John C. Maxwell is a minister's minister--literally. A lifelong pastor himself, on July 4, 1976, while preaching at a bicentennial service, Maxwell sensed that his true life's mission was to minister to pastors, to help them become more effective church leaders. In the mid-1980s, he founded INJOY, a group designed to help ministers become better leaders.

Maxwell soon learned it wasn't only ministers who stood to learn about leadership: his books, like "The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership," have topped best-seller lists in recent years. "Falling Forward" is already a smash hit on The New York Times and Wall Street Journal best-seller lists, detailing how screwing up may be the key to success. In best-seller mode, however, Maxwell has pretty much stopped writing about religious themes. "Falling Forward" has plenty of stories about millionaires and CEOs, but not too many about Jesus.