Into the Fire

Funny thing about blogs . . .

And the “great minds”, “birds of a feather” thing . . .

I thought I would list the blogs I visit regularly for you today, giving credit to those who make the effort to communicate in their own unique ways, and Mike Duran’s blog “Decompose” happened to be on my list. Well, he decided to list a few of his favorites for today, too, so “great minds” and all that jazz. Yada yada. Anyway, visit his blog for some serious and thoughtful examinations of a variety of topics and once in awhile his acerbic wit surfaces, too.

Rebecca Luella Miller’s “A Christian Worldview of Fiction”
Mark Harbeson’s “Utter Drivel”
Jason Joyner’s “Spoiled for the Ordinary”
Brandilyn Collins “Forensics and Faith”
“The Master’s Artist”
“We CAN! Market Our Own Books”
Mary DeMuth’s “Relevantblog”
Mick Silva’s “YourWritersGroup”
Angela Hunt’s “A Life in Pages”
Faith*in*Fiction
Michelle Pendergrass’s “Just A Minute”
Heather Goodman’s “L’Chaim”
Chip MacGregor.com
Dayle James Arceneaux’ “Reflections”
Stephen Parolini's "incomplete thoughts"
Dee Stewart’s “Christian Fiction”
C.J. Darlington’s blog and “Title Trakk”
Richard Mabry’s “Random Jottings”
Thompson on Hollywood
Randy Alcorn’s “Eternal Perspectives”
Susan Meissner’s “Edgewise”
Katie’s Hart’s various sites
J. Mark Bertrand's "Write About Now"
Kay Day's Loop de Loops in La La Land

And last but not least, my oldest son has entered the blogosphere. Introducing Donovan Colt Torp over at Wordpress.

Thank you, Lord, for your wonderful people, each one with the portions you’ve given them, making them unique. Help each one of us to represent you well and bring you glory and blessing with what you’ve given us. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

Sunday's Offerings

In putting everything under Him, God left nothing that is not subject to Him. Yet at present we do not see everything subject to Him. But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because He suffered death, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone.

Hebrews 2:8-9 (NIV)

Detour

Since it's Saturday and most people won't be searching the blogs, I just had to write this and get it out. Okay, fair warning: **RANT**. Just so you know.

As Christians we know and cite the Bible, the error-less Word of God, when we desire to offer proof of . . . well, anything we think we can prove with scripture. However, so often as Christians we forget that two of us holding our Bibles open in our hands, reading the exact same verses--and you pick the translations--cannot agree on what they mean. It's pathetic, but it's true. Thus we have multiple denominations for one thing. Was this why Jesus said, ". . . if two of you can agree about anything, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven."?

I just read a politically liberal comment about the war (on a film critic's blog, of all places) citing scripture after scripture defying war in general but, of course, now the particular war lust of President Bush attacking the inoffensive and non-threatening country of Iraq under the leadership of Saddam Hussein. Give me a break!

How convenient for scripture-mongers to misconstrue protection for vengeance. How unique for them to ignore the demands of a holy God who sent His people into the Promised Land to devour and raid peoples who had not attacked or bothered them as yet.

How naive and pacifistic for scripture-quoters to assume the "peace" we must seek is somehow outside of Jesus Christ and can exist in this sin-ridden world. The Prince of Peace will be the only One to provide peace on earth and goodwill to men.

I'm sick of those who think we can sit tight and hole-up here in this country and avoid all the conflict in this world. Those same people cry out about the horrors of some African dictatorships and demand we do SOMETHING unless it involves "fighting". These same people hold us responsible for every evil in every country in this world, as if we have ever been able to elicit that kind of control. Yet China and Russia have sought to rule this world and have cruelly suppressed their own countrymen in the process.

How obvious does it have to be that the militant Muslims hate all who are not of their belief system? And we are supposed to negotiate with their hatred and "understand" their ruthless murders? Pick me out a scripture for that.

That's it. I'm done. Man, this stuff just gets to me.

Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." John 14:6

"I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." John 16:33

Too good not to copy.

This was sent to me recently. It's just too good not to copy for you.

For many years Ben Stein has written a biweekly column called "Monday Night At Morton's." (Morton's is a famous chain of Steakhouses known to be frequented by movie stars and famous people from around the globe.) Now, Ben is terminating the column to move on to other things in his life. Reading his final column is worth a few minutes of your time.

Ben Stein's Last Column...
============================================
How Can Someone Who Lives in Insane Luxury Be a Star in Today's World?

As I begin to write this, I "slug" it, as we writers say, which means I put a heading on top of the document to identify it. This heading is "eonlineFINAL," and it gives me a shiver to write it. I have been doing this column for so long that I cannot even recall when I started. I loved writing this column so much for so long I came to believe it would never end.

It worked well for a long time, but gradually, my changing as a person and the world's change have overtaken it. On a small scale, Morton's, while better than ever, no longer attracts as many stars as it used to. It still brings in the rich people in droves and definitely some stars . I saw Samuel L. Jackson there a few days ago, and we had a nice visit, and right before that, I saw and had a splendid talk with Warren Beatty in an elevator, in which we agreed that Splendor in the Grass was a super movie. But Morton's is not the star galaxy it once was, though it probably will be again.

Beyond that, a bigger change has happened. I no longer think Hollywood stars are terribly important. They are uniformly pleasant, friendly people, and they treat me better than I deserve to be treated. But a man or woman who makes a huge wage for memorizing lines and reciting them in front of a camera is no longer my idea of a shining star we should all look up to.

How can a man or woman who makes an eight-figure wage and lives in insane luxury really be a star in today's world, if by a "star" we mean someone bright and powerful and attractive as a role model? Real stars are not riding around in the backs of limousines or in Porsches or getting trained in yoga or Pilates and eating only raw fruit while they have Vietnamese girls do their nails.

They can be interesting, nice people, but they are not heroes to me any longer. A real star is the soldier of the 4th Infantry Division who poked his head into a hole on a farm near Tikrit, Iraq . He could have been met by a bomb or a hail of AK-47 bullets. Instead, he faced an abject Saddam Hussein and the gratitude of all of the decent people of the world.

A real star is the U.S. soldier who was sent to disarm a bomb next to a road north of Baghdad. He approached it, and the bomb went off and killed him.

A real star, the kind who haunts my memory night and day, is the U.S. soldier in Baghdad who saw a little girl playing with a piece of unexploded ordnance on a street near where he was guarding a station. He pushed her aside and threw himself on it just as it exploded. He left a family desolate in California and a little girl alive in Baghdad.

The stars who deserve media attention are not the ones who have lavish weddings on TV but the ones who patrol the streets of Mosul even after two of their buddies were murdered and their bodies battered and stripped for the sin of trying to protect Iraqis from terrorists.

We put couples with incomes of $100 million a year on the covers of our magazines. The noncoms and officers who barely scrape by on military pay but stand on guard in Afghanistan and Iraq and on ships and in submarines and near the Arctic Circle are anonymous as they live and die.

I am no longer comfortable being a part of the system that has such poor values, and I do not want to perpetuate those values by pretending that who is eating at Morton's is a big subject.

There are plenty of other stars in the American firmament...the policemen and women who go off on patrol in South Central and have no idea if they will return alive; the orderlies and paramedics who bring in people who have been in terrible accidents and prepare them for surgery; the teachers and nurses who throw their whole spirits into caring for autistic children; the kind men and women who work in hospices and in cancer wards.

Think of each and every fireman who was running up the stairs at the World Trade Center as the towers began to collapse. Now you have my idea of a real hero.

I came to realize that life lived to help others is the only one that matters. This is my highest and best use as a human. I can put it another way. Years ago, I realized I could never be as great an actor as Olivier or as good a comic as Steve Martin...or Martin Mull or Fred Willard--or as good an economist as Samuelson or Friedman or as good a writer as Fitzgerald. Or even remotely close to any of them.

But I could be a devoted father to my son, husband to my wife and, above all, a good son to the parents who had done so much for me. This came to be my main task in life. I did it moderately well with my son, pretty well with my wife and well indeed with my parents (with my sister's help). I cared for and paid attention to them in their declining years. I stayed with my father as he got sick, went into extremis and then into a coma and then entered immortality with my sister and me reading him the Psalms.

This was the only point at which my life touched the lives of the soldiers in Iraq or the firefighters in New York. I came to realize that life lived to help others is the only one that matters and that it is my duty, in return for the lavish life God has devolved upon me, to help others He has placed in my path. This is my highest and best use as a human.

Faith is not believing that God can.
It is knowing that God will.
By Ben Stein

War Zone

How did it happen?

Not very many people care to engage in discussions about spiritual warfare. A lot of people associate such talk with cults, fanatics, and, worse: Pentecostals (!) (written in a hushed whisper). In fact, a fair number of those same people think Pentecostals are cultish.

Another good number of people think Frank Peretti’s novels This Present Darkness and Piercing the Darkness were fair imaginings of the evil side of the spiritual realm and left it at that. Others felt the stories were probably a pretty good depiction of how it really is, much like Randy Alcorn’s interpretations of heaven in his Deadline, Dominion, and Deception trilogy.

Regardless of your denomination and inclinations, the spiritual realm contains both angels and demons. Jesus told us that the evil one’s intensive desire is to rob, kill, and destroy those of us created by a loving Father. Jesus identified our enemy as the “father of lies”, Satan, the accuser of the brethren, and the “author of confusion”. No conscious human being who has been engaged in this life can honestly say he’s never been confused or lied to in some capacity. We’re lied to every day on the news or in the newspapers or in the advertisements of products, and those lies can create confusion at some level.

So is this talk leading to the humorously suggested, “The devil made me do it.”? No. But it could be said, “The devil tempted me to do it.” Think of what you consider has been your greatest failing. Did it happen in an instant, or did it begin gradually with you mulling it over in your mind, then rejecting it, then having it reappear again with even more enticing propositions. How many times did you reject it before you gave in to it? Or is it ongoing? Or was it done as a snap decision the first time it was dangled in front of you? Don’t pretend you don’t know what I’m talking about. We are sinners. We are tempted daily to do the right thing or the wrong thing in the simplest arenas or in the most complex situations, often confusing, and even involving lies.

Deception is a major tool of our enemy. Think about it. If we think or believe something is harmless to us, if it’s attractive in any way, we’re in. So many things immediately become that infamous piece of fruit after we’ve indulged ourselves. Then we wonder how we could’ve been so stupid, so foolish, so blankety-blank inept as a Christian to become involved in such a mess.

Well, it’s not hard to understand if you’re of the notion that spiritual warfare is optional in the Christian walk. Picture Jesus in his encounters in the gospels with people possessed by demons. Addressing spirits. Taking authority over them. Instructing his disciples about what they’d be doing when He was no longer directly with them. Follow those same disciples into Acts, the coming of the Holy Spirit to reside in believers for this current dispensation, their battles with the enemy, and on throughout the Word, giving instruction about the oppression and attempted overwhelming of believers by the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenlies. Remember those scriptures? Throughout the New Testament? They’re there. And not for random attention. They’re part and parcel of the continuing battle for our souls here on earth. It’s not a “sweet dream”, “everything’s good” heyday we have here. It’s a war. For us. For the lost. Against a foe so evil we cannot imagine him.

Fear, lies, deception, sexual lust . . . just a few of the more prominent temptations in our world today. If you have no idea how to battle them beyond self-help manuals which require your “will power” to overcome, chances are you will be bound by any one of them or perhaps all of them. Why did we get “authority” in the Name of Jesus? Why would we need it? The world doesn’t consciously recognize it, but, oh, do those demons ever recognize it. They shiver and shudder at a believer who knows and uses the power behind that Name.

I would simply suggest to you if you are suffering from the onslaught of any repeated temptations and/or succumbing to them, put on the armor, use the Name above all names, know your place of authority given to you by the shed Blood of Jesus Christ, and war against the enemy of your soul. He’s not backing down, so you better not either. You have the power. Use it.

If you choose to ignore or neglect this area of your walk with Christ, you open yourself up to major deception, and eventually . . . all hell breaks loose.

Take it from one who knows.

Father, you have given us all the tools, equipped us for battle, and given us “how to” instructions. Let us not neglect this portion of the gospel of provision for our lives on planet earth. Mighty warrior, let us be clothed in you and go forward against the gates of hell in the Name of Jesus, Amen.

ACFW "Winners" and Also Rans . . .

Out of 32 fiction books listed as winners, I have read 4 of them. Four of them. If you read my post “Overkill”, you’ve got a sense of how many novels I’m reading on a fairly regular basis. Since that particular post, I have hunkered down and got busy with writing my eighth novel. So I’m only reading one non-fiction book at the moment for my contribution to a blog tour in the middle of October. When I read “appropriately” for me, the novels inspire me to work on my own.

But . . . four out of 32 novels on this winner’s list at the big fiction-only conference, heralded by all “professional” Christian novelists because it addresses only fiction, seems rather odd to me. Now, granted, I don’t do historicals, fantasy, sci-fi (with the exception of Austin Boyd’s trilogy), novellas, or lits. I do read suspense, mystery, thrillers, adventure, and the like. And I do read some romance, but in light of the categories of these awards, I guess that’s blended into “Women’s Fiction”, whatever that is. Why then isn’t there a category for “Men’s Fiction”, huh? C’mon. Fairness and political correctness being what it is and all. Besides, I think most of what I read would fall into that category.

So, I’m a writer. If you think I’m a lousy one, you’re entitled to your opinion. Nevertheless, lousy or not, I have managed to write (aka “finish”) seven novels. Occasionally I even write a thoughtful blog post. Not sure if this is one of them, but, hey, it intrigues me that most of what I’ve read and liked or admired over the last couple of years in the CBA haven’t managed to secure an award. Nominations, and second or third place finishes but not “wins” that I know of. While a few of the novels I’ve read and liked less for varying reasons—some of which have actually been the writing skills—have garnered awards. Weird. No wonder I don’t fit in.

Subjective business for sure.

So, writers, let this be a lesson to you. Yes. A lesson. Who knows or cares what appeals to you as a reader and writer? Maybe you’ve read all the books on the awards list and agree 100% with the selections of winners. Am I odd to stand amazed that as much as I read in a year—exclusively in the CBA, mind you—that few of those novels even appear? And then to find that some of the novels in my personal evaluation were of a slightly lesser quality/caliber than others that I’ve read are the ones placing in the contest awards? Huh.

The real lesson is it doesn’t really matter. Congratulations to all those who placed and won. They’ve worked hard and were recognized for it. Good job. This business is based on subjectivity from start to finish, and not one of us can swear one book is better than another if we loved it and someone else hated it. Such is the life of writing. Those who are “successful” must answer to God just like I have to do. We all are here to serve our Lord. To whom much is given, much will be required. We would all do well to carve that into our psyches, not to mention imprint it on our hearts. God will do what He intends to do, and we need to follow Him and be glad to be involved however He determines.

Father, thank you for each one who is following you in their pursuit of writing, who is not afraid to proclaim Jesus is Lord, and who work so hard to make their literature matter in the Kingdom. Thank you for allowing me the privilege of touching those lives that I get to reach. It’s all about you, Jesus. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

Abbrev.

The new dramas are up and running on television. Maybe you're of the noble sort who proclaims how useless and banal owning and watching a television is. Good for you. I couldn't disagree more. While a large percentage of television programming is wasted, it is a magnificent medium. It is too bad it couldn't be used more wisely.

So far, so good, as far as my favorites are concerned. One of my favorites from last year picked right up where it left off with snappy, sharp dialogue and sophisticated actors. If you don't know which show I'm talking about, it doesn't matter. I'm not going to argue the benefits or lack thereof regarding TV. I can tell you this much about my viewing: Sit-coms are out. Vulgarity, homosexuality, and disgusting references don't float my boat.

Good drama inspires me to write well. I love watching it on the big screen and the small screen. We don't often get to view it in its highest form, but when it's good, it's a pleasure to watch.

Isn't it often the same with reading books? The ones which inspire us might be few and far between, but we keep reading to see if we can find them. And then we keep writing to see if we can write one.

Lord, I just want to be faithful to you in writing. I want to write what you give me. I want to serve and bless you with my efforts. Help me daily, Jesus. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

In this present reality . . .

We are tested to believe this life isn’t all there is. We know we know Jesus Christ. Our salvation is real. We know we have changed. We remember the transformation whether spectacular, emotional, or a matter of fact experience, we became different when we invited Jesus to take over our lives.

We look at the life and formations around us. If we live in the country or if we live in the city or if we live in the mountains or near the ocean, we see the magnificence of creation. Sensibility demands that primal ooze and chaos cannot possibly be responsible for the supreme intricacies of life on planet earth.

In this present reality we tend to focus on the job, marriage, children, school, and the Lord, hopefully not in that order. We are so earth-based that heaven and the spiritual realm as both our eventual destination and the source of our greatest frustrations and triumphs respectively escape our critical attention.

In this present reality we are naïve enough to think we have major control over our lives. We tend to forget that our days are numbered, and most of us don’t know how many of them we have. The purposes and plans for our lives are not guaranteed to take place over the course of, say, 80 years, and then a disease-free slipping away in our sleep.

Sometimes we think raising our kids, getting them off to school, is the most pressing matter, but we forget that if we neglect or delay their spiritual education, their shots at being equipped to handle the ever-increasing evil in this world will handicap them to the point of missing the necessity of using the power of Jesus Christ to overcome that evil in spiritual battles.

As writers, we work and labor over words and stories with hopes of being published. For whom? For what reason? To glorify the Lord? To deliver the novels the Lord wants us to write? In this present reality what is our true and real motivation to write?

The ultimate reality is that this is a temporary place. The objective while we’re here is to intimately know God through His Son Jesus Christ and then to do what we are told to do by His Holy Spirit. Obedience is the sole and soul objective for our lives: to complete the plans and purposes created for us before we were gleams in our earthly father’s eyes. That obedience inevitably involves sharing Jesus with the lost.

The reality of the spiritual realm is eternal and has been around a lot longer than existence as we know it. The beings that occupy that space are supernatural, smarter, wilier, and not easily impressed with our earthly realities. Most of the time we forget they’re there at all. The evil ones harass us constantly, and we can’t figure out why things can be so difficult. The ministering ones assigned by the Father do more to help us than we realize.

In light of the bigger reality we would be wise to focus the majority of our attention on the things of heaven and the spiritual realm, making sure we are using the power and authority we’ve been entrusted with to walk along that narrow and often difficult road. Salvation is not about just meeting Jesus. It’s about a total surrender to him, a death in the family: ours. We die, He lives in us. The more unwilling we are to die, the more this present reality grows and the spiritual reality fades.

In this present reality we have aging, sorrow, trauma and tragedy, shame, tears, suffering and death. No, not always. Sometimes in this present reality we have great joy, laughter, treasured moments, meaningful projects, some successes of varying kinds. But even those are a result of heavenly extended grace, mercy, and blessing.

In other words this present reality is like a partial shadow of the real thing, a short excursion designed for opportunity. The real reality is the one that intersects with this one and offers a glimpse of eternity both holy and evil.

And in light of that reality the importance of so much of what we do shrinks in comparison.

Father, while I live this day that you’ve given me, help me to be focused on what’s important and valuable to you in the true reality. Lead me in your ways, Lord Jesus, and direct my path, Holy Spirit. As always I’m desperate for you, in the Name of Jesus, Amen.

Sunday's Offerings

I always thank my God as I remember you in my prayers, because I hear about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints. I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ. Your love has given me great joy and encouragement, because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the saints.

Philemon 4-7 (NIV)

Questions or Questioning?

God has built us from the beginning. Each individual has innate talents and gifts, emotions, personalities, inclinations, purpose. Those who’ve entered life with pain and handicap are not spared these characteristics. As humans, we cannot see all the implications of life. We are often defined by our finite-ness, God Himself declaring His ways are higher than ours. We often do not think like Him, and most certainly much of the time we do not act like Him. In fact, it is impossible to “act” even reasonably close to how He would prefer us to conduct ourselves without His Holy Spirit residing in us. And we all know that cannot happen without our accepting His provided sacrifice in His Son Jesus Christ.

Some of us are not terribly “smart”, others of us are of average intelligence, and still others are intellectuals, often driven to play mind games with a multitude of subjects. Questions are a part of learning, necessary to gain information, disseminate falsehoods, and establish truth.

“Questioning”, however, can be an exercise in brain games. The “what ifs” take liberties with possibilities incurred only by the imagination and based on nothing more than idle thoughts.

It is a fact that a Christian must walk by faith and not by sight (2Cor. 5:7). Once we gain the truth of Jesus Christ, we more or less yield our human reasoning for reformation to be transformed to heavenly thinking. It’s a process that requires us to get outside ourselves and trust the One we haven’t seen to lead us in a way we’ve never known—a way that goes against our sinful grain which strives to resurrect itself at every possible opportunity.

Faith is what it is. We’re not good at it. We’re demanding in all our ways, requiring “proof” of things we can’t even begin to understand. God expects our curiosity, our questions, knowing how much we lack in spiritual knowledge and how encumbered our minds are with the battles of sin. He has given His account of our beginning and our “end”, the choices we are required to make in our allegiance, and He even speaks into our lives when we converse with Him in prayer.

No man can “prove” how we began, the size of the universe, find the cures or reasons for certain diseases, or even how the brain works. Some profess that we have warmed the planet with our emissions to the point of bringing on catastrophic consequences, yet from day to day those same “scientists” cannot correctly predict the weather in any given place all the time. We are arrogant, selfish, self-righteous, and foolish in our natural selves.

Questions are inevitable. God expects them. He even welcomes them when they come from a pure heart desiring to know Him more or better. But the “questioning” that comes from a faithless desire to “prove” Him wrong is impossible to please the One who gave His only Son to save us wicked people, regenerating us into a new creation doing away with the old. The “questioning” that arises from a desire to justify the lusts of the flesh, to rationalize sinful desires, or to make excuses for lazy or evil behavior and demean the instructions of His Word will only demonstrate the influence of deception being waged by the enemy of our souls to steal our devotion from our Savior.

Make sure you ask the right questions and make sure they’re even worth asking.

Father, you are generous with your love, your grace, your mercy. You are open to any honest inquiries, providing answers in sometimes spectacular ways, sometimes in the most mundane ways, and often with unexpected methods. You’ve “made foolish the wisdom of the world”, you’ve said you will “destroy the wisdom of the wise, the intelligence of the intelligent” you will frustrate. You are the source of all goodness and pure wisdom. I am in awe of you, Lord. Please, Lord, let me not ever think of myself more highly than I ought, for I know next to nothing about anything. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

Thursday Thoughts . . .

Today is my husband’s birthday. I love him. So much.

He’s a passionate man who grew up a lot different from me—more family dysfunction, divorce, step-dad, half brother and sister, just shy of poverty at times, not a good role model for a father. He was wild and crazy at a very young age.

And, like me, he didn’t find Jesus until he was 30 years old, approximately two years after I did which was right after we got married.

On Monday we will have been married for 29 years. I won’t tell you it seems like just yesterday because it doesn’t. We are so much better now.

Some people survived the “drugs, sex, rock ‘n’ roll” generation, moving into adulthood without sampling the various addictions the 60s and early 70s offered. I know my personal moral collapse came late after I allowed the lyrics of that phenomenal feast of music to seduce me into believing what I thought to be wrong would be alright.

It wasn’t. And I paid for it. In so many ways.

We survived the destructive ways we embraced because our Lord rescued us at just the right time—when we could finally see through the “purple haze” (sorry, couldn’t resist that) and differentiate between good and evil. Thank you, Jesus.

Only Jesus can redeem. No program, no personal therapy, no hypnotherapy, no nothing can undo the damage of sin. Only Jesus.

As much as my husband and I love each other—and we’re certainly better at it now than in our younger years—we wouldn’t be celebrating his birthday or a 29th anniversary together without God’s intervention in our lives. I can guarantee that. Too many ways to give up and allow the trials of living 24/7 with another human being to give in to selfish ways and me-centered demands. The philosophy of this world is killer to love and marriage. And it’s also killer to the meaning of making love, settling upon the lesser one-sided, me-focused, temporary satisfaction of lust.

Just my thoughts and reflections as I anticipate his smile when he receives the new Seahawks hat and long-sleeve Seahawks T to go under his Matt Hasselbeck jersey.

Father, thank you for my man to whom I am devoted. You have allowed us to learn to love your way, the best way, and we’re still working on it—but at least we’re getting better at it. You have been gracious and patient with us, and we are grateful for your perseverance. We weren’t good students in the beginning. And we’re not that astute even now, but we know you love us and we can count on you when we don’t mean to but can’t help but fail each other. We love you, Lord, and because your love is in us, we love each other deeply. Make us better yet together in serving you. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

Pressing In and Pressing On . . .

The books, the blogs, the authors, the marketing, book-signings, contests, reviews (professional and amateur), sales, bestseller lists, the speaking engagements, conferences, teaching classes, appointments, editors, agents, publicists, ad infinitum.

Such is the world of the published author, a writer. Since we address writing from a Christian standpoint, here we are again. Observing the swirling composite of an industry making strides in a secular-dominated profession . . . Making a mark. Competing for a share of the profits. Offering an alternative to the accepted norm of graphic sexual content, hardcore profanity, and detailed expressions of violence or drug usage mixed in with often entertaining storytelling, ribald humor, and taut suspense thrillers—some of it written by modern day masters of the craft but others of it written by average hacks who somehow appealed to an editor’s banal instincts and succeeded in attracting their market share.

In a previous post I revealed why I have chosen to read Christian novels exclusively. Skimmed down, it’s because of two things: I cannot get through an entire novel where the challenges of life, no matter how serious or simple, never give cause to consider God, and secondly, no matter how intriguing the characters or the story, without the Lord I fail to see value or any form of “wholeness”. I see emptiness and no validity. But that is me.

However, in the world of Christian publishing I have also observed this pressure to “perform”, to push oneself out there to be noticed and to declare oneself a force to be reckoned with. To shove one’s value into the faceless masses via whatever marketing techniques and tools one can find or employ to insure that people notice who we are and what we write—with the underlying premise that if we don’t, our sales will be low and slow, and our publishers will say, “So long.”

I’m not accusing any one publisher or editor or marketing team or individual of being ruthless in the pursuit of success in this business. There is my first *disclaimer* for this post. So what is my point? (You’ve probably asked this question a number of times on my blog.) My point is I see a lot of pushing, be it from the publishing end to get out there and market that book, and, as a result, from the author’s end to make the readers see what a gem of a novel they could purchase—if they just would. In other words, take heed of the hype and get to your nearest bookstore, online purchasing option, or wherever you can get the darn thing! Because my good friend, the author So-and-So, has written this fabulous book, and you absolutely need to read it right after you read mine.

If you want to read the reverse of this, read the heartfelt praise for Mary DeMuth’s novel Watching the Tree Limbs by Camy Tang over on “RelevantBlog”.

I’m not blaming authors for promoting their fellow friends/authors. I’ve promoted some of my favorite authors here, published and unpublished. Writers should celebrate each other’s creations. Rejoice with each other. Truly, it’s a wonderful thing to have a book produced.

But I just sometimes sense the pressing in toward Jesus is an afterthought in the process. Again *not by everyone*. If each one of us in this business, both on the fringe such as myself and others technically “unpublished”, pressed in for the direction Jesus has for us, how great might the interest be? How many new opportunities would result from our devotion to seeking first the kingdom of God? Then the pressing on toward the direction God has for us as individuals couldn’t help but be more fulfilling, could it?

I hear the “pressure” in blog excerpts, contributions, and posts of writers pushing to create an interest in their material. Knowing full well that not everyone who stops by is their preferred audience. And let’s face it, people, there are few authors who can write a novel with universal appeal. Those are rare books.

There is a vast market for Christian novels and not only for Christians. God will certainly draw those readers with open hearts to specific books written by His people to shed light on His available mercy and grace. We can’t control that no matter how sterling our marketing skills are.

Isn’t the best solution for selling books pressing in toward Jesus Christ and then pressing on with what God has for us to do?

Father, it’s mind boggling to consider all the ways, ideas, and means to market books. I am no good at it when it comes to my own. They’re your books, Lord. Written for you and inspired by you. I have to trust you to do with them what you will, to prod me when there is something you want me to do, and to direct the books into those lives you’ve designed to receive them. Thank you for the stories, Lord, and thank you for what you have done and will do with them. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

The Brooding Artist (Writer)

It’s easy to understand how the creative man or woman without the friendship and salvation of Jesus Christ could be intrinsically “brooding”. Let’s stick with writing fiction in this artistic assessment.

Fiction has its basic concept in honesty. Make-believe created to illustrate some real part of life. It doesn’t matter if fantasy, humor, or even science fiction is used as the vehicle, the story will still tell something about life—even if it’s only about the imagination of the author. The odds are it will give the reader more than a glimpse of the writer’s imagination. Most likely the story will also give the reader a viewpoint of life in general, a tone indicative of awe, cynicism, hope, or hopelessness. Most writers are mere reflections of their invisible outlooks on life as they perceive it, no matter if it’s set upon a world named “Juwelia” or a tiny town in eastern Washington. Versatile authors create a milieu of characters, diverse and real as the man next door or as fantastical and believable as a Narnia conception.

So with that in mind, someone who is totally reliant upon his wits and creativity, believing his inspiration and talent source come from a place inside his brain or from an outer source such as his communion with nature, the planets, or another human being, it is reasonable to picture this person as “brooding”. When all you have in this life is yourself to count on for all of your physical, emotional, and spiritual supplements, well . . . that’s enough to bring on depression, cynicism, and a certain level of joylessness.

Think about it. Left to his own thoughts, the deep examinations of a man without hope, perhaps assuming “this” is it—all there is on planet earth—eventually those thoughts will gravitate to, “What’s the use?” All the manmade “perfection” in the world—money, success, the fulfillment of physical desires and demands—will not ultimately satisfy the craving underwritten in the human psyche.

The entertaining storytelling of Hemingway, the poignant examination of human need and the failure to meet it in the stories of F. Scott Fitzgerald . . . what became of these men?

Without Jesus, there is only hopelessness.

That is why I regret to see any Christian, not to mention Christian writers, in what I refer to as “the dead zone”. This is the place where hope has become fleeting, prayers have become silenced, and the skin feels like a hardened shell from which the eyes are gazing out from a distance. I once wrote a poem about this place and titled it “Implosion”, picturing myself as a building set for destruction which folds inward upon itself because of the placement of an expert’s explosive charges. Collapsing upon itself.

While the dead zone is not a place I would wish on anyone, there is value in having been there and survived it. It reminds us that the enemy of our souls is clever, vicious, and deceptive, luring us into the captivity of desolation with a few well-placed lies and circumstances which we might or might not be responsible for. And as we slide into this bleak location, our Lord and Savior stands by with us, never leaving our sides, allowing the journey to prove His faithfulness, while we tend to think He is revolted by our decision making, our conduct, our faithlessness at having arrived in this God-forsaken residence.

A few well-placed explosives by the expert enemy, and we are ready to fold. We have become “brooding”, hopeless, faithless, and miserable. We fail to notice our blessings. We write of our defeats and portray the lives of ourselves and others as lacking every good quality worth emulating in life, sarcastic in tone, cynical in assessments, miserable in basic conversation. What’s worse is we have come to believe this is life, this is the “real” viewpoint, the way it is, baby. And in some perverted way we puff ourselves up with a frustrated pride telling ourselves that we’re the only ones who “get it”.

Gone are the truths we’ve known in the Word. Secretly, we deny them. If God is good, then how come . . .? We shudder as we mimic the cry of the world without Jesus. We have become a model for the marginal Christian, and our attitudes and lifestyles expose our nihilism. Our hidden thoughts begin to find fault with our loved ones, thinking they should be able to provide us with more “happiness” somehow.

And if we keep writing through this malaise, no one can tell the difference between a secular author and ourselves because the brooding authenticity is evident and pronounced. And in the bigger sense of what the writing has to offer, and by that I mean its lasting value, it is worthless.

If you’ve slipped so far away from the love of Jesus Christ that you cannot recognize your malady, you are in the dead zone. There is only one way out of there, and that is through the One who waits patiently for you to regain your authority in Him in order to remind the murderer that he has no power over you. When the desire returns to address the truth of your ways, to analyze the insidious lies you’ve allowed to seep into your worldview, to confront the enemy of your soul and remind him of his eternity as opposed to the redeemed position you can retain in Christ, you will pass through this valley of death and emerge battered and bruised from the ordeal but better for it just the same.

Your theology may allow you to believe that you can remain in this place of defeat and continue to meander through being morose, but you must consider this before you settle into it indefinitely. Christ declared his revulsion toward “lukewarm” in His people. He provided the redemption, the tools for survival, the never ending love, the closeness, counsel, and comfort of the indwelling Holy Spirit, and He will gladly go with us into the valley of death, but His ultimate goal is to present us as unblemished by our trials and testings, fully repentant for our periods of faithlessness and hopelessness. He is able to rescue us from the enemy of our souls, but we must not allow ourselves to wallow in the mire of the dead zone without accepting His relief. He is the Hero of our stories, the Rescuer, the Savior on the White Horse.

And for that very reason, we should not be "a brooding artist" if we call ourselves Christians.

Lord God, your Word tells us our hope is in you, our very life is in you. Even in the terrors of real suffering, you do not exit and abandon us. Feeling alone and truly being alone are not the same. If we choose to believe you are who you say you are, then we can survive the trials of the dead zone. Help me to totally rely upon you for all provision and victory in this life for as long as I have it here on earth. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

A little late for the "3:10 to Yuma" . . .

I haven’t been a lover of Westerns since I was a young girl falling in love with Johnny Crawford in “The Rifleman” series. C’mon, smile. A lot of little girls loved “cowboys”. Still do, I suspect.

You put Russell Crowe on a black horse and make him a ruthless charmer who ain’t “all bad”, and you’ve got one heck of a western, let me tell you. I must say that Christian Bale as Daniel went toe-to-toe with “the Crowe” in his role as a downtrodden amputee trying to save his land from a cunning debtor.

Although hardcore killing and cruel violence is brutally evident throughout the film, if you want to extract some kind of morality from the experience, you could say that both the cowardly and the cruel got their due.

The bad guys were “animals” to quote the biggest and baddest Ben Wade (Crowe). He had to be in order to lead them, he assured the 14 year old son of Bale’s character who insisted he wasn’t all bad.

This was excellent casting. Russell Crowe is a phenomenal actor who fits this rogue character to a tee, and the heartache mixed with determination in Christian Bale’s understated performance was often painful to watch as he took a journey with a killer to regain his shattered manhood. Gretchen Mol as Bale’s wife couldn’t disguise her distance from her husband or the inevitable fleeting attraction to the alluring bad guy. The kid who played Bale’s oldest son likewise was intrigued by the evil Ben Wade and couldn’t hide his blatant admiration for the speed of his shooting abilities. His disrespect for his father and the rebellion which leads him to become a man and see his father in a truer light is both frightening and heartbreaking.

Oddly enough but interesting in its application, scripture is quoted from the unlikeliest sources and serves as a reminder that it still wields power, able to impact people in unexpected ways.

The ending was perfect—especially the last of the last scene. You’ll see what I mean if you remember this opinion is coming from a horse lover.

The only flaw worth mentioning is something no one but a horse lover would notice. After whining about how the miles they had to cover to rescue their leader in time to keep him off that "3:10 to Yuma" would likely kill their horses, the outlaws showed up on those same horses apparently none the worse for wear.

If you can get through the violence to arrive at the mercy, I highly recommend this film. Four of four stars. (A caution for some bad language that seems like it could easily have been avoided.)

Father, it’s amazing where your Word shows up. I continue to pray that film will be used to demonstrate your perfection, mercy, and sacrifice. May your everlasting love reach out to soften even the hardest hearts and breathe life and eternity into lost souls in the industry of entertainment and film making. Thank you, Jesus, that you died for us all. Use me, somehow, Lord. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

Sunday's Offerings

Then they asked him, "What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?"
He answered, "I have told you already and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples, too?"
Then they hurled insults at him and said," You are this fellow's disciple! We are disciples of Moses! We know that God spoke to Moses, but as for this fellow, we don't even know where he comes from."
The man answered, "Now that is remarkable! You don't know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly man who does His will. Nobody has ever heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing."
To this they replied, "You were steeped in sin at birth; how dare you lecture us!" And they threw him out.

. . .

Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and when He found him, He said, "Do you believe in the Son of Man?"
"Who is He, sir?" the man asked. "Tell me so that I may believe in Him."
Jesus said, "You have now seen Him; in fact, He is the one speaking with you."
Then the man said, "Lord, I believe," and he worshiped Him.
Jesus said, "For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind."
Some Pharisees who were with Him heard Him say this and asked, "What? Are we blind, too?"
Jesus said, "If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains."

John 9:26-41 (NIV)

Overkill.

I’ve been reading too much lately. Motoring through books. There were two I had to read because of particular authors having a fairly high place on my favorites list. But these latest books were not my favorites of theirs. Surprisingly, both authors chose to use somewhat annoying characters for their primary focus. While I don’t mind characters having annoying traits to flesh them out, there are certain personalities and viewpoints I find so unlikable that they tend to detract from the redemptive power of the story.

But then I never do anything halfway. Yes, that can be a good thing, but with me it can just as easily be a bad thing. Writing for this blog has served its purpose for personal therapy and instead has become an excuse to neglect my barely begun novel which continues to swirl around in my thoughts, silently urging me to get them down before they disappear and with them go any hopes of completion of a work I’m looking forward to writing. How is that? If I’m looking forward to it, why not just do it? Get it underway and quit messing around.

Although I’ve been conscious of the swift passage of time for a lot of years now—like a jet streaking toward the sound barrier—I was reminded again today of it being September ’07. I haven’t written one book this year. I’ve written the equivalent of two no doubt on this silly blog, but then maybe I needed a break. Maybe I had to work out the process of realizing how I write, what I write, and what that means in terms of being published or not. And work it all out, I did.

I don’t fit the current publishing trends, demands. I write sagas. I break the rules for getting published. Start slow, build. Use more adverbs. Tell and show—but probably tell more than preferred at certain points. There’s a lot of life goin’ on in the pages of my stories, but it isn’t breakneck action, high drama, or stunning heroic overthetop kind of life.

It took some time to figure it all out, and I’m convinced writing down the frustrations and challenges helped me see it differently. Helped me see who I am as a writer—like it or not. It’s been good for me.

But now I need to get to that novel. I think the changing of the season as fall sneaks up on me a little early this year is a good reminder to hunker down, get ready for the new season of television drama, football, and late night dates in the dark with words. Sounds cool. I’m ready.

Father, take me to the place of your inspiration and bless me with the story you want me to tell. Give me the words as I’m reminded of your words to me: “If you pick up the pen, I’ll give you the words.” Thank you, precious Lord. I need you and am desperate for you. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

Intros, Preludes, Prologues, Epilogues, Afterwords, Conclusions, Etcetera . . .

I have to admit that this post is a reaction to, or inspired by, one of Dayle James Arceneaux’s posts over at his blog “Reflections”. He doesn’t happen to like “Prologues”, considering them a delay to or detour from the real story. Harvest House editor Nick Harrison doesn’t much care for them either.

For me, it depends on the particular prologue. Out of my seven novels, I used a prologue and an epilogue in my second novel. In my seventh novel I used a short prelude.

Much like in any event, backstory is captured in various ways. Sometimes a prologue indicates a past event which is responsible for, or affects, a present event you as a reader are about to be told. Other times the prologue gives you a present event and then takes you back to the past to embark upon the journey to get to the present. A prelude can be any number of things—a past or present reflection made by a main character, or even a peripheral but significant character whose insight has some bearing on the story to follow. I’m sure there are some writing rules concerning these particular facets of the craft, but, really, who cares? It’s up to the author’s discretion how he chooses to use these interesting techniques in telling a story.

I do think if there is a prologue, there definitely needs to be an epilogue. Just my opinion but I think if these particular choices are used in a story, the book should be a stand alone novel.

I like variety in style, so I have no qualms about these assorted tools of the trade. I will say they need to be effective, thoughtful, and either frame or bookend a story. If they don’t somehow contribute to the enhancement of the tale, then perhaps they are unnecessary. And by enhancement, I mean add to the drama or contribute to character amplification. In other words they need to matter.

As I always do, I will concede to subjectivity. With or without these prefaces and ending notes, a story is what it is. If any of the information offered in these stylistic choices is inconsequential, then chances are they will appear to be mere gimmicks.

Got any preferences or thoughts on all these possibilities?

Father, you above all know and create variety. Thank you for the beauty in all that you’ve created, for the vastness of your imagination. Help me as a writer to employ your techniques in my writing that it may bless you first and then others who might read the stories you’ve given me to write. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

The Lost and Famous . . .

I could list a hundred names of top celebrities—actors, singers, athletes, even Christians. The average American would recognize the names. Some of them couldn’t identify the person behind the name, but they would have heard the name.

Some of those people behind the well known names have “earned” their fame because of exhibited talent in a given arena. Others with famous names have become notorious or infamous because of how they behave in public. Money is their vehicle to make sure their names become household words.

A few of those individuals have yet to learn that their fame has become entwined in their shame. But because their addiction to “fame” has become toxic to them, they fail to notice that they are clothed in infamy.

It is painful and embarrassing to watch the demise of a human being who has coveted and secured a measure of fame but squanders it on self-indulgence and alienates all those who once clamored after him or her. Forced to view at least a portion of their failures by an unrelenting media rabid for scandal, humiliation, lies, and exploitation, we see the images of real people in full blown degradation, as if they’ve been hurled off a cliff and are in freefall, flailing and contorted as they crash to a death that seems to take far too long when they hit and bounce at the base of the precipice.

It’s no wonder we are so sharply reprimanded in the Word of God to humble ourselves. Recognition for our deeds, our writings—heck, even our own “humility”—lingers in our thoughts, enticing us, whispering to us of how much we “deserve” praise or acclaim for our diligence, perseverance, “spirituality”. No?

It’s hard for us to remember sometimes that ANYthing we do well is because it has been given to us to do by our Lord, by the Creator of all things. In the midst of success we tend to want to point to ourselves—proud of our accomplishments and eager to be noticed for them. Secretly wishing more people knew about them.

Nothing wrong with wanting, needing, desiring affirmation. Who doesn’t? But that affirmation need not always come from other people and is of the greatest value when it comes directly from our Lord. Because many times no one else will notice. God will never fail to notice.

Being famous is a challenge for Christians. The powerful perfume of being celebrated can be intoxicating and produce its own brand of drunkenness, downing the cocktails of praise and adoration while forgetting to refuse that one more drink from the poisoned well of self-made celebrity.

Being lost and famous is tragic enough, but choosing to get lost in fame by abandoning humility for the bright lights of pride and self-recognition is every bit as devastating.

Father, forgive me for any cravings of fame and recognition. Apart from you I can do nothing. Let me give all praise to you where it belongs. Thank you for all that you do. Help me to hear your voice clearly and to obey instantly. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

09/11/07

And so it has rolled around again, the painful anniversary of the death of American victims on our country’s soil by Islamic terrorists. Let’s face it: well planned and efficiently executed, and if not for the heroism of a few at the time unknown Americans, far, far more destructive to our country.

There was a brief unity, a quick fear-based turn to our Creator, a short-lived political working together . . . before the very same kind of hatred evidenced by those terrorists asserted itself in political strife. And it has gained enough rhetoric and volume today to equal the hysterical fanaticism of religious persecution demonstrated by Muslim extremists.

HATRED comes in all colors, shapes, sizes, and religions. Right now and for the last several years it has been most outspoken and physically demonstrated by the Islamic terrorists carrying out Jihad, spouting their intolerance for “the West”, “the Great Satan”, “the Infidels”. Just in case some of you are late to this hate party, that’s us. Americans. And anyone else who doesn’t sell out their souls to the Muslim “faith”, which also comes in many shapes, sizes, and varieties. Some Muslims insist theirs is a religion of “peace”, and maybe it is for those individuals, but if it is, those who hold to that interpretation aren’t very vocal about it and apparently have no influence over those who disagree.

People who do not acknowledge the innate evil of mankind insist there is always a way to avoid physical fighting. Hmm. Try “reasoning” with hatred. After all these years on earth, mankind is still doing harm to each other. Killing unborn children under the guise of “a woman’s right”; mothers and fathers killing their own children because of post partum blues, traumatic stresses, physical abuses in their own pasts, because they “cried” too much, and any other pathetic excuses rendered to those who’ve discovered the macabre crimes; children killing parents because of abuse or because the children wanted to steal from the parents; wives killing husbands and husbands killing wives; whites killing blacks because of the color of their skins, blacks killing whites because of the color of their skins, browns killing darker browns because of the color of their skins, genocide because of skin, culture, religion, the hell of it.

You don’t reason with hatred. It’s like trying to deal with the devil. It doesn’t work. Hatred justifies and rationalizes its evil and in turn carries out deeds without reason of any kind.

I urge you to read both Mike Duran’s post about Jihad on his blog “Decompose” as well as Jason Joyner’s post on his blog, “Spoiled for the Ordinary”. Thoughtful and insightful approaches from two different angles.

One thing the liberals fail to realize is that evil is here on earth, sharpening its claws to eviscerate mankind, assuring his eternal residence in hell. Christians practicing their faith are the least of their worries although some of them have equated us believers with the likes of Hitler and the Islama-fascists.

The Jihadists are not going to stop their terrorism because the libs want to sit down with them and discuss “peace”. Peace for them means conversion to Islam. It’s not negotiable.

When was the last time a true Bible-believing, faith-practicing Christian demanded anyone accept Christ or die at their hands? In contrast Islamists and communists have demanded that Christians deny Christ as their Lord or suffer the consequences of torturous death.

We know our war is against the strongholds in the heavenly realms, but as we are given our days on this earth, some will endure the attacks of evil and be forced to kill or be killed. This is not a peaceful place in the physical realm. It is the place where Jesus warned about wars and rumors of wars, pestilence, volcanoes, and earthquakes. He said these things would happen, but that those of us secured in Him, the Rock, the Lamb of God, the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End, could have peace: spiritual peace amidst the chaos of earth and its ongoing and increasing turmoil as we wait for His return.

There is always a side to choose, is there not? For Him or against Him. Yes or no. Islam or nothing. Good or evil. Someone always wants to plant himself right in the middle and feign “tolerance”, but it’s just not possible. Decisions are demanded of all of us at some point in time. God requires it. Truth or lies. Heaven or hell.

Many make excuses for evil. Well, if it wasn’t for the corruption of corporate America . . . and so many, many more absurd assertions by Michael Moore and his producers of fictitious docudramas assembled with skilled methods of deception to twist and turn the facts to support an agenda which would ultimately cripple the United States of America. Evil doesn’t have to dress down to be ugly.

People died on September 11th, 2001. Going to work, flying home, on business, on vacation. Husbands, sons, wives, mothers, daughters, brothers. Some families had nothing recovered of their loved ones and wish they had closure to this day, much like family members of POWs. If for no other reason than the acknowledgement and remembrance of the lives of these individuals, take a stand on evil. Admit it exists. Recognize that the Islamic terrorists, who’ve either exposed or brought shame to the Muslim religion, are evil killers and do not operate within the realms of reason.

Can they be saved by the Blood of Jesus? Yes, if they so choose. But not all of them will. And until they do, they have taken a stand, and it is for evil.

Father, you sent your Son into the world to die for ANYONE who would accept His sacrifice for our sins. He was sinless. He was the only One who could ransom us. He is God, a part of you. Holy Spirit, only you are sent to draw us to Jesus for redemption. You are still working toward the Father’s rescue of humankind. You look at the hearts of men and women and call out to them. You don’t see their “religion”, you see their sin. Help them to see your beauty, your glory, your perfection, and desire to belong to you. Help them also to see their own evil and turn to you for forgiveness. Help me, Lord, to bring my sin before you and repent and receive your saving grace. Thank you, Jesus. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

Three novels that thoughtfully incorporate the 9/11 tragedy: One Tuesday Morning, Beyond Tuesday Morning, both by Karen Kingsbury; Dark Fathom by Tom Morrisey

The problem with reading . . .

The problem with reading is . . . when you’re jammin’ through the novels, not meaning to create a blur, paying attention to the story, sometimes the stories run together. You try to be selective, picking a genre of interest, engaging unfamiliar authors as well as your old standbys.

But then you start noticing the “tricks of the trade”. Zoom into the first chapter. Geared to entice. Lots of active verbs. Metaphors which either work or really don’t.

As writers, reading is a tool. Besides being a pleasure, enjoyable, a pastime, or a hobby, for a writer it is a requirement. Some writers, agents, and editors will tell you they not only read novels, they read the “teaching” books—the manuals, if you will, of writing fiction. And each generation seems to produce its own particular version of instructions. Some of those suggested methods overlap, but others are unique to the culture of the era.

It’s difficult when you begin to read with a critical eye or when you’re more aware of the methodology of a book than you are the story. The structure is predictable, and you might not know exactly what to expect from the characters, but you sense when it will happen and have an idea how it will end. And some of that is okay. But some of it isn’t, too. Some of it makes the book forgettable.

Every avid reader has favorite authors, styles, and genres. Some of us read to savor and are able to spend time in a book. Others of us hustle through a story and figuratively record it in our minds. However, after awhile, say four or five novels in a short period of time, if none of them linger, chances are in a month or two we may not even remember the characters’ names or their conflicts. Most of us who read a lot accept that every book does not make an impact—of course we’d like them to, and so would their authors. The real disappointment comes when what we read feels like cookie-cutter stories even though they’re in different genres—subjects, places, and people: all unlike each other. Yet they feel the same somehow.

The problem with reading is that sometimes what we read does not captivate us or remain with us or give us pause to admire the story. Sometimes the problem with reading is that we can’t separate what we’ve come to learn is typical for published novels, and instead of dwelling on the effectiveness of the story, we see the operation of certain applied skills.

. . . and sometimes it kind of ruins the fun of reading.

Father, you have specific places and audiences for our writings. You give the talent and gifts and directions if we’re attentive to your instruction. Let me have ears to hear, and the heart to obey. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.