People have asked me to share more about what my new book Soul Cry is about.

To answer this, let me share a portion of the introduction to the book.

What Soul Cry is All About

Our souls are crying out.  

The world is shaking. Things are changing rapidly, and not for the better. 

Conflict. Dissension. Division. Anger. Rage. Hatred.  Lack of common decency and respect. Threats. Violence. Lawlessness.  

Wars and rumors of wars. Food shortages and famine. Natural disasters. Destruction. Illness. Disease. Death. 

Then there are all of our personal stresses and losses. 

Jobs. Vocations. Careers. Increasing inflation. Diminishing savings. Rising taxes. Crushing debt.

Relational conflicts. Family fragmentation. Strained friendships. Estrangements.  

Then there’s the incredible, painful, and often traumatic loss of people we love and care about – friends, neighbors, family members, siblings, spouses, children, grandchildren. 

It can seem like everything is falling apart.  We need to vent about all this. More than this, we need to vent in God’s direction. Our souls need to cry out to Him – honestly and authentically.  

This is what Soul Cry is all about.  

What you need to know about Soul Cry

Soul Cry is a book of prayers which are grounded in the Bible and designed to connect with your soul.  Each chapter contains a prayer based on a Bible verse or passage. These prayers are brief – about 2-3 pages long. 

Soul Cry was written for followers of Jesus who are grieving and suffering from all the loss and change in their own lives and in the world around them. The goal of Soul Cry is to help wounded hearts cry out to God amid the pain, chaos, and upheaval that surrounds them. 

Soul Cry was designed to be read straight through, one chapter a day.  The book contains daily prayers for three months, with 31 prayers for each month. In essence, Soul Cry is a daily prayer devotional.   

Who are you to write a book like this? 

I am follower of Jesus Christ. I come from a background of heavy loss and sexual abuse. I came to Jesus when I was 11 years old. Though I didn’t know it, everything changed in that moment.  

As losses and wounds continued to pile up, God faithfully brought me through them one by one. He comforted, encouraged, and healed me, even though many times I was in so much pain I could not even sense His presence. At least four times in my life I thought, “That’s it. I’m not going to make it through this.” Obviously, I was wrong. God is faithful indeed.  

In high school and college, my plan was to become a physician. God had other plans. I became a trained theologian with two Seminary degrees. Over the past four decades I’ve had the privilege of serving Jesus as a church-planting missionary in Japan, a pastor of several churches in Texas and Washington, and a hospice chaplain and grief counselor. I now serve as an author, Bible teacher, grief specialist, and grief coach.

 Jesus is life. He is my life. It’s an honor to serve Him by writing.  

Do you have any other input for me before I begin to read? 

Please don’t get in a hurry. In fact, hurry will be a major hindrance to your prayer life.  

Take your time. Ask God to speak to you before you begin reading. As you read, feel free to stop, think, and meditate on the Scriptures and what’s being said. 

When you read, listen. God is speaking through what He has already spoken. As Paul shared with us in 2 Timothy 3:16, “All Scripture is God-breathed and profitable to teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.” 

God is speaking today. Are we listening? 

I have prayed for you as you read Soul Cry. I will continue to pray for you. 

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Soul Cry will be released this coming week. I’ll let you know when it’s live and available on Amazon and other online bookstores.

The grief journey is difficult and exhausting. A world is disarray only adds more stress and complexity to our already overloaded hearts and minds. Please be patient with yourself today.

Question: What losses are you enduring? Is your soul crying out? Please feel free to comment and share below.

Our soul waits for the Lord; he is our help and our shield. (Psalm 33:20)