Spiritual Biography

Becca Stevens calls herself a "snake oil salesman" - in a positive sense. The social enterprise she founded, Thistle Farms, provides purpose and employment to abused women, providing them with the economic well-being to begin new lives. The natural body-care products that Thistle Farms manufactures - balms, soaps, and lotions, whose ingredients include essential oils - bring healing comfort to the company's customers, too.

What Catholic guy made money as an organ-grinder's assistant, spent one-on-one time with John Paul II, met a very nice Thai prostitute, and confessed his sins on a beanbag chair? Lino Rulli, of course!

Many people try to describe their experience when “in the zone” or “in the flow” during the creative process. Some claim that a Greater Power or Divine Guidance assisted them. But, what is this state of consciousness, and how do we replicate it? In search of answers, writer and painter Christopher J. Miller took the suggestion of one of his art mentors to watch and chronicle his creative process.

Managing Chaos? Film producing is a life embracing Absolute Chaos! Film fans the world over know everything about what an Actor or Actress does; a Director does; and have absolutely no clue what a Producer does to produce the film except at best, thinking that the Producer finances the film with his or her own money. HA! HA! and HA! as Laurel and Hardy would say. Based on the Author’s 25 years in the business, you will learn in a humorous way the seriousness of what exactly we do in our chaotic lifestyle: the good, the frustrating, the beautiful, the bad, and the ugly. My faults, failures...

When a health scare puts him in the hospital, Eric Weiner-an agnostic by default-finds himself tangling with an unexpected question, posed to him by a well-meaning nurse. "Have you found your God yet?" The thought of it nags him, and prods him-and ultimately launches him on a far-flung journey to do just that.

Dallas Willard spent his life making eternal living concrete for his friends. After his unexpected passing in 2013, the kaleidoscope of memories and the diversity of the lives he had touched could not be confined to one or even two memorial services but three. It is this wide breadth of impact that inspired friends, family, colleagues, students, and leaders of the church to gather their reflections on this celebrated yet humble theologian and philosopher.

Best-selling and beloved author Madeleine L’Engle, Newbery winner for A Wrinkle in Time, was known the world round for her imaginative spirit and stories. She was also known to spark controversy - too Christian for some, too unorthodox for others. Somewhere in the middle was a complex woman whose embrace of paradox has much to say to a new generation of readers and listeners today. A Light so Lovely casts a vivid portrait of this enigmatic icon’s spiritual legacy, starting with her inner world and including fresh reflections on her writing for today’s listeners.

The compelling, beautiful narrative of Code Name God is one man's rags-to-riches story and, more profoundly, the vision of a world-class physicist seeking to integrate the findings of science, religion, and spiritual quest.

John Dee was one of the greatest scientific minds of his time, but also one of the most controversial. He was a learned man in fields as varied as mathematics and astronomy, centuries before they became formalized fields of study, but he is better remembered for performing magic and alchemy. Instead of astronomy, he became renowned across England for astrology, and he was one of the country’s most notorious occult writers during his life.

Who is Allah? What does he ask of those who submit to his teachings? Pulitzer Prize-winner Jack Miles gives us a deeply probing, revelatory portrait of the world’s second largest, fastest-growing, and perhaps most tragically misunderstood religion. In doing so, Miles illuminates what is unique about Allah, his teachings, and his resolutely merciful temperament, and he thereby reveals that which is false, distorted, or simply absent from the popular conception of the heart of Islam.

Greg Thames was one of those “larger-than-life but down-home, common man” characters that doesn’t come along very often in life. I was blessed and honored in that I got to see him up close and personal because he was my older brother. Greg lived a challenging life, but it was a life where he never quit fighting the odds that many times were stacked against him. When you would ask him how he was doing he would say “Day by Day”. That became his philosophy of life, to live today, enjoy today, and deal with tomorrow when it came. This book is a little different in that Greg wrote the ...

If you have ever wondered why life is sometimes unfair, if God really hears your prayers, or if you just can’t figure out Scripture, My Fight With God promises to stir you into new conversations with your heavenly Father and deepen your personal walk with Jesus. Written with a strong, cut-to-the-chase approach, the author’s refreshing and natural responses to questions and situations that you face everyday will make you laugh as well as scratch your head more than once as you wonder “Gee, how did he know that’s what I was thinking?”

"Benedict XVI was a spiritual master," writes Robert Cardinal Sarah of his longtime mentor, after his death early 2023. "His very precise and profound theological thought is rooted in an authentic mystical and spiritual experience." This book offers not an academic analysis of Ratzinger's intellectual work, but a personal sketch of the "soul of Joseph Ratzinger", a glimpse into "the secret recesses of his heart". In He Gave Us So Much, Cardinal Sarah traces the spiritual contours of Ratzinger's life and thought, revealing the image of a man on fire with love for God and neighbor.

Originally published in 1978, A Step Further is Joni Eareckson Tada's response to thousands of letters she received from people puzzled about the "whys" of suffering. Joni answers these questions by taking a personal look at how God has used circumstances, people, and events in her own life and the lives of others.

Queen Elizabeth II, the longest reigning monarch in British history, credits her Christian faith as the steady anchor amid life’s trials and triumphs. With intimate stories about her remarkable life, The Faith of Queen Elizabeth by Dudley Delffs explores the personal beliefs, private struggles, and public service behind the crown.

Mania surrounding messianic prophets has defined the national consciousness since the American Revolution. From Civil War veteran and virulent anticapitalist Cyrus Teed, to the dapper and overlooked civil rights pioneer Father Divine, to even the megalomaniacal Jim Jones, these figures have routinely been dismissed as dangerous and hysterical outliers. After years of studying these emblematic figures, Adam Morris demonstrates that messiahs are not just a classic trope of our national culture; their visions are essential for understanding American history.

Christian music icon Sandi Patty has long astounded listeners with her powerful voice. Yet, off the stage, Sandi struggled to have a voice at all. Through deeply intimate stories of her life and the empowering spiritual truths she’s learned, Sandi offers listeners wisdom to navigate the journey from voicelessness to discovering the voice God has given you. Sandi’s warm and invitational writing will draw you to the voice of God. With timeless wisdom, The Voice will help you uncover your God-given identity and a voice of your very own.

The majority of people in the world do not believe that there are actual demons in the world. They are around you in such large numbers that you would be scared to come out of your home and walk around. There is even a high percentage of people that identify themselves as Christians that don't believe they exist. They just believe that demons are a figurehead of evil used to scare you. Third world countries know more about demons than the civilized world. That statement tells you how much education we need on this subject.

John Lennon called himself a working class hero. George Harrison was a working class mystic. Born in Liverpool as the son of a bus conductor and a shop assistant, for the first six years of his life he lived in a house with no indoor bathroom. This book gives an honest, in-depth view of his personal journey from his blue-collar childhood to his role as a world-famous spiritual icon.

In Coming Clean, Seth Haines writes a raw account of his first 90 days of sobriety, illuminating how to face the pain we’d rather avoid, and even more importantly, how an abiding God meets us in that pain. Seth shows us that true wholeness is found in facing our pain and anxieties with the tenacity and tenderness of Jesus, and only through Christ's passion can we truly come clean.