Announcing The Jesus Principle: Coming Wednesday, October 29th – Free Ebook Download Fri–Sat-Sun!
It’s finally official: The Jesus Principle will be published and available for purchase on Amazon starting Wednesday, October 29th. And for three days—Friday, Saturday, and Sunday of next week—you can download the eBook absolutely free. Not only do I want as many people as possible to read this, I hope you’ll join the larger conversation, review the book, and help shape the urgent debate over Christianity, faith, politics, and power in twenty-first-century America.
So, what will you actually find in this book? Honestly, nothing short of a new paradigm—a radically sharp, historically grounded, and deeply spiritual way to understand why our Christian public witness is so fractured, confused, and frankly, dangerous.
Let’s pull back the lens and see the larger picture.
How We Got Here: The Politics of Faith Gone Wrong
Decades ago, America’s conservative “born again” Christianity merged—sometimes quietly, sometimes with a roar—with the Republican Party. Through the 1970s and beyond, it wasn’t enough to offer personal spiritual renewal, a “born again experience,” or to focus on the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19) to “go and make disciples of all nations.”
Instead, the center of gravity shifted: social issues—abortion, gay rights, “family values”—became the new rallying cries. Suddenly, the faith wasn’t just about Jesus’ teachings, but about winning elections, fighting “culture wars,” and capturing local and state political power.
With every year, that merger deepened. Political action committees replaced missionary zeal. The pulpit became a get-out-the-vote rally. Control and dominance overshadowed compassion and service.
And look what happened as a result: the rise of Christian nationalism—a brand of authoritarian politics wrapped in sanctimonious language and pious posturing. The fallout? Not only is our democracy now threatened by a zealous minority bent on imposing one vision of faith on everyone, but Christianity itself is losing its salt and its light.
Christians of every stripe—conservative, progressive, mainline—are worried about the future of the country. But here’s the tragic paradox: as this political merger took hold, Americans have been fleeing the pews in search of a faith that means more, that heals, that dignifies. Just look at the Southern Baptist Convention, once the nation’s powerhouse denomination. In just the last two decades, they’ve lost over 3.5 million members, a drop that accelerated with their embrace of political powerbrokering and their unholy alliance with Donald Trump.
Americans want more than a gospel of fear, power, and exclusion. They’re hungry for something deeper.
What You’ll Get in The Jesus Principle
So what does this book deliver? At its core, The Jesus Principle is both a compass and a challenge. It peels back the tired “red vs. blue,” “liberal vs. conservative” divides and instead asks: What would happen if we measured every policy, every pulpit, and every personal conviction by the character and teachings of Jesus himself?
Inside you’ll find in-depth, fearless, and sometimes uncomfortable deep dives into the most pressing issues facing our faith and public life—including:
Christian Nationalism: Why fusing faith and flag is killing our witness and luring believers into authoritarian quicksand.
Scripture and Social Power: Explores how the Bible is wielded—or misused—to justify lawmaking, marginalization, and us-vs-them policies.
The Politics of Fear: Unpacks how fearmongering on “social issues” overtook the gospel of hope and reconciliation.
Church Decline: Explores why Americans are leaving Christianity, what the numbers really say, and how political entanglement speeds the exodus.
Abortion, LGBTQ+ Rights, and Race: Honest, nuanced chapters on the issues that have defined American religion for decades, revealing histories, hypocrisies, and new ways forward.
Justice, the Poor, and Power: Calls Christian readers back to the Bible’s obsession with the “least of these” (Matthew 25:40), and exposes how our current political blend leaves the vulnerable behind.
The Jesus Compass: A practical framework—more than a feeling or slogan—that any reader, believer or skeptic, can use to evaluate not just their public life, but their innermost values, policies, and relationships.
Every single chapter tackles an urgent crisis in American culture—and gives you tools to discern, evaluate, and act with integrity.
Why This Book—and Why Now?
If you’re tired of watching faith collapse into tribalism, or seeing “Jesus” weaponized for the powerful while the abused and marginalized are trampled, this book is for you.
If you’re ready to ask harder questions of your own pastors, priests, politicians—and even yourself—The Jesus Principle will give you a compass, not a script.
This isn’t the gospel of left or right. It’s a call to return to the radical, clear-eyed, disruptive way of Jesus—and to demand that our leaders, churches, and even our own hearts get honest about what we’re truly chasing.
Mark Your Calendar!
The Jesus Principle is out Wednesday, October 29th. Download the ebook for free on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday of launch week. Read it. Wrestle with it. When you’re ready, a link will be provided for you to upload your honest review to Amazon, where the book will also be available in print and Kindle editions.
I invite you—whether you’re hopeful or jaded, faithful or curious—to join this movement toward a braver, truer Christianity.
For updates, promos, and the free download link, follow thejesusprinciple.substack.com.
Let’s reclaim faith’s meaning, and with it, our public square.