Catching Idle Butterflies

Take Away

All editors I talked to and some of the keynote speakers stressed one thing: Take away. In whatever we write, whether it be fiction or nonfiction, the readers must take away something of value, something they can apply to their daily life.

I asked myself all weekend, what do I take away from this conference? I knew God wanted to tell me something, but I received no repeat of scripture from different sources like letgocling did.

That doesn't mean God had nothing to say to me, only he chose a different way to get my attention.

Saturday night we were treated to a concert by Randall Atcheson. He's an extremely talented pianist, the only person ever to be allowed to pursue, and achieve simultaneous degrees in piano and organ performance at Julliard.

His love of the Lord is the only thing that surpasses his talent, and anyone watching him sees both quite clearly. He's passionate about what he does, making him as enthralling to watch as well as listen to.

God asked me his first question during the concert: What's your passion?

I had to think about it.

The other question came from two separate speakers, Liz Curtis Higgs and Dr. Dennis Hensley: What frightens you the most?

I didn't even try to answer them until after the conference. I even asked God to back away from me for a while. Sometimes he gets so close, it hurts.

On the flight home, I sat next to a man who recently became president of Bismarck State College. He moved up here only a few weeks ago from New Mexico (brave, brave man, moving from a desert to a northern state during the coldest month of the year). We talked about subjects ranging from the SR71 Blackbird to preparing young people for the quickly moving technological world we live in.

What struck me was his passion for teaching and doing whatever he can to help students succeed in the world after they graduate. I couldn't help but be pleased our local college has him as president.

But more than that, I saw how a person's passion drives them to succeed.

Another point Higgs and Hensley made was the one thing we need to pursue is also what scares us the most.

In other words, what we fear the most may also be the one thing we're most passionate about.

It is for me.

What is my passion? I'm frustrated with people using the Word of God for ill purpose, scoff at it out of misperception, or ignore it because it's too hard to accept what God asks of us.

What scares me? Being provocative about it, a no-holds-barred way of writing that may infuriate those who read it.

If I am to move forward in what God asks of me, I must write with passion about my passion. I haven't done that - at least not as much as I should, too afraid of pissing people off.

I received a review for "My Way or No Way"  that (though nicely) argued against one of my points. I tried to shy away from a response, but again God reminded me of his questions, and my answers. I answered eventually. The reviewer’s response is not all that relevant except to say I failed to convince. Nevertheless, I took a stand, and sometimes that's all God asks of us.

This may be a bit repetitive, but another sign of the direction God wants me to go came from my own words. I wrote this Friday afternoon as I waited for the Tylenol to kick in and prepare for my meeting with "Light and Life":

One of the main points of my novel "Killer of Minds" and my novella "A Reason to Hope" is the power of God's Word. I often wondered at that. I'm a person who reads it less often than I should, and I certainly don't emphasize to others how necessary reading the Bible is. Heck, I even once wrote a blog entry about how the Bible is wrong. Granted, I wasn't making that point per se, but how if one goes in thinking the Bible is pointless, useless, whatever, then of course to them, it will be pointless and useless.

So why do my main characters know the necessity of God's Word, and encourage others to do the same when I don't?

Yes, I am not my characters. They do many things I wouldn't. However, I'm still left with the question as to why my main theme stresses the importance of reading God's Word, applying it to daily life, and encouraging others to do the same.

I may now have my answer.

The speaker for today's lunch (Friday), was a pastor named Bill Oudemolen. He has noticed a frightening trend in today's churches where pastors are using scripture less often in their sermons, some not at all. They never encourage their congregations to read their Bibles during the service, depending instead on their personal, human understanding. Some have even decided to ignore entire sections of the Bible calling them "out of date" and therefore inapplicable to people of today.

Bill also Christian writers need to stress the importance of reading the Bible to help counter this trend.

See where my aha! moment came in? I think I now understand. My job, through the stories I write is for readers to see how the Bible still applies to all of us, and in any circumstance.

Bill underscored 2 Kings 22-23. You really should read it. It's an amazing story.

There is power in God's Word. If not, it would have been destroyed long ago. The devil is still trying, but God is countering that effort in many ways. To be a part of that effort, well that both thrills and frightens me.

I want to say, "Who am I to do these things?" God responds in only one way, "If not you, then who?"

I never intended for my main theme to be focused on God's Word with my novels. I merely wanted to write a story about how anyone, no matter what they've done, is not beyond Jesus' redemption. But my intentions and God's aren't always on the same wavelength. That doesn't mean I'm going the wrong direction, though. As Proverbs 16:9 says: "In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps."

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Happy Monday!