Spiritual Biography

Many of us would say it takes guts and a little bit of crazy to step toe-to-toe with a powerful, 1700-pound bull. For hall-of-fame bullfighter, Jeremy Sparks, it took faith. Sparks' remarkable and illustrious journey began at a young age when he received a God-given calling to become a professional bullfighter.

Blindness became Captain Scotty Smiley’s journey of supreme testing. As he lay helpless in the hospital, he resented the theft of his dreams, but with his wife’s love and the support of family and friends, Scotty’s response became God’s transforming moment. Since the moment he forced his way through nurses and cords to take a simple shower, he has climbed Mount Rainier, won an ESPY Award, surfed, skydived, become a father, earned an MBA from Duke, and much more.

A clear,concise and authentic application of how to live the life Christ promised. George Ackron is author, blogger and the director of Renovator Ministries a not for profit parachurch ministry called to help all engage Christ as Master and Teacher, encouraging all to live the Kingdom Now life by knowing the constant presence of Jesus Christ through a life of Christian disciplines. George focuses all his writings on helping the reader access easily and apply Christian principles for the abundant life Christ promised.

Fighting against an addiction to pornography while trying his best to live as a Christian, Matthew Robert Payne is a sinner who has gone through a lot in his efforts to conquer the challenges that life throws at him. In his memoir he speaks of his battle to overcome the past and ensure that he will walk in the future in the grace of God. Yes, there are days when the darkness seems to be gaining ground, but he perseveres and keeps a tight hold to his faith.

Kommt und seht! fordert Jesus zwei seiner späteren Jünger auf. Wer bis zu Jakobus in Santiago de Compostela gewandert ist, möchte doch weitergehen auf Christus zu. Doch auf welchem Weg? Dieses Hörbuch erzählt die Geschichte eines Pilger, der weitergeht und findet: Das Antlitz Christi, das sich von denjenigen schauen lässt, die demütigen Herzens sind. Ein Buch vom Wandern, vom Pilgern, ein Buch von der Suche nach Gott.

Dare to See includes 30 personal essays that illuminate how Brown has found God's presence in her own real-life experiences from early childhood to the present. From being a victim of a drive-by shooting, experiencing incredible career success, or searching for family fulfillment, Brown's stories will resonate with anyone whose life has been touched by doubt, hurt, defeat, understanding, love, abundance and hope. In Dare to See, Brown shows us how to discover God everywhere we go and in nearly everything we do.

Discover a beautiful friendship between Billy Graham and his friend and pastor, Don Wilton. This book looks behind the scenes of Graham's life, which continues to inspire us in our own spiritual journeys. Most Saturdays for 15 years, Don drove the long road to meet with Billy at his home in Montreat, North Carolina. There the two friends spent hours talking about family, politics, sports, and their spiritual lives.

For 25 years, millions of Americans watched Jack Perkins on NBC News as a correspondent, commentator, and anchorman. People were familiar with his face, his bearing, and his rich, reassuring bass. Yet at the age of 52 and at the height of his career, Jack Perkins disappeared from the public eye and moved with his wife, Mary Jo, to a bare-necessities cabin on an uninhabited island off the coast of Maine. This isolated home they came to call Moosewood was the setting for Jack and Mary Jo’s spiritual awakening.

With humor and wit in Will Jesus Buy Me a Double-Wide?, Zacharias unpacks story after story of those who use the name of God as a means to living their own “good life”, as well as some unlikely folks whose genuine faith has led them to a different understanding of wealth.

What if everything the Gospels say about Jesus of Nazareth - his words, his deeds, his plans - turned out to be true? Searching for Jesus changes "what if?" to "what is", debunking the debunkers and showing how the latest scholarship supports orthodox Christian belief.

Unwilling to return to the darkness of her former life, Sherry Gore attacks her faith head on. Soon the life she remakes for herself and her children as she seeks to follow the teachings of the Bible features head coverings, simple dress, and a focus on Jesus Christ. Only then does she realize, in a fit of excitement, that there are others like her. They are called Amish and Mennonite, and she realizes she has found her people.

These are the firsthand accounts of sisters Helen and Barbara Shores about growing up with their father, Arthur Shores, a prominent Civil Rights attorney, during the 60s in the Jim Crow south Birmingham district - a frequent target of the Ku Klux Klan. Between 1948 and 1963, some 50 unsolved Klan bombings happened in Smithfield where the Shores family lived, earning their neighborhood the nickname “Dynamite Hill.” Due to his work, Shores’ daughter, Barbara, barely survived a kidnapping attempt.

In a culture that praises blending in over standing out, productivity over purpose, and noise over truth, many women find their God-given voice compromised, quieted, or even mocked. We all long to live out our divinely designed passions and unique talents, yet too often it becomes so much easier in the face of opposition to stay silent altogether. What if God is calling you to so much more? As a working mom, wife, artist, and abolitionist, Natalie Grant has struggled to live on purpose while battling the worldly demands of keeping up the appearance of perfection.

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.

Robert W. Janek grew up, with his mother, father, and older brother, in the farm and ranch country of west Texas. It was a “normal” childhood… until the late summer of 1952 when he had just turned eleven years old and was stricken with polio. Polio: A Personal Spiritual Journey tells the continuing story of the effects of polio on a human being: what it means to go through the initial stages of hospitalization and then the life-long physical, social, and spiritual aftermath of living with partial facial paralysis due to bulbar polio.

In Mission with Prophetic Power, Evan Howard introduces us to his good friend John Woolman (1720–1772). In this autobiographical record of his life, Woolman describes his charismatic, contemplative, and evangelical spirituality as he practiced a lifestyle of fair trade (justice) and minimalism (simplicity). Encounter testimonies of the “operations of divine love” in Woolman’s record of the goodness of God.

Growing up in the only Korean family in a Minnesota town, Michelle Lee-Barnewall has felt the pain of racial discrimination and the resulting identity confusion that follows. Through the telling of her personal story, she seeks to transcend the current divide between those who emphasize social justice concerns and those who believe these concerns compromise the core of the gospel. A Longing to Belong integrates a biblical worldview and personal experience on the topic of race and race relations.

Dorothy Newton was married to Dallas Cowboy football star Nate Newton, who abused and threatened her until Dorothy found refuge through a relationship with Christ. Silent Cry is a testament to Dorothy’s strength, will to live, and the peace that comes with hope in the God who sees and hears your tears—even when no one else does.

In desperate need to rid herself of a life lived in bondage to a negative ego, Ameille Zay Marcotte found yoga, or, rather, yoga discovered Marcotte. Through her practice, in conjunction with sobriety, she found the ability to let go and opened her mind to a world of infinity. Marcotte’s deeply personal account demonstrates how the application of spiritual principles unfolded in her life and illustrates the unimaginable healing that occurred through faith and forgiveness.

“Keep me real. Sometimes, I am standing right beside you. I haven’t gone anywhere. Just keep me real.” This message was clearly relayed to the author in a session with a medium shortly after her brother’s death. Over the next two years, Cathryn navigated through her grief, doubt, and fear to do just that. The result is this spiritual memoir. Is it real...or imagined?