I am writing to you all today to let you know that my book—Unearth the Church—is complete. It has cleared all of the hurdles of copyediting and typesetting and cover design and publisher review and it is, as you read these words, published and available for purchase. This is exciting news for me to share and I am hopeful that you all share in the excitement.
It is exciting for me for a number of reasons, but I want to outline two of those reasons here for you.
First, it is exciting because this is the continuation of a germ of an idea that the Lord has been nurturing in my heart and mind for years. I say “continuation” and not “culmination” because the idea of unearthing the church isn’t accomplished simply in its explanation. This isn’t an exercise in catharsis, but a call to act. Among other things, what this idea aims at is discomfort—that we would care enough about the Savior, his church, and the lost to do something more than just admit, “Yeah, there are some things we could be doing better.” The church has been doing that for years and, not only is it not good enough anymore, it was never good enough. For the one who knows how to do better but does not, for that one it is sin. And so, this is a call to act according to the good that the Lord has shown us
Second…well, this one’s a little harder to explain. When you read this book (if you read this book?) one thing that you may notice is that there is no mention of “Seventh Day Baptist” anywhere in it. There is no reference to any of our churches (by name) or any SDB individual (by name). I am confident some will be upset by that, but the question I would offer to those who may be upset is simply, “Why?”
I am a lifelong SDB and will be until I die, but I am a follower of Jesus before I am an SDB (amen?) and I believe that we, as followers of Jesus, are beholden to Kingdom before denomination. This book, then, is not an attempt to shepherd people toward SDBs but to shepherd people toward Jesus and his church.
This is exciting to me because this project is an idea from SDBs supported by SDBs expressly for the whole church and not just for SDBs. I have felt for a long time that there are many SDBs with knowledge, experience, wisdom, ideas, and talent who have sometimes been stifled by the often-insular approach SDBs take toward “our” media. Wouldn’t it be great to read an SDB voice on a popular Christian website or to see/hear a theology podcast from a couple of SDB pastors or to know that an SDB had a hand in the production of this video series or that YouTube channel? Wouldn’t it be great if, instead of being self-pigeonholed, SDBs were participants in the larger conversation?
That’s exciting to me and I am so humbled to have been offered this opportunity to “test the waters” so to speak with this book.
So, the book it finished and it is available to purchase as Amazon, at Barnes & Noble, and at Wipf & Stock. I ask you that would purchase it and read it and write a review (writing a review is super-important in the world of publishing, especially on Amazon). Regarding writing a review, the book needs (yes, needs) 50 reviews to start gaining traction so, please write a review. Even if your review is simply, “Yep, I read it and it is in fact a book—three stars,” please read and review.
Lastly, if you register for Conference, there will be a copy of the book for you at Conference. Now, I know I just made a plea for you to buy the book. Why would you buy the book only to get a free copy at Conference? Here’s why: the free copy you get a Conference becomes a tool for getting the message out. Share it with a friend, a co-worker, a local pastor (and also ask them to read it and review it).
Watch for more updates about Conference, go over to the registration page and get registered, and I’ll see you in West Virginia in four months.