A glimpse into my next book...

I've received a few emails asking if and when I will have a second book out. Well, I just finished writing the first draft last week! Of course that means that it goes to an editor at NavPress for an overhaul and rework. But I thought I'd share a bit with you. This section comes out of the chapter on "Doubt and Discouragement". Tell me what you think. Just be gentle, I'm fragile. :-)

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Jesus and Grover Together
As the steam dissipated from the mirror, I found myself gazing at someone whom I wasn’t sure I knew. I stood there repeatedly asking myself the same question, “Are you even saved?” The guy in the mirror had a freshly shaved face, a couple shiny new earrings, and thanks to his new Sonic Care toothbrush—some pearly white teeth. But underneath the cutting edge emergent pastor look there was a seemingly sewer pipe full of doubt bringing a stench to my spiritual air.

This was a real bad way to start a Sunday morning. I stood there looking into my own eyes and I couldn’t honestly say that I truly believed anymore. Today God felt like an imaginary friend. My son had his stuffed Grover doll, my daughter had her Polly Pockets, and I had Jesus. My kids could invite 3 or 4 friends over to play house or Sesame Street and I thought that was cute. But in 2 hours, I was inviting 200 friends over to play church—and that stressed me out. I felt like a total poser. Like agent Muldar of the X-files, I cried out, “I want to believe!”

Maybe my mind had just been playing tricks on me all these years. This morning God seemed so distant—so make-believe. And here I was promoting my own version of a Wonder-bra spirituality. I was trying hard to prop of my externals so that no one would notice the fear and unbelief brewing within.

Now don’t get me wrong. I was sincere. At least this morning I sincerely wanted to be sincere. Actually, I sincerely wanted to be sincere about my sincerity. Maybe that’s why this whole faith and doubt thing was getting so complex. I was becoming as complex spiritually as toddlers become pretendingly, if that’s even a word.

Follow me here for a moment. What we look at in toddlerhood as simple pretend play is actually a progression of some amazingly complex brain power. Watch a two year old play and you’ll notice they have an incredible ability to pretend they are something else—“I’m a kitty (meow)… I’m a bear (grrr)… I’m a fireman (woo, wooo) etc.” Pretty straight forward pretending—I pretend to be someone or something else.

Then toddlers take an intellectual leap. Soon they can take an inanimate object (like a doll) and pretend to talk to it and have it talk back. Yep, now I’m not only the one involved in pretending, but I get an object to pretend with me. Or give a kid a toy gun and suddenly he is pretend shooting at every moving object that walks by. But the complexity continues…
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Okay, so there is a piece. What do ya think?