FRANK VIOLA is a bestselling author, A-list blogger, podcaster, and popular conference speaker.
His ministry is known as “The Deeper Journey.”
Viola’s mission is to help serious followers of Jesus know their Lord more deeply so they can experience real transformation and make a lasting impact.
Bestselling Books
Viola has written over 15 books released by major Christian publishers (Thomas Nelson, Tyndale, David C. Cook, Baker, etc.).
9 of them have been bestsellers.
All of his published books combined have sold over 600,000 copies. And they’ve been published in many different languages.
He’s also self-published over 17 digital books, most of which have been compiled into his enormous 800-page, double-columned Titan Collectible.
Here are some of his most popular titles in order of their release date:
48 Laws of Spiritual Power (Tyndale, 2022) – Amazon bestseller, reaching #1 in Discipleship and #1 in Christian Leadership.
With 48 Laws of Spiritual Power, Viola has released another amazing book. The advice it contains is clear and full of practical insights. An absolutely essential read for anyone who is in ministry, either full-time, part-time, or spare-time. As the author says in the opening, “If you are in Christ, your entire life is a mission trip.” Organized in short digestible chapters and intriguing illustrations, Viola’s arresting conversational style is sure to keep you glued to the end. This is an important book that will navigate all Christians – especially leaders – on how to access God’s power in every aspect of their mission.
~ Christian Book Reviews, M.H.
Hang On, Let Go (Tyndale, 2021) – a unique book that navigates readers through a health crisis, relational crisis, and/or financial crisis.
An astonishing and insightful field guide for Christians who are enduring a severe trial or crisis. Viola writes with compassion, navigating the reader through their own personal storm. The writing style is compelling and clear, even poetic and humorous. Make no mistake, this isn’t your typical book about suffering. It’s a practical manual. It’s not memoir either. The author keeps the focus on the struggles of the reader and the God who can deliver. The wisdom conveyed and the emotional connection the author makes with readers as he describes his feelings, thoughts, and struggles during his own trials lends tremendous credibility to the message. This book is a lifesaver for anyone who is trying to weather a storm.
Christian Book Reviews, D.S.
Frank Viola’s book Hang On, Let Go, is about infusing one’s Christian spirituality with real guts. Viola draws on the tough-minded perspective of the New Testament’s James in his efforts to inspire people during hard times. When hope feels lost, the text stresses two quintessential religious practices: holding tight to God, and being willing to let go of everything else. The trick, Viola argues, is to look at “your pain from the vantage point of Christ’s sufferings.” Here, troubles are never just about the problem at hand—they’re also about “your relationship with Jesus.” The book also involves dashes of lived experience as it moves beyond happy, clappy evangelism to be honest about how challenging following Jesus can actually be. Viola alludes to his own struggles and trials; he mentions feeling like he was holding on by a greased fingernail as he avoided the abyss of despair. As hope-filled as it is challenging, Viola’s work acknowledges that letting go includes being willing to abandon any dear expectations about the future. This helps to make Hang On, Let Go a fantastic self-help work for Christians who are facing desperate times.
Foreword Reviews
Had enough yet? Eyeballs still glazed from Zooming and fretting you haven’t done enough to support loved ones, please the boss and keep the kids on grade level? Let it go! You’re not in charge and that’s a good thing. That’s the upbeat advice in a book that encourages back-peddling from stress and finding balm in belief. Some sing this advice outright in the title. Tyndale Momentum has Hang On, Let Go: What To Do When Your Dreams are Shattered and Life is Falling Apart by Christian blogger and podcaster Frank Viola.
Publishers Weekly
Insurgence (Baker, 2018) – Frank’s signature book on the explosive gospel of the kingdom. #1 New Release in Theology (Amazon).
What Pagan Christianity did in redefinding and revolutionizing “church,” Insurgence does in redefining and revolutionizing “kingdom.” This is a daunting, engrossing powerhouse that’s accessible to all audiences. I predict it will become one of the author’s most iconic works and the new benchmark on the kingdom of God. Penetrating and full of insight. Revolutionary from start to finish, Insurgence astonishes and delivers. A masterstroke of spiritual genius.
Christian Book Reviews, D.S.
In this insightful and transformative book, Frank Viola reveals with crystal clarity just how far removed our truncated gospel is from the kingdom of God that Jesus embodied and that He calls and empowers His followers to embody. I am convinced that this wisdom-packed book will be used by God to completely transform the lives of many who dare to read it.
Greg Boyd, pastor and author
Let me be clear—Insurgence: Reclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom is not a book offering yet another parochial debate over some inconsequential point of theology. On the contrary, Viola’s message strikes at the heart of the core message of Christianity.
Dr. Michael S. Heiser, scholar and author
I own thousands of books, but there’s a very small handful of books that I keep on my desk to re-read and refer to on a regular basis. Frank Viola’s Insurgence: Reclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom is one of those books. This isn’t just a book – it’s a revelation of how we as Christians should be living our lives in today’s culture. Get the book. It will dramatically change how you look at the rest of your life.
Phil Cooke, filmmaker and author
Insurgence commands attention with its forthright, compelling vision of the kingdom that treats a wide range of facets of the kingdom message.
Craig Keener, scholar and author
Frank Viola has a winsome and compelling way of drawing his readers into the fullness of loving well, learning well, and living well. In his newest work, he persuasively draws us into the holy aspiration of being captivated by Jesus, the world’s true Messiah and King. Insurgence portrays a powerful vision of the righteousness, shalom, and joy of the Kingdom of God through a people whose identity is derived from Him, not the work they do for Him.
Kenneth Boa, theologian and author
Frank Viola has done it again! He offers fresh insights on what it might look like if we took the message of Jesus, and His in-breaking kingdom, as if it were real. True. Beautiful. World changing. Heart transforming. Community uniting. Human remaking. A reader can ponder Insurgence one page a time! And that same reader may never be the same again. This book has the potential to open the eyes of many people to see how beautiful life with Jesus can truly be.
Kurt Willems, pastor and author
In Insurgence, Frank Viola spells out a compelling case for reclaiming the powerful, life-changing gospel of the kingdom.
Dave Ferguson, pastor and author
There is an insurgence or a convergence of God’s people rallying around a fuller, more biblical articulation of the gospel. This insurgence isn’t just about getting our message straight, it’s about straightening out the lives of our churches. Nothing could be more important in our day. In this book, Frank Viola issues an impassioned plea to join this insurgence that appeals not simply to the head but especially to the heart.
John Nugent, professor and author
Jesus Speaks (Thomas Nelson, 2016) – a groundbreaking work on how to recognize the Lord’s voice.
The Day I Met Jesus (Baker, 2015) – CBA Bestseller.
What a treasure this diary-style book is! This impactful message focuses on five broken women in the Bible and their life-changing encounters with Jesus. The way Mary and Frank portray their stories will help any woman who has experienced heartbreak, loneliness, and rejection step right into the extravagant grace and love of Jesus.
Lysa TerKeurst, author and speaker
Jesus, from the very beginning, has been ‘good news for women.’ Perhaps that news has rarely been needed more clearly than in our day. One reads of His encounters with the women described in this book with a sense of wonder that these interactions took place two thousand years ago. He is good news for women still.
John Ortberg, pastor and author
I thought I knew the women in these stories well, but in this beautiful book I met each one in a fresh, personal, and profound way. The life-changing grace and mercy Christ extended to these our sisters so long ago is here right now for you and for me.
Sheila Walsh, author and speaker
Inventive, engaging, compelling, and filled with freedom, this book will help you see the wonder of our Jesus more clearly. Here is very simply the truth about Jesus and His relationship with women: He loved us. What a powerful truth for women in the world today! Jesus is always the hero of the story. Through this book, we see and know that He is the hero of our stories too.
Sarah Bessey, author and blogger
Jesus Now (David C. Cook, 2014) – CBA Bestseller.
I’m not aware of any other work that so clearly fleshes out the present ministry of Christ. Using a style that is engaging and accessible to all, Frank discusses Jesus as our High Priest, our Shepherd, our Bridegroom. He then unpacks what the New Testament has to say about Jesus as the Author and Finisher of our faith, as the builder and head of the Church, and as Lord of the world. I believe readers will find this work not only informative, but transformative. The first chapter alone will set free many who live in condemnation.
Greg Boyd, author and pastor
Frank Viola is a master at the discipline of historical context, and Jesus Now is a masterpiece that shows us how to ‘Christify’ our story–to move from an unscripted spirituality to a scripturally scripted identity.
Leonard Sweet, author and professor
Viola is an exuberant writer who knows his Bible. I would recommend Jesus Now to Christian leaders and discussion groups to understand the present-day ministry of Christ.
CBA Retailers & Resources
God’s Favorite Place on Earth (David C. Cook, 2013) – Amazon bestseller, reaching #13 out of all 33+ million titles.
Frank Viola’s God’s Favorite Place on Earth is a fast-moving, groundbreaking look at the Christian’s struggle against legalism, discouragement, doubt, rejection, and spiritual complacency. Told through the voice of Lazarus, the narrative is intellectually gripping and emotionally touching. This is a masterfully engaging book that distills the vision of the Christian life into one focused quest: To be God’s favorite place on earth today. I recommend this little volume to all Christians and Christian leaders. It brings several familiar Gospel stories to life in a fresh and compelling way.
Mark Batterson, author and pastor
This book exudes love for Jesus. Its creative format offers an inviting window for valuable meditations on what we can learn about the Lord and our relationship with Him from His life and that of some of His closest friends.
Craig Keener, author and professor
A lot of people write books, Frank writes stories and in this one we once again see why he’s such a master. Honored to call him a friend, excited to call him an author I love to read.
Jon Acuff, author and blogger
Combining masterful storytelling, historical knowledge, biblical insight and practical wisdom, Frank artfully uses the Gospels’ depiction of Lazarus and the small town of Bethany to lay out a beautiful and compelling vision of a God who longs to make every human heart and every church ‘His favorite place.’ In the process, Frank prophetically exposes the subtle but all-important difference between hearts that embrace Jesus and hearts that merely appear to do so. This is a beautifully written, timely, prophetic work all would benefit from reading!
Greg Boyd, pastor and author
The best thing I can say about Frank Viola is this: When I read his books—and I read them all—I don’t think much about Frank Viola. I think about Jesus. And I learn to love Him more. This book is no different. Read it, and you’ll find yourself thinking, if you’re like me, ‘I knew Jesus was great, but… Wow!’ And that, at least from me, is as good as it gets.
Brant Hansen, author and radio personality
Frank Viola’s pen and voice are consistently both penetrating and trustworthy. Beyond his invitingly beautiful writing skill—which makes reading a joy and a sight-seeing tour that brings God’s Word into 3-D when he relates narrative passages, I’m grateful for the depth of his themes. Frank probes the ‘deep calls unto deep’ content of the Holy Spirit’s call within the Scriptures, and awakens that hunger that must be regularly fed to secure renewal in each of us. God’s Favorite Place on Earth is the kind of book I’ve discovered I need to periodically find and read; thereby keeping ‘the fallow ground’ of my own soul plowed, re-sown and watered, in order to continue fruitfulness and to deepen the root system of my spiritual walk and growth in Christ.
Jack Hayford, renowned pastor and author
Reading God’s Favorite Place on Earth illuminates the story of Jesus in such a new and captivating way that it’s bound to impact your life. Read this powerful book and reconnect with the Lord’s heart for every Christian, every church, and every city.
Pete Wilson, pastor and author
Few authors challenge me in my faith like Frank Viola. This book and the stories it contains will force you to face the myth of religion and instead adopt a life of deeper dedication to God, to find your own Bethany. It sure did for me.
Jeff Goins, author and blogger
Jesus: A Theography (Thomas Nelson, 2012) – a 400+ page highly acclaimed magisterial work.
Jesus Manifesto (Thomas Nelson, 2010) – Amazon bestseller, reaching #6 out of all 33+ million titles.
There cannot be enough books written about the majesties and excellencies of Christ. To see Jesus as He is will transform us from one degree or glory to the next. Everything is about Him, for Him and to Him. I am grateful that Frank and Leonard did the work and are putting this in the lap of so many.
Matt Chandler, pastor and author
Whether you are a seminary professor or someone seeking answers about Christ for the first time, Jesus Manifesto promises to illuminate the truth about the greatest personality to ever walk the earth. And along the way you will rediscover, or experience for the first time, the power, prestige and primacy of Jesus Christ.
Ed Young, pastor and author
The unrelenting purpose of the Holy Spirit is to lead us into the living presence of Jesus Christ. If we follow the Spirit, Christ can become as real to us as the world was when we were sinners. Jesus Manifesto is a compass pointing toward this holy pursuit.
Francis Frangipane, pastor and author
Jesus Manifesto: Restoring the Supremacy and Sovereignty of Jesus Christ comes at a good time and calls us back to the only life-giving and life-sustaining and hope-generating center that we are to have: Jesus Christ. This book is not an argument or a logical case but a series of reflections all doing the same thing, is to show that at the center of our faith is Jesus Christ, a Person, and not a Plan. When we separate our faith from its center, it loses its luster and it cheapens it into a product. There is nothing out of the ordinary for the solid Bible reader in Jesus’ line: I am the way, the truth and the life. When we see this text as some kind of development, we are doing something wrong. Over and over Sweet and Viola bring us back to this very point, often in very clever and fresh ways. My favorite chapters: “The Occupation of All Things” and “If God Wrote Your Biography.” Both chapters are pristine expressions of how Christ-drenched our faith is.
Scot McKnight, professor and author
Jesus Manifesto is the most powerful work on Christ I have read in recent years. The Christ of the Empty Tomb is back among us. Sweet and Viola have beckoned us to return back to Olivet and renew our souls. I was hushed by its welcome authority. I found a lump in my throat as I read through page after page of Biblical witness to the one and only, incomparable Christ in whom alone is our Salvation. You must read this book. All of us must, and then we must believe in this book, rise and advance on our culture with the truth we have lately backed away from in our faulty attempt to play fair at the cost of our God-given mission.
Calvin Miller, pastor and professor
Amidst the many voices calling the church to the work of justice, Leonard Sweet and Frank Viola call us first to Jesus from which all justice flows. Together they help us see how the vision of Christ’s supremacy makes possible any and all faithful engagement with the world. There are times when a profound and significant truth needs to be said simply. Jesus Manifesto does just that with an intensity appropriate to the message! I applaud it and I recommend it.
David Fitch, author, pastor, professor
From Eternity to Here (David C. Cook, 2009) – CBA Bestseller.
Frank continues to challenge the church-at-large with a powerful mind, an impassioned voice, and a love for the Bride of Christ. You need to get this book and wrestle with Frank through the biblical passages regarding our identity in Christ as His body and the mission our God has entrusted to us.
Ed Stetzer, author and speaker
A masterpiece … it reads like a movie on paper.
Dr. Myles Munroe, author and speaker
When you’re as old as I am, I don’t hear new stuff. You can hardly say anything about religion that I haven’t heard several times. But this is so new to me. It’s a whole new way of looking at the Scriptures, at Jesus, at the church, and at me. You’re going to love this book.
Steve Brown, author and talk-radio show host
A great work of narrative theology …
Alan Hirsch, author and speaker
Brings you creatively into the biblical story by immersing your heart and mind …
Dan Kimball, pastor and author
Frank Viola has been one of my favorite authors for years. Common threads run through his books: Organic spiritual life without organizational hierarchy, and real relationships with God and each other that are free of suppressive religious tradition. Frank’s viewpoints are well grounded in both Scripture and history. From Eternity to Here reveals the startling but simple fact that God has already accomplished His ultimate goal in the resurrected Christ. We are the focus of His passionate love, and we have received the capacity to love Him in return forever.
Don Francisco, musician
Of all the sticks of TNT that Frank Viola has launched into a sleepy, status quo church, this grenade has the most explosive potential to make the church unashamed of the gospel and to release God’s dynamic power for salvation.
Leonard Sweet, author and professor
Here is a book that lets you hear the ancient whisper of the God that “so loved the world,” a whisper that has often been hard to hear amid all the noise, clutter, and meanness of Christendom. Listen and hear of a God who loves humanity so much that He can’t help but enter the mess we’ve made of the world and help us re-imagine it.
Shane Claiborne, author and activist
I appreciate this message so much. It is a very clear articulation of the subject and will press folks to that one thing I hold most necessary: daily fellowship.
DeVern Fromke, teacher and author
I just finished From Eternity To Here. I’m in process of reading it again. It has moved into my top ten books. It informs the mind with great theology. It transforms the heart because the matchless vision of Jesus and His grace. And it inspires a love for God’s eternal purpose, the Church by inviting others to experience God’s eternal purpose. Brilliant.
Derwin Gray, pastor and author
Pagan Christianity (Tyndale, 2008) – Frank’s sod-turning book with George Barna in 2008 was also a bestseller, hitting #11 on Amazon out of all 33+ million books and selling over 170,000 copies.
This book provides a useful service in peeling back the layers of tradition, showing the origins of much that we today call “church.” Christians who want to be biblically faithful, regardless of their particular tradition or church form, can learn and benefit from the book.
Howard Snyder, author, historian, professor
At a time when God is clearly ‘shaking the foundations’ of the way many think about the church, this book is timely and helpful. For this reason I heartily recommend it.
Greg Boyd, author and pastor
PAGAN CHRISTIANITY is a landmark, a true milestone in the overall task of bringing in a new style of responsible, interactive Christianity to replace the old, severely paganized ecclesiastical forms. Frank has done us a great favor, drawing together revealing tidbits from hundreds of sources to create a continuous picture of the formation of today’s institutional church. There’s nothing like it in print. It is now THE book on church history from the point of view of the underground, open church.
James Rutz, author
Anyone interested in the worship of the New Testament church and how that was altered through the centuries will find Frank Viola’s PAGAN CHRISTIANITY very useful. The authors’ position is clear and quite well documented.
Graydon F. Snyder, professor
PAGAN CHRISTIANITY contains a wide variety of interesting and helpful historical information of which most Christians – or non-Christians – will be completely unaware. The book identifies – in part or in whole – the pagan roots of many of our current church practices, as well as indicates some borrowed from earlier Jewish or, occasionally, more recent Customs.
Robert Banks, author and professor
This feisty book attacks the incipient paganism that has been absorbed into historic Christianity over the years. It exposes the syncretistic weak spots in what we assume to be basic in our way of doing church. Thoroughly iconoclastic, it is also at the same time a good apologetic for the house church movement which has strong restorationist impulses. My guess is that it will anger some readers and thrill others. I am one of the latter. Whatever, it won’t be too easy to dismiss as it is really well researched and substantiated. I think it is definitely worth the read even if I do think it is a tad purist in tone. Just don’t drop it–it is likely to explode.
Alan Hirsch, author and speaker
Remagining Church (David C. Cook, 2008). The constructive sequel to Pagan Christianity, Reimagining Church was nominated for Best 2008 Book Award “Christian Leadership” category by Outreach Magazine.
Dissent is a gift to the Church. It is the imagination of the prophets that continually call us back to our identity as the peculiar people of God. May Viola’s words challenge us to become the change that we want to see in the Church … and not to settle for anything less than God’s dream for Her.
Shane Claiborne, author and activist
In Reimagining Church, Frank Viola is at the top of his game, showing a serene, soaring mastery of the theology of church as organism rather than organization.
Leonard Sweet, author and professor
True to form, this book contains a thoroughly consistent critique of prevailing forms of church. However, in Reimagining Church, Frank Viola also presents a positive vision of what the church can become if we truly reembraced more organic, and less institutional, forms of church. This is a no holds barred prophetic vision for the church in the twenty-first Century.
Alan Hirsch, author and speaker
Reimagining Church is a valuable addition to the resources being produced on the subject of organic churches. Written from the perspective of a long-time practitioner, Frank conveys these concepts with his usual clarity and insight and covers many of the practical aspects of starting a church. I recommend this book to anyone interested in organic church.
Felicity Dale, author and speaker
His book — The Untold Story of the New Testament Church — was a Wall Street Journal Bestseller. It’s being rewritten, revised, and expanded and won’t release until Spring 2025. (Don’t buy the old version. It’s flawed, outdated, and incomplete.)
Frank has also written these other popular books:
Revise Us Again
ReGrace
CLICK HERE to see all his titles with ordering information.
Top Podcast
Frank Viola’s podcast – Christ is All – ranked #1 in Canada and #2 in the USA in “Christianity” on iTunes (now called “Apple Podcasts”).
Episodes include Christ-centered conference messages, monologues, interviews, and lots of humor.
The podcast contains over 200 episodes and currently has over 2 million downloads.
CLICK HERE to listen to the podcast.
Frank’s newest podcast is “The Insurgence Podcast.” In this podcast, Frank has several partners who dialogue with him about different aspects of the gospel of the kingdom.
The podcast ranked #9 in Apple Podcasts in the “Religion & Spirituality” category.
The podcast contains over 120 episodes and current has over 620,000 downloads.
CLICK HERE to listen to the podcast.
Top Blog
Frank Viola’s blog – Beyond Evangelical – is one of the most popular Christian blogs on the Web today, regularly ranking in the top 10 of blog ranking directories.
CLICK HERE to read Frank’s blog.
YouTube Channel
The Deeper Journey YouTube Channel contains a mix of video resources by Frank, including conference messages, rare interviews, audiobook chapters, etc.
CLICK HERE to access the YouTube Channel.
Discipleship Course
Frank’s premium discipleship course has been taken by over 2,000 people, including pastors and ministry leaders.
CLICK HERE to check out the discipleship course.
Conference Speaking
Frank has spoken in conferences with N.T. Wright, Shane Claiborne, Brennan Manning, Jon Acuff, Leonard Sweet, Paul Young, George Barna, Scot McKnight, Larry Osborne, Dan Kimball, Neil Cole, Alan Hirsch, Andrew Farley, Mark DuPont, and many others.
Viola is known for bringing the Scriptures to life and unveiling Jesus Christ passionately with seminal insight.
CLICK HERE for details and samples of Viola’s conference talks.
Coaching & Mentoring
Frank coaches authors and writers. He also mentors spiritual leaders.
SCRIBE is a premium 3-day training for authors (aspiring and actual).
The Insurgence Experience is a premium mentoring program for people in ministry (pastors, teachers, missionaries, church planters, etc.) done through Zoom.
The Deeper Christian Life Network
Frank runs The Deeper Christian Life Network which is a premium online network for mentoring and making connections with others who are like-minded and like-hearted, who want to go deeper in their relationship to the Lord.
A Courses for Those Struggling
Frank and a conversation partner navigate you on how to survive your personal storm, and even thrive through it, in the Surviving Your Storm course.
Courses for Authors & Writers
Frank is one of 9 other presenters for the Buzz Seminar Course Master Class, designed for authors, writers, and bloggers.
He also has a premium productivity & creativity program called PROLIFIC.
Frank’s Readership
Viola’s work has been called a meticulous collection of Light and Shade, a characteristic that makes it so unique.
His readership is mostly made up of seriously devoted followers of Jesus who are in their 20s, 30s, and 40s.
Most of them live in North America, although there are many who live outside the USA.
The majority are disaffected with the Christian Right and the Progressive Left. They know there is something more to the Christian faith than what’s typically presented in Christian circles.
A bulk of them are pastors, teachers, bloggers, and seminary professors who are looking for something higher and deeper.
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