Last week I shared that I have authored a book to be released

June 2019. Here’s the back story on how and why I wrote a book.

I have taught the importance of knowing God in a Protestant church in Ireland and at a Bible College in western Uganda. The most important questions we must face in life are “Is there a God?” and if so “What is God like?” I discovered the topic was relevant both in Roman Catholic Ireland and in Uganda, where most people claim to be Christians but many still practice native religions.

So why write a book when I could just slouch in the recliner waiting for the evening news and weather? To be honest, that’s not my lifestyle. I volunteer at a local faith-based recovery ministry where I teach every Thursday. I also preach in a rotation at a church in a resort community here in Central Oregon. Meeting with men one-on-one is a highlight in my retirement years. I also mentor a pastor of a small church where I served as the interim pastor.

So, no…my life isn’t boring. Not at all.

The passion and gift to teach God’s Word remains deeply imbedded in my soul. It was this passion that led to me to minister in Ireland and Uganda. The material I shared in these two extremely different cultures became the building blocks for Fear and Wonder. A biblical view of God is as vital in secular America as in Europe and Africa.

I shared a rough draft of the material with my dear friend, Larry Libby. Larry has been the editor for several Christian authors. Upon reading the material, Larry felt it had potential to become a book. So, I began writing the manuscript that has become the book I never intended to write.

Getting published as an unproven author can be next to impossible unless you happen to be the pastor of a mega church or have a big-time TV or radio ministry. Neither applies to me.

I assumed the book would need to be self-published. Testing the water I sent the required information about the book to two Christian Publishing Houses.

One publishing house liked the manuscript—but said my “platform was too small.” Platform is their word for the sphere of my influence.

After no response for over a month from the second publishing house I was preparing to self-publish the book. Within a week I received a response from Moody Publishers saying they were interested in the book. I am in awe and deeply humbled because Moody will provide extensive promotion that I could never have achieved as a self publisher.

Over the next few months I want to share a few concepts from the book and invite your response. Hopefully it will also tweak your interest in reading the book.

After 50-plus plus years preparing weekly sermons and Bible studies for both the local church and in academic settings, I trust God will continue using my gifts through these blogs. I may no longer be preparing a sermon every week, but I will do my best to offer food for thought and spiritual nourishment.

I invite you to join me on The Front Porch Swing. Pour yourself a cup of Joe—or a frosty glass of lemonade—as we consider these two vital questions: Is there a God? If so, what is God like?

I’m looking forward to it!

The very words release a flood of warm memories. Our first parsonage in rural Ohio was an old farmhouse with a porch swing where Mary and I could watch farm tractors and rusty old pickups pass by. We could wave to the neighbors who lived catty-corner across the road.

My all-time favorite memories of a front porch swing was in Portland, Oregon where I attended Western Seminary and served as pastor of Powellhurst Baptist Church. The house was a fixer-upper for sure, which we obtained for a pittance. Mary, bless her, saw potential in the old unkempt house—easily the worst property on the block. I saw an exterior that hadn’t tasted a coat of paint for decades. It reminded me of an old rusty pickup truck languishing behind a barn, with weeds creeping over the running boards.

In those days, Mary was Joanna Gaines before there was a Joanna Gaines in the HGTV series Fixer Upper. Too bad she was married to Syd Brestel instead of Chip Gains. Even so, I muddled through all the restoration until the home regained its original charm and—quite honestly—became the nicest house on the block.

Houses in old Portland neighborhoods have a charm most modern track homes lack. Today we want a back yard with a fence to provide privacy from neighbors we may not know (and don’t really care to know) by name. Older homes had small backyards but a nice roomy front porch. Neighborhood homes may not have had air conditioning or flat-screen TVs with Netflix, but they did have front porch swings where neighbors could watch real life in real time—both comedies and tragedies.

On summer nights Mary and I often sat on our front porch swing on Grant Court and hollered at our neighbors about how beastly hot it was. We could watch all the kids from the neighborhood playing catch, tag, hide-n-seek, or whatever happened to be on the menu. Often in heat of day the neighbor kids would gather on our front porch and ask, “Whada ya wanna do now?”

I don’t believe we have ever experienced true neighborliness to the extent we did on Grant Court, and a lot of it centered around the front porch swing.

So that was my inspiration for launching this blog site.

I invite you to join me here on The Front Porch Swing. Sure, I may do most of the talking, but I invite you to interact with the blogs. You may want to say a hearty “amen.” Then again, you may want to take me to task. Either way, let’s just be neighbors and enjoy getting to know each other. More importantly, let’s celebrate both the kindness—and fiery holiness—of our awesome God.

It is my desire to release a fresh blog each week.

See you next Monday? Oh, and invite your friends to join us on The Front Porch Swing.

It’s the neighborly thing to do.

—Syd

P. S. I have written a book with the working title Fear and Wonder: Celebrating the Kindness and Severity of Our God. Moody Publishers have contracted to publish the book and has the right to change the title.

Because I’ve never been the pastor of a mega church and don’t have a television ministry (nor desire one) I am seeking to promote the book through my Website and weekly blogs. Next week, we’ll take a closer look at all that.