We are pleased to announce that the newest book by Steven Garber, Visions of Vocation: Common Grace for the Common Good (InterVarsity Press, $16.00.) which is scheduled for a March release, is now available at Hearts & Minds Books.
This is something very, very special. There had been rumors for years that Steve was working on this book, but now it is a reality! Among many of our most astute BookNotes readers, it will doubtlessly be the publishing event of the year.
For those of you who know me or have been reading my book reviews, I suppose you know that Steve is one of my best friends, and a person I admire as much as or more than anyone. His mid-1970s college years included studying at L’Abri; developing a friendship with Os Guinness and John Stott; working for the CCO for a while to reach out to medical and law grad students in Pittsburgh. He ran our beloved Jubilee conference, years ago. He has worked at the CCCU American Studies Program mentoring students about “weaving together belief and behavior in the university years.”
His first book, The Fabric of Faithfulness: Weaving Together Belief and Behavior is mature and rich, well written and substantive, full of questions about how to build in to one’s learning the habits of heart and patterns of practices that yield a life-long, sustained sort of full-orbed, whole-life, missional discipleship. It is one of my all time favorite books.
For Fabric of Faithfulness, Steve interviewed a bunch of folks who were approaching mid-life at the time of his research and invited them to reflect on the earlier years of their faith formation. The things he learned from these conversations, the stories people told him about what worked for them in their own deepening faith journey, were different versions of the same three themes. Three things kept coming up, aspects of sustained, deepening faith, namely,
- Conviction – believing the Biblical witness to be truly true,
- Character – realizing and learning from a mentor that truth must be embodied and lived out, and
- Community – yep, every person insisted that life-long friendships are the relational crucible from which authentic faith can develop and be sustained.
Anyway, Fabric of Faithfulness is nearly a “cult classic” as many people (and not a few significant Christian leaders) suggest it is one of the most important books they’ve ever read. I know colleges and para-church ministries, seminaries and non-profits, who have re-calibrated their programs around Garber’s early work.
One of the things that kept coming up in Steve’s speaking and teaching around the themes of Fabric is how one lives out one’s faith in one’s own place, one’s own career or job or ministry.
Indeed, a few years back Garber started the Washington Institute on Faith, Vocation & Culture to continue to reflect upon, teach, mentor, network, and advance the cause of robust evangelical faith, lived out for the common good, especially in the spheres of vocations and careers and callings. He started inviting people to “vocare” dinners, guiding them as they reflected on short readings (an excerpt from Lesslie Newbigin, or a Wendell Berry short story, or something from Abraham Heschel’s The Prophets) with others in their own profession, applying faith to vocation.
He recently spearheaded a doctoral program in faith, vocation, and culture at Covenent Seminary, which the Executive Director of Reintegrate, Bob Robinson, has been working in. By the end of this year, Bob’s dissertation will be finished, in which he is researching what the pastors that Steve has influenced have done in advancing the idea that “vocation is integral, not incidental, to the mission of God in the world” to their congregations.
And so, this new Visions of Vocation book is very, very much in the Garber trajectory, not a sequel, really, of that earlier book, but an ongoing exploration. Visions of Vocation bears his unique style – eloquent, beautiful, deep, yet honest and real with plenty of stories and illustrations (drawn not only from real life – he is a good listener – but also from literature, film, and the lyrics of pop music.) Not every author who cites Vaclav Havel or Geerhardus Vos also quotes Mumford & Sons.
This much-anticipated book carries some of the best endorsements I have ever seen on a book, from authors and leaders and good folks I trust (see a sampling of them below). I am already convinced that it is one of the best books of 2014 and, I predict, will be one of the most talked about books of this coming decade.
SPECIAL DISCOUNT for (re)integrate readers
Visions of Vocation: Common Grace for the Common Good by Steven Garber
20% off
regularly $16.00
now $12.80
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Endorsements
“As I read Visions of Vocation, I felt deeply encouraged to ‘know the world and still love it.’ This book informed and captivated my mind with its wide range of theological, cultural, literary and personal conversations. But, more than any book I have read in a long time, Visions of Vocation touched my heart. It helped me recover my longing for God’s justice. It renewed my commitment to making a difference where God has placed me. It inspired me to live out my own vocation faithfully, trusting God with the results of my labors. How thankful I am for the godly wisdom of Steve Garber, shared so generously in Visions of Vocation.” (Mark D. Roberts, executive director of digital media, The High Calling/H. E. Butt Foundation)
“Steve Garber is one of the few consistent sources of wisdom that I rely on personally for my journey as an artist and as a Christ-follower. Like Magi’s stars to the weary travelers in faith and culture, Visions of Vocation is a clear manifestation in the dark skies of our complex times that points to an integrated source of wisdom, delight and hope.” (Makoto Fujimura, artist)
“Visions of Vocation asks the most compelling and human questions about how to love the world once you come to truly know it. These pages are packed with stories of wisdom and grace, serving as a vocational compass for anyone seeking true guidance in the midst of a complex world. I am grateful for the mentorship of Steve Garber’s words, and I know you will be too.” (Jena Lee Nardella, cofounder, Blood:Water Mission)
“Visions of Vocation is a feast for the heart, mind and soul. A master teacher, storyteller and writer, Steve Gerber has woven together a lifetime of stories, insights and wisdom, vividly–and at times emotionally–showing how our vocations are at the heart of our love and service to God. I have never known anyone who teaches through story, literature and movies better than Steve. His narratives not only pull me in but they hit me right in the heart–and mind–time and time again, shaping my imagination so that when I have finished I see the world differently. And I act differently. Teachers, professors, students, parents, those in the marketplace, and all who want their lives to matter should read this book. This is a very important book for the church and Christians today.” (Jim Belcher, author of In Search of Deep Faith)
“Few have thought as long, hard or well about vocation as Steve Garber. With his characteristically accessible and pastoral prose, in Visions of Vocation Garber sheds light on the dilemmas of working well in this broken-yet-beautiful world. He equips us to fight against our tendencies toward cynicism, stoicism and distraction with biblical truth and insights from the best of philosophy and literature. His real-life stories of Christians living for the common good make vocational faithfulness–the willingness to be implicated in the pain of this world–plausible and attractive. Read this and see afresh how the great Christian story, and especially the innumerable wonders of the incarnation, empower us to ‘tear off a corner of the darkness’ in the particular places and roles we daily inhabit.” (Amy L. Sherman, author of Kingdom Calling)
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