Rick's Writings
Rick Wooten is a pastor, award-winning graphic designer, and illustrator with a unique gift for blending faith-driven storytelling and visual artistry.
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Each project combines deeply personal storytelling with original illustrations, designed to speak to the heart.
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Warning Signs
A Journey of Faith in a Dangerous World
What if the storm you’re walking through isn’t a detour… but a doorway?
What if the ache in your chest, the questions in your soul, are not signs of failure—but invitations? What if God is not absent in your grief, but gently leading you through it?
Warning Signs: A Journey of Faith in a Dangerous World is a sacred companion for those who find themselves wandering through the wilderness of loss, doubt, or fear. It speaks to the heart that has been shattered, the faith that feels fragile, and the soul still longing to believe.
Each chapter opens a window—into real lives, real struggles, and timeless truths. As today’s heartaches meet the wisdom of Scripture, a gentle pattern begins to form—revealing that God’s grace has been woven into your story all along.
This is more than a book. It’s a path—a quiet map for those standing at life’s sharp turns, unsure where to place their next step. But these truths aren’t meant to stay on the page. They’re meant to be lived.
That’s why Warning Signs gave birth to The Narrow Road—a Life Group Bible Study designed to walk beside you as you take the next faithful steps.
Through thoughtful discussion, shared experiences, and guided reflection, this study invites small groups, churches, and individuals alike to not only understand the message—but to live it out.
Together with the Companion Workbook, this journey becomes more than personal. It becomes a shared path—one where grace is practiced, faith is deepened, and no one walks alone.
Let the Warning Signs become your way home.
UPCOMING BOOK
Treasures in the Darkenss
A Novel of Hope, Healing, and Redemption
What if the greatest treasures of life could only be found in the darkest moments?
In Treasures in the Darkness, Toby’s journey through shadow and storm reveals that the path to true peace, identity, and purpose is not about escaping the darkness—but finding Christ within it.
OVERVIEW
Treasures in the Darkness is a profound and transformative allegory that follows Toby’s spiritual journey through the trials and revelations of life. The story captures the essence of the Christian walk—moving from uncertainty, brokenness, and fear to healing, clarity, and ultimate peace. Toby’s path unfolds as a pilgrimage through darkness and light, representing the struggles and discoveries that shape the human soul.
Through each chapter, Toby encounters trials that force him to confront his deepest fears, insecurities, and doubts. But with every challenge comes a treasure—a revelation about himself, about life, and about the God who walks beside him. The treasures are not just symbolic objects; they are spiritual truths that Toby collects and internalizes as he progresses. Each treasure represents a deepening of faith and understanding, moving him from survival to purpose, from striving to rest, and finally, to fulfillment.
By the end of the book, Toby realizes that the journey was never about reaching a final destination—it was about becoming the person he was always meant to be. The treasures were not external objects to collect, but inward truths about identity, belonging, and purpose. The story reflects the Christian message that true peace and fulfillment come not from striving, but from walking in the truth that Christ’s presence and love are already within us.
COMING SOON
The Whisper & the Wonder
A Devotional Journey of Poems, Paintings,
and the Presence of God
What if the beauty you’re longing for is already here—woven into the quiet places of your life? What if the ache in your soul—the yearning for something more—isn’t emptiness, but the gentle voice of Heaven drawing you closer?
The Whisper & the Wonder is not simply a collection of poems and paintings. It is a devotional companion for your journey—a sacred space to slow down, listen, and see God’s presence in the ordinary. Through tender poetry, original artwork, and reflective meditations, each page invites you to encounter the love of Christ in deeper ways.
Here you’ll find:
- Poems that speak to the heart with honesty and hope
- Paintings that capture the beauty of God’s creation and His nearness
- Devotional reflections that guide you into prayer and Scripture
These pieces form a pathway through themes of grief and grace, weakness and beauty, surrender and restoration—reminding you that you are never alone.
This book is for:
- The weary soul who longs for rest
- The grieving heart in need of comfort
- The seeker who aches for more of God
- The worshiper who delights in beauty
- The disciple who desires a closer walk with Jesus
The Whisper & the Wonder is more than a book—it’s a sanctuary for your soul. A place to breathe again, to feel again, to remember who you are and the God who has been with you all along.
Come—listen for the whisper. Step into the wonder.
Beyond the Veil
A Journey Through Grief, Glory, and the Hope of Heaven
Beyond the Veil was written for the quiet moments—
the moments after loss,
after the house grows still,
after the questions come that no one quite knows how to answer.
This book is not meant to rush you through grief
or offer easy explanations for deep pain.
It is an invitation to walk slowly,
to sit with sorrow honestly,
and to discover—often in whispers—that God is nearer than you think.
Through Scripture, reflection, and imagined glimpses of the world to come,
Beyond the Veil gently leads the grieving heart
from the ache of separation
toward the hope of reunion, restoration, and eternal home.
If you are carrying loss,
if love still feels present but out of reach,
or if your heart longs to know what waits beyond this life—
you are not alone.
This journey was written with you in mind.
NOW IN DEVELOPMENT
Rooted in Grace
A Novel of Healing, Hope, and the God
Who Holds Us Through the Storm
What if the storms that break us are the very places where grace takes root?
In Rooted in Grace—Book One of the Rooted Series—a small group of weary souls gathers in a church basement, each carrying unseen burdens: grief, guilt, loss, and faith worn thin. What begins as a ten-week Bible study quietly becomes sacred ground for healing, forgiveness, and spiritual renewal.
Drawn from real-life ministry experiences, this story grew from an actual class called Rooted in Grace—where lessons on grace began to breathe through the lives of those who lived them. Their fictional journey reflects the struggles and redemption stories of countless hearts learning to stand again after the storm.
Rooted in Grace is both novel and invitation—a reminder that grace doesn’t end when life falls apart. That’s where it begins to grow.
Now a transformational 10-week Bible study for life groups and ministries, Rooted in Grace opens the door for personal and collective restoration—inviting readers to discover that God’s presence still holds, heals, and redeems.
The Rooted Series continues with Book Two, Rooted in Faith—the story of what happens when grace planted in the storm begins to bloom.
Join the journey. Read the story. Live the study.
Rooted in Grace is more than a book. It’s an invitation to healing.
COMING SOON
Rooted in Faith
A Novel of Revelation, Restoration,
and the God Who Still Speaks
What if the miracles we seek are hidden beneath the ground we stand on?
In Rooted in Faith—Book Two of the Rooted Series—the story continues in the quiet aftermath of the storm that changed everything. The group that once gathered in a ruined church now faces a deeper mystery—one that will test their faith, their memories, and their understanding of what is real.
When Pastor Daniel follows a whisper into the night and uncovers a message buried beneath the sycamore by the river, his life—and the lives of all who once knew him—begin to intertwine with the unseen. Drawn into a hidden passage beneath the church, Daniel and Gracey, a determined investigative journalist, discover that some truths were never lost… only waiting to be found.
As past and present collide, Rooted in Faith becomes a story of awakening—where what was buried comes alive again, and the River of grace reveals that God is still speaking, still moving, and still restoring what was thought beyond redemption.
A continuation of the journey that began in Rooted in Grace—this second volume in the Rooted Series invites readers to listen for the whisper, follow the call, and believe again in the unseen. And soon, that whisper will become a call to courage.
COMING SOON
A Shepherd’s Whisper
Psalm 23: A Quiet Pasture for the Soul
What if Psalm 23 isn’t a passage for endings, but a roadmap for living?
In A Shepherd’s Whisper, ancient promise meets modern ache. Through interwoven stories of David—the shepherd-king who learned trust in the pasture—and Ethan—a contemporary soul worn thin by noise and loss—this book invites you to enter Psalm 23 one verse at a time. Each chapter pairs narrative with poetry, artwork, and gentle devotional reflections, guiding you from fear to trust, scarcity to sufficiency, hurry to stillness.
Born from years of pastoral care and the quiet conviction that the Shepherd is still near, A Shepherd’s Whisper is not a commentary to study quickly, but a companion to walk slowly—lingering beside still waters, learning restoration in shadowed valleys, and rediscovering the Presence that has been leading you all along.
For weary hearts, prayerful readers, and groups seeking deeper communion, this is a place to breathe, to listen, and to remember:
His goodness hasn’t stopped. His mercy hasn’t tired. His whisper hasn’t gone silent.
COMING SOON
When Creation Sings
Awakening Wonder in the Sanctuary of Creation
What if worship has been rising all around you—long before you learned to listen?
In When Creation Sings, the world becomes a sanctuary, and every part of creation becomes a worshiper. Mountains stand in silent awe. Rivers carry hallelujahs. Fireflies glow with defiant hope. Forests bow at dawn. Oceans thunder His praise. Even the smallest sparrow lifts its quiet trust toward heaven.
This book is an invitation to step into that wonder.
OVERVIEW
When Creation Sings is a richly illustrated collection of poems, paintings, and reflections that awaken the soul to the beauty of God’s presence woven into the world He made. Each chapter opens a doorway into a different voice in creation’s choir—from the stillness of meadows and the courage of winged creatures to the roar of the rainforest and the glow of a single firefly at midnight.
Through vivid imagery and lyrical storytelling, the book reveals a truth easy to forget: before we ever spoke a word of praise, creation was already worshiping. Its worship is effortless, unrestrained, and constant—not because it must, but because it cannot help but testify to the One who made it.
Every poem carries a spiritual thread:
- The mountain teaches steadfastness.
- The river teaches grace in motion.
- The butterfly teaches quiet transformation.
- The night teaches sacred silence.
- The rainbow teaches mercy after the storm.
- The firefly teaches hope in darkness.
And in every scene, God whispers the same invitation: slow down, breathe deeply, and let wonder become worship.
More than an art book and more than a devotional, When Creation Sings is a spiritual journey—an exploration of how God meets us through beauty, how creation reflects His character, and how wonder becomes a pathway back to worship, healing, and rest.
Whether you are searching for peace, longing for renewal, walking through grief, or simply wanting to see God more clearly in your everyday world, these pages will lead you gently into sacred awareness.
By the end, you will discover that wonder isn’t something you chase—it’s something God awakens in you when your heart becomes quiet enough to hear creation sing.
Contact me today!
I’d love to hear from you! Whether you’re interested in discussing representation, a collaboration, or simply want to connect, feel free to reach out.
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