Stephen Van Zant

Author's note for Heaven Calling:

In the autumn of 1986, my mother gave me a copy of the devotional, God Calling. Two poor women, who referred to themselves as the Two Listeners, wrote the book in the 1930s in England. At the time, I was entering my first year of college at the University of Kentucky. I was not a religious person, and my family had not been regular churchgoers. However, this devotional had a curious effect on me as its simple messages of love, joy, and peace drew me in.

Four years later, I became a Christian while in my first year of law school at the University of Louisville. I believe God Calling planted the seeds of faith I needed to discover the Jesus of the New Testament. In January of 2004, fourteen years after my baptism, I happen to reread the foreword to God Calling and noticed for the first time the reference to the book, For Sinners Only by A. J. Russell. I soon obtained a copy for myself, and Mr. Russell’s description of an assembly of Christians known as the Oxford Group intrigued me. This group tried to imitate first-century Christianity and practiced the spiritual discipline of quiet listening. My wife and I began to practice quiet listening, or two-way prayer, in our own quiet times and found in it an added sense of joy, peace, and insight in our morning devotionals.

This is a book for the humble. It is for those who recognize that they are broken and in need of a Savior who has the power to renew them day by day. I do not claim to be an expert in matters of faith. I do not have a degree from a seminary and have never been on a church’s staff. I certainly do not claim to have any special insight into the Christian faith. Moreover, I have a lot to learn about godliness and imitation of our great friend. Accordingly, I offer this book as an amateur’s collection of personal quiet times and in the spirit of “sharing my notes” with you. It is my great pleasure to sit with Him each morning and allow Him to change me. My prayer is that that this book may in some small way draw you closer to Him.

Stephen Van Zant

November 14, 2017

Crestwood, Kentucky

Author's note for Far From Good:

I'm not a real writer. I will explain. On the morning of June 12,

2008, I was drinking coffee in the lobby bar of the Galt House

Hotel in Louisville, Kentucky. I was between hearings at the Jefferson

County Courthouse during my fourteenth year of practicing law as the

fourteenth lawyer in my family. At the time I was struggling to find

satisfaction in my career, and also feeling the intense financial strain of

simultaneously owning a struggling sports facility.

I decided to spend some time that morning writing and penciled in

my journal, "Write the book." This was a peculiar idea because the only

writing I'd done since obtaining an English degree was crafting little

deeds and wills for my law practice. Accordingly, my initial response

to this suggestion was, "What book?" However, as I gazed at the gray

Ohio River flowing by me, a flood of ideas for this novel came to mind.

Now, one year later, during moments stolen here and there, I have

completed this draft.

My hope for this book is to tell a simple tale set in imaginary Kidron

County, Kentucky. My desire is that you, the reader, may in some way

go back in time and experience life in that small Kentucky community

in 1975.

Stephen Van Zant

Elizabethtown, Kentucky

May 15, 2009

www.farfromgood.com