Distinguished Ad-man Co-authors Book Re-imagining Scriptural Stories and Parables for Modern Audiences
Mike Elms and Ivan Filby present the accounts of the Biblical texts in a striking way, through contexts and analogies that are understandable to 21st century readers
PLANO, Texas (January 20, 2025) – Mike Elms, a former CEO of two major UK ad agencies, and Ivan Filby, President and CEO of Seedbed, a subsidiary of Asbury Theological Seminary, team up to present the timeless truth of Jesus’ parables in a reimagined format. Jesus Unbranded (Invite Press, January 2025) is an artistically rich two-volume guide for modern-day Christians who find themselves disengaged, disinterested in or else confused by the ancient settings of the parables in the Gospels.
Jesus’ parables were culturally relevant to his time. However, Western Christians today live in a significantly different world than their ancient Palestinian counterparts, and as such, many of the instructional stories and analogies from scripture fall flat on modern ears.
“The themes and messaging of the parables are timeless, but the storylines are time limited,” explains Elms. “The parables Jesus told had real ‘cut-through.’ He knew his audiences, he knew the culture, he knew the messaging he wanted to convey and he constructed his storylines accordingly.”
Perceiving indifference to the Biblical message among his fellow church congregants, Elms felt a call to use his extensive expertise as CEO of the Ogilvy & Mather and Tempus Group advertising agencies to strategically revitalize the Christian faith with cultural relevance and application. Jesus Unbranded, featuring AI-generated images by Jason Moore, author of AI and the Church, brings the stories of Christ to life through modern-day imagery and storytelling.
“My goal was to put myself in Jesus’ shoes and reimagine the stories in a way he would explain them to 21st century listeners,” said Elms. “If Jesus were telling stories today, he’d use different images to share his timeless truths—people and scenes such as builders and electricians; entrepreneurs, Ferraris and Fords; a ski-trip and a theme park; stock market traders and hospice nurses.”
Jesus Unbranded is broken into two books, based on the scriptural timeline and the tone, tenor and purpose of each message—preserving the essence of the original scriptures. The first volume, referred to as “stories without spin,” focuses on the “teaching parables,” or Jesus’ early ministry in and around Galilee. The second volume, “stories with bite,” begins as Jesus approached the climax of his ministry, resulting in his Passion and crucifixion.
Each parable begins with a “rewiring” of the original, followed by a “reminding” of the original text from the NIV Bible translation. The guide then walks readers through how to interpret the parables, allows them to reflect with provided questions and gives them blank note space to respond to what they have just read.
“To spend time with the parables enables us to see and engage with the spiritual themes that permeate the events, relationships and situations in our everyday lives,” says Elms. “The lives that we are living, here and today.”
Jesus Unbranded releases January 28, 2025, from Invite Press. For more information, visit https://www.inviteministries.org/lp/jesus-unbranded-bundle-landing.
Mike Elms is an author and former adman with over 40 years of leadership experience in the industry, heading two UK advertising agencies, Ogilvy & Mather and Tempus Group PLC. Currently, he is the Chair of Trustees at Christian Publishing and Outreach and has worked with many prominent Christian organizations, including MAF, TWR Radio and ChurchAds.Net. He has served the church as an Anglican Churchwarden and a Baptist Deacon and is a contributor to “Thought for the Day” on Radio Kent. Mike is the author of Parables: Rewired, and the imminent Proverbs: Restitched in Time. Jesus Unbranded is his latest release and will be made available on January 28, 2025.
Ivan Filby Ivan is an ordained minister in the Free Methodist Church and holds a Ph.D. in Management and a M.A. in Evangelism. He taught at The University of Dublin: Trinity College for sixteen years before moving to the USA to chair the Management Department at Greenville University. Following a year as business school dean at Point Loma Nazarene University, Ivan returned to Greenville U to serve as its 12th president. Ivan has authored two books: Livestream: Learning to minister in the power of the Holy Spirit and Speak Tenderly: Prophetic ministry seasoned with grace.
Invite Press is a premier publisher of books to help readers grow in their Christian faith. It publishes books that matter to the everyday life of following Jesus as well as those that apply to the work of full-time ministry. Invite Press is an imprint of Invite Ministries, which exists to build a like-hearted community of influencers who are high on Jesus, low on politics, and biased toward innovation. Visit inviteministries.org for more information.
CONTACT: Lauren Briggs, lauren@kccommunications.co, (469) 626-8637
