilson and Alastair J. Roberts (Popular Theology)
• Expository Exultation by John Piper (Ministry)
• Lewis on the Christian Life by Joe Rigney (History & Biography)
• Can We Trust the Gospels? by Peter J. Williams (Evangelism & Apologetics)
• Therefore I Have Hope by Cameron Cole (First-Time Author)

Justin Taylor, Crossway’s publisher for books, writes, “Given our admiration for and resonance with the theological vision for ministry embodied by TGC, we always find these awards especially meaningful. We pray that the Lord would use these recognitions to encourage more readers to take up these books and to let them shape life and ministry.”

John Onwuchekwa (MA, Dallas Theological Seminary) serves as pastor of Cornerstone Church in Atlanta, Georgia.

About Crossway:  Founded in 1938, Crossway is a not-for-profit global Christian publishing ministry that publishes gospel-centered, Bible-centered content, to honor our Savior and serve his Church. Crossway seeks to help people understand the all-encompassing implications of the gospel and the truth of God’s Word—for all of life, for all eternity, and for the glory of God alone. Crossway is the global publisher of the ESV® (English Standard Version®) Bible, more than 1,000 Christian books, and an extensive list of gospel literature. For additional information, visit crossway.org.

Contact: Lauren Harvey, lharvey@crossway.org, (630) 682-4300, ext. 6031, crossway.org

WESTMONT, IL—The Gospel Coalition (TGC) has announced that Christianity at the Crossroads by Michael Kruger was chosen as one of its best books of 2018.

TGC reviews around three hundred titles each year between its regular book review section and its academic journal, Themelios. From those titles judges selected one 2018 TGC Book Award winner and one runner-up for each of nine categories. Christianity at the Crossroads was chosen as the award winner in the History & Biography category.

In an April 2018 Themelios review of Christianity at the Crossroads, David A. Evans wrote, “A masterful account of the church in the second century, this book skillfully describes Christianity’s movement into the wider pagan world and provides insight into the development of doctrine, formation of the canon, and Christian worship and practices. With an excellent summary of contemporary research on the second-century church, Christianity at the Crossroads could also be a manual for the church of the 21st century.”

Christianity at the Crossroads: How the Second Century Shaped the Future of the Church by Michael J. Kruger examines how Christianity took root in the second century, how it battled to stay true to the vision of the apostles, and how it developed in ways that would shape both the church and Western culture over the next two thousand years.

David A. deSilva, trustees’ distinguished professor of New Testament and Greek at Ashland Theological Seminary, said, “Kruger takes us into a world in which ‘Christianity’ is still very much at risk and up for grabs, struggling to find its identity in the midst of forces within and without seeking to define its identity or suppress its existence. His book invites us into the tensions and trajectories that would eventually give shape to what we, in distant retrospect, take for granted as Christian faith, practice, and polity. I recommend it highly, alongside the texts that have richly informed it (the apostolic fathers, the early martyrologies, and the apologists), to all those interested in learning how ‘New Testament faith’ found its footing and began to take root.”

TGC winners and runners-up are chosen based on whether they offer gospel-centered argument and application; include faithful and foundational use of Scripture, both Old Testament and New Testament; foster spiritual discernment of contemporary trials and trends; and encourage efforts to unite and renew the church.

For a complete list of IVP award winners visit ivpress.com/award-winners. 

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

NORTH CANTON, Ohio, Dec. 13, 2018 — The award-winning children’s book, The Sparkle Box: A Gift with the Power to Change Christmas, has sparked a movement to put the focus on the true meaning of Christmas by giving a gift to Jesus on His birthday. In a show of support, Worthy Publishing, the book’s publisher, did something unprecedented in the traditional world of children’s book publishing: it made The Sparkle Box available to read online for free through December 31, 2018.

The movement is inspired by a tradition called The Sparkle Box that is revealed at the end of the book. What The Sparkle Box contains catches readers by surprise. Unlike traditions pointing to the North Pole, The Sparkle Box points to the origin of Christmas: a celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ and the message he taught to care for those in need.

The Sparkle Box tradition requires the participant to give a gift to someone in need of basic necessities such as food, clothing, clean water or kindness. They write down the gift given and place it in the box. On Christmas morning, they remember Jesus by reading The Sparkle Box gift given in celebration of his birthday.

Author Jill Hardie said the ability to read the book for free is fueling a movement to do The Sparkle Box tradition. “When people read the book, there’s often an ah-ha moment of ‘This is what we’ve been missing in our celebration of Christmas.’ People want to share that. They want to be part of putting the focus on Jesus at Christmas and celebrating his birthday by giving him a gift,” said Hardie.

To read The Sparkle Box online for free visit, TheSparkleBox.com.

The Sparkle Box: A Gift with the Power to Change Christmas was published in hardback in 2012 by Ideals Children’s Books. The Sparkle Box received the EPCA Christian Book Award in 2014. On October 2, 2018, The Sparkle Box was released in paperback by Worthy Publishing. Both the hardback and paperback editions come with a foldable Sparkle Box. Written by Jill Hardie and illustrated by Christine Kornacki, The Sparkle Box is available at many local bookstores and online at Barnes & Noble, Christian Books and Amazon. The book can be read for free at TheSparkleBox.com through December 31, 2018.

Contact: Jill Hardie, 330-418-4492

WESTMONT, IL—With nearly fifty thousand books representing nine hundred titles, InterVarsity Press will soon be hosting the largest missions bookstore in the world at the twenty-fifth Urbana Student Missions Conference.

The Urbana 18 Conference, held in St. Louis, Missouri, will include nearly sixteen thousand attendees, two hundred seminars, and two hundred sixty organizations. It starts on Thursday, December 27, and concludes at midnight on New Year’s Eve. During this five-day conference, participants engage in a variety of experiences, including sixteen thousand person worship sessions, Bible exposition, messages and seminars, manuscript Bible studies, testimonies from the global church, and prayer ministry. And IVP employees and volunteers will once again construct and serve at the expansive pop-up bookstore for Urbana.

“The Urbana Student Missions Conference has made a significant impact on global missions for decades,” Jeff Crosby, IVP’s publisher, said. “And through Urbana, we have had the opportunity to introduce hundreds of thousands of people to life-changing books published not only by IVP but by other like-minded companies who care for global missions, for the expansion of the gospel, for social justice, evangelism, and Bible study. Those books return to homes and dormitories; they are studied, applied, and acted on. As an extension of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, we are privileged to be the bookstore curator for Urbana.”

Books will be discounted from 30 to 70 percent and also include the ever-popular Books of the Day that are just five dollars.

Al Hsu, senior editor for IVP Books, will be participating in his ninth Urbana Missions Conference this year. He said, “When I attended Urbana 93 as a college student, I was amazed and overwhelmed by the big picture of what God was doing in the world. So I found my way to the IVP bookstore at Urbana, where I bought every Book of the Day and dozens of other books to help me navigate my next steps after the conference. I literally brought two boxes of books home with me on the bus! The books students encounter at Urbana can help them discern their vocation and get them to wherever in the world God may be calling them to serve.”

“We long to see this student generation fully engaged in God,” said Ruth Hubbard, vice president for Urbana. “For many, Urbana will be a time when they say yes to God’s invitation. The journey from yes to full engagement requires intentional discipleship. I’m confident that the books they purchase from Urbana’s bookstore curated by IVP will support this journey. Part of the Urbana legacy of yes is a legacy of deep discipleship through things like Urbana’s Book of the Day offerings.”

This year the Urbana Books of the Day will include:

• Crossing Cultures with Jesus: Sharing Good News with Sensitivity and Grace by Katie J. Rawson
• Anxious: Choosing Faith in a World of Worry by Amy Simpson
• From Cairo to Christ: How One Muslim’s Faith Journey Shows the Way for Others by Abu Atallah and Kent A. Van Til
• The Power of the 72: Ordinary Disciples in Extraordinary Evangelism by John Teter
• The Power of Proximity: Moving Beyond Awareness to Action by Michelle Ferrigno Warren
• Rethinking Incarceration: Advocating for Justice That Restores by Dominique DuBois Gilliard
• Sabbath Keeping: Finding Freedom in the Rhythms of Rest by Lynne M. Baab
• Mending the Divides: Creative Love in a Conflicted World by Jon Huckins and Jer Swigart
• Beyond Colorblind: Redeeming Our Ethnic Journey by Sarah Shin

Several of these IVP authors—Amy Simpson, Michelle Ferrigno Warren, Dominique DuBois Gillard, and John Teter—will be plenary speakers at the conference and participating in book signings in the bookstore. Other plenary speakers and book signings, include Danielle Strickland, author of A Beautiful Mess; René Breuel, author of The Paradox of Happiness; and John D. Inazu, author of Confident Pluralism. A complete list of plenary and seminar speakers is available at urbana.org/speakers, and plenary sessions will be streaming live from urbana.org. There will also be regular updates and chances to share on Twitter with hashtags #u18 and #urbanabooks.

Books and ebooks featured at the conference will be available to purchase online at ivpress.com/urbanabooks. The Urbana conference discounted prices will be offered between December 27 and January 2.

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 | 630.734.4059 | kclayton@ivpress.com

Nashville, Tenn. (December 2018) – Bestselling author and international TV host Bear Grylls is known worldwide as one of the most-recognized faces of survival and outdoor adventure. He began his journey in 21 SAS before becoming one of the youngest-ever climbers of Mount Everest.

He then went on to star in seven seasons of the Discovery Channel’s Emmy Award-nominated“Man vs. Wild” TV series, which became one of the most-watched shows on the planet, reaching an estimated 1.2 billion viewers.

Most recently “Running Wild” has featured Bear taking some of the world’s best-known stars on incredible adventures. These include President Obama, Julia Roberts, Roger Federer, Will Ferrell, Zac Efron, Channing Tatum, Kate Winslet, to name but a few.

Nature has taught Grylls some important lessons, and behind every feat is a story of grit, determination, and strength grounded in faith. 

Grylls is sharing those lessons and more in his new book, Soul Fuel: A Daily Devotional, out July 30, 2019. Grylls shares the backstories behind many of his most daring expeditions and how his faith gave him the purpose and power to carry on in 365 devotions as he explores themes of hope, courage, risk, heaven, and more. 

“This is all about making spirituality attainable. This is the stuff that I do every day quietly. I read a little about life, the Bible, things that will strengthen me and bring peace and power into my life. My Christian faith has been a key part of my journey,” said Grylls. “This has really come about because so many people have come to me and said that they know I have a faith and have wondered how it impacts my life.”

Soul Fuel is inspired by Grylls’ ‘in the wild’ experiences. Most of his Soul Fuel writings were done on his phone out in nature. Grylls has sold over 15 million books, including international bestseller Mud, Sweat, and Tears. 

“Celebrities are often guarded, rightfully interested in protecting their privacy. So when someone like Bear Grylls wants to share a part of his life that isn’t regularly on display, you seize the opportunity. He wrote each entry—from whatever cave, whatever cliff, whatever jungle he was in—to share a very personal, relatable part of himself with people like you and me. What a privilege it is for Zondervan to be able to share this side of Bear Grylls with the rest of the world,” said Lee Eric Fesko, Specialty Publishing Division associate publisher.

Bear Grylls has become known worldwide as one of the most recognized faces of survival and outdoor adventure. His journey started as a young boy on the Isle of Wight, where his late father taught him to climb and sail.

Trained from a young age in martial arts, Grylls went on to spend three years as a soldier in the British Special Forces, as part of 21 SAS Regiment. It was here that he perfected many of the survival skills that his fans all over the world enjoy, as he pits himself against the worst of Mother Nature. Despite a free-fall parachuting accident in Africa, where he broke his back in three places and endured many months in and out of military rehabilitation, Grylls recovered and went on to become one of the youngest climbers ever to reach the summit of Mount Everest.

Since then he has gone on to host more extreme adventure TV shows across more global networks than anyone else in the world, including five seasons of the BAFTA award-winning The Island with Bear Grylls and the US hit TV show Running Wild.

His autobiography Mud, Sweat and Tears spent 15 weeks at Number 1 in the Sunday Times Bestseller list and he has written over 85 books, selling in excess of 15 million copies worldwide. He is an Honorary Colonel to the Royal Marines Commandos, the youngest ever UK Chief Scout and the first ever Chief Ambassador to the World Scout Movement, representing a global family of some fifty million Scouts.

He is married to Shara and together they have three young boys who also love adventure. They live between a houseboat on the Thames and a private island off the Welsh coast. Bear’s life motto is simple: courage and kindness… and never give up!

About Zondervan:  Zondervan is a world-leading Bible publisher and provider of Christian communications. Zondervan, as part of HarperCollins Christian Publishing, Inc., delivers transformational Christian experiences through its bestselling Bibles, books, curriculum, academic resources and digital products. The Company’s products are sold worldwide and translated into nearly 200 languages. Zondervan offices are located in Grand Rapids, MI. For additional information, please visit www.zondervan.com.

Contact:  Angela Guzman, Publicist, (615) 902-2737, Angela.guzman@harpercollins.com