Christian Publishing Bridge

Canonization happened when a group of men decided which words were to become ‘holy’. They reviewed ancient transcripts and gathered the ones that they felt were true and put them together into a book we now call the Bible. 

But, what makes the Bible, holy?

Certainly, not those men which gathered the right scriptures; because God’s Word is not validated by men. 

It is made holy because of who wrote it because the words were written by holy people made that way by the breath of the Holy Spirit flowing through their hands. 

Some of the books are history; some are poetry; some are teaching; but all have one thing in common: they were penned by individuals who knew God and were prompted to write. 

So, when did God stop prompting men to write? Was it when those men declared the Bible finished? If we believe that God has finished talking, then we have believed in a dead God. 

What if those men who gathered together the ‘scriptures’ took a look at your writings; would they consider them to become similar enough to be joined with the other words?

Consider this, my holy writer friend: If your writings are not worthy to be considered to become part of canonization, then stop, and consider why you write. For, if you are ‘writing for God’ then it should be counted worthy of becoming part of the other words which have been written through history.

How about that for a goal in your writing? 

[Excerpts from Christian Authors Driving the Market.]

The Dream: 

And, I went back just before I left, and they handed me a chart. It was then that I realized that I had stopped writing the vital signs a long time ago. I was way behind. 

Interpretation:

The body of Christ is made so that each of us has a different role. And, if we think of it as a real body, such as ours, then it has a head, hands, feet and all that is in between. When there is a need in the body in one place, then another is supposed to compensate. It’s like when we break our right arm, then we write with our left. 

But, if the body of Christ includes all believers in the world, then how will we know of needs not directly related to us? 

Just like when a patient checks into the hospital for care, God has provided members to care for His body. He has set up His own HMO (Health Maintenance Organization).  He has a team of caregivers standing by to help His body.

I am a nurse and I work in the Intensive Care Unit. What I know to be true is that when a physician comes onto the unit, the first thing he looks for is the chart on his patient. 

Because the hospital is a busy place with many individuals coming and going, often the chart is not in the chart rack, so the physician has to find it. What he or she is looking for is the vital signs on the patient. 

The goal is to check on his condition evaluating the efforts of medical care. Based on the scan of the patient’s vital signs, the physician begins to formulate plans for fine tuning the treatment regime in a continued attempt to promote complete health within the sick one. 

But, sometimes, in the melee, the physician cannot locate the patient chart. He will, then, attempt to ask the nurse to find it. For, without the chart it is impossible to plan care. The chart is crucial because the plans for the future are based on the documentation of his condition. If there is no written documentation, then it is impossible to know when treatments are effective. There is merely ‘here-say’ evidence by the individual, himself. 

The same is true with the body of Christ. When no one is writing down the vital signs, then evaluation that leads toward changes in planning the direction of wellness are affected. 

When writers are not copying down the signs of the times; the vital signs that they have been given by the Holy Spirit, then, the only criteria by which plans for wellness can be made are to ask the body. 

And, if the hand is well and you ask him how he is doing, his response will be, “OK.”

But, if the liver is bad and you ask him how the body is doing, his response will be, “Terrible.”

So, when we rely on the individual members to tell us the condition of the whole body, our information will be inaccurate. It will be skewed as to that individual’s relationship to himself rather than the whole. 

God has placed the eyes in the body to see the whole. There are those with gifts of vision which enable them to see areas of needs within the body of Christ. And, depending on which way their vision is pointed, they will report on that area to the whole. 

Writers, artists, and singers are such ones. They come with a burden; a vision, and God instills within them a desire to share. But, it is only when they write it down and put it in a place where others can find it, that the vital signs of the body will be known by others. And, as the vital signs are made public, plans for treatment of the areas that need healing can be met. 

It is God’s delight for the whole body to become one in wellness and walk in freedom hand in hand with Him. 

[Excerpts from Christian Authors Driving the Market.]

Battle of Nun

On the same day at the Battle of Nun, there came together nation against nation, world against world. 

“Kingdoms at arms,” they called it; for there had never been a battle such as this and there would never be again. 

With a mighty show of strength those who had been pushed back locked arms in a line. Their numbers dwindled by the tenacity of the battle over such a long time. 

Wild animals had consumed many in the Forest of Have Not. 

What they needed never came and they found themselves lost and alone in the overgrown prickly underbrush. Consumed by oppression and torn by despair they curled up into a ball and felt the light slide from their eyes. 

Taunted daily by the beasts which freely roam within the Have Not forest. 

The enemy taunts the wants; pounds a nail in the flesh and drives it on in with a crooked branch from a pinning heart of the Forest of Have Not. 

On this day at the Battle of Nun there came together a people of one purpose, united in value. Those with clear eyes pure desire and no remorse; the few who clung to the vision of winning. 

They had lost their guns and ammo long ago having traveled far across uneven territory and muddy canals. 

The weight of the man-made weapons having grown heavier with each step until one by one their rifles and bullets were flung aside to rust in the Forest of Have Not. 

And, the forest let out a wicked laugh for it had gained and they had not. Surely, they had thrown away their last hope. Who could win without a weapon? 

But, these soldiers trekked along through muddy waters with wet boots more worried about their ability to press on than what they had thrown aside. Convergence of tenacity and wonder of energy they banned together and moved on through the Forest of Have Not. 

Then, came the day of the Battle of Nun a confirmation of eternal significance. 

For, when the few gathered arms and overlapped elbows they gained strength from one another. 

A brave one took the lead, grasp a bleeding hand and pressed forward through the thicket. 

Day after day they placed one foot in front of the other seeking their deliverance and looking toward salvation. 

All at once the leader gave a call, “I see it: Come follow me!” 

And, the rest tagged along. What man of fortitude and bravery unsurpassed to take the lead at such a time as this? 

For, indeed he was the furthest into the Forest of Have Not refusing to look back, yet clinging to those who needed hope and help to get out. 

Wild animals howling in the proximity and thunder clouds crashing overhead, they ducked and dashed amidst the tall trees. 

Shielded in the shadows of the almighty, they passed through with agility. 

In the few final steps each one recognized that there was a reason he had tossed aside his weapons because there was no way to hold the very thing, he assumed would protect him and to hold the hand of another. Their arms had become the arms of someone else. 

With a shout the leader lifted his arm holding his red feathered cap high for all to see, “We’re here!”

They had reached the Field of Abundance. 

On the edge of the field, each paused for a solemn moment gazing back at the place now become history: the Forest of Have Not. 

The Field of Abundance open before them was an amazing sight, yet the trauma of the run continued to hold them in a frigid state. 

Memories of fatigue, hunger and hateful eyes of oppression had burned deep within their soul, paying their toll. 

And, there was a recognition within each of these ragged soldiers that each needed to make a clear choice to face the Forest of Have Not or to face the Field of Abundance; to cling to the pain or embrace the change. 

Within the pregnant pause two soldiers let go of arms and fled in fear returning to the Forest of Have Not. 

Grown accustomed to being without, they were not prepared to be in a state of with. 

This is the Land of Have; the place where you never thought possible, is; the culmination of the dream; the door of the answer to the question: The birth of the expectance.  

And, in that day at the Battle of Nun, the enemy lost 100 to 1 because the soldiers found that just beyond the ridge a mighty army was waiting and prepared. 

So, as they continued their footed flight just rounding the corn patch with enemies on their heals a little behind, a new army came from behind the ridge. They had waited for such a time as this. They wedged themselves in between the Soldiers and their enemies slaughtering the to the last one. 

The soldiers stopped running and kissed the ground and hugged one another in amazement.  

In accordance to the decree of the King, each one was given a portion of the land according to his acts of bravery during his time in the Forest of Have Not. 

In addition, the King gave the army to protect them from their enemies. 

Now the soldiers don’t need to run and they don’t need to fight. They need not fear the enemies of the Forest of Have Not because they live safely in the land of Have in the Valley of Abundance. 

The Forest of Have Not is always nearby, but they can choose to avoid it by staying in their Land of Have being protected by the Army of the King.

But, what of the two soldiers who returned to the Forest for fear? 

Oh, out of love, two brave soldiers took the army with them and returned to the Forest of Have Not on special mission. Secretly at night they slithered into the darkness on their bellies and found the lost ones forlorn, torn and moaning in the distance. 

No enemies were near because they assumed the battle was won over these two. 

They heard the echoes of the spirit moaning as the two cried in the wilderness. 

And the enemies reasoned, that as long as they heard the cries, they knew they didn’t need to pursue them because they were bound by their own grief. 

But, when the two brave soldiers came with their army, they too followed the moans of the spirit to the forlorn ones. 

They were not afraid because they recognized the moans of the sad soul lost in the Forest of Have Not; they were echoes of their own soul in a time they had known before.

Rapid as a flint to light they tossed their friends over their shoulders and carried them out. 

Boldness and strength unmatched guarded by those given to protect they carried their friends out of the forlorn situation before their enemies realized the moaning had ceased. 

When the enemies recognized the moans were no more, they ran to the place they had stashed their foes in the Forest of Have Not and were met with their own vision of Have Not. 

In anger they blamed one another for their lack of attentiveness. 

But who would have suspected that those freed would come back to the place they had been bound to free their friends? 

Enemies never free one another, so the thought was never on their mind in the Forest of Have Not. 

There was a whirlwind of anger and agitation in the Forest of Have Not and a spark caught wind to become a raging fire which quickly engulfed the entire region. 

And, there was nobody sent to put out the fire. None was sent to rescue those engulfed in the flames. 

Why would anyone want to put out a fire which was to destroy a forest of want? Let the fire consume the Forest of Have Not. 

So, it burns to this day. 

[Excerpts from Christian Authors Driving the Market.]