New Books

It has been quite a while since I posted anything on this blog, and there is a good reason. God has been so gracious to me in allowing me to be involved in two publishing projects.

The first is a book I have been working on for over ten years. Well, it is finally finished, and now available in Europe! It will be available in the States in January, 2011. The publishers - Christian Focus - are currently featuring it on their website, and they have also reprinted my first book - Appointed to Preach.

This first book is titled The Obedience Option, with the byline: "Because God Knows What is Good for You." The basic thrust is that choosing to obey God is our very best option, and a great delight simply because "Faith is a life-dominating conviction that whatever God has for me through obedience is better by far than anything the world or Satan can offer through selfishness and sin." That last sentence is the backbone of the book. I unpack it bit by bit, mostly from Ephesians, and then go on to help readers understand the lifelong privilege of building this kind of "overwhelming" faith. By that I mean a faith that sees righteousness as better by far than sin.

The second book is published by Moody Press, and is due out in May. Co-authored with Carl Moeller, President of Open Doors, the book asks "what can the American church learn from our persecuted brethren around the world?" The title is "The Privilege of Pain" and I think it is really going to open some eyes. The typical idea we in the West have of the persecuted church is that they are under resourced, under trained, uneducated, and basically dependent upon the West for their survival. Nothing is further from the truth! They actually look at us and believe we are in grave danger of being completely marginalized by the consumer driven culture we live in. They believe their grasp of true New Testament living is vastly greater than ours, and in large measure they are right! Persecution brings clarity and focus, and the strength of faith to live in this world according to the ethic of heaven. And as they point out, heaven will be much more about praise, fellowship, love, and Jesus than big buildings, nice cars, leisure pursuits, and resumes.

Moody is spending quite a bit of money promoting this book, and it will be great to see just how God determines to use it.

So, just thought I'd let you know about these two books, in case you're in need of some reading material for 2011!

David