My mentor preached at my ordination service. He was the third preacher to preach in the service. When he stood to preach he said, “I am the preacher who preaches after the preacher who preached after the preacher who has already preached.” Knowing Rick, he made that observation during the service and thought it might be a moment of levity. It was. I am the interviewer who interviewed after the interviewers who have already interviewed. But, I may have read the book before the interviewers who have already interviewed. Last year Jason called and said, “Hey, would you want to make a trip to the Boundary Waters, BWCA, with Tony Jones?” “Sure.” One of the prerequisites before arriving in Minneapolis was to read the pre-publication manuscript of The God of Wile Places. We would have conversations around the book over evening campfires or as we took turns paddling with Tony, our guide. We cobbled together a group and last September we undertook a trip for which I thought I was prepared but was not. If you have never portaged a canoe over at least one portage trail of over 1000 feet of rock and mud, uphill then downhill, while carrying a 60lb pack, then you would not have been ready either. I had never portaged anything before. And, I have never written a book and wondered how it would turn out. Friends liken it to birthing a baby though I would expect a mother or two would object. But, like birthing a baby, there is the working and waiting to see how your nurtured child fares as he or she grows. I half apologized to Tony for the late arrival to the podcast marketing team. “We are in month two.” “Crickets,” he said. The delay of this interview is not strategic. If Tony is counting on my little part of the Interwebs to rocket sales in month two, he will likely be sorely disappointed. But you, dear reader and listener will not be. Tony gives me about an hour to talk around his book. Yes, around and of course about. What I mean is that I want you to both listen to the interview, buy the book, and purchase the audiobook. I don’t want to give the book away to you in the interview. If there is a teaser, this is it: If you must choose a format, go with the audio. There is nothing like hearing a person’s story in their voice. I don’t know which format produces more for the author, but you will thank me after listening. Why? Like Tony, all of us have been pigeonholed for one decision or another, for one rumor or another, for one doctrinal position or another. Often without a conversation. For example, when D.A. Carson published the book, Becoming Conversant with Emergentbut refused to have a conversation with those he condemned. Take a listen. For those still unsure, even demotivated by my little intro, let me give you this one: Tony may have headed into the woods but he has not left Jesus behind.
