When Jesus came into Peter's house, he saw Peter's mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever. He touched her hand and the fever left her, and she got up and began to wait on him.
When evening came many who were demon-possessed were brought to him, and he drove out the spirits with a word and healed all the sick. This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah:
"He took up our infirmities, and carried our diseases."
Matthew 8:14-17 (NIV)
Senator Marco Rubio tells it like it truly is. He's straightforward, reasonable, and intelligent.
Father, we're desperate for you. Please forgive our nation for its ongoing sins and intervene on your people's behalf. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.
Knowing what you do when you write is a boon to your composure. Knowing who you are after your first novels are under your pen or tucked away in the docs folder, can be comforting. Although not always because writers seem automatically wired with different kinds of angst. Whether we're insecure or overconfident, it helps to realize how exactly we progress. There's a learning curve to finding out who we are as writers.
Some trip and zoom through that first draft. Never take a reasonable break. Others edit as they go. Some take frequent breaks – some of those intentional and others of them not so much. In the beginning of the creative journey those breaks can scare a writer into a deep-freeze. Will I ever write again?! Does this mean I'm just playing at this writing gig?
Of course writing under the pressures of deadlines is a whole other mishmash. What if the necessity for a break beckons to you when you can't realistically take one? Do you just write trash-filler while your mind attempts to regroup?
Do you know yourself well enough to understand how you write, what you need to do it well, and what your "normal" is? What you become after writing a couple novels is generally different from who you are for that first one and possibly even the second one. Get a couple under your belt and then you'll learn who you are as a writer of stories.
Father, you create amazing writers of all kinds. Help all of us to follow your lead in creating. Help us to recognize the desire and the ability come directly from you. Apart from you, I can do nothing. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.
Utopia or Nirvana for the unbelievers in the Christian God. It's heaven for the Christian.
It's the decision that humankind can make everthing perfect given enough time. Is it noticeable to those who believe this that the "evolution" of humanity simply invents new ways to compromise and pronounce those things once considered evil as good? This is in order to validate man's "positive" growth into acceptance of what we are in our hearts. Ri-ight. We're evil with black sin staining our souls, inherited, and potentially eternal.
We long for the perfect because back in the once upon a time day, it existed for us. The human race created by a perfect God and given a perfect existence in an ideal, lovely, perfect garden . . . forfeited. Not by global warming/climate change nor by non-green energy but by the desire of our wicked hearts to surpass what we'd been given. To attain creator-ship, the sublime knowledge to do what only One could do.
And since that critical point in time, we have two kinds of human beings. The ones who want to believe in Someone greater than themselves and the ones who want to believe we are the superior examples of evolving existence – only superior in our abilities to out-think our animal origins and extending the evolution chain to include other species from planets far far away who for some reason always turn out to have more intelligence than us yet come to earth to conquer, dominate, or steal from it. Within the sub-frame of that phenomenon are those who prefer man-made religions that blur the existence of sin, convolute destinations, and suggest degrees of separation for those who don't comply with the doctrines, or advocate that eventually everyone will reach the perfect place.
The road we choose for eternity deserves the utmost consideration. Do humans hold the answers to our existence and futures? As time marches on we see only more of the same: wars, poverty, sexual exploitation and perversion, the detestable murders of the unborn. What we also see are those – even in the Christian community – who adopt the philosophy that wars and death and all of the evidence of sin can be eliminated by some diplomatic, peaceful resolutions. Really? The Prince of Peace says true peace comes only in Him. It makes no mention of the world somehow finding its way into getting along. On the contrary, there is only One who will rule the earth in Peace: Jesus Christ. And then, guess what? Armageddon. The elimination of this earth and the heavens above will be replaced by a sinless substitute.
Humans can't find or invent or create Utopia nor can they reach what they describe as Nirvana. They can go to hell. Or they can go to Heaven. One way. Through Jesus. Their choice.
Lord Jesus, we're desperate for you. You are the way, the truth, the life. The only way to the Father. Help us to deliver the message as you direct to the lost in our lives. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.
If you like suspense, mystery, or thriller novels, how do you like the bad guy to be revealed? Do you want to know right up front? Do you want to follow along and try to discover the perp along with the investigators whoever they might be? Do you want to read from both sides of the crime? Do you like trying to spot the "red herring"? Are you adept at spotting the culprit quickly?
What in general tips you off to who the bad guy will be/is? Can you identify the mechanism used to either fool you or reveal the criminal to you? How do you feel when you discover the perp early? Does that make the story predictable?
Would love to hear your answers . . .
Father, you've given so many different methods for telling stories. So many talented people. Please bless your storytellers with the grace to tell them as you design them. Thank you for it all. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.
Discriminating? Entertainment-seeker? Prefer light to fluff? Humor? Romance only? Historical addiction?
In a nutshell, I'll tell you the kind of reader I am. I want to catch every nuance that the writer intended and maybe some unintended. I want to understand the motives of the characters, relate to them in some capacity, empathize or sympathize with the protagonist(s) at some point, and react with hefty emotion to some or all parts of the story. The ending must satisfy. That doesn't necessitate "happy" with all the loose ends perfectly tied but the ending must address or acknowledge that the imperfections have not been ignored or forgotten.
I try to be discriminating, not to read anything into what isn't there but not to miss all that is. This can result in disappointment because I prefer to look into the deeper parts of characters, their reactions, and their decisions. Two dimensional characters don't bode well for my tastes and eventual reviews. I want to enjoy the story but because I'm a writer, I also want to enjoy the prose. It doesn't have to be gaudy, but I prefer it sensual with meaningful spirituality that doesn't have to be overt, but still delicious and scented, unique to the author.
What kind of reader are you?
Father, thank you for the joys of reading and writing. Thank you for those who do it so well and represent you beautifully in the process. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.
Sometimes it is how you play the game. And how long you play the game. If it was just about writing, the writer's life would be much simpler. Just write, baby.
But it's not. An accomplished and multi-published author once said to me "It's more about perseverance than it is talent." Some writers can attest to that after making it into the publishing arena. Even though the professionals often tout "only the best" make it to publication, I doubt there's a reading writer out there who believes that anymore. Too much evidence against it.
But if you want to play the game, there are many things that must be done. The writer must decide which and how many of those things he/she can and will do in order to reach that goal of publication. Usually there's a cost. It isn't all about the hours and hours of time put in on the manuscript(s). The selection of a - or more than one - conference to advance the cause of your work takes a prominent place in the must-do column of decisions. Usually this is the singular way to make eye contact with an agent or editor. Certainly not the only way but most will tell you it's the best way to give yourself an identity beyond being another anonymous author.
The game is changing with e-books. Right now the process for the author via a royalty publisher through an agent is in flux and still being defined. Multiple new e-publishing groups are forming to produce and format e-books, and they're figuring out how to do it inexpensively and conceding the rights to the work to the author which means there's a setup fee but the income from the e-book goes directly to the author.
I don't know a writer who wouldn't love to just write and do the minimum to get published and after being published. The game is much more complex than that. And looking for it to get easier in terms of selling the work of our hands looks doubtful. If you write for anyone besides yourself, you're gonna have to learn how to play the writing game. An additional problem? The rules to the game keep changing . . .
Father, you lead. We follow. At least we want to follow. We fail. We try again. You know the plans you have for us. Help us to truly follow your plans. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.
"Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it."
Matthew 7:13-14 (NIV)
Fact v. Fiction in The State of the Union Address:
http://blog.heritage.org/2012/01/25/fact-check-10-dubious-claims-from-obamas-state-of-the-union/
Father, forgive us. Right our nation from its many wrongs. Give clarity to those who earnestly seek it. You are the Way, the Truth, the Life. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.
Jokes. Love 'em or hate 'em. These are clever and clean and might elicit a chuckle or two, especially the last one (my favorite).
A Kindergarten teacher was observing her classroom of children while they were drawing. She would occasionally walk around to see each child's work. As she got to one little girl who was working diligently, she asked what the drawing was.
The girl replied, "I'm drawing God."
The teacher paused and said, "But no one knows what God looks like."
Without missing a beat or looking up from her drawing, the girl replied, "They will in a minute."
A Sunday school teacher was discussing the Ten Commandments with her five and six year olds. After explaining the commandment to "honour" thy father and thy mother, she asked, "Is there a commandment that teaches us how to treat our brothers and sisters?"
Without missing a beat one little boy (the oldest of a family) answered, "Thou shall not kill.."
One day a little girl was sitting and watching her mother do the dishes at the kitchen sink. She suddenly noticed that her mother had several strands of white hair sticking out in contrast to her brunette head. She looked at her mother and inquisitively asked, "Why are some of your hairs white, Mum?"
Her mother replied, "Well, every time that you do something wrong and make me cry or unhappy, one of my hairs turns white."
The little girl thought about this revelation for a while and then said, "Mummy, how come all of grandma's hairs are white?"
The children had all been photographed, and the teacher was trying to persuade them each to buy a copy of the group picture. "Just think how nice it will be to look at it when you are all grown up and say, 'There's Jennifer, she's a lawyer,' or 'That's Michael, he's a doctor.'"
A small voice at the back of the room rang out, "And there's the teacher, she's dead."
A teacher was giving a lesson on the circulation of the blood. Trying to make the matter clearer, she said, "Now, class, if I stood on my head, the blood, as you know, would run into it, and I would turn red in the face.'"
"Yes," the class said.
"Then why is it that while I am standing upright in the ordinary position the blood doesn't run into my feet?"
A little fellow shouted, "Cause your feet ain't empty."
The children were lined up in the cafeteria of a Catholic elementary school for lunch. At the head of the table was a large pile of apples. The nun made a note and posted on the apple tray:
"Take only ONE . God is watching."
Moving further along the lunch line at the other end of the table was a large pile of chocolate chip cookies. A child had written a note, "Take all you want. God is watching the apples."
And my personal favorite:
A little girl was talking to her teacher about whales. The teacher said it was physically impossible for a whale to swallow a human because even though it was a very large mammal its throat was very small. The little girl stated that Jonah was swallowed by a whale.
Irritated, the teacher reiterated that a whale could not swallow a human; it was physically impossible.
The little girl said, "When I get to heaven I will ask Jonah."
The teacher asked, "What if Jonah went to hell?"
The little girl replied, "Then you ask him."
Oh, Lord. Once in awhile we're able to make you laugh. I'm convinced of it. I love you, Lord. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.
