The Book is Done (Finally)!

I have some great news. The book I’ve been working on for the past two years (or more) is finally done.

The book, which you’ve probably heard me talk about before, is on the gospel and productivity. It’s called What’s Best Next: How the Gospel Transforms the Way You Get Things Done and has a two-fold aim:

1. Present a God-centered, gospel-driven perspective of our work and all the things we do every day that is motivating, biblical, and encouraging, and isn’t trite, superficial, or reliant on trendy Christian catch-phrases that nobody really understands anyway. 
2. Give you a practical approach for getting things done — whether at work, home, in your community, or anywhere else — that is solidly anchored in the Scriptures and actually works. 

This is what I’ve needed (as I talk about in the introduction and other parts of the book) and what I’ve found so many others need as I’ve talked and interacted with thousands of Christians around the world for the last several years. The subject of how to be effective in managing our work and lives from a biblical perspective is a huge gap in Christian thinking right now that I hope this book can help fill. It’s filled with biblical reflection, practical tips, and (I hope!) interesting personal stories that show the mistakes I’ve made (sometimes kind of funny) just as much as any accomplishments.

I hope the book helps a lot of people. More details on the book to come.

Now, a bit about the blog.

If you are a regular reader of this blog, you’ve probably noticed that I haven’t been blogging much for a while. The book is why. It took up all the time I had (and much more) and was absolutely exhausting.

Writing this book was by far the most challenging, difficult, and painful thing I’ve ever done. The worst thing of all is that it just wouldn’t let up. I’d think I was done, then it turned out I wasn’t. I thought I was done again, but was wrong again. And so it continued.

As far back as a year and a half ago, when I completed the first draft, I tweeted that it was the hardest thing I had ever done, times ten. Little did I know…I still had a long ways to go and it would get way harder. 

I’ve been trapped in a canyon, fell flat on my face while running in the Wal-Mart parking lot, had horrible nose surgery, and experienced a whole host of other painful realities, and this book was worse than any of them — by far. 

But, the book is finally done, for real, and with the publisher (Zondervan) and on track for release this winter. (I actually finished it in early June, but it’s taken me this long to get back above water after the writing process.) I am grateful to the Lord for sustaining me through the process. Without his support and strength, I would have sunk for good long ago, no question.

Now that I’m getting back to a normal workload, here are some of my immediate and longer-term plans for the blog, Lord willing:

1. Get caught up on some past things I’ve wanted to post about.
2. Do a series on why the book took so long (because I think it’s very interesting).
3. Do a whole bunch of other cool and interesting posts and series of posts that I’ve had a bunch of ideas for but haven’t had the time to write.
4. Get back into my blogging routine.
5. Expand the content on the blog. I have hundreds of articles and dozens of audio messages I’ve been wanting to get posted for a while, and as I can I’ll be getting that content online.

Thanks for sticking with me through this process. I’m excited about the future and, Lord willing, there will be lots of interesting stuff on the blog to come!