April 2025 | LISLE, IL—The Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA) has announced that two InterVarsity Press (IVP) titles—The Wood Between the Worlds and How Not to Waste a Crisis—are among the finalists for the 2025 Christian Book Award® program.
The Wood Between the Worlds: A Poetic Theology of the Cross is a finalist in the Christian Living category of the Christian Book Award® program. Brian Zahnd, founder and lead pastor of Word of Life Church in St. Joseph, Missouri, offers compelling theopoetics and references to music, art, literature, and culture to bring new perspectives to our understanding of the cross.
Jonathan Merritt, author and contributing writer for The Atlantic, said, “Most books on the cross of Christ are regurgitations of outmoded atonement theories that say almost nothing memorable. But Brian Zahnd has once again broken the mold with his revolutionary book The Wood Between the Worlds. Herein we have a capacious portrait of Jesus’ sacrifice that is so stunningly beautiful and uniquely framed that the reader cannot look away. An enrapturing volume to reignite the church’s curiosity around the crucifixion penned by one of today’s most provocative pastors.”
The other Christian Book Award® finalist, chosen for the Ministry Resources category, is How Not to Waste a Crisis: Quit Trying Harder by Tod Bolsinger, author of the bestselling Canoeing the Mountains.
Unlike a typical leadership book, How Not to Waste a Crisis is an invitation to rethink and redefine your approach to leadership in times of upheaval. Bolsinger’s book is one of four in the Practicing Change Series. The other titles in the series include The Mission Always Wins: Quit Appeasing Stakeholders, Leading Through Resistance: Quit Pushing Back, and Invest in Transformation: Quit Relying on Trust.
Richard Stearns, president emeritus of World Vision US and author of Lead Like It Matters to God, said, “Here’s a scary truth: regardless of where you work or what you do for a living, a crisis is coming. In fact multiple crises lie ahead for you because our world is now changing at an unprecedented rate, and those changes will render you and your organization obsolete if you can’t find a way to continuously adapt to these coming crises. Leading through these changes will require leaders who aren’t afraid to slay some sacred cows, challenge conventional wisdom, and even live outside their own leadership comfort zones. Adaptation will be the single most critical survival skill of the twenty-first century. Tod Bolsinger’s four short books in the Practicing Change Series are the ‘emergency preparedness drill’ that you will be grateful to have read when the next ‘tsunami’ hits your organization.”
The winners in each category, along with the 2025 Christian Book of the Year®, will be presented at the at the ECPA Awards Celebration in Nashville on April 29th.
For a complete list of IVP award-winning titles visit ivpress.com.
Contact: Krista Clayton | kclayton@ivpress.com
