Publisher's Synopsis
Who is this author? That is a legitimate question and one that is within the parameters of the Foreword to this book to address. David Ball, MD is a Mississippi native who has lived fully. As noted, he is a medical doctor who has been in practice in Mississippi for some 45 years. He is a Vietnam veteran, a devout Christian, a deacon in his church, and active in ministry of various types. He is the founder of The Cross Ministry, is a man widely known for significant thought on the crucifixion of Jesus, and deeply involved in the area of evangelism with evangelists in the Southern Baptist Convention. He is, as we would expect, a strong family man and father. Dr. Ball is so much more than just a physician in his community, but he is the medical adviser to a widely diverse community of patients who seek his medical care as well as spiritual guidance. He is a man of impeccable reputation. Along with all of this, David is an author-which is the subject that brings us to this point in his life and our own. His theology brings us to the place of seeing that he is a strong apologist in the faith. The reader of this book will be brought to the place of blending David's impeccable credentials with his strong theology, while offering an apology of truth. The presentation shows forth the basic idea that has shaped his life. David lives with a strong conviction that "dying to self " is the basic concept that God has given us as His plan for a relationship with Him for our future. This concept involves the simple idea that in order to live in relationship, he must be Lord God, and we must die to our own selves. We are not equipped to make our own way without Him. That relationship presents a foundational truth of dying to self. He holds that when one surrenders, dies to self, then we are in a position to live. It is about grace and forgiveness and trust for our future. David believes strongly that this confirms that God never intended for us to determine our own course by our own mind processes but rather to be in a position to surrender through the process of dying to self. He desires to make a way for us, and that goes all the way back to the Garden of Eden. Scripture tells us that He has a plan for us. I find the book, Son-Rise in the Garden of Good and Evil, to be a blessing, and I trust that others will as well.
