March 2021 Update
Hello Friends! Hope this letter finds you well.
Sorry for being out of touch for a couple of months. Lots has been going on.
First of all, my YouTube channel just launched. You can find me at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqotSdoC6TXhJpsj7q6ybSg
It’s quite exciting. I just have one video public right now, but I have 6 more ready to go, just waiting to release. I want to be able to keep to a consistent release schedule and not be rushing to produce stuff, so I’d like a buffer/inventory of about 5 videos. I figure I’ll release 3 videos a month, on the 1st, the 10th, and the 20th.
What will the videos be about? There are three buckets. The first is videos based upon the material in my books. For example I’ve started a series on Genesis 1. My first video, just released, is the first episode in that series, and I have Episodes 2 and 3 ready to go. The second bucket is evolution. I have a video on Whale Fossils in the hopper. The third bucket is miscellaneous interesting stuff. I have a video on what Jesus was doing on the cross ready to release in time for Good Friday, I have a bible study on the question of whether there are modern day apostles, and a video describing my evening at a healing service at a Charismatic conference. The videos range from 8 to 22 minutes in length. Eventually I’d like to do interviews, but for right now these are just talking head/blog videos.
If you think you’ll be interested in the content, consider subscribing.
This will be a marathon, not a sprint. I expect that I will get very little traction for like 2 years, as I build my library, improve my skills, and give the YouTube algorithm the confidence to recommend my videos. Eventually, I hope to catch fire a bit and gain momentum.
Talking about skills, there is a lot involved in this. Frankly, there are some important skills that I’m not good at right now. But I’ve already noticed tiny improvements from video to video, so I expect to get better over time.
Next up is my second book, Overcoming Doubt. That is moving forward, albeit slowly. My copyeditor has finished her work, and now I am going through the edits and making changes. This includes some rewriting, so it is a slow process.
Otherwise, things are good. I’m in an interesting place currently, theologically. I’ve got one foot in the conservative evangelical world and mindset, and the other foot in the Charismatic world and mindset. I’m figuring out which pieces of which I think are right. Is the office of Apostle for today? What about the doctrine of Once Saved Always Saved? And so forth. Faith and I are blessed to both be working and healthy in these COVID times. Pray that all of you are safe and managing well through this difficult period.
What’s Happening Now
Hey everyone. Pray you all are well. Lots going on here. My first book has been out for about 2 months. I am pleased with the initial sales, but now comes the hard part, getting people beyond my circle to buy it. Actually, to even get them to know about it! My first attempt at advertising, on Amazon, didn’t work well, but I’m learning and hopefully I’ll start to gain some traction. I’ve been encouraged, though, by readers in my target audience who have told me the book was very helpful to them.
Work on my second book is progressing nicely. I have a rough draft of three quarters of it done. I’m quite excited about it. Also, I gave a sermon on the Journey of Abraham a couple of weeks ago. It was a lot of fun.
I’m OK with things not getting out of the gates super-fast, as I’m content to play the long game here. This is a ministry and a hobby for me. In fact, I’m strongly considering starting a YouTube channel! That would be a lot of fun, and give me access to a much broader audience, potentially. Look out for announcements on that in the near future.
My Recent Sermon on Doubt
The Problem of Doubt
Sermon at Wonder Church International
September 13, 2020
Progress on Second Book
I have a provisional title for my second book: The Problem of Doubt. And now that the NBA is (almost) over, I’ll have more time to work on it in the evenings. The research and writing are going well so far.
Here’s the gist. Doubt—when a believer worries ‘What if I am wrong about this Christianity thing?’ or feels that they are not 100% sure about the central tenets of the faith—is a problem. It doesn’t happen to all of us, but a lot of Christians have struggled or do struggle with it. It is a taboo subject, not talked about much in church circles. That needs to change. The book, set against the backdrop of my own experience, explores the causes of doubt, what the Bible says and teaches about it, and how we can overcome doubt in a way that leads to stronger and more vibrant faith. I was surprised by how many of our biblical heroes experienced doubt, and by how much grace the Lord provides to His children who are hurting in this manner. I aim to keep it a short book, maybe 100 to 120 pages. As of now I have a (very) rough draft of 50 to 60 pages.
I also gave a sermon on this topic, a couple of weeks ago. I think it went very well. You can access a recording on Facebook pages and on this website.
Off to a Good Start
Creation and the Flood was released about a month ago, and got off to a good start. A big bunch of you whom I have been in contact with bought it. Thank you all so much. If you could write a review on Amazon and Goodreads it would be greatly appreciated. The next step is to start advertising, so I can expand my reach beyond my personal network. I aim to begin that soon, probably starting with advertising on Amazon (ads that pop up when you enter a particular search term), and then maybe on Facebook…although I need to learn more about if and how Facebook ads can be targeted.
Another way to expand my reach is to do podcasts and things of that sort. Well, I also had my first podcast recording a couple of weeks ago. I don’t think it has been produced yet, I’ll keep you posted. At the time, as I was doing it, it seemed like there were some high and low points. It’s harder than it looks! I’m hoping to get more opportunities in the future.
Also in the category of ‘expanding my reach,’ later this month I have an article coming out in God and Nature Magazine. This is an online, free publication, run by the American Scientific Affiliation. You can find it via the site asa3.org, by going to the Publications tab. The magazine explores science and faith issues. The American Scientific Affiliation is an organization of scientists (including social scientists like myself) who are Christians and have an interest in science and faith issues. Anyway, the article is about my journey, and is a thank you to scientists and bible scholars of faith who helped me in that journey. I’ll drop a Facebook post to alert you when it is published. I’m looking forward to it.
A Detour (or Two)
Well, I thought my research and writing schedule was all laid out, but God had other plans. The schedule had been to focus next on a book evaluating, in detail, the scientific evidence for evolution.
So what happened? My home church is a new and still very small (25 adults) congregation of mature believers. Every 6-8 weeks the lead pastors have a member of the congregation give the sermon. Next month, I’ll have the opportunity to preach. Given that I experienced an episode of doubt a couple of years ago, the topic that the lead pastors and I have tentatively settled on is doubt in the life of a Christian. I plan to explore the nature of faith and doubt, whether doubt is a sin, what the Bible says about doubt, and how Christians can use an episode of doubt to actually grow and mature in their faith. I saw that once I did the work to produce the sermon, I’d be one-third or more of the way toward producing enough material for a short (say 100 page) book. So I figured I’d flip the order, and start on the book, and pull the sermon from the book prep. So far I have a very rough draft of the first 40 pages.
In addition, the miners project keeps switching between go and no-go. For those of you who don’t know about the miners project, here is a quick run-down. Five miners, devout Christians, got trapped in an African mine and left for dead. One died from starvation and, just prior to the rest succumbing to lack of food and scarce water, they were rescued quite unexpectedly, by “accident” actually. I’m close to purchasing the rights to their story, but I’ve been in a holding pattern for a while. The project is complex, logistically, and language is just one of the significant barriers. I just don’t know if it will come to pass. But if it does, I’d feel compelled to drop other things I’m doing to work on it.
July 2020 Newsletter
The Launch Date is Set
We’re open for business!
Well, the editing looks to be done. I’ve approved the online proofs of the paperback and am waiting for physical copies to arrive for inspection, and the ebook is set. Wow that was a lot of work. And, the website just launched a couple of days ago—It took a while but I think it looks great. Check it out at www.johnkgriffin.com.
Creation and the Flood is scheduled to launch September 8. That gives me more than a month to try and do some marketing (more on that later) and to generate pre-orders.
For those of you who are not familiar with my first book, here is the short story: Two years ago, things were rolling along quite nicely in my spiritual life. I was attending a new church, praying more, and reading the Bible a lot more. Then I hit a brick wall. A question about dinosaurs from my son Sam forced me to recognize that, uh, the Bible seems to teach some things, like creation in six days 6,000 years ago and a global flood, that to me seem quite implausible, to put it politely. Does the Bible teach false things? Can I trust this book?! When I turned to my church for guidance, and to a trusted study Bible, and when I saw what my kids were being taught at school, my crisis deepened, as they all agreed that the earth was young and that there was a global flood.
Yikes. Fortunately, research is what I do well, so I rolled up my sleeves and got busy. Devouring books and papers and blogs and videos by Bible scholars, pastors, historians, scientists, and other commentators, I got to the bottom of this business. I no longer believe that the Bible teaches a young earth or a global flood. Learning to approach early Genesis from the eyes of the original author and audience helped a great deal. As I went through the process, I was frustrated that I did not find one book that answered all the questions that I had. And I have a desire to help other Christians (and potential Christians) who get tangled up on these issues. So I decided to write the book that I wish I had found when I was in crisis.
And now that I’ve got this one book done, I’m going to keep moving. In addition to marketing this book, I’m researching for a second book, on the scientific evidence regarding evolution. And, I’m close to securing the rights to the story of five miners, devout Christians, who were trapped below ground and left for dead. Four were rescued, likely days or even just hours before starvation. How I’ll do all of this, given that I have a wife and four kids and a full-time job, only God knows. But it’s a lot of fun.
Okay, so what about marketing and selling Creation and the Flood? It will be a tall order, and my expectations are realistic. This is a self-published book (so there are many marketing channels for which I don’t have access), I have an extremely small platform, and no name recognition. Plus early Genesis is a niche topic to begin with. The book is high quality, so that will help, but regardless it will be an uphill battle.
I plan to do something every day— reaching out to people I know who might be interested in reading it, contacting You tubers and podcasters and bloggers, and doing anything else I can think of. If any of you are curious about early Genesis, please consider buying the book. I firmly believe it is the best book out there on the Genesis 1 creation account and the flood. Oh—and if you read the book please write an honest review on Amazon, good or bad. But most importantly, if any of you know of someone who is struggling with these issues, please direct them to my website, or ask them if you can give me their contact info—the primary reason I wrote the book is to help such individuals.
Update on Religious Liberty and SCOTUS
The issue of religious liberty has been becoming more prominent in Supreme Court (SCOTUS) cases in recent years, and this term was no exception. This is an issue I get rather worked up about. I really don’t like government interference with the church. There were two cases this term which bear on religious liberty, and we got a split decision, so to speak.
The first of the two cases this term that are relevant here is Bostock v. Clayton County. While Bostock doesn’t explicitly deal with religious liberty head on, it has serious potential implications. The case has to do with workplace discrimination against persons who identify as LGBTQ. A guy was fired for joining a gay softball league and sued his employer. SCOTUS ruled that the 1964 civil rights act, which forbids employers from discriminating in hiring/firing on the basis of gender, also applies to LGBTQ. My initial reaction was to roll my eyes at the court once again stretching the meaning of words in order to ‘update’ old laws to fit new cultural views, rather than leaving new legislation to Congress, but I digress. Anyway, I’m glad someone now can’t be fired for joining a gay softball league. That just ain’t right. And I don’t like employers having the ability to fire someone for anything they may do outside of work. So it would seem like this case is not a big deal, except…
The opinion did not state that there is an exemption for churches and religious schools. It didn’t say there isn’t one either, but it was expected that the court would emphasize that the so-called “ministerial exception” applies to this matter. The ministerial exception means that, for example, churches that believe that only men should be pastors don’t have to hire women pastors. The court dodged this point, as was their right as the employer in question was not a religious institution. In so doing, the court invited challenges to the ministerial exception, and such challenges are now sure to come.
This is no light matter. Churches that believe that Christian marriage is a one man, one woman thing and which hold to traditional views of God’s teaching on sexuality could be forced to hire gay pastors. They may also be forced to officiate same sex marriages. Seminaries that teach traditional views on sexuality could be forced to hire professors that espouse modern and culturally liberal views on sexuality. There are clear implications for religious liberty here.
Hopefully, when further challenges come to the ministerial exception, they will have trouble gaining traction, due to the second of this term’s cases, Our Lady of Guadalupe School v. Morrisey-Berru. Here, SCOTUS ruled 7-2 that the Catholic elementary school that fired two teachers has a First Amendment right to complete control over hiring and firing of religion teachers, free from government intervention. This is a positive development. However it is complicated somewhat, I think, by the fact that at least one of the teachers sued for age discrimination. From what I can tell, there was no accusation that the teacher(s) in question were not teaching in line with Catholic doctrine; rather, it was her general competence that was in dispute. I don’t think we want churches and schools to be able to fire people for being old and then hide behind the ministerial exception. That seems to go too far. Ugh.
Introducing johnkgriffin.com
Welcome, everyone, to my website. And thanks for visiting! This is a place to explore my first book, keep up to date on what is going on with news and events, read my latest thoughts in my blog, access my monthly newsletter, and contact me.
The big news of the moment is that I’m gearing up for the launch of Creation and the Flood on September 8. Both print and ebook are available for pre-order on Amazon.
Enjoy perusing the site!