Books by Brett McCracken
The Wisdom of Sleep: How Rest Reveals God’s Truth and Revives Weary Souls
Eye-opening revelations from Scripture and science about why we sleep, dream, and rest—and why they are such gifts.
In our age of hurry, productivity, and constant distraction, sleep is often treated as an inconvenient pause or means of self-optimization. We've forgotten the deeper, theological meaning of rest and the profound spiritual lessons we can learn from our God-given need for sleep.
Drawing from Scripture, science, cultural commentary, and personal reflections, Brett McCracken shows how sleep, rest, and Sabbath are not just necessary downtimes or missed opportunities to be productive--they are sacred practices that deepen our relationship with God, nurture our love for others, and bear witness to his grace.
The Wisdom of Sleep calls you to a higher view of this essential and holy part of our lives.
Throughout the book, you’ll discover that sleep, rest, and dreams are surprising gifts from God. You’ll learn the astonishing science behind the ways sleep revives and restores us, and how this God-designed physical reality daily reminds us of spiritual truths. As you better understand and embrace God’s good design, you’ll grow in love for him and help point other weary souls to the ultimate rest they can have in him.
The wisdom of sleep is not just in its brilliant design and biological benefits. It’s also in the way sleep and rest bear witness to our createdness, our salvation, and our eternal future—when all restlessness will find repose in God's presence.
Scrolling Ourselves to Death: Reclaiming Life in a Digital Age
Edited by Brett McCracken and Ivan Mesa
Christian Wisdom for Our Tech-Saturated Age
The rapid advance of digital technology is reshaping our world and warping our minds. The onslaught of social media and smartphones has brought an appetite for distraction, an epidemic of loneliness, and increased rates of mental unhealth. For Christians, the digital revolution has profound implications for spiritual formation and mission. How should believers respond to the theological and discipleship challenges of scrolling life?
On the 40th anniversary of Neil Postman’s prophetic book Amusing Ourselves to Death (1985), Scrolling Ourselves to Death gathers today’s most incisive writers to think critically about the shaping power of contemporary technology. This book explores Postman’s insights, connects them to the challenges facing Christians today, and turns difficult challenges into life-giving opportunities for the church. Stepping back from their screens, readers will be equipped to live faithfully, and grow spiritually, in a “scrolling ourselves to death” world.
Practical: Includes action steps readers can use to reclaim a healthy life in a tech-saturated world
Wise: Helps readers become more discerning in the way they think about and utilize technology
Perfect for Small Groups: Includes discussion questions at the end of every chapter
Useful for Church Leaders or Ministry Staff: Perfect for those who want to help those they lead think more carefully about technology
Expert Contributors: Features insights from a wide variety of leading Christian thinkers on technology, faith, and culture
The Wisdom Pyramid: Feeding Your Soul in a Post-Truth World
We’re facing an information overload.
With the quick tap of a finger we can access an endless stream of addictive information―sports scores, breaking news, political opinions, streaming TV, the latest Instagram posts, and much more. Accessing information has never been easier―but acquiring wisdom is increasingly difficult.
In an effort to help us consume a more balanced, healthy diet of information, Brett McCracken has created the “Wisdom Pyramid.” Inspired by the food pyramid model, the Wisdom Pyramid challenges us to increase our intake of enduring, trustworthy sources (like the Bible) while moderating our consumption of less reliable sources (like the Internet and social media). At a time when so much of our daily media diet is toxic and making us spiritually sick, The Wisdom Pyramid suggests that we become healthy and wise when we reorient our lives around God―the foundation of truth and the eternal source of wisdom.
Proposes the Bible as the foundational source of wisdom
Presents 3 marks of wisdom: discernment, patience, and humility
Examines less reliable sources of information, such as social media and popular culture
Explores how the church can offer the world a deeper source of information through the application of God’s wisdom
Uncomfortable: The Awkward and Essential Challenge of Christian Community
Winner of the 2018 ECPA Book of the Year for Christian Living
Does your church make you uncomfortable?
It’s easy to dream about the “perfect” church―a church that sings just the right songs set to just the right music before the pastor preaches just the right sermon to a room filled with just the right mix of people who happen to agree with you on just about everything.
Chances are your church doesn’t quite look like that. But what if instead of searching for a church that makes us comfortable, we learned to love our church, even when it’s challenging? What if some of the discomfort that we often experience is actually good for us?
This book is a call to embrace the uncomfortable aspects of Christian community, whether that means believing difficult truths, pursuing difficult holiness, or loving difficult people―all for the sake of the gospel, God’s glory, and our joy.
Gray Matters: Navigating the Space Between Legalism & Liberty
Culture is in right now for Christians. Engaging it, embracing it, consuming it, and creating it. Many (younger) evangelicals today are actively cultivating an appreciation for aspects of culture previously stigmatized within the church. Things like alcohol, Hollywood's edgier content, plays, art openings, and concerts have moved from being forbidden to being celebrated by believers. But are evangelicals opening their arms too wide in uncritical embrace of culture? How do they engage with culture in ways that are mature, discerning, and edifying rather than reckless, excessive, and harmful? Can there be a healthy, balanced approach--or is that simply wishful thinking?
With the same insight and acuity found in his popular Hipster Christianity, Brett McCracken examines some of the hot-button gray areas of Christian cultural consumption, helping to lead Christians to adopt a more thoughtful approach to consuming culture in the complicated middle ground between legalism and license. Readers will learn how to both enrich their own lives and honor God--refining their ability to discern truth, goodness, beauty, and enjoy his creation.
Hipster Christianity: Where Church and Cool Collide
Insider twentysomething Christian journalist Brett McCracken has grown up in the evangelical Christian subculture and observed the recent shift away from the “stained glass and steeples” old guard of traditional Christianity to a more unorthodox, stylized 21st-century church. This change raises a big issue for the church in our postmodern world: the question of cool. The question is whether or not Christianity can be, should be, or is, in fact, cool. This probing book is about an emerging category of Christians McCracken calls “Christian hipsters”—the unlikely fusion of the American obsessions with worldly “cool” and otherworldly religion--an analysis of what they’re about, why they exist, and what it all means for Christianity and the church’s relevancy and hipness in today’s youth-oriented culture.