Gospel Book
I’ve started working on a book about the Gospel. This all started when Western Seminary decided to highlight “Gospel-Centered Transformation” as the best way of describing our focus as a school. That got me thinking seriously about what the Gospel is and what it means to be Gospel-centered.
At the same time, I had the opportunity to speak to a couple of high school groups in the northwest. With my mind already full of Gospel-centered questions and thoughts, I decided that this would be a good time to start pulling it all together. And, along the way, I decided to go ahead and start writing it all down.
But, this is a work in progress. Since my previous writing experience has been entirely academic, this is a very different style of writing for me. So, I decided to post excerpts to this blog on occasion to solicit feedback and get ideas. To give you some context for responding, the basic idea is to tell a “thick Gospel narrative” – that is, to tell enough of the story for the good news to make sense – to a lay audience. You’ll see pretty quickly that I’m trying to have some fun with the material, even while engaging some significant issues.
Here are the excerpts that I’ve posted so far. I’ve written more than this, but these are the pieces that I’m looking for feedback on. I’ll eventually start posting whole chapters to see what people think. But, this is what’s available so far.
The Giant, Wobbly, Two-Legged, Naked Mole Rat
The Saturday Morning Syrup Monster
The Story Continues (When He Comes 1)
No King, No Kingdom (When He Comes 2)
A Jerk after God’s Own Heart (When He Comes 3)
White As Snow (When He Comes (4)
Forgiveness Is Not Enough (When He Comes 5)
Dem Bones, Dem Bones (When He Comes 6)
What If He Doesn’t Come? (When He Comes 8)
Santa Claus and the Coming of the Messiah
What Reveals Who You Truly Are?
Water, spirit, and life: dry bones made new again
I am the master of my fate…or not
The king is dead! Long live death and destruction
Please don’t look under the bed!
I Don’t Want to Be a Dirty Klingon
A Place of Mystery, Magic, and Dirty Kleenex
Don’t Park Jesus, Drive the Car
Are you kidding? One of the most amazing statements in the Bible
scientia et sapientia 
Different !!!
Who is your audience? What is your purpose?
If your purpose is to share the gospel with unbelievers, context is essential. The problem with books, blogs, or other writings that seek to share the gospel is that they must be found. A person must look it up or want to read it. Unbelievers don’t seek (or search Google) for the gospel. Rather, you have to take another approach.
In a relationship, I can engage the person. I can bring the gospel to them. However, in a book, you have to offer some other topic that is of interest (a context) and tie the gospel into this. Or, like most other things, you have to stir up buzz that will cause a person to want to read the book. Or, you have to inspire Christians to encourage non-Christians to read your book. Or, you just have to be famous.
You have to bait the hook with a worm if you want to catch a fish. What’s your bait? Why would some one want to read it (especially since most people don’t read)?
I’m actually aiming at a Christian audience with this. I think non-Christians could certainly benefit from reading the book, but they’re not my primary focus. Instead, I’m looking to help the average Christian develop a better understanding of the overall story of redemption and how this relates to the Gospel.
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