Covid was a great thing for some of my long term writing projects. I finished first drafts of four manuscripts in the those months of anxiety and insanity. The pictures above are a mock-up of the book cover. The book will be released in early February. Here’s the introduction’s first paragraph:
This book is a tool. It is not a piece of art. It is not designed for beauty but for function. There is no effort here to impress. I deliberately strived to keep almost all teaching and artfulness out of the way of the tool’s function. I wanted no distractions, nothing beyond minimal observations of the text. My desire is to help readers to become better readers of the Bible. I am trying hard not to teach, but only point the way to a more effective, productive, enjoyable, holiness-producing, heart-inflaming reading of the always relevant Word of God.
Close Reading is a tool to help any Bible reader get more out of their Bible reading. Originally, I wanted to write a tool that would be suitable to give away to my students or any student about to go into ministry, particularly, the teaching ministry. I wanted to help them ground themselves in the Word of God early in their ministry.
Years ago, I received some advice from Dr. Bill Iverson. Bill was a remarkable man of God. The son of a missionary and musician (his father wrote the chorus, Spirit of the Living God (fall fresh on me), Bill advised students to adopt what he called the “5-5-5 plan” once they graduated.
“When you leave seminary, adopt the ‘5-5-5 plan.’ For the first five years of your ministry commit yourself to studying the Bible 5 hours a day, 5 days a week, for the first 5 years of your ministry. If you do, three wonderful things will happen. One, you will become a man who actually knows something. Two, you will actually have something to say. Three, you will survive (in a healthy way) your first years of ministry.”
That was some of the best advice I ever received from anybody for sustaining longevity in ministry. I put the advice to practice. It helped to ground me in the ministry. It helped to keep me sane with the demands of ministry. It gave me wisdom in caring for the flock. It gave me hope in the midst of betrayal. It gave me discernment beyond my years. And it nourished the families of our congregation with the eternally relevant soul-satisfying truth of God’s Word. Here’s another product of such a plan. Never did I experience a “Saturday Night Panic” like so many pastors do about what to preach. On the contrary, my regular experience was an “I can’t wait to preach/teach this passage for the clarity, joy, and encouragement that the people of God will have in the hearing of God’s Word on Sunday morning!”
But over the years I also came to see that non-teachers and pastors, anyone who reads the Bible could benefit from different types of plans and projects that I used in their own Bible reading. So this book is not just for pastors. It is for anyone who want to have a more satisfying and productive reading experience of their Bible.
So,
- would you pray for the book’s effect.
- would you pray for ways and means to distribute the book.
- would you pray for sales of the book (beginning February)
- would you consider purchasing a book for any seminary or Bible college students in your church.
- would you, if you purchase one yourself, write a review on Amazon if the book is helpful.
- pray too for the Kindle version (I hope it and the paperback version will be ready at the same time)
Projected size and cost: 175 pages ($12)
Amazon Kindle edition is available now for preorder (It has a different cover.)
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