Wisdom and Humor from the Front Porch

Master storyteller Philip Gulley shares tender and hilarious real-life moments that capture the important truths of everyday life.

When Philip Gulley began writing newsletter essays for the twelve members of his Quaker meeting in Indiana, he had no idea one of them would find its way to radio commentator Paul Harvey Jr. and be read on the air to 24 million people. Fourteen books later, with more than a million books in print, Gulley still entertains as well as inspires from his small-town front porch.

Gulley and Mulholland have extended and deepened the meaning of God's grace in decidedly thoughtful and lovely ways. -- Arkansas Democrat Gazette

In this controversial bestseller, authors and Quaker ministers Philip Gulley and James Mulholland expand upon their belief in eternal salvation for all through God's perfect grace. For seekers, for thoughtful Christians, and for the simply curious, Gulley and Mulholland offer a beautiful, timeless message of hope.

If God is love, why are so many Christians fearful, and why do so many church leaders sound hateful? Two controversial pastors address issues the church won′t face, calling us to restore grace as the center of the Christian life.

o In If Grace Is True, Pastors Philip Gulley and James Mulholland revealed their belief that God will save every person. They now explore the implications of this belief, and its power to change every area of our lives. They attempt to answer one question: If we took God′s love seriously, what would our world look like?

Gulley and Mulholland argue that what we believe is crucial and dramatically affects the way we live and interact in the world. Beliefs have power. The belief in a literal hell where people suffer eternally has often been used by the Church to justify hate and violence, which contradicts what Jesus taught about love and grace. The authors present a new vision for our personal, religious, and corporate lives, exploring what our world would be like if we based our existence on the foundational truth that God loves every person.

Gulley and Mulholland boldly address many controversial issues people in the pews have wondered about but churches have been unwilling to tackle. For too long, the Christian tradition has been steeped in negativity, exclusion, and judgment. Gulley and Mulholland usher us into a new age--an age where grace and love are allowed to reign.

Filled with a cast of lovable, quirky characters, punctuated with simple wonders, the everyday truths found in this book offer much needed clarity to our own befuddled world. No matter where you live, no matter what your season, come along for the journey.

When Philip Gulley began writing newsletter essays for the twelve members of his Quaker meeting in Indiana, he had no idea one of them would find its way to radio commentator Paul Harvey Jr. and be read on the air to 24 million people. Fourteen books later, with more than a million books in print, Gulley still entertains as well as inspires from his small-town front porch.

The largest group in American religious life may be the disillusioned--people who have been involved in the church, respect Jesus, but question what Christianity has become. In If the Church Were Christian Philip Gulley provides a profound picture of what the church could look like if it refocused on the priorities of Jesus.

Evoking a time when life revolved around the front porch, where friends gathered, stories were told, and small moments took on larger meaning, in today's hurry-up world, Philip Gulley's essays remind us of the world we once shared--and can share again.

When Philip Gulley began writing newsletter essays for the members of his Quaker meeting in Indiana, he had no idea one of the essays would find its way to radio commentator Paul Harvey Jr. and be read on the air to 24 million people. Fourteen books later, with more than one million copies in print, Gulley still entertains as well as inspires from his small-town front porch.

Evoking a time when life revolved around the front porch, where friends gathered, stories were told, and small moments took on larger meaning, in today's hurry-up world, Philip Gulley's essays remind us of the world we once shared--and can share again.

When Philip Gulley began writing newsletter essays for the members of his Quaker meeting in Indiana, he had no idea one of the essays would find its way to radio commentator Paul Harvey Jr. and be read on the air to 24 million people. Fourteen books later, with more than one million copies in print, Gulley still entertains as well as inspires from his small-town front porch.

Now in paperback, in the fifth full-length novel in the beloved Harmony series Philip Gulley reunites us with the quirky cast of Quakers in Harmony, Indiana.

Welcome to Harmony ...

In this acclaimed inaugural volume in the Harmony series, master American storyteller Philip Gulley draws us into the charming world of minister Sam Gardner in his first year back in his hometown, capturing the essence of small-town life with humor and wisdom.

A Year of Laughter and Grace in harmony

Master storyteller Philip Gulley returns to the winsome ways of Harmony, Indiana, in the third installment of the beloved Harmony series.

Come Home to Harmony ...

Thousands of readers have fallen in love with Harmony, the small town with the kindly spirit whose endearing and eccentric residents are like old friends. Join them for Sam Gardner's second year as pastor of his quirky flock.

Squarely in the crosshairs of the Church's heresy hunters, can Pastor Sam survive?

It's a madcap year in Harmony, Indiana, as Sam Gardner struggles through his fourth year as pastor of the Harmony Friends Meeting. Join the thousands of readers who have fallen in love with the charming small town that hosts what BookPage calls the biggest collection of crusty, lovable characters since James Herriot settled in Yorkshire.

The American suffragist Elizabeth Cady Stanton once said, The Bible and the Church have been the greatest stumbling blocks in the way of women's emancipation. Quaker pastor Philip Gulley agrees--institutional religion remains a stumbling block not only for women's emancipation, but for human emancipation. The answer? Spirituality. In this latest book Gulley, known as the voice of small-town America, lyrically and powerfully explains why spirituality, and not institutional religion, is the true pathway to ultimate meaning and purpose.

Religion, at its worst, tells us we must love God, we must obey God, we must obey the priest, the Imam, or the rabbi. Religion, at is worst, is an arranged marriage gone bad, the powerful telling the powerless what to do and who to love. Spirituality, on the other hand, is our right to find our own way, to seek our own truth, free from compulsion and control. Unhealthy religion attempts to manage that which can never be managed--the movement of Spirit and the mystery of love.

The goal of spirituality isn't to change someone else, but rather to change the self. Having dedicated itself to self-growth, true spirituality has neither the time nor inclination to monitor others. True spirituality is the friend of freedom, refusing to impose its values and priorities upon others.

In lifting up the virtues of spirituality, while also describing the dangers of religion divorced from spirituality, Gulley does not denigrate his fellow religious followers or institutions--he simply shows where institutional religion, flawed and fully human, has forgotten its way.

With the voice of a poet and the conviction of a prophet, Philip Gulley is making his most important and controversial claims about discovering what is truly important in life: our search for significance.

Noone raises provocative questions about Christianity more kindly than PhilipGulley. --Diana Butler Bass, author of Christianity for the Rest of Us

Everyserious Christian ought to read this book, ponder it, wrestlewith it, but above all, be grateful for its presence in today's urgentconversation about what we are and are becoming as a people of God. --Phyllis Tickle, author of The GreatEmergence

RenownedQuaker minister Philip Gulley, bestselling author of If the Church WereChristian, delivers a practical, insightful guide to developing aliving, flexible, personal Christianity--a faith that allows you to confront theprofound challenges facing every believer in today's difficult world.

Philip Gulley invites us into a bracing encounter with the rich truths of Quakerism--a centuries-old spiritual tradition that provides not only a foundation of faith but also vision for making the world more just, loving, and peaceable by our presence.

In Living the Quaker Way, Gulley shows how Quaker values provide real solutions to many of our most pressing contemporary challenges. We not only come to a deeper appreciation of simplicity, peace, integrity, community, and equality, we see how embracing these virtues will radically transform us and our world.

Living the Quaker Way includes a 30-day spiritual practice that applies the Quaker tradition of Queries.

It's summer in Harmony, but not everything is as sunny as the weather. The good citizens of Harmony are back and stirring up trouble as usual, sometimes with disastrous results.

Pastor Sam Gardner must take a leave of absence from his post at Harmony Friends Meeting to take care of his ailing father.

But when spunky pastor Krista Riley comes to fill his position, the quirky Quakers seem to fall in love with her, and it begins to look like Sam's sabbatical may be permanent. Krista's resilience is put to the test when Dale Hinshaw and Fern Hampton begin to question whether a woman can faithfully lead their flock, and it looks like the resulting tiff might just be the undoing of Harmony Friends Meeting. Will Sam come to the rescue? Finding the answer to this question makes the trip back to Harmony worth turning every page.

Most of us grow up taking in whole belief systems with our mother's milk, only to discover later that what we received as being certain is actually nothing like it. And then we're faced with a choice--retreat to spiritual security and the community that comes with it, or strike out into the unknown.
With his trademark humor and down-home wisdom, Philip Gulley serves as just the spiritual director a wayward pilgrim could warm to, inviting readers into his own sometimes rollicking, sometimes daunting journey of spiritual discovery. He writes about being raised by a Catholic mother and a Baptist father across the street from a family of Jehovah's Witnesses--all three camps convinced the others are doomed. To nearly everyone's consternation, Philip grows up to be a Quaker and a pastor. In Unlearning God, Gulley showcases his well-loved gift as a storyteller and his acute sensibilities as a public theologian in conversations that will charm, provoke, encourage, and inspire.

Stories from a Place That Feels Like Home

Master storyteller Philip Gulley envelops readers in an almost forgotten world of plainspoken and honest small-town values, evoking a simpler time when people knew each other by name, folks looked out for their neighbors, and people were willing to do what was right--no matter the cost.

When Philip Gulley began writing newsletter essays for the twelve members of his Quaker meeting in Indiana, he had no idea one of them would find its way to radio commentator Paul Harvey Jr. and be read on the air to 24 million people. Fourteen books later, with more than a million books in print, Gulley still entertains as well as inspires from his small-town front porch.