• Skip to main content
  • Skip to after header navigation
  • Skip to site footer

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

  • Home
  • About
    • Who We Are
    • Frequently Asked Questions
    • Interview with Steve Laube
    • Statement of Faith
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
  • Guidelines
  • Authors
    • Who We Represent
    • Awards and Recognition
  • Resources
    • Recommended Reading
    • Christian Writers Market Guide Online
    • Christian Writers Institute
    • Writers Conferences
    • Freelance Editorial Services
    • Copyright Resources
    • Research Tools
    • Selling What You Write
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • Twitter
  • FaceBook
  • RSS Feed
  • Get Published
  • Book Proposals
  • Book Business
  • Writing Craft
    • Conferences
    • Copyright
    • Craft
    • Creativity
    • Grammar
  • Fun Fridays
Home » Faith » Page 4

Faith

Stories in Hiding Places

By Dan Balowon April 15, 2014
Share
Tweet
14

The Hiding Place

Since I blog on Tuesdays and the next April 15 to fall on a Tuesday is not for another eleven years, I felt like I couldn’t pass up this opportunity.

Corrie ten Boom was born on this date in 1892 and died on this date in 1983.  If Evangelicals were in the habit of naming saints, she would be among them.

For those unaware of this great Christian woman, she and her family helped many Jews escape the Nazis during World War Two in occupied Holland.  The classic book, The Hiding Place (Chosen Books, 1971) and movie (1975) by the same name chronicled this dramatic story.

Seventy years ago, in early 1944, an informant told German soldiers about a secret room in the ten Booms family home in Haarlem, Holland used for hiding Jews so they would not be sent to concentration camps. (The picture above is the entrance to that secret room, now preserved)

The Nazi’s raided the house and arrested the entire family.  After a stop in a nearby prison camp, Corrie and her sister Betsie were eventually transferred to Ravensbruck concentration camp in Germany, about 50 miles north of Berlin. 

Shortly before she died in December 1944, Betsie told Corrie, “There is no pit so deep that He (God) is not deeper still.”  They would become words burned into Corrie’s soul and the souls of people who heard Corrie speak in the 70’s after The Hiding Place released and became an international bestseller.

Twelve days after Betsie died, Corrie was unexpectedly released from the camp in what was discovered later as a “clerical error” on the part of the Germans.

During my freshman year at Wheaton College (IL), Corrie came to campus to speak at a mandatory 10:30 am chapel for students on November 12, 1974. Forty years later I can still see the little 82 year-old woman speaking quietly to 2,000 wide and teary-eyed college students and faculty…giving testimony to God’s love, grace, forgiveness, faithfulness and mercy.  And for a brief moment, self-absorbed college students got a taste for what it meant to completely surrender to Jesus Christ.

John and Elizabeth Sherrill wrote The Hiding Place, but according to some accounts, they came to hear about Corrie in the mid-1960’s while researching another book, God’s Smuggler, the story of another Dutchman, Andrew van der Bijl (Brother Andrew) which was published in 1967.  Brother Andrew and Corrie travelled for ministry together.

I started out wanting to write about Corrie ten Boom on the date she was born and died, because she is a Christian hero in our definition of the word, but undoubtedly, in God’s as well. (Sometimes those two definitions are not the same)

But once I had a chance to revisit her life and consider her impact on the Christian publishing world, as well as that of John and Elizabeth Sherrill, I was reminded that the greatest stories are those where God is involved throughout a journey and often unseen. Sometimes the plot and characters are unexpected and the outcome is even more surprising. 

God is in the process of writing our stories every day and giving those of you who write, new material, often from unexpected places.

Corrie ten Boom once commented on how we should trust God’s faithfulness and work in our lives through all circumstances when she said, “When a train goes through a tunnel and it gets dark, you don’t throw away your ticket and jump off. You sit still and trust the engineer.”

Be still, and know that I am God.  (Psalm 46:10)

Leave a Comment
Category: Book Review, Christian, Dan, Faith, Personal, Writing CraftTag: Book Review, Faith, publishing, Reading

God’s Timing

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon March 20, 2014
Share14
Tweet
19

Since he is a wise businessman himself, my husband almost never calls me when I’m at a conference. He knows how hectic business travel can be. But on a recent trip, he had asked me to call him when I reached the venue. Excited and pulled into a meeting immediately upon my arrival, I forgot to call. So right in the middle of a later worship service, my phone summoned me. Hubby’s special …

Read moreGod’s Timing
Category: Christian, Faith, Personal, TamelaTag: Christian, Faith, God's Timing

What Will You Give Up for Lent?

By Karen Ballon February 26, 2014
Share31
Tweet
18

Believe it or not, Easter is just around the corner. Which means something else is almost upon us:

Lent.

I love the idea of a 40-day preparation for Easter, of refocusing our hearts and minds to spend more time in prayer and contemplation of what Christ has done for us. And I’ve always been intrigued by the idea of “giving up” something for those 40 days. Even more intriguing—and sometimes …

Read moreWhat Will You Give Up for Lent?
Category: Career, Christian, Faith, Karen, Personal, TheologyTag: Career, Faith, lent

The Quiet Miracle

By Dan Balowon December 24, 2013
Share52
Tweet
8

Jesus Christ being born of a virgin in a stable in Bethlehem over 2,000 years ago was one of greatest miracles by God.  Ranking miracles is a silly pursuit, so I will avoid that, but consider this…

The Creator of the entire physical universe, who existed before time itself, with infinite power, majesty and holiness, restrained all that glory and squeezed himself into a tiny, humble, human baby, …

Read moreThe Quiet Miracle
Category: Christian, Dan, Faith, PersonalTag: Christian, Christmas, Faith

The Anti-Christ-mas Redeemed

By Steve Laubeon December 23, 2013
Share26
Tweet
12

by Steve Laube

Ebenezer Scrooge shouted, “What is Christmas to you but a time for paying bills without money; a time for finding yourself a year older, but not an hour richer….Every idiot who goes about with ‘Merry Christmas’ on his lips should be boiled with his own pudding and buried with a stake of holly through his heart.”

Not the most merry of sentiments but is illustrative of the …

Read moreThe Anti-Christ-mas Redeemed
Category: Christian, Faith, Personal, SteveTag: Christian, Christmas, Faith

Handling Disappointment

By Steve Laubeon October 14, 2013
Share62
Tweet
30

by Steve Laube

I do not like to experience disappointment. I do not like rejection, even when it isn’t my personal project being turned down. I do not like to be the bearer of bad news.

And yet I do experience disappointment, rejection, and the telling of bad news…every week. That is the nature of the arts.

The arts (meaning music, writing, dance, and painting) is comprised of …

Read moreHandling Disappointment
Category: Encouragement, Faith, Get Published, Personal, Rejection, Steve, Theology, Writing CraftTag: disappointment, Encouragement, Faith, Rejection

Let the LIGHT In!

By Karen Ballon October 2, 2013
Share118
Tweet
26

People being gunned down.

Government shutdowns.

Families in financial crisis.

Politicians calling each other names.

Increasing assaults on religious freedoms.

All of this and more overflow us. On the news. Over the Internet. In our conversations. It would be so easy to think these ugly things are all there is of life nowadays. To feel sad and angry and hopeless...

Which is why …

Read moreLet the LIGHT In!
Category: Christian, Faith, Karen, Writing CraftTag: Christian, Faith, Writing Craft

Make Today Count

By Steve Laubeon September 9, 2013
Share49
Tweet
17

by Steve Laube

This past week was my mom's 91st birthday. When we talked she spoke about the possibility of doing a Bible study with other members of her retirement community. She is making every day count.

This coming week marks one year since the death of my father. Many of you have experienced similar loss. It is a reminder that our time on earth is finite.

Below is a great video …

Read moreMake Today Count
Category: Career, Christian, Faith, Personal, SteveTag: Career, Faith

Miracle

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon March 28, 2013
Share29
Tweet
16

by Tamela Hancock Murray

This time of year, Christians contemplate the marvel that is the resurrection of Christ. Such an event seems magical, though God is never a genie, ready to grant our every wish. Even Jesus was not granted His plea in the Garden of Gethsemane as He asked the Father to take the cup of death from Him. But was there any other way? No, there was not. How else could have …

Read moreMiracle
Category: Christian, Faith, Tamela, TheologyTag: Christian, Faith

The Writing Book for Your Year

By Steve Laubeon January 7, 2013
Share20
Tweet
18

by Steve Laube

Note the title of this post did not say “of the year” but “for your year.” It is rare for me to recommend books on writing because there are so many good ones out there, but this one is an exception.

The spiritual foundation of the writer is critical to surviving and even thriving in the call as an artist.  Acceptable Words: Prayers for the Writer (published by Eerdmans) …

Read moreThe Writing Book for Your Year
Category: Book Review, Faith, Reading, Steve, TheologyTag: Book Review, Faith, Reading, Writers
  • Previous
  • Go to page 1
  • Go to page 2
  • Go to page 3
  • Go to page 4
  • Go to page 5
  • Next
  • Home
  • About
    • Who We Are
    • Frequently Asked Questions
    • Interview with Steve Laube
    • Statement of Faith
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
  • Guidelines
  • Authors
    • Who We Represent
    • Awards and Recognition
  • Resources
    • Recommended Reading
    • Christian Writers Market Guide Online
    • Christian Writers Institute
    • Writers Conferences
    • Freelance Editorial Services
    • Copyright Resources
    • Research Tools
    • Selling What You Write
  • Blog
  • Contact

Copyright © 2023 · The Steve Laube Agency · All Rights Reserved · Website by Stormhill Media