The Sacred Echo [Hardcover]

Margaret Feinberg (Author)

Book Description

Release date: August 5, 2008

'Don't Listen For the Voice of God. Listen for His Echo.' When God really wants to get your attention, he doesn't just say something once. He echoes. He speaks through a Sunday sermon, a chance conversation with a friend the next day, even a random email. The same theme, idea, impression, or lesson will repeat itself in surprising and unexpected ways until you realize that maybe, just maybe, God is at work.

According to author Margaret Feinberg, the repetitive nature of a sacred echo gives us confidence that God really is prompting, guiding, or leading. The sacred echo reminds us to pay close attention -- something important may be going on here. The sacred echo challenges us to prayerfully consider how God is at work in our life as well as in the lives of those around us. The sacred echo is an invitation to spiritual awakening. Margaret writes, 'I want a relationship with God where prayer is as natural as breathing. If God is the one in whom we are to live and move and have our being, then I want my every inhale infused with his presence, my every exhale an extension of his love.' If that's your desire too, let Sacred Echo be your guide to a deeper, more rewarding relationship with the God of the universe.

Editorial Reviews

Review

There is no mystery like prayer. Sacred Echo honors the mystery, and offers wise council on the way. -- John Ortberg, Pastor and Author, Menlo Park Presbyterian Church <br><br>

From the Back Cover

Margaret Feinberg---popular speaker, author, and one of the 'Thirty Emerging Voices' of Christian leadership---has a unique message for you: 'Don't listen for the voice of God. Listen for his echo.' According to Feinberg, when God really wants to get your attention, he doesn't just say something once. He echoes. The repetitive nature of this sacred echo is evidence that God really is prompting, guiding, or leading. In her trademark way, speaking like a trusted friend, Feinberg reminds you to pay close attention, because something important may be going on. Then, she challenges you to prayerfully consider how God is at work in your life as well as in the lives of those around you. The Sacred Echo is an invitation to spiritual awakening---your guide to a deeper, more rewarding relationship with the God of the universe. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Zondervan (August 5, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0310274176
• ISBN-13: 978-0310274179
• Product Dimensions: 5.7 x 0.8 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (69 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #114,857 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Margaret Feinberg is a popular Bible teacher and speaker at churches and leading conferences such as Catalyst, Thrive and Extraordinary Women. Her books and Bible studies have sold over 600,000 copies and received critical acclaim and extensive national media coverage from CNN, the Associated Press, USA Today, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post and many others.

She was recently named one of the 30 Voices who will help lead the church in the next decade by Charisma magazine and one of the '40 Under 40' who will shape Christian publishing by Christian Retailing magazine. Margaret currently lives in Morrison, Colorado, with her husband, Leif and their superpup, Hershey.

Now that you've read the official bio, here's the kick off your shoes and drink iced tea on the back porch version:

Margaret spends most mornings with her good friends Coffee and God. Without Coffee, mornings would be difficult. Without God, life would be impossible.

After a caffeine and God infusion, you'll often find Margaret (puppy-in-tow) adventuring outdoors--she enjoys hiking, river rafting, and scanning the night sky for the Northern Lights and shooting stars.

She boasts an exceptionally dry sense of humor that she attributes to her Jewish father. Little known secret: He was recently inducted into the Surfer's Hall of Fame, and her mom earned her captain's license for 60-ton ships. They're pretty amazing. You'd like them.

Married to Leif for almost a decade, Margaret's known for losing things like her sunglasses on her head, keys in her hand, or her phone for the 12th time in the same day. Luckily, Hershey hasn't been left anywhere... yet.

For being a writer, friends say she has a surprisingly narrow vocabulary and uses a lot of the same phrases including, "I'm game", "Whahhooo!" and "Oooh! Let's do it."

Always up for an adventure, Margaret is known to drive 50 miles to chase down a food truck and snag Groupons for skydiving on a whim. Some describe her as a bat out of hell behind the wheel. Steer clear. She prefers watching comedies and laughing until her tummy aches over doing sit ups. And if you touch her belly button she gets nauseous. So don't do it.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book! September 17, 2008

By Jonathan Cliff

Format:Hardcover

When I read non-fiction Christian books they usually fall into one of two categories. The first, and most popular kind are the books birthed out of a successful sermon series the author has done. I'm NOT knocking this approach, I'm just labeling them as mostly teaching in nature. The teaching can be challenging, but mostly it's educational in design. The other category would be a book that is challenging to the reader through and through. The kind of book that makes me feel like the author has been impressed by God to write what is on their heart. I would put The Sacred Echo in the latter category.

Reading The Sacred Echo felt like reading a letter from a friend. Sure, it was teaching me things and bringing some insight to my life; but mostly it was speaking to parts of my own soul that only a dear friend would know about. Margaret has a fantastic communication style that disarmed me even when she was talking about some sticky topics. For example, Why doesn't God always seem to answer our prayers? Does God care about my pain? Why doesn't God answer my questions like I want him to? are some of the thoughts she speaks to. She consistently brings her points back to scripture and real-life experiences. It's a rare author willing to expose her own doubts, fears, and mistakes in a book; and at times it made me uncomfortable (in a good way) to read about her own struggles in learning to hear God's voice.

The Sacred Echo is a book that I highly recommend; more specifically it would be a wonderful small group study book or accountability partner study book. This might be my highest honor, but it could potentially show up in some Christmas presents I give this year!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars An Honest Look at the Topic of Prayer September 1, 2008

By Mike Tatu

Format:Hardcover

For the last couple of weeks I've been reading a book called the Sacred Echo by Margaret Feinberg. Reading isn't really the full verb I should be using here. More than reading I've been identifying, feeling, relating and experiencing the ideas about the voice of God expressed in this book. Margaret gives a very vulnerable look into what it really means to hear God's voice calling out to us and reverberating in our lives. As I picked this book up, I quietly wondered where my thoughts were on the topic. I was once again grimly reminded of the distance I have in my heart to listening for God's voice. I feel like for myself, and most of my surrounding immediate community, the topic of God's voice and how he is speaking to us is dormant in our everyday language. It's just not talked about very much.

As I got into the book, I felt like a lot of good things were said and then I got really excited. I realized she wasn't spouting theories, she was telling stories. I LOVE stories. I love hearing about moments in time where a person becomes aware of something God was trying to speak to them. Nothing is more powerful. I don't care who the speaker or writer is, no three point sermon or seven step book can ever compare to the stories that exist in the world around us of how God is on the move in the hearts of his children. Reading on, I found that not all of the stories were of the EPIC, "how is that possible!?" sort. There were stories of clarity and also stories of confusion. It was definitely a book to identify with. There are times when I feel like the Sacred Echo of God's voice is booming and other times when the cavern of life is frighteningly silent. In the midst of all of that we have an opportunity to learn about and draw near to our Creator. We also learn a lot about ourselves. As Margaret continued to unpack her thoughts about the Sacred Echo coupled with her stories, she reached a great balance of starting a dialogue about God's voice and allowing God's voice to speak through the stories she was writing. I felt some significant moments in this book where I wasn't just reading about God's voice...I was hearing it.

14 of 18 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars An authentic look at prayer September 8, 2008

By Jay Winters

Format:Hardcover

Margaret Feinberg has been described recently by Leonard Sweet as one of the "authentics" of Christianity today. I have to agree. Her speaking as well as writing style communicates not only her point - but an authentic wrestling with the issues at hand. Henri Nouwen wrote in "the Wounded Healer" that it is in authentically wrestling with one's own life that a person is able to help others. In "The Sacred Echo", Margaret let us into her authentic wrestling with something that most Christians find themselves wrestling with from time to time - prayer.

Instead of a treatise or how-to book, Margaret simply shares her story of prayer. She shares her confusion with the way that some people talk about the messages which flow back and forth between God and mankind. She shares her frustration with those who give up on prayer as well as the frustration that has made her almost give up on it. Yet all the while, the refrain of the book is that there is a "Sacred Echo" which draws us closer to the heart of God.

This would be a book that I would hand to either an individual seeking to deepen (or just figure out) their prayer life, or to a small group that was seeking the same thing. Written with plenty of room for reflection and prayer (imagine that), Margaret's book is a quick read that will lead you to a long time of introspection.

Pick this book up if you're seeking help in your prayer life or trying to help people who are seeking that help. The authentic voice in which it is written is hard to deny, the authentic Voice that it speaks about, God, calls you through these pages to return to His book with renewed fervor.