Carl Lentz - Own the Moment

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Simon & Schuster

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Copyright 2017 by Carl Lentz

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information, address Simon & Schuster Subsidiary Rights Department, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020.

First Simon & Schuster hardcover edition October 2017

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Interior design by Ruth Lee-Mui

Endpaper photograph by Jordann Wood/Hillsong Church NYC

Jacket Design by Joseph Termini

Front Jacket Photograph by Mark Seliger For Simon & Schuster

Back Jacket Photograph by Andre Gray/Hillsong Church Nyc

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data has been applied for.

ISBN 978-1-5011-7700-2

ISBN 978-1-5011-7701-9 (ebook)

This book is dedicated to the four people to who I can honestly say, I loved you from the moment I saw you.

Laura Jayne Lentz, Im forever grateful to God that I get to be your husband. People find it hard to believe when I tell them that I honestly knew I was going to marry you from the moment I saw you. I called my mom that day in Australia, and said, Mom, I saw the woman Im gonna marry today. Thankfully, Cathy Lentz can verify this, and its a moment that Im glad I will never forget. Youre a better human being than I am, your relationship with Jesus inspires me to dig deeper into my own soul and grow daily, and the way you give grace to people is unmatched. Grace to forgive. Grace to take what life throws at us and make it work. Grace to let me continually find my stride as a man, a dad, a husband, a friend without judgment or doubt. I could and should write a whole book about you. Maybe I will one day. But thanks for sticking with me this longlong enough to actually have enough to say to write a book at all! I would have given up on all this many, many times along the road. But each time you wouldnt let that be an option. Im thankful for that. You are my best friend, you are easy to love, and you have my whole heart forever. I love you!

To Ava Angel Lentz, Charlie Jayne Lentz, and Roman Stephen (and sometimes Roger) Lentz: There are no words that can articulate how much I love you.

Ava, thanks for letting me tell lame dad jokes in front of your friends and allowing me to drive you to school and stay far too long as I always ask to watch you walk all the way in because I just cant get enough of you. Please ask God to slow down your growth process. The only thing growing faster than your legs is your passion to know more about Godand your grace and class that already set you apart from everybody. May you carry that grace and class the rest of your life.

Charlie Jayne, you have made us smile from the moment you took a breath on this Earth, and I love your deep soul that cares so much for people and how they feel. Its so rare and Im dedicated to protecting that the rest of your life. You make people feel special, and that is a gift from God. Im proud to be your daddy!

And to my son, Roman the Lion: You are a world changer. You are a legend. You are a man of God, and you are called and anointed to do great things on this Earth. Im going to do all I can to carve out a path for you to follow that leads to a life of significant impact. Being your dad has already made me a better man. Youre my guy, my buddy, and Im proud of you.

Thank you, Lentz family, for the dinners missed, the preoccupied bike rides, and the vacant stares it cost you as I gave this book all I had. I know it will be worth it. Its a blessing to get to spend this life with the four of you.

I WROTE THIS BOOK. All of it. I dont say that to boast, because being an author is not something I ever thought I would be. But as I learned about the process, and some of the ins and outs of the business side of things, I found out what is common, what is unique, what is standard procedure for writing books these days. And this is not exposing anything new or meant to be even remotely disparaging. Its just true: A lot of authors dont write a lot of their own books. First, because its smart. Writing effectively is extremely difficult. And if the goal is to get your book to help as many people as possible, it makes sense to use every single tool at your disposalincluding an editor who is most likely a professional who can transcribe or translate whats in your heart, on paper, better than you could. Most of the time people choose that option. I dont blame themand at times I wished I had too! But I chose to roll the dice with this book, and make sure its my voice, my heart, my passion, for better or worseperhaps to its detriment, professionally speaking. But Ive never done things according to the professional, cultural norm. And I dont intend to start now. So if this book seems unorthodox, unpolished, different, up and down, long chapters and shorter chapters, and in some spots even incomplete? Thats because it is. In some ways, thats exactly how it should be. This book was written in a black Chevy Tahoe on the streets of Brooklyn, NYC. This book was written in the slums of Mumbai, India. This book was written over vast, aqua-blue, endless ocean water, flying to various places in this amazing world. It was written at my kitchen table in Montclair, New Jersey. It was written in a hospital waiting room while a friend was in surgery. It was written through tears, throughout its entirety. And in some strange way, Im really comfortable with that. Because for me to tell you to own your moment, and not be truly real and transparent in my moment to write this book would make no sense. I pray its a blessing in your life. I wrote this the way I would want to read it. Over the years I learned that I dont really like to read books that often because my attention span is so sporadic. Sometimes I can sit for a long time and read. Other times, reading three tweets is all my mind can digest. So I thought if I ever did write a book, I would include both. Long chapters and short ones. Just to make sure everybody is covered. I also have a tendency to pick up books in random spots. This is a problem if a book has to be read chronologically to fully understand it. This book is not like that. You can pick it up in any chapter, any time, and that chapter will make sense on its own. In summary, all you fellow ADHD people? This book is for you. Thank you for spending your money to buy it. Its an overwhelming honor to have even a moment to offer some perspective into your life. As my man Charlamagne tha God says, I will hold my tongue for no one. And if that means putting it on paper for the world to read, critique, love, and hate? It is what it is. Im gonna own my moments. I have a feeling this book will help you own yours too.