Audiobooks by Mark Buchanan

The Rest of God: Restoring Your Soul by Restoring Sabbath

Widely acclaimed author Mark Buchanan states that what we've really lost is "the rest of God-the rest God bestows and, with it, that part of Himself we can know only through stillness." Stillness as a virtue is a foreign concept in our society, but there is wisdom in God's own rhythm of work and rest. Jesus practiced Sabbath among those who had turned it into a dismal thing, a day for murmuring and finger-wagging, and He reminded them of the day's true purpose: liberation-to heal, to feed, to rescue, to celebrate, to lavish and relish life abundant. With this book, Buchanan reminds us of this and gives practical advice for restoring the sabbath in our lives.

Mark Buchanan (Author), Eric Michael Summerer (Narrator)

Audiobook

God Walk: Moving at the Speed of Your Soul

Drawing on Jesus's example of walking, bestselling author Mark Buchanan explores one of the oldest spiritual practices of our faith. What happens when we literally walk out our Christian life? We discover the joy of traveling at the speed of our soul. We often act as if faith is only about the mind. But what about our bodies? What does our physical being have to do with our spiritual life? When the Bible exhorts us to walk in the light, or walk by faith, or walk in truth, it means these things literally as much as figuratively. The Christian faith always involves walking out, as again and again we find the holy in the ordinary. 'Come, follow me,' Jesus said, and then he was off. The most obvious thing about Jesus's method of discipleship, in fact, is that he walked and invited others to walk with him. Jesus is always 'on the way,' 'arriving,' 'leaving,' 'approaching,' 'coming upon.' It's in the walking that his disciples are taught, formed, tested, empowered, and released. Part theology, part history, part field guide, God Walk explores walking as spiritual formation, walking as healing, walking as exercise, walking as prayer, walking as pilgrimage, suffering, friendship, and attentiveness. It is an audiobook about being alongside the God who, incarnate in Jesus, turns to us as he passes by--always on foot--and says simply, 'Come, follow me.' With practical insight and biblical reflections told in his distinct voice, Buchanan provides specific walking exercises so you can immediately implement the practice of going 'God speed.' Whether you are walking around the neighborhood or hiking in the mountains, walking offers the potential to awaken your life with Christ as it revives body and soul.

Mark Buchanan (Author), Robert Keifer (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Four Best Places to Live

The UN uses three basic criteria to determine the world's most hospitable and habitable countries: life expectancy, educational level, and annual income. Underneath the apparent simplicity of these measures is a complex evaluation grid that touches on issues of politics, economics, cultural institutions, and similar elements of human culture. Money magazine's touchstones include leisure activities, access to health care, and traffic density. In The Four Best Places to Live, Mark Buchanan evaluates the same question with a uniquely different measure: the Holy Word of God. As Christians today, where can we find the greatest joy, peace, and wisdom? Where to experience the deepest sense of belonging? Where do true riches reside? With compelling insight, Buchanan explores what God has revealed in the Bible about where His people become most alive and most fully themselves.

Mark Buchanan (Author), Tom Parks (Narrator)

Audiobook

Your Church Is Too Safe

'These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also.' That was the startled cry, circa 50 AD, from a hastily assembled mob in Thessalonica. These men who have turned the world upside: their description of Paul and Silas. Holy vandals on the loose, anointed marauders running amok, men out ransacking Roman cities with the gospel. You'd think they were heralding the arrival of Barbarian hordes, fierce Berserkers descending on poorly fortified villages, not two hungry men with no more than a fire in their bellies and a wildness in their eyes. These were just two ordinary men. But, as Paul says to the Corinthians, he was a man who preached 'with a demonstration of the Spirit's power,' a man whose weapons were not of the world but had 'divine power to demolish strongholds.' Two simple, ordinary men, walking in the power of God. A whole town in uproar because of them. It's been a while since we've seen the likes of this. Your Church Is Too Safe is an unabridged audio download based on a simple idea: that God meant his church to be both good news and bad news, an aroma and a stench -- a disruptive force to whoever or whatever opposes the Kingdom of God, and a healing and liberating power to those who seek it. That the church has not always lived this mandate is well-documented. That the church needs to recover this mandate is much touted. Your Church Is Too Safe is a plea, a celebration, and a manifesto. It's an attempt to call the church to be the church. It is a tribute to the many churches that seek to be this. And it is a roadmap to become this. Above all, Your Church Is Too Safe is a biblical reflection and exhortation on why we should be this. Its main narrative is rooted in the story of how the early church, for all her failings and heresies and squabbles, managed to turn the world upside down. And its principal claim is that the modern church, for all her failings and heresies and squabbles, has every advantage they had, and maybe more, and faces no more challenges than they did, and maybe fewer.

Mark Buchanan, Maurice England (Author), Maurice England (Narrator)

Audiobook

When Life Isn't Perfect

The Christian's Happiness by Timothy J. Keller - Your bad things turn out for good, your good things can never be lost, and the best things are yet to come. Fourth Man in the Furnace by John Ortberg - Christ meets us in our worst trials. Loss, Loyalty, and Lament by Mark Mitchell - In the midst of our loss, God is still at work, and his ultimate aim is to bless. God In Our Sorrow by Mark Buchanan - God meets us in the whole range of our human experience.

John Ortberg, Mark Buchanan, Mark Mitchell, Timothy J Keller, Timothy J. Keller (Author), John Ortberg, Mark Buchanan, Mark Mitchell, Timothy J Keller, Timothy J. Keller (Narrator)

Audiobook

Spiritual Rhythm

Abide in me,' Jesus tells us, 'and you will bear much fruit.' Yet too often we forget that fruit needs different seasons in order to grow. We measure our spiritual maturity by how much we do rather than how we are responding to our current spiritual season. In Spiritual Rhythm, Mark Buchanan replaces our spirituality of busyness with a spirituality of abiding. Sometimes we are busy, sometimes still, sometimes pushing with all we've got, sometimes waiting. This model of the spiritual life measures and produces growth by asking: Are we living in rhythm with the season we are in? With the lyrical writing for which he is known, Mark invites us to respond to every season of the heart, whether we are flourishing and fruitful, stark and dismal, or cool and windy. In comparing spiritual rhythms to the seasons of the year, he shows us what to expect from each season and how embracing the seasons causes our spiritual lives to prosper. As he draws on the powerful words of Scripture, Mark explores what activities are suitable or necessary in each season---and what activities are useless or even harmful in that season. Throughout the book, Mark weaves together stories of young and old, men and women, families, couples, and individuals who are in or have been through a particular season of the heart. As Mark writes, 'I pray that this book meets you in whatever season you're in, and prepares you for whatever seasons await. I pray that it helps you find your voice, your stride, your rhythm, in season or out. Mostly, I pray that you, with or without my help, find Christ wherever you are. And that, even more, you discover that wherever you are, he's found you.

Mark Buchanan (Author), Tom Casaletto (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Holy Wild: Trusting in the Character of God

Can God be trusted? Canadian pastor and author Buchanan (Things Unseen; Your God Is Too Safe) argues yes in this hard-hitting evangelical book, which brandishes vivid imagery and biblical truth. Writing in colorful, expressive terms, Buchanan engages readers' hearts and attention as he challenges them to trust in three divine attributes: God's benevolent nature, his saving nature and his majestic nature. // Opening with a discussion of soul weariness, which most Christians experience at various times, Buchanan emphasizes the importance of trusting in a faithful God. A common obstacle to this trust is that Christians desire a God of love, but want to forget his equally essential quality as a God of wrath. Does anyone really want a God who is devoid of anger, asks Buchanan-especially when that anger is a purifying fire that responds to godlessness and wickedness? // Interestingly, Buchanan notes that God's wrath is played out most fully not when he delivers retribution but when he leaves his children to their own way-alone for all eternity. The author's passion convinces readers to dare enough to embrace the gift of rest from God. Though the reading generally moves along at a fast clip, the book's second section focuses on the foundations of salvation in lackluster fashion. The final sections, however, pick up momentum to finish in fine style.

Mark Buchanan (Author), Lloyd James, Lloyd James (Narrator)

Audiobook

Your God Is Too Safe: Rediscovering the Wonder of a God You Can't Control

Mark Buchanan (Author), Lloyd James, Lloyd James (Narrator)

Audiobook

Hidden in Plain Sight: The Secret of More

Even for the religious, life is full of questions: What is faith? Can my life be more satisfying? How can I deepen my walk with Christ? What does it mean to be happy? These bubble and boil underneath the surface of our everyday life. And though we ignore them, we know they point us to realms of wisdom or even mystery-to something more. Author Mark Buchanan asked these same questions. 'I want more, God,' he prayed-and the answer was more than he was looking for. It was right there, hidden in plain sight among the syllables and syntax of a few words of advice from the apostle Peter. With time and experience, Buchanan learned to tease it out, this secret of more, and he wrote a book about it: Hidden in Plain Sight. The answer, he discovered, is an investigation of the cross. The answer is an excavation of the virtues. The answer urges us passionately to 'make every effort.' And, Buchanan tells us, the answer is worth it.

Mark Buchanan (Author), Alan Crookham (Narrator)

Audiobook