Contact: Jessica Richie NEWS 720-260-4120 [P] FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE [email protected]
What’s the spiritual appetite of our nation? Critically Acclaimed Author Believes Despite Thousands Leaving the Church, Americans Are More Spiritually Hungry Than Ever, Yet Struggling to Identify What Truly Satisfies
“Margaret Feinberg is a prophetic voice to our generation. This book will pierce your soul and create a renewed hunger to seek God.”
—Mark Batterson, pastor of National Community Church and author of In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day
Grand Rapids, Mich., March 22, 2011 – Critically-acclaimed author Margaret Feinberg shares her journey to find God in the ordinary in her new release, Hungry for God (May 2011). Feinberg examines how appetite is woven into the fabric of our humanness and how it affects our life and faith. Just as physical hunger leads a person to search for food, spiritual hunger compels a person to search for God.
Studies from the 2008 American Religious Identification Survey found 15 percent of those surveyed did not identify with a religious group—more than double the number in 1990. Double. Yet despite the decrease in religious affiliation, Feinberg believes the spiritual appetite of our nation is at an all time high.
“Just look at the best-sellers list with titles like Heaven is For Real as well as the recent online frenzy created by Rob Bell’s Love Wins, and you can’t deny people’s interest to discuss and engage in spiritual matters,” Feinberg said. “These conversations point to a deeper hunger inside people’s hearts to encounter the Divine personally and intimately—a desire that was created and can only be satisfied by God.”
By looking for God in mundane moments and listening for God’s voice when you might expect silence, Feinberg invites readers to discover the ways in which God speaks to you, not from the top of some holy mountain, but in the midst of your everyday affairs. With practical applications throughout the text, readers will discover how to authentically listen for God and satisfy the desire for intimacy with the Creator.
Feinberg is known for her engaging writing. She is a prominent Bible teacher and sought-after expert source on issues facing the church, the evolving religious landscape in America, and women in leadership as well as a popular speaker at churches and leadership events such as Catalyst and Thrive. In recent months, she’s been a featured panelist on HLN’s Prime News with Vinnie Politan as well as written one of the top five most popular news articles of the day for CNN.com.
Named one of the Thirty Emerging Voices of Christian leaders under age forty by Charisma magazine, she is author of The Organic God, The Sacred Echo and Scouting the Divine. Feinberg lives in Colorado with her husband, Leif, and superpup, Hershey.
For more information visit www.margaretfeinberg.com or follow her on Twitter @mafeinberg.
Contact: Jessica Richie NEWS 720-260-4120 [P] FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE [email protected]
About Hungry for God Hungry for God: Hearing God’s Voice in the Ordinary and the Everyday By Margaret Feinberg Zondervan 9780310332077 -more- 208 Pages $12.99 PUB DATE: May 2011
About Zondervan Zondervan is the world's leading Christian publisher of books whose authors are noted for their excellence in the craft of writing as well as their worthy contribution to the ongoing global evangelical conversation. The works published by Zondervan not only confirm readers' faith and understanding, they also challenge and stretch readers' thinking. For more than 75 years, Zondervan has delivered transformational Christian experiences through general, ministry, and academic resources by influential leaders and emerging voices, and been honored with more Christian Book Awards than any other publisher. Headquartered in Grand Rapids, Mich., Zondervan publishes bestselling books, audio, video, curriculum, software, and digital products in such categories as biblical languages and studies, biography, business, contemporary issues, counseling, cultural, devotional, evangelism, family, fiction, history, inspiration, leadership, ministry, pastoral, personal development, prayer, philosophy, reference, relationships, textbooks, theology, youth and more. Zondervan resources are sold worldwide through retail stores, online, and by Zondervan ChurchSource, and are translated into nearly 200 languages in more than 60 countries. Visit Zondervan Books on the Internet at www.zondervan.com/books.
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Contact: Jessica Richie NEWS 720-260-4120 [P] FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE [email protected]
About Margaret Feinberg Author of Hungry for God
Named one of the “30 Emerging 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, Margaret Feinberg is a critically acclaimed writer, blogger, and popular speaker.
Margaret and her books have been covered by national media including CNN, the Associated Press, Los Angeles Times, Dallas Morning News, Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, Newsday, Houston Chronicle, Beliefnet.com, Salon.com, USATODAY.com, MSNBC.com, CNN.com, Forbes.com and many others.
Margaret spends nearly half of the year on the road speaking at churches and conferences such as Catalyst and Thrive. She is known for her relational teaching style and her ability to connect the practical with the spiritual.
The author of more than a dozen books, Margaret is best known for The Sacred Echo (Zondervan), Scouting the Divine (Zondervan), and The Organic God (Zondervan) which Publisher’s Weekly lauded as “a delectable treat.” These breakout books earned her wide recognition on the national literary stage.
As a leading female voice in the church, she speaks to many cultural issues including: how social media is changing the way we live the challenges of living in a celebrity-driven culture the stained glass ceiling women in the church face today the historical shifts taking place in the landscape of religion in America
Her new book, Hungry for God (Zondervan, May 2011), reveals her passion for helping readers discover God in the ordinary and everyday that satisfies their deepest soul cravings.
Margaret resides in Morrison, Colorado, with her husband, Leif and their dog Hershey. When she’s not writing or traveling, she enjoys anything outdoors, reading The New Yorker and drinking skinny vanilla lattes with her friends. But she says some of her best moments are spent communicating with her readers.
Follow her at @mafeinberg and learn more at www.margaretfeinberg.com.
For an interview with Margaret Feinberg, contact Jessica Richie at 720-260-4120 or [email protected]
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Contact: Jessica Richie NEWS 720-260-4120 [P] FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE [email protected]
Interview Questions for Margaret Feinberg
1. Do you think the spiritual appetite within our nation is increasing or decreasing? Why?
2. Why do you think so many people hunger for God?
3. As a writer, you describe the desire to know and understand more about God as “hungering for God” but do you think most people would use that language to describe what you’re writing about?
4. In Hungry for God, you write about your own spiritual growth and how this book provided an opportunity to see how much God has done in your life. Will you share more about that?
5. You talk about the difference between a kairos and a chronos moment in Hungry for God. Will you explain the difference and give us an example of a kairos moment?
6. One of the themes that emerges throughout your book is that of “readiness”, a preparedness for God. How can people prepare themselves to encounter God?
7. In Hungry for God, you also talk about the “language of God”. What do you mean by that and how can people learn the “language of God”?
8. You don’t shy away from sharing some of the mistakes you’ve made in hearing from God. Would you share one of those with us?
9. What advice do you have for those who want to cultivate hunger for God in their life?
10. If we all responded to the hunger that you describe, what do you think would be the result?
Contact: Jessica Richie NEWS 720-260-4120 [P] FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE [email protected]
Excerpts from Hungry for God:
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“As I’ve thought and prayed during this time, I’ve wondered if the ache I feel inside parallels what it means to have a divine appetite for God. If physical hunger is a set of feelings that lead a person to search for food, then spiritual hunger is a set of experiences and longings that compel a person to search for God. Just as my body needs food to survive, my spirit needs God to thrive. A divine appetite drives me to pursue a vibrant relationship with God—one in which I find my sustenance and strength.
Our spiritual appetites can be quelled only by God. But is it possible to dine on an intangible being? How do we feast upon something we cannot see, touch, or taste? Over the last several years, I’ve learned that God’s voice is the only entrée that can nourish our ethereal cravings. Hearing and experiencing, rather than eating, assuages spiritual hunger.” — From the Introduction, Divine Appetite ______
“Sometimes a Kairos moment is the only thing that gives me the courage to keep going. I know I’m not alone. A Kairos moment gave Abraham’s wife, Sarah, the promise of a child when all hope was long gone. A Kairos moment gave Noah the courage to build a boat to save his family, and strengthened Joseph’s faith even when he found himself wrongly imprisoned. Did God speak to these men and women of faith for a few seconds or many hours? We don’t know. But the message was powerful.” —From Chapter Two, Kairos Moments ______
“Whenever I discover more about the divine—whether it’s a facet of God’s character or an insight into his ways—once again I feel like clay on the potter’s wheel whose opening is being formed. These experiences expand my capacity to know God, be filled by God, and be poured out for God. They stir the hunger to know God more.” — From Chapter Three, Shaped By God’s Voice ______
“On a recent Sunday morning, Leif and I attended a tiny mountain town church. Above the organ pipes, a large wooden cross draped in purple cloth represented the royalty of Christ. As the service progressed, we offered our praise, confession, silence, and prayers. We lifted our hands as a congregation to bless the children and listened as the words of a timeless hymn swept over our souls. After a passionate call to follow Christ at all costs, the pastor tore a loaf of bread in half before our eyes, then lifted a goblet and pitcher that had been formed by a local potter’s hands. The sanctuary filled with the sound of the pouring of the sacred liquid, which ended with a slight clank as the goblet and pitcher collided. I felt as if I had witnessed a miracle, the miracle of the Eucharist.
The attention to detail throughout the service awoke my senses to God. The sounds, the tastes, the smells, and the sights remind me that God is in the details, calling out if only I will wait, watch, and listen.” — From Chapter Five, The Language of God