Southside Baptist has long been a forerunner in church media in the area. Now they have increased that presence even more with a new website -- southsideonline.tv -- that shows picture-perfect videos of their Sunday services.

But while being on the forefront is part of Southside, this is a church that never forgets its roots. As part of a series being taught now on Sunday mornings, “Today I Will,” two of the church’s pastors have written a book.

Matt Walls, pastor of Southside’s Kathleen campus, and Michael Talley, teaching pastor at both campuses, joined together to write “Today I Will.” The book is both an accompaniment to the Sunday morning sermon series and a standalone devotional.

“We wanted it to be more of an experience than just words on a page,” Walls said. “We wanted to engage the whole person.”

To this end, Walls and Talley used a variety of eye-catching ways from different fonts to graphic to communicate the ideas in the book.

The book came out of a conversation that Talley and Walls had in planning the upcoming Southside calendar year. Walls said churches, after the summer vacation months are over, experience momentum in August. When discussing the idea of the “Today I Will” series, both men agreed that a book would help add energy to the series.

The book and the series are based on the idea that tomorrow is not an excuse not to do something today and draws inspiration from the verse in Proverbs that says in part, “You don’t know the first thing about tomorrow.”

“We are not promised tomorrow, “ Walls said. “So look around your life and do something today. Don’t announce that you are going to do something tomorrow. Do it today.”

The project took about eight months; the book is hardbound and is available for sale at Southside’s Warner Robins campus daily. It will also be on Amazon.com in about a week. The cost of the book if purchased through Southside is $7.00.

Instead of putting their ideas together in a handout, Talley explained that the idea for a book was to have something for people to have that would be permanent.

“We are passionate about these ideas and believe in these things. We wanted something that people would go home and look at and then think about these ideas as well, “Talley said.

Talley emphasized that the book stands alone from the messages delivered Sundays.

“The book was designed to take the thoughts deeper, but you can read the book without seeing the sermons.”

With the creation of their new TV website, people that do not attend the church can watch the “Today I Will” series online.

Contact Alline Kent at 396-2467 or allinekent@cox.net.