Greetings from Retford, England.
Baby Concord and I are on the road for the next week or so (more on that in a minute)ā¦ but first: I have a new book coming out in less than a month!
Itās called A God Named Josh: Uncovering the Human Life of Jesus Christ.
(And hereās the website if youād like to pre-order copies, read the endorsements, or learn more.)
Last thing: If you forward this to your pastor/minister/priest/etc and tell them to hit reply with their mailing address, Iāll send a free copy to 75 of them.
Okay, road trip!
[Trigger warning for some readers: I go full Jesus-y in this email but will revert to my usual political/economic articles next time.]
After five weeks of nearly full-time searching for a place to rent in West Wales, a door has still not opened. Weāre now at peace that this might be a sign to look further afield.Ā
So earlier this week, Concord and Michelle and I headed north to the Isle of Man for a weekend of house-hunting. Next, weāre heading east across middle England, south to the most deprived neighborhood in the whole country(!), before spending a night on inspiration at aĀ Bruderhof koinonia communityĀ and then heading back west.
Weāre dropping a total of 500 little letters in mailboxes in dozens of cities, towns, and villages, asking total strangers if they'd consider selling us their house:
It sounds crazy, but itās how my dad has purchased several of their homes in the past.
Weāve faithfully saved money towards a house every single month for more than 12 years, and in that time, the average house price in our hometown of Guelph has gone up by more than $400,000. Clearly, it will take a God-sized miracle for us to take stewardship of a house.
Stewarding a house would enable us to re-allocate these long years of work and wasted rent money to the cause of Christā to radical hospitality, to Jesus projects, to adopting, to gospel giving, to fighting full-bore against oppression and economic injustice.
We feel more than a bit crazy doing this, but we believe our job is to ask, seek, and knockā God will open a door if it is His will. A mentor sent me Hebrews 11:8 a few days ago: āBy faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.ā
Thatās exactly how we feel!
A life of faith really is a life of (often hair-raising) adventure. Concord and I return on the 18th, at which time I go into full-court press/publicity mode for myĀ Jesus bookĀ that comes out on April 4th.
Weād love you to be part of this story. If you could pass along our letter to anyone you know in the UK, that would be greatly appreciated.
Much love,
Jared+Michelle+baby Concord