Clifton J. Lejeune, a motivational speaker and pastor of Jesus Worship Center United Pentecostal Church in Jennings, has penned a book drawn from his own sermons to help others overcome obstacles that keep them from pursuing their own goals in life.

“Lost in the Woulds: Turning Your Passion Into Action,” is Lejeune’s first experience as a published author and contains sermons that he has rewritten in a reading format as opposed to a speaking format.

“It’s a book about the lost art of intentionality,” Lejeune said. “In the woods you find lions and bears. The reason you are barely making it, is you are lying to yourself….lost in the woulds, so that is the thought behind the book.”

Lejeune used his trademark wordplay, wit and wisdom to deliver Biblical concepts to turn being into doing and to show readers how to identify what holds them back, discover how to change their inertia to action, how to effectively deal with setbacks and how to overcome personal tragedies that have stalled them long enough.

Lejeune, who has been preaching for 39 years, said he has seen first-hand people struggling to find the motivation to get started, to keep going and to avoid distractions in life. People spend too much time focusing on unimportant matters, he said.

“It’s all in the theme of being intentional and getting a person unstuck from the rut of life, whether that is depression, in their marriage or in a career path,” he said. “It’s helping them get out of procrastination by discovering the lost art of intentionality.”

Lejeune also hopes the book will encourage, inspire and entertain those who read it to live life with purpose.

“The book is filled with rhymes, wordplay and things that stick to you,” he said. “There is a hook so that you remember it. When I’m speaking I want people to remember what I said. It frustrates me when I say something they can’t remember. I want them to remember what I said.

The introduction to the book is a theme he used when speaking to food service technicians during “lunch lady” conferences across the state.

“I got my speech from a pack of David sunflower seeds,” he said. “On the pack of sunflower seeds is the key to success in life, ministry and marriage. On every pack of David sunflower seeds it says ‘Eat. Spit. Be happy.’ All of life is knowing what to eat and what to spit. You eat the seed. You spit the shell. So how do I know what to eat? If it’s important then I import it.”

Another chapter encourages readers to fulfill their calling in life by avoiding what he refers to as the curse of permanent potential.

“To possess potential is the indication of impotence.” he said. “It means there is a power latent in you that is untapped or unused. Impotence is simply possessing potential and doing nothing with it.”

Lejeune said his own life is proof that being lost in the “woulds” is never a permanent condition.

“The Lord has gifted me to speak the Gospel,” he said. “I take great delight whenever he gives me little principles like this that are clever, have hook, that have rhyme or distinctly define a Biblical principle.”

The book has been endorsed by New York Times best selling author and pastor Jentezen Franklin, who wrote:  ”If you feel intimidated, frustrated and stuck where you are, this book is your roadmap out of the ‘Woulds” and into your purpose for living.”

Lejeune, who admits he was a bit of a procrastinator himself, decided to write the book after many decades of finding excuses not to write it.

“Probably nine years ago my student pastor was provoking me and telling me that I needed to write,” he said. “Most of the times that I travel to preach, people tell me, ‘you need to write a book,’ so I have felt the weight of writing for many decades and have been putting it off.”

He plans to write future books on marriage and pain.

The book is currently available in hardback at www.peoplemover.us or Amazon in paperback or eBook format.