By John Fulton
Ken Franklin moved to Vicksburg in 2002 and practiced medicine at Family Doctors after retiring as an Army physician. Franklin has now retired from his Vicksburg practice. He is very active in the Vicksburg United Methodist Church and is a Methodist lay leader.
In September, Franklin self-published a non-fiction book titled “Spit Out the Apple: How to embrace God’s love by rejecting the gift He never gave you.”
He was encouraged to put his personal faith relationship into words by his wife, pastor, and several fellow lay servants at Vicksburg United Methodist Church.
“In Genesis, God gave humans the gifts of love, dominion over the planet, and free will,” Franklin explained. “The serpent, Satan, gave humans the apple and the power of labelling good and evil, which God did not intend for man.”
“To me, this book is a gift of loving God back,” Franklin said. Half the book proceeds will be donated to church and to local community outreach efforts. The paperback book is available now on Amazon.
It took Franklin two years from deciding to write a book to getting it published. Much of the content came from extensive personal study, lay sermons he has delivered, and sermon notes.
Franklin had three goals in mind for the readers. First was to make the book accessible to those not sure about the reality of God. Next was to detail the ways that judging others keeps us away from God. Finally, to provide strategies of living the Christian life without judging other people.
“The book doesn’t tell us to permit sin, but instead of focusing on others’ sin, this book hopefully shows how to love God back by living the best life possible,” Franklin stated. There are discussion questions in the book designed to make readers think about their faith.
Franklin decided to use the Amazon self-publishing platform because of its ease of use. He is making the e-reader version free for one weekend in October to encourage sharing, as well as to encourage honest feedback and dialogue about the book.
The free download weekend in October will be announced in advance on the “Spit Out the Apple” Facebook page, as well as the page “Vicksburg Michigan: Around the village.” The Kindle book can be obtained at http://amazon.com/gp/product/B07XNL86MD