Or, he had me guest blog today.
Please go take a look at:
http://www.eddiejones.org/that-grinding-noise-you-hear-is-work-in-progress-joseph-courtemanche/
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Please follow me on Twitter, and “Like” the Facebook author page.
I attended a conference hosted by Michael Card recently.
Michael Card’s Biblical Imagination Series
The second thing that was brought home to me during the conference is how amazing it is to surround yourself with fellow believers. We get so caught up in “the world” that we sometimes forget that Billions of others hold our beliefs.
I met some very nice people and once again dwelt in the Spirit for an extended period. You can’t get that at church. But in a setting like this you spend a full day with these people. It’s wonderful. Especially wonderful was the concert on Sunday night. Michael Card is probably most noted outside of his fans for having written “El Shaddai.” That tune was one of the rocket boosters under the career of Amy Grant. (Link to video)
But to listen to Michael sing it in an intimate setting this weekend was different. I wept because the Lord’s journey was so real and vivid in the way he performed the song. Again, go listen to it and ponder the words. (Lots of links today!)
At the end of the conference we were challenged to insert ourselves into the Gospel of Mark. As in:
“The Apostles followed Jesus into (name your town) and espied a crippled man at the side of the road. His name was Joseph of …”
I think that this request for the personal testimony of your rebirth in Christ in a Biblical setting is one of the greatest creative writing/philosophical questions I have ever been asked in my life. I’m encouraging all of you to take ten minutes and write out your response right now. If you are comfortable in doing so, I’d further ask that you send me a copy via the comments section of this blog. I will publish it if you want, keep it private if you don’t want to go public. You do have to specify in your subject line. And without further ado, my “Biblical” appearance is below.
The Apostles turned to Him and said, “Rabbi, that man has returned. The one who paces back and forth in front of the Temple but never enters. Shall we summon him and find out what he desires?”
Jesus smiled at Peter, “No. He is not ready yet. Let time prepare his heart a bit more and then I will talk to him this night.”
That night the stranger fell asleep in his lodgings, his wife nearby. After a time he awoke in the midst of carnage and destruction. Confused, he wondered how he came to be in this place. He felt a presence that could not be seen. “Who are you and what am I doing here? I was asleep in the inn and now I’m in the roadway?”
The presence loomed just outside of the man’s view. “You are at a crossroads. You can continue on your present path and spend eternity like this or you can follow me and be soothed in my love.”
“Are you The Christ? You abandoned me long ago. I turned my back in return. Why would you want me to be happy. You’ve been punishing me for something I don’t even understand. I’m not sure you even exist and this hasn’t all just been a bad dream.”
Jesus remained hidden. “You will know the time and the place. I have a home for you in My Kingdom. One day soon you will no longer walk past the temple – you will enter and change your life forever. And I can’t wait for you to rejoin Me.”
The man awoke in a panic. He was back in the inn, but the dream was so vivid that he was shocked to find no trace of the fire and death that had surrounded him a moment before.
For a long time he struggled to deny the dream. He struggled with surrender and admitting that he was wrong. His vanity was going to cost him his soul.
But one day he walked in the door of the temple to do trade with one of the priests. To his surprise, and everlasting joy, Jesus was waiting to greet him. Jesus handed him a robe, a ring, and provided a seat at the table where a banquet was set just for him. “Joseph, son of Oliver, I am gladdened to see you this day. I have a special task for you in My church. Please eat and we will discuss your role as one of My scribes for The Kingdom Eternal.”
Stunned the man sat down and was filled with The Holy Spirit. He no longer wandered the highways of destruction but had a new path to eternal life.
What is your Biblical story? If you’d like to share it, please post a comment with the text and let me know if you’d like it to be public or just between us. I’m looking forward to the responses.
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I’d like to welcome all of you who followed a link on a friend’s blog, Facebook, or Twitter account to find this little corner of silliness. I’ll be switched, but the web traffic quintupled in two days. The reasons might just be found below. In the meantime, my thanks to all of my fellow authors and friends who contributed to the spike in traffic.
During a recent trip to the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference I played the most popular parlor game with my fellow authors – exchanging business cards. This can be fun, it can be dangerous, but it is certainly educational.
I always ask if a fellow author has a blog and would like to exchange links and posts. I take the card, make sure I can actually remember who the heck it belongs to, and then stuff it in the little credentials holder that hangs around my neck. It’s safe there, won’t get rumpled, and won’t get lost.
The first thing I do (writing wise) upon returning from the conference is update my blogroll, send am email of thanks to the person for tolerating me during our visit, and then read their blog. Unless they are seriously unhinged (and none of them were) I elicit a blog post from them again and offer one of my own. Thus far several have responded and the posts crop up here as cross posts. It’s good for all involved.
There is just one problem with the whole system – dark business cards. I’m able to read most things given the right pair of glasses. When I designed my latest cards I took the colors into account and made sure they were legible in mediocre light. I had to destroy the first 1000 cards because they didn’t match the proof. Thankfully, the good people at Print For Change are outstanding Christians who deliver unequaled customer service. They pumped out a new batch that looked great in under a week – at no cost. Gotta love that!
Back to dark business cards – I was presented with at least five cards that held the name of the author in clear print, but the telephone numbers and email addresses (and, in two cases, the url of the blog) were so dark on a dark background that you couldn’t read them. Pretty cards, artistically designed, great photos – but illegible.
In a world where people just move on to the next item that could be fatal. I took the time because I valued their help in furthering my career. There, it’s out – we both win if we do this thing. And I’m glad to promote them: see the blogroll for the links to my friends. But if you didn’t care very much, or were forgetful about the person’s patter about their writing, those dark cards would spell an end to the interest.
Aside from the dark cards, we all went into a frenzy of Twitter, Facebook, Linked-in, and blog exchanges. I saw my traffic increase almost immediately. It exploded yesterday.
And, as a result, I’ll do two more posts today. I’m motivated. And you can read my cards in poor light.
In the meantime, here’s another dog picture. Seems she’s got a bigger following than I do. Have a blessed day. And glad so many new readers dropped by to see what’s going on around here.
Sleeping Beauty. Stormy at her best.
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Many of my friends and colleagues have asked how I’m doing after the surgery. The doctor gives the verdict later this week, but I’m considering it a big improvement.
I’m relatively pain free, and aside from some tightness in the leg it’s way better than before the surgery.
But I am so tired. General anesthetic takes it right out of you. I’m listless and lazy on a good day, but throw in some Michael Jackson party favors and it’s all over.
I plan to return to my job next week. I should be able to gimp on up the stairs no problem. Every day stronger. And I owe a lot of that to prayers from thousands of you every day.
My humble thanks for keeping me in your prayers.
As a bonus, a picture of my cane!
Jaguar Cane
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I have a blog for two reasons:
1. Everyone at my first writers’ convention said you need a blog to grow an audience.
2. I own the keys and can spout off here without making everyone on Facebook completely crazy.
That second one is the topic of my post today. I have two friends, both decent enough people, who are complete jerks on Facebook. I say that in the most kind, loving, non-judging, Christian manner that I can muster. Both.Are.Jerks. As a result I’m going to have to put them in a box and not allow any of their posts to filter into my timeline. It’s a shame, both are bright people and I will miss the occasional bon-mot they chuck out there as well as keeping up on their lives. But they’ve given me cause.
One of them is evidently obligated to spend 16 hours per day looking for articles on Slate to link to that prove all conservatives, Christians, and people with anything in common with me have sub-normal I.Q. levels, worship at the shrine of intolerance, and like to kick puppies.
The other has a couple of good causes but posts about them 4-10 times a day. Each post is slightly more whiny and insulting than the last – see above. I’ve found you almost never sway people to take up your cause by telling them that they are bigoted morons for not seeing it your way right out of the gate. And then repeating the message 7 times in a row with varying themes.
I want to read Facebook posts about their impending vacation, the book they just read, the birth of a child, a picture of the hubby finishing a 10k race, etc. I don’t want to be bashed in the mean-spirited manner that so many people use with almost every post. That’s what blogs are for – and you can do it for free on some blogs. Heck, even this here pre-eem-ium blog only costs a few bucks a month to host over at 1and1.com.
Sadly these two join three previous victims. They all fell off my radar when the ranting reached blog levels. Civility was lost.
I have enough stress in my life without having it delivered into my browser.
Are you posting trash like that on Facebook every day? Do you think you’re winning a moral victory by doing so? And if you are, will you consider stopping right this instant before you alienate more of your friends?
