Always Better News Book Interview

We are giving away copies of Pastor Ricky’s new book, “Always Better News” on Easter Sunday! What is this book? Who is it for? Read on to find out!

1. What inspired you to write this book?

I (Ricky) grew up in church so I heard the basics of Jesus, the gospel, etc. many many times. They were the wallpaper to my life. But somewhere in my teenage years I began to see the gospel not as the wallpaper to the Christian life but as the pathway of the Christian life. 

Even more, I learned that the gospel isn’t just true it’s also good. The term gospel literally means “good news” but for too many the gospel itself is boring, irrelevant, or disconnected from their lives. But as I grew in my faith as a teen more and more the gospel became not just news but good news. Since then every year I’ve studied the gospel it has become more amazing, astounding, surprising, and shocking to me. 

As a pastor for the past 14 years I’ve seen over and over that I’m not alone. Many Christians see the gospel as wallpaper. Many Christians see the gospel as news but not particularly good. I want to change that. 

2. Who is it for?

Really, I wrote this for my city of El Paso. If you read statistics on how many claim to have some kind of Christian religious affiliation or have every gone to church, it’s most people. But if you read statistics on how many read the Bible, or follow Jesus consistently, it’s far lower. That gap is what I’m writing to. Because I was once in that gap myself. 

First, I wrote it for anyone who grew up in or around the church or religious environments. There are blessings to that, but one huge downside is that the gospel – the heart of our faith – no longer amazes us. I’m hoping this helps. 

Second, I wrote it for anyone who is seeking to re-establish a relationship with God. Maybe they grew up in or around the church but drifted as some point. And maybe they’re really going to examine their relationship with God – perhaps even for the first time come to their own relationship with God through the gospel. Or maybe they have wandered for a while, known they’re a Christian, but want to reground themselves in who God is, who we are, who Jesus is, etc. 

And third, if someone has no Christian background but wants to honestly examine the heart of the Christian faith, this is a great place to start. Skeptics, doubters, naysayers welcome. 

3. Why the title “Always better News”?

One of our most faithful church members is Mrs. Wheeler who has followed Jesus for decades. And over the years I’ve been in many small group meetings with her. And the thing that has amazed me is that every year the gospel seems to be more wonderful for her. She tears up as she speaks about it. She smiles when she remembers it. I want to be like her when I grow up. She is more and more amazed with each passing year that Jesus loves her, that he died for her, that she has life and hope in him. 

In many ways the gospel is like a diamond. You can look at it from a thousand angles in a hundred different lights and it shimmers and shines just slightly differently and beautifully. The more you examine the gospel the more you see. 

So that’s why I say the gospel is always better news than you think. 

I would love to see a generation of Christians who confess that the gospel is not just good news, as if it was something that impacted us once, but always better news and is something that continues to amaze us. 

4. Why is the gospel better news to you?

It’s not. And I know that’s a bad answer to that question!

But the gospel doesn’t always feel like better news to me. I can hear it and sing it only for it to begin to fade back into the wallpaper of my life. The incredible news that I have a creator who loved me and set his affection on me and sent Jesus to save me…is truly incredible. Yet sometimes it doesn’t feel incredible. 

That’s why I’ve found that I need to hear it over and over and keep hearing it. Because the gospel is always deeper, more profound, more beautiful, more intricate, than I understand. The problem is not with the gospel, then, it’s with me. And only my staring at the diamond again until it shimmers will help me match my wonder to the reality of the truths there. 

5. What do you hope people take from this book?

I hope people become Christians. I’m a good old fashioned revival preacher. I want that because being a Christian is the best thing in the world. 

And I hope that Christians will be amazed again by truths that are familiar to them. I hope that perhaps the next Sunday after they read this the songs they sing they’ll sing louder, the preaching they hear they will Amen, and their Bibles will shimmer with glory just a little more. 

6. Where can people get the book?

Here’s the deal: We do not want to make any money on this book. None. Our church has covered the cost of me writing it and getting it edited and into print. 

So you can get it in two ways: First, on alwaysbetternews.org you can just download it for free. 

Or second, you can grab it on Amazon. It’s less than $4 I think, which is the lowest we could charge. 

Or last, if you come to church we’ll happily give you a copy. And a coffee to go with it. 

7. Anything else you want to tell other people about the book?

This book came from a church. My name is on the cover but the members of Cross of Grace are on every page. The pastors before me did such an amazing job building a culture of gospel preaching and gospel amazement. A book like this only comes out a culture like this, and I’m so grateful. 

This was a labor of love from some specific people as well. I want to thank Jeannie Glenn, Becky Gayle, and Anna Parrish who edited the book in different forms and improved it immensely. 

I did the majority of writing in Marfa, TX which is a place of such strangeness and wonder and I hope that just a little of that is left in the book too.

-Ricky Alcantar