About David Gregory Author
Latest Book
Beyond Rules: God As You Never Imagined
What if God's not even into rules?
We all assume he is. The Ten Commandments. The Five Pillars of Islam. The Eightfold Path of Buddhism. Religion is all about rules. But what if God isn't? What if relating to God has nothing to do with rules and everything to do with promises? Not promises we keep for God. Promises God keeps for us. What if relating to God isn't like receiving orders from an impossible-to-please boss, but like receiving a gift from a close friend? Over and over and over. What if God already did away with the rules for us? Then what? Welcome to life with God beyond rules! It may be something you never imagined. He may be someone you never imagined.
ALL BOOKS
What if God's not even into rules?
We all assume he is. The Ten Commandments. The Five Pillars of Islam. The Eightfold Path of Buddhism. Religion is all about rules.But what if God isn't? What if relating to God has nothing to do with rules and everything to do with promises? Not promises we keep for God. Promises God keeps for us. What if relating to God isn't like receiving orders from an impossible-to-please boss, but like receiving a gift from a close friend? Over and over and over. What if God already did away with the rules for us? Then what? Welcome to life with God beyond rules! It may be something you never imagined. He may be someone you never imagined.
“You are Invited to a Dinner with Jesus of Nazareth.” The mysterious envelope arrives on Nick Cominsky’s desk amid a stack of credit card applications and business-related junk mail. Although his seventy-hour workweek has already eaten into his limited family time, Nick can’t pass up the opportunity to see what kind of plot his colleagues have hatched…
What if a stranger knew you better than you know yourself?
Exasperated by her husband’s sudden new obsession with Jesus, Mattie Cominsky views an out-of-town business trip as a welcome opportunity to reflect on their marriage—and to decide if it’s time to put an end to this painfully unrewarding relationship.
Six years ago, businessman Nick Cominsky encountered Jesus the old-fashioned way, in a face-to-face meeting. And the Christian life seemed a breeze . . . for a while. But now, having done everything he knows to grow spiritually, he wonders where his closeness with Jesus has gone. Burned out and hopeless, Nick wails his complaints to God during a late-night interstate trip. Then suddenly he runs out of gas—and finds Jesus along the roadside carrying a gas can.
This remarkable devotional contains every praise to God, every thanksgiving to God, and everything easily turned into praise to God, in the Bible. They are not just based on God's Word, they are God's Word, simply turned into first-person praises to Him. The 31 sections of seven one-page praises are perfectly arranged to do what King David did, praising God seven times a day (for 31 days), or to praise God once a day (for 217 days), or anything in between. For the first time, it's amazingly easy to do what God tells us dozens of times to do, and what Jesus himself did: "continually offer up a sacrifice of praise ... giving thanks to His name."
Having God’s forgiveness is wonderful. Spending eternity with God is great. But for now, where is the abundant life Jesus promised? Why is the Christian life such a struggle? Because getting forgiven is only half of the gospel! The Rest of the Gospel is not us striving on our own to be “good” Christians, but Christ in us, living his life through us as we rest in him.
Dylan Cooke is living a typical Christian life—stressed, discouraged, wondering where God is. Until one day he starts receiving a series of letters that show him a life unlike any he has experienced. Or even heard of. Could these letters really be from Jesus?
In the future, it’s possible to live forever—but at what cost?
A.D. 2088. Missionary daughter Abigail Caldwell emerges from the jungle for the first time in her 34 years, the sole survivor of a mysterious disease that killed her village. Abby goes to America, only to discover a nation where Christianity has completely died out. A curious message from her grandparents assigns her a surprising mission: re-introduce the Christian faith in America, no matter how insurmountable the odds.
It wasn’t the end of the world. It was just the end of Emma Jameson’s world. Fresh off the heels of a devastating breakup and floundering in her career, Emma is struggling to come to grips with why God allows so much pain in our lives, why He seems so absent when she needs Him most, and why the Gospel accounts―our supposed guide for how to lead a contented Christian life―feel so completely irrelevant.
Then one day, a mysterious envelope arrives in Emma’s mailbox with the word Open written on the outside. Inside the envelope is a card bearing the following message: “For a real adventure with Jesus, go through the nearest open door.”
Life, liberty, and…time travel? Matt, an ambitious college student, is dead set on becoming president someday. Inspired by his best friend’s difficult childhood, he wants to end poverty in America, and being president will give him the power to do just that. His plan: an economic bill of rights that he believes should be guaranteed to every citizen. As he gives a speech advocating his plan, however, time freezes, and Matt encounters a man who calls himself Ben Franklin.
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Battlefield Connections Podcast
Check out the podcast of me being interviewed about Awesome by U.S. Army veteran and radio host Curtis Brown on his broadcast “Battlefield Connections” that aired recently on 100.7 FM in Houston.
About David
Hi, I’m David Gregory. Welcome to my website. I am the author of The New York Times’ bestseller, Dinner with a Perfect Stranger, as well six other fiction and three nonfiction books.
My books share two amazing themes, which ultimately are only one theme. The first is that in Jesus Christ, God offers each one of us eternal life through faith in Him. The second is that Jesus himself is that life, and when we place out trust in him, he actually comes to live within us, to live his own life through us.
What these really mean is that God offers himself to us. Nothing more. Nothing less. He designed us to be his vessels—vessels to express his own life through. That’s why, according to the Apostle Paul, the whole message God gave him to share could be summed up in three words: Christ in you.
The aim of my books, really, is to help people lay hold of this reality. To open our eyes to God’s incredible offer if we have not yet freely received him. And to open our eyes to what God has already made real within us if we have, and to learn to live it out, day by day.
I’ve authored three nonfiction books on that theme, and six fiction books. Oh, and I also wrote a short novel involving the Founding Fathers and time travel, just for fun!
I’m not someone who wrote a lot of stories growing up. In fact, I’ve always been mostly a nonfiction reader, and I came late to this writing thing. I co-authored my first book, The Rest of the Gospel: When the Partial Gospel Has Worn You Out, when I was in my late 30s, and I wrote my first fiction, Dinner with a Perfect Stranger, after 40. Random House got hold of it, made a bestseller out of it, and suddenly I had a fiction writing career!
God has taken me on a winding course, starting with a business career, through master’s degrees at the University of North Texas and Dallas Theological Seminary, and writing and editing for two Christian ministries, including Chuck Swindoll’s Insight for Living.
I love it when I hear that God has touched someone’s life through one of my books, or through one of the three movies that filmmaker Jefferson Moore produced from the Perfect Stranger series.
My goal is always to challenge people to think more deeply about what they believe, and to consider more deeply the amazing things that God says he has freely given us in Christ.
My latest book, Awesome: Praising God Straight from Scripture, is the first devotional I’ve ever written.
Latest Article
Receiving by Faith (A Lesson from Jesus)
One time I stood a little child before my disciples and said to them, “Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” Why? Because with children, everything must be simple. Children are humble. They simply receive. It’s pretty much all they do. And they are perfectly happy doing it. That’s… Read...
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Beyond Rules: God As You Never Imagined
What if God's not even into rules?
We all assume he is. The Ten Commandments. The Five Pillars of Islam. The Eightfold Path of Buddhism. Religion is all about rules. But what if God isn't? What if relating to God has nothing to do with rules and everything to do with promises? Not promises we keep for God. Promises God keeps for us. What if relating to God isn't like receiving orders from an impossible-to-please boss, but like receiving a gift from a close friend? Over and over and over. What if God already did away with the rules for us? Then what? Welcome to life with God beyond rules! It may be something you never imagined. He may be someone you never imagined.
About David
Hi, I’m David Gregory. Welcome to my website. I am the author of The New York Times’ bestseller, Dinner with a Perfect Stranger, as well six other fiction and three nonfiction books.
My books share two amazing themes, which ultimately are only one theme. The first is that in Jesus Christ, God offers each one of us eternal life through faith in Him. The second is that Jesus himself is that life, and when we place out trust in him, he actually comes to live within us, to live his own life through us.
What these really mean is that God offers himself to us. Nothing more. Nothing less. He designed us to be his vessels—vessels to express his own life through. That’s why, according to the Apostle Paul, the whole message God gave him to share could be summed up in three words: Christ in you.
The aim of my books, really, is to help people lay hold of this reality. To open our eyes to God’s incredible offer if we have not yet freely received him. And to open our eyes to what God has already made real within us if we have, and to learn to live it out, day by day.
I’ve authored three nonfiction books on that theme, and six fiction books. Oh, and I also wrote a short novel involving the Founding Fathers and time travel, just for fun!
I’m not someone who wrote a lot of stories growing up. In fact, I’ve always been mostly a nonfiction reader, and I came late to this writing thing. I co-authored my first book, The Rest of the Gospel: When the Partial Gospel Has Worn You Out, when I was in my late 30s, and I wrote my first fiction, Dinner with a Perfect Stranger, after 40. Random House got hold of it, made a bestseller out of it, and suddenly I had a fiction writing career!
God has taken me on a winding course, starting with a business career, through master’s degrees at the University of North Texas and Dallas Theological Seminary, and writing and editing for two Christian ministries, including Chuck Swindoll’s Insight for Living.
I love it when I hear that God has touched someone’s life through one of my books, or through one of the three movies that filmmaker Jefferson Moore produced from the Perfect Stranger series.
My goal is always to challenge people to think more deeply about what they believe, and to consider more deeply the amazing things that God says he has freely given us in Christ.
My latest book, Awesome: Praising God Straight from Scripture, is the first devotional I’ve ever written.
ALL BOOKS
Beyond Rules: God As You Never Imagined
What if God's not even into rules? We all assume he is. The Ten Commandments. The Five Pillars of Islam. The Eightfold Path of Buddhism. Religion is all about rules. But what if God isn't? What if relating to God has nothing to do with rules and everything to do with promises? Not promises we keep for God. Promises God keeps for us. What if relating to God isn't like receiving orders from an impossible-to-please boss, but like receiving a gift from a close friend? Over and over and over. What if God already did away with the rules for us? Then what? Welcome to life with God beyond rules! It may be something you never imagined. He may be someone you never imagined.
Awesome: Praising God Straight from Scripture
This remarkable devotional contains every praise to God, every thanksgiving to God, and everything easily turned into praise to God, in the Bible. They are not just based on God's Word, they are God's Word, simply turned into first-person praises to Him. The 31 sections of seven one-page praises are perfectly arranged to do what King David did, praising God seven times a day (for 31 days), or to praise God once a day (for 217 days), or anything in between. For the first time, it's amazingly easy to do what God tells us dozens of times to do, and what Jesus himself did: "continually offer up a sacrifice of praise ... giving thanks to His name."
David Gregory personally found that praising God’s own Word back to Him paves the way for God to work deeply in our own lives, focusing on God more than our circumstances, developing triumphant faith, knowing God's love, and peace, and joy more deeply, growing in selflessly loving others, and experiencing Christ as our life more richly.
Let the Spirit transform you through simply praising God!
The Rest of the Gospel: When the Partial Gospel Has Worn You Out
Having God’s forgiveness is wonderful. Spending eternity with God is great. But for now, where is the abundant life Jesus promised? Why is the Christian life such a struggle? Because getting forgiven is only half of the gospel! The Rest of the Gospel is not us striving on our own to be “good” Christians, but Christ in us, living his life through us as we rest in him.
Books David Gregory Author Novel Awesome Perfect Stranger
Dinner with a Perfect Stranger
“You are Invited to a Dinner with Jesus of Nazareth.” The mysterious envelope arrives on Nick Cominsky’s desk amid a stack of credit card applications and business-related junk mail. Although his seventy-hour workweek has already eaten into his limited family time, Nick can’t pass up the opportunity to see what kind of plot his colleagues have hatched…
The normally confident, cynical Nick soon finds himself thrown off-balance, drawn into an intriguing conversation with a baffling man who comfortably discusses everything from world religions to the existence of heaven and hell.
And this man who calls himself Jesus also seems to know a disturbing amount about Nick’s personal life.
“You’re bored, Nick. You were made for more than this. You’re worried about God stealing your fun, but you’ve got it backwards.… There’s no adventure like being joined to the Creator of the universe.” He leaned back off the table. “And your first mission would be to let him guide you out of the mess you’re in at work.”
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