What's Next?

Eventually, if you talk to enough people, and you pray and keep following God, you'll probably help someone else to come closer to the Lord, too. Even it takes you a while before you get someone who makes a new decision to follow Christ who wasn't previously a believer, you can still encourage other believers. And, you can overcome objections from non-believers. You can form relationships with those who are not followers of Christ and use that relationship to strengthen the impact of your witness. But, what will your journey look like as you are following Christ? What does growth in your relationship with Christ look like? That's the subject of a new book I recently finished reading by Bill Delvaux called, "Landmarks: Turning Points on Your Journey Toward God "

 

When I preach and witness to people, they ask me all sorts of questions such as, "If it is a sin to have sex outside of marriage, was I sinning when I was raped?" People frequently ask about suicide, homosexuality, drugs and alcohol, too. Many of these are hot button issues that a person can get used to talking to people about. The answers come easier with time, but I never know what the next question will be. So, by witnessing to others, I'm constantly being pushed forward in my pursuit of God. When I don't go out witnessing, I can become complacent. However, as long as I'm ministering to others, I have to keep moving forward myself, or I won't be able to keep helping other people. So, I can keep growing, even though I'm often pretty content (as far as I'm concerned) with where I'm at, because I need to keep learning more answers so that I can be ready when the next tough question comes.

So, you can imagine how excited I was to find Bill's book about Landmarks: it deals with a whole host of issues that were new to me. He gives perspectives on things I've never considered. Not only that, but he speaks from a vantage point further along in his journey that I am, and illustrates his material with easy to grasp comparisons to well known movies. His delivery is gentle, personal and authentic. He gives methods of explaining difficult concepts that will help me to speak to others about difficult subjects in a kind and gentle way. His nine landmarks (milestones of a Christian's development) are as follows: Story, Idols, Wounds, Sex, Identity, Battle, Bond, Mate and Quest. Now, when I first read those, I had no idea how those could be "milestones" in the development of anyone...but boy are they! Although this is a memoir, it is also a guidebook, and it has a lot of "story"...not that it is a novel, but rather you get to see the development of several characters through little vignettes about them and through comparisons (as stated before) to movies.

I might have to re-write this at some point, because I don't feel like my words are doing his book justice, but for now, trust me. Bill uses suspense and word pictures to draw the reader into the book. Some of his comparisons even have some humor. This is a great book and I intend to refer back to it multiple times. This book has lots of deep thoughts and I expect I'll really have to consider it over time to get everything out of it that I can. If you'd like to get a copy of it yourself, you can do so here.

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links, so I could make a few cents off it if you decide to buy through my links. If that bothers you, get it through Amazon without using my links. Either way is fine with me, as my goal is to see the kingdom of God advanced, and the more people who are looking for ways to do that the better off we’ll all be. God bless you in your efforts to do that! :-)

Missionary Writing: Truth Hidden in the Obvious

"The first step in missionary writing is to pray. That sounds obvious, but it is frequently overlooked in the headlong rush to write." - Jeff Calloway

 

That which seems like it should be obvious, often isn't. And, what is obvious to one person often isn't to the next. Sometimes, what was obvious to me yesterday is no longer obvious to me today. I'm not disagreeing with Jeff's statement above, but rather I'm saying it is sometimes O.k., even highly desirable, to state the obvious. Think about the person who talks about the elephant in the room. Sometimes talking about the things that are obvious (but that no one is talking about) can really loosen things up. Sometimes, like when you are working out a math "story problem", it is useful to just state what it is that you know you know. That's the way much of the book "Missionary Writing," by Jeff Calloway was to me: it has a lot of things in it that seem like maybe they should be obvious, but until someone points them out to you, you might not think of them.

Surprise!

I assumed when I got this book, that it would be about how to write home to friends, family and church members about what it is that you are doing while on your missionary trip. What are you learning about? What are you seeing the Lord do in his work among the people you are ministering to? That's about the only kind of thing I had been exposed to regarding missionary writing. But, that's not what Jeff had in mind at all. His book is about how to be a missionary through use of the written word! It is the complete opposite direction from what I had thought was the obvious direction for a book like this.

Although not what I expected, this book has been helpful to me in my quest to be a better writer in several ways. First, it is practical. This book is a how-to. It doesn't have a lot of flowery language or metaphors. It is a straight forward, easy to understand book on how to write as a missionary. Beyond that, though, it has advice that applies well to how to be a better writer in general. For example, it has a great section on seeing with fresh eyes. Although the words were about being a missionary to your readers, about showing people the Lord with your written words instead of just with your speech or your bodily presence, I kept seeing things that apply equally well to how to write a sermon or even how to write persuasive materials unrelated to Christianity. Also, it worked for me like a long set of writing prompts: it helped me look around and realize how many things around me were "obvious" (as in, right in front of me), but until one takes the time to deeply consider them, they are easy to overlook. Jeff has clearly spent a lot of time considering his subject. As someone who has lots of experience with missions and missionaries, the things he writes about are probably second nature to him, but he has the gift of writing it down in such a way that they seem like we should all have been doing it his way all along, because it is just "obviously" a really good way to do things. After having read Jeff's book, I see so many more things that I could write about than before having read it. He opened my eyes to vast quantities of material that are all around me (yet, I was having trouble seeing).

Seeing with New Eyes

I hope I’m not going on about this obviousness thing way too long, but it really is a big deal. To get an idea how big a deal this is, think about the areas of your life where you know a lot about a subject, but you've been using the things you know so much and for so long that you've forgotten that you ever learned them. The fact you are reading this means there is a VERY large number of these things that you know without knowing that you know them. Think of taking care of a baby. The baby doesn't know how to eat (at least not with fork and knife), or bathe itself, or walk, talk, or use a toilet. It can't dress itself. It can't do math or drive or pay bills. The list is almost endless, yet these are things that we, as adults, do almost without thinking. (Maybe we have to think about math and paying bills...maybe we have to think about those quite a bit, but you get the point. The baby can't do them at all and most of us can do them without a lot of help.) I loved this book partially because it tells us one thing after another that are foundational truths to the work of being a missionary. These truths are the things that allow a person to walk and talk like a missionary: ideas like chapter 4, "Understanding Those I Am Writing For". These truths are so foundational (like being able to walk and talk) that we can sometimes forget about them. And, these are things a newcomer to the field might not think to do the way the author suggests.

A Confession

Over the years, I've gotten better at writing. However, I still sometimes just run out of things to say. I also get tired of writing. Sometimes I'm frustrated by the lack of response my writing receives. In fact, I was recently so frustrated that I hadn't written anything substantial for this blog in months and also hadn't written anything for the Lord on twitter in a long time. But, a number of the books I've recently gotten from StoryCartel.com changed all that and Missionary Writing is one of them.

Other Content

Aside from the effect it has had on me, from a nuts and bolts perspective, you should know some of the breadth of content in this book. Aside from a section on "seeing with fresh eyes," it also has a great section on vision casting. That is, not on seeing the things around you in a new way, but rather the process of coming up with a vision for where you want to go with your writing. There’s a section on tools to use to help you with the process and the business end of your writing. To make any of the above things work, he starts with a section describing the subject of missionary writing (definitions, basis, mission, calling and some common roadblocks).

Summary

This short, but practical, book has a breadth of topics related to missionary writing. It opened my eyes to a wealth of ideas related to broadening the possibilities for things I could write about and I expect I’ll refer back to this little book over and over again when I need help with my writing. I found it useful and would recommend it to others writing with an intent to further Christ’s kingdom regardless of whether they are approaching believers or prospective converts.

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links, so I could make a few cents off it if you decide to buy through my links. If that bothers you, get it through Amazon without using my links. Either way is fine with me, as my goal is to see the kingdom of God advanced, and the more people who are looking for ways to do that the better off we’ll all be. God bless you in your efforts to do that! :-)