books by
evan howard
Nonfiction & Fiction To Support
Your Spiritual Journey
Interpreting the Christian Faith in Fresh and Compelling Ways
A book by Evan Howard is like a friend who accompanies you on a long journey, discussing life and faith in wise and compassionates ways as you travel.
When you come to a crossroads, the friend doesn’t judge your choice of direction, but instead emphasizes that you can never be so lost that grace cannot find and bring you home.
FROM THE BACK COVER:
Evan Drake Howard challenges readers to grow spiritually by following Christ’s example and becoming centered in God.
The author draws upon Bible stories, popular films, the works of noted psychologists, and his own experiences as a pastoral counselor in this practical guide to personal growth.
Meditations, prayers, and questions for reflection provide further guidance for those on the path to a centered life, making the book well-suited for personal reading or group discussion. As John A. Sanford writes in the Foreword, “This book should prove helpful to people as a devotional manual and as an aid in forging a new spirituality based on the best of modern depth psychology.”
“An insightful, very readable and practical combination of depth psychology, the Gospels, and Christian spirituality.”
–Marcus J. Borg
author of Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time
“An impressive guidebook for those who want to follow Jesus’ way . . . well-written, practical, authentic, prayerful, and profound.”
–Morton Kelsey
author of Reaching: The Journey to Fulfillment
FROM THE BACK COVER:
What do Lent and the popular movie Dead Poets Society have in common? That’s just one of the many contemporary examples author Evan Drake Howard uses to bring the journey from Lent to Easter vibrantly alive for our times. Whether you use this book as a personal guide to Lent or study it in a group, From Sacrifice to Celebration will take you from the daily grind of life to spiritual growth.
Evan Drake Howard uses his pastoral experience to dramatize a peculiar irony: The age of nonstop entertainment and high-tech gadgetry has spawned an epidemic of boredom. Living in this push-button society, people are haunted by the wilderness within. He shows how this wilderness of inner emptiness can cause divorce, addiction, and crime — even suicide. In the words of the author, “Apart from being desolate and dangerous, the wilderness is deathly boring. It is a place of loneliness, self-doubt, and temptation. People who sojourn there must rely on faith and grace to see them through.”
Each chapter is based on a Gospel text about a biblical character’s journey from boredom to bonding. We’ll meet Nicodemus, the Samaritan woman, a blind man, and the prodigal son, all of whom find freedom and renewal by forming the same spiritual bond with Christ that he had formed with God. Power, discipline, temptation, and “the ego trap” are all explored in the context of these characters. An insightful prayer and questions for reflection and study are found at the end of each chapter.
Woven throughout From Sacrifice to Celebration is an excitement about the future and a renewed relationship with God. “Lent is more than seriousness and solemnity. Like faith itself, it’s an adventure beyond the ordinary.”
FROM THE BACK COVER:
Advent proclaims that vital faith can be found again, that faith’s passion can be restored. . . . Advent comes to infuse Christian hope with new romance.” This spirit of anticipation and renewal permeates Dr. Howard’s engaging portrayal of the Christmas miracle. Relating biblical promises to contemporary life experience, he helps Christians discover joy and wonder afresh in their celebration of Jesus’ birth. The discovery begins when faith’s passion is rekindled during Advent, the season for romancing the hope of Christ.
Dr. Howard invites everyone to participate in hope’s unfolding drama. Journeying from Advent to Epiphany, he focuses on the birth of Christ from seven illuminating perspectives. Each perspective leads people to an intimate encounter with God’s love expressed in the manger at Bethlehem. Stimulating study questions are provided to encourage readers to gain an intellectual understanding of these spiritual encounters. Addressing the fears that pervade today’s world, Howard urges Christians to live Advent expectantly, confident that through the light of Jesus Christ, “God’s romance with humanity will never die.”
Designed for both adult group study and personal spiritual growth, Rekindling the Hope of the Manger is also a rich source of fresh sermon ideas for pastors. Included are classic lectionary texts for seven Sundays from Advent to Epiphany with inspiring prayers for each theme.
Here are two unavoidable truths. When we suffer a devastating loss, we struggle to pray, and we find ourselves in this situation many times during our lives.
When a promotion goes to someone else; when we sustain a bodily injury or contract a deadly disease; when our marriage crumbles, or our child or other beloved family member gets sick or dies; or when a love that we thought we could count on disappears, we find ourselves at a loss for words.
Finally, here is a book that provides readers with insightful, compassionate prayers for just such times — and countless others like them.
In this emotionally cathartic collection of prayers, Evan Howard draws from the evocative well of his own losses in order to help readers feel and express their pain, so that they can come to terms with it and eventually grow beyond it.
People often purchase multiple copies of this short pamphlet in order to distribute them to friends and family members who are going through pain-filled times, and again and again, readers express how these prayers helped them through some of the toughest moments of their lives.
FROM THE BACK COVER:
A mesmerizing tale of forbidden passion. . .
A land torn by centuries of war. . .
An ancient letter about the secrets of true love and fulfillment. . .
It’s all here in THE GALILEAN SECRET, a thrilling novel of romance and suspense, tragedy and heroism.
He’s a Muslim on the run. She’s a Jew with ties to the highest levels of Israel’s military. Brought together by fate, Karim Musalaha and Rachel Sharett become targets of fanatics on both sides of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Forced to choose between a safe parting and a perilous togetherness, they find guidance from an unexpected source—the translation of a mysterious ancient scroll. When their quest to discover the origins of the scroll takes them on a high speed chase through hostile West Bank and Jerusalem neighborhoods, they confront a secret from the past that threatens both their love and their lives.
Teaching spiritual wisdom through the suspense of a masterful thriller, this powerful novel grips you from the first word and won’t let go until the last page is turned.
“Thought-provoking and riveting . . . a tale of truth and treachery that will stay with you long after the final page is turned.”
— Jon Land, author of The Seven Sins and Strong Enough to Die
“. . . offers an inspiring message that transcends religion.”
— Deepak Chopra, author of Jesus
“. . . a finely crafted novel with a message of hope.”
— Harvey Cox, Harvard University and author of The Future of Faith
“A very imaginative story. . .”
— Joseph Girzone, author of the Joshua series
“[The Galilean Secret] will give you new eyes with which to read the old story!”
— Richard Rohr, author of The Naked Now
“A narrative rooted in vivid characterizations of human longings and the perennial search for the sacred.”
— Janet Cooper Nelson, Brown University Chaplain
“Compelling reading! Evan Howard . . . takes the reader into profound areas of wisdom and healing regarding love and loving relationships.”
— Dr. Margaret Paul, author of Do I Have To Give Up Me To Be Loved By You?
FROM THE BACK COVER:
A corrupt stockbroker on the run…
An economy in turmoil…
And a mysterious pendant sought by the richest woman on Wall Street.
Terrified of going to jail, Justin Connelly faked his death and fled the seductions of Manhattan for the quiet corners of Providence, Rhode Island. His only keepsake was an antique pendant engraved with strange markings.
But then a sailing accident almost kills him for real. In his near-death state, Justin is taken into the darkness of hell itself, where he sees things that drive him out of hiding and back to his abandoned wife in New York.
But Tori has moved on, and his old enemies on Wall Street are not happy to see him. They want the pendant, which, in the wrong hands, could destroy humanity–and Justin’s former boss definitely has the wrong hands.
The only way out is to swallow his pride, and his doubt, and work with Tori and her new fiancé to expose the truth.
As world economies–and his own soul–hang in the balance, Justin must decide whether to sacrifice everything for the light he has found.
A spiritual thriller for the crises of our time
No historical record identifies the so-called good thief who dies alongside Jesus of Nazareth on the cross. As told in the Gospel of Luke, this man asks Jesus to remember him in his Kingdom, and Jesus declares, “Today, you will be with me in paradise.”
Here is a novel that tells this forgotten man’s colorful yet tragic story. Tradition has given him the name Dismas, but who is he? What led to his crucifixion?
In this gripping novel, Evan Howard imagines that Dismas was not a petty thief, but rather a member of the Zealots, a violent paramilitary group dedicated to driving the Romans out of Israel.
When Dismas elopes with his brother’s bride-to-be on the morning of the wedding, he discovers that passion exacts a devastating price in guilt and shame. As the excruciating consequences of his actions mount, he grapples to find a path toward redemption — as well as a way to undo the suffering he has caused his brother and the woman they both love.
As the three characters grope to understand the true meaning of love, they encounter a miraculous letter written by Jesus as he struggled with his feelings for Mary Magdalene.
This letter charts the path toward forgiveness, self-understanding, emotional healing, and the possibility of a new future.
Like these unforgettable characters, anyone who discovers the love described in this timeless letter will be changed forever.
Along with the English version of The Galilean Secret, originally published by Guideposts Books in the United States, the novel was also translated into Portuguese and published in Brazil.
This global connection seems especially fitting because Evan Howard lives in Rhode Island, home of a thriving Portuguese-speaking community.