So the Seahawks drafted a bad boy pass rushing linebacker in the first round. Welcome Bruce Irvin!
Father, thank you for those things we love to play, watch, and root for. Fun is such a relief. Please watch over this young man and if he doesn't know you, I pray he would meet you. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.
In case you haven't had the pleasure:
http://www.godvine.com/Three-Girls-Sing-a-BEAUTIFUL-Version-of-Hallelujah-Wow-1426.html
Father, thank you for the beauty of music. For the Spirit of worship. For all the joy in expressing Hallelujah! In the Name of Jesus, Amen.
The CFBA Tour presents Sue Duffy's The Sound of Red Returning published by Kregel Publications.
Liesl Bower is a headstrong, self-absorbed, world-reknowned concert pianist who's used to shutting people out of her life. With a scarred family history, the young woman has tried to forget her Harvard mentor's murder and the CIA's disclosure of his traitorious relationship with the Russians. When those investigating decided Liesl knew nothing of his spying, she continued her life of esteemed status and performances. However, one night in the audience a familiar face resurrects the terror of that murder and sets the course for a new wave of CIA interest in her life and mandatory protection.
Ava, the gruff but patient 50ish woman assigned to guard Liesl, enforces all the things that must happen to keep Liesl safe in spite of Liesl's incessant whining and complaining. The US government figures out that Liesl must unknowingly be in possession of something her mentor passed along to her, something the Russians need to recover in order to accomplish something horrific. Unable to disclose the severity of what they know, Ava must implore Liesl to cooperate while avoiding her home in Georgetown, which has been ransacked, to investigate her childhood home in Charleston where her grandmother Lottie now resides in a nursing home fading in and out of lucidity.
Charleston proves interesting when the renters of the basement apartment in Liesl's home end up accompanying Liesl, Ava, and another agent to the hopefully secret dwelling of an additional home in Liesl's family history. From there this group continues to search for this critical item while being pursued.
If you have a hard time warming up to a headstrong woman who can't seem to grasp the seriousness of the CIA's involvement in her life, in spite of having a personal aide to the president as a close friend, then you might have a hard time with Liesl – as I did. In this day and age it strikes me as somewhat unbelievable that a pianist could possibly think under these circumstances she can take of herself.
The romance in this novel is slow-brewed with the initial resistance and barriers but comes to a logical – and expected – conclusion.
If you're picky about the use of adverbs, Sue's writing might get in your way. The faith aspects of the story build and use the independent and often petulant behavior and attitudes of Liesl as a springboard for themes of healing and forgiveness.
The two twists at the end give both a restorative touch and an interesting conclusion to the story. The Sound of Red Returning by Sue Duffy meshes espionage, the threat of terrorism, the damages of torn apart families, courage, and relationship building and restoration.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/ 0825425743
Father, continue to supply the stories you have for Sue to tell. Please bless her efforts to honor you in all she does. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.
I mentioned one thing I love about Frank Peretti's writing is his use of all the senses. Sight. Smell. Hearing. Touch. Taste. Spirituality.
Writing requires giving the reader images. Vivid color, pastels, greys, dark, light, bright, dim. Our mental eyes must be given things to view.
Smelling the scents which enhance those visual images gives the reader additional data to heighten the effects of the words painting the picture.
Hearing brings the auditory power into play with words that describe various sounds. The power of silence can create wonder or foreboding. Cacaphonic tumult gives readers the sensation of chaos.
Touch allows the tactile expression to remind the reader of the physical feeling of multiple kinds of objects living, dead, and material.
The various tastes of food, drink, or other less considered things, be they pleasing or disgusting, can stimulate hunger, curiosity, satisfaction, or nausea.
Spirituality is an essential element whether it be implied, subtle, or overt. The spiritual realm should always be an integral portion of story. It has its rightful place and should be as organically employed as all of the other senses.
Do you make a point of using all of the senses?
Father, your word addresses all of our senses. You made us physical beings. It's to our shame when we ignore our spiritual origin. You created the senses. We corrupted them. We need your mercy daily. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.
"'And you took your sons and daughters whom you bore to me and sacrificed them as food to the idols. Was your prostitution not enough? You slaughtered my children and sacrificed them to the idols. In all your detestable practices and your prostitution you did not remember the days of your youth, when you were naked and bare, kicking about in your blood . . .'"
Ezekiel 16:20-22 (NIV)
I could've just posted the link (http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/religious-right-now/post/planned-parenthoods-abortion-prayer/2012/04/18/gIQABL46RT_blog.html), but I wanted to be sure you could read this page from what can really only be described as a satanic handbook.
Posted at 11:34 PM ET, 04/18/2012
TheWashingtonPost
A prayer for abortion?By Jordan Sekulow and Matthew Clark
Pro-life advocates have long complained that Planned Parenthood, the country’s largest abortion provider, worships at the altar of abortion, but did you know that the abortion industry actually prays for abortion?
Perversely reminiscent of 40 day pro-life prayer vigils, Planned Parenthood in Humboldt County, Ca., is promoting it’s own “40 days of prayer,” March 18th through April 27th, for abortion. This is not their usually disguised promotion of abortion as “preventative care,” “family planning,” or “contraceptive services.” No, they throw those typical euphemisms out and directly pray for abortion.
A prayer guide found on PlannedParenthood.org,40 Days of Prayer Supporting Women Everywhere, encourages pro-abortion supporters to offer prayers of “thanks for abortion providers” and the “sacred care” they provide.
Each day, Planned Parenthood suggests a prayer, for example:
· “We give thanks for the doctors who provide quality abortion care.”
· We pray for a cloud of gentleness to surround every abortion facility.”
· We pray for all the staff at abortion clinics around the nation. May they be daily confirmed in the sacred care that they offer women.”
Some of the prayers, like those above, are for the abortionists. Others are for all “women to access . . . abortion,” and one is to “give thanks and celebrate that abortion is still safe and legal.”
Still other prayers are against pro-life advocates. They pray that women on the way to have an abortion would be “shielded” from the lifesaving message of pro-life sidewalk counselors and “give thanks for abortion escorts who guide women safely through the hostile gauntlets of protesters.” In another, “we pray for women who have been made afraid of their own power [of choice, i.e. abortion] by their religion. May they learn to reject fear and live bravely.”
One of the most outrageous of these pro-abortion prayers actually urges people to “pray for the families we’ve chosen. May they know the blessing of choice.” What about the babies who weren’t “chosen”?
Of course, none of this should be surprising when you take a look at the group who penned these prayers, Faith Aloud. Among Faith Aloud’s board members is the infamous partial-birth abortion doctor LeRoy Carhart.
While admitting that aborted babies are “our children—even those we decide not to bring into the world,” Faith Aloud cannot debunk the claim that abortion is murder. Faith Aloud’s Web site states, “When you hear something over and over, like ‘abortion is murder’, it can get into your head—like a commercial. But if you really believed that abortion was the same as murder you probably wouldn’t even be considering it.”
All Planned Parenthood and Faith Aloud can do is rationalize the taking of another human’s life under the guise of prayer.
But apparently, these prayers are being used by the entire abortion industry. Faith Aloud even wrote us after we at the ACLJ initially exposed Planned Parenthood’s prayer guide to clarify, “Independent abortion providers (non-Planned Parenthood facilities) have been using these prayers for years.”
While the prayers themselves are shocking, the true outrage continues to be the yearly slaughter of millions of unborn babies. No matter how you try to spiritualize it or rationalize, it’s just plain wrong, and we will continue fighting for life.
Jordan Sekulow is Executive Director of the American Center for Law & Justice and writes for On Faith’s blogging network at the Washington Post. Matthew Clark is an attorney for the ACLJ.
Father, forgive us. Please. Heal our hearts and minds. May our spirits repent and seek life not death. Have mercy on us. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.
This police procedural I'm attempting is a different experience for me in a lot of ways. Usually when I write a story, it all falls out on the page/screen in order. Rarely do I have to fill in blanks or go back to add or subtract significant passages. With this story, because I'm learning the procedures of police work, I've had to return to multiple places and add information, characterization, "scenery", and all kinds of things. Suffice it to say it's been a unique adventure and a total challenge.
I'm not going to say to you I will succeed. I'm 63+K words into this puppy with much thought, deliberation, and concern, not to mention hours spent writing down those words, but to pronounce with absolute assurance I can make this novel work? No. Can't do that. Not yet anyway. I hope I can pull it off. I do.
I love the characters. Yeah, I know: don't I always? I don't want to leave them stranded in the cyberland of unfinished literary attempts. I'm not a quitter when I really engage in something unless there's just no way to get it done.
The real blessing about this WIP? Detective Patrick Morgan. He's been a huge help. If only I could figure out at this point in the story what exactly I need to ask him. And there lies the main problem. What to ask. Realizing writers have the freedom for "poetic license", there's only so much of a stretch there before mystery or suspense readers recognize the errors. I want to write authentically, and I'm concerned about assumptions.
Pray for me . . . if you would.
Father, please provide what I need to do this work. Your instruction and insights are what I cherish. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.
No, we're not going to discuss the old Robert Redford classic film. Or baseball. Or history. Or the color of my hair.
Nope. I'm referring to myself as a writer with that title. If ever I was born to write a genre, it's romance. More specifically love stories. It seems romance requires a formula in today's literature, and perhaps it always has. I don't profess to be a scholar of literary history, the classification of genres and their specificities and/or definitions.
I only know I'm a natural at romance.
I've discovered that my latest effort, the police procedural, cannot exist without a thread of romance and the solid love factor. Not obtrusive or demonstrative but evident in places, haltingly in some, blatant and confessed in others. As a writer, this is who I am. And the contrast to romance must be present too. That ugly thing we call lust that drives the flesh to get satisfaction – something Mick Jagger couldn't find way back when – over and over again.
I know the word romance makes men quake. My husband has so often apologized to me for not being "romantic enough", but there's no need for that apology. You see I'm not the fluff and high maintenance kind of romantic. I guess in keeping with my pension for writing, I think the most romantic thing that can be done is with words. What is said (or written) fans the flames of attraction, desire, contrite hearts, depth of emotions, appreciation, passion, understanding, and love. Regardless of the time, place, era, culture, or language – be it proper or slang – words accentuate feelings. Words deceive or words proclaim truth. Words declare or deny love. Words envelop or expel. Words capture or set free. Words communicate or silence. Words embrace or ignore. Words set the tone for romance.
And finding those words to communicate a love story? The tools of the trade for this natural romantic . . .
Father, thank you for this soft heart. Thank you for defining the romance in my soul. Thank you for being the lover of my soul. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.
. . . and whoa!
http://now.msn.com/entertainment/0414-mccartney-video.aspx
Lord, such beauty. If only it was done to honor you. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.
A word that brings to mind a few things . . .
If you order a Scotch neat, you want a shot poured into a glass without ice or anything else.
If you keep a house, a desk, a car, or whatever neat, it means in order, not messy.
If you respond to something with "Neat!", you think it's cool.
If you look up "neat" in Roget's International Thesaurus, you will find these word listing references under it: cattle; shipshape; shapely; skillful; elegant; plain-speaking; chic; unmixed; tidy; excellent.
So I'm going to stretch this word to apply to the writing of fiction. If I say an author's writing is neat, I mean it's tidy in the sense that the so-called rules of writing have been served, applied, and are present in the book. One might assume this is a good thing, a compliment. And in some cases it might be true. Most of the time if I say the writing is neat, I do not mean it as an endorsing comment. The reason for this lies in the unimaginative factor.
If you recall your English grammar lessons from elementary school on through high school -which possibly only those in the writing industry do – you know the application of commas, sentence structures, and a bunch of other rules can overwhelm the story factor. And create the unimaginative factor. Creating stories is not about the use of proper grammar. It's about using correct grammar when it doesn't interfere with dialogue, the flow and tempo of the story, and when it fits into the style of the particular story (author's approach) without proclaiming how correct the prose appears in its written form.
Depending on your personality, being labeled a "neat freak" either appeals to you or insults you. If you're proud of the label because you enjoy the "tidy, etc." classification, kudos to you. However, if I refer to your writing as "neat", in my eyes, most of the time, you should be either insulted or willing to take another look at that unimaginative factor.
Father, so much of what we do in writing has different appeal. You know who we are and who you desire our writing to reach. We ask you to make it so, and we thank you for all you do for us. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.
