FAITH, Risking and Resting on The Word of God

My book, Faith, Risking and Resting on The Word of God, has been released!



https://www.amazon.com/s?k=faith%2C+Risking+and+resting+on+the+word+of+god&ref=nb_sb_noss

New Book, TAKE ME TO THE GARDEN

David and his sister-in-law, Jonna Padgett, have collaborated on a book of poetry. It is available on Amazon.com

Take Me To The Garden

Take Me To The Garden

by Jonna Padgett and David Young

Here is one of the poems included in the book.

LIGHTNING ON THE MOUNTAIN TOP

Standing on the thundering alp,

Drenched in heaven's driving tears

With bending knees and tingling scalp

My glasses whining in my ears;

He's drawn me to this holy place.

Shying from His glorious essence,

I'm wincing from His gleaming face,

Trembling in His holy presence.

Streamers reaching from my heart

Do not draw the heavens there.

Though I do my trembling part

Heaven draws and meets my prayer.


https://www.amazon.com/David-Young/e/B008C7VLAQ?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_3&qid=1571167206&sr=1-3

DID SOMEONE THROW THE DART? on answering questions in print

Answering questions before a live audience can be tricky business. I wonder if it is easier or sometimes better in print. Last night I listened to a recording of Eric Metaxis speaking on his book MIRACLES, at Rutgers University. The primary miracles Eric told about in his talk, outside of his own conversion, were on the fine tuning of the universe. Scientists say the chances of all the parameters of the universe coming about by chance approach 0%, and go beyond it. Eric condensed that part of his book into The Wallstreet Journal article, Science Increasingly Makes The Case for God. (https://www.wsj.com/articles/eric-metaxas-science-increasingly-makes-the-case-for-god-1419544568) That article, by the way, had more than 600,000 shares and 10,000 comments on line.

After his talk, Eric took questions. And I want to respond to one of the questions raised. The questioner asked about slim chance of the fine tuning of the cosmos. "If you had a dart board and you divided it into a trillion squares, and you threw a dart that hit one of the one in a trillion squares, it doesn't show skill or intention, if you didn't call it in advance. How is that different from the fine tuning of the universe?"

Okay, I would like to to try to answer this question. Let's propose the trial of the millenia. Let me change the details a little. Suppose investigators come into a room and find a mouse with a dart pinning it to the floor. The question arises, "Who threw the dart?" You and I are called to be on the jury. During the trial Attorney #1 claims someone with incredible skill threw the dart. Attorney #2 says this could have happened without anyone throwing the dart. He brings a witness who says the mouse may have always been there with a dart in it.

Attorney #1 brings a witness who shows by the blood on the floor, the mouse was alive when hit by the dart.

Attorney # 2 says the mouse did not have to be a moving target.

Attorney #1 brings a witness who says the odds are exceedingly great that the mouse was moving when the dart hit him. And he goes on to ask how a dart came to be in the room.

Attorney # 2 says it is possible that a million years ago there could have been a meteor shower. One of the meteorites could have had a metal shard in it. And as it fell it struck a tree. Eons passed, and all of the tree but the small part with the metal embedded in it was worn away by the weather and elements.

Attorney # 1 claims the dart could not have moved with such precision without being thrown.

The other says a freak wind could have swept through the house picking up the dart and flinging it into the mouse.

At some point you might want to say, I wonder if there is not some reason other than the arguments presented that make the sides pose what they are presenting.

And if we want to believe arguments for or against the reality or intervention of God in the universe, what is our motivation? The man seemed to assume that God did not say in advance what the parameters of cosmology would be. How would he have known that? He could not have been there to hear. You could not have heard either. But we might ask God to speak to us now. Wouldn't that settle the issue for you?

Now, whether you think this is a good answer or not, I would like to present it to people who struggle with the issue. And writing seems to be a good forum for this. When I heard this question, I could not think of a good answer. I thought the question oversimplified the issue of the fine tuning of the universe. And I knew at Rutgers, like many universities, there would be great cultural pressure not to believe in God. But in writing I had time to formulate a situational apologetic.

But I don't have readers who would raise the question. I write in a symbolic echo chamber. I primarily read and write with those who basically agree with me. I do not have a good solution for this. I wonder if some of you have experience, or even theories about how to do this, I would appreciate your responses.

http://watchinginprayer.blogspot.com/
http://thinkinginthespirit.blogspot.com/
http://writingprayerfully.blogspot.com/
http://theanchorofthesoul.blogspot.com/

Website
http://daveswatch.com/

YouTube
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FOOTNOTES

I just wrote one of my other blogs on Footnotes in the Bible. And it made me think of footnotes in general. Do you use footnotes when you write? I like footnotes. But before I say anything more, need to admit that footnotes are not popular in these days for a number of reasons. Maybe foremost among those reasons is that editors don't like them. That may not be a strong enough statement. Many editors hate them. And what writer wants to offend an editor? Magazines don't use them at all. If you are writing for a magazine, don't bother. Or rather, find a way to say what you need to without using a footnote. Having said all that, I still like to use them for several reasons.

First, I use them to maintain a little subtlety. I occasionally think of something to say that requires a certain amount of wit or background knowledge to understand. As a reader, I like to figure those things out. Years ago I wrote a magazine article entitled, Filling The Unforgiving Minute. This comes from Kipling's poem, IF. The magazine needed me to tell readers where this came from in the text. But I am now including that article in a book I am writing on hope. Here I would like to give readers the opportunity to remember where the line comes from. But I also want to write a note to those who don't remember.

We also need footnotes to record Sources for what we write. This is crucial for technical writing, or for arguments that make a point. I once heard a joke on preachers who rattle off a lot of statistics in their sermons.

"87% of all quoted statistics are made up on the spot."

If someone wants to quote me in a speech or in writing, I want them to know where I got what I have written.

And footnotes are great for Clarification. In a note I can say, "I meant this." or "I didn't mean that."

I also like to make side Comments in some of what I write. You might call these wisecracks. In my book, JOY, I quoted something from The Magician's Nephew, by C.S.Lewis. I said in the text that this book was the sixth in the Narnia Chronicles and a prequel to the other books. But in a footnote I commented on a publication of the Narnia books that listed The Magician's Nephew as the first book in the series because it would have been first chronologically. I said those who listed the book so were "Philistines."

For whatever reason, footnotes are a means of adding depth to what we write. And even though most readers are in too much of a hurry to bother with them, there is pleasure in such notes for those who take the trouble to read them.

http://thinkinginthespirit.blogspot.com/
http://theanchorofthesoul.blogspot.com/
http://watchinginprayer.blogspot.com/
http://writingprayerfully.blogspot.com/

Website
http://daveswatch.com/

YouTube
https://goo.gl/PyzU

A WRITING SABBATH

Do you take a Sabbath from your writing. I recommend it, if you can. I say, if you can, because many of you write while maintaining a real job. And you won't write much if don't write in every free moment you can muster.

But after retiring from active pastoring, I began trying to write full-time. At that point, God was convicting me of not taking days off, or taking time for spiritual and physical renewal in my 45 or so years as a pastor. So I begin full-time writing with a Sabbath. I don't write or work on my writing from Friday evening to Saturday evening. And I have found it rewarding in a number of ways.

First, I have not had to deal with burn-out. Most of the time I chaffe when I quit at 6:00 on Fridays, because the juices are flowing. Frankly, this keeps me motivated. The break always refreshes my passion for what I am writing.

I also gain inspiration in a Sabbath. I do not necessarily recommend that you stop thinking about your writing on a Sabbath, whenever you try to take it. But some of my best ideas come when I am not thinking about writing at all. If I didn't discipline myself a little, I would hardly ever have a time I was not thinking about my writing. And I discipline myself not to write down ideas that come to me in my rest. I will not argue with you who are shocked by that. But I feel like great ideas will continue to nag at me after the Sabbath. In a question and answer time at a Writers' Conference, Steven King was asked about keeping a Writer's notebook. He said "I think a Writer's notebook is a great way of immortalizing bad ideas." And if the Holy Spirit is my muse, I can trust Him to bring good ideas back to me.

Finally, and most closely related to Biblical observance of the Sabbath, by taking a break I acknowledge that God is the source of all writing. I show that I am trusting Him to help me think. I am asking God's help in finishing what I working on. A Sabbath declares that everything I am and have and do comes from God. I give it to Him much like I worship with a tithe of our income.

http://thinkinginthespirit.blogspot.com/

http://theanchorofthesoul.blogspot.com/

http://watchinginprayer.blogspot.com/

http://writingprayerfully.blogspot.com/




Website

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YouTube

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CARVING OUT WHAT I NEED TO SAY

A friend recently noticed a cane carved for me by my brother-in-law. And he wondered what kind of power tools he used. I told him I thought he didn’t use much more than a pocket knife and sandpaper. He said, "That would be a lot of work!" I too have hand carved several walking sticks, although not as beautiful as my brother-in-law’s. And I find that, though painstaking, the work can be very satisfying.

I feel the same about the process of editing something I have written. I used to fear editing because I am not especially good at it. But I am in the process of editing a novel after completing the rough draft. And I find honing and polishing rewarding. I have no doubt that I am improving my work.

And while I try to saturate and punctuate all my writing with prayer, I actually pray more while editing. Especially with fiction, I try to get words down as rapidly as I can. At that point I do not pray or even think about how to say something. I admit that editing can be exhausting. But it is no less exciting or satisfying than writing a story in the first place.

In Letters and Life, on being a writer, on being a Christian, Brett Lott has a quote from John Berryman that I often put up where I can read it.

“You should always be trying to write a poem you are unable to write, a poem you lack the technique, the language, the courage to achieve.”

I like this quotation. I wish I had it on a coffee cup. But it does not depict the best way to improve my writing. In fact, I often find it intimidating. I improve by polishing what I write. When I write a poem, I put it with my daily prayer lists, and pray over it everyday. I change a word or a line every few days for several months. This method produces better poems than I thought I could write. My writing only becomes readable as I polish it day after day.

Of course, I do not ruminate for months on my blog posts. But I never post one without waiting until the next day after completing it. And I always find ways to make them better.

http://thinkinginthespirit.blogspot.com/

http://theanchorofthesoul.blogspot.com/

http://watchinginprayer.blogspot.com/

http://writingprayerfully.blogspot.com/


Website
http://daveswatch.com/

YouTube
https://goo.gl/PyzU

WHY DO I WRITE?

I write as a ministry. And I pray that people will come face to face with the Living God in my writings.

One of my books was just released, AGAPE, The Infinite, Ultimate Love of God. I pray that God will touch the lives of people through this book. I do pray that it will sell well. I pray, and I ask you to pray with me, that God will use it to touch the lives of people around the world.

I pray that God will allow me to write more books. And I pray that He will do more in the lives of more and more people with each book that He allows me to write.

AGAPE: The Infinite, Ultimate Love of God (FAITH, HOPE, & LOVE Book 1)

by David Young (FAITH, HOPE, & LOVE Book 1)

https://www.amazon.com/AGAPE-Infinite-Ultimate-Love-FAITH-ebook/dp/B07SHYCLSK/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=AGAPE%2C+The+Infinite%2C+Ultimate+Love+of+God&qid=1560098328&s=gateway&sr=8-1



http://writingprayerfully.blogspot.com/

http://theanchorofthesoul.blogspot.com/

http://watchinginprayer.blogspot.com/

http://thinkinginthespirit.blogspot.com/


Website

http://daveswatch.com/


YouTube

https://goo.gl/PyzU

FINDING THE STORY

I am writing a novel right now. And I have a certain perspective on the process. According to Jerry Jenkins, who wrote the Left Behind Series, and actually several other experienced authors, there are basically two kinds of fiction writers. Some are out-liners. There is an integrity to this kind of writing. And in fact, this includes writers, like Davis Bunn and others whose writings I love.

But I am not an out-liner. I am what is called a seat-of-the-pantser. I write by the seat of my pants. Stephen King wrote one of the best explanations I have ever heard of this. He said, “I put my characters in difficult situations and write to see what they will do.”

I am not sure who said this first. I remember laughing as I read it several years ago. But when I Googled the statement, I found at least three other novelists said it. But as I first read it a novelist got an angry letter from a fan saying, “You killed my favorite character!” She wrote back, “I didn't kill him. I found him dead.”

I actually suspect this is just as true of the out-liner as it is of us seat-of-the-pantsers. But I am often surprised by what happens in a story. I too am shocked. I am saddened. I have even written with tears of of grief or joy in my eyes.

There is a real sense in which I discover the story as I am writing. In The Mind of The Maker, Dorothy Sayers compares our creativity to the creative work of God Himself. One of the things I took away from that book, is that our highest creativity comes as we personally connect with God. And I am convinced that God who is omniscient knows what I am writing. And in fact, it is His story, not mine. I have the privilege of discovering the story that I am writing with God's help.

http://theanchorofthesoul.blogspot.com/
http://watchinginprayer.blogspot.com/
http://thinkinginthespirit.blogspot.com/
http://writingprayerfully.blogspot.com/

Website
http://daveswatch.com/

YouTube
https://goo.gl/PyzUz7

PURPOSE

Some friends called me recently asking if I would make a video, reading 1 Corinthians 13 as I did in their wedding 50 years ago this month. I need to say these are still really close friends and they blessed me wonderfully with the request.

And since, at their request I think, I read it in the Living Bible at their wedding, I thought it appropriate to use that translation. And I noticed something that delighted me in the text. Verse 3 uses the phrase, “If I were burned alive.” “If I were,” is in the subjunctive mood! “If I were you,” used to be a common expression. But it has been replaced by the indicative, “If I was you.” Which is a mistake that gives me the heebie-jeebies when I hear or read it. I looked this verse up in each of the 59 English translations on Bible Gateway. And no other translation used “were” here. Even the Mounce Reverse Interlinear used the indicative although the Greek uses the subjunctive. To be fair, the Douay-Rheims American Edition, translated in 1899, uses the subjunctive, “If I should,” but not “If I were.”

I was once confronted by a school teacher in my church because, in exaggeration and jest I said in the pulpit, that the corruption of the English language was “demonic.” I had to admit to him that I don't believe it is necessarily demonic, and that I had made an inappropriate statement. But it was hard for me to concede, because I hate the weakening of our language.

Calling corrupted language demonic may be bad theology. But as writers we need to maintain a balance against verbal barbarism. The primary question has to be, “What most clearly or forcefully expresses what I need to say.” But as a particular expression becomes antiquated, it will make us sound effete to our readers. Offended readers will not understand, even if what we write is clearer and better.

I am reading Making Sense of God, by Tim Keller. In one of the chapters he quotes Elizabeth Anscombe saying moderns should never use the word “ought”. That in itself is funny. She clearly says it is a moral imperative not to use moral imperatives. But she, or Alasdair MacIntyre who furthered her work, said you can say a watch is a bad watch because we know its purpose. If it doesn't keep proper time, it does not fulfill its purpose. You can't say it is a bad watch because you hate watches. And you can't say it is bad because it didn't hit the cat you threw it at. Their point was that without God, in whom they didn't believe, there is no purpose for our lives.

But we have purpose in spades. Purpose is the foundation of Christian writing. That is our strength. Even when we are not necessarily writing something Christian, our lives and writing are permeated with purpose. And that purpose makes clear communication essential.

http://theanchorofthesoul.blogspot.com/

http://watchinginprayer.blogspot.com/

http://thinkinginthespirit.blogspot.com/

http://writingprayerfully.blogspot.com/



Website

http://daveswatch.com/



YouTube



https://goo.gl/PyzU

PROFANITY IN PRINT

Do you use profanity in your writing? Frankly, I have been alarmed lately at the amount of profanity I have found in books and motion pictures. I won't argue with you, at least at this point, if you tell me that I should not be reading those books or watching those movies. For now I just want to deal with the phenomenon. First, while all of these words represent bitterness and rebellion, there are actually at least four separate categories of profanity.

First, there is language that is just nasty. This includes bathroom talk and other course words. These begin with course humor, but tend to normalize the coarsest thinking.

The intent behind these words often leads to sexual language. Such words are usually titillating. But they include the most violent of curse words that degrade sexual relations and abuse women.

I would also include racial slurs as profane. Profanity abuses that which is sacred. A person's race is God-given. Also, racial slurs usually lie outrageously. I don't believe Hitler invented racial jokes, but demeaning whole people groups was certainly pushed forward by the Nazis. This is one area of profanity that is usually avoided by writers.

Finally, there is blasphemous language. This includes language that treats hell or other truths lightly. And it extends to taking the name of God in vain.

Note that I did not include a fifth category of words of hate, violence, and abuse. I am aware that you may be able to think of hateful words that don't fit into these four categories. But words from all four of these categories can be used to abuse.

If you ask fiction writers why their characters use filthy language, they will tell you that they are trying to accurately reflect life. I do not know if I am extremely sheltered or not. But to be honest, I never hear people talk as bad as I read in books or have seen on television or in movies. Nevertheless, I think there is some truth to this. We have descended to the place in our society where even our highest political officials regularly use foul language and attack other people mercilessly. The corruption of our society is a great part of my concern. Jesus said that the mouth speaks out of the overflow of the heart. Ungodly speech reflects wicked hearts. And when we use bad language in our writing, we also make our society more blasphemous and violent.

This is a more complex problem then I have shown it to be so far. While I would like to influence writers to guard our language, I would like this to be more than a rant against society. I would like to make this a matter of prayer. After all, I am primarily writing to Christian writers in this blog.

In the 6th chapter of Isaiah the prophet says, “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!” Isaiah was convicted of their unclean hearts and lips because he had experienced the presence of God. And I believe the solution to the problem is to expose people by our writing to the reality and presence of the living God.

http://theanchorofthesoul.blogspot.com/

http://watchinginprayer.blogspot.com/

http://thinkinginthespirit.blogspot.com/

http://writingprayerfully.blogspot.com/




Website

http://daveswatch.com/




YouTube

https://goo.gl/PyzU