Dear Mockingbird Friend,

Over the last ten or so years, we’ve had the privilege of publishing a number of thoughtful, exceptional, and occasionally unusual books. Each is the result of a lot of love and time, all in an effort to communicate God’s grace in fresh terms. Anyone looking for theology, a devotional, a memoir, or a strange combination of all three … take a gander. We’ve got you covered.

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Devotionals

Daily Grace || Mockingbird Devotional Vol. 2

Through personal experience and bucketloads of compassion, Daily Grace reveals the gospel for what it is: endless love and relief rising through the weeds of ordinary life. Composed by over sixty different contributors, these brief scriptural devotions offer comfort and wisdom while pointing toward Jesus Christ. Whether you read this book daily, or once in a blue moon during a personal breakdown (it happens to all of us!), this grace is for you.

Available in hardcover, paperback, & on Kindle.

 

The Mockingbird Devotional || Good News for Today
(and Every Day)

With humor and heart (and a surprising number of disco and B-movie references) the 365 short devotions in The Mockingbird Devotional carry the good news of God’s mercy and forgiveness to the inner-rooms of human reality.

Available in hardcover, paperback, & on Kindle.

 

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Theology

Law & Gospel: A Theology for Sinners (and Saints) || William McDavid, Ethan Richardson, & David Zahl

There’s a big difference between judgment and love, obligation and freedom, a wage and a gift. The difference characterizes an extraordinary amount of our day-to-day experience, often dividing fear from hope, and death from life. At the heart of Christianity lies a related dynamic: between the Law and the Gospel. Written with the non-theologian in mind, this short volume unpacks the Good News with practicality, humor, and a whole lot of heart.

Available in paperback & on Kindle. Also available in Spanish here (free online pdf or Kindle only).

 

Grace in Addiction: The Good News of Alcoholics Anonymous for Everybody || John Z.

The Church and Alcoholics Anonymous are both in the business of bringing “hope to the hopeless,” yet the two worlds seldom seem to interact. Grace in Addiction attempts to bridge this divide and carry the liberating message of AA out of the basement and into the pews — and beyond! Recommended for anyone who has struggled with addiction, knows someone who’s struggled with addiction, or spent any time living/breathing.

Available in paperback & on Kindle.

 

PZ’s Panopticon: An Off-The-Wall Guide to World Religion || Paul F.M. Zahl

PZ’s Panopticon weighs the world’s organized religions, such as Christianity and Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism; but it also weighs “dead” religions like those of the Aztecs, the ancient Egyptians, and the Greeks and Romans. There are also religions that are not called religions, like money and fame and sex; family and your children; ideology; and power. PZ’s Panopticon is a wild ride. But it’s part of a trip we are all going to take. 

Available in paperback & on Kindle.

 

An Easy Stroll Through a Short Gospel: Meditations on
Mark || Larry Parsley

A walk is better with a friend. Reading the Bible can be the same way. In An Easy Stroll Through a Short Gospel, Larry Parsley guides us through the shortest official take on the biggest life ever lived — the story of Jesus played out in the Gospel of Mark. The journey is relatively quick, but the vistas you’ll see along the way can linger for a lifetime.

Available in paperback & on Kindle.

 

A Mess of Help: From the Crucified Soul of Rock N’ Roll || David Zahl

David Zahl riffs on the intersection of music, memoir, and theology to create a fresh and colorful series of essays that truly stands alone. Arranged like an album, A Mess of Help surveys some of pop’s most eccentric icons in hopes of finding answers to both the small questions and the big ones. So if you’ve ever wondered how fundamentalism sparked Guns N’ Roses or what ABBA can do for your marriage, open your heart and drop the needle.

Available in paperback & on Kindle.

 

Eden and Afterward: A Mockingbird Guide to Genesis || William McDavid

The Bible is as strange as it is surprising. Even its most well-known stories can catch us off guard, revealing things about God and about ourselves that we had not seen before. Nowhere is this more true than with the book of Genesis. Its iconic accounts of apple-eaters and ark-builders sharpen our view of human life and the God who works in the midst of it. With empathy and imagination, Eden and Afterward traces the first notes of the song of grace which plays throughout the entire Bible.

Available in paperback & on Kindle.

 

Life is Impossible: And That’s Good News || Nick Lannon

Many of us will admit that life is hard. We buckle down, put our noses to the grindstone…and often wind up exhausted or burned out. But the problem isn’t that life is difficult. The problem is that life is impossible! Fortunately, what sounds like bad news is merely the beginning of the Good News in this concise book about God’s abundant mercy and love. With wisdom, humor, and compassion, Nick Lannon casts life’s painful realities in the light of Jesus, the One who achieves the unachievable.

Available in paperback & on Kindle.

 

The Useful Sinner || J. David Hawkins

“For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do — this I keep on doing.” So wrote St. Paul, a “useful sinner.”

On a winter day in 1990, J. David Hawkins was in the field, hunting with friends, suffering inner turmoil. Shortly he would be exposed as an adulterer, involved with the wife of his friend and employer. This is an absorbing true story of grace — of betrayal, trial, pain, forgiveness, and new life.

Available in paperback & on Kindle.

 

This American Gospel: Public Radio Parables and the Grace of God || Ethan Richardson

For many people, the public radio program This American Life serves as a weekly reminder of what it means to be alive. Ethan Richardson sheds light on the elements of the program that most resonate with the Christian faith, such as the weariness that comes from expectation, and the inspiring power of mercy. With playfulness and wit, he selects episodes from the show’s tenure, and expounds on their potential as parables of the paradoxical realities of the Christian message.

Available in paperback & on Kindle.

 

Faith Once Delivered: Sermons from Christ Church || Paul N. Walker

Drawing on such canonical sources as Shakespeare, Arrested Development, U2, and many more, this collection of sermons connects the Gospel to our everyday life with wit and grace. Presenting Scripture’s own sober view of things, Paul Walker diagnoses the pain and guilt that so often plague us. But amid that bleak account of our experience, the preacher’s punch line is always the same: Christ died and rose again to heal, pardon, and free us. These sermons remind us of the Gospel’s sustaining hope.

Available in hardcover & paperback.

 

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Memoirs

Churchy: The Real Life Adventures of a Wife, Mom and Priest || Sarah Condon

One woman’s hilarious and deeply touching dispatch from the trenches of contemporary life, Churchy traces the fingerprints of grace from hospital hallways to community swimming pools to church nurseries and back again. Unflinchingly honest yet unfailingly hopeful, Rev. Sarah is a genre unto herself. You’ve never had this much fun going to church. 

Available in paperback & on Kindle.

 

Unmapped: The (Mostly) True Story of How Two Women Lost at Sea Found Their Way Home || Charlotte Getz & Stephanie Phillips

Stephanie Phillips and Charlotte Getz never expected to raise their families anywhere but home, in the American South. But then…life happened. Quirky, hilarious, and (mostly) true, Unmapped is the tale of two long-distance friends who found home—together and apart—in unexpected exile. This spiritual memoir duet is unlike anything you’ve ever read.

Available in hardcover, paperback, & on Kindle.

 

Peace in the Last Third of Life: A Handbook of Hope for Boomers || Paul F.M. Zahl

In his newest book, Peace in the Last Third of Life, The Rev. Dr. Paul F.M. Zahl provides a roadmap to finding peace and hope for the ‘Boomer’ generation. Zahl’s wisdom comes not only from his decades in pastoral ministry, but also from cultural and historical illustrations. With piercing wisdom and unflagging humor, Peace in the Last Third of Life connects the core questions of Boomers to the Supernatural Power of God.

Available in hardcover, audiobook, & on Kindle.

 

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Etc.

The Very Persistent Pirate || Written by CJ Green, Illustrated by Maddy Green

This is the story of what happens when a little boy and his monkey steal booty from a snoozing pirate. A beautifully illustrated adventure about the stubbornness of grace and forgiveness, Mockingbird’s first children’s book, The Very Persistent Pirate, is a swashbuckling tale of good news for sinners and saints ages 3-7.

Available in hardcover.

 

The Elegy Beta: And Other Poems || Mischa Willett

From critically acclaimed poet Mischa Willett, The Elegy Beta features impressionistic meditations on faith and everyday life. In concert with Rilke’s Duino Elegies, this collection simmers with luminous, transcendent language. It is elegant, sharp, and frequently funny.

Available in hardcover, paperback, & on Kindle.

 

Mockingbird at the Movies

Mockingbird at the Movies is a collection of essays from a wide range of contributors, exploring the films that have touched us most. Some are beautiful, some confrontational, some silly, some sad, some all of the above; taken together, they bear witness to the power of film to move the heart and lift the spirit. Grab your popcorn and press play.

Available in paperback & on Kindle.

 

Robert Farrar Capon

When it comes to grace, no one writes with more elegance, humor, and well, grace, than Robert Farrar Capon. Since his first publication hit shelves in 1963, Robert’s voice has served as one of the guiding lights for the Christian faith from generation to generation. These new editions were published in close partnership with the Capon estate.

All five books available in paperback & on Kindle.

 

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The Mockingbird

The latest from Mbird’s triannual magazine! These issues and more available here. Subscribe to The Mockingbird here.

The Age Issue || Issue 19

Aging is uniquely personal. Only you can say what it feels like to you. That’s why much of this issue features personal reflections from writers in different stages of life, sharing with us what the view is like from there. We cover childhood through old age, featuring a hilarious Q&A with kids, as well as an interview about why life gets better after 50. We have essays on nostalgia, midlife malaise, and most importantly, a consistent message of hope that transcends time.

Available for preorder here & shipping in early December!

 

The Money Issue || Issue 18

In these pages, we examine what Jesus said about money, what the Church has said, and what our daily experiences have shown. We reflect on poverty, aspiration, and middle-class guilt. We have interviews about economic precarity, the theology of capitalism, and the social psychology of (material) possession. You’ll find writing from poets, priests, moms, even a stockbroker! Per usual, we arrive at the gamble of faith from all different places.

The outcome, we think, is right on the money.  

Available here.

 

The Surprise Issue || Issue 17

In this issue, we reflect on surprises of all sorts. We remember the times when our plans were foiled by romance, tragedy, and, yes, a pandemic. We investigate the surprise that Christianity (a religion staked, quite literally, on the body of a crucified convict) should exist at all.

Available here.

 

The Sports Issue || Issue 16

We bring you stories of the underdogs and the over-hyped, of long-distance runners and stationary Pelotonians. We chat with high school and college coaches about the pressure to perform, and with NFL athletes about the need to be reborn. We have interviews with skateboard legend and pastor Christian Hosoi, and Atlanta Falcons player/chaplain, Jason Webster. And that’s just the start!

Whether you’re a baseball fan or not, batter up.

Available here.

COMMENTS

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