Don’t let the abstract and unwieldy title scare you away. Biblical scholars Jeffrey L. Staley and Richard Walsh have done us all a great service in Jesus, the Gospels, and Cinematic Imagination (WJK). Their focus is revealed in the subtitle: A Handbook to Jesus on DVD.

Staley and Walsh have examined 18 key films about Jesus, including the 1927 classic King of Kings, Monty Python’s Life of Brian, and Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ. After analyzing each film’s plot and characters, they provide a second-by-second description of the films’ DVD chapters along with a listing of key biblical events and passages explored in each chapter. Youth workers will be able to use this handbook time and time again to unlock hundreds of teachable moments in these acclaimed films about Christ.

Ron Austin’s In a New Light: Spirituality and the Media Arts (Eerdmans) is a slim book, so I thought it would be a quick read. Wrong. Austin, a veteran Hollywood insider and teacher, has offered up nuggets of wisdom acquired through decades of hard knocks to provide readers with “a spiritual foundation for creative work.” The result feels less like reading a book than it does sitting at the feet of a master for intense professional mentoring. This is a gem of a book that could stir the hearts and sharpen the craft of future writers, movie makers and other artists.

In Culture Matters: A Call for Consensus on Christian Cultural Engagement (Brazos), scholar T.M. Moore explores the work of Christians from the past (Augustine, Celtic Christians, Calvin, Kuyper, Phil Keaggy, and more) before concluding that Christians today should become more culturally conscious and engaged. Moore may not have found a perfect game plan, but he takes the reader on a fascinating journey.

In What Can Be Found in LOST? Insights on God and the Meaning of Life from the Popular TV Series (Harvest House), veteran apologists and cult-hunters John Ankerberg and Dillon Burroughs of the Ankerberg Theological Research Institute examine spiritual themes in the mega-popular ABC drama.

Four new titles seek to make ancient spiritual traditions accessible to modern believers. • Dennis Okholm, a theology professor at Azusa Pacific University and card-carrying Presbyterian, takes monasticism out of the cloister in Monk Habits for Everyday People: Benedictine Spirituality for Protestants. • Gerald L. Sittser, who teaches at Whitworth College in Spokane, Washington, offers a broader overview of past practices in Water from a Deep Well: Christian Spirituality from Early Martyrs to Modern Missionaries. • Wheaton College professor James C. Wilhoit says many congregations have abandoned the duty of growing spiritually mature members, and he hopes to turn the tide with Spiritual Formation As If the Church Mattered: Growing in Christ through Community. • And emergent leader Tony Jones continues his journey through Christian classics by adding notes and an introduction to French monk Brother Lawrence’s timeless classic, Practicing the Presence of God. • Meanwhile, Jim Palmer, another emerging leader, urges readers to move beyond conventionial Christian to something deeper in Wide Open Spaces: Beyond Paint-by-Number Christianity. • When it comes to putting faith into practice, Rick and Kay Warren have urged Christians to focus on the global tragedy of HIV/AIDS. In Dangerous Surrender: What Happens When You Say Yes to God, Kay shares some of the lessons learned along the way. • Famed comedian Bill Cosby and Harvard prof Dr. Alvin Poussaint tackle the crisis facing America’s black community in Come On People: The Path from Victims to Victors. If you missed the media blitz in October you can check out the hour-long “Meet the Press” segment online. • British novelist Jenny Downham’s Before I Die is a beautiful and moving story about a 16-year-old girl’s battle with leukemia. • Jodi Picoult’s latest novel is Nineteen Minutes, which dissects a mass shooting at a fictional U.S. high school, • while Donald Kraybill and his co-writers examine the aftermath of the real-life Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania, shootings in Amish Grace: How Forgiveness Transcended Tragedy. • Religion scholar Stephen Prothero tries to counteract Americans’ ignorance about others’ faiths in Religious Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know–and Doesn’t. • Race track chaplain Dale Beaver and NASCAR driver Ryan Newman have teamed up to create Before the Thunder Rolls: Devotions for NASCAR Fans. • And liberal blogger Joe Bageant’s Deer Hunting with Jesus, an over-the-top look at Southern-style Christianity, focuses on “alcohol, Jesus and overeating.” —Steve Rabey