The Power of a Whisper: Hearing God, Having the Guts to Respond

Hybels, founding pastor of the globally influential Willow Creek Community Church, writes about learning to hear the "communicating God." Describing his life as a 50-year whisper-fueled odyssey, he says he waited nearly four decades to write this book because of controversy surrounding claims of hearing divine messages. In contrast to those who are certain they have heard God speak, Hybels points readers to the Holy Spirit's subtle "Wind Words," saying the problem is not God's silence but whether Christians have ears to hear. Hybels weaves personal stories, biblical principles, and global stories of others, saying no goal is more critical than keeping a "pliable heart before God." He writes that his suburban Chicago megachurch and its worldwide associated network of churches exist today because at low points in Hybels's life, God "graciously whispered to me." (July)