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The Steve Laube Agency

Helping to Change the World…Word by Word

The Steve Laube Agency

The Steve Laube Agency

Helping to Change the World Word by Word

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Worshipping Words

By Dan Balowon May 5, 2015
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Yesterday was a strange and eerie anniversary.  Six hundred years ago, on May 4, 1415 the body of Bible translator and Christian dissident John Wycliffe was exhumed from his grave in England, burned and his ashes were thrown into the river. And if that wasn’t weird enough, this was done over thirty years after his death.

It sounds like something from a Dirty Harry movie.

“You think this is over punk? Thirty years after you’re dead, I am going to dig up your body, burn it and throw your ashes in the river!”

There is no statute of limitations on anger.

Wycliffe had made himself a major pain to the Christian establishment and they hated him for it. But his true sin worthy of being dug up and burned was he led the process of translating of the Bible into English, with work done by “unlicensed laity” and was declared a heretic three decades after his death.

Over one hundred years later, William Tyndale translated the Bible into English for the first time and was arrested, hung and then burned at the stake.

I am not sure, but maybe from these two instances is where we get the concept of “overkill.”

More than seventy-five years following Tyndale’s death, the King James Version of the Bible was published (1611), which drew heavily on the translation work from Tyndale (some estimates set it at 75-80%), proving that time does heal some hurts.

Quite a number of years ago, I was working for a company involved with fund-raising for various non-profits. On one occasion, I took a phone call from a gentleman who wanted some information about a certain Bible ministry before he made a substantial donation in support of their work. (If I recall, it was $10,000)

Before sending his donation, he wanted to confirm the Bibles being printed and distributed were using the King James Version and not some other edition.  Did I mention that the ministry was sending Bibles to Russia? (Kind of a key point here)

Me: “No sir. We are sending Russian language Bibles to Russia”

Him: “Are they King James Russian-language Bibles?”

Me: (Trying not to laugh) “No sir, the King James Bible is an English translation and we are sending Russian-language Bibles to Russia.”

Him: “So, they are not the authorized version. Thank you for your help”. (Hang-up)

He did not make the donation. Evidently he expected Russian believers to first learn English, then learn 17th century English, and then, and only then, would they get a Bible.

I am not a Bible translation expert, but the King James Version is not an original source document of the Scriptures. Moses did not speak the king’s English. The Old Testament was written in Hebrew and the New Testament was written in Greek and Aramaic. Maybe English was one of the many tongues at the tower of Babel, but I am only guessing.

Sometimes we worship words rather than The Word and sometimes worshiping words takes interesting forms.

I have to think one reason that most movies depicting Biblical events employ British actors speaking the king’s English is because the language is somehow more “spiritual” in most viewers’ minds because of the popularity of the KJV.

Every Christian has been in a prayer meeting when a regular person from the church has transformed themselves into a member of King James court when praying. Maybe they are worshipping the words rather than The Word or maybe it is simply habit.

When Mel Gibson’s film The Passion of the Christ released over a decade ago, a controversial element was the various characters speaking Latin, Aramaic or Hebrew with English subtitles. Gibson did that because the people in the original story spoke Latin, Aramaic and Hebrew. He dared to be accurate.

To conclude, we all have a choice of two options when communicating, and you need to choose one or the other, so choose wisely.

The first option is to have a lovely combination of words crafted by you and delightful in every way in your mind, saying exactly what you want to say without input or changes from anyone.

The second option is to communicate a message clearly with the help of a team of people who are thinking about how it will be understood.

The first choice focuses on you and your words. The second focuses on the reader and the goal. Deciding what is most important to you could mean all the difference to your writing career.

Worshipping words is a hollow religion anyway.

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Category: Communication, Craft, CreativityTag: Communication, words

Does Google Like Your Web Site?

By Steve Laubeon May 4, 2015
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In case you missed it, on April 21st Google changed how they rank web site searches. If a site is not “mobile-friendly” it will no longer be ranked higher than one that is “mobile-friendly.” Some were calling this “mobilegeddon” because of the impact it would have. What Does Mobile-Friendly Mean? This refers to whether or not your site is optimized for a smart-phone screen. Sites that have what is …

Read moreDoes Google Like Your Web Site?
Category: Book Business, Branding, Career, Communication, Marketing, Platform, TechnologyTag: Book Business, Google+, Technology, Web Sites

Fun Fridays – May 1, 2015

By Steve Laubeon May 1, 2015
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Some light-hearted fun for you today!

Read moreFun Fridays – May 1, 2015
Category: Fun Fridays

A Definition of a Successful Artist

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon April 30, 2015
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Recently I witnessed an artist (not a writer) put work out to the public that I believe needed some polish. Some of my close family and I agreed that it shouldn’t have been released without being improved first. However, this artist was being cheered by intimate friends and family. I’m not positive all of these people actually like the art itself. I think many of them just want to …

Read moreA Definition of a Successful Artist
Category: Art, Awards, Craft, CreativityTag: Art, Career, Success

A Simple Truth is the Key to Your Writing Success

By Karen Ballon April 29, 2015
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I sat down to write this blog and discovered something: My muse was mute. No, maybe said muse was still asleep. Actually, I think he (she? I’m never quite clear on that…) went on vacation and didn’t tell me. No postcard, no nothing. Seriously, I sat there, staring at the keys and… Zilch. Come on, I urged my weary writer’s brain, there has to be something I can write today. Just one bit of …

Read moreA Simple Truth is the Key to Your Writing Success
Category: CareerTag: Career, Writers Block

Time Travel?

By Dan Balowon April 28, 2015
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Most people find it astounding how long it takes for things to happen in traditional publishing. Even after spending months or even years writing, an author waits for weeks or months to hear from an agent, who if they agree to work together, wait weeks and months for publishers to make a decision and then finally a book is scheduled to be published a year or more in the future.  Sometimes two …

Read moreTime Travel?
Category: Book Proposals, Career, Get Published, The Publishing LifeTag: publishing, The Publishing Life, Time

Happy Birthday iTunes Store! Thanks for the Warning…

By Steve Laubeon April 27, 2015
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Twelve years ago this week (April 28, 2003) Apple announced the launch of a new way to buy digital music. The iTunes Store. (Click for the original press release.) It started with 200,000 songs available for purchase. (Today there are more than 26 million songs available for sale.) The iTunes software had been introduced a couple years earlier, but now it became a commercial venture. A place where …

Read moreHappy Birthday iTunes Store! Thanks for the Warning…
Category: Book Business, Economics, TrendsTag: Book Business, Digital Books, Economics, iTunes

Fun Fridays – April 24, 2015

By Steve Laubeon April 24, 2015
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The ultimate penguin gear. Hope it brings a smile to your day. [Click here if the sweater design is unclear.]

Read moreFun Fridays – April 24, 2015
Category: Fun Fridays

What Should I Wear to a Conference

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon April 23, 2015
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If you have been following my posts on this blog, you may be aware that this topic was prompted by a question asked on last week’s blog. One of our faithful readers wanted to know what to wear to a major conference. I didn’t intend to devote a complete post to this seemingly shallow topic until the answer she deserved became quite detailed. So here we are. I don’t believe God …

Read moreWhat Should I Wear to a Conference
Category: Career, Conferences, Get PublishedTag: Attire, writers conferences

Tools from the Front Lines: Emotional Memory

By Karen Ballon April 22, 2015
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You’ve heard it over and over: Show, don’t tell. And that’s appropriate whether you’re writing fiction or nonfiction. When you communicate emotions in your writing, when those emotions are vital to your scene or message, it’s more powerful to show them. Now, I’m not going to tackle the pros and cons of telling, or when and why it’s better to show. (I covered at that in a previous post, so go there …

Read moreTools from the Front Lines: Emotional Memory
Category: Craft, Creativity, Writing CraftTag: Craft, Emotional Memory, Writing Craft
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