books three and four in the middle school survival series released this past friday. they are MY FRIENDS and MY SCHOOL.

i co-authored those first four books with my friend kurt johnston. it was a wonderful thing to write with him. we were friends prior to the books; but it seems like our working together gave us reason to connect on a very regular basis over a couple years, which raised the level of our friendship a couple notches. sadly (but for good reasons), kurt asked to bow out of the last two books in the series, and i’m starting with a new co-author: scott rubin.

scott is the junior high pastor at willowcreek, and, like kurt, one of the most humble youth workers i know. i have always loved it that these two guys (kurt is the junior high guy at saddleback) are in positions of significant influence, with tons of youth workers looking to them, and they are both wonderfully normal and humble.

in the last few weeks, scott and i have been finalizing the table of contents for MY CHANGES and MY FUTURE. and today, just after i post this, i’ll start writing my first of 75 chapters (plus a few extra bits and bobs). october 1 deadline. gotta get crackin’!