The Rev. Craig Groeschel said he’s written plenty of books, but he believes his most recent will resonate with many people.

He outs himself as a former atheist, of sorts, in his latest tome that just arrived in bookstores.

It’s odd, I know, to think that Groeschel, founder and senior pastor of Edmond-based, multisite megachurch LifeChurch.tv, is calling himself an atheist.

Well, he’s saying he was a "Christian atheist” at one time in his life, and that description surprises people.

"It’s an oxymoron. Those two words shouldn’t belong together,” Groeschel said during a recent interview.

And in his new book, "The Christian Atheist: Believing in God But Living as If He Doesn’t Exist” (Zondervan, $19.99), Groeschel wrote that other people may find that the oxymoron fits them all too well.

He said he describes a Christian atheist as someone who believes in God but shows no real evidence of God in his or her life.

He said he prepared a sermon based on that time in his life when he fit that description. He said he delivered the sermon in November 2008, and many people received it with a spirit of deep repentance.

"Some of them said, ‘I recognize I’ve been lukewarm, and I haven’t been as sincere in my faith,’” Groeschel said.

In his book, the pastor wrote that Christian atheism is a "fast-spreading spiritual pandemic which can poison, sicken and even kill eternally.” He wrote that he still battles the spiritual malady because it is so prevalent.

In our interview, he said one way to combat this spiritual disconnect is to recognize it for what it is — and to help others who may be suffering from it.

"It is a good book to give people who find themselves disconnected from the church or for people who believe in God but don’t know Him personally,” Groeschel said.

He said the believer’s goal should be to throw off the self-serving behaviors that result from Christian atheism.

"We should be willing to lay down our lives to serve Him as His church.”