Join my virtual book launch for The Disparate Ones: Essays on Being in the World, but Not of the World!
If you hang with me on social media you are already aware I have a book releasing on January 21, 2025. The Disparate Ones is a book of seventeen essays on a number of topics. Thematically, they concern what it means for Christians to be in the world but not of the world. Some of the essays are recent, while others originally appeared here on Kingdom in the Midst. The latter were re-edited or had supplementary material added. But all are being put into print for the first time. I’m excited for this one to see the light of day and hope you will be, too.
The Disparate Ones is my third book and the first to start reaching the breadth of subjects I have addressed on my blog and social media. The essays include:
- In It, Not of it
- Torn Between Two Lovers: Christians and the U.S. Political System
- Let’s Love First
- Momento Tempus. Momento Aeternum.
- A Few Thoughts about Food and Eating
- Christian Nationalism: What It Is, What It Isn’t, and Why It Matters
- Tsundoku
- The Poor You Have with You Always
- Stop Saying ‘Impactful’
- One Christ Follower Considers the Afghanistan Papers
- Comfortable Injustice: Christians, Race, and the U.S. Legal System
- Career and the Spirit of the Age
- The Bearable Whiteness of Being
- The American Death Penalty and the Bible
- Evangelicals in the Room Where it Happens
- Palestinians and the Limits of World Compassion
- Abortion
My hope with The Disparate Ones is not to convince every reader of every position I hold, but to encourage us to think better about positions we hold on any issue. Public issues are not eternal, but they matter, and lazy thinking does not exemplify the kingdom of God. How Christians think about issues that affect others is crucial since what we say and do is a witness—for good or ill—to Jesus. Those of us who call ourselves believers should bear witness to who Jesus is rather than a culturally distorted version.
As with many books published these days, the author is the marketing department. That means the author has to spend a lot of his or her time letting people know they’ve written a book and how to purchase the book. So when you see an author going on and on about their book? That’s why.
Part of my marketing is a virtual book launch. It will be Saturday, January 18, 2025, from 6:30–7:00pm CT via Zoom. Book launch registration details will be posted to my author’s page on Facebook and my Bluesky account. Participation is absolutely free and everyone attending will receive a link to purchase copies of The Disparate Ones at a discount.
How you can help
Here are several ways you can help this marketing campaign be a success.
- Buy two copies of The Disparate Ones and give one to someone who has never heard of it.
- When you receive yours, post a picture of it or of you holding it to any/all your social media accounts.
- As you read it, post quotes you especially like to social media, including the book’s title.
- Buy copies for gift-giving: birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanza, office parties, bridal showers, etc.
- Recommend it to your book club.
- Call your local library and request they stock a copy.
- Ask your local independent bookstore to stock a few copies. Send people there to buy. (Since there are ~1,000 different books fighting for every space on a shelf, interest in advance carries some weight.)
Believe me when I say, “I need you to help my book succeed.” There are around 4M books published in the US each year, a number that includes both traditional and self-published. Clearly, more books are published than can be marketed well or reach big-seller status. In fact, the average newly published print book in the US will sell less than 300 print copies through all US retail channels in its lifetime. My goals are a lot higher than that, but I need all the help I can get!
Online presales begin as soon as one cover typo is fixed. You’ll be able to order from major online retailers as well as countless smaller retailers, brick-and-mortar stores, and more.
Thank you, thank you, thank you, from the bottom of my heart.
