Focus

Moves Necessary to Complete a Book

I’ve started many projects with excitement and energy. Many of those projects are still waiting to be completed. Life happens, responsibilities take precedence, and I get distracted by some other exciting opportunity. But today is an important day for me. I am shifting things around to focus the majority of my efforts, from April through June, on finishing the manuscript of my second book, tentatively titled “Outside of the Church, Inside of the Faith: How to go beyond organized religion, deepen your belief, and find your way in life again.”

This book is the culmination of decades in ministry. It represents a different strategic response to the decline of the church. Statistics don’t lie. An increasing number of us in the West find a chasm between our desire to do deeper in faith and our involvement in the church to meet that need. We’re not sure about the way forward. Now, there are all kinds of reasons for this problem which other books and sermons try to define. My second book has a much more humble goal. Simply put, this book provides a way for us to go deeper in our journey with Jesus while figuring out our relationship with the church. It bridges the gap.

Refocusing on completing the manuscript for this book will have a slight effect on this Substack channel. On Thursdays, I will be sharing important quotes, ideas and concepts I come across while researching and writing my book that will be helpful to you in your journey. I will also share updates, like this one, on the book itself. These posts will be shorter and available to everyone. Each Sunday I will post a more substantial article to help you makegoodhappen in your life. These posts will only be available to those of you with a paid subscription to the channel.

With that said, below are a few paragraphs from the first two chapters of my upcoming book. I would love to hear any thoughts you have when you read them.

Sincerely,

Randy

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Chapter One: You’re Right

“I became a Christian because it made sense of the world. That conviction was put to the test when I became the solo pastor of an urban church in Los Angeles. One Sunday afternoon, following an encouraging worship service that included both communion and the baptism of a child in the congregation, I received the following e-mail…”

Chapter Two: Grassroots Christianity

“The voice of the Muzzein filled the air, calling all devout Muslims in 1930s Cairo to mid-day prayer. Chester Beatty folded the Egyptian Gazette and set it on his desk. He had just read about a new organization, calling itself the Muslim Brotherhood, growing in influence as part of the wider opposition to British rule in Egypt. Beatty was an American but the news was still concerning. He looked at his watch and worry transformed into excitement. It was almost time for his afternoon appointment. He was one meeting away from finding what he had been seeking; a key artifact for his collection that would have made Napoleon Bonaparte proud.   

He arrived at the carpet shop in the Khan el-Kahili bazaar at 2:30 in the afternoon as had been agreed. But the owner of the store wasn’t there. Beatty was frustrated. He considered leaving. But if what had been promised kept him waiting. Absent-mindedly he picked up an old compass, one of the many curios for sale at the stall, and began to turn it back and forth in his hands. Each time he flipped it over the needle of the compass circled back and forth on its axis, to the right or to the left, whatever was needed to point true north. Come what may the compass remained faithful to the responsibility it was made for. But Beatty was oblivious to its efforts.”

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