re:create

Philip Yancey

Growing up in a strict, fundamentalist church in the southern USA, a young Philip Yancey tended to view God as “a scowling Supercop, searching for anyone who might be having a good time—in order to squash them.” Yancey jokes today about being “in recovery” from a toxic church. “Of course, there were good qualities too. If a neighbor’s house burned down, the congregation would rally around and show charity—if, that is, the house belonged to a white person. I grew up confused by the contradictions. We heard about love and grace, but I didn’t experience much. And we were taught that God answers prayers, miraculously, but my father died of polio just after my first birthday, despite many prayers for his healing.”

For Yancey, reading offered a window to a different world. So, he devoured books that opened his mind, challenged his upbringing, and went against what he had been taught. A sense of betrayal engulfed him. “I felt I had been lied to. For instance, what I learned from a book like To Kill a Mockingbird or Black Like Me contradicted the racism I encountered in church. I went through a period of reacting against everything I was taught and even discarding my faith. I began my journey back mainly by encountering a world very different than I had been taught, an expansive world of beauty and goodness. Along the way I realized that God had been misrepresented to me. Cautiously, warily, I returned, circling around the faith to see if it might be true.”

Ever since Yancey has explored the most basic questions and deepest mysteries of the Christian faith, taking millions of readers with him. Early on he crafted best-selling books such as Disappointment with God and Where is God When it Hurts? while also editingThe Student Bible. He coauthored three books with the renowned surgeon Dr. Paul Brand. “No one has influenced me more,” he says. “We had quite a trade: I gave words to his faith, and in the process he gave faith to my words.” More recently, he has felt the freedom to explore central issues of the Christian faith, penning award-winning titles such as The Jesus I Never Knew, What’s So Amazing About Grace? and Prayer: Does It Make Any Difference? His books have garnered 13 Gold Medallion Awards from Christian publishers and booksellers. He currently has more than 15 million books in print, published in 35 languages worldwide.

Follow Philip on his website at: PhilipYancey.com

Tim Sanders

Tim Sanders speaks for strong business relationships, both internal and external. “Get them right,” he says, “and you’ll grow your business during good and bad times alike.” His relevant point of view makes him one of the most in demand keynote speakers on the conference and convention circuit.

Tim is more than a keynote speaker; his real world experience, research savvy and deep understanding of the human condition make him an indispensable consultant to some of the biggest brands in the world.

His Los Angeles based company, Deeper Media, conducts research on business trends, new media and human behavior.

Corporate Experience

Tim has valuable experience in cutting-edge businesses, sales and marketing. He’s weathered the quality movement as well as the dotcom crash and emerged with precious insight. He was the Chief Solutions Officer at Yahoo! and later their Leadership Coach.

Prior to these senior positions Tim created and led the Yahoo! ValueLab, an in-house “think tank” which delivered futuristic insight on technology and human behavior. He was also an early member of Mark Cuban and Todd Wagner’s broadcast.com, the most successful opening day IPO in history.

Author and Media Credits

His first book, Love is the Killer App: How to Win Business and Influence Friends is a New York Times and international business best seller, translated in a dozen languages. It stresses the importance of knowledge sharing, networking and compassion.

His follow up, The Likeability Factor explains the concept of emotional talent and the importance of creating an engaging experience. It was the basis for a PBS Special, produced by leading affiliate WQED.

His third book, Saving the World at Work, examines the external relationship between a business, its people and society. It makes a strong business case for corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sustainability initiatives being at the top of a company’s strategic agenda. The book was named as one of the top 30 business books of 2008 by Executive Soundview.

In his newest book, Today We Are Rich: Harnessing the Power of Total Confidence, Sanders updates Napoleon Hill, Dale Carnegie and Dr. Norman Vincent Peale to tackle a new world, where social media and transparency present unique challenges to our sense of confidence, sanity and faith, and shows how to unleash winning behaviors to achieve total confidence.

His work is frequently featured in the media, most recently in The New York Times, Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal and Fast Company.

Educational Background

Tim attended Loyola Marymount University and studied in the graduate school of communications at the University of Arizona.

Follow Tim on Twitter @sanderssays and his blog at: TimSanders.com