DeWard Publishing Company, Ltd.

11/11/2024

I (Nathan) first met Tom Gilson at the Defend the Faith apologetics conference at NOBTS. I'd not heard of him before, but appreciated his breakout sessions and his thoughtfulness and kindness in personal interactions. The following year, I was able to spend even more time with him, which helped me appreciate him even more.

A few years later he approached me about publishing his book (which I'm leaving unnamed and unlinked, because now isn't the time for that), and I was excited about the prospect. I was even more excited about some of the endorsements we received for it, and the launch period had some of our largest sales numbers ever. After that, it tapered off pretty quickly. In addition to those endorsements, it received good reviews from readers who bought it, but it never took off in the way we expected it to. I am still not sure why.

In late June, Tom and his wife cut short a trip to Germany to visit their daughter due to some sudden medical issues. Upon return, he was diagnosed with advanced, metastatic, pancreatic cancer. This past Saturday, Tom passed from this life.

He was working on a new book, which he passed along to his good friend, and ours, Tim McGrew to finish. We hope to have more to say about that in the future. For now, we at DeWard join with so many who are mourning the loss of a man who stood for defending the truth of God.

07/11/2024

New daily devotional from Sonja Winburn: CHOOSE YOU THIS DAY WHOM YOU WILL SERVE—just in time for holiday gifts and planning a devotional schedule for 2025!

https://deward.com/shop/books/devotionals/choose-you-this-day-whom-you-will-serve-a-daily-bible-study-to-empower-our-spiritual-battle/

Here are a couple of the endorsements it has received (and there are more at the link above).

“Choose You This Day … explains some valuable lessons from the principles that God uses to teach us His values. We need these standards to understand how to please Him and honor Him always. I have learned so much from these writings; I encourage you to think on them and become edified and encouraged as well.” (Patti McClelland)

“One who would avoid ‘the counsel of the ungodly, the way of sinners, and the seat of the scornful’ will delight in the law of the Lord, and meditate on it day and night (Psa 1.1). Sonja Winburn’s Choose You This Day Whom You Will Serve provides a valuable tool to encourage such exercise. … I am happy to recommend it to all who are serious about avoiding the destructive influences of our modern world.” (Sewell Hal)

29/10/2024

New look for an existing book. To be clear: this is NOT a revision, expansion, or any other kind of update. It is just a new cover to match our more recent commentaries (with a new color for OT volumes).

If you don't have it—whether you forgot about it or never knew about it—this is our chance to remind you of this excellent volume on a much-neglected book of the Bible.

https://deward.com/shop/books/commentaries/let-us-search-our-ways-a-commentary-on-lamentations/

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Evan and Marie Blackmore have provided us with a substantial and insightful commentary that not only informs us about the book's ancient meaning but also demonstrates its continuing relevance for today. I recommend this commentary for everyone who studies Lamentations, but particularly for clergy as they preach this important book of the Bible to their modern congregations. (Tremper Longman III)

I commend this commentary on Lamentations to all who love God's word and seek to understand it better as it tackles the questions of the purposes and uses God has for suffering, grief and pain. Here is an explanation of the Word of God that has taken every possible path to understand adequately each phrase and word in its usage in its own context. Readers will be enriched and blessed by their study of this wonderful tool in their quest to appreciate more fully what our Lord has intended in the otherwise mysterious presence of pain, suffering, grief and loss. I recommend this work enthusiastically. (Walter C. Kaiser, Jr.)

Evan and Marie Blackmore's LET US SEARCH OUR WAYS is an excellent commentary on Lamentations. While not for beginners, it repays a careful reading, whether one is an informed adult learner or an interpreter with formal theological training. ... Most importantly, the authors never lose sight of the theological importance of the text and they put it in a broader biblical context. (J. Andrew Dearman)

The authors present the pathos of Lamentations through a helpful summary at the beginning of each chapter and a careful literary and linguistic analysis of the text. The artful combination of theological, exegetical, and literary insights gives the reader an experience of exile and a longing for the finality of redemption. (Willem A. VanGemeren)

04/10/2024

David McClister's revised Hebrews commentary, LET US DRAW NEAR, is now available for purchase. Buy your copy now and help us spread the word!

https://deward.com/shop/books/commentaries/let-us-draw-near-a-commentary-on-hebrews/

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The Christian life can be described as a journey of faith through the wilderness of testing, ending in rest in the presence of God in the heavenly Most Holy Place, on the mountain of God. Hebrews is an early Christian sermon that was written for a group who were growing weary and thinking about quitting. The sermon’s exhortation is that a successful end comes only for those who persevere, which is the nature of true faith. Centuries later, this sermon still speaks powerfully to God’s people who, like the original audience, are making the journey of faith. This second edition offers an expanded and updated coverage of Hebrews, including a new excursus.

27/09/2024

We will soon be submitting David McClister's Hebrews commentary (2nd. ed.) to the printer. Before we do, I want to mention two quick things.

First, the price on this volume will be higher than the original commentary. This is for three basic reasons:

1. Page count. Although it is the smallest factor, this edition will be about 60 pages longer than the first. The difference is minimal when it comes to cost, but not nonexistent.

2. Inflation. The original commentary, published in 2010, was $25. According to Dr. Google, 25 2010 dollars is $35.50 today. While we're not interested in raising prices just because it seems to be in style, the reality is that our costs have risen with inflation.

3. Printing style. FC Press has an ability that we do not have: warehousing and inventory management. They were able to do the first edition in a traditional, larger offset print run and we will be primarily using print-on-demand technology (though we can do larger runs, if necessary). Offset printing is significantly cheaper than print on demand. We keep low profit margins in order to keep low retail prices, but even with that, our prices will be a touch higher than an offset print run of the same book.

All that said, the price for this commentary will be $39.99. (Inflation alone nearly gets it all the way to that price!)

Second—although this has already been said here, I'll add it again for anyone who missed it—because the first edition of David’s commentary was published by FC Press, where we both work, I want to add a point of clarification here. When I learned that printing was near its end and the contract was expiring, I made a conscious effort not to discuss it with him at all, even though we had only recently published his Philemon commentary. I had no intent of “poaching” the book from the College and didn’t want to influence anything related to his plans. That said, when David approached me about possibly publishing the second edition, I was more than happy to agree.

30/07/2024

An interview with Donald Williams about ANSWERS FROM ASLAN.

Dr. Williams' website: http://donaldtwilliams.com/Answers from Aslan (affiliate link): https://amzn.to/43XxDYVSFC Website: https://soundfaithconsulting.com/S...

13/07/2024

A few exciting things on the horizon for DeWard. See comments for more elaboration on a couple of these.

1. reNEWED PROJECT
The long-awaited second collection of Lord’s Supper-related essays is *finally* in the works again. A few last essays are currently being written and editing will take a little while, but this is actually going to see the light of day.

2. NEW PARTNER
We have been contracted to produce a volume of the plenary lectures for the annual Defend the Faith apologetics conference at NOBTS. Currently, it is a one-year arrangement, but there is hope on both sides that all goes well and we extend it.

3. NEW PLATFORM
We have begun talks with Logos Bible Software for our books to be available there. Keep an eye out for more details.

4. NEW BOOKS
We are currently working on the second edition of David McClister’s commentary on Hebrews and a new daily devotional by Sonja Winburn.

05/07/2024

New from DeWard:

Make Your Calling and Election Sure
Lucas Ward

The Christian life should be one of continual growth and improvement as we better learn to be fruitful in the service of our Lord. MAKE YOU CALLING AND ELECTION SURE is a study of the Bible’s teaching about personal self-improvement, drawing especially from the lists in 2 Peter and Galatians.

https://deward.com/shop/books/christian-living/make-your-calling-and-election-sure-christian-self-improvement/

28/05/2024

THE HISTORICAL TELL is now available in Kindle format.

The Historical Tell: Patterns of Eyewitness Testimony in the Gospel of Luke and Acts

22/05/2024

OUR EYES ARE ON YOU is now available in Kindle format.

Our Eyes Are On You: A Study of Biblical Prayer

14/05/2024

Although it was unplanned, Lenny Esposito's interview of Nathan Ward on his "Come Let Us Reason Together" podcast came out the same day as Dr. Williams review of the book.

The interview available on YouTube (https://youtu.be/yIsoJdHRfZo) and the audio-only version is available via Apple iTunes, Spotify, RSS, and https://podcast.comereason.org. The latter spares you from having to look at my face.

13/05/2024

Nathan Ward's OUR EYES ARE ON YOU was just reviewed by Dr. Donald Williams. Check it out here.

“We deny self and take up a cross or we cling to self and avoid sacrificial service; we build on the foundation laid by Jesus or we trip on it and find ourselves crushed by it” (196). People who a…

13/12/2023

Jason Hardin's new book, INCLINE MY HEART, is now available for purchase: https://deward.com/shop/books/devotionals/incline-my-heart-the-daily-search-for-wondrous-things-volume-2/

This is the second of Jason's daily devotional books. Each volume provides three months’ worth of practical encouragement with reflections that flow in a simple pattern:

Sundays: from the Psalms
Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays: from the Old Testament
Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays: from the New Testament

07/12/2023

We want to join with so many others who are saddened at the passing of Paul Earnhart. His insights were simple but profound and impacted so many through the decades.

As it relates to this company, he first allowed us to republish INVITATION TO A SPIRITUAL REVOLUTION, which gave us an instant credibility boost. Then, his continued generosity in allowing us to publish more of his works puts DeWard Publishing in his debt for the rest of our existence. I hope that we've done justice to his work.

The world is a darker place today. But we believe, as Paul did, that Light will conquer in the end. Until we join you in that victory, Paul, Godspeed.

21/11/2023

Many thanks to those who helped out with the Amazon feedback for BORN OF A WOMAN.

Given its success, is there any chance we can extend that out. Reviews on Amazon, GoodReads, and other similar platforms are extremely helpful—both for other customers trying to decide what to buy and, at a certain point, for Amazon's search and "you might like" algorithms.

If you've read and benefitted from a DeWard Publishing book, please consider taking a couple of minutes and leaving an honest review of it. Thanks!

17/11/2023

Our book BORN OF A WOMAN has a two-star Amazon review because someone received a damaged copy (not what those reviews are supposed to be). If you've used this book in your studies, would you please consider posting a review to help balance the scales a little? Links are in the comments below.

06/11/2023

New from DeWard:

ANSWERS FROM ASLAN: The Enduring Apologetics of C.S. Lewis
Donald Williams

https://deward.com/shop/books/christian-living/answers-from-aslan-the-enduring-apologetics-of-c-s-lewis/

It has been eighty years since C.S. Lewis wrote his major apologetics works. They came out during World War II. The world has changed radically since then. His arguments are still valid, but that validity might not be as obvious as it used to be.

It is not enough then for us just to parrot Lewis. We need to understand him so we can emulate him. We need to know his arguments and their strengths and weaknesses. We need to know how they can be nuanced to be more effective with today’s audience. We need to learn from Lewis’s methods and approach. And we need to understand his proper role as a role model: Lewis’s job is to teach us how to do our own apologetic in our own voice for our own generation. The purpose of this book is to help him do just that.

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Donald Williams makes a unique, helpful, and skillful contribution to the literature on Lewis in particular and apologetics in general. I plan to use ANSWERS FROM ASLAN as a textbook the next time I teach The Apologetics of C.S. Lewis, and I heartily endorse it for anyone interested in this subject. (Douglas Groothuis)

What a splendid, elegant, and practical book ANSWERS FROM ASLAN is! On the writing of books on C.S. Lewis there seems to be no end, yet this book makes a unique and valuable contribution not only to the field of Lewis studies but also to the field of Christian apologetics. (Robert B. Stewart)

03/08/2023

NEW RELEASE

The Historical Tell: Patterns of Eyewitness Testimony in the Gospel of Luke and Acts
Luuk van de Weghe (foreword by Paul Barnett)

https://deward.com/shop/books/evidences-apologetics/the-historical-tell-patterns-of-eyewitness-testimony-in-the-gospel-of-luke-and-acts/

THE HISTORICAL TELL investigates the significant claim Luke makes at the outset: that he relied on eyewitness testimony (Luke 1.1–4). It demonstrates that five patterns in Luke’s Gospel are not only best explained by Luke’s claim being true, but that these patterns fit together to form a corroborative evidence case. We do not need to take Luke’s claim about eyewitnesses at face value; we do not need to simply take the church at its word. But by following the evidence, we can gain new confidence in the claims Luke makes and in the eyewitnesses whose voices echo even today.

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THE HISTORICAL TELL is a short book and yet it packs a strong punch. Luuk van de Weghe relies upon some classic arguments, but arranges them in a unique fashion, and adds some new insights as to why there is eyewitness testimony behind Luke and Acts. (Sean McDowell)

In this fresh and engaging treatment of Luke/Acts, Luuk van de Weghe contributes meaningfully to our understandings of biblical historiography regarding the histories of early Christianity and Jesus of Nazareth. (Paul N. Anderson)

Luuk van de Weghe's discoveries bolster the case for the reliability of the New Testament from several unique investigative angles. If you're interested in an engaging evidential approach to the case for Jesus, THE HISTORICAL TELL will inspire and encourage you. I highly recommend it. (J. Warner Wallace)