Hey everyone, I just wanted to touch base here on this Saturday and say THANK YOU to everyone who helped my book launch be a greater success than I anticipated.

I was immensely encouraged not only by the number of orders but also by the many, many people who helped me promote my book and share it with others. Being a self-published author, I have no marketing team. It’s just the people who support my work and my own efforts.

With that, I was blown away by how this all went down.

Climbing the Charts

To begin, my book managed to climb the “New Releases” rank in my niche pretty quickly. By the end of launch day, I had climbed to the #1 spot there!

In my planning for this launch, I found out that if you can get enough traction on your launch day, this is a possibility. Also, I learned that if you could climb the chart, it would help your marketing immensely. With enough attention, Amazon will help you out by putting your book in front of more people, and then you’re also on the charts if people scroll through them.

These things in mind, I was shocked even further to find that I not only climbed the “New Releases” rank, but even the “Best Sellers” one too!

I ended up being the ninth bestselling book on Amazon in the Christian Wisdom Literature category! That includes just about every commentary on wisdom literature in the Bible and countless other works. At least two of the books still ahead of me were actually pocket versions of the ESV Bible! So, even making the list was pretty amazing to me. The first time we looked, I was around #354, and I thought to myself, “If I could make the top 100, that would be so neat.” Once you’re in the top 100, you make their official list, where you can scroll through and see.

Then I climbed into the teens, and suddenly it seemed possible to be in the top 10! All praise to God and thanks to you guys, I managed to peak at #9 and stayed there for about a day. I even managed to nudge ahead of one of Max Lucado’s books and seeing my name in a list next to his was pretty surreal!

I even managed to get ahead of two commentaries in “New Releases” that were written by guys whose work I have read in the past!

Since the launch, sales have faded a bit (as expected). I’m back around #20 now, but I’m still at the top of “New Releases,” which includes every book in my niche that has been published in the last 60 days!

All of this contributed to Amazon’s “bot” noticing that my book was selling, and ticking off a five percent deal on my book!

It might not seem like much, but it was a sign that Amazon noticed me, and I thought that was pretty cool. It’s another marketing push they use to try to help undecided buyers. In fact, they take a cut from their profit in order to pull this off. My wife had actually told me she’d heard of this sort of thing happening, but it seemed unrealistic to me until I noticed it was discounted!

Concluding Thoughts

All in all, I have been so encouraged by the response. It has been such a blessing to me personally, and now I pray that it is a blessing likewise to you!

I didn’t really have any number goals for my book. I was simply hoping that authorship wouldn’t end up being an expensive hobby.

I am thrilled to share with you that when my first deposit from Amazon comes in, I will have made my money back on this project (minus that which I spent on print copies for me to sell personally; however, we’re actually close to breaking that number too before they even ship to me!)

I’m the pastor of a rural church and simply didn’t want to bankrupt my family pursuing a dream. I recently heard of a woman who spent around $50,000 on her first (and probably only!) book.

We tried to do everything responsibly on a budget, and at this point, it hasn’t cost me anything but my time.

Now, I’m just praying that my work helps someone, which was my greatest goal in writing this book.

If that is you, and you find my book’s material to be a blessing to you, I would greatly appreciate it if you’d leave a review on Amazon when you get an opportunity. It would mean a lot to me. Even more, they tell me it is one of the greatest benefits to staying power on Amazon and putting my book before more people in the future.

If you haven’t already picked up a copy yet, I’d love it if you’d do so if the material sounds like it would be of benefit to you.

All in all, I’m counting my blessings today.

I still can’t believe that I actually finished this project. All glory to God for the work He is doing in me to shape me into the person I am today. It is by grace that I am who I am.

Lord willing, I have many more projects to come.

God bless, and thanks for your support.

—Josiah

Last week, I left you hanging with a finished rough draft that was, as we all know, an unfinished book. It seemed that this draft was going to take its place amongst the ranks of the many incomplete works of my life.

But, praise God, it didn’t.

So, what did this process look like behind the scenes?

A Slow Start

As I already mentioned, I finished my rough draft in July and let it sit for a little while. In the fall, I sought out some test readers, but that process didn’t go quite as planned. Once again, it sat—untouched.

Even more, my family was abundantly busy throughout the latter part of the summer and fall seasons. We love to go camping, and I was also coaching my daughter’s soccer team. These things, plus life, ministry in general, and my devotional writing, kept me from even touching my book.

However, a fire was lit under me to get it finished back in November of 2025. I set a new goal to get my initial round of edits done before my birthday, since I nailed my original goal of having the book written by then.

The Editing Process

I have heard of many people who invest tons and tons of money into projects and never have them turn out. For me, I don’t expect to become the next Max Lucado. In fact, I don’t expect I’ll make a ton of money from my writings at all. My only real hope is that authorship just doesn’t become an expensive hobby.

I recently heard of someone who spent over $50,000 on their self-published book! (I’m not sure how that is even possible; maybe the number was a rough guess, but you get the point). My budget was much, much lower. In fact, I didn’t really have a budget at this point. My focus was cheap, while remaining excellent. I would do everything I could to save money while still aiming to put out a product that didn’t feel homemade.

So I embarked on my editing journey, beginning with my own initial overview of the content, followed by using AI engines and Grammarly for the bulk of my fine-tuning.

I ended up concocting a handful of AI prompts and chats to help with the editing process. I do not use any AI in the composition of my work. That is a hard and fast rule. However, it is very, very helpful for analyzing data.

I used Chat GPT to address my content as a whole, specifically where things might drag. (Chat is VERY hard to please when you do this).

I used Gemini to give me a helpful overview of my material and to see how everything flowed. Did my chapters line up together? Did my transitions function? Did the whole arc of my book make sense? Were my subheadings sufficient?

Lastly, I used Grok to analyze my tense consistency throughout the book. I found that I have an incredibly unhealthy habit of retelling biblical narratives in the historic present tense. Almost all of those portions needed to be fixed!

By the grace of God, I finished my editing journey on New Year’s Day of 2026. Well, at least that round of it.

Meeting Atticus—Formatting & Final Edits

Around that time, I purchased a formatting program called Atticus thanks to some support on Buy Me a Coffee and a generous friend of mine. This was a game-changer as formatting an entire work consistently in Microsoft Word would have been a nightmare.

Following this, I listened to my book on two separate occasions in the ElevenLabs app and made necessary changes in between. During that time, I also had the opportunity to read through the whole thing on my Kindle Paperwhite. This was the first time that it really started to feel real.

Cover Art

I had one thing lacking, though. I had my material mostly ready. I had my edits in process. But what would I do for a cover? I’m not a graphic designer. I know a few people who could have probably thrown something together, but who knows? Book covers are a different ballgame because they have to be precise and custom for the length of your book—consider that the number of pages you have corresponds to the thickness of your spine.

With this in mind, I really didn’t want to do it myself. I was turning over ideas, but I had basically said that if I could get someone to do it for around $100, I’d have it delegated in a heartbeat.

I had a rough mockup from Gemini to work with. I wanted a box or some lines involved in my title, and a view looking out from a cave. Funny enough, AI engines can make beautiful pictures, but they really struggle with text. Gemini couldn’t spell my name correctly—no matter how many times we tried. It couldn’t spell Ecclesiastes right either. However, it did give me a rough idea of what my idea would actually look like.

It was around this time that I got a promo email from the CEO of Atticus, advertising their friends at 100covers.com. I had never heard of the site, but they were doing a short promo where all of their packages were fifty percent off for the new year.

In the providence of God, their print package suddenly went from $200 to $100. (I don’t believe in coincidence).

They asked for the details of the book, a few ideas, and told you to go to the site where they source their pictures and pick out some that you like. I gathered up a bunch of forest pictures with fog, and I found one or two with the cave idea I liked. I just wasn’t sure if they could make text work on the cave one.

Then they came up with this:

Out of the two samples they gave me, this was unanimously voted to be the favorite by friends and family. One week later, I had my back cover, and everything was in place.

A New Goal

Now, I just had to wait on Amazon. Remember, my goal was to have my draft done by my birthday. Then it was the edits. At this point, it seemed that it would be absolutely amazing to have the proof copies in hand by that time.

When I tried to place my first order, Amazon was having some “global technical issues” that delayed the order process 48 hours.

Then, a total of three days were added beyond that original date because of the crazy snowstorm that hit the northeast.

After what felt like an eternity, they came! Unfortunately, though, they needed fixed:

Thanks be to God, 100covers was very good to me. I sent the major problem that needed to be fixed and a few other requests around 6:00 on a Wednesday night. I woke up the next morning to a fixed cover! Praise God.

Even more, the turnaround on the second proof copies was much better than the first, and they were good to go! No major Amazon issues this time. No snowstorm. No barcode errors. Ready.

Becoming an Author?

I don’t know exactly when I became an author, but somewhere along the way, the dream came true. I jokingly put out on Substack that maybe it was when I made my author page on Amazon. Who knows.

However, I can say it definitely felt real when I first held my book in my hands. Even if the proof copies have an ugly strip across the middle:

Final-Final Edits

While I had my proof copies, I had the opportunity to do a red-pen read-through of my entire book, while reading the entire thing out loud, which was nice. That was my final round of editing.

Or…so I thought.

Until I found out that I wasn’t consistent with my Bible book abbreviations. You can’t use “John” on one page and “Jn.” on another. I also found out that quotation marks are sometimes copied incorrectly. Depending on your program, they can be copied straight and not curly (This really is a thing, I promise). I also found out when I was finished that every time I referenced “the Teacher,” his name should have been capitalized.

One more edit was made, fixing well over 50 uses of this name throughout the work.

All in all, I had over 15 different PDF exports before I got it right. Near the end, I had a “penultimate final” file. Then I had a “final” file. Then I had a “final final” file. With that, I finally called it quits. In faith, it was submitted.

I’m sure my book is imperfect. In fact, I ended up finding out that I already know it is (I won’t tell you how). However, with many hours of diligence in editing, I pray that it would bring glory to God as I sought to do it with my might (Ecc. 9:10). It might not be perfect, but I do hope it reads like it was done with excellence.

Now, we’re just in the waiting game for the launch date, which is officially next Tuesday, February 10th.

Conclusion

I am honestly humbled by this entire thing. It’s still crazy to me that I actually managed to finish it. All glory to God for giving me the ideas and the wherewithal to put them down and organize them.

It is by His grace that I am who I am.

I am even more humbled that not only did I finish the rough draft, and then the editing, and then got my proof copies—but my book will actually be released for purchase the day before my birthday.

Full circle.

364 days.

It’s been a really fun journey, and I am incredibly proud of the work I have finished. It’s a dream that I never really knew if I would actually fulfill. Even if it doesn’t help anyone else, I can say for certain it has helped me. Reading back through it and especially listening to it read to me was edifying to my spirit.

I don’t make the claim lightly that Ecclesiastes changed my life.

I likewise don’t assert lightly that I think it could change yours, too.

If you’ve followed along this whole time, I’d love it if you would:

• Pick up a copy on release day. (If you don’t have the money for a book but really think it would be of benefit to you, get in touch with me and I’ll mail you a copy, free of charge. My goal is to help people before it is to make money).

• Share my launch day post (you can still do this if you buy the book!)

• Tell me if my work helps you. Even more, it would be awesome if you’d write an Amazon review. They say that really helps your book get noticed.

And now, for another excerpt:

From “Extraordinary in the Ordinary” (Excerpt p. 91)

Food? It’s a gift from God to be enjoyed in moderation. Consider what a blessing it is that God has graced us with taste buds that work. He could have made food taste like cardboard. (Maybe it does at your house, but that’s a topic for another day!) I remember at one point in my life, I was having some stomach troubles as part of the various health issues that I’ve had to deal with. This resulted in me having to cut back on how much I was eating. That’s a hard ask! How do you do something so difficult?! My doctor suggested, “Don’t make food that tastes so good.” A funny, unwanted, but actually very helpful resolution. I tend to eat less when a meal is bland.

What a gift it is that God has given us food to enjoy. He’s even given us various drinks we can enjoy—thank God for coffee! As if this isn’t good enough, as new covenant believers, we’re allowed to eat bacon! How much better can it get?

Paul says that the food created by God is good and it is to be received with thanksgiving. It’s a gift from God to us. He not only provides us the fuel we need to stay alive and functioning, but He also provides us the ability to enjoy it along the way! The Teacher showcases that these are natural, God-given things to enjoy in the midst of a life that can seem vain.

For many years, probably close to a decade now, I have dreamed of one day writing a book. It just always seemed entirely inaccessible. For one, what are the chances that I could actually put that many coherent thoughts into words? Even more, how could I ever gain access to a publisher? Isn’t it all super expensive anyway? The list of problems seemed to clearly outweigh the possible solutions. So the dream remained on the shelf for quite some time.

The Start of a Solution

Then, a few years ago, I heard of Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) and the idea of self-publishing for the first time. That seemed to take care of one of the biggest hurdles.

I’ve heard many stories of people being rejected again and again as they sought to find a publisher that would accept their work. Suddenly, it seemed as if this problem was no longer an issue. They would accept your manuscript and print your book without having to go through an approval process fraught with rejection. That meant the onus was now on me to write. I could no longer hide behind excuses that no longer existed.

At that time, I toyed with the idea. I even began working pretty extensively on a book. I got partway through, around 30,000 words in fact. To this day, I am sad to say I have never returned to it. It’s still partially finished in a Word document tucked away in the recesses of my computer’s internal storage:

A Confession

I’m personally notorious for this. I am an expert at getting things partway done and never finishing them. Or, at times, getting things “good enough” and then leaving them sit.

Just ask the myriad of woodworking projects around the house. The coffee bar I built for my wife lacked doors for many months, perhaps more than a year. Then, I added doors, but they have yet to be stained. I had to make sure the fit worked, and it did, and they have stayed put.

In the meantime, I have built a rocking chair for my youngest, a stool for when she helps me cook, a stand for our 30-gallon fish tank, and a rustic wall hanging setup that displays our cast-iron skillets for my wife—all of which remain unstained unto the present.

Will I ever finish them, 100 percent? I hope so. Will I finish my book on the topic of suffering? Maybe. But it remains to be seen.

A New Idea

Then, last year, I preached a series of expository sermons through the book of Ecclesiastes at my local church beginning on January 26th.

I always found the book of Ecclesiastes a very interesting read. Particularly because I am naturally a bit more on the melancholy side of the personality spectrum. So whenever the teacher cried out, “Vanity of vanities!” I consistently found myself saying, “Amen.”

With this, I always held to the prevailing notion that the author was a bit depressed and that vanity was his final conclusion on the matter of life. For some reason, I never caught many of the more positive sections in Ecclesiastes until reading through it in the summer of 2024.

As I began to see a different picture of the book, I determined to preach through it in 2025 after I finished my sermons from Philippians. Along the way, I found that for years I had misunderstood its message. I also found that the content of the book and the study I put into sermon preparation began to slowly but surely change my life. (One of the greatest benefits of pastoral ministry is that you get to preach sermons to yourself in study before they ever arrive at the pulpit. Quite a bit of the time, I know that if the message isn’t for anyone else, it is for me).

As Ecclesiastes began to shape my thoughts a bit more, I really felt that maybe this would be where God would begin my journey towards authorship, who knows—well, God did.

I never knew what it would look like along the way. I never knew if I would write a book. I just felt like one day I could, or rather that I should. Years ago, I had a seminary professor tell me that I was one of the most prolific students he ever had, but I didn’t know if that would ever be book-worthy. However, I think it was at that point that a seed was planted.

Then, later on, I had another professor who really encouraged us to write out manuscripts of our sermons before we preach them. Neither he nor I takes manuscripts to the pulpit. However, writing out every word you hoped to say to the congregation really helps you plan out a message better. For me, it also revealed that I could write a bit more than I had ever realized.

The Journey Begins

This background in mind, after I was a few weeks into my study on Ecclesiastes, I believed God was leading me towards putting this into book format. So I determined to give it a try. In the middle of February 2025, I started a Word document titled “How Ecclesiastes Changed My Life” in Microsoft Word.

Steadily, it grew as I took verses, ideas, and illustrations that I presented to my church family and expanded upon them. Furthermore, I added additional backing from the rest of the Bible. I set a goal to finish it (namely, the rough draft) before my 31st birthday the next year. I worked at it a few times a week for many months, and by the grace of God, I finished the rough draft of my manuscript in July 2025.

But then, like so many things in my life, I set it to the side and didn’t touch it. It was beginning to look like it would be added to the ranks of unstained wood projects and half-finished books.

Next week, I’ll share more about what the journey looked like from there and how I went from an altogether unpolished manuscript to preparing it for publication.

But for now, I want to offer you a short excerpt from my first and soon-to-be-released book, From Vanity to Joy:

Coming Up Empty (Excerpt pp. 36-37)

Not one of us will ever have enough, make enough, be enough, or do enough to finally be satisfied. The teacher has proven through his own life’s experience that pursuing lasting satisfaction and meaning in life apart from God is a failed experiment. He might have lived thousands of years ago, but humanity hasn’t changed.

He might have had vineyards and gardens rather than a beach house. He might’ve had servants rather than followers on social media. He might’ve had livestock rather than a car or a yacht. Nevertheless, he had all that the world of his day would’ve said would make you happy. In our modern world, he would be a trillionaire who likewise attained major celebrity status—he had all the things that money could buy.

The teacher has tried a handful of experiments now. He’s tried understanding the world and figuring things out. He’s successfully lived for himself, enjoying pleasure as his greatest good, and he had it all. When that failed, he then tried to live uprightly and work hard. All of it has been empty and fraught with disappointment. The question is: Will we take his word for it? Or will we have to learn the hard way?

When satisfaction and meaning are pursued in the wrong places, they won’t be found, but that doesn’t mean they don’t exist. The disillusionment that is found in life under the sun should have us longing and looking for something else. Perhaps that is part of the reason the hardships are there—to drive us away from vanities to the source of true joy.

I hope you stay tuned, as I’m excited to tell you more about how this journey continued and how God brought it to completion. Lord willing, my book will be available for purchase in a little less than two weeks, on February 10th. I’ll know for sure if that date is going to be accurate here in two days or so when my next round of proof copies arrives, so stay tuned for updates.

In the meantime, if you’ve made it this far, thank you for your support, and I pray that my writing and my story will prove to be profitable in your own life and your pursuit of God’s purposes for you. God bless.

To everyone who follows my writing here on Substack, I wanted to touch base quickly before the new year with a brief update.

A Thank You

Before getting to the update, though, I want to say a big “Thank you!” to all of you who have supported my writing throughout the last year.

I started Substack back in February and, by the grace of God, was able to publish 274 posts throughout the year.

I’ve gained 170 subscribers from 30 states and 13 countries. I’ve had thousands of views in total on my posts. Many people have engaged with my material regularly, shared it, restacked it, told others about it, and more.

It’s humbling.

I praise God today that He lets me be a little part of what He is doing in the earth, and that my writing ministry online has touched so many lives. I pray that it glorifies Him and serves you all well.

An Update

My writing here on Substack essentially is an evolution of what began as short comments on Bible passages. These were originally written exclusively for my church family in a devotional group that we have on Facebook Messenger.

That said, we are beginning our next plan on January 5, 2026, to allow for a short breather. As such, if you’ve grown accustomed to seeing my weekday emails for any length of time, you won’t be receiving any this week.

This will be especially good for me, because, believe it or not, it’s a lot of work to keep this running.

I spend a lot of time in a given week writing and preparing these thoughts for my church family and then even more time organizing them here on Substack. I am ready for a few days of rest from writing.

That said, while resting from writing, this time slot is now devoted to editing. I am nearing the final stages of finishing my very first book!

I am super excited that in 2026, Lord willing, From Vanity to Joy: How Ecclesiastes Changed my Life and Could Change Yours Too will be available via Amazon.

I finished the original manuscript draft back in July and have largely let it sit until recently. I finally have a little extra time and the necessary motivation to pick it back up. My goal was originally to finish it by my birthday on February 11; however, at this point, my primary goal is to finish it before we welcome our next child into the world in March.

Currently, I have 8/12 chapters pretty well good to go, minus a final read through or two. I’m pushing to get the editing finished in the next week or two. Then I’m onto finishing the formatting, cover design, and the extra fun stuff that I’m learning along the way needs to be done.

I will keep you all updated when it comes out. I truly believe that it could be life-changing for the right person, and I’m eager to see how God uses it in the lives of others.

For now, I wanted to offer this short update so that you would know why emails are missing this week.

If you have yet to plan your personal Bible reading plan for the next year and would be interested in following along with my writing, you can find the plan that we will be doing here and download the PDF. We will be going through the Kings and Prophets of the Old Testament in roughly chronological order, and I would love to have you follow along.

Lastly, I pray that my writing ministry here is a continued blessing to you all and your faith, and I thank you for your continued support.

“As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: 11 whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen” (1 Pet. 4:10-11).

Happy New Year!

I’ll see you on the fifth of January. God bless.

—Josiah

If you’re a believer in Jesus Christ who has been born-again and taken out of the domain of darkness and transferred into the Kingdom of His Beloved Son, God has done something great in you.

Sometimes, we can lose sight of this.

As Christians, we’re all certain that we’re still imperfect. We still sin. We’ve got a long way to go, and we dwell on these things often. In conversation and behind the pulpit we hear of our continual imperfections.

These things are true.

We want to take heed of our own sinfulness left we fall (1 Cor. 10:12). Likewise, there is no condemnation for those in Christ (Rom. 8:1) and this should bring us hope and keep us from growing discouraged along the journey.

Yet, I believe at times in our overemphasis of these truths we forget the other side of the coin: that God has wrought a change in us.

The Apostle Peter, in 2 Peter 1, shares an incredibly powerful, and oft-overlooked truth of the Christian life,

“His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, ⁴ by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire” (2 Pet. 1:3-4).

According to Peter, under inspiration, everything that we need for a godly life has been graciously given to us by God. Now, obviously, this is post-salvation. For those who don’t know Christ it is true that no one does good and that as a result all are condemned.

However, for those who have been born-again, God has done a supernatural work within, whereby He’s given to us, through His divine power, everything we need for life and godliness (a God-pleasing life).

As a believer in Jesus Christ, yes, you’ll still be imperfect, but that knowledge shouldn’t cause us to wallow in patterns of sinfulness and to never grow. The general trajectory of the Christian life should be one of growing Christlikeness over time.

For Peter says that we’ve been made partakers of the divine nature.

Now, this doesn’t mean that we become gods. However, it does mean that we have a share in God, reflecting Him as His redeemed image-bearers.

Bible scholar Peter Davids, writes,

“The character of the divine nature must also be ethical and not simply another way of indicating immortality.”^[1]

In essence, we become more like Him. We grow into the image of Christ (Rom. 8:29). This is the fruit of one who is truly a Christian and it can happen because we have a new God-given potential as His redeemed people.

Many months ago, I was introduced to a television show that focused on the intense training practices of a branch of our military.

I don’t remember the name of the show, many of the details, or even which branch it involved. Nevertheless, I remember some of the things they were tasked with doing.

One session, they were to jump into a pool with their hands tied behind their back and their feet tied together. They had to swim like this, and eventually they had to bob their way down and pick up, I believe it was a pair of goggles, off the bottom of the pool. They might have also been blindfolded. The task was to do all of this without breaking the bands that held their feet or arms together.

It sounded like sure panic to me. It was a perplexing show to watch. I couldn’t believe human beings were capable of what I was watching them do.

Likewise, after recently finishing my first longer trail race of 17 miles, I am all the more amazed at those who do ultramarathons that are 200 or even 300 miles long. I’ve followed many of these people on social media and been inspired by their stories. I knew it was hard, running is hard, but I recently found out how much trail running is an entirely different animal. I can’t believe human beings are capable of doing that.

Yet, what remains true in all of these instances is that the people that are accomplishing these amazing feats are human just like us.

As such, we have the potential to be like them, for we are likewise human.

Now, I understand that genetics does play a role. Everyone is built differently with different strengths, weaknesses, and body shapes. Someone that is 5’0” tall will certainly have different capabilities than someone who is 6’6” tall. At times it will be a benefit, at others a detriment. Yet, in each case we’re all just as human as each other. We all have the potential to do those incredibly hard feats with the right training. The primary difference between us and them isn’t genetics, but rather lifestyle.

We all have potential, yet some use it and some don’t.

Now, let’s look back at what Peter is saying.

He is showing us that as new covenant believers in Jesus we have the potential to live a God-pleasing life. That is, now that you’ve been given the will and power to do what pleases Him (Phil. 2:13) you can actually walk in a way that is pleasing to God.

Again, you’ll still have sin that needs forgiving, but at the same time you have the potential to actually grow in your personal holiness in a way that reflects your Creator more tomorrow, or next week, than you did today.

Sometimes in our emphasis of imperfection we lose sight of this.

Peter begins by showcasing that there is great potential that believers in Jesus now have, as a gift of God’s grace. In light of this, he admonishes,

“For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, ⁶ and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, ⁷ and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. ⁸ For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁹ For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. ¹⁰ Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. ¹¹ For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Pet. 1:5-11).

Since you now have this newfound potential in Christ, make every effort, Peter says.

Be intentional. Grow. Add these virtues to your life. Don’t just sit on your hands, living your life in neutral, and bemoaning how you’ll always be imperfect. He’s opened the door for you to have a participation in the divine nature and has granted you everything you need for life and godliness.

The question is: Will you use it? Will you live up to your new God-given potential to grow into the image of Christ?

These qualities keep you from being unfruitful (v8) and they are the proof that is in the pudding that you are part of the people of God (v10-11). As James said, “So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead” (Jas. 2:17).

These qualities don’t make us right with God. Grace is the root, but these virtues are the fruit. They are the decisive proof of one who has been redeemed.

So, perhaps we ought to be diligent in looking over some of the virtue lists in the New Testament and seeing where our life is out of whack and then, in response, we make every effort to grow in a certain area.

We’re all comfortable noting that we’ve got growing to do, but are we willing to get uncomfortable and actually grow?

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^[1] Peter H. Davids, The Letters of 2 Peter and Jude, The Pillar New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Pub. Co., 2006), 176.

One of the things I love about God’s Word is how often we encounter background characters of incredible significance.

Now, in the eyes of the world, they might not be significant. Perhaps most Christians don’t know about them. But as we read through the story of Scripture, we’re bound to encounter them on page after page.

One of my favorite examples comes in a man by the name of Ananias.

In Acts 9, the Lord appears to Saul of Tarsus on the road to Damascus as he is preparing to imprison Christians. It’s a story we all love as it points to the awesome power of God to save anyone. In fact, that was the focus of my writing earlier this week.

Yet, the story isn’t complete without an obedient, Christian servant to connect the dots.

We know very little about Ananias. In fact, his name only shows up on two occasions in Scripture, both times in the retelling of Saul’s conversion.

In Acts 22, Paul would later recount that Ananias was, “a devout man according to the law, well spoken of by all the Jews who lived there” (Acts 22:12). In Acts 9, he is merely introduced as, “a disciple” (Acts 9:10). Amongst background characters in the Bible, he is one of the backgroundiest.

In fact, I did some searching on him in the resources I have within Logos Bible Software and all I came up with was one short, paragraph-long, writeup concerning him in the Lexham Bible Dictionary. Aside from that, my vast library of resources didn’t have anything.

He’s a nobody. At least, in the world’s eyes.

But like Saul, he was a chosen instrument in the sovereign purposes of God. Perhaps he wouldn’t be carrying the name of Jesus before Gentiles and kings, but he at the least carried the name of Jesus to one man—Saul.

The Lord calls to Ananias by name in a vision, and he responds simply, “Here I am, Lord” (Acts 9:10). Standing in the line of faithful believers from the past such as Abraham (Gen. 22:1), Jacob (Gen. 31:11), Moses (Ex. 3:4), and Isaiah (Is. 6:8) Ananias basically responds, “Lord, I’m at your service. What do you need?”

Ananias was first a man of readiness. When Jesus spoke, he answered.

But the command that was coming was something that Ananias wasn’t ready for,

“Saul of Tarsus has come to town, and I need you to go meet with him. Don’t worry, I let him know you’re coming.” (Acts 9:11-12, my paraphrase).

I can only imagine Ananias’ sudden quaking as he realized the task before him,

“Saul? Like the bad Saul? The one I’ve heard has come here to imprison and possibility have executed those who believe in you…like me? Yikes. Jesus, that Saul isn’t such a good idea. Are we sure there isn’t another Saul?”

Jesus responds,

“Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. ¹⁶ For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name” (Acts 9:15-16).

Ananias suddenly found himself in a difficult spot. He said he was at the Lord’s service, but then suddenly the Lord’s task was something that wasn’t too appealing. Nevertheless, the Scripture says in the very next verse, “So Ananias departed and entered the house” (Acts 9:17a). There was no further discussion. There was no further reasoning or questioning or any antics to get out of it on Ananias’ part. Rather there was simple faith-filled obedience.

If Jesus said that Saul is His chosen instrument, then he must be. It didn’t make sense. It seemed backwards. From all previous accounts it was dangerous—and he went anyway.

Coming upon him, Ananias called the persecutor a brother, accepting him just as Christ had, he prayed for him, and he baptized him (Acts 9:17-18).

Now, Ananias might not be known to many, but he was surely known to the apostle Paul. He was the one who in faith obeyed the Lord Jesus’ command. Even when the original apostles later doubted Saul’s conversion after he had been proclaiming Christ for a period of time, Ananias went to meet with him when there was no track record to calm his worries. He went simply on Jesus’ command.

We don’t know, at least according to Scripture, if Ananias ever did much else. On some websites I found there is actually a chapel located at what is purportedly his former home. Some say he later became a bishop. I don’t know. All I know is that when Jesus called, Ananias answered. He was there, he was ready, he was willing, and if his life was only for the purpose of praying for Saul, baptizing him, and getting him started on the Christian journey, I’d say his life was a grand success.

Truly, to some extent, the unimaginable fruit of Paul’s ministry is credited to Ananias’ account.

Perhaps our lives aren’t here to impact tens of thousands, thousands, or even hundreds.

Perhaps God has us on mission for the sake of a few, or even one.

Maybe a mother is simply tasked with the raising of a few children, but those children will go on to impact nations. Perhaps a manager will care for a coworker one day and lead them to Christ. Perhaps that coworker will end up devoting their life to pursuing biblical higher education and they will later teach future pastors whose messages will go on to impact congregations who will individually go on to impact countless other lives.

God works in amazing ways that we certainly can’t ever begin to fathom, and I dare say that if we’re obedient to what He tells us, then we’re a success—no matter what the outcome is no matter how numerous it is.

Here I am, Lord. I’m at your service. What do you need?

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In one week, Lord willing, I’ll be running my first marathon.

Now, this is something I’m very excited about, but honestly, I’m probably more anxious than excited as it gets closer to crunch-time. I’m not sure about you, but I’m very good at worrying. In fact, I can worry about the most ridiculous things that have almost no chance of happening.

So, I’ve been a bit worried about this race. I’ve raced four half-marathons in my few years of running and it was a goal of mine to run my first full marathon this year.

Throughout this training cycle I’ve felt pretty good minus having to overcome a broken toe and some niggles here and there. However, last Sunday I went out for my final long run and the longest run of my life (20 miles) and it was ugly.

When I had my 18- and 19-mile training runs I finished strong with negative splits the last three miles. This means my pace was progressing faster with each mile as I got close to the end. The 20-mile run was a different story. I was broken down by about mile eight, and my body completely gave out somewhere around mile-18. When I had previously finished strong up to that point and even beyond that point, things just didn’t go my way that night.

In fact, nearly everything went wrong, and I ended up walking the last mile and a half, which is something I’ve never had to do. Furthermore, I was traveling along in the pitch black on our local trail with my dying phone’s flashlight to guide the way. That is, until my good friend Kevin came out to motivate me for the last stretch and he brought some better light.

I was feeling fairly confident in my marathon training until this experience. I ran my tank all the way to empty that night both physically and emotionally and was in a really tough spot mentally. It was dark, cold, I hurt everywhere like I’ve never hurt before, and I was on the verge of being sick. So much so that I couldn’t eat the rest of the night.

I will have to confess that my fairly confident feeling about the upcoming race wavered significantly by the end of that night.

I can completely guarantee today that there is no possible way I could have gone for another six miles that night. However, it was the only run that went that poorly. As such, I’m trying to convince myself it was an anomaly—primarily because it was my only nighttime long run.

When my confidence was shaken, I decided to make a list of reasons I could do this marathon and do it well.

Instead of letting anxiety attack me, I made a list of 10 anxiety-attacking reasons. I determined I wasn’t going to play defense. I’m going to play offense. I’m not going to let worry lead me down a path of hopelessness, I’m going to go into this race with confidence and expectation.

One of the things that I added to my list is called the “perhaps of faith.”

A year ago, I preached through the books of 1-2 Samuel for Sunday worship at my local church and a handful of those messages have really stuck with me (I hope some of them stuck with my congregation too!).

In 1 Samuel 14, Saul is the king over Israel and he’s having problems with the Philistines. At this time, his son Jonathan (one of my favorite characters in Scripture) decided to go on the offensive. He sets out alone with only his armor-bearer accompanying him and doesn’t inform anyone.

They plan to attack a Philistine garrison atop a rocky crag. As such, Jonathan and his armor-bearer go up outnumbered and from a horrible offensive position. Fighting up a rocky hill is the furthest thing from ideal. Ideally, they would have had the higher ground.

And yet, Jonathan declares,

“Come, let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised. It may be that the Lord will work for us, for nothing can hinder the Lord from saving by many or by few” (1 Sam. 14:6, emphasis added).

Jonathan sees an impossible situation, and he responds with faith. In essence, he ponders, “Perhaps, this will go well.”

He has the miracle-working, sovereign Lord of heaven and earth on his team. The Philistines don’t have this! They’re truly the underdogs! Jonathan might be outmanned and outflanked, and yet he has the unfair advantage—Yahweh.

Jonathan ascends to what would naturally speaking be certain death, and yet the Philistines fell before him (1 Sam. 14:13-15). Later, some formerly frightened soldiers get involved and all in all the story concludes, “So the Lord saved Israel that day” (1 Sam. 14:23a).

Now, I fully understand that my marathon is significantly different than ancient Israelites battling Philistines. Likewise, I’m not doing this on God’s behalf necessarily, so I can’t be guaranteed that I’ll get a supernatural boost to my quadriceps, although I’d certainly take it. But the phrase, a “perhaps of faith” has stuck with me since I preached that sermon.

Truly, worry is faith being placed in a negative outcome rather than in the God who holds every outcome in His hands. We can look over whatever challenge might be coming in our lives and think, “perhaps this will go awful.” Or, we can think, “perhaps this will go well.”

Worry is mental energy wasted. I consistently find that much of what I worry about never happens, and much of what I stress about still gets accomplished, and by much of I mean probably 99.9 percent.

This week, I’m reviewing 10 reasons I can expect a positive outcome next Saturday. One is the “perhaps of faith.” Perhaps it will go better than I anticipate.

When I ran my third half marathon last October, I had a goal to run it in less than two hours, a common time goal.

I was nervous and losing sleep the night before the race, and I ended up beating my A-goal by about five minutes. My time was 1:48. I had time to spare. Perhaps, this next race will go this way as well, and it will be even easier than the 20-miler for reasons I won’t go into now.

But there’s a chance and I’m believing for it.

I’ve got a 26.2 sticker for the window of my car coming in the mail. Lord willing, perhaps next Saturday it will go on the back window of my car, and if not, I’ll try again in the future.

I pray you use this “perhaps” in your own life in challenges much greater than what I’m currently facing.

If God be for us, who can be against us? (Rom. 8:31b).

This week, I wanted to offer a short reflection on silence and how it’s been affecting my life. This writing is based upon some thoughts I shared at a home group gathering this last week for my local church.

I want you to consider briefly when, or if, you allow silence to inhabit your life. For some people, silence is a frightening thing and as such we must always have some noise, constantly, in life. We have the radio on while we commute. When we pray, we have background music on. When we exercise or clean the house we listen to a podcast or audio book. Truthfully, silence is something that many people try and avoid.

Why? Well, because when we’re silent some of what is inside of us comes bubbling up to the surface and we are forced to look at things we usually try to push aside. The conversation where we said something we shouldn’t have said and we’re still kicking ourselves. The loss of a loved one. The thing that we should be doing instead of what we’re doing right now. The hurtful thing that someone said to us. The poor state of our marriage, or a friendship that just ended. The diagnosis from the doctor that we wish we could unhear. The burden of family members who need help. Any number of things can come to mind and frequently they’re negative. Hence, we avoid silence.

I like to think of silence almost as a car sitting and idling. If an engine is finely tuned and firing on all cylinders, one of the ways you know this is that it has a good, clean, smooth idle. You can sit at a stoplight and not even know your car is running. It’s not vibrating out of control because it’s idling too low and likewise the engine isn’t revving because the idle is too high. It’s calm and right where it’s supposed to be. After having to replace spark plugs in our family car two weeks ago, I have some experience with rough idles (and also a misfiring engine!) When people stop, at idle, and enjoy silence, we find out just where our spiritual idle has been and if we’re properly tuned, as it were.

In Psalm 19, David writes in reflection of God’s creation (19:1-6), God’s law (19:7-11), and prays for God’s work on him (19:12-13). In essence, David is showing us where his idle is at. In a moment of silence, David is brought to worship, and a prayerful reflection. He then concludes with a powerful and truly beautiful prayer in verse 14,

“Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.”

David wants not only the outward to be right, but the inward. He’s not just focusing on his words that people can hear, but the very meditation of his heart that only God hears. Interestingly enough, the Hebrew word for “meditation” in this passage can also refer to a musical melody.^[1] David might play the lyre beautifully for others, but only God can hear the lyre that is within his heart. Only God knows what David dwells on. The things that come to mind in silence that he would repeat to himself over and over as he was out with the sheep. We do know from 2 Samuel 11 that David was also human, and he didn’t always get it right either. He’s like us.

A helpful word for me when I think of the idea of meditation is “ruminating.” Ruminating has the sense of thinking deeply, but it actually originates from an animal chewing the cud. Some animals have a seemingly unusual, God-given process, where they re-chew partially digested food. They are known as ruminants, animals that ruminate (chew the cud.) Now, while people thankfully don’t have to regurgitate their food, we do have a tendency to regurgitate thoughts and chew on them in our minds for extended periods of time. What our hearts are truly tuned to comes out most, I believe, in silence.

For David, the meditation of his heart from this psalm is wonderful. He’s reflecting on God’s glory in the creation with the sun, moon, and stars. He’s reflecting on God’s commandments and how they benefit us. David even prays for God to keep him from hidden faults that he might not even be aware of (19:12-13). In summary, his prayer is that the lyre within his heart would play a beautiful melody for God inwardly just as his fingers would have played outwardly.

I want us to consider what the meditation of our hearts is like. When silence comes, what bubbles to the surface? Praise of God or personal hurts? Thanksgiving, or complaining? Thoughtful reflection, or unhealthy rumination. Is our idle rough? Are we perhaps dwelling on ungodly thoughts that cause our spiritual engines to not fire on all cylinders?

The Apostle Paul once described this in terms of how we ought to think in Philippians 4:8,

“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”

So, I want to challenge you. This next week, find time to enjoy (or at least try to enjoy!) some silence. Whether it’s early in the morning, or late at night. If it’s on the commute to work, or when the kids are taking a nap. If it’s on a run, or on your lunch break. Recently, I’ve been in the midst of marathon training, and this means I’m going out for runs that are 2.5-3 hours long on Saturday mornings. I’m not disciplined enough to enjoy that much time in silence at this point. But I’ve been trying to intentionally take 30-45 minutes of those runs in (almost) silence, just hearing the sound of my shoes on the gravel and the birds singing God’s praise. It’s been an interesting time of reflection that has brought out areas I need to work on and on other days caused me to rejoice in praise to God for His gifts to me.

Take some time in silence and reflection and see what comes to the surface and what that might mean. Perhaps worship in response to God’s glory in creation needs to give you a tune-up. Perhaps God’s Word needs to give you a tune-up. Or perhaps your spiritual engine is firing on all cylinders, and you can just praise and thank God in response. I would also encourage you to read the whole of Psalm 19. Truly, it’s a beautiful psalm.

“Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.”

^[1] Francis Brown, Samuel Rolles Driver, and Charles Augustus Briggs, Enhanced Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1977), 212.

Today, I turned 30 years old, and today, for the most part is a pretty run-of-the-mill day. Tuesdays are a day that I take the vast majority of the day in Sunday morning sermon prep. After a short period of time in pastoral ministry, I found that many things have a tendency to pop up during the week that aren’t necessarily expected. Projects occur, people get sick, things happen outside of my control that might put my preparations off until the weekend if I’m not careful. I never want to be scrambling to slap a message together on Saturday night. So, I set up my schedule that on a normal week Tuesday is a non-negotiable day of sermon preparation.

If I have to teach the next day on Wednesday night and I’m behind on prep? Tuesday is Sunday sermon preparation time. If I have some sort of physical thing going on and I need to visit the doctor? It’ll have to be on another day, because Tuesday is Sunday sermon preparation time. Holiday? Generally, Tuesday is Sunday sermon prep time. Very, very rarely do I change this, unless there is something else that I really should attend (Like a pastor’s retreat this last January) that I don’t get a say in scheduling.

So, today, I will spend my longest workday of the week in the office, opening up God’s Word to Ecclesiastes chapter two, and praying that God opens my eyes to behold wondrous things out of His law, that I might be able to speak His Word on Sunday, February 16, 2025. I’ll be gone most of the day from family, and tonight I have a board meeting. I don’t know anyone that gets particularly excited about board meetings, for most they are a necessary evil. I don’t have a strong opinion about them, but I can probably honestly say that it’s not what I would have planned to do on my 30th birthday. Today is going to be a very ordinary and yet very busy day. It’s at this time that I remind myself I prayed for this.

There was a period of time in my life where all I wanted in the world was to enter vocational ministry and to have the blessed privilege of opening God’s Word for a living. I’m sure there are many young men in the world who wish to be here, and furthermore, I know there are many who do it bi-vocationally that wish to be in this position as well. I’m here, and I prayed for this. Perhaps I didn’t pray for a board meeting on my 30th birthday, but I prayed for this. It’s such a wonderful blessing from God to be able to serve in pastoral ministry.

As I reflect on this, today, I wonder how often in our lives we enjoy answered prayers in the present that we forget to thank God for and we take for granted. We hope, wish, and pray for things throughout our lives, and then they come and go and we move on. I even think of the classic “prayer-chain” that probably every local church has in one way or another. We send out requests via text, phone calls, Facebook, or any number of means to get them out. But how often do prayer requests actually become praise reports? I don’t say this to say that prayers aren’t answered. I say this to say we often forget to stop and thank God for what He’s done in our lives, for His answered prayers, because we simply move on with our lives.

If I could ask anyone who might be reading this for a birthday gift, it would be simply this: Look over your own life today, and think about how much that you enjoy in the present that is an answered request from the past. If you find something, thank God for it.

Here are a few from my own life:

1. When my firstborn daughter was around one year old, the doctor was concerned that her skull had prematurely fused (something a young father knows absolutely nothing about!) and this was a scary thing. She might have to get her skull cut back open surgically (something a young father never wants to hear!) and we prayed and prayed and prayed and prayed, and she was fine. I thank God for this today.

2. A few years ago, God put it on my heart to attend seminary and to work towards an MDiv (Master of Divinity) as part of my preparation for pastoral ministry. We didn’t make a ton of money and we had quite a few expenses and things in life that made it seem like an insurmountable goal. I wasn’t willing to take out student loans to become a preacher, even though I felt this was what God had for me. Why? Well, I don’t believe that debt is a blessing from God, and I didn’t want financial concerns to be a major deciding factor in where I could serve. I know some churches can’t afford a pastor who has huge loans, and I never wanted this to even be a consideration. Well, I graduated in December of 2022 with an MDIV from the Capital Seminary of Lancaster Bible College with $0 in student loan debt. Not only this, but we never even had to enter into the payment program to pay off tuition throughout the semester. We paid the full amount, in cash, up front, each semester. I never thought any of that was possible, but I thank God for this today.

3. I already mentioned about becoming a pastor, but this was a big thing for me in life. It was what we believed God had made me to do, and we were hoping that someday God would open the door for me. One day, totally out of the blue, I saw online that there was a church in Shamokin, PA that needed a pastor and it seemed like it would be the perfect place for my family. I reached out, and a few months later became the pastor of Grace Chapel. God opened the door for me to do what I wanted to do, and it has been such a blessing in my life. Not only this, but I didn’t have to move across the country to find a church. We really hoped to stay near family, if possible, although we were willing to go wherever He led us. I recently met a young man serving as a pastor in a far more rural area of Pennsylvania than me, and he moved up here from Florida. I believe he said his nearest family was in the Carolinas! I moved about three hours from my family, and we’re even closer to my in-laws, and I’m serving, doing what I believe God has made me to do. I thank God for this today.

4. After the birth of my first daughter, it seemed the chances of having another child were slim at best, and more realistically zero. For a few years my wife and I talked about it off and on, conversations rarely tended to go great on the subject, and it was a matter of prayer for me. I really wanted more children, but it seemed it would take a miracle. In 2023, we welcomed my second daughter into this world and truly Abigail is “Her father’s joy.” I have found such joy in this little girl that God has given to us, and I thank God for her today.

I’m sure I could go on and on and on, but I’ll stop here after just a few of the big things. I hope that you’ll look over your own life today and consider what you are enjoying in the present that was a request in the past. Stop and thank God for these things, because you’re presently enjoying what you used to pray for. All of us have something, even if it might not be everything, and even if you’re going through hard times. I don’t want to be dismissive of real problems you might be having, but all of us have something today that we formerly wanted. We should take a minute and thank God for it today.

This is my birthday request of you, God bless.

Josiah

“give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thess. 5:18)