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Stacey Carter Image by Reza Marvashti/The Free Lance-Star

One look and Stacey Carter knew what Brian Nichols, the suspect in the Atlanta courtroom-shooting spree, was feeling.

Carter, 41, who lives near Fredericksburg, Virginia, said she saw in Nichols the same emptiness and desperation she felt when she was a drug addict.

She also saw a glimpse of hope when Nichols's captive, Ashley Smith, read to him a chapter from the book The Purpose-Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For?

Carter, who diligently studied the book last year, says it helped change her life. "It opened my eyes to see I'm here for a reason," she says.

Carter isn't alone. Individuals and churches across the nation have studied Southern California pastor Rick Warren's best-selling book. Ministers of all stripes say it's given their congregations spiritual direction.

Before the Atlanta hostage situation, the book had already sold more than 21 million copies. But afterward, many who hadn't read it raced to buy it, eager to figure out how it influenced Nichols's decision to surrender. Weekly sales of the book quadrupled, and after more than 100 weeks on the bestseller lists, it shot back to number one.

Myra Jewell, who manages the Logos Book Store in Fredericksburg, says The Purpose-Driven Life has been the best-selling book her store has carried in a decade. "I think it's because the book is so basic and yet so profound," she says. "It brings people back to, 'Oh, yeah. This is what life is about.' It's very clear and helps people set a goal. When people talk about it, they talk about living differently instead of just feeling good about themselves."

"[The Ashley Smith story] kind of blew me away," says Buddy Marston, pastor of Salem Fields Community Church near Fredericksburg.

He has used The Purpose-Driven Church, one of Warren's earlier books, as a model when he started the Salem Fields church several years ago, and asked his entire congregation to study The Purpose-Driven Life soon after it came out in 2002. One of the book's greatest benefits, he says, is that every chapter includes tons of Scripture.

Marston's parishioners took part in "40 Days of Purpose," a national campaign developed by Warren's Saddleback Church that guides small study groups through the principles of The Purpose-Driven Life (which include worship, fellowship, discipleship, ministry, and evangelism). He believes the experience helped his congregation grow spiritually.

The influence of the book extends beyond traditional church settings. The members of the Sierra Christian Center, a nondenominational church for inmates at the Sierra Conservation Center prison in Jamestown, California, doubled their weekly attendance to over 100 after reading the book together. And the number of prisoners in small-group Bible studies grew from 20 to more than 150.

At churches across the nation, it's becoming increasingly common to meet people like Carter, who was actually high on cocaine when she attended her first service at Liberty Assembly of God in Bealeton, Virginia.

On her third visit, a church member handed her The Purpose-Driven Life, which the congregation had just finished studying. Carter devoted herself to reading the book and participating in church activities.

As a result, she kicked drugs and is now helping others find Jesus Christ through Liberty's women's ministry.

"If you are wondering what we are here for, [The Purpose-Driven Life] gives you something to think about," she says. "If you have faith in God, He fills out the blanks."

Adapted from the Fredericksburg (Va.) Free Lance-Star (March 26, 2005), with additional reporting by Today's Christian. Used by permission.

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