First-Century Diaries

We are finishing up a series of books that have been not only a lot of fun to read, but really good for our walk with Christ and enthusiasm for the church. Gene Edwards' First Century Diaries are a collection of novels which tell the stories of Paul's missionary journeys and subsequent work in training up church planters and leaders. The books run first to last as The Silas Diary, then Titus, then Timothy, then Priscilla, then Gaius (we've read Titus through Priscilla). Technically listed as fiction, these books are more like facts from the Bible with creative conjecture to fill in the gaps and make a storyline. There's plenty of conjecture... like the thorn in Paul's flesh being a man set against his ways and going to all lengths to thwart Paul's attempts at raising up a Gentile church, or like the dialog and banter between Paul, Barnabus, Timothy, Priscilla, and others. But the stories really are a joy to read, and the more we read into them, the more we notice intricacies of the events in Acts and their relation to Paul's letters to the churches.

As an amusing side note, while reading we couldn't help but wonder if Gene Edwards was contracted by our company in writing some of these, as many of the quotes out of the books seem to come directly from our company's manual (or at least generally accepted principles of church-planting)!

So grab one or two or five and give them a read. We think they'll spur you on to a deeper walk with Christ, and you'll whip through them and enjoy it at the very least!