Off to Georgia, and New Doors Ahead

It’s flying time again. Tomorrow morning I am headed out to Georgia for a few days to hang out with brothers and sisters who are growing on this journey. I’ll be at a weekend retreat in Woodstock, and then heading out to I’m looking forward to what God might have for us there.

This has been a crazy week here, meeting with some wonderful people and checking out some new doors that God seems to be opening. Yesterday we met with some executives from Walmart who want to take on “He Loves Me” and “So You Don’t Want to Go to Church Anymore” as titles they want to promote in their stores. Who would have guessed? They said “So You Don’t Want to Go to Church Anymore” has bounced around between #10 and #6 on the religious fiction bestseller lists for the last few weeks. I had no idea.

I have noticed that my email load has ramped up tremendously with the increase readership brought to these two books because people enjoyed THE SHACK and wanted to see what else Windblown offers. Honestly, I wasn’t initially thrilled with “So You Don’t Want to Go to Church Anymore” being so prevalent in the culture. That book was written for a very specific audience, not so much for the general public. But maybe God knew better than I did. (Imagine that!) I’ve been shocked at how many people have resonated with the message of that book. I even know congregations whose leadership are studying that book and rethinking how they view church. Pretty amazing! Oh, yes, a few folks hate it, but what are you going to do?

I got this the other day from a Christian church pastor in Texas:

I just wanted to say “thank you” for your book, “So You Don’t Want to Go to Church Anymore”. God has been moving me on a journey for several years, and I am coming to a point in my journey of a transition (but am waiting and trusting God to be clear of timing and opportunity). I wanted to thank you not only for the book, but also for the way in which it was written and the Spirit behind it. It has been a God-send for me, and especially at a time where I had many of the same questions. Several books I’ve read just seem to wreak of bitterness and control in another form. Yours, however, was easy to read (well, in some ways), but also got to the heart of the issue for me and opened my eyes to things that I wasn’t even aware of. I so appreciated it and will recommend it to people as God leads. It’s amazing how God does connect you to people on a similar journey as you are moving through your own.

In any case, those books are gaining a wider reading and our publishing partner has made arrangements for a publicity campaign that will go on for the next couple of months to help people be aware of those books. I am thrilled with the opportunity to make God more widely known in our culture. I’d love your prayers about this, not so much for the success of the books (what does that mean anyway?), but for people to find them who need them most at this moment of their lives.

I’m just finishing editing work on two other titles that Windblown Media will release this fall. One is a novel called “Bo’s Cafe” by the men who wrote Truefaced, and it is as amazing a story about a man confronting grace as I’ve ever read. His marriage is in trouble and his attempts to fix it is only driving his wife further away. Will he learn to embrace the only thing that will save his marriage and himself—God’s extravagant grace? We’re also doing “The Misunderstood God: The Lies Religion Tells About God”. It is a remake of Darin Hufford’s book, “The God’s Honest Truth.” Those will be out this fall and I can’t wait for some of you to read them.

OK. Gotta run. Bags to pack. Family to say goodbye to. Blessings on you all.

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