Courtesy of Ken Shigematsu
Ken Shigematsu, author of the newly released novel “God in My Everything,” never intended to write a book. However, after a spontaneous sermon, he penned out his thoughts and compiled them into a book that quickly became a bestseller.
PASTOR TURNED AUTHOR SPEAKING IN CHAPEL
Shigematsu, a pastor at Tenth Church, a multi-ethnic church in Vancouver, Canada, will be speaking in chapel on Oct. 9 in order to illustrate what finding a rhythm of life and building a relationship with God looks like.
Lisa Ishihara, Director of Chapel Programs, explained that Barry Corey put Shigematsu on her radar, and that is when she and her team started considering inviting him to speak in chapel.
“We just felt like we have never heard a story like his on campus,” Ishihara said.
Shigematsu will donate free copies of his book to the first three hundred students that come to the table after chapel.
Cody Brown, a freshman engineering physics major, heard about the bestselling book and expressed his excitement for Shigematsu’s upcoming chapel appearance.
“I think that his premise sounds intriguing and I would be highly interested in listening to him,” Brown said.
UNEXPECTED RESPONSE TO SERMON
Shigematsu’s written work sprang out of an unexpectedly successful sermon, he said. When a scheduled pastor could not come to speak on a Sunday morning, Shigematsu was asked to step in with hardly any time for preparation. He decided to talk about what he called his own rhythm of life. He explained that his particular rhythm included things such as taking the day off for the Sabbath, spending routine time in prayer and making sure to set aside time for family.
“The response to the message was just astounding. For about sixty days, people were contacting me actually every day wanting to find out more. Lawyers I had never met with asked if I could have coffee and wanted to know how they could live a life with a spiritual rhythm. I had artists who said, ‘I don’t like structures, but I’m intrigued. Tell me more,’” Shigematsu said.
After researching and writing about the effect a rhythm of life had on a small group of people for a doctoral dissertation, Shigematsu’s mentor Leighton Ford, a presbyterian minister in North Carolina, urged him to write a book about his findings.
Taking Ford’s advice, Shigematsu based the central message off of developing spiritual practices that enable a person to build a flourishing relationship with Jesus Christ.
“It’s really important to find something that you really enjoy doing that you don’t have to do whether it’s reading a knowledge or listening to beautiful music or viewing art that really moves you,” Shigematsu said.
BOOK EMPHASIZES SABBATH AND PRAYER
Shigematsu shared that his book encourages students to honor the Sabbath and find a way of prayer that works for the individual. Shigematsu himself sets an alarm on his watch to remind him to turn his attention to God periodically throughout the day.
“For many people it’s hard to focus for a long period of time in prayer,” Shigematsu explained. “Sometimes several briefer times in prayer works better than one long time in prayer.”
The last main point of his book stresses the importance of finding something that nourishes the soul in a strong spiritual relationship.
“We’re going to live by some kind of rhythm, whether by desire or by default,” Shigematsu said. “The question I’m asking is will our life’s rhythm support our friendship with God or sabotage it?”
