Spirit Fighter coming in audio!
I’m excited to tell you that Spirit Fighter will be available in audio! The great folks at Oasis will be doing an audio version, due out sometime next year, probably sometime near the general release date (slated for April 10, 2012). This is fun news, and I can’t wait to see (or, hear, I guess) how it all turns out.
I requested it to be read by either James Earl Jones or Oprah. Not sure how that’s gonna turn out, though.
Which brings up an interesting question – who’s your favorite “Voice” in TV, music, or radio?
(And by the way, if you were signed up for our newsletter, you found out about this a day earlier!)
How cool is that?
I took a trip in college to Kazakhstan, which, if you don’t know, is in the former Soviet Union. (Incidentally, it’s also apparently the home of some guy named Borat) Susan and I were dating at the time – we’d already fallen for each other, and to that point, six weeks was the longest we’d spent apart. I went to serve on a missionary team, working with kids and students. I remember getting back off of the plane in Raleigh, NC, after six weeks of almost no communication with her, and seeing her face for the first time. It was just like what happens in movies – we hurried toward each other, huge grins on our faces, and fell into each other’s arms. We didn’t care what anyone else thought. We were back together.
The feeling of returning home is quite possibly the best feeling on earth.
We are spiritual people. Our bodies are vessels to carry us from birth to death, but there is something about us – the thing that makes us who we are – that lives on. The Bible calls it a soul.
I was thinking about this because I read of another sweet soul today who is soon going to be moving on from this world. Her story is different than Susan’s, but hearing this woman’s “voice” (reading her blog) reminded me of her. Sweet, sincere, fully in love with Christ, expectant.
I visited the cemetery last week for a little while, and if you sit and watch, you will quickly realize how much activity happens there. It’s a very quiet place, but not very still. People, trucks, cars, caskets – coming and going, all day long. Death is quite a busy process for places like that.
Just behind the curtain, just beyond what we can see, there is activity going on as well.
One of God’s jobs is to welcome His people home. All day and all night, He gets to look into the eyes of those souls who love Him, and say “welcome home!” They run into His arms, finally, and forever. How cool is that? I mean, He has to deal with a bunch of junk, but He must love that part of His job. Because I remember what it felt like to come home – and that, from just a little trip to another country.
But there is another home for us all. Where we’ll get to look into the eyes of the Savior, to feel His smile, to run into the warmth and tightness of His hug, to hear His voice, to feel His pleasure in us. A place where we will see those that we love, and never have to be apart again.
How cool is that?
(If you want to know more about my wife, Susan, and her journey through breast cancer, you can find it here.)
Spirit Fighter is coming to Walmart!
I’m thrilled to be able to announce that Walmart has agreed to carry my first novel, Spirit Fighter, beginning in early October!
They are excited about the possibility of connecting with kids and families, and encouraging them spiritually, and they believe Spirit Fighter fits that bill – so they have agreed to a 90-day exclusive on the book. (Which means they’re the only retailer who will have it during that time period – it will release to a wide range of stores and be available on Amazon and other sites in early 2012)
I’ve known this was in the works for awhile, but it’s fun to be able to let the cat out of the bag. Thanks to my terrific publisher, Thomas Nelson, for paving the way to make this happen. This whole journey continues to amaze me, already exceeding all my expectations. Mostly, thanks to God for His faithfulness during the storm that has been this last year. His leading in this has been encouraging and inspiring to me.
Spirit Fighter is supposed to arrive in Walmart stores nationally on October 4…but they may need a few days to get it out of the box and onto the shelves. I’ll be counting on you to give me the heads-up when you see it!
I’ll have more updates along the way. I’m praying God will use this book in ways that draw people to Him…I can’t wait to see what He does with it!
Roller Skating Realities
I went roller skating with the kids a few nights ago. Talk about a time warp. I’ve skated a few times in my day (Skate Ranch in Raleigh – oh yeah!), and I can tell you – it felt like I had taken a ride in Michael J Fox’s DeLorean, set to 1982. The same lights (complete with flashing disco ball); the same interior design; the same carpeted benches you sit on; maybe even the same skates…deja vu all over the place. They even played limbo and the roll-the-dice game. And at the end, of course, the dreaded couples’ skate (or “friendship skate”, as it is apparently known now).
This place has not changed in twenty-five years…and likely never will.
“Some things never change”.
We like to throw that phrase around. And sometimes we like to go to places that make us feel like we used to. The interesting thing about it was that, as I skated around, (using muscles I haven’t used in twenty-five years), it struck me that the place hasn’t changed…but I have. Even if it feels just like it did when I was a kid, the reality is much, much different.
I’ve changed. I’m not ten years old any more. I went to college, got married, started a career, and had three kids. My daughter is getting ready to start middle school. My two boys are well into their elementary school years. And this year, we had to say goodbye to the most important person in all of our lives, as Susan, my wife and their mother, went to be with the Lord.
If there is anything that is certain, it is that life is changing – all the time. Nothing stays the same. This whole world is moving forward. We can get stuck in the “Skate Ranches” of the world and ignore it, but the truth is that life is moving fast.
Whether you’re a kid or an adult, it doesn’t matter – we are all headed toward the same reality. We all have the same choices in front of us about how we will use this one life we have. And – just in case you’ve forgotten today – this one life you and I have is a precious, fleeting thing.
So, allow me a couple of questions – what are you doing with it? Are you letting God be involved? Are you getting off of the carpeted bench, and onto the floor? Do you know that one day, it will feel like you’ve blinked, and ten or twenty years – or an entire lifetime – has passed?
I heard someone say this lately – “Life is an all-skate.” One day, before you know it, you and I are going to be old. We’ll barely be able to skate around the track.
And that day, our one desire will be that we spent more of our days focusing on the one thing that really mattered more than anything else – who God really wanted us to be.
Crunch Time
Hi friends -
I’m in serious crunch-time with my first draft of the 2nd installment of the Jonah Stone series – sorry I haven’t written here as much as I’d hoped! I find that when I’m really cranking on the word count for a novel, I don’t end up blogging (or even Facebooking or Tweeting) quite so much.
But first, some BIG NEWS on Spirit Fighter – it will be at a retailer close to you on OCTOBER 6! (I’m told that October 4 is the delivery date to the stores, but it could take a day or two to get on the shelves) I still haven’t received the go-ahead to be able to tell you which retailer it will be – but we do have an exclusive, 90-day deal with one. And I promise, there will be one near you.
I’m excited for you to read it and let me know what you think! My hope and prayer is that it encourages you in your faith; that it allows you to know that God is real, that He loves you very much, and that He has a purpose for your life; and that, regardless of how unimportant you may feel at times, you were created to make a lasting difference in the world.
I had a conversation with a friend today about using it creatively in their children’s ministry at church. That’s the kind of thing that really gets me excited!
More to come…
Jerel
David’s real weapon…
(Thanks to Carlos Whittaker for this)
