God Stories: Inspiring Encounters with the Divine [Deckle Edge] [Hardcover]

Jennifer Skiff (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 11, 2008

“The idea first came to me when a minister asked if I had any ‘God Stories.’ I asked her what she meant, and she explained that a God Story was a miracle-like experience that proves God exists. . . . I did have stories. I hadn’t dared to tell many people about them, but I definitely had had what I believed to be encounters with the Divine. I wondered if many other people had stories too. What happened next surprised me most. I realized that a Divine intelligence that many people call God is connecting with millions of people every day. These are their stories.”
—from the Introduction


In God Stories, Jennifer Skiff shares the extraordinary experiences of people who have felt the power of God’s presence in their lives and been forever changed. A doctor opens the chest of a dying heart patient to discover her heart is healed; Marines watch as a fellow soldier in Iraq is hit by a powerful explosion only to discover, when the dust settles, that he is still standing and has no injuries; a struggling couple receive an answer to a prayer and are prevented from making a mistake that could cost them their children; a young woman loses her boyfriend on 9/11 and receives a message that brings her peace.

Reassuring, hopeful, and unforgettable, these amazing confirmations of divine intervention will lift your spirit and leave you wondering—and even remembering—when your life was touched by a miracle.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Skiff, an award-winning investigative journalist and correspondent for CNN, compiles an inspiring if uneven assortment of real-life accounts of meeting with the divine. Whether readers are actively religious or die-hard skeptics, the stories recounted will reaffirm God's existence and intervention in human affairs. Skiff draws upon such themes as listening to God's voice, answers to prayer, healing and confirmation of an afterlife. While less spiritually inclined readers may find some stories more attributable to coincidence than divine intervention, other tales are beyond rational explanation. In one account, a woman who had irreparable brain and organ damage was completely healed and discharged from the hospital after prayer. A man felt an urgent caution against taking an airline flight on which nine people were subsequently killed. In a similar tale of miraculous warnings about danger, a woman heard an audible voice tell her to stop right before she stepped in front of a seven-foot Australian snake's mouth. Mysterious and faith-inspiring, these stories are valuable even if some don't conform to readers' particular religious beliefs. (Nov. 11)
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Review

“Whatever your personal beliefs, this book is a perfect way to explore and discuss your own relationship with the spiritual.”
—Redbook

“God Stories arrives at a perfect time. With each of us struggling to find our personal missions and how to manage the madness of everyday life, this book reminds us that clues, signs, and moments can be found everyday showing us that God is here. God Stories is a book filled with fabulous true stories. With the increasing hunger to find peace, spirituality, and personal mission, this book shows us we're not alone in that journey. God Stories arrives at a perfect time recounting those almost unbelievable moments when others were touched and moved in the right direction.”
—Carole Tomko, Executive Vice President, Discovery Networks

“Faith can’t necessarily be explained no matter what religion you are but there are examples where faith has moved mountains for people. This book helps people to understand, from whatever religious perspective they have, that there is someone watching over you.”
—Alan Bond, America’s Cup Winning Yachtsman

“Just when you thought life's journey was the solitary plodding of one day unconnected to the next; God Stories reveals the golden threads that link lives and loves and give us strength to weave a beautiful tapestry.”
—Carolyn O’Neil, Former Executive Producer & Senior Correspondent CNN Television

“God Stories is proof positive that God - whatever else He or She may be- is one helluva storyteller. Transcendent reading.”
—Susan Maushart, author of The Mask of Motherhood, Wifework, and What Women Want Next

“Here's one thoughtful, readable and thoroughly engaging approach to understanding the phenomenon of faith and inspiration, the existence of which we cannot dispute, but the sources of which are a constant wonder.”
—Becky Madeira, Vice President, Pepsico

“I'm not a believer - so God Stories and spiritual experiences I usually take as proof of people's willingness to believe anything, no matter how nonsensical and silly. These tales bought to us by Jennifer Skiff are not silly. If you abstract the religious elements you are left with people at a point in their lives where they discover optimism and joy. There is not enough of either in the world and we need more people to affirm ‘Yes life is worth living’. These stories do just that.”
—Guy Brooke, The Earl of Warwick

“God Stories are the stuff of life and living. Reading this book is a touching and soul penetrating experience.”
—Mark Victor Hansen, Co-creator, #1 New York Times best selling series Chicken Soup for the Soul ® and co-author, Cracking the Millionaire Code and The One Minute Millionaire

“At the beginning of the twentieth century William James wrote an important book on the varieties of religious experience. Now, a century later, Jennifer Skiff has collected a variety of early twenty- first century accounts of religious experience, all helpfully organized in themes. These give us some direct insight into the ways in which different people interpret their human experiences, particularly unexpected and unusual experiences, and how they do this religiously. If a miracle is defined as any unusual or unexpected occurrence that brings a person to a heightened awareness in time of the presence of the eternal God and of the ultimate mystery of life, then the clear conclusion is that 'miracles do happen!' Those whose trade is in abstract theology will be inspired and impressed by the degree of religious conviction that can be triggered by concrete religiously interpreted experience.”
—Peter Carnley, Co-Chair of the Anglican Roman Catholic International Commission

“My eyes filled with tears and my heart lifted as I read God Stories. Jennifer Skiff has presented us with a wide range of heavenly touches, everything from quiet hugs to stunning out-of-body experiences, and readers of all faiths will be moved. As the praise song goes, "Our God is an awesome God!" Each page of this beautiful book attests to that.”
—Joan Wester Anderson, author of Where Angels Walk and Angels and Wonders

“A bouquet of inspiring stories...for the believer and nonbeliever alike.”
—Julia Cameron, bestselling author of The Artist’s Way

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Harmony; 1 edition (November 11, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0307382680
• ISBN-13: 978-0307382689
• Product Dimensions: 5.9 x 1 x 8.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (65 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #122,660 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If this book doesn't change your life, you're already in heaven., January 9, 2009

By 

Philip E. IRELAND "Phil Ireland" (Westminster, MD, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: God Stories: Inspiring Encounters with the Divine (Hardcover)

This book as I just stated is "life changing", I was so taken by the stories that I finished it in 2 days. I had lunch with my Pastor yesterday, 1/8/09, and took the book with me for him to see. He read one story and asked me to lend it to him when I finished reading it, consider that done. I was not a church going person until March 4, 2007 due to another life changing experience which greatly is confirmed by these stories. I would advise anyone, but particularly those who have lost a loved one to read this book, it will bring you tears, then relief as you will realize that all will be OK. My wife passed on 3/30/07 and now as the result of this book I'm sure she is "over there" waiting for me. Thank you Jennifer Skiff.

15 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Peace and Inspiration..., June 30, 2009

By 

Janice C. Stovka - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: God Stories: Inspiring Encounters with the Divine (Hardcover)

I want to thank Jennifer Skiff for being so kind while she was sorting out our experiences for her book, "God Stories: Inspiring Encounters With The Divine'. She listened, with patience and an open heart, as we relived amazing experiences and painful memories. I have to say that the decision to edit this book could not have come without it's hardships for Jennifer. Hearing stories, some filled with pain, grief, and loneliness had to have been very difficult for her.

Yet, amazingly, she has now been told by hundreds of people, that this book has changed their lives!...given them hope!...brightened their world! Thank you, Jennifer Skiff, for helping so many people. God has truly blessed you.

I believe it was Mother Angelica, founder of EWTN, who said that we will never know the answers to certain questions until we ask God, face to face. Until then, we have to help one another. In my estimation and experience, this book definitely does that. Wow, does it do that!

I feel a bond with the other contributors who have each shared their own unique story in this inspiring book. Jennifer's own story, along with Jane Seymour's and 135 others make for great reading and thoughtful contemplation. How can you explain a rainbow appearing in a dreary, cloudy sky; how can you explain miraculous healings; how can you explain a feeling of such great and profound peace that it seems like you've been in heaven for a few minutes? Well...

I was given such a wondrous gift of peace when I needed it most. And, I know that God gave it to me. I don't need anyone to tell me that it was a coincidence or my imagination. God spoke to me and answered my prayers. I have no doubt.

Read 'God Stories: Inspiring Encounters With The Divine' and find peace. And, listen for your own 'God Story'. We all have them.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One who was There, November 12, 2008

By 

John Baxter "jb" (Chicago, Illinois) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: God Stories: Inspiring Encounters with the Divine (Hardcover)

My conversations with Ms. Skiff ("Jen") revealed her warmth, a realist attitude and view, and her genuineness. Her stories - collected here - emit that same warmth ... and are most inspiring.
If I hadn't had a similar "God Story", I would be hard-pressed to believe some of them. But, I now know them to be "God Stories" ... for real. Why? Because - you may have guessed it - I'm one of those stories. Without question, my experience (at age 59) was my 1st ... and took me from being a skeptic about God to a "lifelong" believer. Jen Skiff has given me an enormous gift with this collection. I urge you - the reader - to explore God Stories. They may well change your life, and your view. Thanks. JBB