ACKNOWLEDGMENTSACKNOWLEDGMENTS

It’s hard for me to believe, but this is my seventh book, and every one has been with Regnery Publishing, with whom I have a wonderful relationship. I have nothing but sincere praise for everyone there. The entire staff demonstrates professionalism, integrity, and excellence in every department and all aspects of the publishing business: acquisition, editing, layout, marketing, accounting, and management. My sincere thanks to Marji Ross for her support and personal encouragement for my books, and her openness to new ideas and directions. I will always be especially grateful to Harry Crocker, whose friendship and loyalty have highlighted my sustained relationship with the company. He is solid in every respect and I highly value his professional judgment and advice, which I seek liberally. As with Jesus on Trial, Maria Ruhl was a pleasure to work with in copy editing and proofing the manuscript, and always willing to make every effort to accommodate my requested changes.

This is the fourth book in a row in which I have worked with the editor par excellence, Jack Langer, a gifted writer and editor, who never met a sentence he couldn’t tighten and a paragraph he couldn’t improve, all without altering the voice, or the substance—except when necessary. He has a keen eye for weak, inconsistent, or questionable arguments, and always calls them to my attention, which forces me to rethink and clarify, resulting, obviously, in a much better end product. He is incredibly conscientious, industrious, and cooperative—amazingly easy to work with. On numerous occasions we were trading emails and phone calls as late as 1:00 a.m., and he sounded like he was just getting warmed up.

Many thanks to my longtime friend Greg Mueller and his team at Creative Response Concepts for quarterbacking the promotion and marketing of this book, along with the excellent marketing staff at Regnery. I must renew my gratitude to Greg for bringing me to the book-writing dance in the first place, which has changed my life. Thank you, Greg, for also expressing such confidence in Jesus on Trial.

As this is my second book on Christianity, I must reiterate my thanks to certain mentors along the way. My friend Dr. Steve Johnson helped to guide me through the beginning phases of my journey, tirelessly answered my endless questions on theology, and helped keep me on the right theological path early on and away from error. I am very grateful.

Ron Watts, my extraordinary pastor and friend, has been an enormous blessing to me and to every other member of his congregation. His Christian example and leadership have helped La Croix become an amazingly successful, seeker-friendly, biblically solid church with a balanced approach to theology, discipleship, and service. His consistently outstanding sermons have educated, inspired, and uplifted thousands. The entire staff of La Croix is Christ-centered and focused on spreading the Gospel to the “unchurched.” They impart to the congregation the essential messages of service and discipleship, and help to train all members with the skills necessary for both.

No one has been more important to my spiritual walk than my wife Lisa, my best friend and mother of our five children, who was patient and understanding through my doubting years, always confident I would come to Christ. As with Jesus on Trial, she was the first to read my completed manuscript. She jumped to the task on a moment’s notice, read it thoroughly, and provided invaluable suggestions, which have helped to make the book better and, in places, easier to understand.

My friend Frank Turek read this book as he did Jesus on Trial, vetting it for theological accuracy and making numerous helpful suggestions. Frank is a rock; I can always count on him to sacrifice the time to help and to offer solid, reliable ideas. His organization, CrossExamined.org, is doing amazing apologetics work on our college campuses, combating the secular message that dominates America’s universities. I am proud to be a CrossExamined board member.

My friend Sean Hannity has always been supportive of all my books and other professional endeavors. Sean is a humble, kind, and generous man despite his celebrity and phenomenal success. I am proud to call him my very close friend.

Mark Levin is a very close friend whose loyalty exceeds anything any friend would ever deserve. As usual, he has been extremely supportive of this project, for which I am grateful.

Finally, I again want to thank my brother Rush for inspiring me, for opening up doors for me directly and indirectly, and for doing wonderful work for this nation we both love from the bottom of our hearts. He has always supported me and my career pursuits, unfailingly encouraging and cheering me on. I am blessed and grateful to have such a generous, caring, and thoughtful brother, who makes a difference every day in working to keep this nation true to its founding principles. He doesn’t get nearly the credit he deserves.