Land of My Sojourn - by Mike Cosper (Hardcover)

About the Book

Since leaving local church ministry, Mike Cosper spent time examining the church's often troubled witness, its ongoing crisis of leadership, and the epidemic of narcissism, abuse, and cover-up that has continued to emerge. This book shares his journey--the shattering of dreams and the grace that restored a broken faith in the aftermath.

Book Synopsis

Library Journal's Best Nonfiction of 2024

"Cosper's honest appraisal of Church disagreements and his own spiritual uncertainty results in his joyful acceptance of his identity as an imperfect wounded healer. Essential reading for Christians who have lost hope." - Library Journal Starred Review, January 2024

Faith in the Wilderness

Land of My Sojourn is a deeply personal, hope-filled story of faith, disillusionment, and coming back home. Through meditations on the spiritual significance of the mountains of the Bible and encounters with Peter, Elijah, and Jesus, Mike Cosper shares his own crisis of faith sparked by a painful church experience and the broader challenges facing evangelicalism today.

Cosper, host of The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill and Cultivated podcasts, examines the church's often troubled witness, its ongoing crisis of leadership, and the epidemic of narcissism, abuse, and cover-up that has continued to emerge year after year. This book is about Cosper's journey both before and undergirding that work--the shattering of dreams and the grace that restored a broken faith in the aftermath. It's a story about grace leading him home when he thought all was lost.

If you've found yourself lost in the wilderness of doubt or disillusionment with church, Land of My Sojourn will remind you that you're not alone--and that God is working even in your hardest times.

Cosper writes, "My hope is that as I tell this story you might find echoes of your own. I pray if you're in the wilderness, you might find that though the territory is a mystery, you are far from alone. Most of all, I pray that you rediscover that Jesus is chasing you like a lover . . . right through heaven's gates."

Review Quotes

"Land of My Sojourn is well worth reading. . . . I can say that the book is important for two reasons. First, it tells not only a Louisville story but a national one, with Cosper's experience paralleling what happened in some other churches and Christian media. . . . Second, it tells what it feels like to be in a slowly developing professional crash."

"Cosper's honest appraisal of Church disagreements and his own spiritual uncertainty results in his joyful acceptance of his identity as an imperfect wounded healer. Essential reading for Christians who have lost hope."

"In this riveting account of the rise and fall of a church full of artists in Louisville, Kentucky, Mike Cosper, as their sojourner founding pastor, chronicles the longings of 'the particular lives of particular people' to reveal the deep rifts of culture-wars dysfunction in the evangelical communities of our times. Mike's honest introspection through this revelatory writing is a healing balm for our own journeys of exile, to remind us that even in such painful experiences of brokenness of faith communities there is yet grace present. Like Elijah under a broom tree, we are led out of our utter despair and debilitation into a place of sustenance and hope, to look up and see that we are not alone."

"There are a lot of Christians--like Mike Cosper and like me--who have experienced a lot of grace in church, and who have also been deeply wounded in that same place. Through telling his own story, Cosper grapples deeply with the religious PTSD that is all too familiar to so many, and he describes how he has come through brokenness and despair. He's not in a rush to fully heal. He's still invested in a local church, but with a moderated emotional attachment. I think many Christians put too much hope in the idea of church and in their religious leaders. Cosper's book shows why that's a mistake, and it traces a path toward a more balanced approach."

About the Author

Mike Cosper is the director of podcasting for Christianity Today, where he hosts The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill and Cultivated. Mike also served as one of the founding pastors at Sojourn Church in Louisville, Kentucky, from which he launched Sojourn Music, a collective of musicians writing songs for the church. He is the author of several books, including Recapturing the Wonder and Rhythms of Grace. He lives in Louisville with his wife and two daughters.