Devoted Heroes of Faith with Joshua Cooley
- Valerie
- 13 minutes ago
- 16 min read
Joshua Cooley chats with Valerie Fentress about his book Heroes of the Bible Devotional Volume 2
This transcript has been lightly edited for clarity but reflects the full conversation from the BookWorthy Podcast. Grab a cup of coffee, listen, and read along. This post does contain affiliate links. Thanks for your support.
Valerie - Welcome to Book Worthy, where we talk about children's books that are good for a kid's heart and soul. Today, we're talking with author Joshua Cooley about his latest book, Heroes of the Bible Devotional, Volume 2, which contains 90 devotions to help your kid become a hero of God. It's been over 10 years since the first Heroes of the Bible Devotional, so let's find out more about this new devotion for kids 8 to 12. Welcome to Book Worthy, Joshua.
Josh - Hi, Valerie. Good to see you. It's so good to be with you again.
Valerie - It's a pleasure to have you back. I think this is the third time we've had you here on Book Worthy Now, so you're an old pro. So we'll have to start with our random question of the week as usual. And our question is, what fictional character do you identify with the most, and why?
Random Questions of the Week
Josh - Wow. That's a good one. Well, maybe it has something to do with this book and writing for kids, but my mind immediately goes to Looney Tunes because I watched a lot of Saturday morning cartoons when I was growing up. Know, some, somebody that got bonked on the head a lot, know, Wile E. Coyote, Elmer Fudd, know, Yosemite Sam, one of those guys. Just that was much, that's right.
Valerie - Lots of choices. One of the underdogs, huh?
Josh - You know, bugs were always like doing something mean to them. So, you know, maybe not bugs, maybe one of the guys who was getting bonked on the head.
Valerie - I feel like we need a therapy session, Joshua. That was a little deep, but it's good. I love Looney Tunes also. It's kind of a core memory of mine, and it's interesting to have my kids watch it. Cause a lot of it has, the originals didn't have many words. So a lot of it is you're just assuming what's happening, and it's amazing to watch my kids process all that's going on. Be like, did he really do that? Like, yeah, this cartoon would not fly. PR-wise, nowadays. So many things. Well, Joshua, why don't you tell us a little bit about your latest devotional heroes of the Bible, volume two?
Inspiration behind Joshua Cooley's Heroes of the Bible Devotional Volume 2
Josh - Yeah, I am so excited. As he said, the original, which I see right behind you, that's awesome. That came out in 2014 through Tyndale. So I've been really wanting to write a second volume. There are just so many amazing people, men and women, in the Bible, boys and girls too, that deserve to be explored. And so we were able to join forces again and put out another book. The original book had 30 Bible figures, men and women, and three devotions each, so 90 devotions. This one has a hundred, so we've got 30 more new, I hate to say characters because they're real people, right? 30 true real Bible people, all new, no repeats, and also 10 extra devotions on church early church mothers and fathers, so folks like Augustine and Clement and Perpetua. I've got some ladies in there, too, which is exciting just to show kids that God's big story doesn't stop with Revelation with the end of the Bible, right? It continues, and we can be a part of it too. And here are some people just like you and me who lived out their faith after Bible times that we can be encouraged by. So, very excited about that.
Valerie - I love that I was looking through the, what is it? Of the contents of the second volume that's coming out. And you do have some very interesting characters we don't usually hear from, like Ehud and Asaph, and let's see, you know, the Samaritan woman and Steven and Barnabas. You know, some of those are kind of smaller names, and it's kind of neat to take those characters that don't always get the red banner service like many of the characters in the first book did, like, you know, Abraham, Isaac. We know these characters, but these are kind of what made you choose these side characters in a sense, even though they're not.
Josh - Yeah. Yeah, for sure. And if you see me looking off to the side, I've just got my list here on another computer, but, yeah, I was, I was just really excited again to explore some of these people that are just as important, right? But maybe don't get all the airtime. And I think to myself that that almost speaks to this book, just as much as the original, in that, like, sometimes I feel like we can't relate to David, right? Of course, he started as a young shepherd, unknown, overlooked for the kingship, all these things. But he rose to great prominence. He killed a giant. Kids might be thinking, well, that's great, but like, I don't see myself ever doing that. So we can relate in some ways to some of these bigger Bible characters of the guy, you know, Moses parting the Red Sea, just incredible things. But then there are all the everyday folks, too, who don't often get mentioned. I'm just looking at my list here, like Habakkuk.
I mean, I barely know how to spell his name. He's, he's a prophet, right? God gave him a specific message at a very important time in Israel. Who is this guy? He's obviously important because he's in the Bible. Let's talk about him or Ehud. One of my favorites, left, the left-handed warrior who sticks a dagger inside the very large and in charge Moabite King's gut. And well, I'll just say that you have to have guts to read the rest of the story.
Valerie - I think I remember that from our interview, talking about the Go Bible, that that was one of your favorites. And so when I saw it on the list, I was like, ah, yes. Okay, of course, eat your hoods on here. Too fun, but it is neat to kind of look through the Bible and look at names that don't always get, as you said, the red banner, red carpet service, but every name is important. I remember writing an article on ASAP, who you have on this list, and like, there's like three different Asaph's throughout the entire Bible, but each one had a part to play in God's story. And some of them got two verses, some of them got 20, but they all had importance to God. And I think that was an amazing message to tell our kids that, you know, we don't have to be the missionary going, you know, far off to Nowheresville to preach the gospel. We can just be in our home doing the right thing, or be a mom and serve our family well, and like every act.
That we do is a service to God, and that he sees that. I love how you took these smaller characters to show kids that they can be seen in their small actions just as much as their big ones.
Josh - Yeah, and you know, speaking of Asaph, just since you mentioned him, you know, here's a guy who was basically the worship leader of all of Israel, right? He was in charge of the temple service. So, like, he's a big in-front character. And again, like, maybe some kids are like, I can't relate to that because he's big, he's in charge, he's important, he's in front of all these people. But Psalm, what is it, Psalm 73, he wrote, and I think I have a devotion on it in this book, where He cries out to God and says, Why do the wicked prosper? I'm in danger of losing my faith. Like, I see all these people around me. They're rich, they eat well, they're happy, but they don't care about you at all. Is there any point for me in continuing my faith? Does it really matter how I live? Does faith really matter? And of course, he concludes, entering the temple, yes. As I enter God's presence, I'm reminded that the wicked perish, but the righteous will flourish. But these are real questions that we all ask. And I think some of these amazing questions come from those characters, those individuals who aren't always talked about, but we can learn so much from them.
Valerie - There's always something to learn about every character in the Bible. Think I was reading, was it through Exodus recently, and just talking about the first people that were really consumed by the Spirit were the artisans that were brought to make the Ark, and, you know, the tabernacle items. It was like they were the first ones truly to receive God's Spirit. It's just one of those, like their names are in there for a reason to show us that craftsmanship is just as important as those who can speak and lead, and that kind of thing. So I love how God weaves everyone's story through the Bible and how you've pulled that out well. Now, at least in the last one, you bring a lot of humor and fun to it. Have you done the same with this new set of devotions?
kids are amazing little joy bundles, right? They bring life, laughter, and sometimes frustration. I've got four, but so much, so much laughter. So I want to laugh with them. I want to show them that learning the Bible is fun
Josh - I've certainly tried to again. It's, like, you know, how can you, how can you not have fun? I'm just going to go back to my man, Ehud. How can you not have fun with that story? I mean, it's just, it's crazy. And you know, my, my, my background of just working in kids ministry, you just want to try and think like a kid when you write a book. And I'm not saying that in a demeaning way, that doesn't mean we like to turn off our brains, right? It just means like, how do kids process things? It's a lot of times they're black and white. So we want to explain things well. But we also want to add a lot of humor. Mean, kids are amazing little joy bundles, right? They bring life, laughter, and sometimes frustration. I've got four, but so much, so much laughter. So I want to laugh with them. I want to show them that learning the Bible is fun again, that these are real people. They went through real heartbreak. Real hardship, and so do we, but there are some funny things in there, too. Let's laugh about the good things of life, and let's learn all the good things that God has to teach us. So humor, yes, absolutely.
Valerie - I think what it says to my kids a lot is that, or at least in my parenting, I've discovered that feeding them is the way to their heart, but laughter is the way to their soul. So if you can make them laugh about something, you're usually gonna remember it. And know, in our Sunday school class, my 16-year-old and I do story time for four and five-year-olds. And if we can make them laugh, we're gonna hear about it for weeks on end. And they're like, do you remember when he was a pirate? It's always fun to see. Kids really connect with something because they've laughed through it, and they feel something. And I think that that's an amazing way to connect with kids, for certain.
Josh - Yeah, that's right.
Valerie - Now we've kind of talked about this a little bit, but what do you hope to encourage kids with in this devotion? What do you hope they walk away from after they've read these?
Joshua Cooley's Hope for Kids Who Read Heroes of the Bible Devotional Vol. 2
Josh - Yeah. Well, boy, how much time do we have? I could, but I think this, from the, from the title of the book, heroes of the Bible, right? I want to be careful, to explain this clearly, because ultimately this book is not celebrating men and women, right? We, that, that's a, that's an avenue that we use, maybe a conduit to express a greater truth. So when we read stories like E hood, like Habakkuk, Elisha, who are some of my gals, Hannah, Deborah, and these. We're not ultimately, hopefully coming away with, yay, people. We want to be coming away with, yay God, right? So it's the God who empowers us to do great things that we want to worship and serve and proclaim. So yes, we're going to talk about all sorts of stories of people who did amazing things. But they were only empowered to do these amazing things by the God they served, by His Spirit empowering them and, you know, doing amazing things outwardly in the nation and individually and so forth. So I want kids to walk away with the message, I can be a hero for God, too. I might be small, I might be unknown. Nobody might notice me, but God does. And if He could put His Spirit to do great things in these folks that I'm reading about. He can do that for me. And then all praise goes to him.
Valerie - I love how you did that in the first book, and you've done it again in the second, where that first devotion is about God. That's the first hero you turn to because it's easy to go to Moses and Sarah and Caleb and Rahab, and you know, but to say God is the first hero, the center of it all. He's the hero of the whole Bible. So we can talk about all the people we want, but it's all because of God, like you said, and I love that message for kids just to empower them in a society that's walking away from God in a lot of ways. And just to be like, you know, we're living in times like Babylon and times like, you know, the Israelites were in Canaan. And it's one of those just to remind ourselves that God is still working. He's still active. And as you said, he still sees us by name. And I love that about this whole series.
Josh - Yeah. And actually, I do have to correct myself. I said there were no repeats in this book. There's one, and that is just what you mentioned. God. That's right. Here's the Bible, too. We do start off with God because he is the ultimate true hero. But then all of the human individuals, no repeats, but yeah, like I always want to center it around. This is, this is the person, right? The holy person, the creator of the universe person that we serve. And all of these other stories are really ultimately pointing to him.
Valerie - Yes, amen. Very true. Well, Joshua, tell us a little bit about what led you to writing devotionals like this and your other books. You were a pastor, a children's pastor for a while. What kind of made you turn into an author also?
Joshua Cooley's Writing Journey
Josh - Yeah. So my background is in journalism. So that's what I went to college for. I did about 10 or 11 years of newspaper journalism. Do people read newspapers anymore? But yeah, so I did that right out of college, got into children's ministry full-time. But even when I was in ministry and not writing full-time, I was doing a lot of freelance work, and I always wanted to write books for kids. I got the opportunity with the one-year sports devotions for kids, 2011, with Tyndale. And that was my first book. And so ever since then, I've just been
Trying to write as many kids' books as I can. I love working with kids. I might have shared this with you last time, Psalm 78:4 says, tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the Lord and his might and the wonders that he has done. That's been my theme verse. I want to tell the coming generation about God and His Son, Jesus Christ. I want kids to know this amazing message that has saved me and meant so much in my life, and I'd love to pass it along to the next generation.
Valerie- I love that. It's kind of one of those things we forget some of the time that it is important to speak to our kids. You know, I think, what is it? Madeline, the Ingles said, if you can't write a book for adults or it's too dense for adults, write it for children because they're going to receive it to their hearts. They're going to receive it so deeply that they're going to change what comes next. And I love that about writing for kids is there's just a, Oh, what is it? It's just, yeah, like you said, black and white, is raw, it is, or it isn't, there's no, there's a lot of guesswork, but there's not a lot of guesswork with kids in one sense. And so I love that heart and that desire for kids to grow in their knowledge of God, because that's why we do what we do, right?
Josh - In many ways, I have to spill things down to their essence, right? So we want to talk about things like sanctification and justification, but you can't use those words because maybe kids aren't quite there yet. So you want to explain the theology and the helpful topics of Christian living. What does it mean to follow Jesus? And explain all these things, but you have to boil it down to its essence. How can I explain this in a way that kids are going to understand? I don't want to throw out 50-cent words. A lot of us adults don't even understand those, right? So that's the challenge, but also the fun part of writing for kids is that you want to package it in a way where it's fun, exciting, understandable, and relatable to these amazing little humans who can do so much for God.
Valerie - Yes, exactly. I love that. And what is one of your favorite books?
Joshua Cooley's Favorite Book(s)
Josh - Yeah. So one book that I absolutely love, not a kid's book, I read fairly recently was the biography of Martin Luther, the 16th-century reformer. Fascinating by Eric Metaxas. Really, really good. Kids books. Wow. I'm reading one right now with my youngest daughter called Dream Keeper, the Dream Keeper Saga.
Valerie - Yes, that's a good series. Which book are you on?
Josh - Yeah, so we're on the first one. I can't remember the subtitle, but about Lily and Cedric the Dragon starting their adventure with the Soothstone, right?
Valerie - for something, okay? Yeah, I can't remember it either. Soothstone, yes, there you go. It's a good series. It's interesting. I think Kathryn's on like book five of that series now or something. And we've enjoyed it a lot at our house too.
Josh - Yeah. So many, I always want to be reading something. I toggle back and forth between adult stuff and kid stuff, know, reading kid stuff. I just want to keep the wheels turning for ideas, for my own writing. Yeah. So it's fun.
Valerie - It is a lot of fun. What is it? I think I enjoy reading kids' books more than I do adult books right now. And it's just because it is both simply complex and that unique way that you write for kids. And, you know, it's enjoyable. You get to kind of see a little bit of your kid's heart a little bit and, know, not get weighed down by all the drama. Although there are some kids' books with some drama. Well, what has been the most impactful book in your life other than the Bible?
Josh - I'm looking over my shelf behind the computer here. I'll nerd out here a little bit. I mean, I love theology books just because I want to know, right? I want to know. I hate to say I want to know what I believe, and so I'm going to go to another book to tell me. Like, want, as we read the Bible and discover God's truth, I want to go deeper. You know, some men and women have devoted their lives to studying these things and explaining things that are obviously well taught and well written in the Bible, but putting it all together, different references and so forth. All that to say, things like systematic theology. I'll read that, or biographies like the one I just mentioned, or others. I mean, I get really encouraged by the faith of others. And so that's one of the reasons I love writing. Here's the Bible. So I've read, you know, biographies on Calvin and Luther and Spurgeon and, you know, some missionaries and so forth. I just love to get encouraged in the faith. And so with a book like Here's the Bible, we can do that too. Because again, like I really want to impress on kids, like these are real people. I know we hear about them in Sunday school every week. You've drawn on them on your coloring sheets. Yes, yes, but they're really real. And they had good days and hard days, just like you. Went to school like you. They ate breakfast, lunch, and dinner like you. Sometimes they may not have because it was hard, right? And they were on the run from the evil people or whatever, but they're real, and we can learn so much from them.
Valerie - I love that so much, and it is fun to see all the characters of the Bible and find ways to relate to them. These are people who have walked hard roads just like we do, and it's even what you said with biographies and hearing about people of the faith hundreds of years later doing the same thing. It's kind of that continuation of this, you know, walk of faith. This is hard. It's not perfect because the world is broken, but God is leaning us towards the perfection he has planned for those who have called on his name. And that's something to be excited about for sure. Well, Joshua, what can we expect next from you?
How to Connect and Future Books for Joshua Cooley
Josh - Yeah, I'm going to look over my list here. Let's see. I, I'm, I'm blessed in that I have several things coming up. So, in addition to here's the Bible, there is another kid's devotional that is outer space themed coming up with Tyndale. That is not until 2027, but I'm super excited about this. Just kind of like exploring God's universe to learn amazing truths about him. So planets, stars, sun, moon, earth, know, shooting stars, comets, black holes, all this fun stuff. We'll talk about all that and just explore what that tells us about God and how much he loves us. I've also got some adult devotionals coming out this fall. So the one that's coming out first is called, is going to be called Right Here, right now devotions for men and women, 180 readings for busy days. That's coming out in August through Barber.
Valerie - Very exciting. I suppose we adults sometimes need just the simple truth as well. And usually don't have a whole lot of time to read, but if you get to us in the short bits and full of packed, packed full of truth, then it's definitely a good read for certain. Well, Joshua, where can people find out more about you and your books?
Josh - Yeah. I do have an author website, which is www.JoshuaCooleyAuthor.com. That's my full name, Joshua. When I get in trouble, I'm called Joshua. So, but that's my website too. Uh, and then let's see, I'm on, you can find me on Facebook. I think that little handles are probably too long to mention here, but just, you know, type me in on Facebook. I'm there. Uh, Instagram is at J Cooley 74. And I'm on X as well, and that is at Josh Cooley, nine, the number nine.
Valerie - Very cool. We'll make sure to have those in the description so people can find you easily. Thank you so much for joining us today.
Josh - Thanks, Valerie. It's been great.
Valerie - And thank you for joining Joshua and me on this episode of the Bookworthy Podcast. Check out the show notes for any books or links that we discussed, and let us know in the comments, which fictional character do you identify the most with and why? And be sure to like and subscribe to discover more great books together.
Happy reading.
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