Ever Have Doubts ?

[Merry]

Ever have doubts? Is that a trick question? I mean, about your writing in particular. I do. Just check your watch and at any given time I'm probably wondering why I bother having a computer at all. But words...yikes, they always have some type of power for good or bad. And when one is a Christian writer doing your best to write as Jesus would have you to do, things get interesting.

For instance, on Friday I had this silly idea to imitate Jeff Foxworthy, the guy who does the 'Yew might be a red-neck..' stuff and put a Biblical spin on it. I was having toruble deciding what to call my 'victims' because in modern Christian culture we are 'nice.' But I kept thinking of Jesus in Matthew literally yelling at the Pharisees, and it wasn't anything like, "You Biblically CHALLENGED, but otherwise decent human beings!" He just yelled, "YOU HYPOCRITES!" So I decided to call my list, "Yew Might be a Hypocrite..." and went on to site some of the different hypocrisies we can all fall into. I put it in the bat-cave because I was a bit chicken to turn it loose, (but I'll put it up later,) and I put it on Mr. Otis's website since there's just a bunch of dangerous cases there anyway. WG even added to it. And I added some more. Then I took the list, included WG's stuff and e-mailed it to my Pastor.

Unknown to me, Pastor was feeling a bit sick of some of the local goings-on concerning our school and the difference between what people say and what they actually do. He got up at church and read the list out loud and began to preach on deciding to follow God and quit making excuses and anyway, by the time he was done you could have heard a pin drop. Then he thanked God for the people who had contributed to the list and said, "...if it takes a bunch of crazy writers to to say what too many pulpits don't have the guts to say, then so be it." And he prayed for all us guys to be published 'everywhere.' I was like, whoa... After the service this older Jamaican man said he wished to add the list, and gravely said, "You could be a hypocrite if you tell your son never to drink, but have a twelve pack in the fridge. I might be a hypocrite, but not anymore. Today my booze meets the bin..." And I was like, well Praise God!

Then I practically got beat-up over 'Ellie' today. I have been bemoaning my messed-up proofreading skills. I know one lady at church who had published once upon a time, so I asked her if she wouldn't mind reading over my hard copy of the story to check for errors. At the end of church she storms up and says she wants to add to my 'stupid list.' I go, okay, and she says, 'You might be a hypocrite if you write stories to taunt people...' Having no idea what she meant, I let her rattle on. I guess her daughter has been a handful. I've seen Mom, but rarely the kid at church...and it seems the girl ran away the night before (yikes! I didn't know, I even asked about her today and Mom just muttered, 'She's fine.') She said they had been taking steps to attract her away from lesbianism, bought her 'girl-clothes' fixed her up with guys, etc...(I'm like, Word of God? Parental authority? Where?) And she finished by apologizing, said that she was just upset, but if I had written that story earlier, she could have read it and done things differently....(again I was like, and you couldn't have read your Bible and 'done things differently?' A comment not appreciated.)

So I guess God figured I needed to see that your words have an impact. And that impact may not always be welcome or logical, but sometimes it is. Hang in there, one and all.

[AngelAzariah]

Merry,
___I know what you mean with this post. I've had people wander what character they are in my books. I don't really make the characters purly off of people I know - so the qustion is nul. Still, I have the prob with my stories being crule in their own right. If I don't finnish the story... the hero will just be a self-distructive nutt that never changed. The books - I hope - show that slow and sometimes painful growth. I want it to show that most people are a contridiction holding themselfs down. I'm still growing myself, so I know what it's like to slowly get out of a rutt that you have embraced your whole life.

BTW, your preacher sounds neat.

[wgjones3]

Merry, all I can say is wow. Please thank you pastor for me. I'm so glad to hear that something I contributed some small part to had such an impact. Sounds like God had an appointment for Ellie, too.

If it makes you feel better, I know what you mean about parents. I knew a lady who was always moaning about how hard her teenage son was to control. She couldn't do it. She needed a man in her life to take care of her kid. He refused to go to church with her and he was spending the money SHE GAVE HIM on music, drugs, and occult pariphanalia that she blamed for making him so awful. And, of course, it was her husband's fault for leaving them in the first place. I made the mistake of telling her to quit giving him money and to go into his room and throw all that devil-worship junk away and to take authority over him as a parent. She and her court of sympathisers rebuked me in the name of Jesus! They told me I was a hypocrite and a tool of the devil. And this lady told me she was called to preach and she had authority over me, not the other way around. Nevermind what Paul said in I Timothy 3:4 & 5 and in I Timothy 5:8. I'm sure if Paul were talking to them, they'd have an even stronger reaction against him. They'd have probably taken Ellie's plan, carried it out, and felt proud of themselves for purging an evil troublemaker from the church.

My point? Weak minded people make excuses because they're too lazy to do something about their problems. If you really stop and think about it, you'll understand what I mean. They want to cry and moan and bellyache and they want everyone to feel sorry for them because that makes them feel good or it makes them feel like their own failures aren't their fault. God forbid you suggest that they take responsibility for their own lives and their own actions. And God forbid you ever offer to help them get on their feet. If you're not going to do everything for them the way they want it done, then you're only adding to that self-imposed cross they have to bear.

That's why you see so many hypocrites in the church today. Oh, they say they want to live a true Christian life, but it's just too hard. Their job makes it impossible. Or the neighborhood where they live. Or they've just lived the way they have so long they can't change. It's never their fault. Our culture is one that shuns consequences at any cost--evidenced most starkly by the abortion movement.

Don't doubt yourself. No matter what, don't doubt yourself. The secret to success in life, in business, in church, or even in writing is to aknowledge your weaknesses, learn from them, work on them, and move on. It's a continual process, but we as Christians have a secret weapon. We can do all things through Christ Jesus who strengthens us.

[Merry]

Thanks, Bill. Yeah, I know I have doubted a lot lately, and that is a sin. I mean, if God says He has supplied all our need, that He has made us more than conquerors and on and on...then what kind of idiot am I to argue or whine about 'can I really do it?' (BTW:Idiot is correctly supplied: Anglectized form of idios, Greek, meaning 'ones own.' To follow ones own thoughts or direction rather than God's makes one the very definition of an idiot.) Don't you hate it when you notice you've been getting a bit tricked? Grrrr...But, thankfully God is forgiving and we move on from here. However, I am also thankful to have spiritual family that isn't afraid to point, or even drop kick you, the right direction. :D :D :cool:

[Merry]

FYI-Ellie's been sent.

[humblegyrl]

Weak minded people make excuses because they're too lazy to do something about their problems. If you really stop and think about it, you'll understand what I mean. They want to cry and moan and bellyache and they want everyone to feel sorry for them because that makes them feel good or it makes them feel like their own failures aren't their fault. God forbid you suggest that they take responsibility for their own lives and their own actions. And God forbid you ever offer to help them get on their feet. If you're not going to do everything for them the way they want it done, then you're only adding to that self-imposed cross they have to bear.

Wow. This is so eloquently put. This is exactly what I was trying to get at when I posted my prayer request the other day. If you don't mind, I would love to write this down for future reference. You will receive full credit, as these are your words and not mine.

[DMKinjorski]

Good Stuff Merry! Yeah, I have doubts...until my wife makes me change the words....or encourages me to change the words or setting. :rolleyes:

God Bless,
CHAP