The Far Bank is officially launched. A group of people were invited recently to share in thank yous, behind-the-scenes stories and a great meal fit for an “outdoor” book. Held at a shoreline home in central Nebraska, the day was also the culmination of an all day fishing contest that individuals competed in by submitting photos and documentation of their catch during the day. Rewards included copies of The Far Bank and other prizes. I was honored to attend and met a number of individuals who have contributed to Zeke’s life personally, professionally, spiritually, and had also given birth to some of the fishing stories included in the book. It was good to put a face with some of the people I heard about as I recorded and processed the audiobook version.

The audio and printed book is published by David C. Cook Publishing where you can find links to obtain your copy. If you’re an angler, it’s a great book to have with you to share with other like-minded fishing enthusiasts and help fulfill what Jesus called his disciples to when he said, “I will make you fishers of men”.

This month has found me doing the editing and processing on Grant Garwood’s Biblical Apologetic, Proof You Can’t Ignore, with a subtitle of “The Mini Book of Evidence for God, Jesus & the Bible”. All the content is finished and will soon be posted on Amazon Audible. As soon as it’s up I’ll include a link here for you to find it.

In about 65 pages Grant summarizes a lot of research and evidence concerning the existence of God, the reliability of the Bible, and what the Bible says about Jesus. The first chapter covers a lot of scientific information concerning our universe and uniqueness of our planet Earth. The second chapter looks at manuscript evidence for Biblical writings and compares that to other writings of antiquity. The third chapter then draws upon the first two, and focuses on what we can know about Jesus from the Bible and other writings penned during the time of Jesus’ earthly life and shortly after, to current thoughts about various aspects concerning His life, death, burial and resurrection. These chapters are followed by two short summary sections that ask us to consider what our final verdict should be based on the facts and evidence presented, and then poses the stark question about the consequences of ignoring these truths. Additional resources are included and the suggestion is made multiple times throughout to dig into those.

Grant states early in the book that it’s not an in depth expose of the area of Christian Apologetics, but rather a summary of three key areas. It’s intended to provide thought and further inquiry for someone not yet convinced of Biblical truth, and also as an encouragement for the person who does believe the Bible’s content but may be needing some further evidence and assurance that what they’re believing is really credible. The book is well-researched and written, and it doesn’t take a long time to read or listen to. Well done Grant. May many people find truth and encouragement through Proof You Can’t Ignore.

Earlier in June Zeke Pipher came to Tesco Productions to record his audiobook The Far Bank. The book is being published by David C. Cook Publishers. The Far Bank is a 40-day collection of devotionals (Christian spiritual thoughts and lessons) for anglers. When I received the script from the publisher and discovered its subject, I sent a reply email advising them we’d try to limit swapping fishing stories so we could actually get the recording done. My contact got back with, “hope you guys have a blast”. We did. In addition to sharing a common interest in fishing, we also discovered Zeke knows relatives of mine and has regular contact with them. He would have pastored my late aunt as well.

The 40-day read/listen covers a number of years of life and fishing experiences that have shaped who Zeke is today. They’ve also inspired him to pass on those lessons (and a fly or two – or more) to others he comes into contact with, and many he’ll never meet in person – at least not in this life. As is my normal practice, once we chose the microphone and setup for recording Zeke’s audiobook, I settled into my primary role of “listening as a listener”. There’s the necessary requirement of catching mistakes in the read, but aside from that I try to assume how I would perceive listening to the book without the benefit of print in front of me. This includes following how my mind is processing the thoughts presented, and suggesting at times an alternate way to read some content. Zeke and I connected well on those ideas and David C. Cook Publishers endorsed having Zeke’s material represented as closely as possible to the author’s wishes. The content is all in the publisher’s hands and will be released soon. I know I for one will never view my fishing outings in quite the same way again. Thank you Zeke.