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I’m proud to officially announce my new devotional book, EXPRESSO. It’s been a work of “devotion” for the past few months. I began writing it the day after we received our adoption referral for Jaida on December 23rd. As a tribute to my dad, I made the official publishing date of EXPRESSO for March 20th, 2010, my dads 77th birthday!

When it comes to following Jesus, there are so many things that can overwhelm us and keep us from moving forward in our faith. For the new believer as well as the seasoned follower, the business of life can demand a pace that leaves little room for God. Even when space is created for spiritual development, it can be difficult to find a trustworthy grip on how to express faith in a meaningful way.

Sometimes all we need is a new opportunity, like being given a devotional book to refocus our attention on God and get our lives back on track. The passion behind EXPRESSO is to help stir a fresh desire for God’s Word in the heart of the spiritually thirsty and help them discover simple, yet practical opportunities to put their faith into practice.

My prayer is that EXPRESSO will truly energize the faith of those who read it. My hope is that it will create encouraging conversation between those who chose to read it together.

Copies of EXPRESSO can be purchased from my personal publishing site: http://openskypublishing.com. Thanks to all who have already purchased the book. I would love to hear about your experiences as you read it.

Blessings!

Jason

Most theologians argue on behalf of a version of the Bible that they believe is closest to the “original language” but my argument is for a version that is closer to mine.

The Bible was written in the ancient languages of Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek. Most of the Old Testament writings were mainly written in Hebrew with most of the New Testament written in Greek, the common language of its writers. It has been translated throughout history by different people with diverse perspectives and varying motivations, but the byproduct of their efforts created a Bible relevant to the culture of their day.

I know that many Christian leaders have concerns with certain Bible translations, and with some of these, I would find myself in agreement. But one thing we all can agree on. No matter how high the desire to uphold scriptural accuracy, if people can’t understand it, it doesn’t accomplish the purpose of why God gave us the Bible – to know Him and make Him known.

In my quest to discover how I can help people engage in reading the Bible, I’ve become a huge fan of Eugene H. Peterson, author of The Message//Remix – The Bible in Contemporary Language and other great conversation books he’s written like The Jesus Way. He has done a tremendous service to the Christ-following movement in translating the scriptures into Today’s language so the Bible can actually be read and understood on a simple level for those who need the opportunity to experience it before they would be willing to examine it.

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The Bible has been the most influential and controversial piece of literature in human history. It’s still the best-selling book in the world even though Rick Warren is quickly closing the gap with his book, “The Purpose Driven Life”, the second best-selling book! (I’m only kidding. I don’t think it’s quite that close!)

I believe the reason why “The Purpose Driven Life” has been so successful is because it, too, like the Bible, has presented people with a context for faith in God so that it can be personally understood, personally embraced and personally expressed to the world in which we live. But, unlike The Purpose Driven Life, the Bible is unique in its authority, inspiration and writings. (Sorry Rick!)

The Bible is the story of God interacting and moving among broken humanity, giving mercy, offering forgiveness and delivering justice with a heart to redeem and transform every living soul. Many of those who believed in Him felt the urge of God to write down what He put in their hearts. He gave the privilege of speaking for Him, in spite of their flaws and brokenness. There’s no doubt that they were inspired by Him to tell His story. These inspired stories have been written down so that we who followed could hear their story and the story of God.

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