Radiant Church Pastor Aaron Burke shares from the life of Joseph how to turn unfair events to our advantage
TAMPA BAY, June 9, 2023 – While it is often the categorically unfair events in our lives that derail our dreams, Pastor Aaron Burke in his literary debut shares why it is often these very struggles that fuel our passion and propel our vision. In “The Unfair Advantage: 7 Keys from the Life of Joseph for Transforming any Obstacle into an Opportunity,” releasing Aug. 8 from Thomas Nelson Publishers, he explains how responding to tragedies appropriately makes all the difference.
“While it’s comforting to hear that all the pain, all the rejection, and all the struggle is actually helping us move toward our destiny, these words aren’t necessarily true,” Burke writes. “Just because something bad happened to you doesn’t mean it will position you to receive something good. It is available, but it is not automatic. There are things you need to do, attitudes you need to adopt, resolve you need to gain, and effort you have to put in for you to walk into your destiny. This book will walk you through the strategy needed to turn what is negative into what is necessary for your destiny to come to pass.”
Burke draws inspiration from the biblical account of Joseph, who was betrayed by his brothers, enslaved unfairly, imprisoned unjustly, and forgotten about for years. No one can argue that he didn’t have reason to become bitter and give up on his dreams, but it wasn’t simply what happened to Joseph that became his unfair advantage – it was how he responded. Burke explores how Joseph’s actions and attitudes in the midst of the pain propelled him to his God-given purpose.
Beginning with a foreword by Burke’s friend and mentor, Pastor Mark Batterson of National Community Church, the book is broken into seven chapters, each one dedicated to one of Joseph’s challenges turned into unfair advantages:
The Discouraged Dreamer
The Redirected Reject
The Wageless Worker
The Seduced Saint
The Oppressed Opportunist
The Forgotten Faithful
The Limited Leader
Each chapter also includes examples from Burke’s own life as well as success stories from industry icons and historic leaders bearing out his points. Discussion questions follow, encouraging readers to apply the principles discussed to their own circumstances and conditions.
“We live life forward, but we understand life backward,” Burke adds. “The only way to truly embrace hard seasons is to know these seasons are frustrating but also foundational. Our lives might look strange, but our God is very strategic. When you look backward you will see how every difficult moment was developmental for where God was taking you.”
More information and a link to pre-order “The Unfair Advantage,” are available here. For more information about Radiant Church or Pastor Aaron Burke, visit www.weareradiant.com.
About Aaron Burke
Aaron Burke (DMin, MBA) is the lead pastor of Radiant Church, which he and his wife, Katie, started in 2013 after selling everything and moving in faith to a new city. Radiant Church now has eight campuses throughout the Tampa Bay community. Aaron’s passions are building the local church and helping Christians live into their God-given potential. In addition to pastoring at Radiant, Aaron regularly speaks at churches and conferences across America. He also works heavily with planting churches and developing leaders in South Asia (Sri Lanka and India). His work with equipping leaders includes his Made for More leadership podcast and partnering with the Association of Related Churches (ARC) and the Church Multiplication Network (CMN) to train church planters. Aaron and his wife have been married since 2010 and have five beautiful children. He loves to travel, spend time with his family, and do CrossFit.