Michael Phillips

Michael Phillips is a prolific bestselling author, with sales of his fiction, nonfiction, and devotional writings exceeding seven million copies worldwide. A leading authority on the works and message of George MacDonald and their connections to C.S. Lewis, he and his wife Judy are former bookstore owners and split their time between George MacDonald’s Scotland and their home in California.

Featured Books By Author

Best Friends for Life

A book for young people by Michael and Judy Phillips, veterans of a 46-year marriage (and counting!), in preparing for a marriage that will last a lifetime.

The state of marriage is alarming—not only in society at large but among Christians as well. Young people need a whole new strategy for finding lifetime mates. Drawing upon their pioneering work in the field of home schooling as well as their work with young people, Michael and Judy Phillips present bold, surprising, sometimes even controversial alternatives to dating as the means for choosing spouses.

Best Friends for Life develops revolutionary ideas about parental involvement, about dating as it is usually understood, and about the pressures young people face to make lifetime decisions prematurely. Families who want to choose God’s best will find here a strong prescription for wise, sensible, and lasting Christian marriages.

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The Commands of Jesus

A devotional study by bestselling novelist and devotional writer Michael Phillips, identifying 120 commands of Jesus from the gospels.

Jesus often introduces the subject of obedience with the tiny but eternally significant word "If". He recognizes that there are always two paths—obedience and disobedience. He commands obedience. But many will not obey. This obedience is a natural outgrowth of love:

-If you love me you will keep my commandments. (John 14:15)
-He who has my commands and keeps them, he it is who loves me. (John 14:21)
-If a man loves me, he will keep my word. (John 14:23)
-You are my friends if you do what I command you.

Jesus is well aware of the games people play with spiritual things. He wants none to mistake what it means to be his followe. Many will claim to love him. Many will pretend to love him. Many will talk about loving him. Many will analyze what it means to love him. However, a Christian is distinguished and defined by one—and only one—thing: Obedience.

Obedience to the Commands of Jesus is a daily, moment-by-moment choice. We make it over and over. We are continually making it. It is a progressive and ongoing choice that defines what it means to love Jesus and be his follower.

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The Late Great Hell Debate

One of the most enduring controversies surrounding the beliefs of George MacDonald for 150 years has been the question: Was George MacDonald a universalist? Though his own books contain hints of his theological perspectives on hell, the purpose of fire, the atonement, and everlasting punishment, MacDonald never clearly and concisely stated his doctrinal positions unambiguously and without room for misunderstanding. The controversy has therefore raged about what exactly MacDonald believed. MacDonald biographer, redactor, and publisher Michael Phillips at last tackles the "great hell debate" head on. With numerous quotes from MacDonald’s writings, amplified, interpreted, and understandably explained by his own insights and extensive knowledge of MacDonald’s work, Phillips blows the lid off the debate with a clear illumination of the full scope of MacDonald’s afterlife vision. This is surely one of the most significant studies of MacDonald’s theological perspectives written—a must-read for all serious students of George MacDonald.
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Books By
Michael Phillips