Erven Kimble has been happily married to Jacquelyn Kimble for over thirty-five years and is the father of five sons and one daughter and has seven grandchildren. They are both natives of Houston, Texas. Erven attended the University of Houston, where he majored in Electrical Engineering. He later received his Bachelor of Arts in Theology from Logos Christian College and Graduate School.
Erven worked in cooperate sales and marketing for over 25 years with major computer companies; he served as a community leader and activist for over 30 years. Erven accepted a huge pay cut when he left his corporate management position to answer the call of God on his life to serve as Senior Pastor at a church in the northeast suburbs of Atlanta for over 24 years, where he grew to love, nurture and help hundreds of congregates grow spiritually, emotionally, and relationally.
Erven is the founder and CEO of Life ANEW Global Ministries, which offers virtual training that helps believers learn how to live out the New Life found ‘in Christ’. He is an accomplished teacher, community leader and activist, a licensed Christian Counselor, Racial Unity Coach entrepreneur and now an author. In addition, he is an international business developer, helping Christian entrepreneurs gain success in the Health & Wellness industry.
Pastor Kimble also worked as a Development Director with a nonprofit ministry; a career move which eventually led him to attend a life-changing weekend Men’s Retreat. There, his encounter with the Holy Spirit led him to understand the racial bias that exists in the hearts of so many believers in the contemporary Church. Now, God has challenged him and placed him in a position to address the generational racial divide that exists within the Christian community.
Erven Kimble authored the book and founded a movement called “Giving Voice to Truth… God’s Heart For Racial Unity”. This represents many of Pastor Kimble’s personal experiences navigating the racial divide. It highlights many years of social and economic differences in the black community and the Voice of God calling for believers to genuinely demonstrate the love of Christ and the justice of God in obedience to His Word.
The practical applications of many of the principles discussed in this book are explored in the series of virtual meetings called “Truth Talks About Race!”. The purpose of these interactive sessions is to help make the ‘information’ create a ‘transformation’ within the individuals that participate.
To get more information and to register, go to: https://www.givingvoicetotruth.com/register.
When it comes to how our culture should address the issue of Race in America, the voice of God is deafeningly silent. Public dialogue continues without much or decisive input from the contemporary Christian community. In fact, the Body of Jesus Christ in America as a whole, is pretty much divided along racial lines. This is clearly reflected in the split within the contemporary church along political party lines and social policies. To be sure, there is preaching about how we ought to, or how we want to treat one another as children of God. Each voice declares that they are on the right side of history or the right side of the political spectrum; but what about being on the right side of God?
Get to Know the Author!
How did you come up with the ideas for this book?
To be honest, I didn't start out with the idea of writing a book. The book's content results from me being divinely guided to do a very close personal examination of my own biases and things that were in my past that the Lord was really prompting me to deal with. For me, it was a journey of chronicle devotional responses — some critical truths that I believe God was revealing to me that reflected His heart toward the condition of many believers in the Christian community who had not really dealt with the issue of race and racism on a personal level. I think we tend to compartmentalize our lives and separate our spiritual and Christian beliefs from our political, social, and civic activities to the point that we really lose perspective and think that our personal behavior is okay. As I continued to process all the information and research at my disposal, I began to share them with other people who encouraged me to put all that I was being led to understand about the issue of race and racism, as relating to the Christian worldview, in a book. So, my motivation came from those that encouraged me that the content of my thoughts needed to be made available to others with similar experiences.
What do you hope your readers will learn/discover from reading this book?
I hope the prospective readers of my book will complete the book and believe that enough was said for them to feel safe and personally examine themselves. The book is not designed to be a condemnation or an indictment against other people’s beliefs. Rather, it’s to set the stage for an honest reflection, accurate information, emotional strengthening, and self-awareness that enables the reader to come to grips with some hidden or unknown tendencies and biases, then admit them to oneself first. Also, I hope that enough factual, accurate, truthful, and biblical information is provided to prompt a transformation of sorts that would benefit them while engaging in meaningful conversations across the racial divide.
I also host a follow-up to the book called "True Talks About Race". These are a series of virtual interracial Zoom discussions. They are interactive and allow individuals to really express themselves, hear others and get some insight and experience in conversations across the racial divide. These Zoom talks are scheduled and made available on my website: https://www.givingvoicetotruth.com/register
What inspired you to write this book?
The overwhelming need and the obvious turmoil in culture concerning racial division and the decisiveness of this divide played out day in and day out, from one new cycle to the next. It’s clear the culture is struggling with the issue of race and racism. We have discussed it for generations in our country and across the globe with no clear answers on how to address it. This is such a deep-rooted social issue, and tragically, the Christian community is deafeningly silent on it. It appears that there is no doubt the contemporary Christian mindset is just as divided as the culture and without clear spiritual input; hence the problem seems to continue on and on. I remember having seen the same thing in the 1960s when the civil rights movement was being birthed. I ultimately learned that the reconstruction era had similar kinds of division and strife, and of course, with the civil war, you had a nation divided. Here we are 150 years later with still the same problem. It seems to me that the emotional and spiritual approach has been overlooked and this book is here to help address that and hopefully have some impacts on how to deal with this problem.
Any advice to give to aspiring writers?
I guess my advice to aspiring writers would be to connect with their passion. To find out what motivates and shapes their personal interest and try to share that with someone. For me, it was an inspiration I didn't even know I had. I didn't start out wanting to be an author. The call and the moment and personal conviction of the moment required that I respond by documenting this issue passionately and in my heart believe it would be helpful and beneficial to others.
What's next for you?
I'm focused on completing the task. I hope to inspire and move more people to engage this issue from the standpoint of facts, historical, emotional or spiritual context and make it visible on a large scale. I believe my faith in the Bible and the supernatural power of Jesus Christ can change individuals and cultures. So, I will be promoting my book and "Truth Talks About Race" via the virtual Zoom talks. I will continue to write content about the subject matter because I did not cover quite a few things in my book, so I will continue in follow-up writing to help people gain enough confidence and be equipped enough to have conversations and build relationships across the racial divide.
What was the most difficult aspect of writing this book?
The most difficult aspect of writing this book was harnessing all my spiritual inspirations and research together in a cohesive and professional way that befits an author. I'm an orator, a public speaker, and a preacher. Writing to speak to a crowd of any size is easy for me because speaking is a hobby to me. However, what is not easy for me is to professionally author a book that conveys a clear discussion on a complex subject throughout different areas of discussion. So, putting it all together, writing the content in a systematic and orderly fashion, and presenting ideas and streams of thought was difficult for me. I admire authors a whole lot more now than I did before I wrote my book.
Did you have to do any special research for your book?
Yes, I did and still do. I find myself doing lots of targeted research. I was immersed in all kinds of writings, articles, Ted talks, sermons, and books —historical and current events. I had to reeducate myself on European Colonialism and the history of Africans in North and South America, as well as in the world. I had to figure out the real truth that is often hidden. I had to look at the biblical history of Africans in the Bible and African civilizations. I investigated the history of the African continent, in the context of world history, and how African civilizations were unjustly and systematically left out of this human races' narrative. Lots of research went into understanding the truth about the African diaspora throughout the whole world.
Why do you write? Is it something you've always done or always wanted to do? Or is it something that you started fairly recently?
I wrote my book because the subject matter of focus was so urgent, and the call or the motivation for me to get engaged in the conversation about race and racial disunity in the Christian community was so compelling. I felt like God had commissioned me to write this vision (this book) and make it a plan. So, for me, it was being obedient to the call. It was being obedient to the instructions to chronicle my thoughts and the passion that God had given me to speak the truth and help others connect with the truth and the facts about race and racism in the heart of individuals, including the Christian community, in such a way that brings about transformation and leads to the development of relationships across the racial divide. This was my first book. I never saw myself as an author or writing a book. I write sermons. I write speeches. I write articles, but I had never seen myself writing a book. However, I feel fortunate because it was absolutely necessary for me to do this.
In five words, describe your book.
Transformative Truth About America’s Racism!
Name 3 authors you would love to collaborate with
Tony Evans, Crawford Loriz, Andy Stanley
Among all the books you have read, which has significantly contributed to your writing style?
I cannot really say any books I have read contributed to my writing style. I suppose I never thought of myself as a professional writer.
JUST FOR FUN
Coffee or tea?
I am a coffee drinker myself. I prefer it black with no sugar. But in some cultures, this presents a bit of a problem, as it did when I was in Puerto Rico, where black coffee (without cream) is thought to be demon-possessed.
Lights on / lights off?
I do not require a lot of sleep. So, whether the light or TV is on or off when I'm about to sleep doesn't really matter.
What are three things you never leave home without?
My visa card, some cash, and, sad to say, my cell phone.
Sleep in or get up early?
I tend to go to bed late, like way after midnight, so getting up early is not my thing if I don't have to.
Three celebrity crushes you admire?
I only had one. That was Annette Funicello with The Mickey Mouse mouseketeers in the 50s.
