Contact: Stephanie Newton, Thomas Nelson Publishers, 615-902-2320

NASHVILLE, October 14 /Christian Newswire/ -- As Pastor Brian Tome was talking to a new Christ follower in his office, he realized that he had nothing on his bookshelf that could give her the "straight talk" on the radical new life she was about to begin. So he penned "Welcome to the Revolution" (Thomas Nelson, ISBN# 978-0-8499-2057-8, September 2008)--a bold, honest, humorous guide to joining the ever-advancing Kingdom of God.

"The Revolution," as Tome calls the Christian life, is already underway, and while it is both exhilarating and fulfilling, it's challenging and confusing at times. This book will guide the reader from the basics (navigating through Christian kitsch at the bookstore) to the practical (Bible reading and building community) to the profound (concepts of forgiveness and using imagination in prayer). To those people who have previously dismissed the "Christian" life, or those who want to learn more about God in an accessible way, this book will be the breath that clears the air and shows them how to follow a Revolutionary God.

"One of the reasons people aren't excited about the idea of God -- or at least what has come to be considered the traditional God of the Bible -- is that we're afraid He'll stamp out our 'freedom,'" writes Tome. "We're afraid He'll make us stop doing the things that give us happiness. We're afraid He'll ask us to wear religious lapel pins, hand out leaflets on the corner, and stop drinking anything stronger than Hawaiian Punch."

"Believe it or not, God understands how you feel. He understands your passion for freedom because He's the one who put that intensity and passion in you. He wired you that way. Why? Because that desire for freedom points you back to Him."

Brian Tome became pastor of Crossroads in 1995, when a group of friends in Cincinnati wanted to create a place for their friends who had given up on church, but had not necessarily given up on God. Crossroads now hosts more than 10,000 people each weekend for services and is actively engaged in supporting an AIDS hospice in South Africa, battling child sex slavery in Asia, and combating generational poverty in Cincinnati's urban core. Brian and his wife, Libby, live in Cincinnati with their three children.