Swashbuckling Faith: Exploring for Treasure with Pirates of the Caribbean

by Tim Wesemann

Pirates, Patches, and Parrots!

What unexpected markers do you find along your faith journey, ones that lead you closer to God? In Swashbuckling Faith , author and former pastor Tim Wesemann helps you find surprising doorways to God’s truth in the scenes and dialogue of the Pirates of the Caribbean movie series. Created merely to entertain, these movies find Captain Jack Sparrow and his cohorts unintentionally leaving behind traces of truth ready to be explored and expanded in light of the Bible. Wesemann springboards from these glimpses to explore scriptural lessons on faith, prayer, contentment, spiritual warfare, forgiveness, hope, and much more. When your biblical perception starts finding treasures of truth in popular culture and everyday occurrences, you’ll set sail for the adventure of a lifetime!

“Captain Jack Sparrow, if you please, sir.”

Captain Jack Sparrow (that’s Johnny Depp, to you lovers of cinema) is the charming pirate in the popular Pirates of the Caribbean movies that buried Hollywood in gold. The films captured imaginations young and old, but now Tim Wesemann invites you to depart on an even greater adventure—for real!

Following the treasure map of God’s Word, this dangerous exploration will reveal priceless gems of not-so-buried, no-so-pirate booty! You’ll uncover hidden traces of truth and priceless pearls of faith. Lessons on prayer, contentment, spiritual warfare, forgiveness, and hope will awaken you to messages your true Captain is conveying all around you. Because even a pirate movie, looked at through new lenses, can point the way to tangible riches of biblical truth.







“Funny and whimsical with just a touch of sheer insanity.”

Dr. Timothy Paul Jones

Pastor and author of Finding God in a Galaxy Far, Far Away

“Shiver me timbers! As a parent of teens and preteens, I can’t wait to share these briny depths of faith and inspiration with my family!”

Tricia Goyer

Award-winning author of Life Interrupted

“A veritable treasure trove of wisdom and piratey-good fun that’s not only entertaining to read, but draws you closer to God.”

Mike Nappa

Bestselling and award-winning author

“ Swashbuckling Faith is a fresh, funny, and surprisingly rich book that falls somewhere between a devotional and a pirate manual.”

Dave Meurer

Author of If You Want Breakfast in Bed, Sleep in the Kitchen

“Full of life-changing, priceless gems from God’s Word. You’ll be ‘hooked!’”

Rhonda Rhea

Radio personality, humor columnist, author of Who Put the Cat in the Fridge

Story Behind the Book

Tim Wesemann is not a pirate, nor does he act as one on TV. While “swashbuckler” may not appear on his resume, he loves exploring for biblical treasure and often discovers it where you might least expect it—including a secular movie with pirates who pillage, plunder, and pilfer. Even scenes and dialogue from Pirates of the Caribbean served to help grow his faith in God. While the movie is a favorite in the Wesemann household, Tim also draws from past experiences as a pastor and his present insights as a fulltime Christian author and speaker.

Genres: Pirates

208 pages, Paperback

First published June 15, 2006

Reviews

[Charles · Rating 1 out of 5]

Being a huge fan of Pirates of the Caribbean, I snatched this book up with eager anticipation. The book has some great writing, but overall it falls short. Many of the chapters are more like mini-sermons (making it a better devotional) and this makes the book annoying to read in a few sittings. Eventually I found myself board with the book. I should say though that the book has some unique writing and ideas, but near the end it starts to fall apart and seems rushed. Worth reading if you can't find anything else I guess >_<

O and this book proves that ninjas are better then pirates. Can you find a bad book on ninjas?

[C.O. Bonham · Rating 3 out of 5]

The long and short of it is that this is a book for Christians who feel guilty about liking the disney movie "Pirates of the Caribbean" each chapter is a shrot devotion that connects very loosly to some asspect of the Movie. over all not a bad book and it made very good spiritual points but some of the movie connections were a real stretch.

[Deb · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fun and unique way to explore our Faith and Christian walk. Tim Wesemann uses scenes from the Pirates of the Carribean movies to illustrate his points about faith in Christ and our walk with Him. One of my favorite lines from the book was, "He (Jesus) walked the plank for you matey". A lot of good points in this book. Fun and unique I enjoyed it.

[Kelita]

I dig the whole pirates but I needed some way to relate it to my faith this book helped

[Hunter Johnson]

Swashbuckling Faith by Tim Wesemann. Parts of Pirates of the Caribbean recast as devotionals. Light-hearted and well-executed, although the clever wordplay was too clever at times.

[Hildy Peterson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Grade: A

Really interesting. Found some deep things in the Pirates movies and presents them in a unique and fun way. Great food for thought. Highly recommended--- for teenagers especially!

[Mattea · Rating 1 out of 5]

Horrible horrible horrible