Imitation or the Real Thing By T. L. Wiens

My daughter and her husband were visiting on the August long weekend. When they come, so do the desserts. The decision was made to make Skor bit Chocolate Cake Trifle. My son in-law doesn’t care for things containing whipped cream and requested a lemon pie. I would have gladly made him one but I get complaints when I make “real” lemon pie using actual lemons. He wants the kind that comes from a box.

Food isn’t the only thing where I find today’s society wanting the imitation in place of the real. There are so many things on television where relationships are built on physical attraction. Just like the nutrition that is lacking from boxed foods, these relationships lack depth and real love.

Unfortunately, this trend has also made its way to the church where people want instant gratification. Health, wealth and prosperity have replaced truth. False teachings are everywhere.

These imitations are making it harder all the time to share the true message of the gospel of Jesus Christ. As a Christian writer, the temptation is there to follow the trend and probably sell more books. If I just brought in enough to get them interested, I could still end with the truth. But my heart knows there is no joy in imitations and there is no backdoor entry into God’s Kingdom.

      “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.”

2 Timothy 4:3-5

I Corinthians 13 for Writers - Ruth L. Snyder

Though I write in the style of Phil Callaway or Janette Oke, but have not love, I am merely scrawling empty words or filling meaningless pages.

And though I have the ability to show, not tell, and understand the intricacies of grammar and know how to submit a properly formatted manuscript; and though I find an agent who is able to get my book published, and have not love, I may as well write nothing.

And though I use my writing to help a non-profit group, and though I give all the proceeds from my writing away, and have not love, I have accomplished nothing.

Love causes me to work diligently on writing projects, and to be gentle in my critiques of others' writing. Love means I'm not upset when another writer receives first place in the writing contest, but when I do win I humbly thank God for the ability He's given me, recognizing that without Him I wouldn't be writing at all.

Love doesn't put down other writers to make my writing look better, doesn't gloat over other writers' failures, isn't upset when someone suggests more editing is needed, and accepts a rejection letter as an opportunity to explore other opportunities.

Love does not change content merely to please a publisher or make more money. Love insists on sharing a difficult message with gentleness, in obedience to God.

Love keeps me writing in spite of writer's block, encourages me to hone my writing skills so that I can express myself more clearly, and directs me to continue submitting despite numerous rejections.

Love never fails. Fiction will fail. Non-fiction will not always be published. Books may someday vanish...

So let us do all our writing in the context of God's love and for His glory.

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Horse Sense 101 - Lynda Schultz

If you watch horse racing you may have observed that some of the horses wear blinkers or blinders. These leather screens are attached to the horse's bridle to prevent the animal from seeing sideways or behind. The idea is to keep a horse that is easily distracted from seeing what is going on around him and to prevent him from losing his primary focus—full steam straight ahead to the finish line.

"I will walk in my house with a blameless heart," writes David in Psalm 101 (NIV). We nod our heads knowingly; David was no saint at home. Remember Bathsheba? Then again, if I point a finger at someone else, there are always several pointing right back at me. What I do I do in the privacy of my own home that would disgrace me were it revealed in public, and bring shame on the name of the Lord?

Reading the psalm got me thinking about what I fill my idle spaces with when I am at home. David writes: "I will set before my eyes no vile thing" (verse 3). What do I read? What do I watch on television? What kinds of DVDs do I entertain myself with? What sites do I visit on the Internet?

The songwriter then determines not to "hang" with anyone in his home who is faithless, perverse, a slanderer, proud, deceitful, or a liar. He wants to keep company with those who are faithful and to be mentored by those who are what he wants to become—blameless. Clearly we can't disassociate ourselves from everyone who doesn't conform to Biblical standards. How would we witness to them or be of influence in their lives if we had nothing to do with those who most need to discover new life through faith in Christ Jesus? I think the psalmist is talking about those who are his closest friends. Who is within my intimate circle of relationships? They should be those who pull me up spiritually, not those who tempt me toward that downward spiral away from the Lord.

Just as blinders keep horses focused so that they can win the race, we need to consciously choose to keep our private spaces as free from evil as possible, and "hang" with those who build us up spiritually so that we can keep focused on being, in private and in public, the witnesses to truth to which God has called us.