Writers' Edge Newsletter

I Wish I Was Dead

Many of the Bible’s most faithful figures prayed to die, yet modern Christianity rarely knows how to talk about depression. I Wish I Was Dead is a pastoral, Scripture-rooted guide for Christians navigating depression and for those called to walk beside them, inviting readers to see suffering not as spiritual failure, but as a human experience God meets with compassion.  This is not only for those who struggle with depression, but for those who walk alongside them: pastors, counselors, spouses, family, and friends who want a better biblical understanding of depression and how God views and encounters those who do.

Other books out there address the sufferer, but not many help others to understand the sufferer and how to help them.  As a pastor, I have walked through my own mental-health battles while also walking with many others through theirs. I have learned that many people genuinely want to help. The problem is that they often feel unequipped and misunderstand what depression actually is. This book blends psychology, biblical reflection, humor, practical guidance, and pastoral experience. It offers a path toward resilient hope, not as a quick fix, but as a lifelong journey. Readers can use it to better understand their own suffering or to walk more faithfully with someone they love.

Reassigned: Military Lessons For Ministry Leadership

Reassigned: Military Lessons for Ministry Leadership explores what military service can teach Christians about leadership—and where the gospel requires military instincts to be translated, corrected, or surrendered. Drawing on twenty-two years of naval service, pastoral ministry, doctoral research in church revitalization, leadership research, and Scripture, Bart L. Denny examines mission, stewardship, followership, accountability, readiness, endurance, shepherding, spiritual warfare, and succession.

The book helps Christian veterans recognize that they are not entering ministry empty-handed. Military service often forms habits of responsibility, preparation, teamwork, resilience, and leader development that can serve the church well. It can also form instincts toward command, control, or measurable results that require careful translation in a pastoral setting. It offers churches a framework for discerning which habits can strengthen ministry and which ones require retraining under Christ.

Reassigned also helps churches recognize the leaders already among them—men and women whose previous service may have prepared them in ways neither they nor their congregations have fully understood. Its broader message is that a new calling does not necessarily mean starting from nothing.

The Anchor

Most small group leader guides teach leaders how to facilitate conversations. The Anchor teaches them how to shepherd people.

Far more than a discussion guide, The Anchor is a comprehensive leadership system that restores Scripture as the governing authority of every small group. It equips leaders with a clear, practical, and reproducible framework for leading biblical discussions, cultivating authentic discipleship, developing future leaders, and multiplying healthy, Scripture-centered groups.

In a culture where opinions often overshadow biblical truth, The Anchor helps churches establish a discipleship model where God’s Word remains the foundation of every conversation, every relationship, and every decision. Rather than simply managing a weekly meeting, leaders learn to shepherd people faithfully, strengthen biblical literacy, protect the spiritual health of their groups, and intentionally raise up the next generation of leaders.

Ideal for churches of every size, The Anchor provides a scalable discipleship framework that can strengthen an entire small group ministry, not just individual leaders. It is more than another leader’s guide. It is a blueprint for building a lasting culture of biblical discipleship.