Spiritual Biography

Seven years ago, Christian Wiman, a well-known poet and the editor of Poetry magazine, wrote a now-famous essay about having faith in the face of death. My Bright Abyss, composed in the difficult years since and completed in the wake of a bone marrow transplant, is a moving meditation on what a viable contemporary faith - responsive not only to modern thought and science but also to religious tradition - might look like.

Author John C. Preiss describes in clear detail the Virgin Mary's appearances to Lucia dos Santos and Francisco and Jacinta Marto (now the Church's youngest canonized saints) and shares the background, sights, and sounds that draw you into the events as they unfolded over the course of the 20th century. More than just a history lesson about the apparitions, The Miracle and the Message shows us how to claim the message in our own lives and fully embrace what Mary offers the Church and the world.

Simon Peter, Andrew, James the son of Zebedee, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Thomas, Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, Jude, Simon, Judas, and Matthias - what happened to the men who answered Jesus' call to follow him? What impact did they have on the world? Where did they go and what did they do after Jesus' resurrection and ascension? In these fascinating profiles, Dr. McBirnie offers listeners a snapshot of the lives of each apostle.

George MacDonald was one of the beloved storytellers of the Victorian era. He wrote for children and adults to point to the reality beyond what we see on earth. Sometimes he used fairy tales, and other times he used realistic fiction. His most popular fantasies were for children and include The Princess and the Goblin, The Princess and Curdie, At the Back of the North Wind, The Wise Woman, The Light Princess, and dozens of short fairy tales. He also edited and wrote for the Good Words for the Young magazine. C.S. Lewis first discovered what he called “goodness” in a story by MacDonald, ...

Raised as an atheist, Sara Miles lived an enthusiastically secular life as a restaurant cook and a writer. Then early one winter morning, for no earthly reason, she wandered into a church. "I was certainly not interested in becoming a Christian," she writes, "or, as I thought of it rather less politely, a religious nut." But she ate a piece of bread, took a sip of wine, and found herself radically transformed.

Famous for setting in motion the Protestant Reformation, Martin Luther is often lifted high as a hero or condemned as a rebel. But underneath it all, he was a man of flesh and blood, with a deep longing to live for God. This biography by respected Reformation scholar Herman Selderhuis captures Luther in his original context and follows him on his spiritual journey, from childhood through the Reformation to his influential later years.

Gareth Duignam, born in Dublin, Ireland in 1979, shares his transformative journey in this autobiography. From a life of non-conformity, he embarked on a spiritual awakening that led him to become a teacher, proficient in transmitting potent energies like Shaktipat and the Supramental Force.

Maybe it was a grandparent, or a teacher, or a colleague. Someone older, patient and wise, who understood you when you were young and searching, helped you see the world as a more profound place, gave you sound advice to help you make your way through it.

Toni Morrison's Spiritual Vision unpacks this oft-ignored, but essential, element of Toni Morrison's work - her religion - and in so doing, gives listeners a deeper, richer understanding of her life and her writing.

A life-changing spiritual awakening freed Brian "Head" Welch from a stranglehold of drugs and alcohol and prompted him to leave the highly successful nu-metal band KoRn in 2005. What followed was a decade-long trial by fire, from the perils of fathering a teen lost in depression and self-mutilation to the harsh realities of playing solo and surviving the shattering betrayal of a trusted friend.

In this groundbreaking book, one of America's premier religion writers revives ancient expressions through cultural commentary, vulnerable personal narratives, and surprising biblical insights. Both provocative and liberating, Learning to Speak God from Scratch will breathe new life into your spiritual conversations and lure you into the embrace of the God who inhabits them.

Organized around the main beliefs that undergirded his ministry - the centrality of Christ, the importance of the new birth, the indwelling of the Spirit, and the necessity of the Bible - this introduction to Charles Spurgeon’s life and thought will challenge listeners to live their lives for the glory of God.

The Columbine tragedy in April 1999 pierced the heart of our country. We later learned that the teenage killers specifically targeted Rachel Scott and mocked her Christian faith on their chilling, homemade videotapes. Rachel Scott died for her faith. Now her parents talk about Rachel's life and how they have found meaning in their daughter's martyrdom in the aftermath of the school shooting. Rachel's Tears comes from a heartfelt need to celebrate this young girl's life, to work through the grief and the questions of a nation, and to comfort those who have been touched by violence.

A Heart Blown Open chronicles the extraordinary journey of Zen master Jun Po Denis Kelly Roshi, whose life landed him in prison long before he landed in a monastery. Experience the successes and failures that led him to found an entirely new form of Buddhism called Mondo Zen. Starting from an abusive and alcoholic home in Wisconsin, Kelly becomes a major force in the counterculture of the 1960s and one of its biggest manufacturers of LSD. He ends up on the run for five years before serving time in a federal prison, and then goes on to spend six years in a Zen monastery. In his fiftieth year...

This book was written and compiled by Hudson Taylor’s son, Frederick Taylor, along with his wife Geraldine. They gathered never-before-published letters from Hudson and his wife Maria, as well as several accounts and testimonies from other witnesses to their lives. These are some of the most powerful writings in modern church history, and show the inner life of one of the greatest missionaries since the apostles.

Never before has a book like this one delved into the spiritual odyssey of cultural icon Bob Dylan. Tracking an American original - from his Jewish roots to his controversial embrace of Jesus to his enduring legacy as the composer of the Tempest album - Bob Dylan: A Spiritual Life delivers the story of a man in dogged pursuit of redemption. Based on years of research and original interviews, this book sorts through the myths and misunderstandings and reveals Dylan to be both traditional and radical in the way he expresses his spiritual quest for meaning.

Pilgrim at Tinker Creek is the story of a dramatic year in Virginia's Roanoke Valley, where Annie Dillard set out to chronicle incidents of "beauty tangled in a rapture with violence." Dillard's personal narrative highlights one year's exploration on foot in the Virginia region through which Tinker Creek runs. In the summer, she stalks muskrats in the creek and contemplates wave mechanics; in the fall, she watches a monarch butterfly migration and dreams of Arctic caribou. She tries to con a coot; she collects pond water and examines it under a microscope.

What if God is calling you to something greater than you ever imagined? After 9/11, while grieving the loss of her students and colleagues, Kathryn Wohnoutka received an unexpected gift—a divine vision. Overwhelmed, she asked, Why me? But over time, she realized God’s plans are always greater than our own. In this poignant memoir, Kathryn shares the mystical encounters and life-changing moments that deepened her faith and guided her through life’s trials. Her journey will inspire you to see that miracles are real and God is ever-present, leading you toward a life of deeper faith and ...

In Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus, now expanded with new bonus content, Nabeel Qureshi describes his dramatic journey from Islam to Christianity, complete with friendships, investigations, and supernatural dreams along the way. Providing an intimate window into a loving Muslim home, Qureshi shares how he developed a passion for Islam before discovering, almost against his will, evidence that Jesus rose from the dead and claimed to be God.

Dr. Kent and Amber Brantly (with David Thomas) tell of Dr. Brantly's near-death encounter with the Ebola virus in Liberia. The first American diagnosed during the 2014 outbreak, Dr. Brantly's ordeal - including his controversial evacuation to and hospitalization in the United States - received worldwide media attention. Interspersed in the account is the full story of how both Kent and his wife, Amber, sought to serve others in the name of Christ in Liberia.