Kevin Johnson Books

Just Out | The Amazing Bible Adventure for Kids

 

A few years back I wrote a couple children’s books for Josh McDowell, a guy who has spoken in 118 countries and has 51 million books distributed worldwide. The two books now have a fresh look from Harvest House Publishers—new titles, covers, and illustrations. Very nicely done and I'm grateful for the partnership. The Awesome Book of Bible Answers came out in April 2011, and The Amazing Bible Adventure for Kids: Finding the Awesome Truth in God’s Word started to ship just days ago. There’s a heap of amazing awesomeness in these books that aim to ground children ages 7-11 in the basics of faith. Originally published as The Great Treasure Quest, this second book focuses on Scripture. In grown-up terms, it covers the Bible’s reliability and relevance—why we can trust God’s book and how it teaches us to know him.

 

Catching Up | Aliens in the Jury Pool

For the first time ever I have been summoned for jury duty. As I wait in the local county courthouse with a couple hundred other potential jurors, I’m perusing the latest issue of Astronomy magazine. It’s always packed with dazzling space photos and news of the latest telescope gizmos. But this month the cover asks “What Happens When We Detect Alien Life?” I wonder if I look too crazy to get picked for a jury, or maybe too crazy not to.

A year has passed since I last posted. Busy time—and here’s everything new.

I’m eager to see the Rock Solid Faith Study Bible for Teens in September 2012, a project I concepted for Zondervan during the worst of the Great Recession and wrapped up early last year. My notes get at issues that will forever mark this generation of youth.

Last summer I completed a couple other significant projects for Zondervan, including the NIV Once-A-Day Bible for Teens, due out in October 2012.

And in late fall I finalized the last material for the full Pray the Scriptures Bible, which Bethany House Publishers will bring out in November 2012.

There’s more. Harvest House just released The Amazing Bible Adventure for Kids: Finding the Awesome Truth in God’s Word. I wrote the book for Josh McDowell in 2006 as The Great Treasure Quest. Its new publisher has it looking sweet with a new title, new cover, new design, and new illustrations.

If all that content sounds like a massive braindump, it was. But other than the refreshed book for children, these books encompass about three years of work that coincidentally will hit the press all at once. Hanging out in the jury pool finally let me pause and post about it all.

 

Sprouts! Four New Book Releases

For the past couple years I've been putting seed in the ground, doing the hard work before anyone can spot any growth. But my new books are popping up all over this month:

The Awesome Book of Bible Answers is just out and even better than I dreamed. Harvest House did an amazing job with this rework of a book I co-wrote with Josh McDowell.

Nathan Dungan of Share Save Spend has launched his multimedia project Money Sanity Solutions: Linking Money + Meaning. It's a phenomenal way to get families talking about money. I helped concept and draft the book for this interactive project. Check Nathan's web site for free add-on studies ("Bible POV") and a group facilitator guide I also wrote for the sessions.

I'm expecting to see a copy of Resolving Everyday Conflict from Baker Books in the next day or two. I worked with Ken Sande and his team at Peacemaker Ministries to adapt this practical guide from Ken's classic The Peacemaker. If you have conflict in your life--and who doesn't--you need this book.

And tomorrow Lyn and Elise and I actually get to catch a book as it comes off the press. Pray the Scriptures Bible Psalms and Proverbs is a sneak-peek portion of my new experiential Bible from Bethany House Publishers. Simple concept, profound impact. The project combines the highly-readable God's Word Translation with a stream of responsive prayers. The whole Bible launches in May 2012. In case you're wondering, yes, I'm done with Leviticus. It works.

More on all these later. Time to bolt to my real job, pastoring the lovable people at Emmaus Road Church in St. Louis Park, Minnesota. If you're in the area, come see us some time. We worship Sundays at 10 a.m at 6719 Cedar Lake Road.

 

Book Refresh | The Awesome Book of Bible Answers for Kids!

 

Harvest House Publishers has announced they will release The Awesome Book of Bible Answers for Kids! in April 2011. It's a book I co-authored with Josh McDowell, a guy who has spoken in 118 countries and has 51 million books distributed worldwide. This is an awesome refresh of the book originally titled Children Demand a Verdict (Tyndale 2003). The book has fun new art and will get a broad relaunch in the marketplace. Concise, friendly faith answers for kids 8-12.

Upcoming Book | Resolving Everyday Conflict

A couple years back I worked with Ken Sande of Peacemaker Ministries to create a student edition of his bestselling book The Peacemaker (Baker Books, third edition 2004). This past spring I partnered again with Ken and his team to develop a brief adult version of his classic text on biblical conflict resolution. Eight easy-access chapters in this new book introduce the slippery slope of peacefaking, peacebreaking, and peacemaking—along with God’s power and practical steps for solving conflict. Look for Resolving Everyday Conflict from Baker Books in spring 2011. Learn more about Peacemaker Ministries’ full range of training and resources at peacemaker.net.

The Bermuda Triangle of Shopping

The Wall Street Journal reports that across the United States a hundred enclosed malls are failing, rapidly becoming dead ghost towns. Fifteen years ago I wrote a piece called "The Belching Llamgod" ("mall" spelled backwards) about the evils of consumerism. The reading lives on in my book Total Devotion (2004). Today I wouldn't be as tough on malls, which I now appreciate as senior citizen running tracks and one of the few public spaces in northern suburbias to stay warm and connected in the winter. We live equidistant from three iconic malls. Minutes to the north is Southdale, which opened in 1956 as the first enclosed mall in the US. To the west is Eden Prairie Center, best known as the set for the 1995 movie Mallrats. Back then the mall was emptying and its corridors could be plastered with made-up store names, but the revamped center is alive and looks to be fairly well. To the east of us is the Mall of America, "the nation's largest retail and entertainment complex," known to locals simply as "The Mall." The Nickelodean Universe park at the mall's center attempts to make up for Camp Snoopy, a name lost in royalty squabbles. Collectively this area should be known as the Bermuda Triangle of Shopping, because a lot of money disappears there.

My youth books now in print

Because I've worked with several publishers over the years, there is no single list online of the books I've written. So here's the comprehensive list of my books now in print:

Follow, Think, Thrive, Soar (HIGHER series for high schoolers, Youth Specialties 2009)

Trust, Stick, Pray, Choose (DEEPER series for middle schoolers, Youth Specialties 2008)

The Peacemaker: Student Edition (Baker 2008, with Ken Sande)

Do Good: Evan Almighty, Evan Almighty Devotional, and Change the World...Every Chance We Get ("acts of random kindness" book, journal, and curriculum that accompanied the release of Evan Almighty, Universal Pictures/Youth Specialties 2007)

Total Devotion: 365 Days to Hang Tight with Jesus (Bethany House 2004)

Student Mission Prep Kit: Leader's Guide and Student Journal (Youth Specialties 2003)

Jesus Among Other Gods: Student Edition (Word 2000, with Ravi Zacharias)

Find Your Fit (student version of LifeKeys, Bethany House 1998, with Dr. Jane Kise) plus Find Your Fit: Discovery Workbook and Find Your Fit: Leader's Guide

A couple children's books are available mainly through Josh McDowell Ministries:

Great Treasure Quest (grades 2-5, Green Key 2006, with Josh McDowell)

Children Demand a Verdict (grades 2-5, Tyndale 2003, with Josh McDowell)

My books I still like

My first book, Can I Be a Christian Without Being Weird?, came out centuries ago in youth publishing years. Since 1992 I have written more than forty additional books that have appeared in half a dozen languages. If I've written a book my name shows up on the cover, except for projects like study Bibles or pieces for ministries or other non-profits. Then my name is tucked on the copyright page or in the acknowledgments with a clear statement of my role. While those projects don't splash my name, they are some of the most significant, life-altering, and fun books I've done. One reason for kevinjohnsonbooks.com is I want readers to be able to find and make the most of all my work.

I truly despise one book with my name on it. Won't say which. Two or three more I would radically gut today or not do at all. Won't say which. So I still like most of my books. But when they age and go out of print, it's not that sad to put 'em down. Sometimes good books get a second chance to be better. A few years ago I combined and reworked all of my old devotionals into one book, Total Devotion. Lately I've whacked, hacked, and completely rewritten my early teen discipleship books (ETD) into two new series for Youth Specialties, DEEPER (for middle schoolers) and HIGHER (for high schoolers).

Where's the web site for my books?

1996. TheWave.org. Designed by me using Frontpage95 on floppies. Can't remember which computer. Wife becomes web widow. Publishers decide Internet isn't a fad. They build big ugly sites. I tire of my small ugly site. I kill site. Long ago. I Google myself and find hideous old pictures of me all over the web. I must regain control. Hence kevinjohnsonbooks.com. May 7, 2009.