- Specimen book for Buddy August 24, 2010
- New release! Buddy: the sans companion to Contenu August 24, 2010
- Classes mess up Opentype Glyph generation August 9, 2010
- A history of the alphabet August 9, 2010
- Going after the look of old fonts? Not likely August 7, 2010
Step 3 – Learn « The Digital Christian.
This is from a blog about using social media to minister. This is an area fraught with problems and issues, but one that you should know about. This posting has some good links to get you started if you are seriously interested.
One of the more common heresies running around the church today is that we must always speak positively, that negative confessions are, by definition bad. The truth of the matter is quite different.
II Timothy 3:16 {NKJV}
“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,”
God tells us the purpose in the next verse [let's use New Living this time]:
“God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.”
Please notice that the second use of scripture if “for reproof”. The amplified expands this (and correction) to the following:
“for reproof and conviction of sin, for correction of error and discipline in obedience”
This does not sound like the power of positive speaking to me.
Jesus could be quite negative
Take the verse I harp on all the time—spoken to the church-goers of the day:
Matthew 7:21-23 [Amplified]
“Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father Who is in heaven. Many will say to Me on that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name and driven out demons in Your name and done many mighty works in Your name? And then I will say to them openly (publicly), I never knew you; depart from Me, you who act wickedly [disregarding My commands].”
Notice that these are people using the name of Jesus in power—those whom we would call spirit-filled today. They prophesied, did exorcisms, and miracles in the name of Jesus. Yet, Jesus says to them the scariest words in scripture, “I never knew you: depart from me”.
May it never happen to any of us!
So, how are we to speak?
Paul says it best in Ephesians 4:15
“speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him”
OK, I understand speaking the truth, but that is to be done “in love” . Again Paul says it best in I Corinthians 13: 4–6 [NASB]
“Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth;”
So, even if the truth hurts we are responsible to be patient, kind, humble, meek, un-offended, in the moment, and happy with the truth as it is reveled. But, we mustn’t pull back if the truth requires a rebuke, a warning, or a so-called negative expression.
If we are prayed for about healing, we are not to lie if it still hurts but positively confess that we’re healed. However, I see nothing wrong with saying, “I haven’t seen the manifestation yet, but I am convinced that He will heal me and stop the pain.” [But only if that is really the truth about how you feel.]
God never requires us to lie. If you think that is what is happening in your life, bite your lip, zip your yap, and don’t say anything until you can say the truth. Sure that is difficult sometimes. But the Christian walk requires nothing less.
As we go through the hype of eBooks, how many do we really want to buy? What I want is an excellent reader that lets me rent books, sorta like on the NetFlix model. Here’s a link to an excellent article that talks about this from a conceptual view. I’d never thought about why I haven’t bothered to buy my iPad yet (other than lack of sufficient extra money laying around).
It’s not the device or the file—it’s the internet, stupid!
Guilty as charged!
Maybe it’s just me, but I rarely find a place where I can really say what I feel. A lot of it is my shyness and timidity on social situations. I can hear the laughing and the “yea, right!”s—but I ask you, “How many of you have seen me in a social situation?” Surely you can see my motivation to teach and write.
However, as a writer and teacher, I really need to be careful. First of all, scripture says I’ll be judged more severely than non-teachers.
James 3:1 esv Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.
So, I really want to be in control of what I say. In addition, I really find that it is easy to miss opportunities by offending people—especially Christians. I really don’t know why that is such a problem. One of the fruits of the spirit is to not be easily offended. I usually write it off to personal taste; that I do not like fashion; that I do not like crowds; that I do not like sports; and on & on. It’s more likely that my flesh is really obnoxious.
However, there’s no place for speaking in the flesh
That’s one of the main reasons I do not like the phone or face-to-face meetings. It’s not that my reactions are bad—they’re not thought out. Every time I get off the phone and talk about the conversation I always get, “Why didn’t you ask…” “What are they doing…” I never have an answer. Talking in reaction to interaction is fearful for me because I do not trust my flesh at all. It always gets me in trouble.
What about my call?
Maybe the problem is who I am designed to be. I know the Lord has used me as a prophet—and no one likes prophets. I know that I was trained as an “artist” dealing with getting in touch with my personal vision. I know that I’m creative, in my limited up-tight manner. But this cannot be an excuse to be rude or uncaring or self-centered. I must put down my flesh and walk by the Spirit. Only in the Holy spirit do I have any hope of getting past myself.
I must pull my punches
There is no room for me to allow the flesh free rein at all. My ideal and goal is peace, joy, gentleness, self-control. I have to focus on my audience and seek to hear what they need—what the Lord would have me share, what Jesus wants to say in the situation.
It is always fascinating to watch one of these postings as it develops. So far I have written and tossed a half dozen complete paragraphs and several more sentences. I began with a four/five paragraph stream of consciousness and I think all of that is gone now. The entire point and focus of it has radically changed as I pray and repent to hear better. This is the way it should be. I’m not an apostle or leader. I’m a prophet/teacher. My responsiblility is to be much more careful of what I say. Jesus’ words are really scary to me,
Matthew 12:36-7 esv “… I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”
What could be more worrisome to an artist/author who merely tries to be a good steward of the ideas he is given? Before Jesus, I was the arbiter. I was taught in school that good is defined as what I like. What a shock it was to discover absolute truth and its personification [& what a relief]. Now, the Holy spirit has the final say—I hope.
The world goes on not remembering what we celebrate—on purpose!
Because if they remembered, they might have to think about their choices. Today reminds us of the proof that Jesus was not crazy, demented, or insignificant. Today we remember the proof of his Lordship, the vindication of his ministry, the result of his suffering. Two days earlier he was dreading it so bad he was sweating blood—so upset the capillaries were bursting and blood was oozing out the pores.
But then he’s alive and the first people he tells to go bear witness are not legally allowed to bear witness—women. What a guy! Sometimes I wonder if the church even has a clue any more.
For those who have heard me teach Scripture, you understand how important I believe John 17:3 is:
And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.
The focus of this verse is the verb: know. In the Greek this is gnosko. It has the same meaning as the Hebrew yada´. In both cases it conveys much more than intellectual knowledge. This tells us that the believer in Jesus has intimate, experiential knowledge of God and Jesus—and that this intimate relationship is eternal life.
It is not accidental that both gnosko and yada are a Jewish idiom for the sexual relationship—that oneness that comes with marriage—that union of two into one (Adam knew Eve. Abraham knew Sarah). It explains an intimate knowing beyond the intellect, feelings, or flesh. I know my wife in all ways, and she knows me the same.
The good news is that we are to know God: Father, Son, & Holy Spirit in the same way. And we know that this is true because of verse one and two where Jesus says that He glorifies God by giving us eternal life—and then defines eternal life as knowing Him.
Pray about your relationship. Is it all it can be? If not, the blockage is on your end because He clearly promised that He can do this, He wants to do this, He promises to do this—if we’ll seek Him and ask for this relationship—persistently.
I’ve spent a lot of time lately watching two grandsons who do nothing useful. They play games (football, basketball, & baseball) and video games. They do nothing outside of that. Actually, there is a little hope, the younger boy is showing some signs of interest in architecture. But, the playing games thing is seen as normal—what young boys should do. The two girls are a little better. They are quite a bit younger but their games revolve around housekeeping and social relationships.
But the basic problem, as I see it, is the assumption that children need to play, that it is good to play, that this is the best thing they can do
A hundred fifty years ago, the oldest boy would likely be apprenticed by now with the next oldest ready to do that this year. They would have already learned to work with men building, fixing, bringing in food, and improving shelter. The girls would be learning to sew, cook, clean, and care for.
Most importantly, they would be living, working, and playing surrounded by adults—modeling their behavior
It has been really sad to watch vibrant young children (full of life, growth, and questions) become dumbed down as they are thrust increasingly under peer influence. Do we really want our children modeling their behavior on other people’s children? How many children do you know who model themselves after a teacher or preacher? Teachers and preachers are larger than life characters who have no relationship to their friends and models.
Their parents are rarely seen. Daycare is rampant. The better ones play with their children. But rare is the excellent parent who teaches their child how to build, cook, work, interact with society, and so forth. The parents do not have the time to do stuff like that. Sadly, many of the parents are products of this whole culture we are discussing this morning, and all they want to do is play: sports, outdoor activities, exercise, and all the rest of the narcissistic things modern American people do.
This is serious! We are in trouble!
The barbarians are at the gates—the entire world who understands that life entails work not play? When was the last time you heard a teaching on Ephesians 5: 15 & 16 (ESV)?
Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.
Do you help your children discern what is going on in the world around them? When was the last time you told your children that the goal of life is to survive—into the presence of God? When was the last time you tried to demonstrate that nothing really matters outside of your relationship with your King and Lord? Do they know that once they die that is all that remains?
When I suggested to my youngest grandson (he’s nearly 12) that he needed to be preparing to be out on his own, it was clear that this was a new concept to him. It registered briefly, before he turned back to his iPod and got into his game again. At least he’s heard it once before he graduates. Sadly, many have not. The oldest grandson is virtually lost until he comes out the other side sometime in his twenties. He really believes that sports are immensely important. I pray he comes to his senses—his father never has.
Last week, the younger did show us several floor plans he’s been working on. That was exciting. I am determined to be hopeful and get in every shot that I can, but it is surely rough with the peer pressure and the environment where playing is seen as good and a goal to be desired.
One final scripture. My current favorite: Ephesians 4: 17-24
Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. But that is not the way you learned Christ!— assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
Chew on this for a while—it’s some real food.
I could reword it and make it more palatable—but you’re adults. Right?
I was asking the Lord this morning what to study. Very quickly, he led me to Luke 12:25. Let me share this with you in the Amplified:
“And which of you by being overly anxious and troubled with cares can add a cubit to his stature or a moment [unit] of time to his age [the length of his life]?”
I use the Amplified because it covers both common translations and gives the most accurate sense to the meaning. The King James variants use the cubit to your stature. The modern translations use an hour to your life. It’s in the context of —
What are you so worried about?
Jesus is talking about the silliness of worrying about these things—food, clothing, shelter, health, genetic make up, inheritance, any of it. Now that I am no longer employed, these worries have resurfaced. I had a battle with them back in the 1970s and 80s which I thought I had won. Evidently not. The Lord has put us back under the regimen of dependence for our daily bread again. I’m coming back out the other side of a four year bout with this. For quite a bit of that time we were back to the “Lord, I need some food.” and have him give us ten–fifteen dollars to get what we needed that day. Daily dependence is something we really don’t like much. We want to be able to relax and assume things are covered. I don’t want to have to worry about being responsible with what I have been given.
But it goes much further than that. The NIV version of the verse (no, I don’t normally like the NIV) gives me that sense I am talking about today:
“Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?”
Personally, I don’t think that’s possible. I listen to all the shows with their medical advice and guidance for living. I hear all these things I can do to live longer and feel better. But if I listen carefully, all they really say is that by doing these things I can increase the percentage of hope that I might be doing something that might help. As far as I can tell, it doesn’t really change anything. You should do what the Spirit convinces you to do.
That’s different for all of us. I’m convinced, for example, that soybeans are not food. I’ve eliminated them from my life and I feel better and I believe I’m healthier. Is this for everyone? Nope. That’s what I believe the Lord has me doing.
I remember when our daughter died from a cancer that was 95% curable. My wife had said early on, “someone has to be part of the 5%.” That turned out to be prophetic—God warning her of what was coming in our daughter’s life. The cancer got Annie’s attention and she died a strong believer in her mother’s arms. Together they were singing Jesus loves me as she went to be with him. She had a successful life. She knew her Lord. It was clearly part of the Lord’s plan for her life.
The key scripture about all of this is Colossians 2:16-23. Here’s an excerpted version:
“Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink… Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism… and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God.
If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations— ‘Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch’… according to human precepts and teachings? These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value…”
I’m not saying that you should not take these things seriously. You should take every aspect of your life seriously. It’s a life or death proposition and there is only one path to life. But don’t be silly enough to think that you can lengthen your life span or make yourself taller or change your health. Plastic surgery might partially conceal your appearance, but you are still who you are and the person God designed. All of these things are part of your period of training here on earth. You were assigned here under the constrictions of your genetic makeup, cultural heritage, and environmental conditions to make the choice we all must make. Is Jesus really the Lord of Lords, King of Kings, and messiah of God?
Nothing else matters!
Relax! Get to know your king. Talk with and listen to Him. He’s the only one who knows the plan.
One of the things that happens as you mature is dealing with all that you have seen, heard, and done. As I have told many people, I have learned more since I was fifty than in the fifty years prior. My entire writing career started when I was fifty, for example.
Lately, we have been dealing a lot with Ecclesiastes—all is vanity. More and more, nothing seems to matter except our relationship with Jesus. Increasingly, the things I do every day seem to have no intrinsic value. In themselves, they are meaningless. What matters is how people react to them. That includes how I react.
Why do we do what we do?
As I was looking at Ecclesiastes this morning, I was struck by a couple of verses I do not recall: 2:24-25
There is nothing better for a person than that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment in his toil.
This also, I saw, is from the hand of God, for apart from him who can eat or who can have enjoyment?
The truth of this just slapped me upside the head. I don’t know if this is a male thing, but enjoying your toil is an amazing blessing. Part of the curse of sin is that we men must sweat and toil. How we resist this truth. Here’s what God told us because we ate from the tree:
Gen 3:17-19—…cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread,…(ESV)
So, the pain of work is not the problem—that is a given.
The problem is dissatisfaction—and worse, our attempts to avoid the pain by doing what we think is satisfying, what we think is good, what we think is fun. WE cannot make outselves happy. We cannot plan for our satisfaction. It is a vain striving without issue. It does not work.
As always, the solution is: listen and follow
As you know, one of my favorite verses is John 5:39–40
You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life. (ESV)
Life is found in Jesus. Following Him leads through life. Satisfaction is discovered by doing what He calls us to do—because that is what we are meant to do, designed to do, equipped to do.
How could it possibly be so simple?
it’s been a surprising year. I never would have expected to be forced into going into what the government calls retirement. That has been a huge adjustment.
For a man, retirement is close to what housewives experience if circumstances keep them from being able to clean their home. it attacks the core of our being. I have been amazed at how much of my self identity is tied up in what I do.
On the other hand, it has been a joy to get back into personal creative endeavors. I’ve designed dozens of items for the Radiqx Zazzle site (buper stickers are doing well so far). I’m getting ready to release my first novel. I find it is a much better escape to write the novels I read. It’s not as much fun as the new Baldacci, Clancy (if we ever see one of those again), Cussler, de Brul, Dale Brown, Brad Thor, Daniel silva, W.E.B. Griffin, or any of the other authors I love to read. But the involvement is incredible and the ability to create new realities is really fun. I think you’ll find it a good read.
On-demand Publishing
I’m still focused on this for several reasons.
- My lack of capital makes it the only real choice
- it keeps works available to limited audiences like those of you who follow what I am doing
- It allows me to easily generate multiple versions of a work with no additional expense
- It allows me to generate eBooks which seem to growing incredibly fast in use
However, it’s hard to be competitive on-demand. The book prices are higher (at least for mass-driven competition). The printing options are much more limited.
It is greatly ramping up my skills at book design, though. That I really like. There is still nothing ( to me) like the feel of a new book and a potentially good read. i realize that this is becoming a lost art to many of the young. But I’m not sure how well Kindle, Nook, and the others will hold out in the long run. How comfortable are they to use? If you have one, I’d love to hear your opinions. Amazon just announced agin that Kindle is their best-selling product of any type in their entire company. Nook is already sold out and demand is outstripping production. Clearly, people want something like this.
I guess when my ship comes in, I’ll get one.