In 1981, after several years of pastoring in Anaheim, Chilton wrote his first book, Productive Christians in an Age of Guilt-Manipulators: A Biblical Response to Ronald J. Sider over the course of a month with a pencil and paper at a coffeehouse.
Although Chilton loved the people of Placerville and did not want to leave, he accepted a job offer from prominent Reconstructionist (and Rushdoony son-in-law) Gary North as a research assistant at The Institute for Christian Economics in Tyler, Texas.