Meeting this Saturday

June 1, 10 AM - noon

Cornerstone Christian Church, Wyckoff 

In the Barn, 2nd building on the right

Join us on Saturday and see if NJCWG is a fit for you.

All are welcome, wherever you are in your writing journey.

Hope to see you,

Barbara

barbarahigbyhope.com

May's Focus Point

When Writing = Obedience 

Write, def. #1: to form characters on a surface. We do this when we enter a date on our calendars, when we make a grocery list, when we journal. This is not the writing that brings us here today.

Write, def. #2: to compose, express, communicate. This is why we are here. It is not for ourselves—it is for others and, more importantly, it's in response to God’s prompting. 

I thought it would be a simple exercise to search the Bible for verses that tell us to "tell" but I found far more than I expected. Note the methods of telling and the forms of communication.

• Isa. 58:1 - "Shout it aloud, do not hold back. Raise your voice like a trumpet. Declare to my people.” (their rebellion and sins)
• Ps. 145:4-7 - “One generation will commend your works to another; they will tell of your mighty acts. They will speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty… They will tell of the power of your awesome works, and I will proclaim your great deeds. They will celebrate your abundant goodness and joyfully sing of your righteousness.”
• Matt. 10:27 - “What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs.”
• Luke 4:18 (Jesus quoting Isa.61) – "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed."
• John 15:26-27 - "When the Counselor comes… he will testify about me. And you also must testify...
• Col. 1:28-29 - We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me.
• Mark 16:15 - He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.
• 2 Tim. 4:2-3 - Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage — with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine.
• Hab. 2:2 - "Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it.”

And what do we plainly write?

• From the verses above: sin, God’s works; His splendor, majesty, goodness and righteousness; His personal revelations to us; Jesus and the Good News; from Isa. 61: good news, freedom, recovery, and release from oppression.

• Ps. 71:15-16 - My mouth will tell of your righteousness, of your salvation all day long, though I know not its measure. I will come and proclaim your mighty acts...

• Acts 5:20 – When an angel opened the prison doors and released the apostles, he told them, "Go, stand in the temple courts," he said, "and tell the people the full message of this new life." 

Where do we proclaim, tell, preach, shout, speak? 

Some of us have “temple courts,” at least occasionally. We have modern tablets (or laptops) and pursue writing in devotionals, periodicals, or and books. We also have rooftops. Our rooftops are blogs, FB, Instagram, audio, video, and more. They are know as social media, but they are our platforms for proclamation. 

Takeaway: I will not shrink from God’s calling on my life, but proclaim, tell, write His message by the means available today.

We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me. (Col 1:28-29)

Meeting this Saturday

May 4, 10 am - noon

Cornerstone Christian Church, Wyckoff

In the Barn (2nd building on the right)

Join us on Saturday for 

An Open Conversation about Marketing

Image by narciso1 from Pixabay 

Bring your opinions, research, tips & experience with FB, Twitter, Instagram, blogs, surveys, video, guest blogging, and audio presentations.

Be prepared to add to the discussion and build your platform.

All are welcome - visit to see if NJCWG is a fit for you. 

Last month's Focus Point is below.

Barbara

barbarahigbyhope.com

Take Advantage of Counsel

Proverbs 15:22 says, “Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed.”

I admire confident people who have a humble spirit. Humility is the difference between being confident and being cocky. Hopefully, one’s confidence stems from careful thought, thorough research, and wise input, which is the kind of confidence I want each of us to have as writers.

We give careful thought to our words. We research endless resources and comb through the truths of the Bible. We seek wise input through trusted advisers (such as in this group) and submit our work for critique.

We are well aware that the labor we exert in writing is not for ourselves but for our readers. We are not journaling—we’re writing to be read by others. This is why today’s topic is of value—it will teach us how to understand the needs of our readers. Their opinions will not to compromise our convictions, but hone the effectiveness of our presentation.

Proverbs 11:14 compliments the verse we just read—"For lack of guidance a nation falls, but many advisers make victory sure.” Our victory in writing is not measured by words on the page or hours at our computers. We are successful when others are encouraged, directed, informed—when we enable them to become more by reading our words.

We write for an audience of One… and also for those He draws to our writing.

Takeaway: Improving our listening skills will improve our writing skills.

Next Meeting: April 6

Let's try this again...

The Value of Surveys & How to Conduct Them

Presented by Shirley Blankson

How can a survey tune us in to our readers? 

How can we learn from the opinions of others? 
How can this positively affect our writing and our audience?

All writers are invited, regardless of writing experience. 

April 6, 10 am - noon

Cornerstone Christian Church, Wyckoff

In the Barn (2nd building on the right)

Our last meeting was canceled due to snow, but we don't expect a repeat performance! Please join us this Saturday,

Barbara

barbarahigbyhope.com

Meeting CANCELLED

Due to the weather forecast tomorrow's meeting, March 2, is cancelled.

Meeting this Saturday

Meeting this Saturday

March 2, 10 am-noon

Cornerstone Christian Church, Wyckoff

In the Barn (2nd building on the right)

The Value of Surveys & How to Conduct Them

Presented by Shirley Blankson

How can a survey tune us in to our readers? 

How can we learn from the opinions of others? 
How can this positively affect our writing?

All writers are invited, regardless of writing experience. 

Join us this Saturday.

Barbara

barbarahigbyhope.com

February's Focus Point

Identifying Your Theme

I love themes. When my children were young they chose a theme for their birthday parties and I'd run with it—Holly Hobby, Big Bird, baseball… When I participate in planning a church event, I’m all about the theme. I blog best when I’m working with a theme.

Years ago I had a pastor whose preaching theme was grace—every sermon boiled down to grace. Coming from a reformed background, that was great! Currently, our pastor is preaching from Galatians and the recurring theme throughout the book is found in a Tim Keller quote, “You are more sinful…than you ever dared believe, but more…loved than you ever dared hope.” 

David, it is commonly believed, authored Psalm 119, the longest psalm in the Bible. It is written as an acrostic poem using the 22 letters in the Hebrew alphabet, with each stanza containing eight lines, and there’s a theme—all 176 verses extol the merits of the Word. 

Verse 54 inspired today’s focus point, “Your statutes are [Word is] the theme of my song during my earthly life.” (HCSB) His life theme was the Word of God—its preciousness, its power, its beauty, its comfort, its reassurance, its truth. 

What is the theme of your song "during your earthly life"?

At one of our meetings in 2018 we considered if our writing had a recurring theme and many discovered it did. Identifying that theme proved enlightening and sharpened our focus. Today I pose two questions I think are worth pondering:

• If your life was a story, what would be its unifying theme? 
• The piece you’re writing is a story, what is its unifying theme? 

Takeaway: Discover your theme, embrace it, and run with it.

Meeting this Saturday

February 2, 10-noon

Cornerstone Christian Church, Wyckoff

All writers are invited, regardless of writing experience.

• Prepare to share: What are your writing goals for the next six months?  They don't have to be lofty but they do need to be distinct - goals you've weighed and prayed over. 

• Also, bring questions & comments from our last session about creating video presentations. If time allows, we will discuss any writing related questions.

• Members (those who have attended more than one meeting) are invited to bring work for critique. Please adhere to the guidelines on our web page.

Hope to see you Saturday,

Barbara

barbarahigbyhope.com

January's Focus Point

Memories, Goals & Vision

My first blog post of the year addressed making memories. I wrote that even though we chose to make good memories (of course), bad memories will also be made. The bad memories come uninvited, but the good memories come from intentional effort. I want to apply this to our 2019 writing goals since we will share them in February.

When we mesh memories and goals, my default memories are of failed goals—everything I didn’t accomplish. My memory doesn’t readily recall the vision and good intentions that inspired the setting of those goals. Rather than considering an unmet goal as failure, let’s regard it as a pause.

We mustn't allow the discouragement of unmet goals to hinder us from setting new ones or from pulling out last year's unmet goals and refreshing them. Maybe our timing was off. Maybe our circumstances were prohibitive. Perhaps our goal needs tweaking or prioritizing. Or maybe (grimace) we need to let go of a goal and move on. Could an old ambition be standing in the way of fresh vision?

It’s a new year. There is no scarcity of vision—there is always more to discover from the God who is infinite in creativity and wonder, and eager to share with us. What will He show us this year? A new process, genre, format, opportunity? We may step into an area that’s new to us, or dabble in writing something we’ve not tried before, or research an unfamiliar topic or genre—perhaps today’s presentation on Creating & Posting Video will become a 2019 goal.

Next month we’ll share our writing goals for the first half of 2019. Let’s talk to God about them with an open heart and ask what aspirations He has for us. We know from the book of John that the Holy Spirit is our Counselor—He will teach us, direct us, supply us—and surprise us.

Takeaway: My 2019 goal is not to make good memories, but God memories. I will seek His wisdom, inspiration, and direction.