Books - Chris Maxwell

Chris Maxwell Books

Things We’ve Handed Down

I am offering a few reminders I was either handed or wish I had been handed in the years that preceded today. I want to share a few stories that may help you along life’s terrible, painful, dreadful, joyful, peaceful, beautiful ventures.

That’s why I’m writing these twelve letters to you. I’m writing them as if it were my final collection of reflections. A few more stories to give you while I can.

The title of each chapter is the title of a book that significantly influenced my mind and my life. Those authors handed down their words to me. In the stories of this book, I hand down to you the lessons I’ve learned and those I wish I had applied with greater diligence. May you apply them better than I have.

Equilibrium

Thirty-one is an odd number.

That is how life is. Odd. Not even or simple or predictable.

Estimated time of arrival is just that, it is estimated. Expectations are not always met.

I want a balanced and structured plan. I want to stick with the plan and complete it. I want to then move on to the next plan and complete it. Early. Successfully.

But as I walk toward that goal, the sidewalk ends. As I swim toward the shore, the waves intensify. As I believe this is the day or the week or the month or the year, my schedule doesn’t have the final word.

embracing now

this now, only here for a moment, is brief. i hope to notice it. this now is like a tiny poem, the pace, the chances, the moods, the mystery, the turns, the endings. though brief, each now can, if we choose to notice, remind us more about ourselves: pain we feel, hurts being held, more pain we hide, more hurt needing healing. for me, writing poetry is prayerful therapy for more than survival. it opens my eyes and ears to see and hear this now, which, though brief, is bringing me an opportunity to love again, to live again, and to breathe, slowly, with curiosity and nerve and hesitation, cherishing the wonder nearby. i ask you to join me. together, in this poetic stride called life, let us embrace the now, this very brief, very real, very brilliant now.

a slow and sudden God: 40 years of wonder

the number forty, i’m told, biblically symbolizes a period of testing. a trial, a season of waiting, a mystery, a wondering about what is next. mentioned 146 times in Scripture, i’m told, the meaning could, i’m sure, vary. moses isn’t here today for an interview, but i’d love to ask his take on forty years in egypt and forty years in the desert …

… the number forty, for me, reveals survival in the quest of life while displaying passion and pain during that endeavor. … life is, to me, a poem. a very long and very daunting and very charming poem. …life is brief and long. life is laughter and tears. life is a surgical procedure. life is waiting and waiting and waiting then noticing the something we waited for occurred unexpectedly right beside us while we stared out the window hoping to glance it from a distance. life thrills us. life scares us. (learn more)

Underwater: When Encephalitis, Brain Injury and Epilepsy Change Everything

Encephalitis almost ended Chris Maxwell’s life. The scar tissue in his brain and life with epilepsy made him – and his family and friends – feel like the life they’d known changed suddenly and permanently.

For Maxwell and the staggering number of people facing traumatic brain injuries, epilepsy, or other painful encounters, life is experienced through a different lens. Names are tough to remember. Medication is a common acquaintance. Exhaustion, seizures, and mood swings are daily traveling companions.

Maybe you can relate. Maybe you know about encephalitis, epilepsy, or another type of brain damage. Maybe you’re a caregiver not sure how to come ashore yourself. Maybe your story is different, but the feeling is the same. Depression, disability or disease has changed everything. (learn more)

Pause With Jesus: Encountering His Story in Everyday Life

What if you could read the stories of Jesus’ life like a travelogue? Each encounter, complete with snapshots, weaving the story of Jesus’ journey among men? What if you were invited on this journey, to go with Him, become part of the discussion and interaction as He touched the lives of those He met? A Man who loved those who hungered to see and touch God, whether they understood who He truly was or not.

The lonely? He loved them.
The misfits? He loved them.
The legalistic, religious, gotta-do-it-our-way-or-we-will-kill-you folks? He loved them. (learn more)

Pause for Pastors: Finding Still Waters in the Storm of Ministry

“In these early years when I was becoming a pastor, I needed a pastor.”

—Eugene H. Peterson

I remember my final Sunday as a lead pastor. Though I often forget things, I can’t forget that. Faces and voices, a sanctuary and a pulpit, many years and many moments.
Memories were breathing—all replaying at once. Life and death. Marriages and funerals. Prayers and songs and laughter and disagreements and meals and conversations and pain. And more prayer. (learn more)

Pause for Moms: Finding Rest in a Too Busy World

This book is for Moms. The stories inside invite mothers to hit pause. To rest a moment and notice the beauty in the now. To pause and hear, notice, see, observe. To be led beside still waters. To rest for a moment – for this moment. (learn more)

“Reading a book written by Chris Maxwell is like engaging in deep conversation with a good friend. You leave inspired. Pause for Moms is not a book to be read once and put aside. It deserves a place next to a favorite chair to re-read again and again.”
– Rebecca Shirey, Conference Speaker, Writer, Member of America’s National Prayer Committee

Pause: The Secret to a Better Life One Word at a Time
Imagine a quiet walk, hand in hand with a loved one, really listening, really connecting. Bask in the moment, feel the love. It sounds wonderful, doesn’t it? Much too often these potentially precious moments are swept away in the rush of everyday life.

Now is the time to enter the world of PAUSE … a time to think, evaluate, listen, observe and enjoy. (learn more)

Pause for Pastors: Finding Still Waters in the Storm of Ministry

“In these early years when I was becoming a pastor, I needed a pastor.”

—Eugene H. Peterson

Unwrapping His Presence

This year, why not go through the ups and downs of the holidays season with Jesus right by your side. Find faith in the buzz of overcrowded malls or as you visit a friend in the hospital. Hear Him in the rhythm of the holiday music dancing through the air-the music of people chattering, telephones ringing, children playing, sirens blaring, horns honking…the music of the life you live. (learn more)

Chris Maxwell’s words sing on every page as he reminds us not just of the “reason for the season” but the reason why God still matters in a sin-darkened world–every day of the year. – A.J. Kiesling, Author of Jaded: Hope for Believers Who Have Given Up on Church but Not on God

In Changing My Mind, Chris Maxwell’s creative narrative welcomes others into his battle with encephalitis and the resulting epilepsy. His honest journal reveals a damaged brain and life changes, inviting readers to face their own inner wars, their painful struggles, their disabilities, and to believe a Listener can turn their mourning into dancing. (learn more)

This is the unflinching story of a faith being severely tested and passing with flying colors. It will be deeply appreciated by people who are traveling life’s hardest roads. – Mark Atteberry, Author

Beggars Can Be Chosen probes the encounters of Christ and those He invited to follow Him. It is a book for those who have accepted His invitation and for those who are searching for answers to some of life’s most probing questions.

There is a dual objective in Beggars Can Be Chosen: How is Jesus inviting us to follow Him? How does Jesus invite others to Himself through us?

Traveling chronologically through the life of Christ, the text takes the reader on a stirring journey. The stories vary in pace and emphasis, but the focus stays true to the objective. (learn more)