Captive Conscience Press · forthcoming
Love.Serve.Witness.
A Forty-Day Journey of Living the Christian Faith
Love generously. Serve humbly. Witness faithfully.
Forty days. One road.
The Christian life does not begin with what we do for God. It begins with what God has done for us in Jesus Christ. Love. Serve. Witness. walks that road one day at a time: from the love that found us before we ever sought it, through the service that flows from faith, to the witness that simply says, “Behold, the Lamb of God.”
Each day opens a passage of Scripture—Jacob and Esau, the Jordan, the wilderness, Mamre, Zarephath, Cana, the Areopagus—reads it with Luther and the Lutheran Confessions, and closes with a prayer and a place to write the names of those you will carry with you.
Nothing here is a ladder to climb. It is a journey of faith receiving and love giving, for the parent and the pastor, the nurse and the retiree, for anyone ready to take the first step.
In this book
- Forty daily readings in three parts, Love, Serve, and Witness, each opening a passage of Scripture
- Luther and the Lutheran Confessions read alongside the text, with the sources given in full
- A prayer to close each day, and a page for the names of those you carry with you
- An index of Scripture
Praise
…a refreshing reminder that the Christian life is not a spiritual ladder to climb but a daily journey of receiving God’s grace, mercy, and peace and of sharing His mercy with our neighbors.
Love. Serve. Witness. answers that by walking forty days through Scripture with Luther and the Confessions… I commend it to parents, pastors, and anyone who wants the Reformation’s doctrine to take root in ordinary vocations.
Pastor Skopak has made a wonderful confessionally Lutheran contribution to growth as a disciple of Jesus… I pray this forty-day discipleship journey fills your heart with great joy.
…hits a sweet spot where theological richness and approachability for everyday Christians intersect… This is a great resource to enrich the journey of anyone walking as a disciple of Jesus.
About the author
Jeffrey E. Skopak, D.Min., is a pastor of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. Since 2023 he has served as the Senior Pastor of Emmanuel Lutheran Church and School in Asheville, North Carolina. He has served previous congregations in Metropolitan New York, New Jersey, Florida, and Arizona. He is a guest instructor for the International Lutheran Council, where he teaches in the Lutheran Leadership Development Program. He previously authored Christ, Culture, and Cinema: How Faith and Film Intersect, and hosts a weekly podcast under the same name.
About the cover
The cover art of Love.Serve.Witness: A Forty-Day Journey of Living the Christian Faith draws inspiration from the vibrant colors, geometric forms, and expressive imagery of one of the author’s favorite contemporary Christian artists, He Qi. Reflecting the rich tradition of Christian stained-glass windows and sacred art, the design brings together three distinct yet inseparable dimensions of the Christian life.
The first panel portrays Christ’s compassionate embrace, reminding us that our love begins with God’s gracious love for us. The second depicts Jesus humbly washing the feet of another, illustrating that Christian service flows not from obligation or a desire to earn God’s favor, but from gratitude for the grace we have already received. The third presents Christ reaching out to others, reflecting our calling to bear witness to the Gospel through word and deed.
The bold colors, radiant halos, and interconnected figures communicate the beauty, joy, and deeply personal nature of our relationship with Christ and one another. Throughout the creative process, the goal was to create an image that would tell the story of the book before a single page was turned.
From a Confessional Lutheran perspective, the three panels proclaim one essential truth: We do not love, serve, or witness to earn God’s favor, but because His grace has already been freely given to us through Jesus Christ. The cover is both a reflection of that Gospel truth and an invitation to live it each day.
The artwork was developed by the author with the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI), which served as a creative tool to bring the author’s theological vision and artistic inspiration to life.
Sample and press kit
- Sample pages: posted at publication.
- Cover, high resolution (JPEG, 1800 × 2700 px)
- Sell sheet (PDF) (1.2 MB)
- Review copies and interview requests: info@captiveconscience.com
