Ryan King, pastor at Bethel Baptist Church, said he started writing devotions three years ago and emailing them to friends and people who attend his church.
”I got the idea from a pastor friend of mine who did it for his church,” King said. “I started going back and adapting old sermons I preached.”
He likes to preach through books of the Bible chronologically, so it was a natural fit to write devotions through the book of 1 Samuel, which tells stories of Israel’s early kings Saul and David.
Last year, after he had finished his devotions for I Samuel, a friend suggested that he package it away and send it to some publishers to see if anyone might be interested.
Of the first eight publishing companies he sent it to, two responded.
“I was surprised and excited when I actually got a phone call,” he said. “They called my cellphone from New York which was pretty surreal.”
The publishing company he went with is called 5 Fold Media, which now has released the book under the title: King’s Commentaries – I Samuel.
King said he tries to write the way he talks so it’s an easy reading style that the average person will have no problem understanding.
While he knows he’s not likely to make the New York Times bestseller list, he’s hoping there might be some interest from people looking for a devotional book.
“If there’s interest and it sells then I have some other books of the Bible finished with these devotions. It would be very neat to have a series realized,” King said. “I’ve always enjoyed writing so maybe this is a launch-off point for future books.“
To purchase a copy of King’s book visit http://kingsbooks.ca.
