CYMBALA, Jim 1943-

PERSONAL:

Born 1943.

ADDRESSES:

Office—The Brooklyn Tabernacle, 290 Flatbush Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11217. Agent—Zondervan Publishing, 5300 Patterson Avenue, Grand Rapids, MI 49530. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Pastor and author. Brooklyn Tabernacle, Brooklyn, NY, pastor.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Several Gold Medallion awards.

WRITINGS:

(With Dean Merrill) Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire: What Happens When God's Spirit Invades the Heart of His People, Zondervan Publishing (Grand Rapids, MI), 1997.

(With Dean Merrill) Fresh Faith: What Happens When Real Faith Ignites God's People, Zondervan Publishing (Grand Rapids, MI), 1999.

(With Stephen Sorensen) The Life God Blesses: The Secret of Enjoying God's Favor, Zondervan Publishing (Grand Rapids, MI), 2001.

(With Stephen Sorensen) God's Grace from Ground Zero: Seeking God's Heart for the Future of Our World, Zondervan Publishing (Grand Rapids, MI), 2001.

(With Stephen Sorensen) The Church God Blesses, Zondervan Publishing (Grand Rapids, MI), 2002.

Fresh Power: Experiencing the Vast Resources of the Spirit of God, Zondervan Publishing (Grand Rapids, MI), 2002.

The Promise of God's Power, Inspiro (Grand Rapids, MI), 2002.

Break through Prayer: The Secret of Receiving What You Need from God, Zondervan (Grand Rapids, MI), 2003.

ADAPTATIONS:

Many of Cymbala's books have been adapted as audiobooks.

SIDELIGHTS:

Jim Cymbala, pastor of the Brooklyn Tabernacle Church, has taught his parishioners about believing in God and his mighty power for their present-day lives and the mission of the Tabernacle. As a writer he continues that teaching in several popular books, including Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire: What Happens When God's Spirit Invades the Heart of His People and Fresh Faith: What Happens When Real Faith Ignites God's People, both of which explore the transforming power of God's love. In Fresh Power: Experiencing the Vast Resources of the Spirit of God, the third book in the series, Cymbala explores what it means for individuals and for the church to be constantly transformed by the Holy Spirit. Another book by Cymbala, The Church God Blesses, addresses spiritual leaders in its encouragement of traditional values.

Cymbala's Brooklyn Tabernacle lost several members of its congregation during the destruction of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. Many more were also directly impacted by the attacks, including the widows of police officers and firefighters, a woman who narrowly escaped Tower II before it collapsed, and a now-orphaned college student. In God's Grace from Ground Zero: Seeking God's Heart for the Future of Our World Cymbala uses his parishioners' stories to encourage readers to strengthen their relationship with Christ, as well as to urge them to be bold in sharing the gospel with those who desperately need to hear it. He tells readers that in the midst of tragedy, God is near to all who seek him—especially when the future seems uncertain.

In an interview with Publishers Weekly, Cymbala talked about the inception of the book. "About 10 days after the event, I was lying in bed praying, and the thought came to me: 'God's grace from ground zero.'" After his publisher urged him to write the book as quickly as possible, he recalled, "I said I would shut down everything else, and I did. In two weeks and four days, between me and my co-writer, we finished the book. It's short, but still, I thought that was amazing. I did nothing else but eat and write for those two weeks."

In response to a question from a Publishers Weekly interviewer regarding the way some Christians have responded to the tragedy, Cymbala said, "We've just got to avoid the pseudo-prophetic judgmentalism that says who is to blame for this—as if prophets speak to nations instead of the church.… To me, this tragedy is part of the human condition of free will and evil on the earth. For twenty centuries, there have been tribal wars, ethnic wars, civil wars and world wars.… Christians need to shine like a light."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, March 1, 1997, Ray Olson, review of Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire: What Happens When God's Spirit Invades the Heart of His People, p. 1066.

Publishers Weekly, August 30, 1999, review of Fresh Faith: What Happens When Real Faith Ignites God's People, p. 74; November 1, 1999, review of Fresh Faith, p. 54; December 11, 2000, review of Fresh Power: Experiencing the Vast Resources of the Spirit of God, p. 81; August 27, 2001, review of The Life God Blesses: The Secret of Enjoying God's Favor, p. 80; November 26, 2001, p. 58; March 18, 2002, review of The Church God Blesses, p. 99.

Today's Christian Woman, January, 2002, Ginger Kolbaba, review of God's Grace from Ground Zero: Seeking God's Heart for the Future of Our World, p. 64.*