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Writing for Ministry: Ten Tips
Also, part of loving others and reaching the widest-possible audience is using gender-inclusive language. The following statement, with which I heartily agree, is adapted from the syllabus of one of my colleagues: “All written submissions should strive to use male/female-inclusive language. As a gospel-shaped, gospel-centered community of learning, we have compelling reasons to think, write, and speak in such a way as to ensure that none are either intentionally or inadvertently excluded by our use of language. Consider using ‘humans,’ ‘persons,’ ‘humanity,’ or ‘humankind”’ rather than ‘man’ or ‘men’ when referring to humans in general. Consider alternating between the use of ‘he’ and ‘she’ as generic pronouns or substituting…
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On Story: With Eugene Peterson
I just finished reading Bono’s autobiographical tome, Surrender, and was delighted to find out that the great lyricist was a friend of the late Eugene Peterson. Peterson pastored for thirty years before becoming professor of spiritual theology at Regent in Vancouver, B.C. In my last post I shared excerpts from a conversation I had with him about rest. What follows is what he told me about “story”—excerpted from a conversation we had while he was still a prof and I was starting out as one. SG: In the academic environment it’s easy to intellectualize everything. How can we keep from developing the kind of mentality that would view the Trinity as…
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Celebrating and Sharing Achievements
Last weekend, one of the world’s greatest tennis players, Novak Djokovic, won his 23rd major grand slam single’s title—the most for any male tennis player ever. Such an achievement requires incredible sacrifice, pain, and hard work. And a large measure of self-belief. And a whole lot of talking about oneself. As I watched this feat, I wondered, “When does the self-confidence needed to accomplish great things turn the corner into self-promotion?” My thoughts went this way because I recently co-wrote a book. And I am proud of a job well done. I’m celebrating that achievement. And I’m telling others because, well, I believe the message is worth sharing. After all, why write the…
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Leader, Do You Have a Book in You?
Back when I was in high school living two miles outside of Washington, D.C., my parents took me to visit The Library of Congress. As I stood eyeing walls of books, millions of them from floor to ceiling, it occurred to me that a whole lot of people publish. And that number has continued to skyrocket. Today the Library of Congress contains more than 74 million manuscripts—about one for every five Americans. So why in the world would you want to add to that stack by writing a book of your own? Write because you have better data. Maybe you’ve taken a look at all the books on the market…
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Five Lessons I’ve Learned about Writing
Have something worth saying. In his book Culture Care, artist Makoto Fujimura tells a story he confesses may be legendary about a Yale student taking Hebrew from the great Old Testament scholar Brevard Childs. The student, discontent with his grades, asked the scholar how he could raise them. Childs’s answer: “Become a deeper person.” Peggy Noonan writer of seven books on politics, religion, and culture, and weekly columnist for The Wall Street Journal, was at one time the speech writer for the man considered The Great Communicator. In her book Simply Speaking, she says that what moves people in a speech is the logic. The words “Tear down this wall, Mr. Gorbachev” are not all…
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How to Break into Publishing
Want to break into publishing? If so, I suggest you begin by going down to your local Half Price Books or Powell’s and see if you can find an old copy of one of the annual Writer’s Market books. You don’t need the most recent year. For example, you could buy the 2006 Writer’s Market. It’s about two inches thick. In the beginning pages of this annually published book you’ll find instructions for how to write a query letter and how to format a manuscript. Following some preliminary articles about writing, the text consists primarily of publisher listings and submission requirements. It’s a great resource. When I teach my master’s-level…
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Are We Writing A Great Story with Our Lives?-Donald Miller (Blue Like Jazz) offers help
When the credits roll, will people shrug and think my story was kind of boring? Will they think your story was great, one that inspired their own? How might we intentionally write a great story into our lives? If you write a story about your life and it winds up selling over a million copies, you just might have two guys show up at your front door wanting to make a movie out it. Such was the case with Donald Miller.
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Inclined to Write?
Back before I’d ever published anything, I used to look at all the books on the market and think, “Do we really need another book on prayer?” or “Why a new book on marriage?” or “Why would someone want to publish another Bible study on Sermon on the Mount?” What I didn’t realize back then but came to know years later was that each author’s unique sphere of influence provides a platform through which some readers are more apt to hear from that author than from others—even if the others are more eloquent. Thus, there will always be a need for more books, new books, even on “old” topics. For…
