TV Interview - Day Three

Click the link below to see day three:


http://www.newday.org/ontheair/popupmov.php?program=33473

The Everlasting Arms - TV Interview

Have you ever made choices that you later thought turned out to be wrong? Are you now concerned that you might have to live in "God's second best" for your life? This interview addresses that topic.

The link below will take you to the second program of five.

http://www.newday.org/ontheair/popupmov.php?program=33472

Forgiven And Forgotten TV Interview

Every day this week, I'll be on the Canadian national TV program, "It's A New Day." I'll post the links here so you can see the programs every day.

The host on these programs is Bob Meisner. Bob, and his wife, Audrey, have been friends for many years. Audrey's parents, Willard and Betty Thiessen launched this TV station years ago and in the ensuing years it has reached a multitude of people all over Canada. Not everybody who interviews me understands or affirms the message I share, but these folks are powerful grace walking evangelists. They're at the top of my list as far as people I enjoy having interview me on television.

Click this link to watch the program in a pop-up window. If you have your computer's pop-up control preventing them, you'll have to change the setting to allow it. Or another option is to go to www.newday.org and watch it on their site.

http://www.newday.org/ontheair/popupmov.php?program=33471

Life Is A Symphony

He portrays your Heavenly Father.

She is you.

The keys on the piano keyboard are the choices you can make in life.

Trust your Father, make your choices and enjoy participating in what He produces! Notice that even when we make a choice in the "minor keys," our gracious Creator is able to work all the notes (including our discordant ones) into a beautiful symphony.

Are You Bad? (No, you aren't.)

This Michael Jackson meets John Piper video is pretty funny. I've enjoyed a number of Piper's books, though I disagree with him on various issues. I couldn't disagree more with this viewpoint because Christians are righteous, not bad. I do think whoever put this together is clever.



Here's a singer I absolutely love to hear. My favorite song she sings is "The Deer's Cry."(I couldn't find video of that one.) This is her singing, "The Voice." Could anybody not see Christ in this song?



The Voice

I hear your voice on the wind
And I hear you call out my name

"Listen, my child," you say to me
"I am the voice of your history
Be not afraid, come follow me
Answer my call, and I'll set you free"

I am the voice in the wind and the pouring rain
I am the voice of your hunger and pain
I am the voice that always is calling you
I am the voice, I will remain

I am the voice in the fields when the summer's gone
The dance of the leaves when the autumn winds blow
Ne'er do I sleep thoughout all the cold winter long
I am the force that in springtime will grow

I am the voice of the past that will always be
Filled with my sorrow and blood in my fields
I am the voice of the future, bring me your peace
Bring me your peace, and my wounds, they will heal

I am the voice in the wind and the pouring rain
I am the voice of your hunger and pain
I am the voice that always is calling you
I am the voice

I am the voice of the past that will always be
I am the voice of your hunger and pain
I am the voice of the future
I am the voice, I am the voice
I am the voice, I am the voice

Help Me Name A Book

As you may know, my goal has been to take the "101 Lies Taught in Church Every Sunday" videos, expand them a little and turn it into a book. As things are developing, it has become apparent that I won't be able to use all 101 lies in one book. To do that would cause the book to be about 400 pages long, which is too long. So I'm going to start with 50 and then, if that book does well, I'll do the other 50 in a separate book.

I've talked with several people both inside and outside the publishing industry who believe that to use the use the word "lies" in the title is going to unnecessarily alienate some people. I chose that title on the videos to attract interest to them on YouTube, but have come to agree that using that title for the book may not be the best idea.

So, this is where I'm asking for your creative help. What title do you think would be a good one? One title that has been suggested in Challenging 50 Things You've Been Taught In Church. I'm okay with that, but not wild about it. Get your creative juices going and let me know your thoughts on a good title. If I use your title, I'll give you 10 free copies of the book, with an inscription from me to whoever you want to give them to.

Your thoughts?

Here's the promo for Walking In The Will of God, on Harvest House Publisher's web site. I'm amazed that the book is even already listed on amazon.com for pre-order. Nobody can say my publisher isn't proactive about getting the book out there asap!

Whew, Done!

I finished the Walking In The Will of God manuscript this morning and have sent it to my publisher. I'm relieved to be done with it, though I did enjoy writing it and believe that God will use it to help many people understand that knowing His will is much easier than their legalistic pasts may have led them to believe.

The original manuscript was about 35,000 words and I've increased it to a little over 50,000 in the past few weeks. My editor, Paul Gossard, has been a real help with his suggestions.

People sometimes ask me how books are written. Authors all have their own approach, but here's what I do.

1. An idea for a book comes to mind.
2. I jot down 8-12 topics around the general theme which could serve as chapters.
3. I begin to write. Unlike some authors, I don't have a thorough outline before I start. One of my friends, an author too, has an extensive outline of his books before he ever starts writing. I'd want to shoot myself if I had to do that. I write in a free-flow style and see what comes out. (Sounds disorganized, huh?)
4. I finish the book, then go back and look for places to add more illustrations or maybe to cite other authors. (I didn't cite other books in this last one.)
5. I send it to my publisher, who assigns it to an editor.
6. The editor makes editorial suggestions, such as, "Say more about this, add an illustration here to help explain what you're talking about, move this section to the top of the chapter as an opener, etc."
7. I make the revisions and submit the final manuscript.

This time, I did something I've never done before. I paid somebody to take the audio teachings I've done on the topic and put the content into a written manuscript form. That way, I had a head start on writing the book before I even started. Until now, I've never had anybody help me with putting together a manuscript, but it occurred to me some time ago that I could do that and possibly produce more material that way. I've done the same thing with the 101 Lies content. So when I start working on that, I'll be way ahead of the game as opposed to starting from scratch.

I enjoy writing, but don't assume that means it's easy because it's not. Plus, just because I enjoy writing doesn't mean I always want to do it. Like anything any of us do, sometimes I write because I have a deadline, not because I feel particularly inspired. To tell the truth, it's not totally unlike the times we all had to write term papers in college. So, if you're in college, don't be a slacker in that area. You never know where it may lead :)

My advice to aspiring authors? Write. It's that simple. Just write. If you want to write so you can become a published author, don't do it. That's a pitiful reason to write. If you want to write because you sense it's in you to do it and you enjoy it, then do it and don't worry about what will happen. God will do what He wants. I have material I wrote when I was in my twenties. You'll never see it...it's too legalistic :) But I wrote even then because I enjoyed it. I have another completely finished book that my publisher didn't want to do. I may or may not eventually publish it myself. It's totally different from anything else I've written. I wrote it just because I wanted to do it. I recommend the same to you - if you want to write, do it because you enjoy it, but don't assume it will be published.

One guy said to me a while back, "I've written my first book, but I haven't decided who I'm going to let publish it yet." I just smiled inwardly and thought, "You are in for a rude awakening." Being published by a professional publisher is like winning the lottery. I'm not exaggerating by saying that, especially now when publishers are cutting back on production because of the economy. One thing I often recommend to people is to self publish. There are advantages to that too... but that's a story for another day. Right now, I'm done writing! I'm off to PF Changs for Chinese food!