Collide Magazine

No, your secret name is not Kary Oberbrunner. Kary Oberbrunner is a pastor and the author of the upcoming book Your Secret Name.

I’m excited about the new book, and I love the way Kary is launching it: with a free online launch party on Monday, March 15. RSVP for the launch party and spend some time hanging out — throughout the day Kary will be giving away some great prizes such as five free subscriptions to COLLIDE. And if that’s not enough to pique your interest, he’s also giving away an Apple iPad. Not bad, huh? RSVP here.

Another cool way in which Kary is promoting the new book is through the trailer below. It’s beautifully shot and features a great song from Robbie Seay. Check it out:

See you at the Your Secret Name launch party on Monday!

Today, we’re honored to participate in the Faithbook of Jesus blog tour. Faithbook of Jesus is an upcoming daily devotional book for 20-something written by Renee Johnson and being released by NavPress. Each devotional will have a daily verse, commentary, prayer, and a quote from a real 20-something — sounds good, right?

Renee told me the book is the culmination of seven years of blogging devotionals, and her inspiration comes from a great place. “I was inspired by my time spent daily in the word growing up as a teenager and the struggles in my health,” Renee said. “God faithfully met me in the Word and through His comfort I wanted to encourage others that the too could find the same comfort I had received from Him.”

One aspect of Renee’s book that I really like is that it isn’t just a book — there’s a unique interactive component, too. In March, Renee is launching an online community to complement the book at http://faithbookofjesus.ning.com. It’ll be a place for readers to discuss the devotionals, as well as life and faith, as they go through the book. I’ll be surprised if, in the coming years, more and more authors don’t do what Renee is doing — leveraging the Web in order to add layers to their books.

You can find out more about Renee and her book here.

Pre-order Faithbook of Jesus on Amazon here.

You’re all familiar with David Crowder and David Crowder Band, right? Right. But what about Crowder’s book, co-authored by bandmate Mike Hogan, Everybody Wants to Go to Heaven but Nobody Wants to Die? A new version of the book was released recently and, thus, we have something special for you.

Click here to read my Q&A with David Crowder, and at the bottom of the article you’ll find instructions for a little contest/giveaway. And what’s the prize? Kids, I’ve got three signed copies of the book to send to three lucky people.

Read the article. Enter the contest. Win a signed book (maybe).

Recently, I had the pleasure of reading Chasing Francis by Ian Morgan Cron. It’s a quick read and will give all you church leaders something to think about as you serve the Church in the 21st century. Beyond that, Chasing Francis had some really inspiring things to say about the value of the arts and artists to the Church. One of my favorite parts was a journal entry by Cron’s protagonist that features excerpts from “The Letter of His Holiness Pope John Paul II to Artists.” See how this grabs you:

… In order to communicate the message entrusted to her by Christ, the church needs art.

… In Christ, God has reconciled the world to himself. All believers are called to bear witness to this; but it is up to you, men and women who have given your lives to art, to declare with all the wealth of your ingenuity that in Christ the world is redeemed.

… Beauty is a key to the mystery and a call to transcendence. It is an invitation to savour life and to dream of the future.

… Artists of the world, may your many different paths all lead to that infinite Ocean of beauty where wonder becomes awe, exhilaration, unspeakable joy.

I don’t know about you, but I love that perspective — it’s both encouraging and challenging. As he says, it’s up to you to declare with all the wealth of your ingenuity that in Christ the world is redeemed. Is there a better calling?

Last week Barnes & Noble announced their Nook e-reader to the world and, we must say, we were highly impressed and somewhat tempted to purchase one. It seems that there is finally an emerging market for e-readers, now that Amazon, Sony, and Barnes & Noble all have their own hardware. And there are still rumors that Apple may have something up their sleeve in the new year. While this may not be good news for the paper book industry, it sure is good news for trees all around the world.

So we’d like to know what your thoughts are on e-readers. Do you own one? Are they the greatest invention since sliced bread? Or do you prefer a good ‘ole paper book? Let us know by filling out our E-Reader Poll below:

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