David C. Alves's Blog, page 11

Taking an Internet Break

I’ve found that the internet is the greatest time-drain in my life right now. So . . .  I will be taking a break for the month of November. I need to get some important reading and writing done. The time I save by unplugging from tweets, posts, texts, and most email, ought to provide the space for reading and writing that I struggle to carve out. I might forego weeknight Netflix too.

If prayer is a part of your lifestyle, then I would truly appreciate your prayers for me. I’d like to not lose any readers and return with a lineup of relevant and helpful posts for December and 2013. Thanks in advance for your prayers.

I will complete part 4 of the Sabbatical series and post that in a few days. Then, the next post I do will be in December. I’m hoping to write about the fast from the internet when I return.

Feel free to visit the archives and poke around the blog.

Have a blessed Thanksgiving. See you in December.

Filed under: Housekeeping, Social Networking

Letting Go of My Dream

Photo by Mia Alves

I guess I’ve finally reached the age where I’ve come to realize that my dream must go. Sometimes the dream we hold is too unrealistic for our lives or circumstances. With all that is truly important in the world, is my dream that high up on the list?

As a believer and as a pastor, I’ve seen lots of unrealistic dreams die. I guess I just never figured mine was that far out that I wouldn’t get to realize it. I suppose it wasn’t a unique dream either. Others perhaps had the same one, or at least a similar dream.

I guess the hard part for me is that I worked so hard toward it. The writing, the publishing, the studying of the craft. I should be happy that I completed two books. Albeit one was a dissertation which no one, including me, would want to read.

But the other is a word for the church. It is a word that could have set so many into a new place in their walk with the Lord. And I know he gave the word to me. He supplied the illumination, stamina, resources, and encouragement to see it through to the end. But in the end, I’ll leave that dream in his hands too.

I am through dreaming. My mind and heart are planted in reality–and that reality is complete Mystery. It’s waiting on God. Being still to know that He is God. It is “I must become less and less; He must become more and more.”

The Dream?

Oh, I know you’ll think it’s foolish. Silly to be so discouraged over such a dream.

But it was a beautiful dream to me. A year of writing in a little cottage by the sea. In a small town, like Vineyard Haven on Martha’s Vineyard (only that place is too expensive). Only a place the tourists haven’t found yet. Maybe Swan Island instead. A year with no financial weights, no other responsibilities except to read, write, and paint.

Writing in the morning. My laptop on my lap in a stuffed chair. Marcy writing in the next room or at the kitchen table. Then lunch in a small cafe over the news paper. Reading or painting in the afternoon. Walk on the beach. Sip coffee in the cafe and sketch out an outline or plot. Then a couple of early evening hours with Marcy and friends playing “name that tune.” Go to bed with the windows open to the sound of the rocky surf and halyards clanking against their masts in the distant harbor. Perhaps a fog horn or buoy-bell to stir me from my sleep only to drift off til morning.

Then rising early to write again. Finish the memoir. Finish the collection of poems. Finish “Hannah’s Table and Other stories” and perhaps shoot off a couple of feature articles for my favorite magazines and editors.

But . . . who knows what the New Earth will be like. Maybe that’s an exact picture of what I’ll live out beyond the end of this mystery of life. It will only take me a little while and I’ll adjust and be content to let the dream slip away. My mourning will evolve into new hope for something more real. I’m willing for the “letting go” to be an offering to Love. And another embrace of the Cross.

After all . . . it was my lesser dream. My greatest Dream awaits the Resurrection and the soon-return of my King.

Filed under: Consider It, ON THE JOURNEY, REFLECTIONS

Sabbatical: The Missing Link for Churches and Pastor – 3

Part 3 of 4 – Read Part 1 first

What can we do to stem the tide?

–understand the nature of ministry

Ministry is like no other job on the face of the planet. Why? Because it’s not a job! It’s a vocation–a calling. God gives to the church gifts of men (Eph. 4.11ff). These people-gifts who hold offices in the body of Christ carry weights like no other vocation. Period.

What kinds of consideration and compensation should a person receive who:

Is on call 24/7.
Is the front line for personal tragedy
Sees the worst and best of life. Has to bury a child in the morning and be joyful with the newlyweds in the afternoon.
Has to study and prepare teaching and messages to equip God’s people
Has to protect his family and flock from the spiritual attacks of a supernatural being set upon destroying and ravishing men, women, and children.
Walk point against that enemy himself

–demonstrate Appreciation

One solution proposed by Focus on the Family is a congregation’s annual participation in Clergy Appreciation Month, and a habit of affirmation throughout the year.

Pasted from <http://www.parsonage.org/faq/A000000541.cfm>

We just came through annual Pastor Appreciation Month—October. What did you or your church do to demonstrate how much you value the life and love of your pastor(s)? Showing your love in a tangible way honors Christ and your pastoral leaders.

–a Sabbatical

A sabbatical can be the missing link for your church and your pastor. God meant for us to rest from our labor. The sabbatical is not just for church leaders anymore, but it certainly should be practiced by our churches and leaders.

Many resources abound in our age of books, internet, and information. These suggestions may prove helpful:

Simply Google “sabbatical” and see what you come up with.
Assign someone from the church to thoroughly research what’s available. Beginning with this issue of The Witness, begin to read about how a sabbatical might just meet the needs of your church and leaders.
Read some of the suggested materials found at the end of this article
Go to the Maranatha Website/Blog and see what you can find there. We’re always adding sabbatical resources.

–a policy of refueling.

“Come Away: Jesus Calls His Sent Ones to Time Alone With Him.”

Even Jesus recognized this and retired often to places in the wilderness or to fishing with friends. He valued and modeled rest and solitude.

Churches can realize that pastors need time to refuel and replenish. Then develop a policy. Answer questions like:

How often should we send our pastor on sabbatical? [some say every 5 years, others every 7]
How long should a sabbatical be? [in most cases, 3-6 months is sufficient. Any may be time away, but is NOT a sabbatical]
What resources will we contribute? What other resources are available?
What are our plans for our pastoral staff as they near retirement age? What is that age to be in our church and culture? Is retirement mandatory at our church or is it indefinite? Are we willing to lighten the load of aging pastors rather than relegate them to an old age home (assuming they can afford one)
What would honor Jesus in the way we honor our leadership?

–release pastors to fulfill Christ’s expectations, not ours.

The pastor is God’s called, anointed gift to equip the church. Forget this, and you can forget Kingdom effectiveness. You may have a thriving, huge church, but it has no authority or lasting Kingdom fruit unless Jesus has assigned the leaders. The pastor/elder is not an employee of an organization–easily replaceable by calling the seminary or bible college. Where would the church have gone to get a Paul or a Barnabus? What would the job description and pay have been? Who would have evaluated their ministries? Who would have presumed to give them their marching orders and told them what was expected of them? Ridiculous! Yet the church (as an organization) has lost its moorings and has the wrong-headed notion that the Pastor is the manager of the company.

Perhaps requiring pastors to fulfill our varied and often misinformed expectations instead of Christ’s is another reason so many churches are failing and closing across all denominations and among other associations.

Part 4 of 4 in a couple of days.

©2012, David C Alves  All rights reserved.

First published by permission in The Witness, Winter 2012 by Advent Christian General Conference USA.

Related articles

Pastor Appreciation: Saying “Thanks” (marcyda.wordpress.com)
The satisfaction of ministry (bluechippastor.org)
Get Rid of Your Pastor (turningplace.wordpress.com)
Dangerous Calling (pjcockrell.wordpress.com)


Filed under: Health and Wellness, Insights, LIFE COACHING, ON THE JOURNEY

Sabbatical: The Missing Link for Churches and Pastor – 2

Part 2 of 4 – Read Part 1 first

How many pastors are leaving the ministry annually?

Info from Focus on the Family, Ministries Today, Charisma Magazine, TNT Ministries, and other respected groups [reported at http://djchuang.com] found:

1,500 pastors leave the ministry permanently each month in America. [emphasis mine]
7,000 churches close each year in America.

Reported from <http://djchuang.com/2010/churches-closing-and-pastors-leaving/>

90% of the minister’s report they feel inadequately trained to meet the demands of the ministry, 70% report having a lower self-image now than when they first started and 50% of the ministers will not even last 5 years!

Pasted from <http://pastoralcareinc.com/MR/Books/EBooks.php>

These figures are staggering. Perhaps one or two or twenty pastors may have neglected their spiritual life in order to be there for everyone else. Or perhaps they have misplaced priorities, but 1,500 a month!?  Fifty percent of ministers will not make it past 5 years? WOW!

What are the blockbuster-issues affecting pastors today?

I believe that the following factors contribute directly or indirectly to the statistics which we’ve just read.

–a decline in respect and appreciation.

According to one survey, the occupation of pastor ranks near the bottom of the most-respected professions, just above “car salesman.”

Reported from <http://pastoralcareinc.com/MR/Books/EBooks.php>

Some congregations view their pastors as hired employees or hired hands. Such a view is simply unbiblical and dishonoring to Christ, who gives pastors to the church.

As one source said, “the congregation wrongly believes that it is the pastor’s job to evangelize the community and pull the strays back in.”

Reported from <http://djchuang.com/2010/churches-closing-and-pastors-leaving/>

In reality, according to Ephesians, pastors hold one of the five-fold offices in the church. Theirs is a calling, a vocation, and they are not expendable. They are gifts to the Bride from Jesus himself. They are to be honored and valued.

–long hours and “battle fatigue” leading to exhaustion

Some in the church believe that a leader walking in the Holy Spirit, and in dependence upon Jesus, will never tire or be worn out. Of course this view is short-sighted and ill-informed. But these super-spiritual church members apply simplistic answers to complex conditions.  Then they err again by plucking biblical verses out of context without taking into account the whole counsel of Scripture.

They really have no idea the intensity of spiritual warfare and burden many pastoral couples labor under. Some pastoral leaders don’t even recognize the source of their distress.

Focus on the Family’s resident Pastor’s pastor, H.B. London, said recently:

“Many well-meaning Christians in their congregations ignored the signs of “battle fatigue.” Instead, congregations overwhelmed my pastor friends with unrealistic expectations, negative criticism and misplaced anger. Some congregations even assumed the perfect pastor was “out there,” so their fallible pastor was terminated.”

http://www.parsonage.org/faq/A000000541.cfm

Is termination a valid choice for our war-weary troops on the battle front in Afghanistan or Iraq? Those who have withstood the frontal assaults in battle are moved for a time to the rear to recover and retool before redeploying again to the front. Why would we expose those who watch over our souls to years of intense ministry without much more than a few weeks of vacation a year? School teachers get the entire summer off annually. Pastors, elders, and other spiritual leaders operating in modern culture are under so much more than their predecessors of earlier times. But even in those earlier times, spiritual fatigue and exhaustion took its toll.

Jesus knew what it was to be weary. The Apostle Paul understood the weight of ministry and spiritual concern–compassion fatigue is real. Exhaustion is the body responding to the load of spiritual warfare and pastoral care. God constructed our bodies for a slower pace than modern life dishes out.

–low pay

Have you ever considered whether you could go through years of preparation for ministry, years of schooling and graduate studies (if a M.Div. is required for ordination as it is in most denominations) and survive on what the average local church pays its pastor?

It is estimated that about 75% of all ministers live close to the poverty level. . . Many expect the pastor and his/her family to have a higher set of standards than they [themselves] do and unfortunately, having [sic]to “live by faith” more in providing for their provision.

Reported from <http://pastoralcareinc.com/MR/Books/EBooks.php>

Pastors are intentionally and unintentionally kept poor. Very few at the same level of education, experience, and responsibility would work for what the pastor receives. And once the pastor’s effectiveness has been drained, the church simply replaces the pastoral family without much more thought, never mind a substantial severance package. Some church goers feel that the pastor who buys into the modern ideas of 401K’s, severance packages, and housing allowances is unspiritual. These folks argue that the early apostles and Jesus didn’t have any of these things so why should their pastor? But how many of them hold that same standard for themselves?

Perhaps we reap in our lives spiritually what we sow into our leaders’ lives financially (cf. 1 Cor. 9:14; Gal. 6.6; 1 Tim. 5.17-18; esp. Lk. 6:38). Greediness is never applauded by God. Nor is it one of his attributes. Generosity and a giving spirit is what He demonstrates and expects from us, especially toward those men and women whom God has given to the churches. We are never rewarded for keeping our leaders poor.

Part 3 of 4 in a couple of days.

©2012, David C Alves  All rights reserved.

First published by permission in The Witness, Winter 2012 by Advent Christian General Conference USA.

Related articles

Pastor Appreciation: Saying “Thanks” (marcyda.wordpress.com)
The satisfaction of ministry (bluechippastor.org)
Get Rid of Your Pastor (turningplace.wordpress.com)
Dangerous Calling (pjcockrell.wordpress.com)


Filed under: Health and Wellness, Insights, LIFE COACHING, ON THE JOURNEY

Sabbatical: The Missing Link for Churches and Pastors

Part 1 of 4

Has anyone noticed the toll that modern ministry is taking on our pastors? Pastoral fatigue and burn out is costing the church more than money; it’s costing lives. More pastors and leaders are leaving ministry today than in the history of the Christian Church. I know because I almost became one of the statistics.

About two years ago, I began to experience depression for no particular reason. I felt discouraged, defeated, depressed, and doubtful things could get much better. I began to withdraw from people. Small tasks seemed huge. Everything took so much mental and physical energy that I didn’t know how I could continue in the ministry.

Follow that with a TIA (mini-stroke). Add to that my wife’s cancer. Then imagine the church beginning to decline. If anything negative could happen, it did.

Fortunately, at the recommendation of my doctor and in response to my health needs church elders granted me a 6-month Sabbatical.

My story has a happy ending. Our sabbatical did great things for Marcy and me. We returned to ministry refreshed, re-inspired, ready to serve as though we had just begun ministry. I recovered the strength and stamina to re-enter with new priorities in place and a replenished store of serotonin.

Read carefully the following text:

“He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.” (Isaiah 40:29–31, ESV)

The Holy Spirit through the Prophet Isaiah said that even the youths and young men will be weary and fall. How much more the older men and women? Notice the answer? They who WAIT upon the Lord. Linger with the Lord. Take time to be with Him. They shall renew, mount up, run, and walk unhindered. That’s the kind of pastor or leader I would want to lead me, to model life for me.

Most churches don’t have any idea what’s happening to their pastors as years of people-ministry and spiritual warfare take their toll. So when their shepherds “burn out,” many churches simply replace the pastor with another pastor and before long find that he too needs replacing. Is that God’s plan for those gifted people He gives to the body of Christ to build it up? Is that the future He has ordained for churches—a constant stream of committees on the search to replace tired and hurt servants?

Let’s take a closer look in Part 2.

©2012, David C Alves  All rights reserved.

First published by permission in The Witness, Winter 2012 by Advent Christian General Conference USA.

Related articles

Pastor Appreciation: Saying “Thanks” (marcyda.wordpress.com)
The satisfaction of ministry (bluechippastor.org)
Get Rid of Your Pastor (turningplace.wordpress.com)
Dangerous Calling (pjcockrell.wordpress.com)


Filed under: Health and Wellness, Insights, LIFE COACHING, ON THE JOURNEY

Do You Know LeeRoy the Garden Dog’s Story?

LeeRoy’s story will be new to many of my readers. So I want you to have fun reading from Episode One through all thirteen episodes.

Begin here and each episode has a link to the next one at the bottom of the post. Enjoy.

Be sure to go and “Like” him at his Facebook page. He loves new friends and he’ll keep you up to date on his gallivanting.

QUESTION: Do you like dogs? What kind.

Filed under: LeeRoydog

The Fate Awaiting Radical Jihadists

One night recently, my friend and I watched “Obsession: Radical Islam.” The DVD showed the intense hatred and focused malevolence aimed at the United States and other western countries by radical jihadists. This threat is a clear and present danger not only to our country and economy, but to our way of life. Jihadists plan to sweep the world into their net of radical Islam. They claim to accomplish this by murdering any non-Muslims and the Muslims they consider to be nominal. They also want to destroy Israel, along with all Jews wherever they are found. It was this particular emphasis that reminded me of the historic sweep of Hitler’s National Socialism. Same goals, different people and time. Same violent, demonic base, different geography.

Of course, this didn’t just spring to life. History has always witnessed to movements that cycle through time yet give birth to this anti-Semitism and spirit of vengeance. Jihad literally means “struggle.” Hitler’s book, Mein Kampf, translates literally—“My Struggle.” This is the “struggle” of Satan to overcome God, his ways, his people, his values, and his intents.

Satan has ALWAYS desired the death of human beings. The weird thing is, he doesn’t care which side they’re on. He destroys those who love the good. And he equally destroys those who embrace his evil—thus suicide warfare has always existed as well.

As recently as WWII the Japanese sent their kamikaze pilots against U.S. naval vessels in the Pacific. Vietnam saw little children, loaded with explosives, approach U.S. troops and civilians in South Vietnam. Now it’s radical jihadists sending children to their deaths. The men who have caused these children to hate are not only cowards; they have lost their souls and will be punished in the fires of hell after they have been sent into the outer darkness. They are weak ineffective vessels used by a spiritual enemy to deliver death and cause little ones to sin.

Jesus of Nazareth said:

17  . . . “Temptations to sin are sure to come, but woe to the one through whom they come! 2 It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were cast into the sea than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin.

–Luke 17:1–2 (ESV)

These demonized men hate women and children, because they hate themselves. Unless they repent and turn to God, they are beyond redemption. They are of their Father, the devil. He has been a murderer from the beginning. They are destined for destruction.

© 2012, David C Alves

Filed under: Consider It, In the News, Islamization, Signs of the Times

When Will the End Come?

The End of all things is at hand!

Try a little experiment here. Before reading this post, ask the Holy Spirit to take the veil off your heart and mind. Ask him to grant you revelation or illumination, that you might be able to see spiritual truth through spiritual eyes. Why is this important? Because according to the following Scripture text, unless God gives you his Spirit while you read, you will not understand. The result will be that you will consider all that follows “foolishness.” On the other hand, if God grants you the grace to read with understanding, it could transform your entire life in a moment of time:

1 Corinthians 2:14 (ESV)

14 The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.

 We are drawing closer to the end than most people imagine. God is reaching out to those who will humble themselves to seek him with a genuine heart. He is hardening those whose hearts and consciences are cold and seared.

Matthew 24:3–14 (ESV)*

Signs of the End of the Age

3 As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” 4 And Jesus answered them, “See that no one leads you astray. 5 For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray. 6 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are but the beginning of the birth pains.

9 “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. 10 And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. 11 And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. 12 And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. 13 But the one who endures to the end will be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

Think about this. God gives EVERYONE an invitation and opportunity to receive and accept the “Good News.” If Jesus is not more important to you than this world system, if he is not at the center of your life, if you are not “born-from-above,” (John 3) then Jesus will deny you before His Father in heaven. You will lose not only your life, but will forfeit your eternal destiny in his Kingdom. What in you would want to embrace an empty future instead of the future you could have as a beloved son or daughter of the Father?

It’s time to wake up from the Matrix.

Matthew 10:32–39 (ESV)

32 So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, 33 but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.

Not Peace, but a Sword

34 “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. 36 And a person’s enemies will be those of his own household. 37 Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38 And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

Intensity of relationship here is what Jesus is referring to. Having a nominal I-go-to-church mentality is a denial of Christ. When the hard times come, you will fall away if you are not a diligent follower of Jesus BEFORE hard times come. Those whom He will “acknowledge” before his Father are those who seriously love and follow Him . . . today. Once he re-invades his realm to set up his government, it will be too late to declare your loyalty. He given everyone an opportunity to recognize his reign on this side of His second coming. He is right at the door and is sending people to warn and call you.

Be careful before you reject someone who tries to reach out to you in the name of the Lord. Seek to understand that the reason the person is reaching out to you is because someone reached out to him or her, or because that person knows and loves you. God’s desire is for you to know him. Those who are his love what he loves and care about the people and values HE cares about.

The spiritual veil that covers our eyes can only be removed by the grace of Christ through someone who cares enough to bring the truth of the Good News, despite what it may cost them. Receive that person as an honored envoy of the “King of Kings.” In the following text, the King—Jesus—speaks to the crowd:

Matthew 10:40–42 (ESV)

Rewards

40 “Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me. 41 The one who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and the one who receives a righteous person because he is a righteous person will receive a righteous person’s reward. 42 And whoever gives one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward.”

If you treat God’s royal envoy with honor and dignity, rather than disdain, then Christ guarantees your reward. Even if you give someone who comes in the name of the Lord a drink of water–because he or she represents Jesus–you will not lose your reward. How much greater reward if you give Jesus your heart and life.

If you have not chosen to follow with all your heart yet, I implore you to invite him to be your King today.

QUESTION: Are you prepared for the end? Are you Christ’s disciple or the world’s?

©2012, David C Alves

*All Scripture unless otherwise stated is from the English Standard Version (ESV) of the Holy Bible published by Crossway.

Follow @davidcalves

Filed under: Consider It, Signs of the Times

Rewards of Writing Well

I’ve been an author/writer for years. Since my early years at college and following my Bread Loaf School of English courses, I’ve worked quietly and consistently–plugging away at my vocation. Little known, but read by a small and faithful tribe.

Every writer or author I know (and I know many) writes to be read. He writes to communicate. She usually has something to say.

Some write for self-gratification. Others seek recognition, perhaps for a cause or personal fame. Some hope to make a living at it. Some write to change their tribe or the world. Most write because–know it or not–they have an innate desire to create.

I write because my Father is an author. And His writing has changed my life forever. I know the power of words. I’ve tasted the power of His Word. I’ve experienced the effect of words from both sides–changing and being changed. And I want to see lives changed for the better.

Though many writers may not know or acknowledge it, this subconscious, creative  drive to write is in them because they are made in the image of God–who is Creator. Consciously, we all do it because wonderful rewards come from both the finished work and the process itself. Here are some of the rewards for writing well which I’ve been able to identify.

Recognition

Many write just to write, but writing well can end in recognition. I’m not convinced that those who set out to be recognized get recognized, but it can end up being one of the rewards. Especially for those who write well.

Recognition can lead to influence. Perhaps they desire to influence history or simply a few souls. It can also lead to the next reward.

Remuneration

Some of us go on to receive remuneration. Perhaps we don’t make our living at our writing–though undoubtedly some do–but we receive some form of remuneration. For my first published writing, I received only experience. Then, mugs, thanks, and more assignments. Once editors know that you will deliver and that you meet your deadlines without excuse, invitations increase.

For a while, I wrote for an online magazine that paid nicely and gave me regular work (until the editor left and the new one went in a different editorial direction. It happens). But remuneration–payment–can be a huge motivator and reward.

Joy in the Process

Being in the zone is a great reward of writing well. I love “the zone” I enter when writing. Everything else kind of fades away. My writing mentor–Ron Hansen–once told me, “David, turn off the editor, teacher, preacher, critic, and simply tell the story you have to tell.” Don’t be the perfectionist at the first draft stage. That can come later.

Jeff Goins once gave the same advice. That first write is such a creative act. Just get it out! And when I’m doing it well, I’m in the zone. Perfectly at peace, I’m writing what flows. Sometimes I may need to stop and mull things over, but I try to just keep going.

By the time I’m through, reentry is always amazing. Twenty minutes or several hours may have passed. Then I leave the work. Coming back to it later, I’m always amazed at the material I have to work with. Editing is its own kind of enjoyment for some of us. Hell for others. But nothing tops being in the zone or flow.

Satisfaction at a job well done

Good writers take great satisfaction at a job well done. They love the feeling of reading the finished work. Hearing themselves read to others and having them feedback is almost always rewarding.

I love knowing I’ve done my best. I enjoy knowing that something I wrote worked something good in someone else. That brings us to the superlative reward for writing as a believer.

Changed Lives

A reader once told me that my first book literally changed his life. He has a whole new perspective on his value to God. If I never wrote another thing, that would be enough reward for me. Another reader, and friend, actually adopted a child on the basis of something I wrote. It doesn’t get any better for me. Not money, not fame or notoriety, not awards can compete with the joy that comes hearing you’ve altered someone’s life for the better.

I’m sure I’ve left out other rewards for writing well, but these are some of which I’m aware. I’d love to hear why you write.

QUESTION: What rewards for writing well have I left out? Are there some you agree with? Why?

Filed under: Consider It, FOR WRITERS

Catalog Your Books in Your Personal Library?

To Catalog or Not to Catalog?

That is the question for us bibliophiles. Why is that a question for us? Because we are a diverse lot. We are a stewpot of male, female, everything in between, adventurers, eggheads, bookworms, Renaissance men and women, lovers, haters, spiritual, unspiritual, true believers, atheists, scientists, romantics. You get my point. We have a challenge agreeing on anything . . . except our love of books. But even here, we diverge–our tastes align infrequently. But when they do . . . it’s Nirvana, Happy Hunting Ground, Heaven, or Oblivion–whichever you embrace.

For some, cataloging opposes a dearly held value–freedom. The person who has a perfect memory, has his/her books already cataloged mentally. He knows where every book he ever bought is located. She is aware of the date of purchase, the cost, the conversation at the checkout, and the feel and weight of the volume (perhaps smell too). Others of us–I believe most of us–know we think that maybe we have that book. Sounds familiar. Oh right. I bought four copies because I forgot about the other three. I know they’re here . . . somewhere. And that’s the testimony of a young person. Add forty years to a twenty-year-old and 10,000 volumes over a lifetime, and you might be in the boat I’m in.

I NEED to catalog.

And if you use your books, as I often do, as research assistants, then you definitely need to catalog. Unless you IQ and retention are superhuman–which leaves the rest of us out.

In a modest attempt to unite us toward a consensus then, let’s consider some reasons for or against cataloging your personal library. See, I know you. Some of you are already querying, “Why do we need to ‘unite . . . toward a consensus”?

Because, we may grow. We may be able to move from our own opinion to include the opinion of someone who can simplify our lives and free us of our limitations. Someone who got desperate enough early on to know that libraries catalog for a reason. And I have benefited from that system across my years of education, research, and writing.

Don’t have a personal library? But you want one? Then take a moment to read “How to Build Your Personal Library.” You may want to then read, “How to Arrange Your Personal Library.” Then come back here.

Some Pro’s and Con’s – You Decide

CONS

Takes too much time
I could be reading instead
I hate organizing
I’d rather not know what I have. I like surprises

PROS

I know what I have
I can easily access the information I need
I like order and harmony
If I want to lay my hands on a book, I know exactly where it is
I want to know where I bought it, when, how much I paid, etc.
I can do book lists in an instant

3 Resources I’ve Found Helpful

Librarything.com -  a little technical for me. I prefer user-friendly. Also, I could not find a mobile app that worked properly.
Collectorz.com – costs money, but a good system. I used it for years. Stopped using it because every upgrade cost money and I could only access my books if I had my computer wtih me.
Goodreads.com - FREE and easy to use. Lacks some bells & whistles, but I’m sure they’ll show up soon enough. In addition, the mobile app is excellent, easy to use and access, and user-friendly.

QUESTION: Do you catalog your personal library? What software or site have you found helpful?

Filed under: Books, FOR READERS, Recommended Resources