Soon and Very Soon: The Restoration of All Things

A gospel song from the 1970s belts out the lines, “Soon and very soon we are goin’ to see the King.” I’ve been singing it over and over for the last few months. It’s super catchy and happy and reminds me of the goodness of the return of Christ.

If you also want it stuck in your head, you can listen to the original singer and songwriter, Andraé Crouch, perform it live here, or you can watch another more modern version here, still featuring Crouch, but also with CeCe Winans. “No more dyin’ there, we are goin’ to see the King, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, we are goin’ to see the King!

Try to sing that and not smile. You can’t do it.

This is a topic I’ve been thinking about a lot—not just for the last few months, but for the last few years. Soon and very soon, the book I wrote on this topic, The Restoration of All Things, will finally be released by Baker Books. Launch day is less than a month away. But I actually wrote the first chapters of this book over six years ago! It took a while to get it published, but that’s another story.

Today, I’d love to invite you to pre-order the book. I know that’s a few dollars, and I feel weird asking. But I really believe in the book’s theme, specifically that remembering the return of Christ pours hope into a Christian’s life. And who couldn’t use more hope in their life?

You can pre-order the book at a number of places, Amazon or Baker Books, for example. The book releases on June 23, but pre-orders likely ship early, maybe even a week. And this might not be apparent to the average reader, but I’m told that the Amazon algorithm gets a lot of “juice” from pre-orders, so if you’re going to get it anyway, buy early and often, as they say.

On the Baker Books website, you can click the “look inside” button to read the entire first chapter. I have also listed the table of contents below. Most books tend to get less engaging as the pages and chapters progress. I think this book gets better and better toward the end.

And if you’d like to learn more about a seminar we’re hosting at church on this topic, we built an information page with all the details (here). It’s on Saturday, June 27. We’ll sing together some of the old hymns about the return of Christ, along with some of the best new ones. I’ll also teach two sessions about it. There’s an optional lunch and Q&A for those who have time. If you live in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania or want to take a road trip, registering for the seminar is a great way to get a free copy of the book (register here). If you’ve already pre-ordered, then you’ll have two copies: one to keep and one to give away!

Thank you,
Benjamin

Table of Contents

Introduction: This Train Is Bound for Glory    9

    1. Feasting for the Famished    35
     2. Rest for the Weary    51
     3. Bodies for the Broken    71
     4. Family for the Forsaken    93
     5. Justice for the Wronged    111
     6. Glorification for Strugglers    131

Conclusion: Loving His Appearing    151

Discussion Questions    161

‍

* Photo by Martin Adams on Unsplash (with Baker Books cloud image added)