Holy Crap Book Info and Ways You Can Help!
The pic above is from the Celestial Seasonings tea tour with my mom and Yolanda. It’s in this post just for a laugh! Haha
We are only a few short days away from my book being available on my publisher’s website this coming Tuesday, June 7th. I wanted to make people aware of some things that they can do to help get the word out about my book and helping it get into the hands of people who I believe really need to be encouraged by my story.
If you can buy my book on the http://www.electiopublishing.com website the week of June 7th that would be AWESOME. I really want to show my publisher that there is a need for the book even before the full release on June 28th. I am not sure how long you would have to wait to get the book once you order it from them but you will be the first to get one before anyone else. If you are in town or at one of the book releases we are planning then you can bring it and I will sign it if you would like.
The FULL release of Holy Crap will be on June 28th and that is about the time I will have the author copies available that Yolanda and I are ordering. We are planning a probable book release here in Denver and a few other states possibly (think of states I have lived in…:) and will have books with me for you to buy. We are using the new Square credit card readers (that include the chip readers and apple pay, android pay, etc.) we will be able to process card payments as well as cash.
Once you read the book, even if you didn’t buy it on Amazon.com, if you could go to Amazon and leave a review once it is up after June 28th that would be stupendous (and I don’t just throw those kinds of words around 🙂 The interesting thing is that the “normal” book world looks at Amazon reviews to see how a book is doing and also can encourage big box bookstores, like Barnes & Noble, to carry a book if it is popular enough.
If you have ANY connections at all to people who could help get the book into areas of your town or state (radio, TV, bookstores, etc.) please notify me so we can chat (Facebook also works to connect) about how to maybe get the book into your area.
I will have window decals available (cut out 3M lettering that will look sweet and not goofy looking) of my website HolyCrapBook.com that I want to encourage people to put on their car windows to help us promote the book over the summer. I will have these decals in the next couple of weeks and can get them to people in Denver but will also be willing to ship them to you if you would like one.
MOST IMPORTANTLY, please be praying for the next few months of my life and the things that we believe God wants to do with the book. As I have said to many people and from the beginning, we are not thinking of this as a moneymaker as much as a ministry to people hurting and ready to give up. I am especially trying to get the book into people’s hands who do not go to church.
Thanks everyone!! Â I am sure excited for the future and using such a crappy and painful time in my life to have greater meaning than, “Hey! I made it!”
Casual Christianity Sucks – Three Points for Lovers of Jesus to Live By
I posted a blog about the times that are changing for someone to be a “casual Christian” and the events of the day moving people to know what they believe and what they are willing to lay down their lives for. We have seen this more often oversees with Christians being rounded up by groups like ISIS and killed because they are followers of Christ. It seems that we do not have a problem with freedom of religion in the United States but a problem with freedom of Christianity and I think I know why.
1. Don’t be surprised when people who are not followers of Christ don’t understand why you love them the way you do.
Many times in the media, and just in our culture, the focus is normally on how people identifying themselves as Christians judge others instead of how they (should be) loving others. We all follow rules in life. It can be seen in the clothes we wear, the cars we drive, the sports teams we cheer for or the places we work. The key difference is that as a true follower of Christ we need to love like Jesus, tell the truth like Jesus and let Him be the only watermark for our actions. This is only seen in the Bible and the instruction it gives. If you don’t know the Bible then you don’t know how to love people.
2. Don’t just love people, also tell them what you believe.
These two things don’t have to be mutually exclusive. I cannot recall an instance in the Bible where Jesus expressed true life-changing love without providing that person with knowing the truth about what he came to do, which was to alter the destiny that they were convinced was either their lot in life or made them the most happy. That was why Jesus was the anomaly when it came to loving people; he loved louder and more than ANYONE else but it didn’t stop at just expressing love and helping people feel accepted and listened to. It was about a difference of opinion to help people consider if what they were choosing for their life really was the best path. I believe there are many well-meaning Christians in this world that are trying to convince people what they are doing is wrong without loving them first. This method has never led to ANYONE truly giving God control of their life. It is a form of manipulation and it’s wrong.
Love, Listen, Lead – Love FIRST, Listen to where people are in life and then Lead them to Jesus (with your actions and words if necessary 🙂 (Click Here to see resources for people who have basic questions about Christianity)
3. Don’t think it’s your responsibility alone to get everyone to heaven.
Many times, especially if you grew up in church, we forget that it is the Holy Spirit’s job to draw people to Christ and not our convincing words. I have mentioned this before in other blogs, but it is important to understand that we are each just a part of the greater process that is the miracle of someone giving Jesus control of their life AND their destiny. I am not on this earth just to help people think that it’s important to give Jesus control of their life while here on earth, I want to be an agent of change for people’s destinies!
Have a great week and know that God will give you the ability to live a successful life on this earth loving people but still being able to disagree with life choices. Just make sure that your love for people is deafening. There is NO GREATER LOVE than loving someone who hates you. THAT is the true love of Jesus that this world needs and the only thing that will shock people out of where they are to where God wants them to be.
Good Riddance to Moderate Christianity!
The days of “moderate Christianity” are coming to close, and I say good riddance! I was talking with a couple of different people this past week about all of the “anti-Christmas” situations that have come up in the news. My favorite so far was a Fire Station in some town that had a “Merry Christmas” sign on it. An atheist group filed a complaint with the city so the fire department took their sign down, in compliance, and put up a new sign that read, “Happy Birthday Jesus, We Love You.” Each of these people I was talking to said that it was amazing to see the attack on Christ and Christianity in society and I said, “I think it’s great!” I said, “I think the opposition to Christ that is happening in America is good because it’s weeding out moderate Christians who only have a familiarity with Christ and not a real relationship.”
Never forget that your belief in anything will only have its personal value tested when it is opposed, and this includes being a follower of Christ. Jesus even mentions opposition in the Bible in Matthew 10:22 and also in Mark 13:13 where it says believers in Christ would not just be opposed but hated but that those who endured to the end would be saved. This was not only a forewarning of attacks but even a CONFIRMATION that they were living properly! It was also a word given for followers to make sure and count the cost of following after Jesus. I am not sure in today’s world of consumer Christianity that much cost counting is done before deciding to follow Christ, which makes me very sad. I am not saying this as a judgment but more of an observation of the society we live in and what people are willing to give up for Christ versus giving things up for self. If this wave of challenges concerning Christ and people who follow Jesus will help people get off the fence with their beliefs, I think it could actually be something amazing and good for the church. It can also be a good lesson for Christians to learn to lead with the love of Christ (shocker) instead of conjuring up a lecture ABOUT the love of Christ. Jesus’ words were ALWAYS followed up with action so if I say I am following Him, then my actions better line up in the same way. Have a wonderful holiday and Merry Christmas!
One Doctor Down, A Whole Lot More to GO (excerpt from my book “Holy Crap”)
Below is an excerpt from my book I am working on today. I can remember this day like it was yesterday and the pain like it was last night. Praying today for all of those going through a painful situation in their lives.
I remember the day when I came to the end of my care with Dr. Goldstein, my ophthalmologist. Our youth were getting ready to go on a missions trip to Brazil. It had been planned and arranged for many months by Yolanda and my youth staff, I had done the recruitment for it, and I had every intention of leading the students on it. But at the doctor’s office, he told me that there was nothing else that he could do for me, and he sent me home. I knew that I was not going to be able to go on the missions trip with my students because of the condition of my eye. I lay on the bed with Yolanda and just looked at her and asked what was going to happen to me? It was one of the darkest hours of my life.
Holy Crap Moment
           If you are in a place of despair with something going on in your life, please know that Jesus cares for you; don’t give up.
Even as I type this section, I am praying for your hope to be sustained as you read these words. See. There IS someone
praying for you in your situation and believing you are going to make it!!
I knew that people were praying for me, but I couldn’t even pray for myself. All those years in Royal Rangers at church (Christian Boy Scouts), all the years on the Bible Quiz team, all those Wednesday nights growing up in high school and leading worship for the youth group, four and a half years earning two Bible college degrees, ten years and four churches of leading youth ministry, and I couldn’t even say the name of Jesus. As I think back, that is probably a harder realization than even the pain I was going through at that point. All those years of doing “good Jesus stuff,” and I couldn’t even say His name. You may ask, “Brian, why are you telling me this? I thought this was a book to show me that all I need to say is “Jesus” and everything is taken care of.” I am not discounting the power of the name of Jesus, but I am saying that I realized from my pain, during those years, that I didn’t really know who Jesus was. I could read about him, sing about him, and even preach about him but I didn’t know him.
Holy Crap 