Minister Will Bowen Writes As God for New Devotional; 'Writing for God Seemed Arrogant'
Will Bowen knew that he might raise an eyebrow or two when he decided to portray himself as God in his new devotional book, To: You Love, God, but the minister decided to move forward with the idea in hopes that he can help recharge some spiritual batteries.
Bowen, the 54-year-old minister based in Kansas City, Missouri first began ghostwriting for God in the form of emails that he would send to people in his church years ago. In 2007, the best-selling author and minister decided to create daily devotional emails that he would anonymously send to people with the closing "Love, God."
While Bowen got responses to the emails from people who began to thank God, they had no idea who the real author was behind the messages that began to spiritually uplift them throughout the week. He admits that the idea was initially an intimidating one.
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"I wrestled with that question a lot especially when I first began writing the daily devotionals. 'Who am I to write for God' ran through my mind every time I sat down to create these emails," Bowen told The Christian Post. "Writing for God seemed arrogant — almost blasphemous. But then I realized that, as a minister, I speak for God every Sunday."
Bowen reflected on telling people "God loves you," "God wants the best for you," "You're precious to God," or "God bless you," which he believes is tantamount to signing his emails under the guise of God.
"That's what many people believe we are here to do — communicate the love and compassion of God to the faithful in ways and words that they will understand," the minister told CP.
After a senior board member from Bowen's church demanded to know if the emails floating around his congregation were coming from a book, the author told the church secretary to let it be known that the messages were from God. Bowen decided it was time to combine more than 2,500 daily messages over the span of seven years into a book he could share with the world.
Although the author of two international best-selling books could have hired anyone to help compile his emails into a book format, he chose his 16-year-old daughter for the job. While Bowen was the creator of the emails that changed people's lives, he did not have a hand in selecting what would appear in the book, To: You Love, God.
The themes featured in the 365-day all-inclusive spiritual devotional come from recurring themes that Bowen noticed in church ministry.
"For example, several different people might all come for counseling during the same week because they felt betrayed by someone. When such a pattern showed up at my church, it would inspire me to write a To: You Love, God entry on the subject of forgiveness,"Bowen told CP. "When the recession struck, several of the messages I wrote were centered around the theme of trusting God and knowing that God is the source of all prosperity. In short, as trite as it sounds, life is my inspiration."
Bowen said he understands the challenges that people face daily, which may include doubting God's love. This prompted him to do something about it.
"At some point, everyone feels their soul crying out as Jesus Christ did from the cross, 'Father, why hast Thou forsaken me?' People face spiritual crises everyday," Bowen told CP. "I found that my congregation left church jazzed up on Sunday mornings but by mid-week, life's challenges beat people down — it was like their spiritual batteries were drained. My goal was to keep my congregants' spiritual batteries charged every day by reminding them that, no matter what, there is a God who loves us, appreciates us and understands us."
Bowen has appeared on programs such as "Oprah" and the "Today" show and has gained popularity for "A Complaint Free World" campaign. In 2006, the author was ministering in a Kansas City church and challenged the congregants to wear a purple rubber bracelet that would symbolize their attempt to go 21 days without uttering one complaint.
If someone were to complain, they would have to switch the wrist that their bracelet was on and track each day. The movement grew like wildfire and inspired Bowen to create a non-profit organization that would distribute the bracelets to the over 10 million people that requested them around the world.
Media maven Oprah Winfrey's "O, The Oprah Magazine" has even purchased 50,000 Complaint Free bracelets to distribute in South Africa. After eight years, the non-profit is still thriving with one part-time employee and a team of volunteers fulfilling thousands of requests every month.
Bowen also creates 90-minute videos that he calls "Jumpstarts," where he seeks to spread inspiration on his website, Facebook and YouTube. The author and minister spoke about the importance of helping people connect with God every day, not just on Sundays in church.
"When my mother was alive, she read her Bible along with various little daily devotionals as she sipped her morning coffee. Mom said she did it to 'get my compass straight before starting the day,'" Bowen told CP. "We all need a variety of things at different times to straighten our compass and charge our batteries every day. Today, we are so blessed that we live in a time and place where hundreds of thousands of hours of inspiring books, videos and recordings are at our fingertips wherever we are."
For those questioning his decision to write as God, Bowen suggests people should try doing so themselves.
"As I write in To: You Love, God, I believe everyone should take time to write for God. Many of the writings were based on challenges I was personally facing," Bowen told CP. "When I attempted to consider my problem from the highest point of view of God and asked myself, 'What would the most loving, understanding and benevolent God say about my particular challenge' the answers that came pouring out through the keyboard seemed, well, divine."
He added, "There is true spiritual transformation in sitting down with a pen and paper, thinking about a problem and writing out advice to yourself as if it were coming directly from God."
For more information about Will Bowen, please visit www.willbowen.com. For more information about his devotional To: You Love, God visit http://toyoulovegod.com/.
