A Couple of Books of Interest



This past week when I was at our district's Professional Church Worker's Conference, I was once again blessed to find some worthwhile books to add to my library. The two highlighted here are 2008 publications of Concordia Publishing House.

For those familiar with Bo Giertz (1905-1998), best known as author of The Hammer of God (1941) and one time bishop in the Lutheran Church of Sweden, the recent translation of his devotional To Live with Christ is a true gem to acquire. 830 pages, arranged according to the church calendar with short devotional readings and prayer, hardbound, and my copy was secured for only $16.00 ($19.99 list price at CPH.)

Arthur A. Just Jr. is a name familiar to any who attended Concordia-Ft. Wayne in the last 20 years. He came to the seminary during my student days (1983-1987.) I was able to take some of his new liturgical courses before I graduated, and in a cursory look of his most recent work Heaven on Earth: The Gifts of Christ in the Divine Service, I saw several familiar illustrations from my old student notes. This work is a capstone collection of many articles and notes collected over the years and well worth the price of only $12.00 I paid at the conference ($14.99 list price, although you can get it for less through Amazon.com)-- 307 pages, paperback. For those interested in liturgical history and practice, especially as it is traced from its Jewish and Early Church roots through the time of the Lutheran liturgical renewal, this would be a good addition to anyone's library.

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