After nearly two years of having St. Peter’s Brewery available in print and for Amazon’s Kindle devices, St. Peter’s Brewery has finally made it’s way to Apple’s iTunes and iBook app.

Now you can enjoy St. Peter’s Brewery on your favorite iOS device, like your iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad.

And for a limited time, St. Peter’s Brewery will be available in iTunes for only $.99!

You can’t get much cheaper than that.

In addition, with this new launch, both the print and Kindle versions have been updated — now with fewer typos per page.

So search St. Peter’s Brewery in iTunes or click here to purchase the book and add it to your favorite iOS device right away.

But don’t take my word for it, here’s what others are saying:

What a great read! Great author, and great story. Mr. Blundell is such an inspiration to me personally. I have been a big fan of his for years. This book yet again displays Jonathan’s ability to inspire people towards a more genuine faith. Down load the book, it’s only .99 cents and it sure to inspire you as well. – Davemcham

–

“St Pete’s Brewery” is the debut novel from my friend Jonathan “JD” Blundell… and I will be honest from the outset… I am biased.

I would recommend this novel. It is a wonderfully engaging and immersive yarn. – Thomas Mathie

St. Peter's Brewery - a novel by Jonathan D. Blundell

Luckily, I started recording an audio version of the book a few months back… I just haven’t had the time to finish.

So here’s chapter 1 of St. Peter’s Brewery for you to enjoy!

Download St. Peter’s Brewery – Chapter 1 (Mp3)

St. Peter's Brewery - a novel by Jonathan D. Blundell

Still waiting to get a copy of St. Peter’s Brewery? Not sure you want to fork over $15 for a hard copy? Understood!

Since it’s my birthday today — and it’s far better to give than to receive — tomorrow morning (Feb. 25) I’m sending out a PDF copy of the book to all the subscribers of my e-mail newsletter (The Insurgency of Love)!

Of course, once you read the book in PDF format, I’m sure you’ll want to buy your own hard copy, as well as copies for all your friends…

But until then, simply sign up for my e-mail newsletter and you’ll get a copy of the book e-mailed to you first thing tomorrow morning.

It’s as easy as that!

Thanks for reading and hope you enjoy both the book and the newsletter.

What is the Insurgency of Love?

The Insurgency of Love is a monthly (sometimes twice monthly) e-mail newsletter hoping to
A.) Give real examples and ideas of how we can all be Insurgents of Love (i.e. your stories!)
B.) Give some added insight/updates into some of the projects I’m involved in.

Subscribe now.

St. Peter's Brewery - a novel by Jonathan D. Blundell

I’ve witnessed a couple great examples of people truly living out love and forgiveness recently in my life — especially through some people very close to me. Their stories inspire me to believe that while St. Peter’s Brewery may be a fictional story — the ideas contained within it can truly be lived out day by day. Here’s a couple excerpts from Chapter 8 of St. Peter’s Brewery that deal with these ideas:

Eddie ordered his food and then Jimmy simply pointed to the Buffalo Burger on the menu, only nodding yes or no to Pete’s questions. After they finished their orders, Pete headed back to the kitchen to turn their orders in with his evening cook. He returned a couple minutes later with their drinks.

“Not used to seeing you guys here for dinner,” Pete said. “Got plans later tonight?”

Jimmy remained silent.

“Nope, just a rough day today, thought we could use a change of pace,” Eddie said.

Pete could see that Jimmy was dealing with something heavy.

“Well if yall want to chat, I’m here all night,” Pete said as he took a few steps back from the table.

“Pete let me ask you something,” Jimmy spoke up.

“Sure.”

“The other night Kim talked about forgiving her dad,” Jimmy said.

“Yeah, I remember.”

“And she was talking about how it’s the right thing to do,” Jimmy added.

Pete nodded in agreement.

“But how the hell do you forgive someone who’s stabbed you in the back so many times?” Jimmy asked. Both Pete and Eddie could see his emotions rising. “How the hell can someone expect that out of you? Isn’t it my right to hold back my forgiveness as long as I can? Isn’t it my right to let them live and die with the knowledge that they hurt me bad enough that I can’t and won’t forgive them?”

Pete sat and waited. He knew his answer wouldn’t be the one Jimmy was looking for.

“Well?” Jimmy wanted a solid answer. And more importantly, he wanted Pete and Eddie to back his way of seeing things.

“Jimmy,” Pete started carefully. “I only know bits and pieces of your story but I do know that from my own personal experience, no pain is worth holding on to. Every bit of anger and bitterness I’ve held towards a person has only made my life hell. On top of that, half-the-time the oneswho had upset me, had no clue they’d even done anything to me.”

Jimmy sat. He thought on Pete’s words and wondered if he was right.

Pete waited for Jimmy to respond. He learned early in his marriage that winning an argument by simply firing back the best made arguments in a lightning round contest rarely changed anyone’s heart. It usually made the divide twice as wide. So instead, he waited for Jimmy to acknowledge that he was ready to continue.

“But Pete, what if the person knows they’ve done you wrong?” Jimmy asked.

Pete took his time to respond.

“Good question Jimmy,” he responded. “I know you’re not much of a religious fan, or even a fan of any particular faith, so I won’t bore you with the particulars. But nearly every major religion in the world, at its core value, is about loving others. And that takes forgiveness. And if you ask me — this is my personal opinion of course — if we really knew everyone’s story, there’s nothing we wouldn’t forgive.”

He stopped and moved over to the nearby wall. He pulled a picture off the wall that Jimmy quickly recognized as the Civil Rights March on Washington D.C. The picture showed the mass of people gathered in the Washington D.C. Mall with the Washington Monument hovering over them.

“So what?” Jimmy asked as Pete walked back to table.

“Let me read you this quote,” Pete said as he turned the picture frame over.

“We shall match your capacity to inflict suffering by our capacity to endure suffering. We will meet your physical force with soul force. Do to us what you will and we will still love you…throw us in jail and we will still love you. Bomb our homes and threaten our children and as difficult as it is, we will still love you. Send your hooded perpetrators of violence into our communities at the midnight hour and drag us out on some wayside road and leave us half-dead as you beat us, and we will still love you. Send your propaganda agents around the country, and make it appear that we are not fit, culturally and otherwise, for integration, and we’ll still love you. But be assured that we’ll wear you down by our capacity to suffer, and one day we will so appeal to your heart and conscience that we will win you in the process, and our victory will be a double victory.”

Pete stopped and sat the picture frame down on the table.

“That was the voice of a movement Jimmy,” Pete added. “That was the voice of a man who was tired of seeing his friends and family members beaten down in the streets simply because their skin tone was darker than another’s. It was the voice of a man who grew up in an era where you could be lynched and hung in the middle of a town square and no one would stop them. That was the voice of a man who saw the injustice and suffering and pain of a group of people — a group of people that he belonged to. It was the voice of a man who himself was beaten down on the street in broad daylight for encouraging people to rise up against their oppressors.”

Pete stopped again, letting the ideas sink in.

“Jimmy don’t you think he had every right to be angry?” Pete asked. “Don’t you think he had every right to join the hate groups and return violence with violence?”

Jimmy quickly responded with a “Well of course!”

Pete picked up the picture frame again and handed it to Jimmy. Jimmy turned the frame over and re-read the quote. Below the quote was an additional note, “Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., from ‘A Christmas Sermon on Peace’ – December 1967.”

“He had every right to complain Jimmy,” Pete said as he stood. “But…”

He then pointed to the other end of the old sanctuary where the last bit of daylight shone through the stained glass window. A large cross filled most of the window and right above the window, a neon sign flickered.

As Jimmy looked up at the window and sign, Pete read the words glowing in red.

“Love wins.” Pete said proudly. “Love wins. It always wins. It’s the only thing that will ever win. We may think we have the right to do whatever we please, but in the end love wins.”

…

After a few hours at the brewery, they both figured it was time to head home. They were finishing the last of their drinks as G.T. walked in.

“Hey fellows,” G.T.’s voice boomed. “Mind if I join ya?”

“Well we were about to head out, but I spose we can stay a bit longer,” Eddie said. He looked at Jimmy who nodded and gave a thumbs-up in agreement.

As they chatted, Jimmy decided to pose his dilemma to G.T. as well. He briefly explained the situation to G.T. and then asked for his advice.

“Well that’s gotta be the most generic explanation I’ve ever heard,” G.T. chuckled. “So basically you’re asking if we should forgive people — even those who know they’ve hurt us and haven’t already offered an apology?”
“Sure,” Jimmy said. “That’s a good summarization.”
“Ya know, I’ve always struggled with forgiveness, especially towards folks who claim to be a good friend and then turn around and make a mockery of our relationship,” G.T. said. “I guess the real question is do you want my opinion or the opinion of someone with a little more pull?”

Jimmy looked a bit confused.

“Yeah, not sure what you’re asking.”

“Well from my standpoint, I would always, personally, err on the side of revenge,” G.T. answered. “But that’s just me. That’s me being me. Quite honestly I’m a fighter and I tend to fight for whatever I think I deserve.” Jimmy liked where G.T. was going. “But because I know I’m a violent son of a gun by nature, I know I need to look to someone or something outside of myself…”

“Ah, great. I guess you’re talking about God now.” Jimmy grumbled.

“Yeah,” G.T. said. “If that’s alright.”

“Go ahead, we might as well get the extra opinion,” Jimmy responded, somewhat grudgingly.

“Well, I’m not an expert on God by any means,” G.T. admitted. “But I’m of the impression that if we want to know what God wants, we should look to God in the flesh — Jesus, the Christ.”

“When I read John’s letter about Jesus, I see that God became flesh, through Jesus, and moved into the neighborhood,” G.T. said. “And we see lots of instances where people tried to trick him and trap him because they were upset with his message — a message he was calling all people to live out. A message that they considered to be quite radical and different than anything the religious or governmental leaders were offering in those days.”

“Matthew, the tax collector, wrote in his story about Jesus, that one day Jesus was hanging out talking to his disciples and he begins to explain what to do if your brother sins against you, — or basically hurts you,” G.T. continued. “Jesus told his disciples that if a brother sins against you, then you should go to him and show him his fault. If he doesn’t listen, you should bring along a friend or two and the small group of friends should point out the fault. But then if that doesn’t work, you should bring your brother before your community and show him his fault. Jesus adds that if he changes his way, then you’ve won over a brother. If not then he says, ‘treat him like you would a heathen or a publican.’”

Jimmy smiled.

“I’m not sure what a publican is, but it sounds like they get three chances and then we can kick them to the curb?” Jimmy asked, certain that G.T. had just shown him a loophole in this whole forgiveness idea.

“Well not quite,” G.T. said, smiling as well. “I used to think that exact same thing — that Jesus gave us a way out. As long as we follow these three steps, we don’t have to take this forgiveness thing to the extreme. It always made sense with the Christianity I was familiar with. If someone doesn’t live up to my standards, God’s standards, or the communities standards — we just kick them out. Easy as pie.”

Both Eddie and Jimmy looked a bit confused now.

“So that’s what you used to think?” Eddie jumped in. “Didn’t you just tell us that Jesus said we can kick them to the curb?”

“Not exactly,” G.T. replied. “At least that’s not how I see it now. See I was looking at this passage and like you guys wondering, ‘What the heck is a heathen and a publican?’ I had my theories but I wanted to be sure. So I started looking around at different translations and such and realized that several other folks had translated these titles differently — they translated them to mean a Gentile, or pagan, or someone who doesn’t believe in God and then a tax collector. Tax collector seems to be the most widely accepted translation of publican. So I began to wonder if that had any significance. And then it struck me, Matthew the guy writing this story was a former tax collector!”

G.T. stopped and the biggest grin spread across his face. It was easy to tell he was excited about sharing this story.

“And then it really hit me,” G.T. said. “How did Jesus treat Matthew — the former tax collector? He loved him! He even invited him to be one of his closest friends! Wow! And all this before Matthew even knew he needed to repent and get his life in order!”

G.T. hit the table for emphasis.

“So here’s Matthew, this former tax collector standing there, hearing all of this,” G.T. continued with enthusiasm. “And he had to be thinking, ‘Oh my gosh! Does anyone else hear what he’s saying? I’m a former tax collector! And Jesus treated me with respect and love. We’re supposed to do that to everyone who sins against us?’ I bet Matthew started freaking out a little bit. It’s no wonder that he included this story in his letter. It’s like he was reminding us, ‘If someone sins against you, bring it before them. Offer forgiveness and if that doesn’t work — start all over again. And love them even more!’”

Jimmy was thoroughly bothered by this proposition.

“Now hold up, G.T.” Jimmy said. “We’re supposed to keep loving folks even if they refuse to listen and offer an apology?”

G.T. shrugged his shoulders.

“That’s how I read it,” he replied. “It’s not how I want to read it. But it’s how I understand it.”

Eddie needed some more explanation as well.

“So then how many times are we supposed to forgive a person?” he asked.

“Great question!” G.T. replied. “Let’s look it up.”

G.T. pulled a worn pocket sized Bible out of his coat pocket. The pages were thoroughly lined with markings and notes. It was clear that G.T. had spent a lot of time reading various passages throughout the leather bound book.

G.T. flipped through the pages till he found the spot he was looking for.

“Now this is a little different translation than I grew up reading,” G.T. said. “I really wish it had been around when I was new in the faith. But let’s back up a bit and read the last portion of the story I was just telling
you.”

G.T. ran his finger along the lines of text and came to a stopping point. He began to read out loud.

“If he won’t listen to the church, you’ll have to start over from scratch, confront him with the need for repentance, and offer again God’s forgiving love,” G.T. read. “That’s the part I was telling you about — treat him like a pagan or a tax collector.”

He paused to see if Eddie and Jimmy understood.

“So Jesus is telling this story, and like I mentioned, Matthew is probably pretty stoked at this new idea Jesus was preaching — after all, he had experienced it first-hand!” G.T. said. “But then after they hear this story, one of the Jesus’ other friends asks Jesus the same thing you just asked Eddie.”

Eddie felt a little relief that he wasn’t the only one needing clarification.

G.T. moved his finger down the page and picked up his reading again.

“At that point Peter got up the nerve to ask, ‘Master, how many times do I forgive a brother or sister who hurts me? Seven?’ Jesus replied, ‘Seven! Hardly. Try seventy times seven.’”

G.T. closed his Bible and sat it on the table. He leaned back in his chair as Eddie and Jimmy soaked in what they had just heard.

It was obvious that Jimmy didn’t like what he’d just heard.

“Well that sounds good and dandy,” Jimmy replied. “Forgive the tax collector. Big whoop. A tax collector’s one thing but Jesus never had to forgive someone who really hurt him or turned his back on him.”

G.T. leaned in towards Jimmy. He replied in a low calming voice.

“Jimmy,” he began. “One of the greatest examples we have of what true love and true forgiveness is really all about — is from Jesus. When he had been whipped and flogged and nailed to a cross, he didn’t curse them or wave a fist at them. But some of his final words before dying were, ‘Father forgive them. They know not what they do.’”

“He asked God to forgive the sins of these Roman soldiers who physically abused him, who had mocked him and hurled insults his way,” G.T. continued. “If that’s not an example of real forgiveness, I don’t know what is.”

G.T. made a fist with his right hand and with his thumb he pointed towards the back wall.

“Love wins Jimmy. Love wins.”

G.T. then leaned back in his chair again and waited. They sat for a while as Jimmy sat, staring at the floor.

St. Peter's Brewery - a novel by Jonathan D. Blundell

My buddy Chad Crawford (@chadcrawford) co-hosts a great podcast each week – Homebrewed Christianity. You might remember it from page 93 of St. Peter’s Brewery.

He and I chatted a couple weeks back and he and Tripp just published the interview. It was a lot of fun and you may get to find out some crazy things about me, a reading from the book as well as some of the book’s back story.

Enjoy!

Homebrewed Christianity

St. Peter's Brewery - a novel by Jonathan D. Blundell

Proselytizing, in my view, is like spam. Ringing a doorbell, standing at a bus stop, buying a billboard… those are not permission-based activities. On the other hand, delivering anticipated, personal and relevant messages to people who want to get them… that works, and it always has, and it’s working better than ever. I think that sharing ideas with people who want to hear them is the essence of what it means to be a marketer, and being a good person makes this a lot easier. – Seth Godin via Church Marketing Sucks

While I didn’t spell this out verbatim in St. Peter’s Brewery, it was one of the ideas that I hope came across in reading the novel.

Far too long we’ve let street preachers and tracts do our work, when what they really want to see is our lives. They want to see our faith being made relevant to our lives, as well as to theirs. And then give them the space of grace (sanctuary) for that to happen so they can respond on their own time — without the heavy handed sales pitch from others.

(Photo by Coba)

St. Peter's Brewery - a novel by Jonathan D. Blundell

Click here to view the embedded video.

What do you think?

St. Peter's Brewery - a novel by Jonathan D. Blundell

Last week Peter Rollins wrote (in the spirit of the Apostle Paul)::

You are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither high church nor low church, Fox nor CNN, citizen not alien, capitalist nor communist, gay nor straight, beautiful nor ugly, East nor West, theist nor atheist, Israel nor Palestine, hawk nor dove, American nor Iraqi, married nor divorced, uptown nor downtown, terrorist nor freedom fighter, paedophile nor loving parent, priest nor prophet, fame nor obscurity, Christian nor non-Christian, for all are made one in Christ Jesus. (ht: Existentialpunk)

Today, Thomas shared thoughts on Unity vs Uniformity in our tribes and communities of faith.

I believe wholeheartedly in the “ones” in this passage (Eph 4:1-16):

• one body
• one Spirit
• one hope
• one Lord
• one faith
• one baptism
• one God and Father of all… who is over all and through all and in all.

This is unity… but this doesn’t demand uniformity. The very passage speaks of having different giftings… we are gifted with different things so that we can make a stronger WHOLE than the SUM OF OUR PARTS.

We are all different. We all have different experiences… different baggage… different tastes and preferences and worldviews. This diversity makes the collective whole stronger.

He continued, saying that our communities of faith should not be melting pots where everything is thrown out and the end result is goop, but instead we should be salads — where everything is put together to add value and unique flavor and nutrition.

A carrot by itself is OK but add it with spinach or lettuce and tomatoes and you get a tasty salad. Throw in a few nuts (like most of our communities of faith have ) and you have WOW! All the flavors blend together as one.

Perhaps this is why Jesus prayed for the generations of Christ followers that would come after him ::

I’m praying not only for them
But also for those who will believe in me
Because of them and their witness about me.
The goal is for all of them to become one heart and mind—
Just as you, Father, are in me and I in you,
So they might be one heart and mind with us.
Then the world might believe that you, in fact, sent me.
The same glory you gave me, I gave them,
So they’ll be as unified and together as we are—
I in them and you in me.
Then they’ll be mature in this oneness,
And give the godless world evidence
That you’ve sent me and loved them
In the same way you’ve loved me. – John 17:20-23

I hope that in all my communities of faith I offer spaces of grace (and sanctuary). Where the labels are shed at the door and a space is created where everyone is equal, regardless of where they are in their walk, regardless of what bounded set they find themselves in, regardless how far they are from the center point as long as we’re all helping draw one another to the True Center Point.

St. Peter's Brewery - a novel by Jonathan D. Blundell

From the Dec. 24 edition of The Belton Journal…

Jonathan Blundell, a former editor of The Belton Journal and Harker Height’s Evening Star, and a University of Mary Hardin-Baylor graduate with a degree in Mass Communications, has written an inspirational novel about getting a man who learns what true friendship is and relationships are and how to live life.

The story is about a man who thinks he has his life all together then it starts to fall apart. The pain of life, both recent and past isolate him from the world. He finds refuge in a small town North of Austin.

It’s through this towns pub that he learns the importance of community and how each person needs forgiveness and grace. He also finds out the importance of stories and the value of a person’s story and how important it is to share that story with others.

The book can be purchased online at www.amazon.com, www.stpetersbrewery.info, and at www.jdblundell.com.

The novel is a self-published book, which provided more freedom in the process.

“I always wanted to write a book,” said Blundell. “I just did it.”

Blundell became involved in an organization for novice writers called the National Novel Writers Month Group. The organization challenges it’s members to write a novel within a month and have it published.

“I just sat down and wrote it,” said Blundell. “It was an odd process because of the time crunch, I wrote 2,000 words a day and I didn’t worry about proofreading or editing.”

He added that it was a fun process and as the story developed he came up with different ideas.

“I want to do more writing in the future,” said Blundell.

He says that he wants to write more books like St. Peter’s Brewery and possibly try to write something’s that non-fiction too.

Blundell also claimed that story defined some things in his life and put his life in perspective.

He said he realized many things about himself he hadn’t thought about before.

Blundell is currently living in Dallas with his wonderful wife and their dog.

St. Peter's Brewery - a novel by Jonathan D. Blundell

A friend shared a great post today from Jan Edmiston and A Church for Starving Artists.

Reading it, I couldn’t help but think of St. Peter’s Brewery.

As I was working here on this first Monday of the new decade, Sister Sledge was playing in the background. (“We are family . . .”) I had my coffee, my laptop, and the company of three strangers who’d joined me. As is my common experience here, we became temporary colleagues suggesting which salads to try or watching each other’s computers if someone needed to slip off to the restroom.

The two men were working together on some kind of Republican political event. The other woman seemed to be writing in her diary. After the men left, the remaining woman and I kept to our work, occasionally staring into space in search of inspiration. She was looking towards the bar when she said something out loud – sort of to herself – and I replied, “What did you say?” And she said it again: “I wish my church was like this.”

Don’t we all?

It wasn’t the first time I’ve come here alone or with friends and heard those words: “I wish my church was like this.” I interpret this to mean “I wish the church was easy and warm and comfortable and diverse and tangibly hospitable. I wish there was more art and moving around and conversation and work and laughter and sitting and even praying.” I’ve prayed here many times. I’ve had staff meetings here. I’ve celebrated births and deaths here.

Jan goes on to ask, “What makes a church a church?”

Surely it’s not the building? Surely it’s not the decor.

There must be something far deeper.

It’s about the people that gather.

Whether it’s in a brewery, an old city bar, a coffee house, a living room or under a shade tree or in the middle of a parking lot — it’s still about creating a space where people feel welcome, loved and cared for.

So if you could start from scratch, what would your church look like?

St. Peter's Brewery - a novel by Jonathan D. Blundell