Cornerstone Christian Church, Wyckoff
Upstairs in the Barn (2nd building on the right)
Come and be encouraged on your writing journey, whether you're a newbie or a veteran writer.
Members, our scheduled topic (Web Wisdom) is postponed. You're invited to bring questions or discoveries to share and, as always, your work for critique.
I look forward to seeing you Saturday,
Barbara
Due to Easter we are meeting the second weekend this month.
Saturday, April 10, 10 am-noon
Cornerstone Christian Church, Wyckoff
Upstairs in the Barn (2nd building on the right)
You know how it starts—a seemingly
random thought pops in your mind and peaks your interest. You begin turning it
over and discover various implications. It has your attention and reappears at
odd moments. Someday you’ll attend to it, record a few impressions, and
investigate it a little further, but not today, not now. And then… it’s gone!
Some hint of the idea may make noise, but the initial excitement is
past.
We can shrug it off and appease
ourselves with, “If God really wants me to write about this, I will remember”—or—we
can talk to Him about it before it’s a misty memory.
We should not be overawed with our own
brilliance and think every thought is gold to be refined, but as Christian
writers we have more than a creative imagination working for us—we have a God
who shares His thoughts with us. Ps. 25:14 says, “The Lord confides in those who fear him….”
The Holy Spirit teaches us and reminds us
of Jesus’ words (John
14:26) but we are also taught to test the spirits and prophecies and seek wisdom
from above. We pray, weigh it against the Word, and seek input from others.
Your idea may or may not be a
God-thought, but don’t let it die from neglect. Honor it by testing it out.
Take-away thought: Recognize that a new train of thought
may be from God and then proceed with a balanced approach that both respects it and
tests it.
Cornerstone Christian Church, Wyckoff
Upstairs in the Barn (2nd building on the right)
Be Faithful
We will be sharing writing goals today but we're not in a very inspiring season. I have found the beginning of the new year quite disheartening...
Amid such
desolation and depravity, how am I—how are we—supposed to think about goals? As I
prayed about this I heard one word: Faithful.
Nothing in the
news alters the fact that God is faithful to His people. And nothing excuses us
from being faithful to Him.
The
goals we set are not for our personal progress as much as they are acts of
faithful devotion. We offer them openhandedly, agreeing with Proverbs 16:9 that
we plan our course, but the Lord
establishes our steps. We’ve all experienced God’s redirection, detours, and
scenic diversions. Routes may vary, but what doesn’t change is the expectation that we will be
faithful—to God, to truth, to those He’s put in our lives—and faithful to use
our gifts for Him.
1 Corinthians 4:1
says, “Now it is required that those who have been given a trust
must prove faithful.”
With all that transpires around us, with diverted paths and disappointing delays, we are to be flexible but faithful to what God uniquely, personally puts on our hearts to do.
Take-away thought: We are faithful to God and diligent to pursue the goals He places in our hearts—in that order.
JANUARY MEETING
Please note: this month, we will be meeting on the 2nd Saturday - January 9th.
The meeting will be UPSTAIRS in the Barn. Masks are required throughout the meeting.
Please bring clear, measurable writing goals for 2021!
This Saturday, 12/5/20, we will meet in the corner house, located right before the barn. See you there at 10!
At our last meeting, I assigned a writing project for December and I want to give you ample time to complete it so here it is:
Cornerstone Christian Church, Wyckoff
In the Barn (2nd building on the right)Once seated, masks are not necessary if you are socially distanced.
Seasoned writers and novices are welcome.
The Focus Point below tells you what we're about.
We're on this journey together.
Join the discussion of these four A's:
Spur on another on...
Hebrews 10:24 (NKJV) tells us to spur one
another on to good works. What does this mean for a group of Christian writers?
I submit this paraphrase: Spur one another on to good words. The writer
of Hebrews tells us we spur one another on by meeting together and encouraging
one another, hence, our North Jersey Christian Writers Group.
We spur—urge, encourage, stimulate, goad, prod—each other. We do this first by recognizing the good work each one is trying to accomplish in our individual goals and projects. Secondly, we help each other focus our writing, hone our skills, and persist with our passion.
There is truth to the African proverb, It takes a village (or tribe) to raise a child. In
our case, the proverb crafts today’s take-away thought.
Take-away
thought: It takes a tribe to write a
book.
Word Power
Two notable truths found in the book of James offer wisdom
for us as Christian writers. The first is faith without works is dead and the
second is James' discussion of the power of the tongue.
We can talk about writing endlessly, sharing ideas and lofty
projects, but unless we are actually writing, we are not writers—we’re
thinkers. The second truth is what I want to talk about today—the power of the
tongue. James is not referring to the appendage in our mouths but the impact of the words that come from the tongue. He
goes into depth about their power to destroy, but they also have the power to
give life.
As writers our words can give hope, bring joy, and stimulate
faith. We are able to educate, encourage, enlighten, and entertain. We know
words can do that because we’ve read books and articles that have done that for
us.
We also know the importance of crafting those words in
ways that will best accomplish their purpose and impart life, which is why we talk about the
skills and techniques, grammar and editing. We study
these things in order to empower our writing, to offer words the Spirit can
ignite in the lives of our readers.
Take-away thought: If you want to be a writer, write—and write well to give the world words of life.
Due to the holiday weekend, we will meet the 2nd Saturday in September. Same place, same time.
10 am - noon
Cornerstone Christian Church, Wyckoff
In the Barn (2nd building on the right)
This is our agenda:
- Focus point
- Editing exercise
- Marketing Minute
- Critiques
Novices and experienced writers are welcome. Please come with a mask - once you're seated the mask is optional as long as you are distanced. Members, bring your work for critique!
I hope to see you there,
Barbara
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| Image by Jagrit Parajuli from Pixabay |
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| Image by Jagrit Parajuli from Pixabay |
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| Image by Sasin Tipchai from Pixabay |
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| Image by Bruno /Germany from Pixabay |
“To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law…so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law I became like one not having the…so as to win those not having the law. To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings” (italics mine).It is for the sake of the truth we present that we do our best to be read and received by others. People do not want to read loosely written work or go down rabbit trails or turn on their internal editor as they read. We never compromise the truth, but we write with integrity that produces our best work and prioritizes the truth of the Gospel.
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| Image by Free-Photos from Pixabay |
