Learning how to do it

     As a writer/speaker/actor, I'm rarely uncomfortable around words.  But navigating the web is another issue entirely for a baby boomer like me.  When I think I understand something, I leap into the "Ready Fire Aim" mentality and later find out how badly I did it.  But hopefully this will be a good outlet for me.  (smile).  

     I started this to promote my books: so far three novels and around ten non-fiction books about Christian doctrine and experience.  But there's something liberating about just sitting at the keyboard and ponding away like this.  Will anybody bother reading this?  Will anybody finish it?  Will anybody care that I'm doing this?  

    Those may sound like self-absorbed questions, and I know I think more of myself than I ought to as a Christian.  But I know Facebook (Meta?) and Twitter (X?) aren't the way to boost readership; at least, not the way I've been doing it. I don't expect to become a millionaire or a famous author; I just hope people will benefit from my 50+ years of stumbling through the Christian life...and not very well, at that.  

    But the Christian life really isn't about us; it's about Jesus.  I'm reminded of the opening paragraph from Watchman Nee's classic THE NORMAL CHRISTIAN LIFE:

    "What is the normal Christian life?  We do well at the outset to ponder this question.  The object of these studies is to show that it is something very different from the life of the average Christian.  Indeed a consideration of the written Word of God -- of the Sermon on the Mount for example -- should lead us to ask whether such a life has ever in fact been lived upon the earth, save only by the Son of God Himself .  But in that last saving clause lies immediately the answer to our question."

    So, now that I have jumped the gun, gone beyond what every professional would have counselled me to, which book that I have written would I recommend?  Wow, that's hard.  Any one I pick might make me feel like I'm betraying the others somehow.  

But I do think I know which one I'd start with:



ROCK-SOLID REALITY, PART 1: ALWAYS BE READY.  As a baby Christian, I wanted to learn as much about my Lord and His ways as I could.  I couldn't understand those who were content to be passive in their Christian lives.  To tell the truth, I still can't, though it gets tiring, frustrating, disappointing and even depressing.  

    But I've seen two patterns: Christians arguing over non-essentials (and I DO believe we should each know where we stand, which is what PART 2 is about), and Christians who have no answers to those who challenge our faith.  That last one always amazes and disappoints me.  Therefore, I developed a curriculum to teach Christians what we believe...and why.  The subtitle ALWAYS BE READY is from 1 Peter 3:15 --

    "But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear" (NKJV)

    I've taught it in Sunday Schools, home churches and informal Bible studies.  Now it's available from amazon.com as a paperback or an ebook. 

    I have to admit it's more fun speaking it than writing it.  Writing is a lonely pastime.  I love the interaction around a table, or even in a classroom when the people are free to ask questions and check their understanding.  

      Oops, gotta go.  Eira (my wife) just woke up from her nap and we have to get ready for our "First Friday" Intercession meeting.  I'll share more about that in a future blog.  

    And, like I end most of  my podcasts (reflections.libsyn.com): Remember that the New Testament teaches us to judge the prophecies, test the spirits and prove all things...according to the standard of the Bible."

Blessings!  

 

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