This past year, God extended a wonderful opportunity to me to write a new book with Moody Publications. The book is available for presale and releases January 7, 2021. I received my copy today, and I am very excited to introduce this new resource to friends and readers. 

So many have encouraged me on this journey, and I’m grateful for each and every one of you! Truly! Thank you for blessing me and pushing me forward through this process. 

Here are the details:

Stop Trying takes the reader on a journey of discovering a gospel identity and how to flourish in it. 

We begin by unmasking the world’s two weak identity sources and how all of us go at life constructing and maintaining a strong sense of self. But the journey is one of unavoidable loss, because all of our constructing is done with weak and fragile materials.

All it takes is a strong enough jolt in life for us to lose our identities and begin to question “Who am I, really?” Or “Who am I, now?” These jolts can send us into a psychological and spiritual free fall, wondering what God is doing and where it’s all leading. 

This is why Jesus invites us to lose ourselves and find our true selves in Him alone. What does this mean? How was it made possible? More importantly, how is a gospel identity actually experienced? How is it authentically transformational?

Stop Trying explores the lives of Jesus’ earliest followers, the collapse of their identities, and the emergence of new selves that were radically transformed after His resurrection. They didn’t try to be different people—they simply were different people. And this transformation can happen to anyone who chooses to follow Jesus. 

A gospel identity is durable, un-losable, and unbreakable, no matter what life throws at us or what temporal loss we experience. 

The book moves through three sections: Part 1—Losing, Part 2—Finding, Part 3—Flourishing. Through 15 chapters, the reader is taken on a gospel journey of discovering how to stop trying to achieve a sense of self, and begin receiving and growing in who Jesus created me to be. 

The book will be a strong source of encouragement to anyone feeling a deep sense of loss, asking those discouraging “Who am I?” questions, or simply longing to be free from the oppressive dynamics of performance-based acceptance.

This book is also a resource for Christians to pass along to unbelieving friends. It shares a clear gospel from the foundation of the broken philosophies of our modern culture. 

I shared the story of the writing of the book on a recent podcast episode of Leading in the Gospel. You can listen to that here.

You can download the table of contents and sample Chapter 1 here.

Will you pray that God will use this book during this strange and difficult time? 

Will you consider sharing, using, and helping others grow in a gospel identity?

If you are a spiritual leader interested in purchasing quantities of Stop Trying for your church family, study group, or friends and family, please contact Moody Publishers Customer Service directly at (800) 678-8812. Mention my name and the discount offer. Depending upon quantity, you can receive substantial discounts. 

If you would like to order more than 250 copies, please reach out directly to the Retail Sales Manager, Mark Chase, at 312-329-4129.