Books Worth Reading

Click link to download a PDF Recommended Reading

Jesus Calling: Enjoying Peace in His Presence – Devotions for Every Day of the Year
Sarah Young

SHARE A VERSE SAYS:  Life changing.  So uplifting.

My Utmost for His Highest
Oswald Chambers

SHARE A VERSE SAYS:  A timeless classic for people of all ages.

Devotions for a Deeper Life
Oswald Chambers

Streams in the Desert
L.B. Cowman

SHARE A VERSE SAYS:  An inspirational well-rounded devotional to be read over and over.

Springs in the Valley
Mrs. Charles Cowman

The Knowledge of the Holy
A.W. Tozer

Grace Notes: Daily Readings with a Fellow Pilgrim
Philip Yancey

Grace for the Moment
Max Lucado

SHARE A VERSE SAYS:   An all-time favorite!  Max Lucado makes you feel good about God.

Morning and Evening – KJV
Charles H. Spurgeon

Strengthen My Spirit
Charles H. Spurgeon

Beside Still Waters: Words of Comfort for the Soul
Charles H. Spurgeon

Pathways to His Presence: A Daily Devotional
Charles F. Stanley

OSWALD CHAMBERS

Oswald Chambers (24 July 1874 – 15 November 1917) was an early twentieth-century Scottish Baptist and Holiness Movement evangelist and teacher, best known as the author of the devotional My Utmost for His Highest.

Read more about Oswald Chambers on Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oswald_Chambers or at My Utmost For His Highest Oswald Chamber’s Bio http://utmost.org/oswald-chambers-bio/

Approved Unto God
Baffled to Fight Better: Job and the Problem of Suffering
Biblical Ethics – The Moral Foundation of Life
Called of God
Christian Disciplines, Volumes 1 & 2
Conformed to His Image
Disciples Indeed
God’s Workmanship
He Shall Glorify Me
The Highest Good
If Thou Wilt Be Perfect
If Ye Shall Ask
Knocking at God’s Door
The Love of God
The Moral Foundations of Life
My Utmost for His Highest
Not Knowing Whither
Our Brilliant Heritage
The Place of Help
The Philosophy of Sin
Run Today’s Race
Shade of His Hand
The Servant as His Master
So Send I You
Workmen of God

FRANCIS CHAN

Francis Chan (DOB August 31, 1967) is the best-selling author of books, Crazy Love, Forgotten God, Erasing Hell and the host of the BASIC series (Who is God & We Are Church). He has also written the children’s books Halfway Herbert, The Big Red Tractor and the Little Village and Ronnie Wilson’s Gift.

Francis is the founding pastor of Cornerstone Church in Simi Valley, California, and is the founder of Eternity Bible College. He also sits on the board of directors of Children’s Hunger Fund and World Impact.

Currently, Francis is working to start a church planting movement in the inner city of San Francisco and also working to launch a countrywide discipleship movement. Francis now lives in Northern California with his wife, Lisa, and their five children.

Read more about Francis Chan on Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Chan or on his website at http://www.francischan.org/

Erasing Hell
Crazy Love (www.crazylovebook.com)
Forgotten God (www.forgottengod.com)
Multiply

CHARLES COLSON

Charles “Chuck” Wendell Colson (October 16, 1931 – April 21, 2012) was a Special Counsel to President Richard Nixon from 1969 to 1973, and later a noted Evangelical Christian leader and cultural commentator.

Once known as President Nixon’s “hatchet man,” Colson gained notoriety at the height of the Watergate scandal, for being named as one of the Watergate Seven, and pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice for attempting to defame Pentagon Papers defendant Daniel Ellsberg. In 1974, he served seven months in the federal Maxwell Prison in Alabama as the first member of the Nixon administration to be incarcerated for Watergate-related charges.

Colson became a Christian in 1973. His mid-life conversion to Christianity sparked a radical life change that led to the founding of his non-profit ministry Prison Fellowship and to a focus on Christian worldview teaching and training. Colson was also a public speaker and the author of more than 30 books. He was the founder and chairman of The Chuck Colson Center for Christian Worldview, which is “a research, study, and networking center for growing in a Christian worldview”, and while he was alive included Colson’s daily radio commentary, BreakPoint, which was heard in its original format on more than 1,400 outlets across the United States.

Colson received 15 honorary doctorates, and in 1993 was awarded the Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion, the world’s largest annual award (over US$1 million) in the field of religion, given to a person who “has made an exceptional contribution to affirming life’s spiritual dimension”. He donated this prize to further the work of Prison Fellowship, as he did all his speaking fees and royalties. In 2008, he was awarded the Presidential Citizens Medal by President George W. Bush.

Read more about Chuck Colson on Wikipedia at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Colson

Born Again ranks #41 on the Christianity Today: The Top 50 Books That Have Shaped Evangelicals
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2006/october/23.51.html

Life Sentence
Loving God
Kingdoms in Conflict
Against the Night: Living in the New Dark Ages
Why America Doesn’t Work
The Body: Being Light in Darkness
A Dance with Deception
Evangelicals and Catholics Together
Being The Body
Loving God
Burden of Truth
How Now Shall We Live
Justice That Restores
The Design Revolution
The Good Life
God and Government
The Faith
The Sky Is Not Falling: Living Fearlessly in These Turbulent Times

(This is not a complete list. Colson had a long list of publications and collaborations, including over 30 books which have sold more than 5 million copies.)

MRS. CHARLES COWMAN

Lettie Burd Cowman (March 3, 1870 – April 17, 1960), also known as L.B. Cowman, was an American writer and author of the devotional books Streams in the Desert and Springs in the Valley. Cowman published her books under the author name Mrs. Charles E. Cowman. She was also one of the co-founders of The Oriental Missionary Society (later known as OMS International, and eventually One Mission Society).

Streams in the Desert is a devotional compiled by Mrs. Cowman from various sermons, readings, writings, and poetry she had read over the years. The immense popularity of this book has allowed at least 19 editions of the book to be printed. The initial response to the devotional brought letters from China, Japan, Korea, Australia, Africa, and many island countries. The widespread appeal grows daily as new readers discover the joy, challenge, and inspiration found in Streams in the Desert and Mrs. Cowman’s other compilations.

Read more about Mrs. Charles Cowman on Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lettie_Cowman

Streams in the Desert
Springs in the Valley
Missionary Warrior
Consolation (Words of Comfort and Cheer)
Count it all Joy
Praise Changes Things
Sit Still, Until
Thoughts for the Quiet Hour
Mountain Trailways for Youth
Traveling Toward Sunrise
Handfuls of Purpose (God-After All)

STEVEN FURTICK

Steven Furtick (born February 19, 1980) is the Lead Pastor of Elevation Church in Charlotte, North Carolina and is the author of two books, Sun Stand Still and the New York Times bestselling release, Greater, which debuted at #4 on The New York Times Best Seller list.

Furtick was born and raised in Moncks Corner, South Carolina and attended Berkeley High School.] At the age of 16, after reading the book Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire by Jim Cymbala, he “felt called to pastor a church in a major city”. Furtick received a B.A. in Communication from North Greenville University and a Masters of Divinity from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.

After serving as music director at a local church in Shelby, North Carolina, Furtick moved to Charlotte and started Elevation Church. The church had their first service on February 5, 2006.

Read more about Pastor Steven Furtick on Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Furtick or on his website http://www.stevenfurtick.com/

Sun Stand Still: What Happens When You Dare to Ask God for the Impossible
Greater: Dream Bigger. Start Smaller. Ignite God’s Vision for Your Life

SHARE A VERSE SAYS:  Read everything Steven Furtick writes!  The depth is unbelievable considering how young he is.  Listen to Steven Furtick sermons at http://elevationchurch.org/sermons

CRAIG GROESCHEL

Craig Groeschel (born December 2, 1967) is the founder and senior pastor of LifeChurch.tv, considered the largest church in the United States with fifteen locations in five states. He is married with six children and lives in Edmond, Oklahoma, a suburb of Oklahoma City.

Groeschel was born in Houston, Texas and grew up in southern Oklahoma. After high school, he attended Oklahoma City University on an athletic scholarship. In 1991 Groeschel entered the ministry as an associate pastor in the United Methodist Church. He attended Phillips Theological Seminary, which is affiliated with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and earned a Master of Divinity degree.

In 1996, Groeschel and a handful of people started Life Covenant Church in a two-car garage. He later told Business Week that he started the process by performing market research of non-churchgoers and designed his church in response to what he learned.

Groeschel’s non-traditional style was successful and attendance of Life Covenant grew rapidly, eventually evolving to become (as of April 2013) the second largest church in the United States with fifteen LifeChurch.tv campuses. LifeChurch.tv was named America’s Most Innovative Church by Outreach Magazine in 2007 and 2008. LifeChurch.tv innovations include its free resource library with sermons, transcripts, videos, artwork, and a digerati team that develops free software like ChurchOnlinePlatform.com and YouVersion the Bible app, which has been downloaded over 100 million times.

Read more about Craig Groeschel on Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craig_Groeschel

The Christian Atheist: Believing in God but Living as if He Doesn’t Exist

SHARE A VERSE SAYS:  What a great book!  What a wake up call not to just offer lip service but to actually walk out your faith every day.  So good, so good, so good!

Chazown: Define Your Vision. Pursue Your Passion. Live Your Life on Purpose (Chazown (pronounced khaw-ZONE) from the Hebrew, meaning a dream, revelation, or vision.)

Confessions of a Pastor: Adventures in Dropping the Pose and Getting Real with God
Going All the Way: Preparing for a Marriage That Goes the Distance
It – How Churches and Leaders Can Get It and Keep It
Weird: Because Normal Isn’t Working
Soul Detox: Clean Living in a Contaminated World
Soul Detox Participant’s Guide: Clean Living in a Contaminated World
Altar Ego: Becoming Who God Says You Are
Fight: Winning the Battles that Matter Most
Dare to Drop the Pose: Ten Things Christians Think but Are Afraid to Say
What Is God Really Like?

NICOLAS HERMAN, BROTHER LAWRENCE

Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection (c. 1614 – 12 February 1691) served as a lay brother in a Carmelite monastery in Paris. Christians commonly remember him for the intimacy he expressed concerning his relationship to God as recorded in a book compiled after his death, the classic Christian text, The Practice of the Presence of God.

Brother Lawrence was born Nicolas Herman in modern day eastern France. Nicolas entered the priory in Paris as a lay brother, not having the education necessary to become a cleric, and took the religious name, “Lawrence of the Resurrection”. He spent almost all of the rest of his life within the walls of the priory, working in the kitchen for most of his life and as a repairer of sandals in his later years.

Despite his lowly position in life and the priory, his character attracted many to him. He had a reputation for experiencing profound peace and visitors came to seek spiritual guidance from him. The wisdom he passed on to them, in conversations and in letters, would later become the basis for the book, The Practice of the Presence of God. Father Joseph de Beaufort, later vicar-general to the Archbishop of Paris, compiled this work after Brother Lawrence died. It became popular among Catholics and Protestants alike, with John Wesley and A. W. Tozer recommending it to others.

Read more about Brother Lawrence on Wikipedia at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brother_Lawrence

The Practice of the Presence of God

PHILLIP KELLER

W. Phillip Keller, born in East Africa, always loved wildlife and the outdoors. Having spent many years in agriculture research, land management, and ranch development in British Columbia, he later pursued careers in conservation, wildlife photography, and journalism. His experiences as a shepherd equipped him with the insights that are the basis for A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23.

A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23

SHARE A VERSE SAYS:   See the 23rd Psalm as you never have before and be comforted by it more than you ever have.

God Is My Delight
What Makes Life Worth Living
His Way to Pray: A Devotional Study of Prayer
What Is the Father Like?: A Devotional Look at How God Cares for His Children
Strength of Soul
Serenity: Finding God Again for the First Time
Joshua: Mighty Warrior and Man of Faith
A Gardener Looks at the Fruits of the Spirit
Elijah Prophet of Power
Wonder of the Wind: A Common Man’s Quest for God
Joshua: Man of Fearless Faith
A Layman Looks at the Lamb of God
Mighty Man of Valor
On Wilderness Trails
Mighty man of valor: Gideon, the sword of the lord

ANNE LAMOTT

Anne Lamott (born April 10, 1954) is an American novelist and non-fiction writer. She is also a progressive political activist, public speaker, and writing teacher. Based in the San Francisco Bay Area, her nonfiction works are largely autobiographical. Marked by their self-deprecating humor and openness, Lamott’s writings cover such subjects as alcoholism, single-motherhood, depression, and Christianity.

Read more about Anne Lamott on Wikipedia at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Lamott or visit her website at http://www.salon.com/writer/anne_lamott/

Anne Lamott quotes:
“The two best prayers are “Help me, help me, and help me,”and“Thank you, thank you, thank you.”

“God sent Jesus to join the human experience, which means to make a lot of mistakes. Jesus didn’t arrive here knowing how to walk. He had fingers and toes, confusion, sexual feelings, crazy human internal processes. He had the same prejudices as the rest of his tribe: he had to learn that the Canaanite woman was a person. He had to suffer the hardships and tedium and setbacks of being a regular person. If he hadn’t the incarnation would mean nothing.”

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/2006/02/17/february-17-2006-anne-lamott/3634/ February 17, 2006 Religion and Ethics interview

BOB ABERNETHY, anchor: Author Anne Lamott may shatter many people’s stereotypes about what a successful spiritual writer is like. She’s a dreadlock-wearing, politically liberal, born-again Christian who uses biting humor — and sometimes foul language — when she describes her deeply held personal faith. Some readers are offended, but her books about her spiritual journey have become national best-sellers.

ANNE LAMOTT (Author) (In Washington, DC Speech): And you can tell you’ve created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do.

Ms. LAMOTT (In Washington, DC Speech): Faith without works is dead. It’s just not nice to sit around — you can sit around in your prayer breakfast with all this faithy-faith and all this talking and thinking and “hallelujahing” and it’s nothing. It’s nothing to God. I mean, I think it pisses God off.

LAWTON: Lamott describes herself as a left-wing, born-again Christian with a bad attitude. She’s written several critically acclaimed novels, but in recent years she’s been best known for her books about her personal spiritual journey.

LAWTON: Lamott grew up in Northern California with atheist parents. As a young teenager, she started drinking and using drugs. She writes openly about her long struggles with addiction, sexual promiscuity, bulimia, and self-loathing. When she hit 30, things came to a crisis point, and in the throes of a hangover, just after having an abortion; Lamott says she felt the tangible presence of Jesus. A week later, she found herself at a Presbyterian church, pulled in by the music.

Ms. LAMOTT (From Video at Church): But I love the singing, and I feel this food coming into my soul. You know, they just let me be there. And eventually I got sober. And right before I got sober, I had a conversion experience. I found that I was really drawn to the Jesus part. And I didn’t want to be.

LAWTON: She writes about themes of hope, grace, and forgiveness — those moments, she says, when the transcendent pierces through the cracks of everyday hardship, failure, and grief.

Grace (Eventually): Thoughts on Faith

SHARE A VERSE SAYS:  Anne Lamott is not the stereotype “Christian” that most people expect.  This will either turn you off or open your eyes to a huge truth that many “Christians” fail to remember – having a personal relationship with Jesus and letting Him work on you in His timing is more important than fitting into a set mold and keeping a bunch of religious rules.  Anne Lamott openly shares her dysfunctional upbringing and life and the fact that when Jesus met her where she was she emphatically told him, “No thank you!”  She can be shocking to a delicate system.  She can seem irreverent or sacrilegious . . . and yet, her sincerity is undeniable and provocative.  While the scriptures clearly tell us not to judge we often still find ourselves weighing the fruit of other’s instead of just loving and sweeping around our own doorstep.  Did Jesus call us to fix others or to just share His love with them?  Read Anne Lamott with an open mind and find a surprising blessing. 

Stitches: A Handbook on Meaning, Hope and Repair
Help, Thanks, Wow: The Three Essential Prayers
Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts on Faith
Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith

C.S. LEWIS

Clive Staples Lewis (29 November 1898 – 22 November 1963), commonly called C. S. Lewis and known to his friends and family as “Jack”, was a novelist, poet, academic, medievalist, literary critic, essayist, lay theologian, and Christian apologist. Born in Belfast, Ireland, he held academic positions at both Oxford University (Magdalen College), 1925–1954, and Cambridge University (Magdalene College), 1954–1963. He is best known both for his fictional work, especially The Screwtape Letters, The Chronicles of Narnia, and The Space Trilogy, and for his non-fiction Christian apologetics, such as Mere Christianity, Miracles, and The Problem of Pain.

C. S. Lewis Quotes:

I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.

A man can no more diminish God’s glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word, ‘darkness’ on the walls of his cell.

God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there. There is no such thing.

Read more about C. S. Lewis on Wikipedia at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C._S._Lewis or on http://www.cslewis.org/, http://www.cslewis.org/resource/chronocsl/

Mere Christianity ranks #3 on Christianity Today: The Top 50 Books That Have Shaped Evangelicals
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2006/october/23.51.html
A Grief Observed
All My Road Before Me
Christian Behaviour
Christian Reflections
Joyful Christian
Letters To Malcolm Chiefly On Prayer
Mere Christianity
Miracles
Present Concerns
Prince Caspian
Reflections On the Psalms
Screwtape Proposes a Toast
Surprised By Joy
That Hideous Strength
The Business Of Heaven
The Chronicles Of Narnia
The Four Loves
The Great Divorce
The Last Battle
The Lion, the Witch and The Wardrobe
The Magician’s Nephew
The Problem Of Pain
The Screwtape Letters
The Silver Chair
Till We Have Faces

MAX LUCADO

Max Lucado (born January 11, 1955) is a best-selling author and writer and preacher at Oak Hills Church (formerly the Oak Hills Church of Christ) in San Antonio, Texas. Lucado has written almost 100 books with 80 million copies in print, including three recipients of the Charles “Kip” Jordon Gold Medallion Christian Book of the Year (Just Like Jesus, In the Grip of Grace, and When God Whispers Your Name), and has also appeared regularly on several bestseller lists including the New York Times Best Seller List.

Lucado was named “America’s Pastor” by Christianity Today magazine and in 2005 was named by Reader’s Digest as “The Best Preacher in America.” He has also been featured on The Fox News Channel, NBC Nightly News, Larry King Live, LLBN, and USA Today. He has been featured speaker at the National Prayer Breakfast.

Read more about Max Lucado on Wikipedia at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Lucado or on his website http://maxlucado.com/

SHARE A VERSE SAYS:  Max Lucado is just good.  Hard to pick a favorite.  

On the Anvil: Being Shaped into God’s Image
No Wonder They Call Him the Savior
God Came Near: Chronicles of the Christ
Six Hours One Friday
The Applause of Heaven
In the Eye of the Storm: A Day in the Life of Jesus
Just In Case You Ever Wonder
And the Angels Were Silent
Tell Me the Story
He Still Moves Stones
When God Whispers Your Name
In the Grip of Grace
Walking with the Savior
Just Like Jesus
He Chose the Nails
Grace for the Moment
Traveling Light
One Incredible Moment
Safe in the Shepherd’s Arms
Just Like Jesus
A Heart Like Jesus
What the Cross Means to Me
Experiencing the Heart of Jesus
God Thinks You’re Wonderful
It’s Not About Me
Come Thirsty
Everyday Blessings
Cure for the Common Life
Facing Your Giants
Fearless

JOYCE MEYER

Joyce Meyer is one of the world’s leading practical Bible teachers. A New York Times bestselling author, her books have helped millions of people find hope and restoration through Jesus Christ. Through Joyce Meyer Ministries, she teaches on a number of topics with a particular focus on the mind, mouth, moods and attitudes. Her candid communication style allows her to share openly and practically about her experiences so others can apply what she has learned to their lives.

Joyce hosts a TV and radio show, Enjoying Everyday Life®, which broadcasts worldwide to a potential audience of 4.5 billion people. She has authored 100 books, which have been translated into more than 100 languages. More than 12 million of her books have been distributed free of charge around the world, and each year millions of copies are sold.

Read more about Joyce Meyer on Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joyce_Meyer or on her website http://www.joycemeyer.org/

SHARE A VERSE SAYS:  Read Joyce and watch her Enjoying Everyday Life show on TV.  She’s real and not preachy.  She speaks to real people as a real person and not a perfect person.  You can relate to Joyce because she relates to you.  She’s growing every day even after walking with God for years.  Real people don’t “arrive”, they grow their whole lives and have real problems and make real mistakes.  Joyce helps you learn how to make the scriptures come alive and use them to grow closer to God, gain help for life’s challenges and have joy here and now. 

Beauty for Ashes: Receiving Emotional Healing
Battlefield of the Mind: Winning the Battle in Your Mind
Me and My Big Mouth
How to Hear from God
The Secret Power of Speaking God’s Word
In Pursuit of Peace: 21 Ways to Conquer Anxiety, Fear, and Discontentment
Straight Talk: Overcoming Emotional Battles
Approval Addiction: Overcoming Your Need to Please Everyone
The Confident Woman: Start Today Living Boldly and Without Fear
I Dare You: Embrace Life With Passion
The Power of Simple Prayer: How to Talk with God about Everything
Conflict Free Living
The Secret To True Happiness: Enjoy Today, Embrace Tomorrow
Eat the Cookie…Buy the Shoes: Giving Yourself Permission to Lighten Up
Power Thoughts: 12 Strategies to Win the Battle
Living Beyond Your Feelings: Controlling Emotions So They Don’t Control You
Love Out Loud: Devotions on Loving God, Yourself, and Others
Do Yourself a Favor…Forgive: Learn How to Take Control of Your Life Through Forgiveness
Change Your Words, Change Your Life: Understanding the Power of Every Word You Speak

ANDY STANLEY

Andy Stanley is a pastor, communicator, author, and the founder of North Point Ministries (NPM). Since its inception in 1995, North Point Ministries has grown from one church to five in the Atlanta, GA area and has developed a global network of more than 30 churches. Each Sunday, more than 33,000 people attend worship services at NPM’s five Atlanta-area churches: Browns Bridge Community Church, Buckhead Church, Gwinnett Church, North Point Community Church, and Watermarke Church.

Andy and Sandra Stanley and their three children live in Alpharetta, Georgia.

For more information about Andy Stanley and North Point Ministries, visit www.northpointministries.org

Deep & Wide: Creating Churches Unchurched People Love to Attend
How Good Is Good Enough?
Communicating for a Change: Seven Keys to Irresistible Communication
Enemies of the Heart: Breaking Free from the Four Emotions That Control You
Next Generation Leader: 5 Essentials for Those Who Will Shape the Future
Visioneering: God’s Blueprint for Developing and Maintaining Vision
Seven Practices of Effective Ministry
The Principle of the Path: How to Get from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be
The Grace of God
When Work and Family Collide: Keeping Your Job from Cheating Your Family
The Best Question Ever
Fields of Gold
Louder Than Words: The Power of Uncompromised Living
It Came from Within!: The Shocking Truth of What Lurks in the Heart

CHARLES STANLEY

Dr. Charles F. Stanley is senior pastor of First Baptist Church Atlanta, founder of In Touch Ministries, and a New York Times best-selling author.

Charles Frazier Stanley was born September 25, 1932, in the small town of Dry Fork, Virginia. The only child of Charley and Rebecca Stanley, Charles came into the world during a time when the entire nation felt the grip of the Great Depression. To make matters worse, just nine months later, his father Charley died at the young age of 29.

However, Charles refused to let the Great Depression or the difficulties of his life define him. Instead, like his father and grandfather before him, he clung to God’s Word and took up the mantle to preach the gospel to whoever would listen.

Dr. Stanley’s motivation is best represented by the truth found in Acts 20:24, “Life is worth nothing unless I use it for doing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus—the work of telling others the Good News about God’s mighty kindness and love.” This is because, as he says, “It is the Word of God and the work of God that changes people’s lives.”

Read more about Charles Stanley on Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Stanley or here http://www.intouch.org/About/AboutDrCharlesStanley.aspx

How to Listen to God
The Love of God
A Touch of His Power: Meditations on God’s Awesome Power
Handle With Prayer
Success God’s Way
A Gift of Love: Reflections for the Tender Heart
Finding Peace: God’s Promise of a Life Free from Regret, Anxiety, and Fear
How to Handle Adversity
Success God’s Way: Achieving True Contentment and Purpose
The Gift of Forgiveness
Walking Wisely: Real Guidance for Life’s Journey
Winning the War Within
God is in Control
Into His Presence: An In Touch Devotional
Living in the Power of the Holy Spirit
Living the Extraordinary Life : 9 Principles to Discover It
Our Unmet Needs
The Source of My Strength
Discover Your Destiny
Pathways to His Presence: A Daily Devotional
When the Enemy
Landmines in the Path of the Believer
In Step with God
Stuck in Reverse
The Power of God’s Love
How to Reach Your Full Potential for God

RICHARD STEARNS

The former CEO for Parker Brothers Games and Lenox, Rich holds a B.A. in neurobiology from Cornell University and an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Following a sense of God’s call on his life, he resigned from Lenox in 1998 to become World Vision’s U.S. president. Rich and his wife, Reneé, live in Bellevue, Washington, and have supported World Vision since 1984. They have five children of their own — plus millions more around the world.

Rich Stearns is the author of the bestselling book The Hole in Our Gospel (Thomas Nelson) which earned ECPA’s 2009 Christian Book of the Year Award. His latest title is Unfinished: Believing Is Only the Beginning (Thomas Nelson, April 2013). He also writes op-eds on global poverty and AIDS for major U.S. newspapers and magazines, and has appeared on CNN, Fox, ABC, NBC, and PBS. Examples include Samaritans on the AIDS crisis and The face of America should meet the face of poverty.

Stearns’ book The Hole in Our Gospel: What does God expect of Us? The Answer that Changed my Life and Might Just Change the World is the story of how a corporate CEO faced his own struggle to obey God whatever the cost, and his passionate call for Christians to change the world by actively living out their faith. Using his own journey as an example, Stearns explores the hole that exists in our understanding of the Gospel.

Read more about Richard Stearns on Wikipedia at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Stearns_(World_Vision) or on these sites: http://www.worldvision.org/about-us/leadership ; http://www.worldvision.org/content.nsf/6d1210430917461d8825735a007e2f2b/press-bio-richard-stearns ; http://richstearns.org/

The Hole In Our Gospel

SHARE A VERSE SAYS:  If you are ready, this book will change how you see everything.  TRUTH. Eye opening.  Life changing.  Heart changing.

Unfinished

CORRIE ten BOOM

Cornelia “Corrie” ten Boom (Amsterdam, 15 April 1892 – Placentia, California, 15 April 1983) was a Dutch Christian who, along with her father and other family members, helped many Jews escape the Nazi Holocaust during World War II and was imprisoned for it. Her most famous book, The Hiding Place, describes the ordeal.

Read more about Corrie ten Boom on Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corrie_ten_ Boom and at http://www.corrietenboom.com/

The Hiding Place ranks #48 on Christianity Today: The Top 50 Books That Have Shaped Evangelicals
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2006/october/23.51.html

PHILIP YANCEY

Philip Yancey (born 1949) is an American Christian author. Fourteen million of his books have been sold worldwide, making him one of the best-selling evangelical Christian authors. Two of his books have won the ECPA’s Christian Book of the Year Award: The Jesus I Never Knew in 1996, What’s So Amazing About Grace in 1998. He is published by Zondervan Publishing and Hachette.

Read more about Philip Yancey on Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Yancey or on his website at http://www.philipyancey.com/home/about

What’s So Amazing About Grace? ranks #17 on Christianity Today: The Top 50 Books That Have Shaped Evangelicals
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2006/october/23.51.html
Where Is God When It Hurts?
Secrets of the Christian Life
Fearfully and Wonderfully Made
Disappointment With God
I Was Just Wondering
Praying with the KGB: A Startling Report from a Shattered Empire
Discovering God: A Devotional Journey Through the Bible
Pain: The Gift Nobody Wants
The Jesus I Never Knew
Finding God in Unexpected Places
What’s So Amazing About Grace?
The Bible Jesus Read
Reaching for the Invisible God
Soul Survivor: How Thirteen Unlikely Mentors Helped My Faith Survive the Church
Church: Why Bother?: My Personal Pilgrimage
Soul Survivor: How Thirteen Unlikely Mentors Helped My Faith Survive the Church,
Rumors of Another World (2003) renamed as A Skeptic’s Guide to Faith
In the Likeness of God
Finding God in Unexpected Places
When We Hurt : Prayer, Preparation & Hope for Life’s Pain
Prayer: Does It Make Any Difference?
What Good Is God?

SARAH YOUNG

Christianity Today online Book Review
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2013/october/sarah-young-still-hears-jesus-calling.html
Sarah Young Still Hears Jesus Calling
Not since “My Utmost for His Highest” has a daily devotional enraptured the English-speaking world, from cynical intellectuals to sweet grandmas, across the theological spectrum. How Young might change how we think about prayer.
Melissa Steffan [ posted 10/1/2013 3:59PM ]

Jesus Calling didn’t seem destined to sell millions. And then, quite unexpectedly, it did. During the first three years after its 2004 publication, Jesus Calling: Enjoying Peace in His Presence sold a total of only 59,000 copies, a modest success for a daily devotional from a then-unknown author. But then book sales skyrocketed: 220,000 copies in 2008 alone.

Sales of the book have nearly doubled in each successive year, says Laura Minchew, senior vice president of specialty publishing at Thomas Nelson. As of this summer, Jesus Calling had sold 9 million copies in 26 languages, and Publishers Weekly reported that it remained the No. 5 bestseller of the first half of 2013—for all books, not just Christian ones: It outsold Fifty Shades of Grey.

But even as the book continues to top bestseller lists (and prompts spinoffs, including a devotional Bible, a storybook, and women’s, teen’s, and children’s editions), its author, Sarah Young, remains virtually unknown. Most people seem unaware of who Young is, even if they have read Jesus Calling.

Yet not everyone is so enthusiastic that Jesus Calling is reinvigorating interest in the theology behind Young’s writings—and, by extension, in Young herself. Young bases her works on listening prayer, a theological practice in which a person aims to hear messages directly from God. Critical readers want to know: Does Young really think Jesus is speaking directly to her? Is he?

Woman of Listening Prayer
In a time when the size of one’s Christian book contract is directly proportional to one’s “platform,” Young is a marked counterexample. Unlike almost every well-known Christian author, Young refrains from promotional book tours, blogs, and speaking circuits.

From the August 2013 Evangelical Christian Publishers Association bestseller list:
1. Jesus Calling
3. Jesus Calling (Large-print deluxe edition)
8. Jesus Calling (Deluxe edition)
9. Jesus Calling (Women’s edition)
12. Jesus Today

But also unlike many of today’s bestselling writers, Young suffers from debilitating health conditions. She says the ongoing issues, which never have been properly diagnosed, prevent her from spending time in the spotlight.

In some senses, that’s just the way she likes it. Away from the celebrity status that a best-selling book could afford, Minchew says, Young spends her time doing what she loves: praying and listening.

After all these years, she still hears Jesus calling.
However, Jesus is one of the few calling Young; she is not available for interviews, whether in person or over the phone. After offering ct an exclusive phone interview, Young eventually declined to participate due to additional health setbacks. (She later agreed to answer some of CT’s questions for this story via e-mail through Minchew.)

The only real interview Young has given since the release of Jesus Calling is a Thomas Nelson–approved Q&A with Minchew herself, who has known Young since 2008. That’s when Minchew took over as publisher of Thomas Nelson’s gift books division and just before sales skyrocketed. Over that time, Minchew says, she and Young have become “very dear friends,” Skyping often and e-mailing almost every day. (Such a relationship with one’s publisher is one more Young rarity.)

“She is a woman of prayer,” Minchew says, “a woman who loves the Lord.”
That love manifests itself in Young’s practice of journaling, through which she has collected—and later published—messages from God for decades.

Jesus Calling: Enjoying Peace in His Presence
Jesus Calling: 365 Devotions For Kids
Jesus Today: Experience Hope Through His Presence
Jesus Lives: Seeing His Love in Your Life
40 Days With Jesus: Celebrating His Presence
Dear Jesus: Seeking His Light in Your Life
Jesus Lives Devotional: Seeing His Love in Your Life
Nearer to Jesus