I loved the analogy my pastor, Peter Vogt, shared in church this Sunday. He was describing how Michelangelo took a hunk of flawed marble other artists had rejected, and claimed it for himself. Then he dedicated years to chipping away everything that “wasn’t David,” and sculpting the breathtaking masterpiece we see today. But even after the sculptor was finished and paid for his work, he didn’t … [Read more...]
My One Word, A Bible Tool I’m loving, & A Giveaway
Happy New Year...With the start of a New Year is the beginning of new resolutions...new words...new disciplines. Some of my fellow authors have shared their words, so I thought I'd share mine along with a Bible reading tool I discovered thanks to Tricia Goyer and am loving! Be sure to read all the way to the end for a way to enter a new giveaway I'm offering this month, too! First my … [Read more...]
Do you have a word for 2015?
Have you ever asked God to give you a "word" for the year? I hadn't until I started meeting with a group of writers several years ago (I'm waving to you, Robin!) and a few of them had done it. Ever since, we've prayed together asking the Lord to show us something specific he wants each of us to focus on for the year. I'll be the first to admit that some years February has rolled around and I … [Read more...]
7 Ways to Keep from Becoming a “Bah Humbug”
Recently I read the book Night by Elie Wiesel. In it he recounts his experience with his father in the Nazi German concentration camps at Auschwitz and Buchenwald in 1944–1945. I find it amazing that anyone at all could survive the brutality that the Jews experienced during the holocaust. I couldn't keep from wondering how Elie lasted two years in spite of beatings, starvation, freezing cattle … [Read more...]
Reflecting God’s Character in Creativity
“Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created.” -- Revelation 4:11 (NASB95) About a decade ago, I participated in a theology study with a group of novelists. We used Wayne Grudem's Bible Doctrine. The quote below is from Grudem’s more comprehensive study, Systematic … [Read more...]