David Elston

Inspired after reading Roald Dahl in first grade, I picked up a pencil and have not been able to put it down. I can’t say why I write except that I must. And what I write about seems to change with each project. Maybe what links my writing together is the place I write from, that spring of inspiration where my faith, with all its joy and humor and compassion, meets the mess of humanity – my own and others. If I find myself writing something that does not originate there, I throw it in the trash. Lately, that spring has produced creative theology and redemptive fiction. We’ll see what comes next.

Besides being a writer, I’m Executive Director & Counselor at Shreveport Biblical Counseling. Prior to counseling, I studied theology at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and English Linguistics at LSU. I’m married to Jessica, founder and principal at Mercy Christian Academy, with whom I have three lively children and a needy golden retriever. When I’m not working, I enjoy music and the outdoors, especially hunting, fishing, and hiking.

Down to Earth: A Novel (2025)

Elijah Youngblood is the black sheep of a harsh, legalistic church in rural Louisiana. Brother Ronny, the preacher, wants to make him into a fisher of men, but Elijah just wants to fish for bass. Despite the church’s rejection of his earthly-minded questions and doubts, Georgia, the preacher’s daughter, finds a freedom with Elijah that she has never known in her austere home.

Choosing exile rather than abandoning his ‘down to earth’ faith, Elijah finds refuge in the woods and water, inevitably leading him to a trailer park of misfits, who begin to flourish as a result of his company. Even so, before the well-being of the trailer park and his future with Georgia can be secured, Elijah will have to find a way to get through Brother Ronny, who has no intentions of backing down from the so-called ‘redneck prophet.’

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Subversive Stories: The Parables as Modern Short Stories (2024)

Literally translated, a parable is “cast alongside.” Parables are not like other truth-telling methods. Preaching aims to proclaim. Teaching aims to clarify and organize. Parables, however, are indirect. Rather than hitting you between the eyes like a good sermon, a parable fights dirty, attacking you from behind when you aren’t looking. It is willing to forego some of its clarity for the sake of creativity. It gives up the right to proclaim and goes undercover as a story about everyday things. In the hands of Jesus, however, such “subversive” tactics are used with the most loving and trustworthy intentions. The point of this book is to follow after him in this, interpreting and expanding his parables into modern short stories.

“David Elston does not simply ‘re-tell’ the parables of Jesus, he completely re-imagines them in realistic, lived-in stories of the modern world. While the stories maintain the thrust of the originals, they are distinct enough to catch readers by surprise and make them hear afresh the message of the Kingdom. Highly recommended!”

– Dr. Sean McDonough, Professor of New Testament, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary

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The Inlet: A Children’s Novel (2023)

Pap is a perplexing man. He lives by himself in the country but considers himself “cultured.” He has a rich sense of humor but can use it ruthlessly. He has extravagant taste and yet – his most enduring quality – he is a man of thrift.

The story begins when family conflict sends Pap’s grandchildren to him for the summer, a man they barely know, in a place they’ve never been. He provides no entertainment except the outdoors, where there are few rules, unlimited freedom, and no adult supervision. As interesting as he is, they are unsure whether they trust him or even like him.

To survive the summer, his grandchildren will have to learn an independence that is beyond their years and a way of life that is foreign to their generation. When Pap faces a crisis of his own, he has no choice but to depend upon help from an unexpected source, his grandchildren. At the heart of what threatens and blesses them all is the wild, natural world of the Inlet.

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Resurrecting Beauty: A Portrait of Jesus Christ (2021)

Truth has a hard time making its way to the heart without the assistance of beauty. That is why the Gospel stories are written the way they are – full of beauty. Unfortunately our focus on truth has often excluded beauty, leaving many of us half-hearted creatures, full of knowledge that has not made its way to the heart, disrupting worship and growth.

Without sacrificing truth, this “portrait” of Jesus re-tells the death and resurrection accounts with the staggering beauty of the Savior front and center and everything else faded into the background. The aim of this book is not to inform, apply, or prove anything, but to display the beauty of Jesus in a way that moves truth from head to heart. Its ultimate aim, in other words, is worship.

“David Elston has an imagination—a baptized imagination. In his portrait of Christ, David uses that imagination to make explicit what the gospels imply. He opens our eyes to details we easily pass over, and even helps us see the beauty of Jesus in unexpected places, such as his cleansing the Temple in anger. True to the gospels, David portrays a Christ we can’t ignore, a Christ worthy to worship and follow. What better purpose could a book serve?“

– Kris Lungaard, author of The Enemy Within: Straight Talk about the Power and Defeat of Sin

“David Elston has given the church a beautiful and moving devotional on Christ’s passion and resurrection. Elston draws upon his long counseling experience and his deep theological learning to give us a portrait of Jesus that is at once deeply personal and firmly rooted in the Scripture. The reader will find here both the reality of suffering and the deeper reality of joy, challenge and comfort in equal measure. I highly recommend this fine book.“

– Dr. Sean McDonough, Professor of New Testament, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary

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My Soul Waits: The Life of Nun Hmung (2015)

From lumberjack in the Burmese jungle to a traveling evangelist in the streets of Yangon, from American seminary student to Burmese Bible college principal, Nun Hmung is an ordinary man through whom God does extraordinary work. Nun’s story is one of humble waiting, radical trust, and miraculous provision. During his time in seminary, Nun and David became good friends, a friendship which has lasted ever since. This was written in partnership with Myanmar Evangelical Bible College, which receives all profits from the work.

“A touching story of ‘outrageous faith’ that God has used to impact the people of Myanmar. We loved Nun when he was a student at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, and are grateful that his education and faith in his Lord are bearing significant fruit in his home country.”

– Dr. Dennis Hollinger, President of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary

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