Lord is my shepherd

CELINA - Placed before a crowd of 5,000 people, Pastor Craig Flack, a virtuoso orator, believes he could comfortably deliver a decent speech or sermon.

But given his lifelong difficulty with reading and writing, the idea of sitting down to write a book was terrifying, eliciting in the young pastor the greatest fear of failure he has ever known.

Nevertheless, Flack, with grace and guidance from Jesus Christ, pushed ahead and wrote a self-published 89-page elucidation on King David's Psalm 23 in a style and language intended for everyman.

Flack, 34, wrote "Who Is Your Shepherd: A Pastoral Look at Psalm 23" for the parishioners of Celina First Church of God, where he has served as teaching pastor since January 2016. However, Flack said he believes his book could prove meaningful for those curious about Christianity as well as longtime believers.

"My hope would be at least it would make sense and talk about the faith in such a way, not using insider language, that anyone would find it accessible," Flack said.

Psalm 23 is one the most popular and richest passages in the Bible, instantly recognizable to many.

"You've heard it if you've gone to a funeral or listen to Coolio: 'Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me,'" Flack said.

The idea for the book came about after the church's incredible response to his sermon on the psalm. He thought he could explore the psalm in more depth with a book, saying there's no better medium than writing to communicate in volume.

The Toledo native, whether behind the pulpit or on the Celina City Schools Board of Education, is a masterful communicator able to express difficult or contentious subjects in a calm, clear, understandable and persuasive manner.

Yet he has difficulties with reading and writing. Reflecting on his past, Flack said he grew up with a learning disability and was placed in remedial classes.

"So reading and writing have always been a struggle for me. I've been a public speaker. That's what I do. You put me in front of a crowd I can articulate things," he said.

For instance, prior to reciting a passage of scripture to his churchgoers on Sunday, Flack, who holds a bachelor's degree in history and a master's degree in divinity, will read it to himself ten times or more until he clearly understands it.

What he lacks in one area, he excels in another, capable of simplifying complex ideas or concepts, breaking them down into bite-sized pieces of information for congregants, he said.

"But because of that and because of the way my brain works it creates a more understandable product … because I have to make myself understand it. So if I'm confused, everyone else is going to be confused because I don't get things on the first read," he said.

Flack eventually came to view his situation as advantageous to teaching and preaching at church.

"When I became a teaching pastor I started realizing that I'm built differently than a lot of other pastors. I started to see it as a gift and that had never happened before," he said. "The way God made my brain is just different."

His church gave him a month off over the summer to write the book, a sacrifice that provided Flack with further motivation when staring at the flashing cursor on the computer screen. It turned out the lengthy editing process would be much more labor intensive than the writing, he said.

He partnered with an editor who drew attention to much more than spelling and grammar, pointing out sections of writing that were unclear or unresolved.

Flack sought to apply a straightforwardness to his book, appraising and expounding on Psalm 23 in a simple way that could be easily digested by anyone.

"That's what a good pastor does - take the Bible that is really confusing at times and really hard for people to understand and break it down in a way people can understand it," Flack said. "A lot of people go to church and feel like, 'I don't know anything that man or woman just said. It doesn't make sense to me.'"

While writing, Flack had in mind the people of his church, whom he counseled, prayed and broke bread with, and asked himself what God would want him to say to them specifically. One important theme that emerged from "the green pastures" and "quiet waters" of the psalm was the need for rest.

"We have so many young families that never do that ever and so I literally was thinking about them," he said.

The end result was a succinct, 89-age book, with chapters that could be read in a few minutes or the entirety in one setting. The first few chapters introduce the psalm author and the idea of a shepherd. Everyone is driven by something or someone, Fleck insists.

"I felt it imperative to ask the reader, 'Well, who is your shepherd? Is it God? Is it yourself? Is it your job? Is it a bank account? Is it sex? Is it drugs? Someone is guiding you but if you want the promises of this psalm, it has to be the Lord,'" Flack said.

The subsequent chapters cover each particular portion of the psalm and what the Lord as shepherd relationship means. Each of the chapters are self-contained, too, serving as a singular sermon or thought or idea, Flack said.

"I hope they're (readers) able to get truth for their life that would encourage them in good seasons and in hard seasons," Flack said. "So that's the thing with Psalm 23. At one point we're walking through grassy fields beside calm waters and then we're in the valley of the shadow of death. And that's pretty much life. One day you're walking along and doing fine and the next day you've got a cancer diagnosis."

Copies of the book can be purchased online at Amazon. Free copies also are available at the church, Flack said.

With this first book under his belt, Flack said he now feels more self-assured and may move on to other extended writing.

He lives in Celina with his wife Becca and their two children.

"This community - Mercer County, Celina specifically - has really accepted our family and welcomes us in and so our plan is to be here as long as the Lord would have us," he said.