''Jesus Calling: Enjoying Peace in His Presence'' (2004) is a

daily devotional A daily devotional is a religious publication that provides a specific spiritual reading for each calendar day. Many daily devotionals take the form of one year devotional books, with many being tailored specifically for children, teenagers, stude ...

book written by

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

author Sarah Young and published by Byron Williamson at Integrity Publishers, based in Brentwood,

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

. Two years later, in September 2006, Integrity, along with its catalog of books, including ''Jesus Calling'', were bought by Thomas Nelson. The book offers readers a 365-day personal spiritual journey intended to help the reader experience a deeper relationship with

Jesus Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

. The book was inspired, in part, by Sarah Young's reading of a related book, ''God Calling'', authored by A. J. Russell. According to Publishers Weekly, ''Jesus Calling'' had sold 45 million copies as of 2023. ''Jesus Calling'' is also a Christian brand whose offerings include a quarterly magazine, a TV show, and a podcast.

Author

Sarah Young had a degree in

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

from

Wellesley College Wellesley College is a Private university, private Women's colleges in the United States, historically women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Wellesley, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1870 by Henr ...

; and earned a master's degree in biblical studies and counseling from

Covenant Theological Seminary Covenant Theological Seminary, informally called Covenant Seminary, is the denominational seminary of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA). Located in Creve Coeur, Missouri, it trains people to work as leaders in church positions and elsewh ...

in St. Louis. Young was a member of the

Presbyterian Church in America The Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) is the second-largest Presbyterian church body, behind the Presbyterian Church (USA), and the largest conservative Calvinist denomination in the United States. The PCA is Calvinist, Reformed in theolog ...

(PCA), where her husband Stephen is an ordained minister and third-generation

Christian missionary A Christian mission is an organized effort to carry on evangelism, in the name of the Christian faith. Missions involve sending individuals and groups across boundaries, most commonly geographical boundaries. Sometimes individuals are sent and ...

to Japan. The couple served as Mission to the World missionaries in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. As of 2018 they resided in the United States, where Young has two married children and two grandchildren. Young has been described as a humble person who prefers to stay out of the spotlight. Young died on September 1, 2023, aged 77, following complications from

Lyme disease Lyme disease, also known as Lyme borreliosis, is a tick-borne disease caused by species of ''Borrelia'' bacteria, Disease vector, transmitted by blood-feeding ticks in the genus ''Ixodes''. It is the most common disease spread by ticks in th ...

Impact

On April 25, 2015,

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

Governor Scott Walker read from ''Jesus Calling'' to more than 1,000 people at the

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

Faith & Freedom Coalition. A

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is a British–American publishing company that is considered to be one of the "Big Five (publishers), Big Five" English-language publishers, along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group USA, Hachette, Macmi ...

publicist said, "We had no idea Scott Walker had the book and would use it. It's always nice to hear about how ''Jesus Calling'' touched someone's life." On June 27, 2017,

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

First Lady

Donna Edwards Donna Fern Edwards (born June 28, 1958) is an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 2008 to 2017. The district included most of Prince George's County, as well as part of Anne Arundel County. She is a member of the ...

delivered copies of ''Jesus Calling'' to women prisoners of the Louisiana Correctional Institute for Women. The books were donated by The Next Door, a non-profit organization that serves women in crisis and provides ''Jesus Calling'' devotionals free of charge to jails and prisons.

White House Press Secretary The White House press secretary is a senior White House official whose primary responsibility is to act as spokesperson for the executive branch of the United States federal government, especially with regard to the president, senior aides and ...

Sarah Huckabee Sanders Sarah Elizabeth Huckabee Sanders ( Huckabee; born August 13, 1982) is an American politician serving as the 47th governor of Arkansas since 2023. Sanders is the daughter of Mike Huckabee, who served from 1996 to 2007 as Arkansas's 44th governor ...

read her leather-bound ''Jesus Calling'' daily devotional before press conferences.

Other works

Other books written by Sarah Young include: * ''Jesus Today'' – ECPA's 2013 Christian Book of the Year. *''Jesus Always'' – ECPA's 2018 Christian Book of the Year. * ''Jesus Listens'' – ECPA Christian Best Sellers.

Criticism

''Jesus Calling'' has prompted objections from within the evangelical community. David Crump, professor of religion at

Calvin College Calvin University, formerly Calvin College, is a private Christian university in Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1876, Calvin University is an educational institution of the Christian Reformed Church and stands in the Reforme ...

, stated in an interview with ''

Christianity Today ''Christianity Today'' is an evangelical Christian media magazine founded in 1956 by Billy Graham. It is published by Christianity Today International based in Carol Stream, Illinois. ''The Washington Post'' calls ''Christianity Today'' "eva ...

'' that Young "puts her thoughts into the first person and then presents that 'person' as the resurrected Lord". Young and her editors have denied that she believed she received original

revelation Revelation, or divine revelation, is the disclosing of some form of Religious views on truth, truth or Knowledge#Religion, knowledge through communication with a deity (god) or other supernatural entity or entities in the view of religion and t ...

from Jesus, explaining that ''Jesus Calling'' recounts what she learned through prayer and reading the

Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...

. In June 2024, the

(PCA), of which Young was a member, launched an investigation into the book, in order to "assess the book’s appropriateness for Christians in general and PCA members and congregations in particular with special regard for its doctrine and method."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jesus Calling Books about Christianity 2004 non-fiction books Self-help books Channelled texts Christian devotional literature Controversies in Christian literature

Author

Impact

Other works

Criticism

See also

References