Foreword by Esau McCaulley

 I've been keeping a fun secret for several months, and I finally get to tell you!

My good friend Esau McCaulley agreed to write the foreword to my new book for IVP Academic. Both of us love the church with all of our hearts. To love something is not to pretend that it's perfect, but to help it become what it was always meant to be. I respect Esau as a biblical scholar and author, but also as someone who has been willing to call attention to abuse in the church while investing deeply and personally in its flourishing.

Esau is the Jonathan Blanchard Associate Professor of New Testament and Public Theology at Wheaton College, but we knew each other before either of us had a PhD. He has published his dissertation, a stirring memoir, an insightful book on reading Scripture as an African American, a book on Lent, and several children's books--a wide breadth of writing! He was the lead editor on the recent book, New Testament in Color and edits the 'Fullness of Time' series for IVP on the church calendar. He's working on two New Testament commentaries. He writes for the New York Times and travels to speak regularly. He has his own podcast and has been on many others. I'm grateful for the way he is serving the church with the gifts God gave him. And I'm thankful that he took the time to read and recommend my book to you!

Check out Esau's books here.

My new book, Becoming God's Family: Why the Church Still Matters, is a biblical theology of the presence of God in the community of faith. It's a trek through Scripture to see the sometimes surprising ways that God works among (and despite) his people. The book is peppered with personal stories and other illustrations to help you understand and apply what you're reading.

Esau says this about it: "Readers will find that Dr. Imes has the rare gift of being a biblical scholar that can speak to the academy, clergy, and people in the pews at the same time. In this book she demonstrated the ability to translate a lifetime of learning into accessible writing without being simplistic or assuming that her audience cannot handle complex ideas."

This book is for four types of people:

1. Those on the verge of leaving the church. Maybe you're the one saying, "Give me one good reason to stay."
2. Those who've already left the church and wonder what they're missing or if they made the right decision.
3. Ministers who want a more robust ecclesiology based on the narrative of Scripture.
4. People who loved Bearing God's Name and Being God's Image and want more biblical theology that's accessible.

Which one are you?

If you enjoyed Bearing God's Name and Being God's Image, this book completes the trilogy. Please consider preordering it! Amazon has a price guarantee for preorders, so if the price drops between now and the book release, you'll be charged the lower amount. Preorders are a significant factor in whether bookstores decide to stock a book and whether Amazon promotes it, so it's a helpful way to support the project. If you aren't able to buy it now, you can add it to your wish list on Amazon. That helps, too.

Preorder here or wherever you buy books.

Thanks, friends, for your enthusiastic support!