An Interview with Jack David Dean

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Author of 316

Let’s begin with where you got the idea for 316.

Well in the introduction of the book I tell the whole story, it’s really quite amazing. I got the inspiration before I even became a Christian. It’s kind of a funny story. I was watching a football game and some man held up a sign that read John 3:16. I thought that the sign was some kind of homage to John Elway since he was the quarterback of the home team. But the 3:16 part puzzled me. At first I thought it had something to do with the time of day. I looked at the clock and realized that it couldn’t have anything to do with the time since it was no where near that time of day. I shrugged it off, but that sign kind of stuck in my brain for several weeks.

So how did you finally discover what John 3:16 meant? Was it when you became a Christian?

No, not quite. It would still be a couple of years after this football game before I accepted Christ as my personal Savior. I remember a few weeks after I saw that sign I was at my grandparents house watching football with them. And sure enough there was that guy again holding up his sign. I jumped up and said, “I saw that sign before! What the heck does it mean?” My Grandmother smiled and said that it was a verse in the Bible. She pulled out her Bible and read the verse to me.

That’s an amazing story. So your Grandparents are Christians?

Yes, well my Grandfather passed away and is with the Lord now. But yes, they both influenced me a great deal. I miss my Grandfather very much, but I find comfort in knowing that he is better off and that I will get to see him again someday. He was a fantastic man, very kind, very compassionate. Sorry I’m straying from the interview.

No, that’s fine. So a man held up a sign at a football game on national television and changed your life?

In a nutshell, yes. I later read a story in Reader’s Digest or maybe it was Guidepost about a group of people who go to sporting events and buy seats near where they think they can be seen by the television cameras. Like near goal posts and things like that. Then when they think the cameras are pointed at them they hold up a sign with a famous Bible verse.

God touches people in so many ways.

Yeah he does. I doubt if any of those people will ever understand how grateful I am for their diligence and obedience to the calling on their lives. I mean, this was part of the plan that God used to get me to accept Jesus as my Lord. And now is the inspiration for writing this book.

So this book is you life’s work?

I don’t know about that, but yeah it’s pretty important to me. I just don’t want to go to the Lord at the end of my life and be sorry for not doing what he told me to do. I want to do something like that man who held up the John 3:16 sign. I hope and pray that this book will touch people’s lives and help them to see God’s plan for all mankind.

You have big dreams.

I suppose I do. But I am working at making the second half of my life far more productive than the first.

What do you mean?

Well I’ve made some huge mistakes in the past and feel that I wasted a lot of time and energy on things that don’t really matter. Now I am more focused and deliberate in my daily life.

And 316 is part of this deliberate lifestyle you are striving for?

In a way yes.

I’d like to go back to the John 3:16 incident again.

O.K.

What do you think about the fact that you didn’t even know what the John 3:16 meant. I mean isn’t that a sad testimony on the church that we aren’t getting the message out?

In a sense it is. We definitely need to talk about our faith more. All of us need to free ourselves from the shame the devil puts in our minds. Think about why you don’t share your faith more than you should. Really think about it. What it really boils down to is shame. We are ashamed of he Gospel. Why else would we be so reluctant to share our faith? I feel that the world ways us down so much that our minds begin to lose that special connection with the Holy Spirit and we stray out of God’s will.

Let’s talk about the book. So you go through every book of the Bible in a devotional style?

Yes every book of the Bible is covered in 316. Not every book has a 316, however. At first I was only going to do the 316’s. Then I decided to broaden the scope a little bit so that my readers could get an overview of the entire Bible.

Do the 316’s fit together?

Well they should, every verse in the entire Bible will “fit” together, they must. If the Bible is inspired by God, and it is, then there will be common ground with every verse. But there is a pattern to some of them.

What have you gotten on a personal level from your research and writing of this book?

I have enjoyed the research and writing of this book. I am more impressed than ever that the Bible is truly God’s word. I am fascinated that the Bible is a compilation of different people living in totally different places and time periods, yet they all compliment one another and in perfect harmony. I look at the Bible as a guidebook for my life. The Bible is the final authority in my life and read it daily in order to come to a better understanding of what God’s will is for my life.

I have a question about some of the logistics of the publishing of this book. Who are you financing this project? I mean you are providing it free of charge. How do you do it? Are you wealthy or what?

I work just like most people who are reading this article. I work fulltime for a college in Denver. I was listening to the radio one day and heard that Thomas Paine, who lived during the revolutionary war, handed out some of his writings for free all over New England. These writings became a rallying point for our forefathers to break off the tyranny of England. So Thomas Paine was a major force in the founding of this country. I would be thrilled if this book would be a tenth as successful as anything Thomas Paine did. Therefore, I am offering 316 free of charge. Anyone can go to my website and read it, print it out or ask me for a hardcopy. The digital version is easy to give away, the hardcopy will be free for as along as I can do it. If it’s God’s will this will go on for years if not then it will stop.

Do you do fundraising?

No.

Accept donations?

If people want to pay for 316 they can, but it is free of charge for anyone who asks.

Thank you for your time. Do you have any parting words?

Just that I hope people will allow God to work in their lives and that together we can all make this country and the world a better place to live in.

Jack David Dean is the author of 316 a devotional style book based on the chapter three verse sixteen sections of the Bible. His book is available for the asking by visiting www.316.biz . 316 is available as an e-book, audio version read by the author and in hardcopy. There is also a leader’s guide with discussion questions and talking points for those who wish to use the 316 book in Bible studies, Sunday school lessons or for a deeper personal study.

The author lives in Coral Springs, Florida with his wife and young son.

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