Grace Notes: Daily Readings with a Fellow Pilgrim [Hardcover]

Philip Yancey (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 15, 2009

' 'There is no writer in the evangelical world that I admire and appreciate more.' - Billy Graham Philip Yancey's words---captured in his many bestselling books---have influenced the lives of millions of readers by strengthening their faith, building their hope, sparking their creativity, and challenging their comfort zones. If you're one of those readers, you know personally how his insights have affected your mind and heart. And if you're new to Yancey, you're in for a life-altering experience. These meditations---all drawn from the beloved and bestselling writings of the author---will take you through an entire year of Yancey's insight and imagination, covering a broad range of topics: * How to rediscover God through the wonders of nature, music, and romantic love * Why grace means you can't do anything to make God love you more or less * What happens when you cut through preconceptions to encounter the 'real' Jesus * How to renew your understanding and practice of prayer * Where you can see God in unexpected people and places * How to cope when life crashes in around you Every day, experience the best from a beloved author who, with freshness, clarity, and energy, has so brilliantly articulated God's wonderful but mysterious relationship with you. '

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Philip Yancey serves as editor-at-large for Christianity Today magazine. He has written thirteen Gold Medallion Award-winning books and won two ECPA Book of the Year awards for What's So Amazing About Grace? and The Jesus I Never Knew. Four of his books have sold over one million copies. Yancey lives with his wife in Colorado. SPANISH BIO: Philip Yancey es un autor que ha ganado premios, editor general de Christianity Today y colaborador de publicaciones tales como Books and Culture. Entre algunos de sus exitos se encuentran: El Jesus que nunca conoci y Gracia divina vs. condena humana.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Hardcover: 432 pages
• Publisher: Zondervan; 1 edition (September 15, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0310287723
• ISBN-13: 978-0310287728
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #89,750 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I worked for 10 years as an Editor and then Publisher for Campus Life magazine. There I learned journalistic skills (there's no tougher audience than teenagers), but every year it seemed I wrote fewer and fewer words. In 1980 my wife Janet and I moved to downtown Chicago where I began a career as a freelance writer. (She has worked as a social worker and hospice chaplain--which gives me plenty of material to write about!) We lived there until 1992, when we moved to the foothills of Colorado. I've written around 20 books, most of them still in print, thankfully. Three of them I coauthored with Dr. Paul Brand, who influenced me more than any single person. My own favorites are "Soul Survivor" and "Reaching for the Invisible God" because both of them forced me to dig deep and get personal. I'm a pilgrim, still "in recovery" from a bad church upbringing, searching for a faith that makes its followers larger and not smaller. I feel overwhelming gratitude that I can make a living writing about the questions that interest me.

Please visit my website at www.philipyancey.com for more information, essays, events, travel notes, and a blog.

There is also an official Facebook page at: http://www.facebook.com/PhilipYancey?v=wall

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

49 of 50 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Yancey's mirror & binoculars, September 19, 2009

By 

Michelle Van Loon - See all my reviews

This review is from: Grace Notes: Daily Readings with a Fellow Pilgrim (Hardcover)

Philip Yancey's introspective, wise writing has been both a mirror and a pair of binoculars in my life. The reflective nature of his work has forced me to take a good look at myself in Disappointment With God; the binocular view of the struggles of others in Pain: The Gift Nobody Wants. But the truth is that most all of his beautifully-crafted writing is both mirror and binoculars. I've been a fan since his days writing for Campus Life magazine in the 1970's.

Grace Notes: Daily Readings With A Fellow Pilgrim (Zondervan) offers up 366 daily one-page readings from Yancey's prolific career (so far). The readings center on themes like faith, prayer, forgiveness, suffering, church and grace, and are arranged will sensitivity to the days and seasons of the year. For example, the September 11 and 12 entries both offer reflections on the grace Yancey discovered at New York's Ground Zero in 2001.

The simple volume would make a perfect gift for a Yancey fan or a friend who values the kind of thought-provoking, soul-surprising writing that is both mirror and binoculars.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Yancey Everyday, October 6, 2009

By 

CaffeineEpiphanies.wordpress (New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Grace Notes: Daily Readings with a Fellow Pilgrim (Hardcover)

A spoonful of Philip Yancey for everyday! If you're as fond of his writing as I am, you'll appreciate this book of daily readings.

Each reading is one to two pages taken from some of his best work such as Disappointment with God; Finding God in Unexpected Places; I Was Just Wondering; Rumors of Another World; The Jesus I Never Knew (my personal fave); and The Bible Jesus Read (highly recommended.) There are also a few writings from his road trips and a few excerpts from his Christianity Today articles.

If you're a Philip Yancey fan, as I am, you'll want to read this book often.

For instance, from the December 14th reading: "Although I cannot learn from him why a particular bad thing occurs, I can learn how God feels about it. Jesus gives God a face, and that face is streaked with tears. " PY

Philip Yancey seems humble, but he also seems like he's super smart. This book would be a nice gift for that intellectual friend who has everything he or she needs; that person who throws around words like "hubris" and knows all the names of the characters in Homer books, but is still sitting on the fence when it comes to faith. You know...that person

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Book Review: Grace Notes, Daily Readings by a Fellow Pilgrim, October 22, 2009

By 

Keiki Hendrix "Vessel Project Book Reviewer" (Greenville, SC USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Grace Notes: Daily Readings with a Fellow Pilgrim (Hardcover)

Philip Yancey's writings both encourage and challenge me. The insights and observations he offers in his work bear witness of his contemplative walk with God. It is for this reason that I anticipated reading his new devotional Grace Notes: Daily Readings with a Fellow Pilgrim.

In this 366 day devotional, he includes key sections from previous works such as The Jesus I Never Knew, What's So Amazing about Grace?, and Where is God When It Hurts?, as well as many of his other writings.

The form of this devotional is quite different from most. The majority of devotionals I've read take the form first of a select scripture, then perhaps a related quote, a short grouping of text to illuminate the scripture and sometimes a prayer.

In Grace Notes: Daily Readings with a Fellow Pilgrim, scripture is mentioned and referenced in the text but not listed separately at the beginning or ending of the devotion for that day. It is a different approach to devotional reading and brings a more conversational tone to the book.

So many areas of Christianity are covered in this devotional which makes it one to keep and return to year after year. If you are new to the writings of Philip Yancey, a descriptive bibliography is included referencing many of his books and articles.

If asked which one of Philip Yancey's books was my favorite, I would be hard pressed to give only one. Yancey is thoughtful and provocative, engaging and inspiring, and always sincere and genuine. This makes this devotional rare indeed.

Consider the following concepts:

* From June 1st, entitled 'Atrocious Mathematics' - "I hear a loud whisper from the gospels that tells me that I did not get what I deserved. I deserved punishment but I got forgiveness."

* From August12th entitled 'Downward Surrender' -"Jesus suggest that we discover self not by staring inward but by gazing outward, not through introspection but through acts of love."

* From November 4th, entitled 'Weapons of Mercy' -"If my activism, however, well-motivated, drives out love, then I have misunderstood Jesus' Gospel. I am stuck with the law, not the gospel of grace."

This would be a wonderful gift for any occasion. I recommend it highly. The review copy I received at no cost and was donated to my local church.

Reviewed by: Keiki Hendrix
Reviewed for: Zondervan