Читать книгу Rite of Passage for the Home and Church - D. Kevin Brown - Страница 4

I would have never had the opportunity to write this book had it not been for Dr. David Alan Black. Dr. Black is professor of New Testament and Greek at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. I have had the privilege of traveling to Ethiopia with Dr. Black and his wife, BeckyLynn. During our last trip, in the summer of 2010, Dr. Black encouraged me to write a book about my desire to teach and equip families and churches to raise Christ-centered young adults. I quickly began sharing all the reasons why I could not do so. However, over time and with some persistent prodding from Dave and my wife, I decided to take the plunge. I feel a tremendous amount of gratitude toward Dr. Black for his gentle persuasion and putting me in contact with such a great publisher. I would never have written this book if we had not met. Dave and BeckyLynn are truly my greatest spiritual mentors. I am grateful for their investment in me and family.

I want to thank Henry Neufeld, owner of Energion Publications, who helped this inexperienced writer greatly. I sincerely appreciate his time and effort in my regard. I am thankful for a publisher like Henry who gives people like me an opportunity to write a book, even though we have no prior background in the trade.

I am genuinely humbled to have such a loving church family at Mt. Pleasant Baptist Church. I appreciate immensely such a wonderful and supportive church. The many prayers and well wishes and words of encouragement during the process of writing were so inspiring. I also appreciate those dedicated men that helped teach on Wednesday nights and at Iron Men, so I could have time to write.

I learned very quickly that I needed some good proofreaders and editors to look over my shoulder and help me with grammar, spelling and content. David and Kathy Brown, my parents, along with my sister, Kim B. Church, were always ready and willing to read a stack of new material. I also want to thank Dale and Lori Jennings and Caison and Amy Jones for their insightful viewpoints and fantastic suggestions. What a blessing!

There isn’t enough time or enough pages in this book to offer enough thanks to my wife, Pam, for all she did to help me in writing this book. My children endured quite a bit as well as the manuscript deadline approached and I’m thankful for their love and support. Ultimately, I could not have and would not have written this book if it had not been for their encouragement and understanding. We persevered together! I must say that Pam’s help as my main proofreader was indispensable. She literally could be considered my “co-author” for this project. Her ability to express ideas and concepts is truly amazing. God knew before time began that he would pair me with an English-major. I still have in my mind the mental image of Pam lying in bed until after midnight with a red pen in hand and reading glasses on her nose feverishly editing for me. I am blessed among men!

Finally, I want to thank Jesus Christ, whom I invited into my life as a ten-year-old boy. He has patiently and lovingly been my good shepherd. He has given me an abundant life because he willingly sacrificed his own. He is my Lord and I sincerely desire to follow Him and live only for his kingdom. I am grateful that He has done immeasurably more than all I have asked or imagined according to his power that is at work within me!