PREORDER: The Tenth Hour: Ten Transforming Encounters with Jesus in the Gospels
$ 14.95
Available for preorder - ships late February 2026
Have you ever considered that each encounter with Jesus in the Gospels is an invitation for you personally?
Joe Billmeier guides readers through ten powerful Gospel scenes where ordinary people meet Jesus—and are never the same again. From Bartimaeus the blind beggar who dared to cry out, to Zacchaeus who climbed a sycamore tree, to Simon of Cyrene unexpectedly pressed into carrying the Cross, each story reveals the lasting transformation that comes from meeting Christ face-to-face.
Personal reflection follows each Gospel text, showing how these encounters, ancient yet timeless, can speak directly into the challenges of our own lives: loneliness, restlessness, hardship, and the desire for deeper purpose. Each chapter helps you see not just what happened then, but what can happen now, when you open yourself to the presence of Jesus.
Whether you are seeking direction, strength, or a renewal of faith, this book is a personal invitation to recognize your own "tenth hour"—that decisive moment when Christ looks at you, calls you, and sets you on the path of mission made just for you.
Joseph Billmeier was born in New York City and grew up in Garden City, New York. A graduate of the University of Notre Dame and Washington University in St. Louis, he worked in finance and he has served in leadership roles for supplementary educational centers in St. Louis, Chicago, Milwaukee, and Boston, where he has directed the Chestnut Hill center for more than twenty-five years. A founding member of Sparhawk Academy in Millis, Massachusetts, he has taught religion and entrepreneurship and continues to mentor men and students through educational and spiritual programs.
| SKU/ISBN | 9781594171192 |
| Product Number | 71192 |
| Format |
Every page of the Gospels testifies to the transforming power of any contact with Jesus Christ. Even when we encounter Jesus on those pages, he endows us with the grace to begin anew: healed, called, sent, convicted, converted, instructed. This insight has the power to change hearts and worlds. This book deserves to get wide readership.
For more than fifty years the radio legend Paul Harvey gave the nation his two minute The Rest of the Story. Now, Joseph Billmeier, having read the Gospels every day for more than fifty years, offers us his insights to help complete the stories of encounters with Christ, which the Gospels paint in few words, leaving it up to our imagination to complete the rest of the story.
The book is a practical reflection on ten personal encounters that Jesus Christ has with certain individuals in the Gospel, such as Nicodemus and Simon of Cyrene. The author uses his own prayer and imagination to consider what would have happened to these persons in later life, as they incorporate and process their experiences with the Savior Himself---including his words, actions, and miracles. Many of his reflections involve the finding of God in ordinary life, the power of faith and charity, and the importance of regular prayer. It is clear that the book, simply and clearly written, has involved a deep and personal reading of the Sacred Texts, with an eye to ordinary people and their daily struggles.