Hey friends–
As it’s been awhile since I’ve done one of these, I thought I’d pass along a little update.
Since I last wrote:
- We successfully launched New Life East
- The world went haywire with Covid-19
- Mandi and I celebrated 20 years of marriage (August 6th!)
- And oh yeah, I’ve got a book coming out
Other than that, it’s been uneventful 🙂
Truly, though, like everyone, our year has been full of ups and downs and we’ve had to live by the daily bread of God’s kindness. And he has been kind.
New Life East has been a real joy. We came out of the gate hot early this year with attendance that was, frankly, a little baffling… and then, like everyone, watched everything come to a screeching halt with Covid-19. We resumed services on Thursday nights at our main New Life campus before re-launching this past weekend at Grand Peak Academy, over on the east side.
On the human level, I think we should have been discouraged by the slowdown that Covid caused. But God used it. Our sense of who we are–group identity–got stronger. I watched relationships come together really beautifully. And the Spirit started breathing on our gatherings in a really profound way. All of which piled into last weekend. (You can watch last week’s service here.) I’m so encouraged. If you’re in the Springs–come and visit us sometime.
I’m also writing this just to give you a heads up on a couple things related to the release of All Flame: Entering Into the Life of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit with NavPress next month.
First, you’ll see that I’ve updated my website to help with the promotion of the book. A few things related to that:
- I’m planning on keeping my blog a bit more updated than I have recently. As I’ve been writing more for Missio Alliance and Mere Orthodoxy (and trying to get a book released!), some of my writing habits have changed some. I plan on using the blog here for more personal updates, sporadic short reflections, book reviews, poetry, and more.
- Since my poetry has become a bit of a thing of late, I’m going to intersperse some of my favorite pieces among the blog posts.
- I’m also planning on releasing a monthly newsletter that I think will include some of the above as well as anything else that seems fun and interesting to pass along. Please sign up for the newsletter HERE!!!
So, poke around the new website a bit and tell me what you think!
Second – the BOOK! I’m incredibly excited to share this project with you. It’s truly a lifetime in the making. I’ve been calling it “a trinitarian spiritual theology that focuses especially on how God uses seasons of crisis and difficulty to deepen our union with him.” (You can watch me reading a snippet from the Introduction here.)
I really, really think you’re going to like it. For me, this book represents lessons learned in walking with God over a lifetime, convictions forged in the context both of personal struggle and walking with others through struggle. I’ve written, taught, and preached on these themes for the better part of the last 15 years, and I think it’s going to help a ton of people.
I especially think this book is going to be helpful for those whose faith is hanging on by a thread. Too many folks these days, in my opinion, are walking away from the faith because no one has ever taken the time to show them that every single human experience we can ever have–even the experience of (seemingly) “losing” your faith–already-always has its place in the reality and mystery of the triune God.
So…
- Pre-order your copy on Amazon today! All Flame releases September 15th.
- When you get it, help me promote it by talking about it a ton on social media, using the hashtags #allflame and #allflamebook and tagging both me (@theandrewarndt) and my publisher (@navpress).
- If you’d like me to come and speak at your church, retreat, or conference, or appear on your podcast, holler at me HERE.
That’s that. Thanks as always for your interest and support in what me and my family have been up to. It’s a joy to serve you.
The peace of the Lord,
Andrew
