When Jesus said "whoever loses their life for me will find it," it was his way of explaining how the process of finding one's purpose usually played out. In fact, the great stories in the Jewish faith echoed the truth of this lesson from a time long before Christ. Men like Noah, Abraham, Jacob, Isaac and Joseph would all have similar stories of how they found true freedom when they finally surrendered control of their lives to God's will. That's what this book is about - the stories of those patriarchs, which are found in the book of Genesis.

White Flag: Stories about God and us and how the freedom we want looks a lot like surrender is a collection of writings inspired by the 50 chapters found in the first book of the Bible. Read it in 50 days or in an afternoon, and ask God to challenge you like never before.

Matthew Jones is the pastor of Lakeside Church in Syracuse, Utah (lakesidelife.org) which has been the only evangelical church in the city for years. Originally from Canada, Matt moved to Utah in pursuit of a call to ministry in 2001 and has been there ever since. Matt is married with two children and is a professional web software developer.