Living under the Canopy of God's Grace

In Redwoods and Whales, Phil Joel makes a passionate plea to a new generation of believers to not get "beached" in their faith, but rather get planted like mighty redwood.

By unlocking key Scriptures and reflecting on these two events, Joel shows readers the perils of wandering too far away from the "pod" and the unending pleasures of living life under the canopy of God's amazing redwoods.

As a founding member of the GRAMMY®-nominated supergroup Newsboys, Phil Joel still has a burning passion to see young people be liberated in their faith.

This drive became even more acute one day while roaming the California shoreline. Phil walked right into a beached whale. Shocked to find this beautiful mammal out of its normal habitat and slowly dying, Phil joined a group of local rescuers as they attempted to return the young whale back into the ocean. Later, as he continued his journey up the California coast, he encountered a vast redwood tree forest that also left him breathless.

The word "California" means paradise, and indeed every year thousands of people flock to California in search of the good life. Yet whales were never intended to live on land no matter how picturesque.

Redwoods and Whales offers a warning and a promise:

• The warning: Don't become that beached whale, trying to live in a foreign environment.
• The promise: You will find freedom when your identity is centered under the safety of the Divine.