Back Business

So. Today, questions for you:

Are you a reader? If so, how do you choose what you will read next?

As a reader, how do you think I (an author) could BEST entice you to read my next novel?

I'm in the middle of planning my release promotion for my next fiction, (Genoa Bay, releasing January 2010) and frankly, when I signed up for writing novels, I thought WRITING was all I'd have to do. Turns out, that is wrong. Writing is only a tiny part of the bargain.

Nope. You plan the novel. You research the novel. You write parts of the novel. You sell the novel to a publisher (With the help of your ever supportive and helpful agent). And then, you write the rest of the novel. You edit the novel. You turn the novel in. You edit again. And again. And again. And then you wait.

And then you promote it.

This, it turns out, is the hardest part for me. Promotion is so much outside of my comfort zone.

So. To promote, I speak. I teach. I try to get others to read the novel and to tell friends about it. I write about the process (here, for instance). And then I hope. I pray.

So, my friends. You read what I sometimes write here. What advice do YOU have to give your author friend?

I'm open, really!

Bette

Comforting Stuff

We had a great day at Bible Study today.

We've been talking about God's discipline, about our own childhoods, about permissive parents, overly harsh parents, about motives and effects. And in the midst of it all, I find this passage from Isaiah 28 so comforting. . .

"Listen to me; listen as I plead! Does a farmer always plow and never sow? Is he forever cultivating the soil and never planting it? Does he not finally plant his seeds for dill, cumin, wheat, barley and spelt, each in its own section of his land? The farmer knows just what to do, for God has given him understanding. He doesn't thresh all his crops the same way. a heavy sledge is never used on dill; rather it is beaten with a light stick. A threshing wheel is never rolled on cumin, instead it is beaten softly with a flail. Bread grain is easily crushed, so he doesn't keep on pounding it. He threshes it under the wheels of a cart, but he doesn't pulverize it. The LORD almighty is a wonderful teacher and he gives the farmer great wisdom."

Okay, so why does Isaiah include this passage? Is it really about farming? I don't think so. In chapter 27:8 Isaiah says, "Lord we love to obey your laws, our heart's desire is to glorify your name."

I think it's about discipline. And I find some incredible truths in this passage. Let me list them:

1. God plants different crops in different types of soil. He doesn't plan to get the same exact crop out of each of us.

2. There is a season for everything. You don't crush the seed before the plant grows. There is a planting season (sowing) a growing season, and a harvest. THEN, there is a threshing season.

3. The point of the threshing is to get the good stuff OUT -- to separate the good stuff from the waste. It isn't to punish the seed. There is a good motive behind the threshing.

4. God uses no more force than is necessary as he brings out the good from the bad. I can expect him to discern how much I can stand, and to bring the good out tenderly, without bruising or hurting me.

5. As there are different things harvested from different crops (believers) there are also different threshings for the different crops. Thus, my threshing (discipline) won't look exactly like every one else. Mine will be custom chosen.

6. My father, my Daddy God, who gives wisdom to the farmer, has an infinite supply of wisdom. He will know EXACTLY how to get the good stuff out of my life.

It comforts me to know that my Daddy God doesn't act in anger. He doesn't have any motive except to bring out the good harvest in my life. He won't over do it, won't hurt me in the process.

Daddy disciplines with wisdom, keeping the end in mind, always aware of the fragility of the crop he is working with.

What a good Daddy we serve!

Has he disciplined you lately? How? How did you respond?

Bette

True Confessions

So, occasionally, I teach Bible Studies.

This fall, I'm teaching one that I've written, called "A Daddy You Can Trust." It's hard for me, to write a study all week (that belongs later in the quarter), and then get one day to prepare a session for my students. Takes a lot of energy. A lot of concentration, and perseverance.

Anyway, lately the Holy Spirit has been reminding me of these words, found in Ezekiel. "Son of man, let all my words sink deep into your own heart first. Listen to them carefully for yourself. Then go to your people in exile and say to them, 'This is what the Sovereign Lord Says!' Do this whether they listen or not." (Ez 3:10-11)

In the passage, the Spirit is reminding the old prophet that all teaching begins at home.

A tough lesson. A hard lesson. He's not so much demanding perfect behavior of teachers, as God is demanding that teachers take his words to heart. That we consider our own lives in light of what we know. That we stay open to God's correction and guidance.

So, last week in my teaching time, I confessed that I have a prejudice. Probably not a prejudice that anyone would be able to identify, looking at my life. But a prejudice just the same. And I realized that God doesn't like it, this preconceived notion floating around in my brain, taking root, and bringing forth bad fruit.

So. I confess to you. I need God to cleanse me, to heal me, to free me of this silly, wrong attitude of mine. I need to see all people as he does.

I can't do it without his help. But then, he's already helped. He spotted it. He called it to my attention. He helped me to repent. And now, he'll help me grow out of it. He'll help me to choose another way.

God is good, isn't he? And the next time you think of YOUR teacher, remember to pray for them, won't you? They, like Ezekiel, like me, like Beth Moore, Chuck Swindoll, Max Lucado and hundreds of thousands of other teachers all over the world need God to bring the words home first.

God help us all to let YOUR word sink deep into our hearts, so that we can listen carefully for ourselves, whether others listen, or not.

How about you? Do you find yourself ready to dish the word out before it changes your own life? What are you doing about that?

Bette

Incomprehensible.

Last night I couldn't sleep.

You see I'm teaching a Bible Study on Friday morning, and I have to figure out how to bring the lesson to my students in a way that it matters. That's the question we should all be asking every time we look at the word.

So what?

For instance, I'm reading in Exodus. And I read these kinds of stories, one after another. God leads his people from Egypt through the wilderness to the promise land, not the easy way, not the direct route, but the long way. Then, when Egyptian enemies come chasing after them, God miraculously drowns the bad guys. But just two chapters later, when the Amalakites come after them, these poor guys find themselves on a battle field for the first time in their collective memory. They have to beat them the old fashioned way. The hard way. (though yes, God helps them)

So I find myself trying to make sense of God's work with his people. Is He a long-way God? Is he occasionally miraculous? Does he want us to work for our own victories -- sometimes? Confusing isn't it?

And here is my breathtakingly brilliant conclusion:

God is incomprehensible.

We don't understand what He is doing. His ways are beyond us. His thoughts are deeper, truer, wiser than ours.

But in the midst of our confusion, we do know one thing. God is NOT random. While WE may not always know WHY he does what he does, we know that HE DOES KNOW.

In the crazy examples above, each one comes with an explanation. They went the long way because God thought the direct way would bring them to a battle they weren't prepared to win (the Philistines). He led them through the Red Sea, because God wanted the people to fear the LORD and to put their faith in Him and his servant Moses (verse 14:31) and they fought the Amalakites because God wanted to demonstrate his opposition to those who "raise their fist against the LORD's throne."

He had his reasons.

So what? Well, it pertains to the Sunday School word we use all the time when we describe God. We call him incomprehensible. Beyond our understanding. Yes. But God understands. He has reasons. Plans. Purposes. They are beyond us, yes. But not beyond Him.

He reasons. He plans. He works. He acts. He responds. We don't always understand it. But we don't have to.

When we know God's character, we can rest in his HEART for us and trust that his reasons, plans and purposes are good. Like He is.

That's faith, isn't it?

Bette

In the dark

I have a friend who bugs me regularly about how rarely I blog. I tell her, it would be easier if someone wrote back to me. As it is, I often feel as if I'm writing to myself!

So hey, are you out there?

I spent the last two weeks getting ready to help my son move to Loma Linda, California. I've painted his room, gone through the stuff stored there, moved some to the basement, taken some to the Goodwill and had the Salvation Army truck come by. I found mice tracks in my pantry (yuck!), and put new shelves in the basement. What a busy end of summer! Last week, we drove to California together and set up his apartment.

But the Word of God draws me in. I'm reading Exodus again, and I've caught something I never noticed before. It happens at the part where Moses leads the folks out of Egypt and they end up camped against the Red Sea; then the Egyptian army comes after them. Picture this. As the sun sets, they set up camp. On one side is the sea. The Jews pitch their tents, get ready to cook their dinner, and find the kids. Then someone shouts. Fingers point. Screams come from the outer rim of the camp.

The Egyptians are coming.

Terror starts to spread. Panic runs through the camp. Then suddenly, the "angel of God, who had been leading the people of Israel, moved to a position behind them and the pillar of cloud also moved around behind. The pillar of cloud settled between the Israelite and Egyptian camps." (Exodus 12:19) God steps in to protect them from the enemy.

Then, as most of us know, the Israelites cross the Red Sea on dry ground.

But have you ever noticed that they cross at NIGHT?

They do. Check it out.

"So as the sun began to rise, Moses raised his hand over the sea. The water roared back into its usual lace, and the LORD swept the terrified Egyptians into the surging currents."

The Jews were over the sea and onto dry ground BEFORE the sun rose.

They crossed at night.

Important? Maybe not. But it seems to me that many times, God does his most miraculous work when things are darkest. And as God worked, (stacking up the water) he asked his people to walk through the provision he made for them. In the dark.

How many times have you walked through a dark place on dry ground?

Has he healed your marriage? Blessed you with a new attitude? Healed your body? Brought you through grief? Has he given you a new job? Taught you how to manage your money? Given you confidence, even in the face of a tough economy?

God is so different from the world where we live. In modern movies, the worst always happens at night.

But in God's stories, He always shows up when things look darkest! When the sun goes down, look for God. He is behind you, protecting you, working on your behalf. When he opens up the way, walk in it.

God shows up in the dark!

Bette

A surprise in Matthew

I've just finished Matthew again, and once again, I found something I've not seen before.

Look for yourself. Matthew 28:17

"When they saw him, they worshiped him -- but some of them doubted."

After Jesus death, the eleven disciples went to Galilee, (just as Jesus had instructed them through the women who had visited the empty tomb). There, they saw Him, the risen Lord, exactly as He planned.

But some of them doubted.

Can you believe it? These guys had hung out for at least three years together. They'd eaten and slept and ministered together day in and day out. If anyone should have recognized the risen Lord, it should have been these guys. After all, these guys were the inner circle.

And after his death, they trot off to Galilee, where they see the risen Christ, in person. And some of them -- doubted?

What is that about?

I don't know exactly. But I do have some thoughts. For one, isn't it interesting that Matthew could have left this detail out? It would have made more sense (if he were writing propaganda, anyway) to leave it out. Wouldn't you? If you were writing simply to convince someone of a false story, wouldn't you tell them that "everyone believed?"

But Matthew doesn't sacrifice accuracy for the sake of believability. I think that small detail tells us that he must have had a commitment to truth, and thus, we can conclude that he has told the WHOLE truth to the best of his ability. Matthew told us even the difficult details.

Secondly, I think it tells us something about human nature. How many times have we thought, "If only I'd have walked with Jesus, this whole faith thing would be so easy. I wouldn't struggle with doubt."

Wrong.

Doubt is part of our walk. Not because we believe in something false, or because we are stupid and foolish, but because we believe in something that is completely impossible. What kind of idiot believes that a dead man can be raised? It's impossible.

We have to acknowledge that simple fact. It IS ABSOLUTELY impossible.

But with God, impossible things are quite possible.

And sometimes, even in the face of those quite impossible things, we may pinch ourselves, thinking, "Can this be true?"

It isn't always easy to believe. But of course, if it were easy, it wouldn't take faith.

The take away? When you doubt, don't beat yourself up; remember the eleven. They struggled with doubt. You are in very good company. But do remember this:

Jesus said in John chapter 20:29,

"You believe because you have seen me. Blessed are those who haven't seen me and believe anyway."

Be blessed and believe.

Bette

What about Consequences?

In Matthew 24, Jesus tells his disciples that not one stone of the Jerusalem temple would be left on top of another.

Why? That answer is found in Matt 23, beginning in verse 37. The reason, in essence, is because the Jews would refuse to see and accept Jesus as the Messiah-- the promised one.

Yesterday, I was listening as a Biblical expositor explained that the real sin in Genesis was that Eve would not believe in the goodness of God. The speaker was telling us that we should trust God's restrictions to be representations of his LOVE for us. He does not say "No" lightly.

But is that all that is there? I don't think so.

"You surely will not die," the serpent told her.

Wasn't the real issue that Satan tried to convince Eve that there would be NO consequence for her disobedience? And wasn't Jesus telling Jerusalem that they would suffer for their rebellion?

I think so.

Not long ago, I tried to warn a young man who was about to marry a divorced woman. I told him (because this woman had no Biblical grounds for divorce) that I knew UNEQUIVOCABLY that she was not God's will for him. Mark tells us that to marry a divorced woman is to commit adultery -- not ever God's will for his people.

What was this young man's question for me? "So," he said, "adultery. That's big. But will God throw me out if I go ahead and marry her?"

What he wanted to know was, would there be a consequence. Answer? Yes. You see, he'd been told that God is love for so long that he thought love brought only good and pleasant things into his life.

Now, I'm not saying that he is about to lose his salvation. But I am going to stand on the side of the Word. When God warns his people, he is warning about the consequences of sin, whether it be the destruction of Jerusalem, or that Eve WILL DIE (as she did, and so did all of creation, both spiritually and physically).

To disobey God is to face the consequences. We must never forget that our good, loving God loves us far too much to let us go our own way. We help our children by letting them experience the consequences of their actions.

God loves us in a similar way. Don't ever underestimate his love for you.

So. How about you? Ever face a consequence? What was it?

Bette