God made me a writer

God Made You a Writer An Invitation to Every Christian Thumb author david mathis Article by David Mathis Executive Editor, desiringGod.org The Christian gospel has a way of making us all writers in some way, shape, or form. From text messages, emails, and written notes, to church newsletters, missionary support letters, blogs, articles, and even books, everyday Christians do a lot of writing — and chances are you do too. Christianity is a word-centered faith. Our God created the world through words (Hebrews 11:3; ten times Genesis 1 tell us “God said”), and just as he said, “Let there be light,” so he speaks our faith into existence (2 Corinthians 4:6). God’s own Son is called his Word (John 1:1). And our very faith is sustained by “the word of Christ,” the message of the gospel (Romans 10:13) and ongoing word-ministry in the life of the church. Christianity is not a quiet faith, but a loud one, full of words. Write and Wrong Writing, then, however formal or informal, is not the privilege of a few gifted Christian dignitaries, but an invitation to every believer. Just as we can’t help but express to others in spoken words the glory of who God is and what he does, so also we find ourselves making use of the remarkable litany of technologies that allow us to communicate in written words. Broadly conceived, more Christians are writers than they think, even if it’s just in personal correspondence. Whether you think of yourself as a writer or not (and on the whole, it might be better if less people did!), I’d love to extend to you God’s invitation to find your ways of proclaiming his excellencies (1 Peter 2:9) in written words. 1. Christians write because God has written. God has spoken, so we speak. God has written, so we write — not to eclipse God’s words but to illumine them, explain them, celebrate them, and offer them to others. Paul writes to his disciple Timothy, You have been acquainted with the sacred writing, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:15–17) These words are both an encouragement and a challenge for Christian writing. The encouragement is that “Scripture is . . . profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training.” God speaks to his people that they might hear, but not for us to be hearers only. God means for us to do something with his words. They are profitable for our actions — for our own words. “Writing is not the privilege of a few gifted Christian dignitaries, but an invitation to every believer.” Tweet Share on Facebook God is speaking in his written word, and if we’re listening, then we too will have something to say, and to write. The challenge is to stay on the lifeline. If our words of teaching, reproving, correcting, and training become disconnected from God’s word, then we become part of the problem rather than the solution. Which raises the regular question for Christians as we write, Am I being faithful to God’s word in my words? We want to be part of the happy, clear-conscience collective with the apostle Paul who says, We are not, like so many, peddlers of God’s word, but as men of sincerity, as commissioned by God, in the sight of God we speak in Christ. (2 Corinthians 2:17) We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God’s word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God. (2 Corinthians 4:2) Whether pastors or laymen, teaching or texting, we want to do our best to present ourselves “to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15). 2. Christian writing doesn’t always publish. An important reality to keep clear in our minds, especially in a day when it’s never been so easy to publish our words to the world, is that writing is not the same as publishing. It’s one thing to write in a journal, or to pen a private note to a spouse or family member, and it’s another thing to write for all to see online or elsewhere. Christian publishing, whether in print or on the Web, is public ministry. Perhaps you haven’t thought of it that way, since the act of writing typically happens alone, out of the spotlight, but when we publish what we have written, we are doing public Christian ministry. It’s a calling to undertake with serious joy. 3. Christian publishing serves others, not self. Christian publishing is fundamentally different than personal journaling. Often good journaling is mainly, if not only, for yourself. But other kinds of writing, and especially publishing, are not for mere self-expression, but for serving. Christian writing, in this sense, embraces the spirit of 2 Corinthians 4:5: “What we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’s sake.” God breathed out his words for us in Scripture that we may be “equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:17). Writing that is Christian — whether privately to friends and family, or publicly online or in print — has purpose. God’s words in Scripture equip us for good works in loving service of others. Christian writing is no mere existential release, but an act of love. It’s not a private journal made public to win sympathy and admiration for ourselves, but a sacrifice of love — a kind of dying to self — to write not just the way we want to write on our own, but in such a way that other people are helped for Jesus’s sake. 4. Boring writing lies about God. The invitation to write is not an easy one. Writing itself is not as simple as it may sound, and Christian writing (to benefit others, not just express self) is even harder. Just as we must not lie about God and his world theologically, the same is true emotionally. Boring writing about God borders on blasphemy. When we ourselves aren’t truly affected, and so we disaffect others with boring writing about the most wonderful truths in the universe, we lie about God. So, when we write as Christians, we work — and do we ever work! — to make it interesting and appropriately provocative to the regenerate palate. “Boring writing about God borders on blasphemy.” Tweet Share on Facebook And when our craft is at its most difficult, we have this great solace and assurance: we aren’t left to ourselves to create from scratch. We don’t have to speak first; indeed we cannot. God has spoken first. Christians who self-identify as “writers” may talk about being “creatives,” but we know that’s not ultimately the case. More precisely, we are “subcreatives,” to borrow a concept from Tolkien. We labor to find fresh approaches to formulate ancient truths. We expend energy for new ways to tell the old, old story. 5. God’s words not only guide ours, but feed our souls. It is such good news for Christian writers that when we are empty, we have a place to go outside ourselves to refill: the words of God himself. The place of Scripture in our writing is not just public, for our readers, but private, for our own souls. God’s words do not just serve the personal or published ministry of writing by working through us, but they make “the man of God . . . complete” (2 Timothy 3:17) by working in us. God’s words first serve us. Before God’s words work through* us as writers, they work in us as Christians. Then the Holy Spirit has his way of prompting us to put pen to paper, and fingers to keys, in our various ways, shapes, and forms. David Mathis (@davidcmathis) is executive editor for desiringGod.org and pastor at Cities Church in Minneapolis. He is a husband, father of four, and author of Habits of Grace: Enjoying Jesus through the Spiritual Disciplines.

OM the early days.

In recent days I have been going through more old paper including some stashed in the attic . in my hands is a finance note book with the first gifts and expenses in the history of the work. it was 1956 . Dale we were at Maryville. You gave one of the first gifts. we were still called Christian youth committee which is stamped on the cover. There were gifts when I was still in high school including one from Redyke to cover the Gospels of John not sure where those records are? In this book I have here the first gift entered was from me for. 99 cents. Mr Ed Galenkamp gave 100$....this was by the way building up to the meeting in the highschool Christmas 1956 when about 125 responded after I spoke including my dad. Dale you gave one of the first gifts .70 cents Charley Shotmeyer $5.00 mrs clapp 5$ Molly (your girl friend dale) $2.00 Bobbie and Ray $1.00 our mom $1.00 Its many pages cover the next summer when we hired a bus to billy graham crusade and then went to mexico. I cannot remember looking at this before…and its 60 years ago. interesting that I find it this year. it has a listing \mexico trip $546.00 (there is as summary of how it was used. and moody press for 10,000 gospels $350 It ends may of 1958 which is when SEND the Light was registered and I think my mom took up the finance from that point. Not sure where all the book sales money for the summer was. I think I did that under my fire extinguisher company Bergen County Sales. There are missing pieces in the puzzle. Thanks for reading this and GIVE THANKS TO THE LORD. IT WAS HIS WORK FROM DAY ONE. IT WAS very small beginning. In his grip still george ________________________________________ Special Projects is a ministry of Operation Mobilisation (OM) Registered Office: The Quinta, Weston Rhyn, Oswestry, SY10 7LT, United Kingdom A company limited by guarantee - registered no: 2564320 (England & Wales) Charity registered no: 1008196 (England & Wales) - SC040988 (Scotland) ________________________________________ Operation Mobilisation (OM) - a company limited by guarantee - The Quinta, Weston Rhyn, Oswestry, SY10 7LT, United Kingdom Company reg no: 2564320 (England & Wales) - Charity reg. no: 1008196 (England & Wales) - SC040988 (Scotland) Web: http://www.uk.om.org

The #1 Hardest Thing About Being a Christian Writer

Fencing With Ink Art, Freedom, and Most Holy Irreverence About Ferryman My Writing Edits and Reviews Contact Me Subscribe! Patreon The #1 Hardest Thing About Being a Christian Writer August 8, 2017 ~ Michael Blaylock It’s not the criticism for your faith, it’s not the market, it’s not even the clashing views on what is Christian. It’s knowing that God can and will take your writing away from you. Unless you give it to him first. Many of you just breathed a sigh of relief, I bet. “Oh, well that’s fine, then. I’ve already given my writing to God.” Did you? Did you really give your writing to God? Or did you just dedicate it to him? Many Christian authors say they’re writing for Jesus, using their talents to create Christian content, and that’s good. But that’s only dedicating it to God. Giving it to him is a different matter. When a musician dedicates a song to his wife, he does it in her honor. But when he gives the song to her, he gives her full control of it. She can burn it, sell it and make a profit under her own name, put it on the fridge and never let anybody see it, change the lyrics to be more like Justin Beiber, add in a rap, turn it into an instrumental, make it into an African dance-polka, whatever she wants. But the musician no longer has any say. Neither does the writer who gives his gift to God. The Bad News Maybe you think God has told you to be a writer–and you may be right. I know God has made me one. But God also told Israel they would last forever. He told Saul to be King. He made Adam king of the Garden of Eden. Yet none of those things came to be. Why? Because they valued those things more than God. I always thought being a Christian writer meant writing in a Godly way. Lately, God has broken me, wholly and utterly. He’s revealed that if I wasn’t a writer, I could not imagine a happy future. It’s who I am, a wordsmith and creator. So when I struggle to be a writer, my hope crumbles and I fall into extraordinary depression. My hope is in the wrong thing. Even though it’s a God-given, God-honoring thing. If we put anything, ANYTHING before God, he will snatch it out of our hands, or at the very least, sit back and watch it shatter. Which brings us back to the hardest thing: giving our writing to God. Completely. Letting him decide which books to write. When our careers take off. What kind of success we get. It means giving God the authority to take your writing away entirely. To make sure you never, ever see your dreams come true. Because you’ve chosen God instead. Can you do that? The Good News What happens when God’s people give away their hope? They find it. Abraham made to sacrifice the son and legacy God promised him…and got to keep both. David allowed himself to live in squalor and terror rather than seize the kingdom…and got that kingdom. Jesus surrendered his very life…and got eternal life. Seeing the pattern? We only keep what we give up entirely. Abraham’s hope wasn’t in Isaac, nor David’s in a throne, nor Jesus’s in his flesh. They all placed their trust in God alone. So it is for Christian writers. If you clutch your writing, God will show you who’s really in charge. But if you can hand God your craft, utterly and completely, he will make you the writer he wants you to be. And remember: God’s ways are infinitely better than ours. Abraham could have had one son, but he got a nation as a legacy. David could have been any old king, but he became the greatest king instead. Jesus could’ve saved his life, but now he lives forever. You can be a writer, and even have some worldly success. But you’ll never reach your potential, never go the places God wants you to go, make the impact God wants you to make unless you first give up your writing to God. This means more time in prayer and less building your brand on Twitter. It means learning to hear God’s voice more than your audience’s. And it means having absolutely no dreams, goals, or plans except those God gives you–and even then, letting them come about in his time, not yours. God demands everything because he gives everything. I cannot just dedicate my work to God. I have to give it to him. If I don’t, he may very well take it from me, rob me of success and hope until I realize he’s the only true hope I have for a fulfilling life. The gift must never surpass the giver. Same to you. Don’t just give God glory, honor, and credit. Give him that piece of your heart you’ve kept for yourself. Share this: Press ThisTwitterFacebook131Pinterest1Tumblr

shealogians

I feel badly for Jory Micah. Today she is claiming that those who have gone to her Twitter and Facebook to rebuke her for her heresy are all minions of mine, and a cult I apparently lead with my father, and we follow Doug Wilson? It's all very strange. For the record, I haven't sent any one to knock on her. In fact, I've spent quite a bit of time asking those offended by her theology to watch their tongues. Yes, her heresy is bad. Very bad. But that doesn't mean she herself deserves name-calling, etc. Correct her positions, but don't attack her personally. Further, I have never led a cult, or a church. Because you know....women shouldn't do that :) Of course, she continues to attack me personally and blame me for the heat she's getting on social media. She continues to call me terrible things. If you care for Jory, and the souls of those who listen to her heresy, the best thing you can do is pray. Seriously, pray for her. She's heaping up wrath on herself with her false teaching and we should care about that. If you can interact with her without name-calling, then feel free. Finally, I've seen her posts and I know what she's saying, so no need to message me or tag me or whatever else have you. I've attempted to honestly interact with her, and she is not interested. I know it's hard to find out who my dad is online, but the fact that she didn't even try to find out who she was attacking before she did so says quite enough about whether or not a real dialogue will take place here. There is nothing left for me to interact with. I know it's hard to see God profaned online in the awful ways in which she does it and we all want to see her, and those who follow her, come to a true knowledge of God. If that's what you really want, guard your tongue. Be careful with your words. Preach the Gospel. Confront the lies, but do it with wisdom and love. Have a nice day! And seriously.....stop tagging me. :D 389 Likes55 Comments20 Shares

Silence can never be mis quoted.

Be careful whom you confide in 4 August 2017 ‘Those who are trustworthy can keep a confidence.’ Proverbs 11:13 NLT "Proverbs 11:13 NLT"::http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Proverbs 11:13 &version=NLT If you need help with a problem in your personal life, your family, or your career, keep the following things in mind: 1) Bad news is often remembered longer than good news. Long after you have resolved the issue and moved on with your life, the wrong people will continue to focus on it and talk about it. That’s why God’s Word says, ‘Those who are trustworthy can keep a confidence.’ 2) Be careful who advises you. ‘The thoughts of the righteous are right, but the counsels of the wicked are deceitful’ (Proverbs 12:5 NKJV). Be sure you reach for the right person. There are many sources of wisdom in this world, ‘but the wisdom that is from above is…pure…peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and…hypocrisy’ (James 3:17 NKJV). Note the words, ‘the wisdom that is from above’. Confide only in a counsellor who walks according to the principles of God’s Word. 3) Make sure the person you trust isn’t confiding in others you wouldn’t trust. They say you can tell a man by the company he keeps. And it’s true! The Bible says, ‘Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly’ (Psalm 1:1 NKJV). 4) ‘Problem talk’ can portray you as a victim instead of an overcomer. Nobody wants to back a loser. When Job lost everything, almost everybody avoided him. It was only after God doubled Job’s blessings that they returned to participate in his life and bring him gifts. It’s always wise to control your mouth, your thoughts, and your focus. Remember, silence

Elders

How did God teach me patience? God usually sends things to try ones patience so that one aquires it and for me one so called elder whos name began with H was one such instrument. I would go as far as to say that he was an embarrassment and sad to say that he spent many years in church a great number of them as an elder and was utterly clueless about spiritual things. In the church of Scotland which is not really a church, it is an organisation, this is common. A long time ago, I attended a meeting in Cowdenbeath that was being led by a church of Scotland minister. He told those assembled that he was an elder in the church of scotland for a number of years before he became a christian. Again, having an elder who is has not had a conversion experience does not surprise me, but at least that man got to the point where he was converted.