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Speaker, Pastor and Singer/ & Songwriter Josh White Offers a Powerful Theological Memoir that Encourages Readers to Make the Cross of Christ the Centerpiece of Their Faith
 
“Stumbling Toward Eternity is a rare gem: It combines a searing memoir with deep theological reflection…Josh has done the hard work of facing his troubled past and finding the thread of grace that has long made beauty from ashes….[A] vision of gospel hope.” -John Mark Comer, author of The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry
 
Desperation reverberates at the very center of our anxious age. Despite our fiercest efforts, we never seem to find the meaning, depth, and beauty we long for. Where do we turn? So many voices promising happiness and endless ladders for us to climb toward a wholeness we can’t seem to reach.
 
Yet what if what we are looking for has already come down to us?
 
In Stumbling Toward Eternity: Losing and Finding Ourselves in the Cross of Jesus (Multnomah; on sale 2/28/23), writer, pastor, and recording artist Josh White offers confessional stories and theological insights as he interprets the pain of his own past, the complicated “mixture” of the present, and the beautiful uncertainty of the future through the lens of grace. Using crisp and honest prose, he reveals why the most familiar symbol of Christianity—the cross of Jesus—is also the most misunderstood. He shows us why the goal of our desperate existence is not arriving at perfection or success but knowing the crucified Christ.
 
The cross is not something to climb toward status. It is something to die on. It is where illusions die and wounds are healed. The cross is where the crucified God speaks over us words that bring freedom. Freedom from futility. Freedom to live with hope. Freedom to truly love.  
 
When we lose and find ourselves in the cross of Jesus, we discover that even the most dissonant notes of life can be redeemed in His song, even as we stumble toward eternity.
 
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Josh White is the author of Stumbling Toward Eternity: Losing and Finding Ourselves in the Cross of Jesus (Multnomah; on sale 2/28/23), as well an acclaimed speaker, recording artist, writer. He’s the founding and teaching pastor of Door of Hope, a thriving church community of more than 1,500 in the heart of Portland, Oregon, where Josh lives with his wife Darcy and their two beautiful children. Josh is also an obsessive reader, a lover of people and a believer in relentless grace. For more information, visit joshawhite.com and
https://www.instagram.com/josh.alexander.white/

On-Sale: February 28, 2023
Religion-Christian Living-Personal Growth/Religion-Christian Theology-Christology/Religion-Christian Living-Personal Memoirs
Hardcover ISBN 9780593193938 • 240 Pages • $17.00 US / $23.00 CAN
eBook ISBN 9780593193945 • $11.99 US / $13.99 CAN
 
Notable Quotes from Stumbling Toward Eternity:

• God can take the dissonant notes of our suffering and weave it into His redemptive song.

• The hardest thing in life is to live well. Perhaps that is why it is so hard to be honest about the difficulty of living.

• If we diminish the cross of Christ, we drain Christianity of its lifeblood.

• The good news hinges upon how good God is toward us, despite how good we are not.

• The goal of the Christian life is not arriving but knowing.

• The cross is not something to climb. It is something to die on. Again, and again.

Praise for Stumbling Toward Eternity
“Josh White has done the hard work of facing his troubled past and finding the thread of grace that has long made beauty from ashes. Many will resonate with the pain of his upbringing; even more will come alive at his vision of gospel hope.”—John Mark Comer, author of The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry
 
“A thoughtful exposition of Jesus’s last seven sayings He spoke from the cross…Packed with thoughtful reflections on the teachings of Jesus and the power of the good news about Him.”
—From the foreword by Tim Mackie, cofounder of the Bible Project
 
“While this book gives a glimpse into Josh’s heart, it also provides an expansive view of the ragged terrain of everyman’s soul and the wounded healer who beckons us to His cross.”
—Josh Garrels, musician and owner of Small Voice Records

“Stumbling Toward Eternity is a bit like its author: intrepid and infectious, openhearted yet unflinching, and singularly focused on the grace of God for nontheoretical sinners. . . . This book is redemption made plain, essential reading for anyone in need of real hope. And the footnotes alone are worth the price of admission!”—David Zahl, founder of Mockingbird Ministries and author of Low Anthropology

“These pages hold deep theology, rich memoir, and a call to enter the life you were made for with God. Josh’s vulnerability with his heartbreak and shortcomings will give you the courage to face your own head-on and discover there the presence of the crucified King.”—Joshua Ryan Butler, lead pastor of Redemption Tempe, author of The Skeletons in God's Closet & Beautiful Union

“Josh White artfully interweaves his own story of trauma and healing with God’s redemptive plan for all humanity. One cannot help but walk away from this text with a deeper sense of the never-ending grace and all-encompassing love of God.”—Jake Johnson, PhD, LMFT, associate professor of marriage and family therapy at Wheaton College

“Stumbling Toward Eternity weaves together the historical reality of Jesus’s crucifixion and how Christ crucified brings healing, beauty, and redemption to our fragile humanity. Raw, honest, funny, and perhaps, most important, hopeful.”—Rick McKinley, founding pastor of Imago Dei Community, Portland

“Josh White takes us into the very heart of Jesus’s story, reminding us that His story is also ours…. The suffering of Christ is our only hope.”—Patrick Schreiner, author of The Visual Word

“I read this book over and over, drinking in the reminders of the love of God, the stories of His people’s suffering, and the confusion we all face when life goes bad . . . This should be required reading for every follower of Jesus.”—Diane Comer, author of He Speaks in the Silence
 
“Pastor and recording artist White invites Christians to rediscover the significance of the cross in this enlightening debut. Reaching beyond its ‘sanitized’ public symbolism, White contends the cross signals humility and true vulnerability—a locus where human brokenness is transformed by the love of God, who ‘interprets our stories and infuses them with the meaning we long for.’ …White delivers personal and theological insight with unflinching honesty—there’s a rawness to his tone that makes clear he, too, is ‘stumbling’ through a faith journey, not delivering insight from on high. This modern take on Christianity’s oldest symbol will appeal to many believers. -Publishers Weekly

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Brett Benson