Forever Grateful

I was not there when it all began.  A young couple made a choice that would affect my life forever.  In the midst of World War II in England they decided not to cower in fear, but to advance forward in faith.  With very limited resources, they trusted God for his unlimited supply and gave their lives away for a lifetime of adventure.  This young couple were my grandparents, Ken and Bessie Adams and they founded CLC in 1941 “not knowing wither”.  How could they know all that God had planned for them and all that would be accomplished in His name through these “reasonably obedient” servants.

This week, I had the great joy of celebrating CLC’s 75^th birthday with my friends and colleagues from all over the world.  It is hard to believe that I have been a part of this illustrious organization for the last twenty years myself.  We gathered in England at a conference center just north of London to celebrate on all that God has done while keeping our eyes fixed on the horizon to see what He will do in the years ahead.  So much has changed over these decades and yet the core purpose and values of the ministry remain the same – seeing lives transformed by the power of the Gospel through the printed page.

One of the changes that took place this week was a changing of the guard.  It was not quite as spectacular an affair as the one that takes place each day at Buckingham Palace, but quite important for our organization.  Neil Wardrope, who has been our International Director for the last twelve years was stepping down and Gerardo Scalante was elected to replace him.  This momentous decision puts a Latino in the helm for the first time in our history and mirrors the move of the center of gravity of the worldwide evangelical movement as it has moved to the global south.  Gerardo has served in CLC in various capacities since his late teenage years and is clearly the right person for this important job.

My own role in CLC is changing as well as I was confirmed as the Regional Director for North America and the Caribbean.  I will take on this new role in addition to my current responsibilities as National Director for CLC USA and will be committing about 25% of my time to working with my colleagues in Canada and four Caribbean islands.  As I look to the future, I am excited about what God has in store for our part of the world.  So many signs point to challenging days ahead for Christian retailing and publishing, but I am choosing not to pay attention to “the giants in the land”.  Instead I am to looking to my heavenly father who is bigger than any giants we will ever face.

One of the great joys of this week was a full day of celebration that was dedicated to honoring the past and what God has done over 75 years in our ministry.  My parents, who have served in CLC for almost 50 years, were here for the occasion as well as many of my relatives that live in the UK.   It was remarkable to hear from so many “senior saints” as they recalled the impact of Christian literature in their lives and the part they played in the global expansion of CLC.  One thread connected all of their stories.  They all served a faithful God who provided in miraculous ways.  Very often, when they could not see a way forward God showed up to provide an answer they had not even considered possible.

I am forever grateful for the choice my grandparents made to surrender their lives fully to God.  I am forever grateful that my parents followed in their footsteps.  I am forever grateful to be a part of an organization that is fulfilling the great commission in over fifty countries of the world.  I am forever grateful to be able to worship God with my brothers and sisters in so many languages.  I am forever grateful for the saints that have gone on before me to pave a way for the gospel to advance – changing the world one book at a time.

Paradise Found

I woke up in Cornwall this week and thought that I was in a dream.  It couldn’t be real.  This land of my ancestors in southwest England had been the stuff of legend in my family and I was finally here.  Despite hearing about the village of Porthleven since I was a little child, nothing could really prepare me for the breathtaking beauty that is the norm in this part of the world.  The people that live here wake up to some of the most startlingly gorgeous scenery that I have ever experienced.  Hedgerows practically bursting with flowers line the narrow lanes.  Deep green fields dotted with sheep and cows roll over the hills right to edge of the sea.  The villages are tucked neatly into the cliff sides and surround the most picturesque harbors where the boats are neatly lined up for pleasure trips or fishing ventures.

Our tour guide for the week was one of our cousins (a couple time removed) named Miriam.   Before I go any further, I need to clarify – nearly everyone in Porthleven seems to be related to us.  My grandmother was one of twelve children and the descendants of her parents are now like the sands on the seashore – too numerous to count.  The purpose of our trip was to celebrate my parent’s fiftieth wedding anniversary in a place that has meant so much to them over the years.  It is the first time that Deb, myself and one of my siblings had ever been here and shame on us for taking so long to make the trip.  From start to finish, the trip was a delight and it seemed like every day was better than the day before.

The Cornish love their food and we love it too.  Known around the world for something called the Cornish Pasty, this meat and potato pastry is a treat that as originally developed as a quick hand held meal for the miners that worked in this area.  While the mines have closed, the Pasty remains king of the local diet.  Many other wonderful foods are popular in these parts including fish and chips and the “proper Sunday lunch” that must include a roast and Yorkshire Pudding.  My favorite discovery of the week has been Cornish Cream that is a must on locally baked scones.  I am afraid that eating here for more than a week could result in some serious damage to my waistline.

In April, this trip was nearly derailed when my mother got quite sick after some food poisoning.  For several days, we wondered if we would have to cancel the whole thing.  Certainly, we expected that mom would have to take it easy and be careful not to overdo it during this week.  To our surprise and joy, she seems to have found something particularly healing in the air in Cornwall and has joined in on all our activities.  The highlight of the week was a planned walk along a path to the “lo-bar” where a sand dune separates a fresh water lake and the sea.  This involved several miles of walking and we wondered how my parents would fare.  Dad had two back surgeries in the last few years and mom is still recovering from eleven days in the hospital.  Saturday dawned with beautiful sunshine and my parents led the way down the scenic path to sea.  They made it all the way to our designated stopping point and proved that there is something life-giving about this place.

Now that I have met so many of my relatives for the first time, one thing is for certain – I am definitely coming back.  It is amazing how much love they expressed to people they had never met before.  This relatively unknown place was the proving ground for the faith of my grandmother who first led people to Christ in the towns and villages surrounding Porthleven.  I am deeply indebted to all that God has done in and through her and the family that reared her.  What connects this vast extended family today is our faith.  While not all of the relatives are born again believers, many are.  Some are ministers and others have planted churches of their own.  Today, I had the joy of preaching at “The Barn Fellowship” where one of my cousins decided to start a church on their farm.  How exciting to join with family and friends as they worshiped with gusto and made the old hymns come alive again.  May the Lord bring revival to this land of fisherman and farmers as they maintain the faith of their fathers and pray for a fresh wind and fresh fire.

 

Where Have All the Years Gone?

We nearly called him Katy.  That’s right, we thought our second son was going to be a girl all the way up until three weeks before he was born.  So much for effective ultrasounds.  Well, after all that, we named him Michael, after the archangel of course.  This week, he graduated from high school and is no longer “my little boy.”  Who knew the years would go by so fast?

Time has this pesky habit of moving in one direction and never stops to let you take a breath.  One day you are talking about what it might be like to have kids and soon enough you are in a delivery room.  Nobody really prepares you for these seismic shifts and how could they.  Life doesn’t give you much time to dip your toe in the shallow end of the pool.  More often than not, events can overwhelm us and make it feel like we are being thrown in the deep end with no life preserver.  At moments like that, it’s good to know who created this crazy world in the first place.

When Mike was born, he brought a new dimension into our family.  No longer was his brother an only child.  Kenny now had to compete for Mom and Dad’s attention, but he also had a new best friend.  It was clear from the beginning that Mike was going to bring laughter and joy into our lives as well as terror and surprise.  He loved being around other people and had no fear of trying new things.  Even as a little boy, he would bring a smile to our faces with the smallest gesture and the hilarious reactions he would have to people he met.

Growing up, Mike loved to play sports and tolerated school as a way of connecting with other people and getting a chance to play on various teams.  Deb and I spent many evenings and weekends on the sidelines of baseball and soccer fields as we watched him fearlessly learning to pitch or score goals.  Where other kids were afraid to step onto the mound to face experienced batters, Mike gave it a try right away and got better with every attempt regardless of the outcome.  It always amazed me how committed Mike was to get better at what he was doing, even if it required hours of practice and lots of physical exertion.

During his high school years, Mike came into his own and developed a huge number of friendships.  He had so many friends that we often had difficulty keeping up with who he was hanging out with at any given moment.  People just liked being around him.  During the summer between his junior and senior years, Mike made a courageous choice that impacted many of these friendships.  He chose to attend a new high school for his final year and accept all the challenges that go along with that kind of decision.  That decision allowed him to be a starter on the soccer team and a member of a record breaking basketball team.

Mike is headed for college in the fall and a whole new set of friends.  For many people, that reality can be pretty intimidating.  Somehow though, I think Mike is going to do just fine.  He gets one more opportunity to make people laugh and to make his mark on the world.  We are going to miss him around the house (maybe not the humongous amount of laundry he creates), but know this is the right step for him.

Deb and I are looking forward to more time together, but realize that parenting doesn’t stop when kids turn eighteen.  We are all headed into a new season and none of us knows what the future holds, but we do know who holds the future.  Even as we hope for a few moments to catch our breath, we are so glad that we serve the one who gave us breath in the first place.  No matter what lies ahead, we know that He has plan for us – to prosper us and not harm us, to give us hope and a future.  And he has a plan for Mike too – can’t wait to see how it all turns out.

The Bookstore that Matters – An Interview with Myself

One of the benefits of writing my own blog is that I get to write what I want.  Today I am going to do an interview with myself about my new book, The Bookstore that Matters, which will soon be available.

 So Dave, why did you decide to write this book in the first place?

About three years ago I came across some information that really disturbed me.   For many years, the big box bookstores had dominated the landscape in America and then Borders closed.  This sudden and massive restructuring of the book retailing world had a really interesting outcome.  Independent secular bookstores that belonged to the American Booksellers Association, began growing again.  They had been closing in droves for years and now a bunch of new ones were opening.  Even authors themselves were getting into the game and opening bookstores for their local communities.  At the same time as this was happening independent Christian bookstores continued closing in significant numbers and that trend has not reversed itself.

How does your book respond to this reality?

I am convinced that independent Christian bookstores can grow again and that we need a new generation of bookstore owners and managers.  My book’s premise is that if your bookstore matters to the community, people will come, they will shop and the will tell their friends.  This new Christian book retailer will need to be agile, adaptable and willing to experiment to meet the needs in his or her community.  My book tells the remarkable story of a little bookstore in Philadelphia that did just that.  In the face of stiff new competition from the internet, big box secular bookstores, and even Wal-Mart now selling Christian books, this little store grew and thrived.

Why did you decide to self-publish this book rather than find a traditional publishing partner?

This was a tricky decision for me as I am the publisher for CLC Publications and work with many authors in the traditional publishing world.  In addition, I have many friends that work for traditional Christian publishers.  That said, I recognized that this is a niche book and has a very targeted audience.  It is uniquely appropriate for the self-publishing strategy and I wanted to learn how to go about the process myself.  Fairly often I will recommend self-publishing to new authors whose books are not well suited to the traditional publishing world and now I can testify to what they will be going through.

What have you learned from the process of writing a book?

Writing a book about something you know or that has happened to you can be a labor of love.  For me, this book was a joy to write and stretched me in a lot of important ways.  I did realize pretty quickly that I was going to have to take a hiatus from writing my blog in order to create the space and time I needed to tackle a project this big.  Working with a team of outsourced professionals was fun and designing the cover proved to be an exciting part of process.  I would encourage any serious writer to challenge themselves to take on a book length project at some time in their career.

What are your hopes for this book?

I hope that this book will be an encouragement to current Christian bookstore owners and managers.  In addition, I hope to inspire a new generation of retailers that are want to impact their communities.  The book contains lots of stories and is a pretty quick read, so I hope that anyone who is working in the Christian book industry will pick it up, read it, recommend it and most importantly, apply the principles that I discuss.  My prayer is that the book will be a catalyst for a wider discussion among industry leaders and influencers about how independent Christian retailing can grow and thrive in the years to come.

Look for more details in a future blog post about how to purchase copies of this important new book.