a lot of work<\/strong><\/em> left to be done, but I am thrilled, grateful, and, honestly, relieved to have this milestone behind me.<\/p>\nI owe a huge debt of thanks to my agent, Blair Jacobson (and all the other wonderful people at D.C. Jacobson), for being willing to take a chance on random youth pastor from Tennessee and then relentlessly \u201cknocking on publisher\u2019s doors\u201d until we finally found a publishing house.<\/p>\n
Likewise, I am also incredibly grateful for David Almack (and everyone else at CLC Publications) who was also willing to take a chance on a first time author. I can\u2019t wait to get to work with you guys!<\/p>\n
And, of course, I would not have even gotten anywhere without the support of friends and family (not least of all my wonderful, supporting, and ever patient wife, Kim) who have been there to read, critique, and support me as I\u2019ve begun to get my writing career off the ground. You have no idea how much I appreciate and love you all.<\/p>\n
Ok, no more Oscar speech.<\/p>\n
As for the book itself, it\u2019s about reimagining what it means to be holy.<\/p>\n
I grew up in a tradition in which the call to holiness was incredibly important. Unfortunately, for many of us in that tradition, and perhaps your tradition as well, holiness came to be defined by legalism and the things we don\u2019t<\/em> do.<\/p>\nAs I read the gospels, however, I encounter a Jesus with a very different understanding of holiness, one which is not defined exclusively by separation and exclusion, but by how we incarnate the redemptive love and grace of God to a lost and dying world.<\/p>\n
If you haven\u2019t seen it already, this video that I posted last week is very much a jumping off point for the book.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/theamericanjesus.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/open-book-on-top-of-pile-of-books.jpg\" "\\"open-book-on-top-of-pile-of-books\\"")
<\/a><\/p>\n