Amazing Faith: The Authorized Biography of Bill Bright, ... (ISBN 1578563283)

Amazon.com Review:
Near the beginning of Amazing Faith: The Authorized Biography of Bill Bright, author Michael Richardson writes about Bright's founding of Campus Crusade for Christ, one of the largest Christian organizations in the world. Richardson quotes Bright as saying, "I'm often asked if I'm surprised at the remarkable growth and size of Campus Crusade for Christ. My answer: No, I am not surprised, for the vision God gave that midnight hour in the spring of 1951 was of such great magnitude--far greater than anything we have yet experienced. The best is yet before us." Bright's single-minded commitment to evangelism fills every detail of his days--he even signs his letters "Yours for fulfilling the Great Commission in this generation." And Amazing Faith is an intimate, easy-to-read account of Bright's extremely popular ministry. Most chapters are less than five pages long, and they are written in a style that is straightforward and down to earth. The biographer had excellent access to information about the friendships between Bright and Christian leaders such as Billy Graham, his home life and his relationship with his wife Vonette, and all the highlights of his career (including winning the Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion in 1996). His biographer, in return, has given Bright--and readers--a comprehensive, entertaining, and inspiring book.

A Book Every Christian Should Read:
I recently recieved this book as a gift from the Campus Crusade for Christ staff members on my campus, as a gradution/going away present. I had seen this book at the Christian bookstores, but had never read it myself. I couldn't wait to get back to my room, so I could start reading it. I was up until almost 2 AM because this is one of those books where there is no such thing as a good place to stop. before reading this book, I didn't know much of anything about Bill Bright. I was also curious about how Campus Crusade for Christ got started. This book gave me a new respect for Bill Bright. The biography, Michael Richards was brutally honest. He didn't sugarcoat Bill Bright's weaknesses and shortcomings or portray him as some kind of a super hero. But as I read, I was amazed and humbled by Bill Bright's faith, love for the Lord and also his humility and integrity. I was challenged and inspired by this book. I think that every Christian, regardless of whether they are involved with Campus Crusade for Christ or not, should read this book. If you do, you won't be sorry.

Amazing Faith: Authorized Biography of Bill Bright:
Amazing, on-fire reading about what God has done with people who let Him have His way in their lives. You can't read this story without thinking about your own choices in life!

He dared to believe God for great things:
Here is a man God has greatly used to spread the good news of forgiveness and new life in Christ. Richardson does a great job of presenting his life in a most interesting and readable way. Even though most of us are neither called nor gifted to do what Bill Bright did, reading about his life with an open heart can challenge us to rise above a life of mediocrity to be used by God within our own sphere of influence. For any still wondering about Christianity, reading about what made this man tick, and the "4 Spiritual Laws," can help you understand Bill's "transferable concepts" idea; he had a gift for putting everything into simple steps that can be passed easily from one person to another. I believe it was Appendix "F" that prints out the "4 Spiritual Laws;" it is actually good to read that first; it's at the heart of everything Bill did in his Chistian life.

Well worth your time to read:
I found the book to be very interesting and filled with inspirational material. It is remarkable how much Bill and his wife, Vonette, accomplished. After I read it, I gave it to my adult son (for whom reading is not the pleasure it is for me) and he read the entire book and told me how much it meant to him. I am writing this only because one reader gave it such a low rating. The book does have a lot of detail in the last half. However, to have left out the detail would have left the book incomplete in my view.

A story worth telling is worth telling well:
Bill Bright was a man of God, taking God at His word and pouring himself into ministry. His story is truly one of amazing faith, and his record of visionary leadership in the Evangelical Christian world is unparalleled: founder of Campus Crusade for Christ, first to use satellite video as an evangelistic tool, mover behind the Jesus Film. This is a man whom I wanted to get to know better, and I was able to do that through this book. Bill Bright allowed God to do incredible things through him--and I wanted to find out how and why. Unfortunately, what should be an inspirational story gets lost in a myriad of irrelevant details and poor writing style of the author. Obviously enthralled by Dr. Bright, the author at times unnecessarily defends him, rather than just letting the story stand on its own. The style is almost autobiographical, except it was written by someone else in the third person, who then utilized extensive quotes from the participants--it just bogged it down. Frankly, this is the most poorly written book I've ever finished reading, which speaks of how much I wanted to get to know Bill Bright. The gem was near the end, when the author documents a day spent with Dr. Bright. It played to the author's journalistic training, and I was able to catch that glimpse I was looking for. That was worth slogging through the rest to get to. The bottom line: if you want to learn about the life of Bill Bright, this is your only option, and that's too bad. Someone should really take another stab at his biography. He deserves better, and we could all use it.