Faith in Tension – Symbols or Substance
One of the world’s most popular singers and performers, Beyonce took the stage during the Super Bowl with the fire and passion that few artists create. Her show pulled so much electricity, that the circuits in the New Orleans Superdome overheated, and shortly after play resumed lights in half the stadium went dark. As news reporters scrambled to fill the airtime, they discovered that her show also blew the stadium’s electrical service twice during rehearsals. This lady can truly perform.
While the TV broadcasters babbled with half-relevant content, the Twitter universe was also ablaze. During Beyonce’s show, she flashed an odd hand sign. Apparently, when someone holds their hands together into the shape of a triangle, this is a secret symbol of everyone with ties to the Illuminate, or to Satan worshippers themselves. Called by some “The Demon Eye,” and others the “All-Seeing Eye,” Seeing Eye,” the Blogosphere followed the Twitterverse over the next few days and speculated on dark meanings behind her salute.
Transformed or Imposed Upon | of Farms and Factories
At a recent Resurgence R12 Conference, Greg Laurie commented that Christians and church leaders have to be transformed so they can be culturally relevant and authentically connect with the world. Living much of my life in West Michigan, I had to look back at my own journey to faith, and grapple with why his casual transition between point four and five of his notes arrested my attention. Growing up in West Michigan, I have to confess that I grew up feeling religiously imposed upon, not challenged to transform into something or become like Someone.
Josh McDowell says, “Rules without relationship breeds rebellion.” I wish I would have understood what he meant. Without a lot of solid relationship models as a child, it took decades to unravel some of my aversion to relationships, and put into practice McDowell’s advice. Today, I look back at my rebellion against organized religion that God used to lead me to a real relationship with Christ. I have the odd perspective of someone who felt imposed upon, found out that Jesus taught about a promised transformation, and now work to connect the dots.
From David to Tozer, God’s Word is the Foundation
Psalm 119 is the longest chapter in the bible, and every verse extols the power, stability, enduring nature and endless authority of God’s word. God’s word is a lamp, by it we avoid sin, it teaches us wisdom, and sets our feet on a straight path. All of these truths are found in Ps 119. If you haven’t read this song lately, I encourage you to build your faith by reading King David’s trust, reliance and dependence on God’s word.
This weekend, I was reading some words from A.W. Tozer. A preacher in the middle of 20th century America. Tozer’s faith and ministry was founded on the same anchor – God’s Word. In an article on the power and surety of God’s word, Tozer said:
Successful Small Groups – From Concept to Practice
Jesus’ last words gave Christians the Great Commission, a command to build disciples in all nations. Disciple building is a process, not an event, and too often Christ followers focus on events. Preaching is part of the process, as is baptism, church membership and reading the Bible. However, unless these lessons become part of a changed life, the discipling process remains incomplete. Teena’s book lays out steps to start and grow a successful small group ministry, which is often the essential key for changing decision makers and church attenders into disciples. (T. Stewart, 2007, Beacon Hill of Kansas City)
Tim is an experienced small group leader and spiritual mentor. His contributions to Successful Small Groups grow from personal experience, and 20 years of discipling ministry.
She Was Convinced of God’s Hand in Her Life
I met Wanda Maxey three years ago in a small writing group. Timid and quiet, Wanda wanted to tell her private story to the world. She believed that God had taught her about his beautiful love and grace, even though her personal history was filled potholes of alcoholism and abuse. Wanda’s story includes an alcoholic father, and a similar man that she settled for when she got married. Zig Ziglar once said that people often prefer a known hell to an unknown heaven, and his wisdom is woven around the reasons Wanda chose her partner.
Wanda was married to a man like her abusive, alcoholic father for thirty-two years. It took a violent confrontation one night at the point of a gun to bring her to her senses. Her story, in the book Love and Abuse on 40 Acres, tells how she justified the emotional twists and turns until she finally found the courage and freedom in Christ to surrender to him and stand up for herself. Her book is available on Amazon in a print edition, or on Kindle.
I am blessed to see how Wanda has grown personally as the result of taking the risk to tell her story. She is genuine, transparent and honestly confronts her decisions that shaped her life. Today, Wanda is writing and speaking about her personal journey. You can find out more and contact Wanda via http://wandasmaxey.com/.
God Encounters
Author James Stuart Bell worked with Howard Books to collect stories of God’s real involvement in the lives of his children. The first in a 10 book series, God Encounters tells how a loving God answered desperate prayers and interacted with his people (J. Bell, 2009, Howard Books)
Tim’s contribution to this compilation book tells the story of how God answered a 4 year old prayer to begin reconciling his relationship to his son Josh.
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.
Six Reasons Authors Consider Self-Publishing
This post comes from Christian Literary Agent Rachelle Gardner. It’s the second part of a discussion on publishing, and you can find the other segment here. After a debate on “6 Reasons Authors Still Want Publishers,” here is the other side of the coin. Many writers are still trying to decide which path is right. Or maybe some combination of both approaches might work. So hopefully this post will be helpful.
So here are Rachelle’s six reasons writers consider self publishing:
1. To supplement an established writing career.
It’s a lot of work to be a full-time writer and be able to make a good income. These days many full time writers with traditional publishing contracts are self-publishing both new books and their back list as a way to supplement their income and keep their work out there in front of readers.
2. To revive a lagging traditional-publishing career.
Some writers get the bad news that their publisher doesn’t want to do a new contract with them. But they’re still writers and they already have experience with the whole process. While this situation used to mean a writer was basically finished, nowadays self-publishing opens up new opportunities.
3. They’d like a bigger piece of the pie.
Most self-publishing deals will pay anywhere from 30% to 70% royalties, which is much higher than traditional publishers pay. Many writers prefer to do the marketing and sales work themselves in exchange for a higher royalty.
4. They have the time, skills, and the money to do it well.
Some people have an entrepreneurial spirit and the ability to be a good business person and a great marketer. Not everyone has these skills, but they’re pretty much a necessity for self-publishing. Some people are writing to a niche audience and they have the ability to reach this audience on their own without the help of a publisher.
5. Frustration
Some people can’t get the attention of agents and publishers; or if they are, they’re getting rejections. This is a very frustrating place to be. Many writers get fed up with the “system” and decide to go it alone.
6. Freedom
In self-publishing, you don’t have to listen to anyone’s vision for your book but your own. You get to choose your cover, your title, and everything about your book. You don’t have to wait years to be noticed; you do not have to wait a year or two for your book release after the decision is made to publish it. You set your own pace, answer to yourself, and take responsibility for your own success or failure.
Whether you take the traditional or self publishing route, writing and publishing is hard work. In the past, publishers were the gate keepers, and owned the two essential elements writers needed to become published authors. Publishers had the printing presses, and they had the distribution channels to the public. Both of these now are available to the writer directly. Your book can be printed on demand, and kept as a digital file on some distant hard drive rather than printed hard copies which are boxed in some distant warehouse. Secondly, if you build a good platform, you can create your own distribution channels directly to your tribe, your audience. The only thing left is to sell the books. And whether you are pursuing a traditional or self publisher, this one fact hasn’t changed in the industry. No one will sell more of your books than you, the author.
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.
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