RELATIONSHIPS

Tom Holladay. The Relationship Principles of Jesus. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, 2008. 336 pages. $19.99.

Intended as a follow-up to Rick Warren’s “The Purpose Driven Life,” Holladay, also of the Saddleback Church of Lake Forest, Calif., explores the area of personal renewal.

Holladay guides the reader through a 40-day study using Jesus’ actions as a template for our relationships. The book culminates in six key principles to loving people.



PRAYER

Shane Clairborne and Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove. Becoming the Answer to Our Prayers: Prayer for Ordinary Radicals. Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 2008. 124 pages. $13.

Taking up key biblical passages, this volume shows how prayer and action go together. Among the prayers considered are the Lord’s Prayer and Jesus’ prayer for unity.

Claiborne is the author of “The Irresistible Revolution.” Wilson-Hartgrove wrote “Free to Be Bound.”




BIBLE STUDY

Chris Altrock. Rebuilding Relationships: A Sermon on the Mount Floor Plan. St. Louis: Chalice, 2008: 138 pages. $16.99

These 13 chapters show how Jesus’ words in Matthew 5-7 offer a way to transform relationships, deepen spirituality, survive financially and improve life.

While fully aware of the complexities of the passage, Altrock, preacher at the Highland church in Memphis, Tenn., explains the text and illustrates it with stories from real life.





SPIRITUALITY

Eugene Peterson. Tell it Slant: A Conversation on the Language of Jesus in His Stories and Prayers. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 2008. 264 pages. $24

Peterson, professor emeritus at Regent College in Canada, explores the way Jesus used words, stressing how his was an indirect oblique language that required a participating imagination, a “slant” language. This conversational giftedness of Jesus nurtures the efforts of all believers to make their speech a blessing to others.