Christian Book Notes

Christian Book Notes (CBN): Could you please share how you came to know Christ Jesus as your Lord and Savior?

Brian Mooney (BM):  I came to Christ at a very young age, during a Vacation Bible School service at Germantown Baptist Church in Germantown, Tennessee. I was baptized shortly after and remained at GBC until I went to college at Union University. There I attended Englewood Baptist Church and First Baptist Church of Jackson. One of my more meaningful college experiences was a Brazil mission trip through Englewood Baptist Church to Contagem, Minas Gerais, Brazil where we helped to construct a school. Wade Akins briefly mentions the work of Englewood in his book 24/7 Christian. It was an amazing experience, being part of a construction team that built a building for kids.

Since that time life has been a pilgrimage through a number of struggles, but one thing that has helped me is my study of early spirituality. There I came across an idea from the Franciscan monks that we need to turn to God not just once in our spiritual journey, but daily, since our walk is so often fraught with new, sometimes welcome, sometime unwelcome, beginnings and endings.

CBN:  Could you share a little more about yourself.

BM: I am a married father of two boys, a former prosecutor and civil attorney. I am ordained minister as well as the president of BorderStone Press, president of the Clayton Robert Group, and on the board of the Children’s Redemption Network in Dallas, Texas.

CBN:  You recently co-founded BorderStone Press with Roger Duke. Why start your own publishing company?

BM: I started the company at, quite possibly, the worst time I could have chosen to do so, at least on my terms. Now I truly believe God had a plan for me, my family and this company.

When I started the company I had a full time legal practice, a prosecuting job, and was preparing for ordination. I also had a young family: my wife, a highly energetic son, and one on the way. So we were incredibly busy but otherwise fairly normal.

A few months later everything changed. We had been up all night with my wife in labor. Our son Nathan (“Gift of God”) was born early that morning and a few hours later my wife’s parents showed up to take over; I went home to take a nap. About four hours later, the doctor, the oncologist, called and said I had cancer.

The next few months of treatment were exhausting, emotionally and physically. I won’t go into details but we went to an out-of-state specialist, through chemotherapy and radiation, and praise God, I now seem to be cured of it. Life seems to be getting back to whatever normal is for a thirty year old cancer survivor who has a new baby, frequent doctor visits, new worries and all the concerns of a new business. But life is good.

What cancer did for me was change the status quo. I was able to quit my legal career and prosecuting job, and devote myself to publishing and website development. My idea of leaving a legacy for my family became a much more immediate concern for me, as the idea that I might not have much time left to do it is a daily challenge -a challenge to produce good fruit with whatever time I have left.

CBN:  BorderStone Press already features a pretty significant number of books like The Empire of the Holy Spirit by Michael Haykin, and The Lost Sermons of Scottish Baptist Peter Grant, The Highland Herald by Terry Wilder, can you offer a glimpse of what is to come?

BM: I am interested in practical theology. I am not interested in speculative theology, or theology for the sake of theology. I am also not interested in debates over theological minutiae, or those things that divide the body.

You can expect that what we publish will be vetted with the concern that it build up the Kingdom of God. It is my hope that everything we do is an exercise in Kingdom-building, an encouragement to believers, helping to strengthen the bonds between the faithful among the denominations.

More specifically we are looking for new talent (and old vets are welcome too); you can expect some bright, up-and-coming authors. We also hope to bring a few surprises. I have a deep interest in Israel, the Hebrew language, and explaining the Hebrew Scriptures on their own terms, as well as how they relate to the New Testament. So that might play a role in what we publish. More information is available on our website: www.borderstonepress.com.

CBN: Are you taking manuscripts from other writers? If so, what are you looking to publish? How can an aspiring author submit a manuscript to BorderStone Press?

BM: Yes. We actively seek writers, and I am committed to looking for new talent and fresh voices, regardless of church affiliation. The content of each manuscript will be assessed on the basis of whether or not it fits with our vision statement. This means you can expect to see manuscripts from Christian and Jewish authors. We judge each manuscript, as is, based on its quality.

CBN: How can our readers support and pray for the two of you as well as BorderStone Press?

BM: I appreciate feedback. I enjoy hearing what people like and do not like because producing a quality, affordable product is something essential for me.

Christians can also commit themselves to the “book”. We, like other companies, are branching out into e-books, but I firmly believe that a physical copy of a book is a powerful statement and legacy to pass on. Where e-books are convenient and I enjoy them, a physical book is a permanent record. There is nothing like writing your name in a new book, saying: I read this; I owned this; this book became a part of my life. All of our paper meets ANSI archival standards and we hope they become a permanent part of your libraries.

Of course, pray for continued health. The challenges post-cancer are a new world for me, but every day is new, a blessed day to be alive. I often think about the end of Anglican services where the celebrant will say, “now let us go forth to love and serve the Lord.” The response from everyone: “Thanks be to God!”