REPORT ON CEF GUIDE RETREAT AUGUST 1-3, 2024, INTERNATIONAL HEADQUARTERS, WARRENTON, MO

On Thursday, August 1, 2024, Becky and I drove up to Child Evangelism (CEF) Headquarters in Warrenton, Missouri to take part in their semi-annual Guide Retreat. I've heard about it for years and I finally decided to go. Becky joined me, but the primary reason was to inquire of the Lord what my next step is, as I'm nearing retirement age. 

And I wrote that part three days ago. For some reason, I'm struggling with this. Part of it is energy after a long day. but part of it is being happy with what I've written.

So I'll just write a few comments of our two and a half days there (August 1-3).

• I'll start with a summary. I left with more options about what to do, but not with a definite conviction on which option to take. So please keep praying.
• You may have noticed from the photo above - GUIDE is also an acrostic, 
• One part was a DISC personality test. We were given 24 sets of four two word descriptions, with us choosing the ones most and least like us. In my case, the S's (Supportive) and C's (Cautious) had an equal number of "mosts," while I had one least on C and none on S. I found that interesting. And if you're curious on the others, I's (Inspiring) had 4 mosts and two leasts while D's (dominant) had 1 most and 17 leasts. We also had a spiritual gifts inventory.
• Becky and I had been to CEF headquarters 6 years ago and took a tour then. This tour was interesting because our guide would ask the workers questions about their jobs.
• One blessing - we were divided into groups, and we were to sit together at certain meals (we could at the others as well, which we did).

Again, please continue to pray for Becky and me. One conclusion, though: Instead of doing my usual of making a list and figuring out which one is best, I'm just to wait and let God direct.

 

THANKS TO MY BETA READERS, AND WHAT'S NEXT WITH MY WRITING?

 

I'd like to start today's blog by thanking my Beta Readers: Mary Allen, Kacy Barnett-Gramckow, Heidi Glick, Twyla Jackson, and Joanne Sher. They have read my novel that I've been working on since '07, and provided excellent feedback.

Did I mention that I started writing "An Apologetic For Murder" since 2007? It has been an adventure. 

It started no later than 1995, actually, when I had a concept of a group of six friends working together to solve a murder. I called them the Menagerie: each one had an animal nickname. 

In 2007, I was wanting to write a book promoting apologetics. Of course, as a lay-person with no name recognition, would anybody consider reading a book by little old me? And then, I remembered some friends who were in apologetics/anti-cult ministry mention that they got death threats. 

So the Menagerie found a home - they attended an apologetics conference to find out who was trying to kill an apologist. I also thought of having an innocent bystander - if a hit-man could be called an innocent bystander - intercept a bullet meant for one of the apologists. 

Immediately, there were a lot of characters to develop. There was the six in the Menagerie. Then, there were the apologists, of which there were five (patterned after the book Five Views On Apologetics? Not intentionally but it did have an influence). Add to that seven suspects. Which one did it?

No, I'm not answering the above question, though my Beta Readers know. However, I was half way through writing the novel until it hit me who hired the hit-man and whose bullet said hit-man intervened. 

The novel was finished in 2008. The next year, after looking into some venues for publishing, a self-publishing company agreed to publish it. The following year, that company went belly-up in a way that it ended up on the front page of the local paper and was covered by all the local newsstations on TV. 

Around that time, I read The Complete Idiot's Guide to Writing Christian Fiction by Ron Benrey.  I had previously read other literature on writing, includint two books on writing Christian fiction. Benrey was the first one to advise getting an agent, and also encouraged going to writing conferences and joining the ACFW (American Christian Fiction Writers).

So I took his advice and joined, became part of a couple critique groups, and started on my first re-write of the novel. Originally, it had six "main characters." In writing the novel, though, those six characters fell into roles. Two got a lot of "screen time", two were important more for their roles (e.g. the policeman of the group), and two (who happened to be the married couple of the group) were basically supporting characters. So I set to work focusing on the two main characters.

Shortly after, I did a third rewrite, more major than the second. I figured out who the actual sleuth of the group was. So I did something I never thought I'd do, and rewrote the story as a first person narrative. 

Around 2014, the fire faded. During that time I made some half hearted starts, and in 2019 I got serious to rework the novel and seek publication. That's also when I lined up the beta readers.

I did have two concerns with my novel, both of which affected marketability and both were confirmed by the comments of the beta readers. The first was if there were too many characters. The consensus was that the story called for a lot of characters, but yes, I did have a lot of them. The second was if it was too deep theologically for the average fiction reader (and relatedly, not enough action to maintain interest). This concern was legitimate.

Soooo... where do I go from here?  Basically I have two options.

One is to give up on this story. I have two other story ideas (different genres from each other and from my above novel). I also have other talents that are laying dormant such as songwriting, ceramics, and drawing. Add to that an interest in refugee ministry.

The other is to do a third rewrite, and this one will be more major than the other two. The previous ones maintained the same characters, the same plot, the same victim, the same killer. If I rewrite, I will be trimming the characters which will then alter the plot. After all, the seven suspects had motives to kill one of the five apologists, but they weren't after the same apologist. I might get rid of an apologist while wanting to keep the person who wanted to kill him.

If I do start from scratch as I'm proposing, or if I decide to write a new novel, I'll be working with a couple of books. The first is The Chunky Method by Allie Pleiter, to help me in following the two rules of writing illustrated above. The second is Soul Types, which looks at the impact of the Myers-Briggs Types on spirituality.

Should you feel led to pray as I think this over, it would be appreciated.

A NEEDED CALL TO PRAYER IN LIGHT OF THE CHAOS IN AFGHANISTAN

Refugees of Parga by Francesco Hayez

 

 "But the end of all things is at hand. Therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers." 1 Peter 4:7, NKJV.

Is what's going on in Afghanistan a sign of the end times? Maybe, maybe not. What has no maybe about it is that we need to take Peter's advice on being serious and watchful in our prayers.

Today, Becky received three calls to prayer for Afghanistan from different ministries on our e-mail, and she thought the three put together made an interesting picture.

1. Franklin Graham is calling for a day of prayer tomorrow (Aug. 22) for Afghanistan. Yes, there is a place for private prayer, but there is also a place for public petition for great needs. There were corporate prayer meetings called by great leaders like Samuel, Jehoshaphat, Hezekiah, Esther and Mordecai, and Nehemiah. After being threatened by the Sanhedrin, Peter and John met with the congregation and prayed for boldness. And we should be praying for those who are being kept from leaving Afghanistan.
2. Gregg Harris, THRU the BIBLE's President (the ministry founded by Dr. J. Vernon McGee), also asked for prayer for our fellow believers in Afghanistan. Harris said, "This is a young church, a dynamic church, one of the fastest growing in the world, that was already under great persecution and suffering. And now, unless God intervenes, they will be facing even greater persecution and possible and probably martyrdom for their faith in Jesus." He then adds their work in the Pashto language spoken by millions in Afghanistan. "The vision is that anyone in that region will be able to hear the clear, systematic teaching of the Bible through the ministry of THRU the BIBLE in the Pashto language."
3. Michael Youseff of Leading The Way mentions various ways to pray, including 1) for a hedge of protection around His people - especially women and children; 2) for the conversion those in power in the Taliban, and 3) that God can bring good in the midst of tragedy. Youseff then adds, "But remember this: if we don't remember them in their time of need, who will remember us in time of need?" He closes by urging us to pray and trust God to do the impossible.

One other thing that Youseff pointed out is that we shouldn't be pointing fingers. AMEN. In addition to praying for the people in Afghanistan, we should be on our knees interceding for President Biden. Right now, the question of whether he did the right thing is not the issue. We see him standing by his decision, but what is going on inside? Could it be that God is dealing with him? We need to pray for President Biden, not with a political mindset, but remembering he was made in the image of God just as we are.

Will you join me in praying for this need, individually and in groups, and praying that God uses it for His glory?

PRAYING FOR THE CHURCH: LOCAL, ASSOCIATION, AND UNIVERSAL

A globe in a fountain, International Learning Center, Rockville, VA

Becky and I had the pleasure of being here twice, both with events connected with the International Mission Board (IMB) of the Southern Baptist Convention.

 

Many of you know that Becky and I are in a Southern Baptist Church. Maybe a few less of you know that the Southern Baptist Convention will be taking place in Nashville June 13-16, 2021. 

Outgoing SBC President J.D. Grear has called for prayer and encouraging fasting on the the three Wednesdays leading up to the Convention. Today is Wednesday #2. There is an on-line prayer meeting. They also posted a prayer guide.

In the first paragraph, I mentioned I'm a member of a SBC church. You may notice I didn't say I was a Southern Baptist. I have no problem being one, but those who know me know I've considered myself a Christian first and a member of a Denomination second. A large part of my life have been in two Baptist groups: The SBC and the Conservative Baptist Association of America (in which I went to a Bible College). However, I've been involved in various different churches, including General Conference Baptist, Independent Baptist, Assembly of God, Nazarene, Calvary Chapel, and independent churches varying from mild Charismatic to Fundamentalist. 

Thus, I'm sharing the areas of prayer and would welcome prayers for the Southern Baptist Convention. But could these requests be applicable to your local church, whichever denomination it is? Could it be a guide to pray for your denomination even if it's a different one? How about for the entire body of Christ across the U.S. and even around the world?

Here are the three areas of prayer they're focusing on:

1. FOR GREAT COMMISSION MOBILIZATION. Under this heading, they're asking for prayer for their missionaries and church planters. They're encouraging college people/young professionals to give two years for the mission of God either here or abroad. And the best part: they're praying that every church would judge success by sending capacity and not seating capacity. In other words, their goal is for each church to actively be involved in missions.
2. FOR UNITY IN THE GOSPEL. "Pray that our Convention would reflect the beauty in the diversity of all peoples in our nation." They also ask prayer to stand steadfastly on the inerrant and all-sufficient Word of God while celebrating our distinctiveness in geography, style, and culture, valuing all image bearers (Gen. 1:26-27). And again an important point: That we love one another as Christ commanded as a witness to the world of our redemption and reconciliation by Christ.
3. PRAY FOR THE HOLY SPIRIT TO ANOINT OUR MEETING AND OUR MINISTRIES AROUND THE MEETING. This quote is not from the prayer guide, but I believe Billy Graham said it: "If the Holy Spirit was taken from this world, 90% of church work would continue unaffected." That is not the desire of SBC leadership.

Please pray for your local church. Pray for your association, and if you feel led, for the SBC as well. Pray for awakening in the Church around the country and the world.

But finally, let me ask you three questions:

1. What are you personally doing to fulfill the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20; Mark 16:15; Acts 1:8)?
2. What are you doing to promote unity among fellow Christians? (I've heard it said often that unity is not uniformity - we should be unified with all who are seeking God's Kingdom.)
3. Are you seeking to be filled and led by the Holy Spirit, to live for the glory of God?
   

DR. EEYORE AND MR. TIGGER? OR IS IT THE OTHER WAY AROUND?

 

"You are Winnie the Pooh, and you've won free professional counseling. Since you are well adjusted, you don't need them for yourself. So do you give them to gloomy Eeyore or to bouncy Tigger?"

This was a Table Topics question presented at a Toastmasters meeting I attended fifteen years ago. (Table Topics is a portion where one Toastmaster asks questions to other members and with no prep time they give a one to two minute answer.)

No, I wasn't the one who received this question. But I did come up with an answer: Neither. I would rather get Eeyore and Tigger to work together so they would help balance each other out, and give the counseling sessions to grouchy Rabbit.

But would my idea (the one of pairing Eeyore and Tigger, not the one of sending Rabbit to the shrink) actually work? Or would they irritate each other so much that it would make both worse? 

While you're trying to pin that tail on the donkey, one possible title for my autobiography would be "Dr. Eeyore and Mr. Tigger", with apologies to Jekyll and Hyde. Of course, that would assume that in reality I'm an Eeyore, who changes into a Tigger alter ego. Is that correct? Or is it vice versa, with Tigger being the real me, convinced that I'm really Eeyore instead?

Whichever is the case, this year has brought out my inner Eeyore, with Tigger quarantined - all the social distancing and stay at home orders took the bounce out of him. COVID-19 and the elections are factors, but they aren't alone - this has been a year of change in many ways. 

I don't want to go into all that's going on, but I want to deal with the artist part of me. I finally dusted off my novel, re-worked it, and submitted it to some potential publishers and agents. And I'm still with it published. I would have loved for my Dad to have been able to read the published book, but he passed away last year. I'm wondering if it's that I just haven't reached the goal line, or is it that I'm either not a publishable author or that my WIP (Work In Progress) for the past fourteen years won't have enough of an audience to get the support of a publisher or agent?

Add to this that I'm a former songwriter, visual artist, and ceramist. I've done some drawings off and on (including my favorite characters, posted about a month ago), but I've been too busy with my novel and other activities over the last few decades to write songs, and I haven't touched clay since taking a college level ceramics class in Spring of '78 (unless you count getting to play with Play-Dough once in '86). 

To be honest, this blog hasn't been the most encouraging either. Part of it is time. My goal is to have four blogs a week, and I'm doing well when I get one up. Another part is that I'm still not having a regular readership, with many blogs in the low single digits of being viewed, and even fewer comments. 

May I ask you to help in one of the following ways? 

• First and foremost, please pray for me, that the Lord directs me. 
• If anybody wants to read a few chapters of my novel, and let me know if they want to read more, THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!! And should you want to read the rest of it, I'd be glad to let you.
• Please pray for this blog. Should I keep on, or give it up? And if you want to read regularly and leave comments at times, it would be appreciated.

Thank you very much for reading this blog.