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Watch For The Light: Readings For Advent And Christmas

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, John Donne, Meister Eckhart, T.S. Eliot, Gerard Manley Hopkins, C. S. Lewis, Thomas Merton, Archbishop Romero, Henri J.M. Nouwen, Philip Yancey

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 14 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Loved it!! 5 out of 5 stars.
4 of 4 people found this review helpful.

I love that this series, including "Bread and Wine:Readings for Lent and Easter," because it challeneges our complacent culture-dictated experience of Advent and Easter. This is not a feel-good book, it is a faith-building book. Be prepared to be shaken up and for God to meet you in a new way.

I bought copies for my friends and family. Everyone loved it!

The diversity of authors come together in surprising unity. This broadened my perspective and made me want to find books written by the individual authors. I also loved that the authors are from all points in history and geography. An experience like this is what all of us in the US need.

Company on the Journey 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

Like a kid counting down the days until Christmas, I took a spiritual journey by reading the days until Christmas. My guide, Watch for the
light. Cheaper than a real journey...no stops for gas , no waiting in line. Pop open the book's cover and begin to read. Some funny stories, some poetry, some known authors and some not so well known, all leading the way to Christmas. When Christmas comes, you will be ready.

What's So Amazing About Grace?

Philip Yancey

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 188 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Christian Manifesto 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

God if we could just live the grace filled lives of this book. This is without a doubt one of the all time greats

What's So Amazing About Grace? 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Aside from the Bible, this is the best book I have ever read. This is a life-changing book about a life-changing subject. I find Philip Yancey to be a tremendous communicator. Since reading this book, I have bought and given away as gifts at least 7 copies of this book.

secret to happyness 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 1 people found this review helpful.

I just read the first chapters but this book has really touched me inside. The gospel is not a story about how to go to heaven or how to avoid hell. The gospel is the most beautiful love story ever told, about how God, being God, denied himself everything for our sake. And now, being totally acepted in Him, we are not left with the rest of our time on Earth to only daydream about heaven, but to enjoy the privilege and happyness of sharing God's love and grace with one another in this world. God does not want us to pay Him something back, He has everything He needs, He want us living close to Him, enjoying His company, His love, His grace, happy to be with Him and being a channel of His love and grace to the people around us.

Editorial Review:

On the heels of Philip Yancey's bestselling The Jesus I Never Knew comes his equally insightful exploration of grace, the most powerful force in the universe and our only hope for love and forgiveness. Now available in softcover. Winner of the Gold Medallion Book Award, the Christian Book of the Year Award, and the Retailers Choice Award.

Prayer: Does It Make Any Difference?

Philip Yancey

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 66 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

It's not just talking to yourself with your hands in the air! 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

Phil Yancey writes: "If I had to answer the question, 'Why Pray?' in one sentence, it would be: 'Because Jesus did.'"

And to what end? Phil Yancey "knows that the main purpose of prayer is not to make life easier, but to know God" (Review, CHRISTIAN SCIENCE SENTINEL).

"How long, O Lord?" is another Frequently Asked Question. But prayer is not like a five-paragraph essay for your English class. Some Christians, men especially, are much too concerned about length. Jesus often asked his Twelve Disciples to bow their heads for "a WORD of prayer." But once you got him started, Jesus didn't quit. He could talk to his Father all night long. The Twelve would grow tired of listening, and fall asleep. More than once they awoke for breakfast, and Jesus was still talking.

So that's first rule of thumb: "Pray without ceasing."

The other good rule of thumb is: "Don't let anyone else overhear." Most people, when they pray to God, are not really interested in having a meaningful conversation. Usually, they just want to ask Him for stuff: Help me, Lord, to find my car keys (a boyfriend / job / rent-controlled apartment). Please, O Lord, cure my headache (lung cancer / teen acne). O Lord, won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz? (a colour TV? / a night on the town?). Sometimes, if you have enough faith, prayer actually does work.

Next tip: Roll with the punches. The Lord answers EVERY prayer: It's just that sometimes His answer is Yes, and sometimes His answer is No.

(Caveat: a fire hydrant or a Buddha statue will answer every prayer with one of the same two replies, yes or no, in roughly the same proportions, as Jesus will do. But if you pray to an idol, Jesus may kill you; so I'm with Phil Yancey on this one: Pray to Jesus, it's safer.)

Yancey freely admits that God will not heal an amputated limb, or cystic fibrosis, or pancreatic cancer. He also concedes that unless God takes a special liking to you (videlicet, Moses, Bill Gates, Donald Trump, George W. Bush), the Lord is gonna do what the Lord is gonna do. So if you need to pray, the best strategy is to figure out what God will do anyway, and to pray for that.

Example: "Dear Lord, please don't allow my boyfriend to get struck by lightning." Or: "Please, Lord, don't let a piano fall from the sky on my boss's head." Or: "Our Father who art in Heaven, please permit me to pay taxes to the government." Or: "Dear Lord, please give us sunshine for our church picnic Saturday afternoon, as forecast on the Weather Channel" (but that last one can be a little chancy).

And at bedtime, you should say: "Phew! Thanks, Lord. You're amazing!"

If your child or parent or friend has a terminal illness, it's okay to ask God, politely, for that person to be healed. Just don't pester Him if the answer is "No." Yancey explains: "When I pray for another person, I am praying for God to open my eyes so that I can see that person as God does, and then enter into the stream of love that God already directs towards that person," such as giving him a good dose of pancreatic cancer or cystic fibrosis.

Here are some ways not to pray:

* "O Lord, thousands of children die each day from malnutrition. Feed them."
* "Dear God, millions suffer from untreated disease. Heal them."
* "O Lord, will You please steer that big hurricane in some other direction than the Gulf Coast of the United States?"

God is powerful, and He can often do things that will surprise you. But don't expect Yahveh, or Jesus for that matter, to smile on overly-ambitious prayer requests. Those kinds of prayers actually annoy Him, because they fall on His ears like veiled criticism, or (worse) like begging, which--because He is holy--He cannot tolerate.

It used to be, when I talked to God, I never got half of what I asked for. But I was using the wrong system. Phil Yancey's book, PRAYER: DOES IT MAKE A DIFFERENCE?, has made a big, big difference. Ever since I read it, my prayers have scored close to 60/40. So I've got no complaints.

- L.

Editorial Review:

Philip Yancey probes the very heartbeat—the most fundamental, challenging, perplexing, and deeply rewarding aspect—of our relationship with God: prayer. What is prayer? Does it change God’s mind or ours—or both? This book is an invitation to communicate with God the Father who invites us into an eternal partnership through prayer.

The Jesus I Never Knew

Philip Yancey

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 168 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

The Jesus I used to know 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

Philip Yancey, in THE JESUS I NEVER KNEW, lets slip with a few secrets that you never learned in Sunday School (nor even, for that matter, in THE DA VINCI CODE). Example: Have you heard the one about Jesus catching a bad case of leprosy? (p. 79). [He got it from rubbing spit-and-mud on an elderly leper, neglecting then to wash his hands before lunch. Two weeks later, when the lesions appeared, Jesus healed himself using the same trusted remedy, and Presto! he was good to go.]

Yancey's disclosures are precisely what make this book so important: Indeed, THE JESUS I NEVER KNEW has been "Critically acclaimed as the most significant book of the last ten years" (and it's not just Phil Yancey who says so, I take that quote directly from the book jacket).

Phil grew up long before the days of Christian video games, like that one in which you blast to smithereens the Jews who want to nail Jesus to the cross. As a child, Phil Yancey thought that Jesus was just some two-dimensional bearded figure in a boring flannelgraph story; after which, the teacher gave you KoolAid and sugar cookies. Later, as a teen, Phil was able to admire Jesus as a role model--a bootlegger who, when his Mom rebuked him, sassed her with such rude remarks as "Woman, what have I to with THEE?" But when Phil (as a grown man) finally came to know the true Lord of glory, he discovered "a Jesus who is brilliant, creative, challenging, fearless, compassionate, unpredictable, and ultimately satisfying"--not unlike Robert Powell in Franco Zeffirelli's film version (p. 77); in fact, I'd say almost EXACTLY like Robert Powell in Franco Zeffirelli's film version.

I actually like Jesus, quite a lot. Jesus, back when I first knew him, was (a.) the Son of Yahveh, and (b.) a very nice, well-adjusted person, which, when you consider those two facts side by side, is no small accomplishment. And I totally agree with most of what Phil has to say in this book about the real Jesus: "brilliant," yes; "creative," yes; "challenging," absolutely. I endorse all of his epithets except the last: "ultimately satisfying?" Not! Just ask Mary Magdalene, she'll back me up. "What would Jesus do?" is a fascinating question, but it's exactly what we never knew; and (trust me!) no one tried harder to find out the answer, than Mary Magdalene.

My favourite part of Phil's book is Chapter 4, "Temptation: Showdown in the Desert." Here's the story, which is one that Philip Yancey never used to know. In 28 CE, Jesus and I spent six weeks together, hiking in the wilderness and then taking a tour of Jerusalem. We talked. We reminisced. We shared our fantasies. My idea was for Jesus to have a little fun while he lived among humankind, maybe even commit a harmless sin or two, just as a life-experience; but he was not open to that suggestion (Mark 1:13). When he became hungry, I tempted him to turn stones into bread. He didn't bite. When he felt discouraged, I tempted him to throw himself off a pinnacle without getting hurt, thereby to prove his divinity. He didn't jump. Testing the limits of his courtesy, I offered him a sizable chunk of real estate - the entire planet - if he would pay me a single compliment of the sort Yahveh gets every day of the year. No thanks. And when he was horny - yes, Jesus was tempted in all points like any other man, but without sin - I'd catch his attention with some short-togaed Roman shiksa and whisper in his ear and say, "Hey, Jesus, how'd you like some o' that before returning to Heaven!" (Hebrews 4:15).

But Jesus would just his squeeze eyes shut in that cute way he has, and say, "Woe unto you, Lucifer, for trying to make me think about that!" (Matt. 4:1-11).

In retrospect, I have always felt my timing was off: for it was immediately after the baptismal service - right after he saw his Father looking down on us from Heaven - that I tempted Jesus to dabble in sin. I should have tempted him to dabble sooner, during his adolescence. Instead, Jesus' unassailable virtue struck a harmful blow to my self-esteem. It's quite unusual when I earnestly tempt someone to sin, for my suggestions to be rejected flat out. But with Jesus I hit a brick wall. I tried every rhetorical, Jesuitical, trick in the book. I could not even make Jesus WANT to dabble in sin. So I guess you could say that, between the two of us, Jesus proved himself the better man. He is certainly more obedient than I am. Well, more power to him! I've got no beef with Jesus. I just wish that I could have got to know him a little better before he scooted back up to Heaven and left us with a planet full of Christians.

--L

Editorial Review:

Philip Yancey reveals the real Jesus beyond the stereotypes, revolutionizing the reader's passion for Christ.

Orthodoxy: The Classic Account of a Remarkable Christian Experience (The Wheaton Literary Series)

G.K. Chesterton

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 86 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

A Timeless Argument for Traditional Christianity
If you think orthodoxy is boring and predictable, think again. In this timeless classic, G. K. Chesterton, one of the literary giants of the twentieth century, presents a logical and personal reasoning for Christianity in model apologetic form. Gilbert Keith Chesterton was a self-described pagan at age 12 and totally agnostic by age 16. Yet, his spiritual journey ultimately led to a personal philosophy of orthodox, biblical Christianity. The account of his experiences, Orthodoxy bridges the centuries and appeals to today's readers who face the same challenges of materialism, self-centeredness, and progress.

"Hope means hoping when things are hopeless, or it is no virtue at all. And faith mean believing the incredible, or it is no virtue at all."
--G.K. Chesterton

A unique book, Orthodoxy addresses our faith struggles and how we communicate our faith to others. Through philosophy, poetry, reason and humor Chesterton leads us on a literary journey toward truth.

This edition includes a foreword by Philip Yancey who, like C. S. Lewis and other leading Christian writers, found this book to be pivotal his Christian experience. Yancey credits Chesterton with helping to revive and define his faith.

Disappointment with God

Philip Yancey

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 77 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

If you think God is unfair, hidden, or silent, then you need to read this book 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

The death rate for humans is 100%. The rate of suffering is 100%. In fact, if you are fortunate enough to live to an old age, you will have probably endured much pain and suffering in your lifetime and you may very well suffer some more as you approach physical death. Why is that? Why did God design the world this way? Isn't this unfair? These were some of the questions I asked after watching my father endure a debilitating stroke which took away the life as he knew it, even though he survived the stroke.

I was really happy to see Philip Yancey's book in the Kindle edition because Yancey is my favorite author. I knew he would apply sound thinking and Biblical understanding. And indeed, Yancey does not disappoint (no pun intended). He attempts to answer three basic questions: 1) Is God unfair? 2) Is God hidden? 3) Is God silent?
Yancey thoughtfully addresses these issues through interviews with others and his own dedicated study of the nature of God throughout the Bible. Job plays a prominent role here. Even though Job loses everything and is angry with God and confronts God, he never loses faith. One of Yancey's interviewees, who has gone through more than his fair share of suffering says, "Life may be unfair, but God is not." He says that he has learned to see beyond the present physical reality and toward the spiritual reality. Life was not fair to Jesus -- here was the best and most righteous man in history who was summarily tortured and executed, suffering a horrible death. Yet justice ultimately prevailed through the triumph of the resurrection.

This is just a little hint of what Yancey has to say about this age-old subject. It certainly helped me think through these issues in my life.

Editorial Review:

"Is God listening? "Can he be trusted?" In this book, Yancey tackles the questions caused by a God who doesn't always do what we think he's supposed to do.

Where Is God When It Hurts?

Philip Yancey

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 37 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

A helpful resource 4 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

Yancey deals with a number of issues vital to the discussion of pain and writes with great sensitivity, insight and clarity. He redefines the nature and purpose of pain, debunks the "health and wealth" theology, addresses the activity of God in pain, how to help people who are experiencing pain and gives lessons we can learn from pain. This is a wonderful resource for anyone going through a painful time or those who work in ministry, counseling, etc. Highly recommended.

Everyone else has said it all 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

Everyone else has said it all about this book. I believe this book is a must for everyone's library. I think Yancey is brillant.

Saving the Best For the End (of the Book and Perhaps Life)... 3 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

For most of the book, it is a rather journeyman, though sometimes inspired, look at pain and suffering. Well told, well done, well written, perhaps, but lacking the intensity of thought and insight that have always characterized Philip Yancey....

Then comes the end, where he pulls it all together in Part 5, "How Does Faith Help?" Then Philip Yancey writes like Philip Yancey..sharp, to the point, moving and inspirational.

A comparison might be the Old Testament to the New Testament. The New Testament alone is riveting and powerful, but, taken with the Old Testament, it becomes the Bible, the whole story of God's effort to communicate with man and man's effort to make sense of it. The New Testament is much more meaningful after having read the Old Testament.

It may be the same with this book. The first four parts,"Why Is There Such a Thing as Pain?," "Is Pain a Message from God?," How People Respond to Suffering" and "How CanWe Cope With Pain?" combine to make the fifth and final section so moving and powerful.

All of the parts (listed above)are meaningful and good. We all find ourselves at various points in our lives asking the questions and relating to the points raised in the first four parts, but Part 5 brings it all together and Yancey becomes Yancey again.

Not his best, but certainly worth the read. Certainly!! Especially if you are dealing with, anticipate dealing with or just plain wonder about pain, suffering and the presence/absence of God.

Editorial Review:

This perennial best-seller, now in a revised and expanded edition, includes a study guide. The book and study materials focus on the role of pain in God's plan for life and how we can respond to it.

Soul Survivor: How Thirteen Unlikely Mentors Helped My Faith Survive the Church

Philip Yancey

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 77 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Philip Yancey, one of America's leading Christian thinkers and author of more than a dozen books with sales of more than five million copies, returns for his most profound and soul-searching books yet. Soul Survivor is the story of his own struggle to reclaim his belief, interwoven with inspiring portraits of notable people from all walks of life who have succeeded in the pursuit of an authentic faith.

"I became a writer, I now believe, to sort out and reclaim words used and misused by the Christians of my youth," says Philip Yancey, whose explorations of Christian faith have made him a guide for millions of readers. In Soul Survivor, he charts his spiritual pilgrimage through the influence of key individuals: "These are the people who ushered me into the Kingdom. In many ways, they are why I remain a Christian today, and I want to introduce them to other spiritual seekers."

Yancey interweaves his own journey with fascinating stories of those who modeled for him a life-enhancing rather than a life-constricting faith: Dr. Paul Brand, G. K. Chesterton, Annie Dillard, Frederick Buechner, C. Everett Koop, Leo Tolstoy, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Henri Nouwen, John Donne, Mahatma Gandi, Shusaku Endo, Martin Luther King, Jr., Robert COles.

Readers will find these inspiring portraits both nurture and challenge for their own understanding of authentic faith. Yancey fans will devour these new glimpses of how he has held onto faith while acknowledging with utter honesty its inherent difficulties. New Yancey readers will be drawn in by the theme of faith versus religion and drawn along a compelling narrative of signposts on a spiritual journey.

Soul Survivor offers illuminating and critically important insights into true Christianity, which will enrich the lives of veteran believers and cautious seekers alike.


From the Hardcover edition.

Reaching for the Invisible God

Philip Yancey

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 53 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

A More Dismal Look at God in a Time of Silence 3 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

"Does God deserve our trust, no matter how things appear at the time? " ~ pg. 55

"Reaching for the Invisible God" was not at all what I expected it to be. The title seems to imply a study of God's qualities and how we can relate to him on a daily basis. What I found was a more negative view of God. Instead of being powerful, God seems to hide, not answer prayer and generally seems distant and aloof. With that said this book is not an especially encouraging book, rather it is an honest look at what some Christians may experience when they feel far away from God. If you feel that God is not listening or that your walk with God has become more difficult then this book may answer some of your questions.

"I trust that God can use even those bad things for my benefit." ~ pg. 65

The first few chapters of this book focus on doubts and skepticism. By chapter nine, Philip Yancey finally starts to talk about the qualities of God. I felt that he touches on very few qualities and misses the opportunity to reveal God's glory and majesty. Instead of focusing on a God who answers prayer he talks about a God who seems distant. As you age, Philip Yancey seems to believe you struggle more with your relationship with God. I have not seen this to be the case in the lives of people I know so this didn't seem to be completely true or based on extensive research. It seems to me that as you age your faith in God deepens and you acquire more patience. You also learn that God's "apparent" silence is often a "no" instead of a "yes." So God is still speaking and is just as close as he ever was.

If you have a lot of doubts then this book may be a safe place to contemplate them. If you are seeking a deeper relationship with God then there are a few creative ideas interspersed between the negativity. There are some good discussions about human freedom and why bad things happen to good people. There is some good advice about how to love God (keep his commandments). Overall, I felt this book fell short of my expectations but it was still fairly enjoyable to read.

~The Rebecca Review

Editorial Review:

Author Philip Yancey asks the question How does a relationship with God work? and answers it with an investigation that turns up surprising and satisfying answers about life and communication with an invisible God.

John Newton: From Disgrace to Amazing Grace

Jonathan Aitken

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Total reviews: 13 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Brilliant review of a facinating life 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

This is one of the best books I have read in the past 12 months. It is tightly written, full of insightful anecdotes, and paints the life of an ordinary man that God used to make an extraordinary impact on the world in which Newton lived...and beyond. Even if you are not a regular reader of christian biographies (like me) this one is worth picking up.

Editorial Review:

Most Christians know John Newton as a man who once captained a slave ship, was dramatically converted to Christ on the high seas, and later penned one of the greatest hymns of the faith, Amazing Grace. But he also had a huge impact on his times as an icon of the evangelical movement, as a great preacher and theologian, and as a seminal influence on abolitionist William Wilberforce. Newton's friendship with Wilberforce is portrayed in the major motion picture Amazing Grace.

Jonathan Aitken's new biography John Newton explores all these facets of Newton s life and character. It is the first biography to draw on Newton's unpublished diaries and correspondence, providing fresh insight into the life of this complex and memorable Christian. The result is a fascinating, colorful, and historically significant portrait of John Newton, a self-described great sinner redeemed by a great Savior through amazing grace.