Coming soon to Amazon.com and (hopefully) a bookstore near you...

I'm excited to announce that I'm getting my first book published!

There. I've said it. I've been wanting to say something for months, but have resisted the urge because I wanted to be sure it was a done deal. But now that I've got a book contract and I'm working with an editor to fine tune the manuscript, I'm excited to let everyone know.

The book is tentatively titled The Jesus Sessions. It was birthed out of an article I wrote last year for the Burnside Writers Collective, entitled "The Magic Words Jesus Didn't Use." In the article, I wrote about three encounters Jesus had with different people in the Gospels - Nicodemus, the Rich Young Ruler, and Zacchaeus. To each, he offered a response that met the longing of their hearts, but to each he provided different instructions and a different path to peace. It occurred to me that we in the American Christian subculture often oversimplify and overpackage the Gospel. The effect is often that we miss the very heart of God; no small thing to be sure.

The responses to the Burnside article confirmed that a lot of people are troubled by this, so I began looking at other encounters that Jesus had with people during his earthly ministry, and I began writing. What resulted was a series of essays about the various aspects of the Gospel and how Christ meets people wherever they are, without formula, cliché, or altar call. As I continued to write, I found a common thread and the essays appeared more like chapters. And so, a book emerged. As it turns out, I discovered I am the greatest author in the world. Seriously.

There is no release date yet, but stay tuned. As things progress, I'll be posting updates. I'm looking forward to sharing my work with you. I hope you like it. And for those of you who've known about this little project for some time, your support has meant a lot to me.