EUGENE, OR, July 2023 — With great sadness, we grieve the loss of author Jim George, an exceptionally dear friend of the Harvest House family, who unexpectedly entered his Savior’s presence on July 18, 2023. Jim and his wife, Elizabeth, also a Harvest House author, have lived as shining examples of what it means to pursue God wholeheartedly. Through their writings and teaching ministries spanning many years all over the globe, they encouraged millions of Christian men, women, teens, and children to seek God and live fruitfully for Him.
As an author, Jim was best known for his books A Man After God’s Own Heart and The Bare Bones Bible Handbook. His extensive ministry background included his service as a missionary, pastor, seminary professor, and Christian author and speaker. Jim also served in a strong support role in Elizabeth’s teaching and writing ministry; the two worked closely together on book ideas and content development. Their ministry impact continues to be enormous, with a combined total of more than 16 million books in print, blessing readers worldwide.
Jim was dear to Harvest House Publishers for many reasons. At the top of the list were his exceptional desire to encourage believers toward a deeper love for the Lord and His Word, his genuine care for people on a personal level (which was always evident in our meetings with him and at ministry events), and his gracious humility. He cared that his books would truly minister to his readers and edify and encourage them, which is why he constantly rewrote his own material until he felt he had made it as instructional, practical, and inspirational as possible.
Jim took great delight in his family—his wife, daughters and their husbands, and grandchildren—and spoke of them lovingly and frequently. He was truly a pillar of wisdom and strength for all of them.
President Bob Hawkins Jr. says of Jim, “For a season of some fifteen years, I can think of no other author we have had the privilege of publishing who possessed such an overwhelming conviction of the need to take full advantage of every moment possible to write, and support his wife’s writing, for the purpose of ministry. That conviction, for Jim and Elizabeth, turned into the breathtaking execution of solid book after book after book—all born out of their extensive combined study of the Bible in the decades prior.”
Jim liked to say that we should make the pursuit of God the journey of our life, and he lived this out with contagious enthusiasm. It’s for this reason that Jim truly was a man after God’s own heart, and so many lives were enriched by his ministry.
About Harvest House:
Harvest House, a Christian publishing company based in Eugene, Oregon, publishes more than 100 books per year and carries a strong backlist offering more than 1,500 titles. Over 145 million Harvest House books have been sold worldwide through diverse distribution channels, and additional millions have sold in over 75 different languages.
Media Contact: Sherrie Slopianka, publicity@harvesthousepublishers.com
