writing

Hitting God’s Target

/ pastorpete51 / 3 Comments 
For if the trumpet gives an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle?                       
1 Corinthians 4:8 KJV

Often in this time when we have the potential to reach a worldwide audience through social media, it is easy to begin chasing likes, followers, or pages read. But God’s purpose for us as Christian writers is to tell the stories that He has written on our hearts and share them in a way that people can understand. Though there is no one way to go about doing that, here are three simple ideas that I have learned along the way.

  1. Focus on God’s Target – When politicians speak, we know that they want to win elections. When prosecutors present their cases, we can be confident that they hope the defendant is found guilty. But when a Christian writer puts pen to paper the first question they should ask is “not, “How can I gain followers, but rather, “What does God want to say?” Every good story we have begins with Him. Our personal beefs, opinions and goals become secondary. But when our hearts and minds are surrendered to Him, He often cracks heaven’s blinds just enough for us to see His target.
  • Accuracy Matters! Did you know that one of the things Jesus said the most was, “I tell you the truth “If accuracy mattered to Jesus, how much more with us! Accuracy means both checking we are presenting things with a solid biblical basis, as well as checking that ALL the details we are sharing, line up with the facts (just how big was that fish?). God will only guide an arrow to the target when we shoot it with the bowstring of truth. Few things have been more disheartening to me than discovering that a supposed “true story” that I read, turned out to be phony, exaggerated, or manipulated for financial gain. But if we tell the truth in all its details with love, then others can be built up, corrected or inspired.
  • Get to the Point! An arrow penetrates its target because it comes to a point. Long introductions on why we are telling our story, along with a variety of rabbit trails simply dull our message. I am inspired by the Apostle Paul writing from a Roman prison to the church in Philippi, tells his friends no less than nine times to rejoice, culminating with “Rejoice in the Lord always.” Philippians 4:4. In his entire letter, Paul didn’t once complain about the food, the cold, or the unsanitary conditions in the jail. If Paul sitting on death row could get right to the point, then why can’t we? So, friends, lets focus on the target, check our details, and let our arrows fly!
Photo by RDNE Stock project on Pexels.com

Psalms, Hymns and Spiritual Songs

/ pastorpete51 / 9 Comments 
Addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart. Ephesians 5:19 KJV

In this verse, Paul writes about psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, as if they were three friends. Sadly, in our modern age we have chopped these neatly up and then stored them on separate shelves in our pantry. But what a great joy it can be for those of us who call ourselves poets to attempt a reunion and invite all three to our kitchen table.

For example, when we use the word “Psalm,” most of us think only of the one hundred and fifty of them written in the Bible. But the Greek word, simply means a verse of any sort that is accompanied by stringed instruments. Stranger still, the phrase “spiritual song” was not a song as we know it, but more of a rhythmic chant, (a bit closer to what we call a poem). Last of all, the word hymn, meant a musical celebration, and was what Jesus sang with His disciples before they went out from the Last Supper. It might surprise you to learn that many of the hymns we sing today were not initially written as songs. Just to give one example, “How Great Thou Art” by Carl Boberg, was originally written in Swedish as a ten-stanza poem, titled “O Store Gud.” Somewhere along the way it was paired with a folk melody and then later translated into Russian. After that Russian version began to become popular in Ukraine, it was heard by a British missionary, named Stuart Hine. Stuart loved the song so much that he translated the first two of the verses into English, and then added the third and fourth verses which we sing today.

I won’t go into detail, but similar stories lie behind, well known songs such as “My Jesus I Love Thee” “Jesus Loves Me” and “I’d Rather Have Jesus.” One precious memory I have as a nursing home chaplain is of my friend Davonne – now singing with Jesus. Anytime our song service, if I would ask to sing only the first, second and last verse. Davonne would exclaim, “NO Pastor Peter! That song has a story and if we skip any of the verses, we will be missing part of it!” So, maybe it will help you the next time you are laboring away trying to tell a story with a poem, to close your eyes, then imagine the melody of your favorite hymn playing in the background and let it set a rhythm to your words and make a melody in your heart!

Editing Advice from the Orchard – part 2 – Cut Out That Deadwood!

/ pastorpete51 / 4 Comments 
I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. John 15:1-2 NKJV

Pruning is essential to our writing as well as our lives. Jesus tells us that the master pruner is our Father in Heaven and His pruning as well as our editing is a step-by-step process. In part one we talked about clearing out the sucker growth of overblown verbiage. Today, we come to our next group of compositional ne’er-do-wells called: dead branches. Since pruning in the orchard is done in Winter, first-time trimmers logically ask, “How can you tell which branches are dead, when there aren’t any leaves?” Finding out which are living requires getting close enough to take hold of them. Grabbing on to a live branch you will discover that it is flexible, while dead twigs snap off at the touch of our fingers. In the same way our dead branches in writing as well as our lives, are rigid and dry. When people get close enough to touch them, these dead phrases and dried up ideas make no living connections to our readers. They are like low-calorie deserts, that look scrumptious in the commercials, but artificial sweeteners in snack cakes and as well as sentences leave a bitter aftertaste, and no one will want to go back for a second helping!

Photo by Patricia Luquet on Pexels.com

In the orchard, deadwood removal looks brutal when the ground is littered with piles of branches. But cutting those limbs out is vital to the health of the trees. If they remain, they will crowd out the good branches and invite insects and disease to infect the trees. But once they are gone, there will be more space for the healthy branches, and even the tiniest healthy bud has a great advantage over the largest dead limb: it is still alive! Some dead limbs in our lives as well as our manuscripts are so large that a chain saw must be used to cut them out. If the trees in the orchard could talk, I am sure that they would complain loudly while I was removing their sucker growth and deadwood. But in April, the trees that have been pruned will fill with leaves, in May they will be covered with pink blossoms and if you come back in the Fall, you will find them heavy with delicious fruit!

Photo by Tom Swinnen on Pexels.com