Writing’s an individual sport. Yet in a group, we find support to stay focused, inspired, and excited about our craft. If you write to get published or for personal reasons, this blog is a place where you will find proactive support and encouragement for your personal writer’s journey.
Personally, I felt called to make writing a career in 2000, and have been slowly moving in that direction ever since. Sometimes the progress is two steps forward, one back, but I’m making progress every year. If you’re a writer, you know how it goes. I hope you drop by often. It’s lonely pounding out words in front of your computer all day. When you take a break, use the posts here to motivate you onto love and good works.
The Art of Helping
Ever wondered just how to step into the gap created when a friend experiences a traumatic loss, or possibly the death of a close friend or family member? Lauren Littauer Briggs collected advice and practical do’s and don’ts from writers across the nation as she put together this compassionate guide. A reader will find creative ideas to help others and even favorite recipes to offer others as a way to say they care, and they are available to help. (L Littauer-Briggs, 2003, David C Cook)
Forged in the Fire – Shaped by the Master
God wants to do great things through you, but whether or not his will ever comes to completion in your life depends to a great extent on whom you allow to shape your life. Do you insist on following your own patterns, habits, and ideas for change? Are you willing to allow God’s pattern to shape your life into a masterpiece bearing His signature?
David met God personally and intimately through His provision in the wilderness, and it forever changed him into “a man after God’s own heart.” Joseph met God in the dreams of his youth, and when those dreams were finally fulfilled, a self-important young man was transformed into the humble leader of the most powerful kingdom on earth. You could say they were forged in the fire as they were shaped by the Master.
On the other hand, King’s Saul and Hezekiah both started their walk with God with purpose and the Spirit’s power only to fall, miserably. Saul was sent an “evil spirit from God” because he insisted on doing his own will instead of God’s. Hezekiah started his reign surrounded by supernatural miracles, but his selfishness cost him the kingdom.
After unpacking the lessons from these two successful leaders, Forged in the Fire turns to Kings Saul and Hezekiah. Both of these leaders started well, but they finished in defeat. Forged asks “Why?” and then discovers 12 lessons from these 4 kings’ lives to learn and apply as you pursue the purposes of God in your generation.
Self Help Advice for the Rest of Us
Are You Living or Existing? by Kimanzi Constable
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I don’t know about you, but I don’t connect with some of the self-help Experts and Gurus out there. I know they do good work, and if their income is any reflection to the quality of their advice (which is what I’m supposed to think, I think) then their advice is worth its weight in gold. Yet I have a hard time peeling away the pounds of plastic and veneer of their presentations to find something that really feels genuine.
I met Kimanzi Constable at a local conference last year, and he was just finishing this book, Are you Living or Just Existing. Kimanzi, or Z as he liked to be called, had finally reached the end of accepting life as a delivery driver, and was determined to find the life of his dreams. He was focused on a better income, a better career and a better outlook on life in general. His book, Are You Living or Just Existing, is filled with this blue-collar honesty as he talks about his journey, and the principles he’s using today to change his life.
Z is a normal guy, but he’s not average. He’s applying the advice in his book, not just talking about it. I’ve watched him travel from Hawaii to Israel talking to growing audiences, and I’m seeing the words on his pages come to life. I highly recommend Z’s book. It’s filled with self-help advice for the rest of us.
An International Adoption Goes Terribly Wrong
We’re spoiled here in America. Laws are written to protect us from corrupt officials who use their offices for their own benefit at the expense of the helpless. We rely on just officials to hold our rights as sacred, as gifts from our Creator, as they hear disputes and work toward equitable solutions when inevitable conflict happens. Here between the oceans shores, a place where corrupt governments haven’t yet been allowed to flourish for centuries, we are spoiled.
What happens when fair laws disappear under the whims of men seeking their own power, rather than their citizen’s wellbeing? What does the world look like when the thing you expected, planned and paid for are blocked by a careless, almost flippant disregard for the laws you’ve bent over backward to uphold, when you’re in a foreign country, and the officials are fairly certain you have no resources or recourse.
I met Kim deBlecourt shortly after she returned from the Ukraine, or should I say escaped? The ordeal still embedded in her eyes, she told me the story of being on the run and underground in the former Soviet bloc country, trying to get home with the little boy she’d legally adopted. Kim’s story is one of courage, true love, and a mom’s passion to protect a Ukrainian orphan she and her family grew to know and love during the long process of an international adoption. Somewhere along the way, the conflict between Kim and a corrupt government official became personal – to the official, and Kim’s flight became a race against politics and power in a foreign country.
Until We all Come Home is the story of Kim and her family’s love and passion. In a country for almost a year in which she didn’t speak or understand the language, those who helped her understood the love she had for her son, and a mother’s devotion to her children. Until We all Come Home reads more like a Tom Clancy novel if Mr. Clancy had been a mom. Only then could he have told this true story.
In book stores now, Until We All Come Home tells Kim’s harrowing true story. Kim speaks at conferences, and has recently been on the cover of Today’s Christian Woman. Yet Kim is just a mom from Holland, Michigan, and an adoption advocate for international adoptions. When you purchase a copy of her book, all the profits go to support hundreds of abandoned children, waiting in orphanages like her son was, just two short year ago.
Greg Laurie – We Preach Jesus
I walked into the auditorium to Laurie’s words “God’s story of 2000 years ago is relevant today. The story of Jesus is relevant today, and God’s Word is relevant today.” Speaking to a room full of pastors and church leaders, Laurie continued. “If you build your church on the razzle dazzle, your people will come expecting it. If you build your church teaching the Word of God, your people will come with their bibles open, ready to learn.”
Laurie spoke for nearly an hour, basing his comments from Paul’s open air sermon on Mar’s Hill in Acts 17. Like Paul, he spoke about our nation as a place that is unfamiliar with Jesus, his claims or his saving power. Laurie didn’t spend time with tradition, doctrine, or talking about his how church does church, because the Resurgence conference isn’t about policy, programs or doctrine. Preaching the gospel of Jesus is about reaching the culture with an eternal message, not a 2000 yr old message, or a few hundred year-old traditions. Laurie concluded his conversation with the attentive audience with these six points.
Resurgence R12 conference – from Mark Driscoll and Mars Hill Church
What does passion look like? I know when I see it. I can see the difference between a sports team playing with passion and one that is going through the motions . . . when I see it. But at its core, what does passion look like? In scripture, I read the gospel writer making specific reference to Jesus face. Maybe passion is something you see when you look into a person’s eyes. What did Jesus communicate with his eyes that made the gospel writer pen, “He looked and had compassion on them?” He wept over his friend’s death, and made such an impact on his friends that they made sure to record it for us. Jesus turned over the tables with a handmade whip as he declared, “My fathers’ house will be a house of prayer.” Maybe that’s what passion looks like.
Seriously, God? Really – Seriously?
Jenny Smith wrote Seriously God as a way to tell her family’s story. After building the stereotypical American home and career, Jenny and her family experienced a home foreclosure and job loss combined with high gas and grocery prices that twisted the family budget hopelessly out of shape. The title and the message of this book arose from Jenny’s heart-felt prayer.
“Seriously? Really? We’ve been doing everything right, and this is how life is ending up? Seriously God?”
The turmoil in the author’s life is the genesis of this book, and she relates the path she walked to lessons she learned from a small garden in the backyard, and from lessons from Jesus’ life, both of came into clearer focus only as a result of her journey.
Jenny focuses on the “I Am” statements which Jesus made during the final year of his ministry. She paints the picture of his life, the setting in which he spoke, and makes the context come alive for the reader. Even though I’ve read the gospels for decades, Jenny’s scholarship brought to life details with which I was unfamiliar. For example, Jesus stood and declared “I am the Bread of Life” shortly after his first feeding of the multitude, and in the midst of a crowd that had been following him because of the free meal. Were they just looking for bread and fish? Jesus wanted to give them more. Were they enthralled with the itinerant preacher because of the things they received from him? Jesus expected more.
From her personal story throughout the book, Jenny seems to say that she learned through the trials that Jesus wanted to give her family . . . and expected from her personally . . . more. He had more for her than a comfortable, financially stable and prosperous life, and like Job, not until the stability and comfort were taken away could Jenny gain a clear vision of what “more” looked like.
I recommend Jenny’s book highly. Her storytelling and biblical research are both excellent. At the end of each chapter, she includes discussion questions so this book could also be used as the basis for a small group study and discussion.
Letters to Ethan: A Grandfather’s Legacy
One day I started thinking about my own mortality and how I would want to be remembered by my children and grandchildren. I just didn’t want to die and leave them a memory, although positive memories are certainly important and valuable. I wanted them to know that they’re here for a purpose, that God loves them; that I love them; and I wanted to share the mistakes and miracles of my own life with the hope that it would be of some benefit to them as they encountered their own challenges and opportunities in the future. Why do you think it’s important for letters to be left behind?
I believe that it’s important to leave letters for your children and grandchildren to give them a perspective on life in general, your family traditions, the role that faith has played in your family as well as the wisdom that you’ve acquired over the years. In addition, each letter is a ray of hope in that it communicates to the recipient that we all face challenges and obstacles in our lives and that with patience, persistence, passion, and purpose those challenges and obstacles can be overcome and result in a meaningful life.
Do you really think letters can have an impact on young people?
Absolutely. I’ve seen the results first-hand in adult children whose parents left legacy letters for them. In addition, when parents have shared letters with their adult children, the feelings of joy, contentment, and satisfaction have strengthened the bond between them immensely. In addition, when a young person realizes that a grandparent took the time to write them a legacy letter, it has a definite impact upon their sense of self-esteem and self-worth.
What inspired you to start Legacy Nation? (www.legacynationusa.com)
Two events triggered my passion for Legacy Nation. First of all, I had two sets of grandparents — one that I lived with growing up in a two-story flat in upstate New York and knew as well as my parents, and the other set of grandparents that I never met. I still remember the happiness that I enjoyed with the grandparents that lived upstairs and the sadness that I felt at now knowing anything about my paternal grandparents.
I saw Legacy Nation as an opportunity to bridge two worlds. Parents and grandparents could write letters to their children and grandchildren on an ongoing basis while they are alive, sharing their wisdom, experiences, trials and tribulations, joys as well as the faith, hope, and love that they have in their kids and grandkids. Their children and grandchildren then would have those letters as a legacy that they could learn from and continue to build for their children and grandchildren as well.
At the same time, our nation is hurting. We need a re-energized faith, a new hope, and a return to that family foundation of love and respect that our forefathers relied upon to build these United States of America.
Progress is wonderful, technology is great, and the speed of change is a fact of life. Unfortunately, traditional family values are feeling the pinch from our current economic crisis and the demands placed upon our time result in less meaningful interaction with our kids and grandkids. I’m worried about the future of my children and grandchildren.
I founded Legacy Nation as a means to return to those values that made our nation great as well as an admired and respected people, a beacon of hope to mankind, and a blessing to our children and grandchildren.
If you could offer just one piece of advice to the next generation, what would it be?
God gave you three priceless gifts: your emotions, your intellect, and your will. And if you remember this thought you’ll know what to do with them: “God said, ‘Let’s build a better world.’ And I said, ‘How? The world is such a cold, dark place and so complicated now that there’s nothing I can do.’ God in all His wisdom said, ‘Just build a better you.’”
Where can we find out about more opportunities for a free copy of this book?
Follow @ChristianSpkrs on Twitter.
I was given a complimentary copy of this book from the author in exchange for posting the author’s interview on my blog. This blog tour is managed by Christian Speakers Services (http://ChristianSpeakersServices.com).
Book Review – The Light under the House
I feel very strongly about the breakdown of the family and fatherlessness and how there is much dysfunction and despair because of it. I wanted to tell a story to shed some light on the situations that many face and hopefully bring some type of reversal to the current dynamic in whatever small way I could. I wanted to challenge men, fathers especially, to be who they were created to be … its certainly a challenge I face myself daily. A challenge that I often fail at but keeping picking myself up to start again.
Did you model any of the characters after people you know?
I used many things to model the characters … people I know, other literary figures, actors, biblical characters, celebrities … the characters are a combination of all of these. I wanted them to be new and familiar at the same time, universal.
Why did you choose the Dallas/Ft Worth area as your primary setting?
First of all, the south has a certain reputation for is deep spiritual roots (bible belt and all). I patterned the book in part after GONE WITH THE WIND (another book set in the south) … not in the sense of a love story but in the sense of “here is civilization that is about to cease to exist, come see it before its gone”. In the case of my novel it is a spiritual civilization on the brink. Dallas just seemed to have everything I needed to make the story work from both a symbolic and technical standpoint.
Do you have plans to write more books?
i have an idea or two floating around … nothing concrete yet.
What sort of research did you do for the historical portions of your book? What did you like best about the research? The least?
My co-author and I researched deeply into ancient history for some aspects of the book … I learned a lot of things … some things I’d rather forget but most of it was enlightening. What I liked best was that it confirmed for me mostly what I already knew, there really is nothing new under the sun.
Where can we find out about more opportunities for a free copy of this book?
Follow @ChristianSpkrs on Twitter. You can purchase the book through Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/Light-Under-the-House-ebook/dp/B0060C2O92.
I was given a complimentary copy of this book from the author in exchange for posting the author’s interview on my blog. This blog tour is managed by Christian Speakers Services (http://ChristianSpeakersServices.com).
Intercessors Arise
As I read Debbie Przybylski’s latest book, Intercessors Arise (Navpress, 2008) my first reaction was not what I expected. A few chapters in, I was asking “Where is the fire? I’m interested in this subject. As a believer, I want a more dynamic prayer life. But this book is, well, uninteresting.” I’ve heard the anecdotal stories before, and felt I should pray more than I do. However, I already know this stuff. The book was missing the proverbial trigger. Debbie didn’t pull the trigger on how to make the reality she described a part of my life.
Debbie is the founder of Intercessors Arise International, and has spent decades on the mission field with Operation Mobilization. She’s an acclaimed writer, and mentor, teaching on the subject of prayer and intercession across the globe. So her experiences suggest that she must know about prayer. Yet I spent half the book asking where is the fire? Where did I find the kind of life she is describing?
I would like to pat myself on the back and say “And then lights went off . . .” No, my final analysis of Debbie’s book demands that I humble myself rather than disclose some grand revelation. Debbie’s book will tell me the 5 points to a better prayer life. Intercession isn’t a spectator sport that one can learn from the bleachers of Christian life. In-depth intercession like Debbie describes doesn’t follow a formula. It is learned on one’s knees, discovered through utter dependence on God.
Intercessors Arise is a manual to be pored over slowly. I recommend taking 2 or 3 months to digest and apply the lessons. This book can be a wonderful resource for a group of friends who seek to improve their prayer lives. Intercessors Arise is not and cannot be formulaic, as are many modern Christian titles. Intercession is not a formula where I insert currency and like a gum ball machine, God turns the crank and rewards me. From her deep experience Debbie describes that intercession require a person’s commitment to their God – a broken open, unfaltering, humble-and-willing-to-wait for an answer commitment which is too often absent in today’s modern church.
My confession is that I didn’t get much from her book the first time through because I was looking for a formula. My own attitude and shallow expectations were the roadblock. Intercessors Arise is not a book. Rather it is a tried and proven field manual that encourages Christ followers to pray big, dream big, and then depend on an equally Big God. In response, God often starts by creating brokenness and dependency, a humbling process that creates intercession from self focused prayers.
I recommend this book highly, and give it 4 out of 5 stars.
Find | Follow | Friend Tim