A Note from the Author

Here are just a few housekeeping items that may be helpful to the reader.

The inclusion of so many stories and examples in the book necessitated a slightly unusual format. Sometimes a story or example is included within one of the chapters where it illustrates or supports a point of the book. Many, however, are additional examples not tied directly to any particular text. I have therefore included them in additional sections between chapters.

I frequently refer to God throughout the book. I also use the more specific names and titles such as “the Lord,” “Heavenly Father,” “Jesus” or “Jesus Christ,” “the Savior,” “the Redeemer,” “His Beloved Son,” and so on. There are some cases where the use of such titles refers to the individual member of the Godhead. However, in most cases, when I refer to God, what I mean is the Father and the Son, with the accompanying influence of the Holy Spirit. It becomes ponderous to specify that plurality again and again, so I do not. But it is important to remember that when we speak of either the Father or the Son, what we say of one almost always applies equally well to the other. They act as one. They are one.

On a more mundane matter: I often emphasize key words or phrases in scriptural passages or quotations with italics. Rather than tediously indicating each time that the emphasis is mine, I have only specified when the emphasis was in the original.