Chilkat Valley News - Serving Haines and Klukwan, Alaska since 1966

Haines resident W. Kyle Ponsford’s first book, “The Uncommon Christian Walk,” focuses on the idea that there’s often a gap between what Christians believe and who they are. The premise of the book is making straight paths to the Lord to prepare us for his next coming, said Ponsford, a 25-year resident who lives near 34 Mile Haines Highway.

On the back cover, he writes: “Today’s America is full of apparently contented Christians quietly living out their happy lives as best they can among the crumbling remains of a Christian society…this work breaks down the basic false understanding of the faith that makes the Christian life impossible, and then jumpstarts an entirely new appreciation for the Old Testament as it applies to Christians saved by grace.”

Ponsford said he hopes the book can help his target audience, American Christians, apply in a real way the faith they believe they possess.

He said it was the realization of his own “conflicted soul” that drove him to look for an answer four years ago. He abandoned his construction career and began researching and writing “for (his) own sake,” with no intention of turning the material into a book.

“But it became apparent after a couple years that this was information truly coming from beyond me and needed to be shared,” he said. It was then that he “felt pressed” to turn it into a book. He added that the positive feedback his blog received also encouraged him.

The self-published, 226-page effort is Ponsford’s first book. “Before this, it never crossed my mind to write a book,” he said. “Anybody who knows me closely is mostly shocked that I could produce such a thing, including myself. I’m the last person in the world to have imagined myself a writer.”

Ponsford was raised in a Christian, non-denominational family. He said that while he’s been a Christian his whole life, he wasn’t able to apply his faith the way he now believes God wants us to.

“I find that the basic tenets of my beliefs have not changed at all but I do find the details have changed and the understanding has greatly enhanced,” he said. While he’s been affiliated with different churches, he’s currently not associated with one. “God parked me in a different lot,” he said, adding that he feels it’s his job to write.

The book is interspersed with scripture verses in a way that documents Ponsford’s research. “If you want to know where I’ve come up with my ideas…I’ve already put it in there for you.” In this way, he added, readers can choose whether or not to skip over the citations, depending on the level of depth they want. Ponsford draws on various sources, including Christian study books, the Internet and science magazines.

For more than four years, he spent 10 hours every day locked in his small apartment researching and writing. “I have friends who are not very happy with me. I used to do all kinds of outdoor activities before this.” But Ponsford said he has no regrets. “This has been a work of love.”

While he wrote the book solo, he did share chapters with his mother. “She helped with spelling,” he said, adding that she’d call him periodically pointing out a misspelled word.

Ponsford said that now he needs to focus on advertising the book. Meanwhile, he’s working on his second book, a sequel to “The Uncommon Christian Walk.”

Copies are available at “The Babbling Book” at reduced price and online on Amazon.