How You Can Help

If you are a regular follower of my blog, Facebook page, or Twitter, you're probably absolutely sick and tired of my pitches for Laughing with Sarah. Believe me, it gets old to me too. But the sad truth of writing a book is that the author is the primary spokesman for his book. If the author doesn't sell it, it won't get sold. That is, of course, unless your name happens to be John Grisham or Joel Osteen or someone else with a huge platform from which to sell books.

It is a well-known fact in the publishing business that authors must sell their books. It is also a fact that it is one thing to write a book and it is another thing to sell a book. This is why the average book sells only 500 copies. Most authors enjoy the task of writing, but they despise the task of selling. With that said, I wanted to post something that will help sell a few more copies of Laughing with Sarah.

But here's why:

My church, TrueNorth Church, has a contract on 16 acres of land. We've been meeting in a high school for five years and we are ready to venture out and get our own space. In order to possess the land, we have entered a month-long campaign to raise the money for not only a downpayment but a considerable chunk of money toward this project. The We Unite Land Offering will be received on Sunday, September 20.

Between now and then, we have asked our church members to not only sacrifice but to use creative means to generate more income for themselves that they can pass on to TrueNorth. We have folks who are having yard sales, making quilts, selling jewelry, working overtime, etc. We reminded them of Deuteronomy 8:18 which tells us that God gives us the ability to produce wealth. Steve, our Lead Pastor, has challenged our people to use their creative abilities to generate this offering.

One of the ways that I can contribute is through book sales. So, here is my challenge for you. If we can get a viral campaign going for Laughing with Sarah, who knows how much income it could bring? I have pledged to give all September profits from the sales of LWS to TrueNorth's WE UNITE Land Offering. Of course, even after that, I will give at least a tithe on the profits in the future. If LWS sales really go through the roof, I will fund the whole project!! (Do you believe in miracles?)

So what can you do to help? Here are some ideas:

• Buy my book. (Seems obvious, huh?)
• Tell your friends, family, colleagues, etc. about it. Bring it up at lunch, over coffee, or other gatherings. But don't give your copy away. Ask them to buy it or buy one for them.
  
• Have a copy of LWS on your desk or in a prominent place where others can see it.
• Blog about it. Facebook about it. Twitter about it.
• Add a link to LaughingWithSarah.com to your blog, website, or Facebook page. Let your friends know.
• Start an email campaign. Send everyone in your address book a personal note endorsing LWS with a link to www.LaughingWithSarah.com or the direct link to Amazon.com, Barnes&Noble.com, et. al.
  
• Help me accomplish "250 squared." What is that, you ask? If 250 people tell 250 people about LWS, the result is that 62,500 people will hear about LWS. 250 X 250 = 62,500. If you ask your 250 friends to pass the word on to 250 of their friends, that number becomes over 15 MILLION people.
• Go to Amazon.com and write a review. 5 stars would be nice - if you think it's deserved, of course.
• Give the book as a gift. Buy them for upcoming Christmas or birthday presents. Let me know if you want it signed.
• Ask for it at bookstores and request it at your local library.
• Become a reseller if you have a platform from which to sell. For example, you own a store, you teach seminars, or you host training classes.

If this seems self-serving, I apologize. But this is my way of helping contribute to the future of TNC.

One more thing to note, just in case you're wondering. My profits from the sales of LWS vary depending on the distributor. The minimum profit is a little less than $4 per book. When Amazon sells it, for example, I make $3.71. The most is about $9. So you can do the math to see how many people need to buy LWS in order to make this thing go crazy!

I would appreciate your help in any way. Thanks for reading all of this!!

Reality Check

This video may disturb you but it is certainly a good reality check.

http://www.bradcooper.us/?p=1577

Book Review: Uncharted by Angela Hunt

I sat under Angela Hunt for four days at a fiction writing class last May at the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference. You can see my post about the conference and a picture of Angie and me here.

Since Angie has written over 100 books, sold over 3 million, and won tons of awards, I thought it would be good to not only sit under her tutelage but to read some of her work too. So I've collected several of her books to add to my stack. Beth read Uncharted early in the summer and I read it at the beach a few weeks ago.

Publisher's Weekly described Uncharted as a blend of the movies Castaway and The Big Chill, with a touch of the TV series, Lost, creatively thrown together with the biblical story of the beggar Lazarus and C.S. Lewis's The Great Divorce.

Five long-time friends from college take time off for an adventure of a lifetime to complete a mission project in the South Pacific to honor the memory of their friend who recently died. But when a storm rocks their plans, they find themselves hurled onto a desolate island, and relief fades to fear. Nature rules with a vengeance. The lone shelter from the raw conditions is a sinister cave. Are they victims of a bizarre psychological experiment? Or could this godforsaken place have the power to maroon them forever?

By the time you put down Uncharted, you will be amazed at the spiritual lessons you learned.

Final Vision photos

Great photos by Mike Adams from our Dunk'd service last Saturday. Click here

What a Weekend!

TrueNorth Church celebrated its 5th birthday in a big way this weekend. Saturday night at the Riverwalk Amphitheater we worshiped and celebrated the baptism of 43 people. As usual, most of our baptizees were adults. All totaled, TNC has seen 578 individuals baptized in its first five years.

That is an amazing statistic.

Most new churches don't even make it to the five year mark. Not only has TNC made it for five years, we've made it in a BIG way!

And as if that weren't enough, this morning we made a big announcement. We have the opportunity to purchase 16 acres on Martintown Road. What a beautiful piece of land! Each service responded wildly when Stevie D presented it to us via video. What a memorable day! What a ride! What a weekend!

What's It Like to Die?

I wrote this for a funeral that I'm conducting tomorrow. Thought you might like it.

I can't fully describe heaven to you. The Bible describes it in colorful language. Revelation 21:21 says that heaven is so great that our most valuable asset here on earth, gold, is what will be used for pavement in heaven.

I think that moving from this life to heaven maybe similar to our being born here on earth. When you were in your mother's womb, you were completely comfortable. You had a warm, comfortable little spot. Food was delivered to you automatically via an umbilical cord. You had no need for clothing. You didn't worry about food, clothing, and shelter when you were in your mother's womb. You didn't know what a mortgage was, or a job, or school, or any of the challenges that we all face. You had it made.

But one day, something happened. The walls around you began to rumble. Things were changing fast and before you knew it you found yourself in a cold, brightly lit room full of people in hospital gowns gathered around a weeping woman. You had no idea what was ahead of you.

If somehow we could communicate with an infant in his mother's womb and describe what was to come after birth, the infant might say, "No, thanks. I'm completely comfortable here in mom's belly. I'll just stay here."

You didn't know what was to come. You couldn't comprehend what was in store for you during your lifetime. But aren't you glad you were born?

I believe our transition from this life to eternal life might be like that. Just like you couldn't imagine or comprehend life on the other side of your mother's womb, you can't imagine or comprehend life on the other side of the grave.

Book Review - Tuesdays with Morrie

Mitch Albom's book, Tuesdays with Morrie, has been out since 1997. It's one of those books that I'd heard about over the years and put on my "must read" list. I finally read it yesterday. As expected, it is an introspective book and true story that causes you to evaluate life and death.

Mitch is a successful sportswriter who reconnects with an old college professor, Morris "Morrie" Schwartz, when he learns that Morrie has ALS, i.e., Lou Gehrig's disease. Mitch lives in Detroit. Morrie lives in Boston. But Mitch makes it a point to become a student once again under his favorite teacher. Mitch flies to Boston to meet regularly with Morrie on Tuesdays for their final class together and he learns about what matters most in life through a dying man.

It is a refreshing story - funny, sad, reflective, and inspirational. Morrie's wit and wisdom engages you and Mitch's writing style makes you feel like you are in the room with them.

A few quotes:

Morrie about regrets: "The culture doesn't encourage you to think about such things until you're about to die. We're so wrapped up in egotistical things, career, family, having enough money, meeting the mortgage, getting a new car, fixing the radiator when it breaks - we're involved in trillions of little acts just to keep going. So we don't get into the habit of standing back and looking at our lives and saying, 'Is this all? Is this all I want? Is something missing?'"

Morrie about dying: "Everyone knows they're going to die, but nobody believes it. If we did, we would do things differently."

"To know you're going to die, and to be prepared for it at any time - that's better. That way you can actually be more involved in your life while you're living."

Morrie about money and status: "If you're trying to show off for people at the top, forget it. They will look down on you anyhow. And if you're trying to show off for people at the bottom, forget it. They will only envy you. Status will get you nowhere. Only an open heart will allow you to float equally between everyone."

Mitch wrote that Morrie was a "religious mutt." Morrie's insights came from his Jewish heritage, Christianity, and even some Eastern religions. While this book isn't from an absolute Christian point of view, it is definitely worth the read and its insights are valuable for us all.

The Breath of Life

This appeared today on www.christiandevotions.us. Thought I'd post it here too. You can subscribe to this service and receive a brief devotional thought each day. I recommend it!


The Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. Genesis 2:7

When I was in college I was a lifeguard at a local swimming pool. Prior to the summer season, I was certified in Water Safety, Life Saving, and CPR. Because it is dangerous to practice CPR on a person, we had to perform our techniques on a mannequin. We laughed about having to put our mouths on our artificial victims and we made sure to swab the areas clean with plenty of alcohol before passing them on to the next student.

It was hard to be serious about it because we all felt a little silly administering mouth-to-mouth to a plastic person.

However, a few months later, during a hot, humid, and busy July 4th weekend at the pool, I learned the value of knowing CPR. A swimmer passed out while standing atop a diving board ten feet from the ground. I rushed to his side, as did a Registered Nurse who happened to be nearby. The victim was unconscious and we immediately began administering CPR. It was definitely no laughing matter. It was critical.

The nurse and I were able to breathe life into our patient. He began breathing again and, in a few minutes, he was transported to a local hospital. Unfortunately, I learned later that afternoon that the young man died from injuries sustained from his fall.

I learned the value of life that day. I learned how quickly life can pass and how important it is to live each day to the fullest. I learned that God has breathed life into each one of us and that we have been given something very special. Do you realize that God has chosen to breathe life into you? It is a precious gift that we must use for His glory each and every day.

We only have one life to make an impact. One life to make a difference. One life to be a positive influence for Christ. What will you do with your one and only life?

by Gene Jennings

Fun with Constant Contact

In an effort to publicize and promote LWS, I've recently been introduced to Constant Contact. (I don't get any $$ if you hit the link, by the way. I'm just promoting them out of the goodness of my heart!) It is amazingly simple to use. Years ago, when I published Timely Words, I sent a weekly email out for awhile. It wasn't an easy task - especially managing the list. I was glad when I decided to can the weekly TW email.

If you are interested in promoting your book, ministry, family, hobby, etc. I would strongly encourage it. Their free 60 day trial is legit. You can use it without any obligation or credit card number.

If you would like to receive my Constant Contact mailings, you can subscribe in the box on the right.

An Idiot's Guide to Idioms

As a writer, I'm fascinated with words. I recently purchased A Dictionary of American Idioms. I know, I know, B-O-R-I-N-G!

An idiom is language peculiar to a people or culture. Many times an idiom has a meaning that can't be determined by the individual words themselves. For example, "Sunday week" means a week from this Sunday. I recently discovered in a staff meeting that this is apparently a Southern idiom. Other examples are: cool cat, fly off the handle, like a breeze, and kick the bucket.

The reason I bought this dictionary is because it's a thought-provoking, writer's block-curing, interesting book to thumb through when you're a little bored. It's also full of great book and article titles. For example, imagine the following as books or movies. (They may already be out there.)

At the End of Her Rope
Lion's Share
Means to an End
Out Cold
Drop in the Bucket
Dead Ringer
Devil to Pay

Books/Movies/TV Shows with idioms as titles:

Sixth Sense
Duck Soup
Facts of Life
Fall Guy
Growing Pains
Half-Time
Helter-Skelter
Rush Hour

Book Review - Same Kind of Different as Me

There are only a few books that I've read in two sittings. Same Kind of Different as Me is now on that short list. I read the first half of it last Saturday on the plane from Guatemala City to Atlanta. I read the second half last night.

What an incredible story!

It's a true and unlikely story about a wealthy Texas art dealer and his wife, passionate to show God's love to the homeless, and a hobo who spent most of his life as a modern-day slave (sharecropper) in Louisiana. The initial thought is that the story is about how the rich Texans would change the homeless man's life - and they did. But Denver, the homeless man, changed them much more.

Same Kind of Different as Me is a touching and powerful story about God's grace and mercy and the value of relationships. I highly recommend it. 5 STARS!

Out of the Dark (Again) and into the Whirlwind

I've spent a lot of time in the "dark" so far this summer. No or little internet or cellphone access has been kind of a nice relief. Beth, Bailey, and I left with 8 others from TNC for a week in Guatemala. We had a great mission trip last week. (I posted more details about the trip on www.tncblog.com.)

On Friday of last week, we visited Aqua Viva Children's Home. Pictured with us is Bailey's friend, Flor. They became buddies when Bailey spent a week at the home in March. It was a sweet reunion.

This week has been crazy busy. Lots going on. We arrived back in town late Saturday night. Sunday was a full day. (I haven't had my Sunday nap in 2 weeks!) Monday, the first day back in the TNC offices, was a big day of catch-up. Everyday this week has been full. Add to that a visit to the migrant camp Wednesday night. A late night phone call and visit regarding a crisis situation. Wedding rehearsal last night, funeral out of town today, and wedding tomorrow night. Whew!

But it's all good (minus the grieving situation, of course). God has been doing a neat work in the lives of our Guatemala mission team and He's cooking up something special for TNC this fall.

When I get a chance to sit down and take my time, I'll try to post something meaningful. Right now, I'm still trying to catch my breath!

Out of the Dark

Beth and I went to the western North Carolina mountains for a few days last week. We had a beautiful house placed beside a mountain stream. (The stream picture was taken with my cellphone camera.)

24 hours a day we could hear the soothing rustling waters of the stream pouring over the rocks. The house featured a spacious deck that hung over the water and we spent most of our three mornings there reading and drinking coffee in our temporary paradise. In addition to relaxing at the house, we ventured into Cashiers and Highlands, NC. We climbed Whiteside Mountain (4930 feet above sea level) and we walked the first leg of the Chattooga River Trail.

During our stay, we were in the dark. "Dark" meaning no cellphone coverage or internet access. There was Direct TV available but the only thing on at the time was Michael Jackson coverage. (More on that later.) It's liberating, yet a little nerve-wracking at the same time, to be without the instant access that we've grown accustomed to. A part of me couldn't relax for awhile because I couldn't call or text anyone unless we were in town. There was a phone at the mountain house and I had given the number to my kids and a couple of guys at the office in case of emergency. But there still is this weird, but good, feeling when you are in the dark. It's funny how 21st century technology affects us, isn't it?

The mountain getaway allowed me to read a book that I was anxious to read. Somewhere along the way I read an interview with a writer that I admire who said that they read everything that David Sedaris wrote. I took that as my cue to pick up a Sedaris book to see for myself why he is a best-selling author. I read it in two days. He is a great storyteller and I really like his writing style. I was in tears laughing at parts of his book. I could hardly tell Beth what I was laughing at because I was out of control.

But I need to warn you. Because many of you that read this blog are Christians and attenders at my church, you need to know that this is far from a Christian book. There are some obscenities and awkward topics. (David Sedaris is a homosexual and he talks about his relationship with his boyfriend, et. al. - 'nuff said.) I don't have a link to his book here like I usually do when I post a book review because I don't want it to be said that "a preacher at TrueNorth Church recommended it." You have to use your own discretion when you pick up a book.

I read it and enjoyed it because I really liked his style. I certainly don't approve of all his lifestyle choices. I knew nothing about Sedaris when I picked up the book - only that a fellow writer liked his material.

With that said, it occurred to me that reading these kind of people is a way for me to see the light. What I mean is that I as a Christian typically read Christian literature. Most of my reading is about the Church, Christian leadership, Biblical studies, and sometimes Christian fiction. I try to be careful not to place myself in a holy box and read only Christian stuff. I read outside of my realm sometimes - even Rolling Stone magazine lately. I think it's important to know what others in our culture are thinking. It's a reminder to me of how many people in the world live in the dark without the light of Christ.

As I read David Sedaris' thoughts, I found myself thinking, "I'd love to have a conversation with this guy. I wonder what he thinks about..." Because his background is almost total opposite of mine, it's interesting to me to read how others think and how they got to their conclusions.

One final thought: Is it just me or is the Michael Jackson stuff too much? Was he a great talent? No doubt. But the overdone TV coverage is out of control. I saw last night that Jessie Jackson and Al Sharpton are now involved. Where is that going? I've seen clips of Michael moonwalking more in the past few days than I ever saw him do it in his fifty years. The carniverous media is feasting on this poor guy now. It's getting weird.

I wish I could speak in tongues...

Spanish, to be exact.

Our partner church from Guatemala has a team here this week. We developed a partnership with El Camino Church several years ago and have designed our missions ministry in a unique way. Most American churches send missions teams and money to other countries. While this is beneficial and, hopefully, a blessing to them, TNC has added a twist to what normal churches do.

Does this surprise you? TNC isn't "normal."

In addition to TNC sending teams to Guatemala to bless them, they come to South Carolina to bless us! This week, a team from El Camino Church is here ministering to Hispanics in North Augusta and Edgefield County. In the mornings, they are leading a Backyard Bible Club in a Hispanic neighborhood and in the evenings they are ministering in a local migrant camp. It's been a great blessing to have them!

Every time I travel south of the border (Guatemala, Costa Rica, or Mexico) my biggest regret is that I cannot speak Spanish! One day...one day, I want to be able to have some general conversational Spanish skills.

In the book of Acts, the Holy Spirit gave believers the ability to speak other known languages in a supernatural way. The lazy man in me wishes God would give me that ability supernaturally!!

Have you claimed your Facebook url yet?

I got mine tonight. You can find me faster now at facebook.com/genejennings.

LWS gets another push

In the Baptist Courier this week...

Start Your Online Day with a Devotional

If you're like me, one of the first things I do in the mornings when I get to my office is fire up the computer and open my email inbox. Let me suggest that when you start your day online that you start it with a short devotional thought. My friends, Cindy Sproles and Eddie Jones have a website that will help you do just that. www.christiandevotions.us includes daily devotionals on a variety of topics. Cindy and Eddie have also recently published a devotional book titled Spirit & Heart. You can learn more about it on their site, as well as other great Christian books.

I encourage you to go to the site and sign up for a daily email devotional from them. It's a great way to start your day!

Sasquatch music festival 2009 - Guy starts dance party

Found this on Seth Godin's blog. (http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2009/06/guy-3.html) Below are his thoughts.

Here's a video of a dance tribe forming spontaneously at a music festival.

My favorite part happens just before the first minute mark. That's when guy #3 joins the group. Before him, it was just a crazy dancing guy and then maybe one other crazy guy. But it's guy #3 who made it a movement.

Initiators are rare indeed, but it's scary to be the leader. Guy #3 is rare too, but it's a lot less scary and just as important. Guy #49 is irrelevant. No bravery points for being part of the mob.

We need more guy #3s.

Unworthy Beloved May 24, 2009

Many of you know that my son, Cliff, is one of our worship leaders at TNC. I posted his rendition of Aerosmith's "Dream On" back on March 17.

My baby girl, Bailey, is a worship leader too. She sings with a band from her college in NC. Here's Bails in action recently.

Do you want a FREE copy of Laughing with Sarah?

I am giving away a FREE copy of Laughing with Sarah to the first 10 people who will commit to reading it and posting a review on Amazon.com. All I ask is for recipients to read it and post the review by July 15. You can be honest on your review. I don't expect you to lie!

To get your FREE copy, email me at genepjennings@aol.com, or genej@truenorthchurch.com, leave a comment on my blog, or reply via Facebook.

ONLY THE FIRST 10 PEOPLE GET A FREE COPY SO ACT NOW IF YOU'RE INTERESTED!

Laughing with Sarah finally hits Amazon & BN.com

They said it would take 6-8 weeks.

They were right.

It takes Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com 6-8 weeks to list a new book. Laughing with Sarah was submitted on April 21. Finally, six weeks later, LWS showed up on these two major online bookstores.

If you haven't purchased your copy yet, you can get it through:

My website: www.laughingwithsarah.com

Amazon: www.amazon.com Click the ad in right column of this blog.

Barnes and Noble: www.bn.com

The Shallow Christian

Here's an excerpt from Laughing with Sarah: Chapter 10 - "Getting Deep."

"I want to go deeper."
"I wish my pastor would go deeper in his preaching."
"That church is shallow. They don't preach the whole gospel."

I've heard comments like these for years – especially since the contemporary church movement began a couple of decades ago. Contemporary and seeker-friendly churches are often accused of preaching a watered-down version of the gospel. Heavy on grace and light on sin. The promise of heaven but not a peep about hell. Liberal with love and little judgment.

Several times a year, someone will approach me and say, "Pastor, I want to go deeper." My response is usually, "What do you mean by that? Do you mean you want to get in over your head? That could be dangerous."

- - -

So what does it mean to live a deep Christian life? We may get all kinds of answers to that question. Maybe it helps to ask, "What is a shallow Christian?"

A shallow Christian is one who claims to know Christ and who can point to a time in his life when he understood the basics of the gospel and internalized it and even publicized it (through baptism and church membership), but he has not taken the necessary steps to grow up in Christ. Instead, the shallow Christian has learned enough of the gospel to know how he should act in public but has no passion or desire to know Christ at an intimate and personal level. The shallow Christian fills a pew each Sunday. He serves, and even leads, some of the church’s committees. He gives regularly to the church. He attends the church’s special events and supports all the ministries of the church. He may even brag to his associates and friends about his church. He is a churchgoer, but he is not a "God-goer." He does not pray intimately much, if at all. He does not carve out time in his schedule to study his Bible. His efforts at personal and corporate worship are minimal at best. He makes little spiritual impact on those around him, and he has never personally shared the gospel with another person. He may know Christ as Savior, but he does not allow Christ to be Lord of his life. His life may be filled with church activities, but it is not filled with the Holy Spirit.

Sad but true. Our churches are full of shallow Christians. Each Sunday, church pews are occupied by millions of believers who have little or no interest in living a fully devoted life to Jesus Christ.

Hey! Maybe that is the definition of the deeper life. A life fully devoted to Jesus Christ. A passionate follower of Christ. Spiritual depth comes when you make loving and serving Christ your everyday mission. Going deep means living every minute of every day with the awareness that Jesus Christ is Lord and Ruler of your life. Getting deep means totally relying on, trusting in, and depending on God's Spirit to move and work in every area of your life.

There is no magic formula to living the deeper life. This is not something that you are going to accomplish by the time you finish reading this chapter. It is work. It is time-consuming. It is a lifestyle. It's a journey.

Find out what it means to "get deep" here.

Because THEY said so...

One of the first faculty members (a well-known marketing guru) that I met at the BRMCWC last week looked at my blog and said, "You need a newsletter!" I told him that I had one years ago and didn't like the additional burden. Plus, it was a pain keeping up with email addresses, updates, etc. That was around the turn of the century.

Well, things are supposedly easier now with services like Constant Contact so I bit the bullet and designed a newsletter this morning based on my new friend's advice. "Everybody's doin' it," he told me. "They say it is essential for today's writer."

So I'm doing what THEY say. You can subscribe to my occasional newsletter on the right side of this post.

The Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference 09

My brain is fried today after a week packed full of instruction, inspiration, and networking at the 2009 Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference. I left town immediately after church last Sunday and arrived in the mountains around 5 PM. It was pretty much non-stop all week. Classes, workshops, interviews, and general sessions filled the calendar as about 350 writers, agents, editors, and publishers gathered to learn how to continue expanding the gospel through the art of writing.

Pictured with me is Angela (Angie) Hunt. Angie taught "The Sophisticated Novelist" class Monday-Thursday morning. She is an excellent teacher and incredibly accomplished writer. Angie has sold over 3 million books! She is a best-selling author of more than 100 books. She was a delight to sit under and we hated it when it was time for the class to be over. Angie's husband is a youth minister in Florida. I told her that I was going to call him and make him an offer he can't refuse at TNC so that I could have her around as my personal writing coach! (Watch out, Tommy Wafford!)

I encourage you to add Angie's books to your summer reading list. Check out her website.

I also spend some time talking to and hearing from Chip MacGregor. Chip was recently listed as the #2 literary agent in the country by Publishers Weekly, the "Bible" of publishing. I read Chip's blog every week. He is a wealth of information regarding the publishing/writing world. He was one of our keynote speakers as well as a classroom instructor. I appreciate the time that Chip invests in this business and wanted to give him some props. By the way, this guy is really funny. I was in tears laughing at him during his keynote speech.

If you are a writer or if you are interested in becoming a writer, this conference is a great start. This was my third time at this particular writing conference. I highly recommend it.

Some other folks that I learned from and laughed with are:
Steven James
Terry Whalin
Cecil Murphey (author of 90 Minutes in Heaven and 111 other books)
Ron Benrey
Al Gansky
Jonathan Clements (My favorite person at the conference - because he's my agent!)

A Little PR in the Chronicle

The Augusta Chronicle posted this article in the paper this morning. It includes my mugshot and an audio clip from Laughing with Sarah.

Excerpt from Laughing with Sarah

Here's a section from Chapter 4 in Laughing with Sarah:

God Works through Our Disabilities

I do not have great eloquence or superior wisdom. I can tell you that many times there is weakness, fear, and trembling. I’ll never forget my first real experience as a preacher. My first official appearance as a professional pulpiteer was in Los Angeles, California. I was a South Carolina boy from a Texas seminary in La-La land as a revival preacher/evangelist scheduled to speak at a week-long revival meeting. Nine services in a row, Sunday morning, Sunday night, and every night through the next Sunday morning.

For some reason, I thought I needed a different suit for each service. I didn't own any luggage, so I arrived from Dallas/Ft. Worth airport at LAX with my wife's matching pink luggage including pink hanging bag with nine suits. I was confident enough in my masculinity to carry pink suitcases through LA, but my confidence in my evangelistic skills were cause for concern. I was anxious before my first appearance that Sunday morning and worried about blending with the California culture with a Southern accent. Ten minutes before the service began, I overheard a senior adult lady say to a friend, "I'm glad this year's preacher is from Texas. The fellow we had last year was from South Carolina, and I couldn't understand a word he said."

Enter nausea.

Believe it or not, God used this pitiful excuse for a revivalist that week. God spoke to some people and lives were reinvigorated - at least temporarily. It was definitely not because of my great eloquence or superior wisdom. It was totally because of God working through a rookie preacher from the Deep South.

The truth is, I've heard a lot of popular speakers who are not the most eloquent, entertaining, or scholarly presenters. But God uses them because they are usable. That is what God wants, availability. You let him have your abilities, no matter how feeble they might be, and make yourself available, and he will use your humble service to draw others close to him.

Believe it or not, Paul was not an outstanding orator. He mentioned in one of his letters to the church in Corinth that some say, "His letters are weighty and forceful, but in person he is unimpressive and his speaking amounts to nothing."

Paul writes that he did not intend to preach "with wise and persuasive words but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power." He did not want to speak in such a way that his human effort would persuade people. He depended on God’s Holy Spirit and divine power to do the work.

What does this mean for us in our everyday lives? You should live obediently for Christ, loving him, worshipping him, serving him, and trusting him. You should live out your faith within your own unique personality in the places where God has placed you with the people that God has put around you and depend on his Holy Spirit to speak through your life with wisdom and power.

You do what you know you should do, and God will take care of the rest. You will be amazed at what God can do through ordinary you.

Writing a Book

I guess you've figured out by now that I announced the publication of Laughing with Sarah last week. Since then, many people have asked me about writing. How long does it take? How many have you written? How do you get published? etc. I started writing freelance articles for magazines about 15 years ago, but I still consider myself a novice.

How long does it take? It depends. If you write 3 pages a day, you can have a 300 page novel in 100 days. At that pace, you could write about 3 books per year. That's what many novelists do. For me, I only have a few hours each week to write, so it takes longer.

How many have you written? About 4 1/2. But only two have been published so far. I have one non-fiction work that is about 90% complete. One novel that my agent, Jonathan Clements with The Nashville Group, is attempting to sell to a major publisher. I'm about halfway through another novel. I have pieces of other books that I've started. Hopefully, they will be completed one day.

How do you get published? There are several ways: You can get an agent to represent you. Approach the publisher yourself. (However, most major publishers will only consider agent-represented works.) Or you can publish yourself. There are advantages to each situation. It depends on your goal for each book.

The hard part: Selling. It's one thing to write a book. It's another thing to sell it. Whether you publish yourself or have a major publisher, the author is the primary sales person. That's why you will get sick of seeing me promote LWS. Sorry. That's just how it works.

The fun part for me is the Dedication. I dedicated Laughing with Sarah to my dad. Since he is such a Bible scholar and LWS is based on Bible teaching, I wanted it to be dedicated to him. I took his copy to him last week and showed him the dedication page. That's been one of the highlights of this experience thus far for me.

Wife Swapping

My motorcycle is listed for sale in the IWANTA, the local classified ad paper. Here's a conversation I had this morning with a caller.

"Are you interested in trading your motorcycle or do you just want cash?" I was asked by the caller.
"I want the cash," I said.
"Well, I was just wondering," the caller said. "I've got a '96 Geo Tracker convertible I thought you might want to trade for."
"If it was a Jeep Wrangler, I might be interested," I said. "My wife doesn't like to ride my bike with me but she told me if I got a Jeep, she would go on trips with me in the Jeep."
The caller replied, "My wife wants me to sell the Geo because she wants to ride with me on a bike."
"Maybe we should trade wives," I told him (joking, of course!!).
The caller laughed. "She likes to fish too!" He added.
"Sounds like you need to keep her," I told him. "Thanks for calling."

The bike is still for sale.

A New Book! Laughing with Sarah

I'm proud and excited to announce the publication of my latest book, Laughing with Sarah, a book to encourage you to be all God wants you to be.

How do you respond when you face the impossible? Sarah laughed at God and I think God snickered a little at Sarah's reaction. Laughing with Sarah includes many thoughts about the journey with God. It's about putting things off and starting things over. It's about being grateful, enthusiastic, and obedient.

Sometimes in life we have mountaintop experiences and sometimes we find ourselves in a valley. But for most of our lives, we are somewhere in between the valleys and the mountaintops on our journey with God. Laughing with Sarah is about those "in between" times.

Click the button below to purchase it now!

Book Review: Dumb Things Smart Christians Believe

I was asked to participate in a blog tour for Larry Osborne's latest book, Ten Dumb Things Smart Christians Believe. Larry is also the author of the book, A Contrarian's Guide to Knowing God, which I HIGHLY recommend. You can see my review of that book here.

Are urban legends and Sunday School myths ruining your faith? Just because "everyone believes it" doesn't make it true. People don't set out to build their faith on myths. But somehow falsehoods keep showing up in the way many Christians think about life and God. These beliefs are assumed by millions to be rock-solid truth - until life proves they're not. The sad result is often a spiritual disaster - confusion, feelings of betrayal, distrust of Scripture, and loss of faith or anger toward both God and the Church.

But it doesn't have to be so. In this personal and practical book, respected pastor and Bible teacher, Larry Osborne confronts ten widely held beliefs that are both dumb and dangerous. Beliefs like:

• Faith can fix anything
• God brings good luck
• Forgiving means forgetting
• Everything happens for a reason
• A godly home guarantees godly kids

Get ready to be shocked, relieved, and inspired by Larry Osborne. Because myths can get you hurt, but the truth will set you free.

Larry Osborne is recognized as one of America's most innovative pastors. He is the pastor of North Coast Church in Vista, California.

Things I Don't Like...

I try to be a positive person, even though I have kind of a cynical, sarcastic sense of humor, I may come across as negative sometimes. Lately I've made note of some things that could be categorized as pet peeves or things I don't like. Please allow me a minute to be negative.

Such as:

• typos. I bought a book the other day. The Foreword section was spelled Foreward. I don't even want to read the book now.
  
• self-service checkouts. If I've got to check myself out, give me a discount! I'm doing what the person at the register next to me is getting PAID to do!
• lawn sprinkler systems. Please can't I just use a hose and a $15 sprinkler from Walmart? EVERY SPRING I spend hours repairing our sprinklers. (Guess what I did today?)
  
• red bugs. They're taking over our yard.
• really bad Christian television. (Which is almost all of it.)
• okay, then, let's just say Christian television.
• my vision is getting worse.
• negative people. :)
  

Jesus People: The Movie Trailer

This is an independent film (a comedy) about a Christian rock band. It's called Jesus People.

The Nashville preview of Jesus People happens on April 21 at 7:30 @ the Belcourt Theater

Survey Says...God Help Us!

The post below is from Dr. Dan Crawford, a former seminary professor of mine.

A recent survey asked more than 800 pastors to name the critical ministries of their churches by listing the top five. Only five percent of participating pastors listed prayer/prayer ministry/prayer groups in the top five. Do they not know that exclusive of the Psalms, which is a prayer-book of its own, the Bible records 650 definite prayers, 450 of which have recorded answers? Do they not know that the most widely used verb in the ministry of Jesus was the verb “to pray?” Do they not know that almost every great spiritual leader in Christianity has listed prayer as utmost important in their life? Do they not know that the countries in the world where Christianity is growing fastest are countries where prayer is paramount in the churches? The answer is that they do not know. Or at least, if they know, they forgot when they took the survey. No wonder the majority of churches in America are either plateaued or dying. No wonder ministerial burn-out is at an all time high. No wonder theological schools are forced to teach conflict management courses while ignoring courses on prayer. Jesus said, “Therefore, pray . . .” (Matthew 9:38). God help us!

Get clean from the inside out with Soul Wow!

Christ, our Passover Lamb

I was reminded of something yesterday in my daily reading through the One Year Chronological Bible. I'm in the book of 1 Samuel. The events in this book took place around 1050 BC. Over and over again, Israel is reminded of God's great rescue from Egypt which occurred hundreds of years before (somewhere between 1446 BC to 1280 BC). The Passover story, the exodus, and the parting of the Red Sea are constantly brought up by Israel's leaders when they are trying to rally their troops or turn the people back to God. The Exodus story is a central focal point of Israel's faith as they make their way to and conquer the Promised Land. Even today, the Passover observance is one of the most sacred holidays for the Jewish people.

While Christians certainly marvel at the Exodus story, our passover story is the cross. Last weekend, we were reminded again of the central tenet of our faith, i.e., the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Without the crucifixion, we are lost and dead in our sins. Without the resurrection, we have no life. The cross of Jesus is our passover. God "passes over" our sin because Jesus himself made himself who had no sin to be sin for us. (See 2 Corinthians 5:21.)

Let us not forget the events of the past. Let us not forget the Good Friday story. Let us not forget the Easter story. We are to be reminded again and again and again of the incredible grace given to us through Christ. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed (1 Corinthians 5:7).

No Clever Answer

Successful 33 year-old professional golfers don’t think about dying often, but the reality of death faced Paul Azinger in 1993 when he was diagnosed with cancer. After a biopsy on Azinger’s shoulder, his doctor reluctantly reported to the defending PGA champion that he had lymphoma. Additional time would tell how severe the cancer was. The answer didn’t come to the champion for three days.

“I did a lot of thinking about a lot of things those three days,” Azinger said. “It was the first time in my life that I really understood that I wasn’t bulletproof. When you’re thirty-three and you feel like you’re at the peak of your career and you’ve got a great family and more money than you ever dreamed of making, you don’t think about dying. I still think of myself as a kid, just a big kid. Now someone was telling me that I might die. There’s no clever answer when someone tells you that.”

Azinger beat lymphoma and became a regular on the tour again. In fact, he was selected to be the Ryder Cup Captain for the 2008 U.S. Team.

Listening to Authority

Steve Melnyk tells of the time he arrived at Augusta a few days early to play some practice rounds prior to the Masters Tournament. On the Saturday afternoon before the tournament, Melnyk received a call from the secretary of Augusta National Golf Club Chairman Clifford Roberts. Like John Arthur Brown, Clifford Roberts was a man that was accustomed to being listened to and obeyed. The secretary asked Melnyk if he would like to join Mrs. Dwight Eisenhower, Jack Nicklaus, and Mr. Roberts for dinner. Melnyk replied that he could not attend due to other plans he’d previously made. Two minutes later, Melnyk’s phone rang again. It was Clifford Roberts. Roberts said to Melnyk, “I’ll meet you in the Trophy Room at 7:00 PM sharp.” Melnyk enjoyed his dinner with three VIP’s that night.

Jesus was a man of authority with a message of authority. The Bible tells us that those around him were amazed because his teaching had authority. But Jesus did not abuse the power that his authority gave him. He often used his authority to deliver hard truths to the religious leaders of his day because they were so far off the mark. But among common people, Jesus communicated his authoritative message with grace and love. His authority came not in the office he held or any position that men may have given him. His authority came from above and he used it to point people to the Father. We should do the same.

Book Review: Clutter-Free Christianity

When did the Christian life become so complicated?

Your greatest desire is to please God, but with each passing week, your spiritual to-do list grows longer. As you strive to fulfill a never-ending inventory of requirements for being a godly parent, spouse, voter, employee, and more, you feel increasingly disconnected from the God you’re trying to serve.

It’s time to cut through the clutter and get to the heart of what it means to please God. In this liberating look at the core principles of faith, Dr. Robert Jeffress reveals the truth about what God really wants from you–and what He wants to do for you.

Through solid biblical teaching and practical insights, Dr. Jeffress points you toward a revitalized faith centered on becoming more like Jesus in action, attitude, and affection. You’ll learn how to partner with God in the process of spiritual transformation as you choose to follow Christ in forgiveness, obedience, trust, contentment, service, and prayer.

Through a renewed focus on experiencing the kingdom of God right now, you’ll find your to-do list shrinking and your spiritual life deepening. It all comes with embracing Clutter-Free Christianity.
Includes a Bible study guide for personal growth and group discussion.

I have a free copy to give away. Leave a comment to enter a drawing. Winner will be announced next Friday, April 10.

Silent Influence

The Masters Tournament is just around the corner. Over the next couple of weeks, I might post a few golf-related devotionals that I've written in the past.

Clifford Roberts and the Masters Tournament are synonymous. Roberts’ influence in Augusta was equaled only by Bobby Jones. Roberts ruled Augusta and, for one week each year, was the brains behind the greatest golf tournament in the world.

During the rest of the year, however, Clifford Roberts lived in obscurity. He was a Wall Street investment banker and president of Reynolds and Company, which later became Dean Witter Reynolds. He was the chief financial advisor and campaign finance director for President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Yet, even though he sat in high influential places, the New York Times had to call the Augusta Chronicle to get information for his obituary.

How can a man be so influential yet live in such obscurity? This is what Jesus did. He was born in a stable in an obscure town to a young unknown couple. He never held an office. He never wrote a book. He was not wealthy. He never hosted a sporting event. But his influence changed the world. Jesus simply lived his life in complete obedience to his father.

When we are focused on our relationship with God, he molds our character and personalities in such a way that we become influencers of his love and grace. We can be quiet influencers for Christ too. We don’t have to be a household name. We don’t have to be affluent. We don’t have to be powerful. We only need an intimate and authentic relationship with God.

You are Rich!!

I posted this several years ago but thought in these difficult economic days it would serve as a good reminder to us all of just how wealthy we Americans are:

Go to this link. It will take you less than 10 seconds to see how incredibly blessed we are in this country.

http://www.globalrichlist.com/

Chase Bank Bailed Me Out

The bank bailouts have made the news over the past few months. We, taxpayers, are quite upset that our tax dollars are being used to make up for the banks' poor judgement. Therefore, our nation's banks are taking a beating in the press lately. While I don't agree with the move to bailout the banks with our tax dollars, I am grateful that Chase bank bailed me out of trouble last week.

Seems someone used a forged credit card with my account number a couple of weeks ago and had a party in Florida and the Atlanta area. They racked up a pretty nice chunk of change on my account, all without us knowing about it. We received a call last week inquiring about our recent shopping spree. The fraud division of Chase bank noticed some inconsistent action on our Mastercard and wanted to verify if we had made the purchases. They were quick to act and negate the bogus transactions. They cancelled the card. Mailed us new cards within a few days and assigned us to a specific fraud investigator to help settle the sketchy transactions on our account.

I am really thankful for Andre, our fraud investigator, and the quick action Chase took regarding this. I might have had a heart attack if I had seen the transactions posted on my account when I received my statement in the mail. But the great response by Chase made it incredibly easy. I've had this Mastercard account for a long time. I'll probably keep it even longer now, knowing how Chase handled the identity thieves.

So chalk one up for Chase!

A Few Takes on Twitter

A couple of weeks ago, I admitted that I joined Twitter. I'm still not completely sure what I'm doing and why but I have determined that there are some things that I will try NOT to do. For example, I've noticed that some friends of mine in the ministry are using it to justify what they do all day. Be honest. A lot of people wonder what in the world ministers do all week. After all, we only work on Sunday mornings, right?

I will not post my daily schedule, meetings, appointments, and things to do list to indicate to my followers that I am busy. I don't feel the need to justify my position on a church staff. If you wonder what I do in a typical week. Come and see.

I will also try not to post meaningless drivel. While part of the twitter phenomenon is to be informed on the activities and thoughts of your friends, I really don't think people really care if I can't make up my mind between the grilled chicken salad or the #1 combo while I'm standing in line at Chick-Fil-A.

I will try to post thought-provoking notes, quotes, and quips, links to informative websites and articles, and update you on my latest projects in the works. (More on that later...)

If you want to follow me on Twitter, go to www.twitter.com/genejennings

I'll try to make it worth your while.

Dream On - TNC Style

At TrueNorth Church, we are in the 3rd week of a message series called Supernatural - A Dream Series. It's about the life of Moses and how he followed God's dreams for his life. Steve Davis, our Lead Pastor, has done an excellent job inspiring us to pursue our dreams. At the end of last Sunday's service, Cliff, my son and one of our worship leaders, wrapped up the service with our own version of the classic Aerosmith song, Dream On.


Get Your Own Free Hypster.com Playlist.

Unleash 09

The TNC staff attended the Unleash Conference at NewSpring Church in Anderson, SC yesterday. It was a great day to get away with staff and leaders and refocus on the dream of making the Church everything God wants it to be. Perry Noble is the founding pastor of NewSpring. He just tells it like it is in a Biblical, and often, hilarious way. If he ever needed to find another career, he could be a stand-up comedian. He plays hardball and speaks the truth that causes a gasp one minute, then he mixes in a hilarious quip or story that will have his audience ROTFL.

Unfortunately, I didn't take notes from his first message. I intend to go back and watch it again. You can see both of his messages from yesterday here. Below are some notes/quotes/questions from Perry's talk. Not everything is verbatim but basically what he said that stuck with me.

• The average pastor stays at a church 22 months.
• Satan doesn't want to split the church as much as he wants to split the staff.
• A pastor can't lead publicly without spending time with God privately.
• Pastor, are you a prophet or a prostitute? A prostitute provides a service that makes people feel good.
• Am I placing limits on me that God hasn't placed on me?
• You can have attendance without repentance.
• Three things should be happening on Sunday mornings: conviction, forgiveness, and repentance.

The Twitter Train

I guess hell froze yesterday. I broke down and got a Twitter account. After months of mocking twits who twitter, I decided to see what it's all about. I read a lot about writing, marketing, and, of course, church growth stuff. You can't avoid Twitter. Along with Facebook, it has become a superpower among social networking applications.

I've heard it said that you never want to be the first one in a fad or the last one out so I decided to jump on the Twitter express to see how it might make life more fun - or complicated. We'll see.

The slogan on Twitter.com says, "Find people. Follow them." It sounds a little strange. Shouldn't they name it Stalker instead?

U2 - Magnificent (Live - Night 2 - Letterman)

U2 had church on Letterman last week. The lyrics to this song read like a Psalm. The lyrics are below:

Magnificent
Magnificent

I was born
I was born to be with you
In this space and time
After that and ever after I haven't had a clue
Only to break rhyme
This foolishness can leave a heart black and blue

Only love, only love can leave such a mark
But only love, only love can heal such a scar

I was born
I was born to sing for you
I didn't have a choice but to lift you up
And sing whatever song you wanted me to
I give you back my voice
From the womb my first cry, it was a joyful noise...

Only love, only love can leave such a mark
But only love, only love can heal such a scar

Justified till we die, you and I will magnify
The Magnificent
Magnificent

Only love, only love can leave such a mark
But only love, only love unites our hearts

Justified till we die, you and I will magnify
The Magnificent
Magnificent
Magnificent

Book Giveaway Winner Announcement!

Sign ups for the giveaway for the book The Echo Within were over last Friday night. I put all of the entries in a hat and picked out the winner.

And the winner is..........................

drumroll

more drumroll

even more drumroll

a little more drumroll

grand finale drumroll

Karin Soderstrom!!!!

Blog Tour: Dinner with a Perfect Stranger

The mysterious envelope arrives on Nick Cominsky’s desk amid a stack of credit card applications and business-related junk mail. Although his seventy-hour workweek has already eaten into his limited family time, Nick can’t pass up the opportunity to see what kind of plot his colleagues have hatched.

The normally confident, cynical Nick soon finds himself thrown off-balance, drawn into an intriguing conversation with a baffling man who appears to be more than comfortable discussing everything from world religions to the existence of heaven and hell. And this man who calls himself Jesus also seems to know a disturbing amount about Nick’s personal life.

…………..

"You’re bored, Nick. You were made for more than this. You’re worried about God stealing your fun, but you’ve got it backwards.… There’s no adventure like being joined to the Creator of the universe." He leaned back off the table. "And your first mission would be to let him guide you out of the mess you’re in at work."
………….

As the evening progresses, their conversation touches on life, God, meaning, pain, faith, and doubt–and it seems that having Dinner with a Perfect Stranger may change Nick’s life forever.

About the Author:

David Gregory is the author of the best-selling books Dinner with a Perfect Stranger and A Day with a Perfect Stranger, and coauthor of two nonfiction books. After a ten-year business career, he returned to school to study religion and communications, earning graduate degrees from The University of North Texas and Dallas Theological Seminary. A native Texan, David now devotes himself to writing full time.

The Echo Within - Blog Tour

I'm participating in a blog tour this week for The Echo Within by Robert Benson. It's a great and quick read about how to find your true calling in life and live your destiny. I found myself "amening" Benson many times as he shared from experience how God directs us into different vocations, locations, and circumstances. This is not a 1-2-3 approach to knowing God's will. Rather, Benson's approach involves introspection, listening, and following the heart.

One of my favorite passages of Scripture regarding God's will for your life is Psalm 37:4, "Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart." I kept hearing this verse as I read The Echo Within. This is a classic verse and, for me, the message Robert Benson had in mind in his book. For when we are delighting ourselves in our relationship with the Lord, he places his desires for us in our hearts and then he allows us to pursue those desires and achieve those desires.

The Echo Within is illuminating, thoughtful, honest, and a profoundly affecting account of Benson's own search for and eventual discovery of what one is truly called to do and be.

I have a copy of The Echo Within to give away. Respond via comment or email before midnight on Friday, March 6, and I will send a copy to the winner of a random drawing. It's worth the read. You will enjoy no matter what stage of life you are in.

She’s a Proverbs 31 woman…and I’m a Proverbs 30:2 Man

Proverbs 31 is the national anthem for Christian women. It is the standard by which all godly women strive. It is the ultimate in female spirituality. It is the holy grail of womanhood.

And it was written long before Oprah came along.

My wife is a Proverbs 31 woman. It’s one of the many reasons that I fell in love with her. I, on the other hand, am a Proverbs 30:2 man - “I am the most ignorant of men.”

I’ve always thought that Proverbs 31 put a lot of pressure on women. It truly is a high standard. When I read it, I’m glad it doesn’t apply to me. Whew! I say to myself when I read all of the qualities of the perfect woman, I’m glad I’m just a stupid guy. (Which, by the way, is how the New American Standard Bible translates Proverbs 30:2 -“Surely I am more stupid than any man.”)

My wife is definitely smarter than me. Like most guys, I married up. She deserves far better than me. I’m lucky she took my hand on our wedding day. 25 years later, she still lets me sleep with her and she still tolerates my stupidity.

When I wanted to get involved in get-rich quick businesses, she tolerated my ignorance. When I had the boys over at our house for backgammon games almost every night during our newlywed months, she allowed it. When I’ve wanted to move to seek passions and dreams, she packed our bags. When I neglect the yard for the sake of college football, she lets the weeds grow higher. When I wanted to buy a motorcycle, she said, “As long as you keep your life insurance policy up.” When I take vacation days to write instead of saving them all for her, she encourages me to write. When I refuse to put on suntan lotion, she tells me so later. When I popped a lung trying to make a diving catch in a church softball game, she sat by me in the hospital all four days.

Bless her heart. No wonder she’s such a great mother. She’s been practicing with me all these years.

I never thought it was fair that God wrote a whole chapter of the Bible about godly women but he didn’t devote an entire chapter to godly men. Why isn’t there a Proverbs 32? Clearly there are many specific verses in the Bible that describe what a godly man looks like. He gave us strong men to emulate like Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, and David. He even sent Jesus to earth to model godly living for us. Paul the apostle gave us specific statements about holy and righteous living. But we never got a whole chapter.

Knowing that men are ignorant, maybe God figured it would be a waste of time to write an entire chapter for godly men. He knew we wouldn’t read it or do what it says. Why waste the papyrus on ignorant guys? Do you realize how much effort it took to write a chapter of the Bible in those days? The Old Testament writers’ word processors were papyrus, quill, and ink. Heck, they probably had to concoct their own ink before they could record something on paper. Can you imagine having to go out in the woods to gather plants to make your college-ruled writing paper?

Papyrus is made from the stem of the papyrus plant. The outer rind is stripped off, and the sticky fibrous inner pith is cut lengthwise into thin strips. The strips are then placed side by side on a hard surface with their edges slightly overlapping, and then another layer of strips is laid on top at a right angle. The strips were soaked in water, then two layers were hammered together, mashing the layers into a single sheet. After drying, the sheet of papyrus is polished with a stone, seashell, or round hard wood.

God saw all of the trouble that people, probably women, had to go to in order to record something on papyrus and thought, “I should probably add a chapter for men at the end of Proverbs. Hmmm?” He pondered for a moment. “Nah, it’s a waste of time. Besides, the women will keep them straight anyway.”

More from "Kneeling We Triumph"

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote some quotes from the book Kneeling We Triumph. Here are some more:

God sets more value on prayer and communion than labor. (A.W. Roffe)

Hurried devotions make weak faith, feeble convictions, questionable piety. To be little with God is to be little for God.

Beware of the barrenness of a busy life.

We are in an age in which speed, production, achievement, and creation are the measuring rods by which all men are judged. These, however, are false standards. The eternal God is concerned with growing a forest of oaks rather than filling the backyard with toadstools. He is more concerned with character than he is with production.

The great business of Satan is to draw us away from communion with God.

In the past century, if the physical birth rate had been as low as the spiritual birth rate, the human race would now be almost extinct.

It is very much easier to work than to pray.

Don't give God instructions - just report for duty.

Thursday AM Brain Dump

Random trivia that keeps crossing my mind lately:

• Michael Phelps must be grateful that Alex Rodriguez took steroids.
• Obama's "change" hasn't impressed me. He can't even fill his cabinet because nominees have income tax issues or other moral and ethical slip-ups. Plus, I don't see a lot of new names in DC. It's the same people with different titles, Clinton, Daschle, Richardson, et. al.
  
• Last week, a guy in Sweden set the Guinness world record for TV watching - 72 consecutive hours. The dude watched 3 seasons of 24. 72 hours? I know some teenagers that have watched TV that long during summer break.
  
• I'm putting the finishing touches on a book titled Laughing With Sarah. It should be available for purchase this spring. More on that later...
• Someone asked me last week how the empty nest was going. I said it has given me an empty wallet. Two kids in college. Nuff said about that...
• Now that old people have invaded Facebook, I wonder where all of the young people are going to go? I suspect Facebook will phase out and another social networking site will become hot with teenagers soon. I know they don't like their moms and dads browsing around.
  
• I've been reading through the Bible using a chronological Bible this year. It is compiled in the order in which it was written. I'm really enjoying it. Just a different approach to Bible reading.
• TNC is continuing to expand its influence. Pray for the Decatur, IL campus as they start up on March 1.
• We ate supper at Chili's last night before going to Element. I wish we had a Chili's in North Augusta. Check out this Facebook group.
  

Kneeling We Triumph

One of the greatest books on prayer that I've ever read is called Kneeling We Triumph. It is actually a two-volume set that is no longer in print. I was searching for a quote the other day from the book and enjoyed skimming through it and reading the scores of sentences that I highlighted years ago when I first read it. The book is a compilation of writings on prayer from some of the great spiritual minds of the past. I thought that I would share some of them here:

Prayer is not just a good idea, it's God's divine plan. (Armin Gesswein)

Every great movement of God can be traced to a kneeling figure. (D. L. Moody)

The one who will not take time for prayer may as well resign all hope of obtaining the fullness of power God has for him. (R.A. Torrey)

Prayer is the Christian's greatest resource and the one least used. It is his greatest obligation and the one most neglected. It is the most common form of devotion, yet the one least understood. Prayer is the gateway to God's presence, but few enter. Prayer is the channel of God's grace, but in most lives it is clogged...where there is no prayer, there is no power.

I would rather teach one man to pray than ten men to preach. (J.H. Jowett)

Prayer is a form of spiritual bombing to saturate any area before God's army of witnesses begin their advance. (Wesley Duewel)

A praying church is strong though poor in all besides. A prayerless church is weak though rich in all besides. Praying hearts only will build God's kingdom. (E.M. Bounds)

Better, far better, do less work, if need be, that we may pray more; because work done by the rushing torrent of human energy will not save a single soul; whereas work done in vital and unbroken contact with the living God will tell for all eternity.

More later...

BlogTour: Christian Writers' Market Guide

I'm participating in a blog tour this week for the Christian Writers' Market Guide 2009 by Sally E. Stuart. This is an annual publication that serves as the Bible for Christian writers. If you have any interest in being published in any Christian market, this book is for you. It's the essential reference tool for the Christian writer. Stuart's research includes 547 pages of priceless information about book publishers, periodicals, greeting card, and gift markets. A CD is also included with contacts for 1000+ markets.

Want to know what magazines might be interested in your article or how to submit it or who to send it to? The Guide will tell you. Wonder how many publishers might be interested in your sci-fi legal thriller romance novel? The Guide will tell you. Looking for a literary agent who specializes in the Christian publishing industry? The Guide will tell you. Interested in joining a writer's group, entering a writing contest, or finding a writer's conference to attend? The Guide will tell you.

Sally Stuart's guide is THE most comprehensive, complete, essential, and highly-recommended resource for beginning and veteran Christian writers, agents, editors, publishers, publicists, and teachers. This is the resource you need to get noticed - and published.

It's simply indispensable if you are seeking to be published.

Moon River

For some reason this scene kept coming to mind yesterday as I anxiously awaited my physical exam with my doctor.

Some Thoughts on Prayer

An excerpt from a book I'm working on...

We allow the busyness of life to cheat us out of quality prayer time. Our calendars, gadgets, and inability to sit quietly to pray and meditate on God allow the gap in our relationship with him to increase. Bill Hybels authored a book titled, Too Busy Not to Pray. It was titled with Martin Luther, the key figure of the Protestant Reformation, in mind who once said, "I have so much to do, that I cannot get on without three hours a day of praying."

We naturally think just the opposite of Luther. We maintain a lifestyle with no margin, little downtime, and constant interruption. We are too busy to pray. Luther understood that the busier he was, the more he needed to pray. He recognized that when he worked, he worked. But when he prayed, God worked.

I confess that I have been aggravated at believers who tell me, "I don't have time for prayer. I don't have time to read my Bible. It's difficult for me to find time to spend with God." Then, when the subject is changed that same person rattles on and on about every show they watched the night before on primetime television. We have the time. We just have to make prayer a priority.

The Oil Next Door

Imagine that you live next to a beautiful field and suppose that one of your neighbors secretly hates you. He is dedicated to hurting you and ruining your life. Your enemy knows that this beautiful piece of land is for sale and in addition to that, this land has oil underground. He cannot afford to purchase the land himself, but because he hates you so much, he is determined to do everything possible to prevent you from buying it. One day, however, he is caught off guard, you discover the land is for sale and buy it.

Your enemy is furious that you've bought the property, but he cannot change the fact. However, his hatred for you is so obsessive that he decides he will do everything possible to prevent you from ever learning that there is oil on the property. One strategy he employs is to keep you occupied with all kinds of activities – social gatherings, ball games, meetings, concerts, and other events. He believes that if you are busy enough on the surface, you will never discover the oil that is underneath. If that doesn't work, he can try to divert you with all kinds of legal regulations and bureaucratic red tape that will bog you down and keep you from doing anything productive with the land.

Whatever his methods, if he succeeds, your enemy will have done almost as much harm as if he had actually prevented you from buying the land in the first place.

That is what the enemy tries to do with us. Once we become children of God, Satan has lost that most important battle. Now his only weapon against us is to try and fill our lives with apathy, ritual, religion, and busyness. He wants to take away our enthusiasm so that we never discover the incredible wealth that we have inherited as children of the living God. Don't let the enemy do that to you. Take the time necessary to enjoy the riches of God's grace. Spend time with him. Get to know him. Bask in his presence. He has given you something incredible - himself. Don't miss your amazing gift.