Spoiler alert: God’s nature never changes. His truth is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow.
While Christian writers seek to write in a compelling, engaging manner, seeking to pull readers through their books from paragraph to paragraph and page after page, the foundational theology of which they write never changes.
You might write about the need for someone to make Jesus the Lord of their lives, but it will be this verse which is the reason:
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16, NIV).
When life gets complicated, this verse will always be the balm that will soothe a troubled heart and encourage a Christ-follower to see their lives the way God does:
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28, NIV).
When strength is gone and a situation seems hopeless:
I can do everything through him who gives me strength (Philippians 4:13, NIV).
When we wonder how to live in a fallen world, we recall this:
Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will (Romans 12:2, NIV).
And on it goes.
A number of updated lists of Bible verses that are the most-searched verses online appear each year. Those above are in the top 10 as compiled by BibleStudyTools.com.
No new theology is indicated from global Internet searches for help from the Bible that are conducted year after year. The same lists could have been compiled by any Christian over the last eighteen hundred years. God’s Word is always relevant and practical.
Why?
But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:14-17, NIV).
Whenever I hear someone say they don’t believe in the Bible because it isn’t science, I smile a bit, knowing our God has never changed. But we used to think the sun orbited around the earth, the earth was flat, smoking cigarettes was good for you, and cottage cheese was healthy eating. (I tossed that last one in because I don’t like it to feel justified.)
While you should work hard to find new and interesting ways to communicate, building stories, plots, and prose that reach the heart and head of a reader, the truth behind your writing is settled. This fact should be calming and encouragement for any Christian writer.
Mysteries of the English Language
Theology’s the boat we ride
in the work of living faithfully
to take us to the other side
of this deadly mortal sea.
You don’t stop and rebuild the thing
in the midst of the abyss;
to try this folly sure would bring
you sinking with a hiss
to the demons’ dark abode,
and no amount of talk
will serve as influential goad,
restore you to the waves He walked,
so hew ye unto Holy Truth
with Salvation as your proof.
Truth. Thank you!
“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Heb. 13:8).
Every word of this article is “apples of gold in settings of silver”. Thank you!
A wonderful, inspiring and soul-calming post from the best agent in the universe. Thanks, Dan.
Thanks for the excellent article, Dan. PS you’re a nut.
The Bible does not change or evolve, and my life story, even with the Bible’s truths as its foundation, changes all the time. I want to convey my life’s struggles with that foundation into my books.
Thank you for the reminder and the reassurance this brings to my soul today.
Jesus Christ is the solid rock to stand on.
Blessings!
Thank you, Dan, for this blog. It confirms what I’ve been teaching.
For ten years I’ve been teaching seniors “How to Write Your Spiritual Memoir” – to proclaim His Story about them, not their story. I ask seniors to cite specific Scriptures corresponding to Lessons Learned and Spiritual Insights gained to emphasize His Story during their life’s journey.
I’ve written my Spiritual Memoir (twice) – updated with this title: God Nods on His Story About Me. And, have written God Nods on True Love – the first novel in a Trilogy (God Nods on Truth is next, followed by God Nods on Destiny).
[God Nods are God-orchestrated events and people that could not have just happened by fate, good fortune, luck, chance, or coincidence. Visit my website – http://www.godnods.net – for more descriptions]
I encourage seniors to describe His Story in non-preachy ways that will inspire readers – especially their own family – to want to know more about our God (Father, Son and Holy Spirit). Seniors are the last generation to live in a Judeo-Christian culture and thus can describe this and contrast it with today’s “woke culture.”
My ultimate goals are (1) to embolden Christians to stand up to the “woke culture” by proclaiming what the Bible teaches (i.e., Scriptures that sustained them), so that (2) younger generations will “know that God causes all things to work together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28 NASB) … (3) and will come to realize what Peter realized: “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life. And we have already believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God.” (John 6:68-69)
NOTE: I’m seeking one Christian agent for my fiction and non-fiction writing. Any suggestions?
Again, thank you Dan – God’s Blessings on your work/passion.
Thanks for the reminder, Dan.
Thanks for the poetry, Andrew.
I especially liked the line “You don’t stop and rebuild the thing
in the midst of the abyss;” Indeed not!
Sally, thank you so much! Do glad you enjoyed it!
Awesome – Thank you!