This is the third week I’ve had the privilege of posting a thank you to some of the endorsers for Wednesdays Were Pretty Normal: A Boy, Cancer, and God.

First of all, there is Dr. Thom Rainer. Dr. Rainer is the President of Lifeway, and continues to have a profound influence in the evangelical world. He is a man who can step into a variety of environments – academics, statisticians, pastors, and Sunday school teachers – and do so with great humility and yet be an encouraging voice all around. I’m thankful for his leadership of the company I work for, and am grateful for these words he wrote about the book:

Michael Kelley is a gifted communicator and offers the church in this generation much promise. I am pleased not only to recommend this book, but also to commend this faithful servant of the Lord. These pages are filled with the life-changing experience of his son’s cancer diagnosis and treatment. The relational and spiritual insights you’ll read about are hard-earned and precious. Michael pulls back the curtain on faith and hope during times of difficulty. He does so with honesty and transparency, allowing us to hear his questions and doubts and to feel the weight of the struggle alongside him. But he also gives us the chance to hear profound truths that God taught him in those moments—truths about God’s character, purposes, and love.

Over the course of the past year, I’ve also had the chance to interact with Dr. Jeff Iorg, the President of Golden Gate Theological Seminary. When you think of a seminary president, you might be tempted to picture someone so steeped in higher learning that he or she has lost their ability to relate. But with Dr. Iorg, I found a genuinely funny, compassionate, and radically intelligent man who does not flaunt his intellect in the face of the dumber (that’s me). I’m humbled by what he wrote about the book:

What a moving, honest memoir of real people facing the horrific nightmare of a life-threatening childhood disease!  It pulsates with raw emotion, frank questions, and deep spiritual resolve.  My friend Michael Kelley tells his family’s story with transparency and authenticity.  No sugar-coated, pseudo-spirituality here!  Just the truth about finding God’s grace in the midst of genuine pain.  An inspiring story for all – a life-changing story for those who are facing a similar situation.

Finally today is Dr. Ed Stetzer. Dr. Stetzer has a profoundly important voice in evangelicalism. He has the uncanny ability to take information, which can be dry and dusty, and translate it into not only understandable nuggets, but also speak with a firmness and conviction about the mission of God that continues to spark life in the hearts of all who hear Him. He’s also really, really funny. That’s probably why he has about a million twitter followers. Grateful for his endorsement:

A heart-breaking, thoughtful, and profoundly encouraging book written from real life experience. For everyone who has ever wondered why bad things happen, Michael’s book doesn’t answer the question. It does something better – it points all of us who know what it means to hurt to a God who is both passionately loving and still divinely sovereign.”

I’m excited next Wednesday to share endorsements from Pete Wilson, Jon Acuff, Mark Batterson, and Margaret Feinberg.

You can pre-order Wednesdays Were Pretty Normal: A Boy, Cancer, and God here.