Kindle
$11.49
Available instantly
Audible Logo Audiobook
$0.00
with membership trial
Hardcover
$11.64
Paperback
$11.59
Buy new:
-42% $11.59
FREE delivery Friday, May 17 on orders shipped by Amazon over $35
Ships from: Amazon.com
Sold by: Amazon.com
$11.59 with 42 percent savings
List Price: $19.99

The List Price is the suggested retail price of a new product as provided by a manufacturer, supplier, or seller. Except for books, Amazon will display a List Price if the product was purchased by customers on Amazon or offered by other retailers at or above the List Price in at least the past 90 days. List prices may not necessarily reflect the product's prevailing market price.
Learn more
Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime FREE Returns
FREE delivery Friday, May 17 on orders shipped by Amazon over $35. Order within 20 hrs 18 mins
In Stock
$$11.59 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details
Price
Subtotal
$$11.59
Subtotal
Initial payment breakdown
Shipping cost, delivery date, and order total (including tax) shown at checkout.
Ships from
Amazon.com
Ships from
Amazon.com
Sold by
Amazon.com
Sold by
Amazon.com
Returns
30-day easy returns
30-day easy returns
This item can be returned in its original condition for a full refund or replacement within 30 days of receipt.
Read full return policy
Returns
30-day easy returns
This item can be returned in its original condition for a full refund or replacement within 30 days of receipt.
Read full return policy
Payment
Secure transaction
Your transaction is secure
We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Learn more
Payment
Secure transaction
We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Learn more
$6.55
Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime FREE Returns
FREE delivery Friday, May 17 on orders shipped by Amazon over $35. Order within 20 hrs 18 mins
Only 4 left in stock - order soon.
$$11.59 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details
Price
Subtotal
$$11.59
Subtotal
Initial payment breakdown
Shipping cost, delivery date, and order total (including tax) shown at checkout.
Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items.
Kindle app logo image

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

QR code to download the Kindle App

Follow the author

Os Guinness
+ Follow
More books from this author
Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.

The Call: Finding and Fulfilling the Central Purpose of Your Life Paperback – October 7, 2003

by Os Guinness (Author)
4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 854 ratings
See all formats and editions
{"desktop_buybox_group_1":[{"displayPrice":"$11.59","priceAmount":11.59,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"11","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"59","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"yvvbZ8SPI%2Bc2ynBG65F7wMivYj143jI6FPuuYWltQptHHZYxVllzzFovpLrrM9biMv8b2meGKhzH7Cr%2B4mvJLDiatKXwZG7VbzuzoZVTgzvihym17%2BtXX4RnF1BGT5itZEpNFWxtu1E%3D","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"NEW","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":0}, {"displayPrice":"$6.55","priceAmount":6.55,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"6","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"55","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"yvvbZ8SPI%2Bc2ynBG65F7wMivYj143jI6FQud4MV4C1Tx0B78BAMHqUzRAEjA%2FpW4zSiIwSRxFS9meIoDdr%2FyBWoopM787r%2FIpTW8ZGGsZGsQcQbhBOwp3JQ%2BmvitwXct2HQhszxa8ytBnpTd6%2F3E9xw48IpPtD9QTqt56%2BRswb2jjZjBCeHs72yrfwLZMYGw","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"USED","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":1}]}

Purchase options and add-ons

The Call continues to stand as a classic, reflective work on life's purpose. Best-selling author Os Guinness goes beyond our surface understanding of God's call and addresses the fact that God has a specific calling for our individual lives.

Why am I here? What is God's call in my life? How do I fit God's call with my own individuality? How should God's calling affect my career, my plans for the future, my concepts of success? Guinness now helps the reader discover answers to these questions, and more, through a corresponding workbook - perfect for individual or group study.

According to Guinness, "No idea short of God's call can ground and fulfill the truest human desire for purpose and fulfillment." With tens of thousands of readers to date, The Call is for all who desire a purposeful, intentional life of faith.

Also availbale in audio format, narrated by Os Guinness.

Read more Read less
Previous page
  1. Print length
    304 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Thomas Nelson
  4. Publication date
    October 7, 2003
  5. Dimensions
    6.1 x 0.82 x 9 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0849944376
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0849944376
  8. See all details
Next page
The Amazon Book Review
The Amazon Book Review
Book recommendations, author interviews, editors' picks, and more. Read it now

Frequently bought together

The Call: Finding and Fulfilling the Central Purpose of Your Life
$11.59
Get it as soon as Friday, May 17
In Stock
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
+
Sustaining Ministry: Foundations and Practices for Serving Faithfully
$22.00
Get it as soon as Friday, May 17
In Stock
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
+
Ministry in the Image of God: The Trinitarian Shape of Christian Service
$15.69
Get it as soon as Friday, May 17
In Stock
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
Total price:
To see our price, add these items to your cart.
Details
Added to Cart
Choose items to buy together.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Os Guinness is an author and speaker living in the Washington, D.C., area. Born in China during World War II, Guinness left in 1951, after the Chinese Revolution. A graduate of the University of London and Oxford, Guinness is a former visiting fellow of the Brookings Institution. He has written or edited more than twenty books, including The Call, Invitation to the Classics, and Long Journey Home. A frequent speaker and seminar leader at political and business conferences in the United States, Europe, and Asia, Guinness has lectured at many universities, including Oxford, Cambridge, Harvard, and Stanford, and has often spoken on Capitol Hill.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Thomas Nelson (October 7, 2003)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 304 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0849944376
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0849944376
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 11.2 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.1 x 0.82 x 9 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 854 ratings

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Os Guinness

Os Guinness

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Os Guinness is an author and social critic. Great-great-great grandson of Arthur Guinness, the Dublin brewer, he was born in China in World War Two where his parents were medical missionaries. A witness to the climax of the Chinese revolution in 1949, he was expelled with many other foreigners in 1951 and returned to Europe where he was educated in England. He completed his undergraduate degree at the University of London and his D.Phil in the social sciences from Oriel College, Oxford.

Os has written or edited more than thirty books, including The Call, Time for Truth, Unspeakable, A Free People’s Suicide, and The Global Public Square. His latest book, Last Call for Liberty: How America’s Genius for Freedom Has Become Its Greatest Threat, was published in 2018.

Since moving to the United States in 1984, Os has been a Guest Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Studies, a Guest Scholar and Visiting Fellow at the Brookings Institution, and Senior Fellow at the Trinity Forum and the EastWest Institute in New York. He was the lead drafter of the Williamsburg Charter in 1988, a celebration of the bicentennial of the US Constitution, and later of “The Global Charter of Conscience,” which was published at the European Union Parliament in 2012. Os has spoken at many of the world’s major universities, and spoken widely to political and business conferences across the world. He lives with his wife Jenny in the Washington DC area.

Customer reviews

4.7 out of 5 stars
4.7 out of 5
854 global ratings
Love this book
5 Stars
Love this book
Good book
Hide
Thank you for your feedback
Sorry, there was an error
Sorry we couldn't load the review

Top reviews from the United States

Jim H. Ainsworth
5.0 out of 5 stars Exploring the Haunting Question
Reviewed in the United States on December 20, 2013
Verified Purchase
This book addresses a subject near and dear to my heart, a subject that has brought clarity and confusion, gratification and frustration to my life. The book is subtitled Finding and Fulfilling the Central Purpose of Your Life. I have read more than a few books and essays on this subject and have heard my share of presentations.

Having said that, I sometimes feel just as mystified as I was when I first started on my journey to answer the question, “Why am I here?” And “Am I doing what I am supposed to be doing?”

In what Guinness calls the haunting question, he refers to Vaclav Havel, former president of the free Czech Republic and his Letters to Olga. Havel was also a playwright who spoke truth to the power of Soviet totalitarianism. His stance and actions led to four and a half years of hard labor in prison. His letters to his wife from prison join the writings of Deitrich Bonhoeffer’s WWII Letters and Papers from Prison as two of the best writings from prison.

The writings focus the struggle to find meaning in life and conclude that responsibility is the key to human identity. Havel calls responsibility the “knife to carve our portraits of reality and the pen to write our stories on the scroll of history”. . .”responsibility does establish identity, be we are not responsible because of our identity, instead we have an identity because we are responsible”. In a world that seems to be turning away from personal responsibility, these are powerful thoughts.

Os says that the “notion of life as karma, or the belief that your future is unchangeably written, is as far from the truth of calling as you can get”. Deep stuff, yes, but very though provoking.

If you saw the Amazing Grace movie, you may remember William Wilberforce, member of the British Parliament whom Os calls the “least known great reformer in Western history”. You will likely find the connection of Wilberforce to English poet, clergyman, and former slave trader John Newton, who wrote the wonderful song, as intriguing as the movie.

Okay, this is not light reading, but it is more deep than complex and is packed with quotes to treasure such as, “A man must love a thing very much if he not only practices it without any hope of fame or money, but even practices it without any hope of doing it well”. This is from G. K. Chesterton, putting his own slant on the traditional proverb, “If a thing is worth doing, it is worth doing badly.” Words to remember as I just keep on writing books that don’t sell very well.

Here’s another one from Os, “Calling is a reminder for followers of Christ that nothing in life should be taken for granted; everything in life must be received with gratitude.”
4 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Danny T.
5.0 out of 5 stars Happy with the book
Reviewed in the United States on October 1, 2023
Verified Purchase
Fast shipping, good product, i will return to this seller page for next book purchase, thank you
Customer image
Danny T.
5.0 out of 5 stars Happy with the book
Reviewed in the United States on October 1, 2023
Fast shipping, good product, i will return to this seller page for next book purchase, thank you
Images in this review
Customer image
Customer image
Helpful
 Report
Tammie
5.0 out of 5 stars A rich and compelling collage on true Calling.
Reviewed in the United States on February 2, 2014
Verified Purchase
(Posting this review on a shared family Amazon account.)

I am a 26 year old millennial guy seeking to live a meaningful and dedicated life for the glory of God. The Call was commended to me as a great book uncovering the true nature of calling and rescuing it from the captivity of specificity and exactitude. The commendation was abundantly fulfilled.

The Call has proven to be a rich encouragement and exhortation relevant for all believers. Os Guinness relentlessly and exhaustively exhorts the believer to honor his or her call to live as a child of the King in every way possible. Having never read any works by Os Guinness I was not sure what to expect. I was very pleasantly surprised but not only extremely high readability but also a comprehensive enrichment fueled by his obviously deep cultural and historical knowledge. I would venture to say a good quarter (if not third) of this book is quotation from such greats of the faith as GK Chesterson, Dorothy Sayers, Luther, Calvin, Bonhoeffer, and a very wide range of cultural and historical figures.

Having finished the last fifth of the book in one sitting I find myself both emboldened and empowered by the broad context for fulfilling our call that Guinness puts forth. And by holding up so many examples from the halls of faith, Guinness encourages us that the type of calling he his suggesting has been lived over and over again in history, and many others have seen calling in much the same way he does. This is certainly no new or novel idea, but a rich and fulfilling distillation of Christian thought and life.

Do not expect an exposition so much as a journey through the halls of calling's house. If you're expecting a "how to" on perceiving and fulfilling your specific occupational calling or job you will be disappointed, but this book is all the more for you. That is what I came to it for, but I have walked away with a far greater appreciation for the true calling of our God beyond specific occupational endeavors.

The Call is almost certainly going to become an annual staple for me. I highly recommend it for believers in any stage of life.
33 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report

Top reviews from other countries

Sarah Lo Negro
5.0 out of 5 stars An absolute must-read
Reviewed in France on October 6, 2021
Verified Purchase
Rich and engaging, well written and thoughtful, but most importantly bursting with the truth of calling that our generation and family of believers need to hear!
Report
Kindle Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Deeply impacting and radically challenging!
Reviewed in India on January 19, 2021
Verified Purchase
During this era of global recession of intrinsic values and pandemic of moral, ethical and spiritual decay; this book has served for me as a compass to navigate through into the highest value of human being and living 'the call' of my life!
One person found this helpful
 Report
Nelson Paul Lee
5.0 out of 5 stars Know your calling, but especially know your Caller
Reviewed in Canada on December 17, 2018
Verified Purchase
Many in the world are driven and these we seem to admire as successful. Rather, than being pushed, we must be pulled - called - by the Caller who guides and enables. Find this Caller at all costs and your calling and you will be truly successful!
One person found this helpful
 Report
Mr. T. Jones
5.0 out of 5 stars Astonishing!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 1, 2020
Verified Purchase
They say, "there's no such thing as Guinness light" and they are right!! This is no light read but worth every moment and second of attention. Wisdom is so rare these days - here it is in abundance! Perhaps enjoyed accompanies by some of the family's signature Stout???
Report
Aurelius Marcus
5.0 out of 5 stars A Masterwork
Reviewed in Germany on June 19, 2019
Verified Purchase
Absolutely the best book I ever read on calling. It's deep and refreshing and gives you a new understanding about the plans and purposes of God for your life. Guinness in my opinion can already be numbered among the great Christian Authors of this century. A must-read.
Report