About the Book

Book: Forgotten Faith

Author: Lauren Reeves

Genre: Non-fiction/Christian Devotional

Release Date: December 20, 2019

When Christians are challenged to explain what they believe and why, too many fall short. Do the majority of Christians feel true commitment to their faith anymore? Are they able to retain hope and perseverance when trials come? Or do they find themselves questioning God’s goodness? We live in a time where Christians seem to have forgotten their once strong faith.

In her book Forgotten Faith, popular podcaster and speaker Lauren Reeves teaches Genesis in a way that keeps her reader wanting more. She provides the foundation necessary to make the rest of the Bible make sense long after this book’s last page is turned. From cover to cover, the believer will find a fascinating study of Genesis and that Genesis and Revelation go hand in hand, painting a picture of the End Times and the reason for hope. The content has the ability to do for readers what might otherwise take years of study to unveil.

Forgotten Faith seeks to uncover treasures in Genesis that have long been hidden away, treasures that are relevant to today and the End of Days and have been waiting for the right time to be known—and the time is now.

Behold, I am coming soon . . . I am the Alpha and Omega,

the first and the last, the beginning and the end.

Revelation 22:12–13

My Thoughts

Who would you say inspired you the most in your life? In my Christian life, I would have to say I am most indebted to my granny. She passed on to glory in January 2019. I really wanted her to see that my book was dedicated to her. It was going to be a surprise, but maybe God will let her know for me. She wasn’t very vocal about her beliefs, but her life and actions were her witness. As a baby, her and Paw Paw gave me a baby bible, which I still have to this day. Then when I got older, her and Paw Paw gave me my first study Bible. You could walk in her house and always find the Bible open where she did her daily quiet time. She had devotionals and hymn books stacked there, too. She rarely, if ever, missed a day meeting with the Father. Her favorite devotional was My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers. She gave me her tattered copy as an act of sacrifice, but my mother couldn’t stand it and bought her a new one. I treasure her tattered version to this day. Even though she never forced her beliefs on anyone, her life was such a witness. She was the most pleasant person to be around. She did things for people in secret, not wanting any glory or attention. She would give to the poor even though she didn’t have much herself. She would pray for each of us. She was big on keeping peace within the family, and she was big on tradition and ensuring the family stayed together and made memories routinely. When she left this world, it left a HUGE hole. But the legacy she left is still woven into everyone who knew her. She left a mark, a significant one, and her spiritual walk cannot be separated from the mark she left.

If you could spend the day with anyone (living or dead) who would it be? Why? I would have to say Mister Rogers. He’s so fascinating to me. I’ve watched a couple of documentaries about him and recently went and saw a movie about him. After every one of the films, I have walked away thinking, I want to be more like Mister Rogers and truly see people and make each one a priority. How we love is so important in the Christian walk, and Mister Rogers was a devout Christian who loved well.

Do you have a special writing area? My favorite place to write is in my home office. My books are all on a bookshelf behind me for easy access, my computer screen is big so I can see what I’m working on easily, and my English Springer Spaniel sits lovingly at my feet. It really is one of my favorite places. If I’m going to be reading a lot for research though, I usually choose to be outside. I’ll sit on the back porch and let the dogs play in the yard, or I’ll sit out in a swing where I can let our horses out of their pasture to graze on new grass around me. Our geese usually come over and play with my shoelaces while I read. Being an animal lover, those creatures make research peaceful and not as grueling.

How do you balance writing time with the demands of life/family? This is really hard to do. I will probably struggle with this my entire life. Researching and writing demand so much time of focused attention, so I try to make space to be alone during writing seasons. When I’m writing, I always feel like I’m letting my other responsibilities slip, but thankfully I married a very understanding husband who believes in me and makes ways to allow me to get a book finished. He picks up the slack for me while I’m writing and then when I get done with a writing season, I try to return the favor for him. He always does it better, though. God definitely fit us together for more reasons than just love! And that’s a bonus because I really do love him!

What kind of research do you do? I know this sounds nerdy, but I read theology books, commentaries, listen to online teachings, read Christian non-fiction, and even text books. I volunteer with an organization called Graciously Broken. I lead worship and teach them a lesson each week. I will usually use what I have learned as their weekly lesson. It’s a good way for me to test how it is received and what questions they had that were not clear during the lesson. So in a way, they help me and I help them. It’s nice ☺

How long do you spend researching before beginning a book? I will usually have a good bit of knowledge accumulated on a subject before ever attempting a book. What I have been drawn to and have learned is usually a factor that guides me to write about it. It’s fascinating to watch how subject I’ve learned about come together to be about one theme. And I usually do not realize it until I’ve accumulated enough knowledge to start. But then once I start writing, I do a lot more focused research as I go chapter by chapter.

Was there anything you found interesting while researching the topic? It wasn’t until I started gathering all of my research that I realized Genesis and Revelation tip their hat to one another pretty often – more often than I ever expected. So, generally speaking, that was one of the most fascinating things to me.

Do you have any writing quirks? I’ve found I have to have an outline. Have to! I’ve started so many books and never finished them – not because it wasn’t interesting, but because I went so far off the point of the book and spent so much time doing it, that I didn’t know how to get back without just starting over! So outlines are necessary for me, even though outlining is the least fun process ever. I used an outline when writing Forgotten Faith, and it made all the difference.

Do you read much? All the time! I actually don’t like reading, but I love learning enough that my desire to learn outweighs my impatience for reading. Reading is so important. There’s just some things you can’t learn deeply without reading. So it is important and necessary, whether I WANT to read or not.

What is different about writing non-fiction vs fiction? Would you say one is easier than the other? I have never written non-fiction, but I am intrigued by it. Maybe one day I will try my hand at it. We’ll see.

Anything else you’d like to share? I guess as a final thought, I’d just like to tell people to never stop reading. Reading is so important, especially as a Christian. I believe our minds inform our hearts, so keeping our minds engaged with Christ-centered books (and of course the Bible) is so very important for our hearts. So never stop reading. I mean even God gave us a book to read, so I’m pretty sure he thinks it’s important, too! ☺

Click here to get your copy of the book!

About the Author

Lauren Reeves loves to encourage the heart of a person into a deeper walk with Christ. She believes the mind informs the heart, so offering resources that are engaging and fascinating is necessary. Bible literacy ranks as one of the biggest ways she wants to influence the body of Christ, and she has an extraordinary gift for explaining intimidating theological ideas in easy-to-understand ways that keep a reader wanting more.

She is the co-host of Joy for the Journey Podcast with Tammy Whitehurst (www.joyforthejourneypodcast.com) and loves teaching God’s word, songwriting, and leading people into worship. She is currently completing her master’s degree in Christian apologetics from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. She holds a bachelor of arts degree in religion from Baylor University. Lauren and her family live on a ranch in Texas. Learn more at www.laurenreeves.com

More from Lauren

Why did I write this book? Because I’ve often been told that learning and understanding Genesis is the foundation for the rest of the Bible. Much of the Christian worldview can be found there, which effects our decision making. But Genesis not only lays the foundation for the rest of the Bible, it is closely linked with Revelation, the last book in the Bible. Just about every time I’ve asked a Bible study group what they would like to learn about next, one of the number one answers was always “Revelation” or “End Times Events.” Even though for years people have been hungry to learn more about Revelation, most Christians and churches try to steer clear of this subject because the end times plan can be intimidating and is not 100 percent clear from Jesus’s revelation to John in that book. Since differing opinions often cause dissension, people understandably avoid areas of the Bible that aren’t absolutely clear. However, I believe those words would not have been given to us to read if we were supposed to avoid studying them. For that reason, I’ve taken the risk and written a book on Genesis that ties Genesis and Revelation together helping us to understand the end times plan more clearly. One thing I hope is clear in my book, though, is you don’t have to agree with my interpretation of end times events to glean great truths and a greater understanding of the Bible through my book. One stance had to be taken to talk about the subject in detail, but truly, if a reader does not agree with my stance, it’s not a big deal. There’s way more to the book than that. The goal was to make us all think on and around Genesis and Revelation to help us study it and have opportunity for the Holy Spirit to reveal truths to us through the Word. I hope other books are written from different end times stances so we can read and study from a different angle. The more we read from different angles, the more we grow in knowledge and understanding. It is my belief that being certain that there IS an end times plan is what helps anchor the hope of Christ firmly in our souls. If we don’t have a forward view, it is so easy to get stuck in the tunnel vision of the here and now, which can often appear hopeless. So, now more than ever before, Christians need to be studying the first book of the Bible to know what we believe and the last book of the Bible to know that there is an end times plan that is sure and wonderful. I hope this book stirs your soul in a unique way. It is deep, yet devotional. I really believe it is a book for today.