The Story Behind “Unshackled”
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A personal journey into the truth of identity in Christ
I have talked to a fair number of friends and family who have been a bit surprised that I wrote a book. To be honest, even my wife, who has suggested to me several times over the years that I could write one, was surprised when I told her in July of 2026 that I was almost finished this project. I had not shared what I was working on because I have had several false starts over the years.
Some friends asked me what brought this on. One friend asked about it, and when I shared the details they said they wanted to read it. They had at first ignored the lead up because they wondered if it might be an AI produced book. Once I explained the premise and the general outline, they realized it was not, and we will explore that together shortly.
These conversations made me think. Most of my larger circle knows I have written a blog for a number of years, yet most of my readership is outside my local community. Many friends and family have not seen the development of my writing or the deepening of my theology. I believe I have been writing public content since around 2021, although the writing has been sporadic at times because when I take on a project I tend to hyper focus until it is nearly finished. It often takes a while to get it over the finish line. Even so, sharing what I am learning has shaped much of my growth. Let us dig into all of that.
What inspired Unshackled?
What message am I sharing?
What was my writing process?
Where did I grow and learn the subject matter?
I have wanted to do a long form written project since 2004. At the time I was running A2J Distribution, a wholesale book and video outlet. I had contacts in the industry in both the USA and Canada, and I wanted to do something that would help others. The problem was that I did not know how to help myself, much less anyone else.
I began journaling intensely and found a great deal of healing through that process. I wrote out my prayers, anger, and sadness. That practice helped me identify areas that needed to shift and grow. I tried a number of times over the years to start writing a book, especially after the divisive Covid era was over.
At the same time as I was working through these things, my faith was being challenged in a number of ways. The church I had loved being part of split in spectacular fashion. I was also challenged about my faith, God, and basic foundational Christian beliefs. I started reading voraciously. I believe I am somewhere between one hundred twenty five and one hundred thirty books completed since 2017. Even right now I’m into 4 titles I switch back and forth between depending how sharp my thinking is at the moment. Most of these books are theological and philosophical. Some, like the one by Antony Flew, leaned more into scientific topics. Some I disagreed with, but I wanted to understand what they taught, so I dug deep to learn their foundational principles.
Over the last three years I attempted to start writing a book at least three times. I gave up after a chapter or two because I lost steam. Unshackled was different. I started writing it as a letter to my children. I felt that my faith, my understanding of the world, and my view of myself had changed immensely. In the picture accompanying this article I can see two almost entirely different men. The one on the left struggled to smile. I did not think I looked good smiling. I was sensitive about my crooked teeth and did not necessarily like myself. I drew confidence from what I did well, carried the weight of past failures, and struggled to live consistently strong in my faith. On the right I am smiling and it comes from within. I am comfortable with who I see and at ease in my own skin. I feel good about who God created me to be, and I am resting in the identity Christ gave me.
Even so, I want to be clear about something. I did not change who I am as a person. I changed my understanding of who I am in Christ. That distinction matters, especially for my children. I want them to know where I see I got things wrong and why. My personality and capacity changed in positive ways, but the real work was happening inside me. My self worth did not increase. What changed was my understanding of the redemption of God and the impact of the death and resurrection of Christ. That perspective changed everything.
For many years I believed that once we accepted Christ our job was to complete His work by putting to death our old Adamic nature. I may not have said it directly, but that was the behaviour I modelled. The result was an unending self improvement program that never learned to rest in the finished work of Christ. I did not understand what it meant to be “in Christ”. I adopted the label Christian, but I did not adopt the truth that my old Adam based sin nature was already dead. I believed I had to chase an experience, spend time daily in devotions, or follow a list of spiritual disciplines to stay approved by God. By following a checklist I was simply living a new version of the old covenant law that Jesus came to redeem us from.
I did not write about this in the book, but variations of the words in Christ appear in the New Testament more than three hundred fifty five times. Every instruction in scripture that calls believers to produce good fruit begins and ends with the truth that we do not have to do anything else to be saved or approved by God because we are in Christ. Our identity is brand new. We can trust ourselves because He made us new. Yes, we battle habits and old thought patterns and need to be careful about what we are feeding our desires, but we do not have to fight against ourselves like we are struggling with a religious case of schizophrenia. We are “in Christ”.
I started writing this letter because I felt that if I was out of the picture for some reason, my children might have a view of my beliefs as if I was still the person they remembered growing up. Children see their parents in a snapshot in time. They form an image of who their parents are and what they believed during their formative years between ages twelve and twenty. This is why older siblings remember a different parent than younger siblings. The parent is changing, either for better or worse and sometimes both.
In my case, I changed significantly. I am still anxious about certain things, as my family will attest, but I am much more comfortable and relaxed overall. I am not worried about offending God. My identity is not wrapped up in whether my kids respect me, whether my job is going well, or what my wife thinks of me. It is not that these things have no value. They simply do not steer the ship anymore.
In all of that, I wanted to tear down the false teachings and false foundations I had believed and shared with my children. I wanted to re establish a faith that was free of religion, free of chasing the next big experience, and resting on the finished work of Jesus Christ. I wanted to write about the message of grace but built on an unshakable foundation of Truth.
So I started writing. I did not worry about punctuation, grammar, or flow. I simply wrote about what had changed, what had not worked, and what was true. I was well into what is now chapter five or six before I realized I had a book. At that point I sat down and created a structural outline, chapter names, topics, and general chapter summaries. Then I began writing again.
The book was no longer only a letter to my children. It became a letter to a generation. I wanted to write not to convince anyone, but to plant a seed for the Christian reader. I wanted them to see Christianity not through the lens of their church upbringing, spiritual disciplines, or checked boxes, but through the gospel of grace. I wanted the Christian who is exhausted by experience to begin a journey toward rest and contentment in the finished work of Christ. I wanted the young believer who is thinking of deconstructing, who is doubting their faith, to take a fresh look at truth claims and the foundations of the faith. I wanted them to walk toward a healthier faith, a simple walk with Christ in the finished work of grace.
During the last several months of editing, reviewing, and finalizing this book I could have easily added three or more chapters. I do not know why, but I felt I needed to run with what I had. A pastor friend of mine who read the book told me that most people do not need the depth and breadth of study that I needed, and that this is where the book will serve readers best.
After I wrote the book I used Microsoft Copilot to help me edit each chapter for flow, grammar, and punctuation, asking the editor to keep changes to a minimum. I checked theology with a pastor friend and using Logos Bible Software. I wrote transitions, reviewed the theology further for clarity, and checked chapter and verse references for accuracy. This part of the work took much longer than the writing itself.
I hope readers enjoy this book. I hope there are conversations around tables and in living rooms that center on grace and identity in Christ. My desire is to see believers freed from the weight of religious experience that keeps them anxious, fearful, insufficient, and exhausted. I want to see them walk in their already secured identity in Christ and rest in the finished work He has accomplished for them.
I also want to see believers remember who they are in Christ, not who they were without Him. When a believer sees themselves through the truth of the gospel rather than through the lens of their past, their failures, or their religious performance, everything changes. Confidence grows. Peace settles in. The Christian life becomes a walk of trust rather than a cycle of striving.
If this book helps even one person rediscover that identity, then the work was worth it.
The Christian life is not an unending self improvement program. It is rest in the finished work of Christ.
Order your copy here
For bulk copies please message me or check my Etsy or Unlikely Apologist store on this site.
Release date October 20, 2026
