Nonfiction
The Mystery of Marriage
Winner of the ECPA Gold Medallion Award
Click to order
Married couples, whether we realize it or not, are involved in a drama of intimacy that is very like the progress of the soul’s relationship with God. God Himself is not a bachelor, and marriage on earth reflects the very love He has for Himself in the Trinity. Inspired by the great classics of devotional literature, this book explores, in profound and poetic writing, the dynamic correspondence between marriage and the great invisible realities of the Christian faith. In a marriage market flooded with ‘how-to’ books, this one dares to be something different: a ‘how-come’ book, a meditative inquiry into ‘the mystery of marriage’ with a view to renewing and refreshing married love at its source.
With more than 200,000 in print, and translated into over 20 languages, this book is now in its third edition. It is used as a text in many college, seminary, and church marriage courses.
“The ‘Mere Christianity’ of marriage books.” – Ted Olsen, Online Managing Editor, Christianity Today.
“An outstanding achievement. Rarely has a book aroused in me so much enthusiasm as has the combination of wisdom, depth, dignity, and glow that I find in these chapters.” – J.I. Packer
“Absolutely exquisite. It reaches down deep into our innermost being, revealing, revitalizing, rewarding. A real classic.” – Gigi Graham Tchividjian
“A drop-everything book. Mason deals with the stunning paradoxes of the mystery, the problems, and the glories of marriage. I don’t need to read any other book on the subject.” – Elisabeth Elliot
Champagne for the Soul
If you were given the chance to be happy for the rest of your life, wouldn’t you jump at it? Maybe not. Champagne for the Soul argues that the Bible certainly does make this offer, but most of us hang back, reluctant and skeptical. This book is a call to throw off all those doubts and worries and complaints and to “rejoice in the Lord always” (Php 4:4).
Is it really possible to live every day in joy? This collection of ninety two-page reflections, drawn from the author’s own three-month experiment in actively pursuing joy, will lead you on a journey––no matter what your circumstances––out of the trap of fear and dullness and into the joy of the Lord.
“Fabulous! I own hundreds of books and Champagne is definitely my favorite Christian book (or book of any kind) of all time.” – Matt Erickson
“Whatever Mike writes, I read. Joy co-exists with groaning, but it’s real! Mike shows us the way from being caved in on ourselves to release in Christ.” – Larry Crabb
“True realism always and everywhere is to find out where joy resides. In the past year this magical gift got lost or mislaid in my life. Mason has located it, given it voice, and helped me to recover it. Even one sip of Champagne for the Soul is a heady, exhilarating experience.” – Brennan Manning
“There is in Christ an open secret of constant joy. Natural depressive Mike Mason knows it well and here spells it out beautifully. Now tell me, who doesn’t need that? So you, too, should soak your soul in this fine book.” – J.I. Packer
“I read a chapter every day as part of my daily devotions and have now completed my fifth reading of the entire book.” – Jonathan King
Practicing the Presence of People
Both the title and concept of this book were inspired by the author’s love for the classic devotional by Brother Lawrence, The Practice of the Presence of God. As Mason, a contemplative by nature, explains, “One day in contemplative prayer there came to me the phrase the practice of the presence of people. And with it came this thought: Why not take all that I’ve learned about knowing God through contemplative prayer and apply it to knowing people? After all, since God is a person to whom we relate through prayer, shouldn’t the principles of prayer transfer to knowing other persons made in His image?”
Exploring the vital question, “How do we learn to love?” Practicing the Presence of People leads us deeper into the thing we all really want most in life: intimate connection with others, with God, and with ourselves.
“Besides the bible, no other book has had a more positive impact on my life than Practicing the Presence of People.” – A. Guzewicz
“What a powerful book! No other book has inspired me as this one has.” – Dave Smith
The Gospel According to Job
The Gospel According To Job is a devotional commentary on the Old Testament book of Job. Arranged as a series of two-page meditations on selected quotes, it is intended for people who are experiencing deep suffering, doubt, and a sense of separation from God. When you’re in such a place, do you condemn yourself, wallowing in all that you’ve done to deserve your lot? Or do you go to the other extreme and try to justify yourself?
Job did neither. In the face of his own traumatized emotions and the accusations of his friends, Job clung to the hope that the Lord Himself would vindicate him. With prophetic prescience, he seemed to know the gospel, letting the cross of Christ absorb and absolve all his guilt. And so, hundreds of years before the New Testament, Job set a pattern for how Christians are to travel through the vale of suffering.
In this book you’ll find that it’s okay to doubt, to be confused, to get angry––in short, to be completely yourself. For God’s mercy is the permission to be human.
“The profundity of the insights into spiritual life that Mike Mason draws from Job is stunning. What Oswald Chambers once did well, though briefly, Mason has now done better, and on a grander scale. Every way, this is a five-star book!” – J.I. Packer
“A keen probing of that personal encounter with God which cannot take place except through the mystery of suffering. Blunt, bold, shocking, yet tender, humble, and––who can deny it?––the straight truth. Mike Mason has paid the price.” – Elisabeth Elliot
“I have never been impacted so dramatically as I have by The Gospel According to Job. It’s my favorite book—ever!” - Tom Perkins
The Mystery of Children
Sixteen years after the success of The Mystery of Marriage came the obvious sequel: The Mystery of Children. As the earlier book explored the parallels between marriage and our relationship with God, so this one illuminates the hard and beautiful spiritual truths displayed in the complex parent-child relationship. Composed of stories, musings, and extracts from a diary the author kept as his daughter was growing up, this book is an intimate report from the front lines. More than a manual on parenting, it’s for everyone who wishes to become childlike in heart or to be closer to children––two core desires that are wondrously entwined.
“This joyful, honest, and compelling read calls me to be grateful for every laugh and each tear I have been granted as a parent and a child.” – Dan Allender
“An extraordinary book. Mike Mason has shaken me to the core of my soul––he knows me.” – Brennan Manning
“Page after page Mason makes observations that are so transparently true that we wonder why we never noticed or thought or spoke like that before.” – Luci Shaw
Work in Progress: Adventures in Heaven
What is it like in heaven? Is there really a river of life and a holy city? And does the apostle Paul wear little wire-framed glasses? Or how about Mary––does she look like her Son? The only physical description of Jesus in the Bible tells us, “He has no beauty or majesty to attract us to Him, nothing in His appearance that we should desire Him” (Isaiah 53:2). Is this true?
All these questions and many more will be answered in Mike Mason’s new book Adventures In Heaven. Read the true story of a man who has a remarkable gift from the Holy Spirit: the ability to go to heaven in visions. In one fascinating story after another this book opens the windows of heaven on detailed vistas of the New Jerusalem, the throne room, the altar, heavenly plants and animals, and meetings with biblical figures such as John, Ezekiel, and Moses.
These visions are in complete agreement with what we know of heaven from scripture. Does the Holy Spirit also witness to their truth? Read for yourself and see.