Crossway Releases Tchividjian's "Surprised by Grace"

I just received printed copies from Crossway of Tullian Tchividjian's book "Surprised by Grace: God's Relentless Pursuit of Rebels," which I had the privilege of co-authoring with Tullian.

Tullian is as relentless in proclaiming and explaining the gospel as God is in pursuing rebels, and it brought significant fulfillment for me to work on this project with him.

My part was to start with transcripts of Tullian's sermons on the book of Jonah, then to craft and arrange that content into book chapters. I also researched and added support from various biblical commentaries on Jonah -- plus a great deal of illustrative themes and narrative and transitions, much of it based on the way the Jonah story has been perceived and retold down through the centuries in the visual arts (especially sculpture and painting) and in literature. I wove in explorations of works by folks ranging from Raphael to Salvador Dali, and from Herman Melville to Robert Frost, and many other artists and writers. (By the way, Crossway has included color reproductions in the book of many of the works of art mentioned in the text.)
I also included perspectives on Jonah from men of God such as Augustine, Luther, Calvin, and Spurgeon.

I set up the flow and structure of the book to try to retell the story of Jonah--as much as possible--as if we were reading or hearing it for the very first time.

What a rewarding project this was! My thanks to Tullian and to Crossway for allowing me to be a part.

"99 Ways..." Receives Mention by Justin Taylor

In a blog note this week, Justin Taylor mentioned my book "99 Ways to Entertain Your Family for Free!" Fun to see that....

Check it out:

http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justintaylor/2010/05/06/99-ways-to-entertain-your-family-for-free/