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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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Does God Need a Makeover?

By Karen Ballon July 11, 2012
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I have had some interesting conversations over the last few weeks with several different authors about the fact that God often doesn’t do things the way we expect. In fact, there are times when God’s ways—and the ways of those He used–seem…

Strange.

Unfair.

Even–dare I say it?–wrong.

Think about it.

The person who came to work in the field just before the day ended got paid the same as the folks who’d worked all day.

God hardened Pharaoh’s heart so he wouldn’t let the Israelites go.

God promised Abram and Isaac that their descendants would be more than the sands on the beach…and gave them wives who were barren.

God gave a prophecy to Rebekah about Jacob, which she “helped along” by some of the most blatant favoritism found in Scripture.

A guy tries to keep the Ark of the Covenant from falling on the ground, and God strikes the poor slob dead.

And on it goes. Things happening, and people doing things, that seem, to say the least, outside the boundaries of godly behavior.

Now, I’m not looking to get into a theological discussion with anyone, so please don’t post all the reasons I’m being a heretic. This isn’t about theology. It’s about writing. More than that, it’s about authentic writing.

A number of the authors I’ve been talking with have come to me because they’re struggling.

“I don’t want to write something that makes God look bad.”

“If I don’t add something here to make this make sense, what will people think of God?”

“This makes so little sense to the contemporary reader, won’t they just see God as unfair?”

These questions, and others like them, seem to come tucked inside the package when God gives you the task to write about Him. Whether you’re crafting fiction or nonfiction, odds are very good that you’re going to hit a spot where your fingers pause over the keyboard, and you struggle.

Because God’s ways are NOT our ways.

Not by a long-shot.

We want life to be fair, and God to appear righteous, even to those readers who don’t share our faith. I mean, He’s GOD, right? So of course we need to make sure we write words that make what God and/or His selected people do look right.

Pure.

Godly.

But here’s the thing. When we pretty up God and the people He’s used, we skate on some very thin ice. Basically we’re trying to put God in a nice, reasonable box. One that’s all wrapped up in sparkly paper, no wrinkles anywhere, with a big, beautiful bow on top. But friends, we can’t do that. None of us can sand off the seemingly rough edges or whitewash the hard realities of who God is.

Not without taking away from the fact that He is God.

I love what C.S. Lewis writes in The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, God is Good, but he’s not Tame.

He’s not a God who fits in a nice, neat little box. Let alone one with a bow on top.

God’s not…pretty. He’s GOD. Almighty. Omniscent. Ever Present. The Beginning and the End. And there are things we will never understand about why He does what He does, or why He uses whom He uses. (David? Really, God? A guy who has an affair with a married woman, then murders her husband?)

But as hard as the reality is, the last thing your readers need is a cleaned-up, spit-and-polished, sanitized God. Nor do they need you to explain away His wildness. Instead, I challenge you to write about the reality of following a God who is so far beyond our ability to comprehend that at times we can only shake our heads and say, “I don’t get it. I don’t even like it a lot. But you know, God is GOD. And I trust Him.”

Are you writing about biblical characters who behaved badly? Then be honest about that. Let them be who they really were, not the versions that have gone through some spiritual makeover. Recognize that not every biblical tale, nor every encounter with God, is inspirational.

Some, my friends, are cautionary.

But whatever you are crafting, I guarantee if you’re honest and authentic with your readers, God will use your words to change lives. Because He uses everyday people who will speak truth–even scary, less-than-pretty truth.

Does God need a makeover? Hardly. He just needs us–no, He commands us—to speak (and write) truth in His name. And to taste and see.

That He’s good.

That He’s love.

That He’s the real thing, not some sugary substitute.

Write truth, friends.

And let God be God.

 

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Category: Karen, TheologyTag: Theology

News You Can Use – July 10, 2012

By Steve Laubeon July 10, 2012
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Publishing on the Cloud is the Next Big Thing! – Mike Shatzkin writes yet another brilliant analysis of our industry.

Give Your Work Away for Free – Derek Webb makes an argument that “free” will end up making you money. Seth Godin used the same principle in some of his promotions. The difference is that Webb is talking about music. However, the music business and the book business are not …

Read moreNews You Can Use – July 10, 2012
Category: News You Can Use, SteveTag: Bookstores, Get Published, Marketing

Can You Plagiarize Yourself?

By Steve Laubeon July 9, 2012
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Recently John Lehrer of “The New Yorker” was discovered to have reused past material for his articles and his bestselling book Imagine: How Creativity Works.  Here are links to the articles unveiling the controversy. From Jim Romenesko, Jacob Silverman, and Edward Champion. There has been considerable outrage and a genuine apology from John Lehrer. This incident begs the question, “Can you …

Read moreCan You Plagiarize Yourself?
Category: Book Business, Book Business, Career, Contracts, Writing CraftTag: plagiarism

Fun Fridays – July 6, 2012

By Steve Laubeon July 6, 2012
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Where in the World is Matt - 2012 Edition

This five minute world tour is guaranteed to make you smile. Don't skip to it, but wait for the 4:08 mark for something special.

And if you missed the original, here is the 2008 Edition:

Read moreFun Fridays – July 6, 2012
Category: Fun Fridays, Steve

A Few Tips on Social Media

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon July 5, 2012
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This may seem like an interruption to my series on writing proposals, but it is not. I plan to address the Marketing section of a proposal in the near future. However, before writers can think about marketing in general, they need to understand social media because an author who has mastered social media will be more attractive to a publisher. They want to partner with savvy authors. Thomas …

Read moreA Few Tips on Social Media
Category: Book Proposals, Get Published, Marketing, TamelaTag: book proposals, Social Media

The Most Patriotic Dog in America

By Steve Laubeon July 4, 2012
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HT: Take Your Vitamin Z

Read moreThe Most Patriotic Dog in America
Category: HumorTag: Humor

A Deep Appreciation

By Karen Ballon July 4, 2012
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I have a soul-deep appreciation for those in the military. My grandfather and two uncles served in the Army. My dad in the Navy. My older brother in the Marines. But even without these family ties, I would find there's just something wondrous about those who place their lives in harm's way for the rest of us. These are the warriors who have made America a land of liberty. A land based on deep …

Read moreA Deep Appreciation
Category: Karen, PersonalTag: July 4th, Personal

News You Can Use – July 3, 2012

By Steve Laubeon July 3, 2012
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What Retailers Know that Publishers Need to Know - Mike Shatzkin analyzes the importance of data in what is truly the "Science of Bookselling."

Your Hotel Bible is now a Kindle - This is a new one. Kindles in the nightstand in your hotel room with the Bible pre-loaded. Fascinating.

Using Evernote for Screenwriting - Brilliant adaptation of the Evernote software by Héctor Cabello …

Read moreNews You Can Use – July 3, 2012
Category: News You Can Use, SteveTag: Agents, Bookselling, Copyright, evernote, Humor

A Little Less Shade, A Little More Light

By Steve Laubeon July 2, 2012
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by Steve Laube

There could not be a better argument for the need for good Christian romantic fiction than the recent sales phenomenon of the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy. In case you aren't aware, this trilogy has sold ten million copies in the last three months. Ten million copies. The content of these novels should be x-rated and yet sit atop every bestseller list in the country. The …

Read moreA Little Less Shade, A Little More Light
Category: Craft, Creativity, Genre, Get Published, Romance, Steve, Writing CraftTag: Christian, Creativity, Genre, Romance

Fun Fridays – June 29, 2012

By Steve Laubeon June 29, 2012
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Over 1,000 heat records set this week across the U.S. It can be kind of hot in Phoenix this time of year (112 degrees today), but this weather forecast for Baltimore takes the prize for hottest day EVER!

Read moreFun Fridays – June 29, 2012
Category: Fun Fridays, SteveTag: Humor
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