Theology

Fun Fridays – October 8, 2021

By Steve Laubeon October 8, 2021

Enjoy today’s video of master potters at work. Seven minutes of extraordinary creativity and artistry.

I could not help but compile the following:

“I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was working at his wheel. And the vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter’s hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to do. Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? But now, O Lord, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand” (Jeremiah 18:3-4; Romans 9:21; Isaiah 64:8).

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God Gave Me This Blog Post

By Steve Laubeon September 27, 2021

God gave me this blog post. By invoking divine inspiration, I have guaranteed that you will read this post and possibly give me money to read more. Sound like a stretch? Then what if I just wrote or said: “God spoke to me.”“I was led to write this.”“God revealed this to me.”“I have been called to write this.”“I believe this is an inspired post.” In the Christian publishing industry, editors, …

Category: Book Business, TheologyTag: Pitching, Theology

Creation and Imitation – A Writer’s Prayer

By Bob Hostetleron September 22, 2021

Lord God, beautiful Creator, I have yet to create anything. From mud pies to masterpieces, everything I have formed or fashioned has been a simple, sometimes crude, rearrangement of your mighty works. I have ever and always used the raw materials you provide to make something that seemed new but was in reality an imitation of you, of your words, your wonders. Sometimes, I confess, I have cravenly …

Category: Theology

Author Statement of Faith

By Dan Balowon August 18, 2021

I hope this isn’t a surprise, but if you put a hundred random, but devoted Christ-followers in a room, you would probably end up with a few differing opinions on a variety of theological issues. Hopefully, the disagreements wouldn’t be related to the essentials of the faith; but I suspect there would be some discussion over what is essential and what is not. As long as we disagree about some …

Category: Get Published, The Writing Life, Theology

The Pressure Is Off

By Dan Balowon August 5, 2021

Last week, I wrote about the pressure on writers to write well and compelling enough to gain and keep readers. Today, I promise to take some pressure off. For Christian writers only, if you feel the pressure to affect a reader’s life rests entirely on your own ability to write well, here are some red-letter words direct from the Creator God. From the Old Testament book of Job, chapter 38, verses …

Category: Book Business, Inspiration, The Writing Life, Theology

Our Essential Work

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon July 22, 2021

My husband and I recently attended a ceremony for a milestone event, after which we felt depressed for several days. The memory still leaves us despondent. Why? Because no one invited the Lord. No one mentioned Him in any way, shape, or form. I waited helplessly to hear His name. Luke 17:27 rang unbidden in my mind: They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until …

Category: Personal, Theology

In Your Time (A Writer’s Prayer)

By Bob Hostetleron June 30, 2021

Heavenly Father, you make everything beautiful in your time (Ecclesiastes 3:11). I submit to your timing. I await your timing. I desire what you will, as you will, when you will. That goes for my writing, too. I long to touch lives with my words … in your time.I want to write passionately, effectively, impactfully … in your time.I yearn to think and …

Category: Encouragement, Faith, Inspiration, Theology

31 Ways to Pray for Your Writing

By Bob Hostetleron June 17, 2021

I consider prayer to be an important—indispensable, even—part of the writing life. I’ve written about that here, in fact. I’ve also written and published 31-day prayer resources (here and here). So, I thought I’d offer here a 31-day prayer plan specifically for you and your writing. See how nice I am? (Pray for me.) 1 “Alpha and Omega, First …

Category: Encouragement, Inspiration, The Writing Life, Theology

Success

By Dan Balowon May 5, 2021

I am using the 20th year remembrance of the death of Clifton Hillegass as inspiration to make a larger point about the direction an author’s life can take. Clifton (pictured above is his statue in Kearney, NE) was the creator of CliffsNotes and passed away in Lincoln, Nebraska, at the age of 83 on May 5, 2001. I assume most of you reading this post are aware of CliffsNotes and also of how much …

Category: Creativity, The Writing Life, TheologyTag: Success

When the Outlook Is Bleak

By Steve Laubeon April 26, 2021

by Steve Laube

In the constant ebb and flow of this industry we have authors celebrating and authors in tears. Ask any agent and you will hear the same. For every author excited about their new contract there is another experiencing bitter disappointment.

And I wish I could fix it.

To hear the anguish is difficult, but to be the one who delivers the bad news is heart-wrenching. Why is it …

Category: Book Business, Career, TheologyTag: Career, Encouragement, Outlook