About the Authors
Richard Duane “Rick” Warren is an American evangelical Christian pastor, author, and philanthropist. He is the founder and senior pastor of Saddleback Church, an evangelical megachurch in Lake Forest, California. He is also a bestselling author of many Christian books, including The Purpose Driven Church and The Purpose Driven Life.
Greg Whalen has been doing funny voices for over fifteen years, and even some normal ones. He can be heard on everything from the History Channel to Toon Disney. Greg was awarded a Performing Arts Fellowship to attend the graduate acting program at the University of Illinois, Champaign, where he obtained his MFA. He lives in Chicago.
Hans Christian Andersen (1805–1875) was born in Odense, Denmark, the son of a poor shoemaker and a washerwoman. As a young teenager, he became quite well known in Odense as a reciter of drama and as a singer. When he was fourteen, he set off for the capital, Copenhagen, determined to become a national success on the stage. He failed miserably, but made some influential friends in the capital who got him into school to remedy his lack of proper education. In 1829 his first book was published. After that, books came out at regular intervals. His stories began to be translated into English as early as 1846. Since then, numerous editions, and more recently Hollywood songs and Disney cartoons, have helped to ensure the continuing popularity of the stories in the English-speaking world.
Since entering the ministry in 1978, Max Lucado has served churches in Miami, Florida; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; and San Antonio, Texas. He currently serves as teaching minister of Oak Hills Church in San Antonio. He is America’s bestselling inspirational author with more than 130 million books in print.
Richard Duane “Rick” Warren is an American evangelical Christian pastor, author, and philanthropist. He is the founder and senior pastor of Saddleback Church, an evangelical megachurch in Lake Forest, California. He is also a bestselling author of many Christian books, including The Purpose Driven Church and The Purpose Driven Life.
Dr. David Jeremiah is the founder of Turning Point Ministries, a ministry committed to providing sound Bible teaching through national radio and television broadcasting. He is also the senior pastor of Shadow Mountain Community Church in El Cajon, California, and chancellor of San Diego Christian College. A pastor’s son born in Toledo, he graduated from Dallas Theological Seminary and received his doctorate from Cedarville College. Dr. Jeremiah is the author of numerous bestselling books, including Captured By Grace, Life Wide Open, My Heart’s Desire, and Sanctuary. He and his wife, Donna, live in San Diego.
John C. Maxwell, known as America’s expert on leadership, speaks to hundreds of thousands of people each year. He has communicated his leadership principles to Fortune 500 companies, the United States Military Academy at West Point, and sports organizations such as the NCAA, the NBA, and the NFL. A New York Times bestselling author, he has written more than thirty books, including Winning with People and Today Matters. Two of his books, Developing the Leader within You and The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, have sold more than one million copies apiece.
Jack Hayford (jackhayford.org)is founding pastor of The Church On The Way, chancellor of The King’s University (formerly The King’s College and Seminary) in Los Angeles and Dallas, which he founded in 1997. He also served as president of The International Church of the Foursquare Gospel. He has written more than 50 books and nearly 600 hymns and choruses, and his national radio and television programs span the world. He lives near Los Angeles, California.
Bill Hybels is the founding and senior pastor of Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, Illinois. Willow Creek’s pioneering ministries have made it one of the most attended churches in North America with an outreach that extends worldwide. Hybels has authored more than 20 books, including Fit to Be Tied, Rediscovering Church (with his wife Lynne), Too Busy Not to Pray, Courageous Leadership, Just Walk Across the Room, and Holy Discontent.
About Maurice England
Maurice England moved to the Chicago area in the fall of 2006, after a twelve year run
as a long-haul trucker, to continue the cultivation of his lifelong interest in
the expressive arts and oral interpretation. A veteran audiophile, Maurice
listened to well over one thousand audiobooks while on the road and fell in love with
the genre. From his past experience in broadcasting, community theater, music
performance, and ministry he saw narrating as a means to merge his love for
books, ideas, learning, and spiritual evolution with his interest in artistic
expression. While his narration experience has primarily been nonfiction,
personal development, and spiritual-growth titles, Maurice anticipates using
his authentically warm and folksy southern style to entertain and inspire
through storytelling. Inspired most by the behind-the-scenes artists who
engineer, direct, edit, and master the audiobook productions we hear, Maurice
has become an absorbed student and participant in the process.