What Do You Write?

I do guest speaking these days. Usually, but not always, in churches. I will often be introduced as a retired pastor and an author. The follow-up question is “What kind of books do you write?” My short answer is “religious” or “spiritual.” But I have found that those short answers do not answer the question adequately. Those words can mean almost anything these days.

In this blog post I will attempt to answer that question more fully. What do I write? My books fall into three categories. One is Biblical. I have written books on the Biblical books of Esther, the Song of Solomon, and Revelation. I wrote a book exploring the resurrection of Jesus in the New Testament, entitled The Evolution of Easter. I also authored my own paraphrase of the Parables of Jesus.

A second category of books is Ministry, with a smattering of Church History thrown in. These are The Baptist Church Covenant, A People Called Baptist, and my first book, More Than a Purpose, which is an analysis of the megachurch movement.

A third category is Spirituality. These books are dearest to my heart. My best-selling book is a modern translation of Brother Lawrence’s The Practice of the Presence of God. The second most popular is The Tao of Christ, which is a Christian version of the Chinese classic The Tao Te Ching. 

Third is my modern retelling of John Bunyan’s classic, The Pilgrim’s Progress, entitled The Seeker’s Journey. I also have books on my personal spiritual practice: Experiencing God Directly and Living Presence.

A couple of books do not fit these three categories, so I will put them into a third uncategorized category. There is my exploration of the New Atheism entitled Thank God for Atheists. I also published a children’s book, which is my sole attempt at writing fiction. I wrote it decades ago, chapter by chapter, to read to my young daughter at bedtime. It is entitled The Hidden Ones.

I have a new book coming out this fall which encompasses multiple categories. It is entitled What Your Pastor Won’t Tell You (But I Can Because I’m Retired). It includes chapters on ministry, science, the Bible, church history, theology, and ethics. I get personal about the difficulties of being a pastor. I also deal with some controversial issues that most pastors avoid. Topics like abuse, LGBTQ issues, evolution, climate change, and many more. I speak uncomfortable truths to comfortable Christians.

That is my writing career in 500 words or less. So what will I reply next time I am asked what type of books I write? Probably “religious” or “spiritual.”

If you are interested in any of these books you can read more about them on my Amazon author page. Just click HERE or do a Google search for “Marshall Davis books.”