The Queue

Proofs are done

Good grief, what an adventure!

After ten years of writing, I hit a milestone today, and approved proofs for God�s Choice. The book may be in time for the original June 15 deadline set three or four months ago. I am very much enjoying this feeling, although it is a bit anticlimactic. It only took 15 minutes to review the revisions from two separate edit documents. It seems like the last set should be harder than that.

Now the fun begins. I have an interview with Dr. Mel Lawrenz in Milwaukee at the beginning of June. That program will be seen in Milwaukee on a Sunday morning, and should provide some sales given the 500th birthday of John Calvin that month. I also will begin to work radio stations and book reviewers. I have been using Facebook and Twitter to publicize progress on the book, as well as this blog. My email campaign begins with friends and family I�ve enlisted to help publicize the book � hopefully I can get an angle that causes this to go viral (I�m still working on that one).

More to come!

-djq

The Resurgence of "Calvinism"

Oh boy! Is Calvinism getting attention. And not just because it's the 500th birthday of John Calvin on July 10th of 2009, but because it is making a resurgence. In fact, so much so that Time Magazine declared Calvinism to be the third most influential trend coming up in 2009.

Calvinism, or Reformed Theology, or "the doctrines of grace," tends to be a polarizing idea. For those who know of the doctrine, it is either fervently embraced or vehemently rejected. In fact, the idea of predestination and its accompanying doctrine of election were at the heart of the Reformation - not just for John Calvin, but also for Martin Luther. Luther said his most cherished work was "Bondage of the Will," a treatise on the sovereignty of God in salvation.

This summer, expect multiple stories and much talk about Calvin and Reformed theology. All the experts will line up to toss in their two cents worth. I'm no expert, but as a humble disciple of Calvin, Luther, Augustine, Paul, ultimately Jesus, I must voice my understanding with the rest. My unique perspective is as a layman. I do not have the luxury of expert opinion. Therefore my book, "God's Choice, A Layman's Perspective on Election and Predestination," centers primarily on Scripture.

As the others opine, I commend my book to you. The average layman should be able to calmly learn and evaluate this doctrine in the light of Scripture. Come see. You may just be amazed at what you find!

The Journey Begins

It�s hard to understand why a businessman would write a book on Theology. Why not write about, well, business? Or if not business, why not write something more fun, like fiction?

I guess the answer is because as a boy I wanted to understand who God is. The book documents a small part of that journey. In fact, it starts at the very beginning. How can we know God? Perhaps it is the height of arrogance to believe that the creator of the universe would want to have a relationship of just one of his billions of creatures. Why would I be special? Why would you?

We can look at creation and assume God. Yes, many scientists assert that neo-Darwinian evolution precludes the necessity of belief in God, but modern scientific theories really do nothing of the sort. The argument that science allows for the non-existence of God is a circular argument. Modern science excludes God a priori. But nature gives us a sense that there is a transcendent being of some sort, and that this being taps into some kind of eternal power source � or is an eternal power source.

If only he had left us a message in a bottle. Some scrap of information beyond DNA code that we could read and understand. I would kneel before that kind of greatness. Is it too much to believe that we could do so? Is it too much to dream of reconnecting with our Creator? Can I dare even to hope that my Creator loves me?

The book is titled, God�s Choice: A Layman�s Perspective on Election and Predestination. In it, I assume that the Bible is our Creator�s �message in a bottle,� and I use it to try and understand who I am, who God is, and what our relationship can be as a result.