He Is: A Student’s Guide to Knowing God [Author Interview]

My favorite part of writing this study was the opportunity to revisit a topic that’s near and dear to me. This new book is the student version of a full, 10-week Bible study I wrote several years ago on the names of God. As strange as it sounds, before I started writing, I was missing the sweet studying/writing season when my heart and mind were fully occupied with knowing God more through his many names. Writing this study gave me time and space to reset my gaze on the wonder of who God is and how he works in our lives.

The studies I write are always the overflow of my real life and how God is moving in that particular season. Right now, I have two teens living in my home and many more that walk in and out of our front door on a regular basis. These kids have opened up their lives to me and given me permission to speak into them by leading them in the Word. Writing this study was one way for me to practice stewarding the gifts God has given me to impact the audience that’s right in front of me. Plus, I happen to think teenagers are a blast, so writing this for them was a complete joy for me!

 My two daughters and nephew and niece were my test readers (ages ranging from 10 to 16). And, oh yes! They did not hold back on their opinions and/or feedback. At the beginning, they helped me most with landing on the right format for the study. After that, most of our discussions were about making sure I didn’t use words or concepts that were over their heads and that I asked good questions that applied to them. One of my early readers was most concerned about making sure I didn’t make them do too much work. This unnamed child is all about maximum impact for minimum work, which sounds like a lot of teens I know. They also helped me with important details like choosing the font and deciding how much space to leave for writing. They even picked

the cover image. No decision was made without their final nod.

Actually, I wrote the study to be a blend of both methods. There are 30 daily lessons that students can engage with individually like a daily devotion, but those lessons are grouped together weekly so that they can be discussed in a group. I’m planning on leading a local group of high schoolers through the study this summer, and I’m excited to see how it works out. The content won’t be online, but I did open up an Instagram account for the study to help readers stay engaged with the content throughout the summer. (You can find it at @heissummer19.)

Absolutely! That’s one of the things that’s so great about this topic. No one is too young or old to learn about the character of God. No matter what age or stage we’re in, we all can benefit from growing our view of God. Although the daily lessons are directed to the felt needs of teens, the truths about who God is and how he works in our lives relates to us all. If parents are looking for a deeper dive into knowing God by name, they can pick up the original version, He Is: Knowing God by Name, which walks in step (but more in-depth) with the student study.