David N. Walker's Blog, page 10

Call Me Mr. Untech

Call me Mr. Un-Tech. They should put big disclaimers on websites offering items of technology saying, “Not for David N. Walker.” They shouldn’t let me buy such things.

I got a new smart phone last summer, and I still can’t figure out how to add new people to my phone list or to delete the thousand or so Facebook friends I don’t have phone numbers for. Why are they even in there?

Confusing as my phone may be, that’s not really what prompted me to write this rant post. That honor is reserved for my new Surface 2 Tablet. I got it last week, and I’m still wondering if I’ll ever use its capabilities. Assuming it has capabilities. You couldn’t prove that by me.

For one thing, it insists I use Internet Explorer, which everyone knows is broken, and it won’t let me download Google Chrome and use it for my browser. Nor will it allow me to use Google as my default search engine.

When I go online, I’m accustomed to having a taskbar show at the bottom of the screen and an address bar and other bars at the top. These make it possible to navigate, but the tablet seems to have none of these except an address bar. Yesterday, I went to Target’s website to search for a product, and I couldn’t a way out of it without manually entering another site in the address bar. There’s undoubtedly a way to navigate, but I haven’t figured it out yet.

The tablet came with a cloud account called OneDrive, so I copied all my photos from my computer into OneDrive. I can now look at them from either the computer or the tablet. But I haven’t figured out how to put new photos I take with the tablet into the cloud. Jenny Hansen and Jay Donovan, two friends who are very knowledgeable in tech matters, both gave me some instructions on how to do this, although their instructions were not the same. Someday I’ll probably figure out how to follow their instructions, but so far I haven’t.

I know a lot of people—including my older sister—who are not technological geniuses but who manage to enjoy using tablets. Are they smarter than I am, or do they just use one or two functions and not try to go beyond? I don’t know.

Probably most of you find my technical ineptitude laughable. That’s okay. Go ahead and laugh. I don’t mind. I just wonder if I’m totally hopeless or if I’ll eventually figure out how to use this fool thing. Maybe my intro is not really tongue-in-cheek. Maybe they actually should put my name in warnings on websites where high-tech products are sold.

After you quit laughing at me, tell me what computer hardware or software or social media programs you have trouble with. I’d love to know, and maybe a reader or two could use some help, too.

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We may not have it all together, but together we have it all.

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For more information about David N. Walker, click the “About” tab above.

For more information about his books, click on “Books” above.

Contact him at dnwalkertx (at) gmail (dot) com or tweet him at @davidnwalkertx.

Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: Advice, Authorship, Caring, David N. Walker Christian Author, David N. Walker Historical Fiction Author, Fancy Series, friends, Google, Google Chrome, Heaven Sent, Internet Explorer, Jay Donovan, Jenny Hansen, Life, Life experience, Life lessons, Life truths, Life values, People, Personal development, Self-help, Surface 2 Tablet

Joy

My schedule is a bit messed up this week due to commitments away from home and my computer. Since I don’t have time to write much of a post, I’m going to share a plaque I keep on my office wall:

Joy

is not

the absence of

suffering,

but the presence of

God

Give that some thought as you deal with the trials and tribulations life throws at you in the coming week.

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If you abide in Me and My word abides in you, then you shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For more information about David N. Walker, click the “About” tab above.

For more information about his books, click on “Books” above.

Contact him at dnwalkertx (at) gmail (dot) com or tweet him at @davidnwalkertx.

Filed under: Christian Thoughts Tagged: Bible, Christian, Christian Fellowship, Christianity, David N. Walker Christian Author, David N. Walker Historical Fiction Author, Faith, Fancy Series, Forgiveness, God is in control, Godly Wisdom, Grace, Heaven Sent, inspiration, Jesus, Joy, Sins, Works

Ladies Professional Golf Association

Some of you may know that I’m a rabid fan of the Ladies’ Professional Golf Association. If you’ve read any of my books, you’re aware that I love to write about strong women. I also have a life-long love affair with the game of golf, so supporting the LPGA tour is a natural combination of these two interests.

Speaking of strong women, there are no weak sisters in the game of professional golf. Unlike professional team athletics, no one pays any of these ladies a salary to play. There are no guarantees. Their income is derived from their ability to win on the golf course and their ability to attract corporate sponsors, which is also related to winning on the golf course.

The elite players like Stacy Lewis and Inbee Park and Lydia Ko can earn multi-million dollar incomes, between their tournament winnings and their endorsements, but there aren’t many doing that. A number of them earn several hundred thousand dollars a year, but when you factor in their expenses in pursuit of their profession, this isn’t as great as it seems. And there are many more who are wonderful golfers with great skill who struggle to break even with expenses.

For a comparison, PGA Tour events generally pay over $1 million for first prize, compared with $180K to $300K for most LPGA events. The ladies’ skills are on a par with the men’s, but they haven’t caught the public’s eye to the same extent, so the money isn’t there for them.

Next week, I get to repay some of the pleasure these ladies have given me through the years. The Volunteers of American North Texas Shootout will be played in Irving, and, much as I dislike driving in Dallas County, I’ll be going over there every day to work the tournament as a volunteer.

This will be my third year to do so. The first year I served as a marshal. Realizing the walking, standing, and climbing hills was a bit much for my aging body, I repented of that after one year. Last year, I drove a golf cart shuttling marshals around the course. (Where was this shuttle service when I was a marshal?)

This year, I volunteered for the same shuttle service, but they changed the game on me. Instead of hauling marshals, my job is to be available to people with disabilities, giving them rides to wherever they need to go. I’ll probably spend a lot more time sitting in one place and less driving around the course, so I’m not sure how much I’ll enjoy it.

One of the perks of doing this is that I get to see these ladies in person whom I admire on television the rest of the year. On the tournament days, Thursday through Sunday, we can’t disturb their concentration by talking to them, but Monday through Wednesday, we’re free to talk to them if we’d like. I look forward to that.

Two years ago I became a big Morgan Pressel fan. I hadn’t been before that, but I watched her spend some ten minutes or so showing one of her amateur partners in the pro-am how to hit out of a sand trap. She could have been practicing her putting or some such thing, but she cheerfully gave this gentleman of her time. I decided right then that she was the type of person I respected, and I’ve been a big fan ever since.

What athletic events have you worked? What star athletes have you met?

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We may not have it all together, but together we have it all.

——————————————

For more information about David N. Walker, click the “About” tab above.

For more information about his books, click on “Books” above.

Contact him at dnwalkertx (at) gmail (dot) com or tweet him at @davidnwalkertx.

Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: Advice, Authorship, Caring, David N. Walker Christian Author, David N. Walker Historical Fiction Author, Fancy Series, friends, Heaven Sent, Inbee Park, Ladies Professional Golf Association, Life, Life experience, Life lessons, Life truths, Life values, LPGA, Lydia Ko, Morgan Pressel, People, Personal development, Self-help, Stacy Lewis

A Capsule Version of the Gospel

I recently received this in an email, and I thought it was so aptly put I would share it with you:

There once was a man named George Thomas, pastor in a small New England town. One Easter Sunday morning he came to the Church carrying a rusty, bent, old bird cage, and set it by the pulpit. Eyebrows were raised and, as if in response, Pastor Thomas began to speak.

“I was walking through town yesterday when I saw a young boy coming toward me swinging this bird cage. On the bottom of the cage were three little wild birds, shivering with cold and fright. I stopped the lad and asked, ‘What do you have there, son?’

“Just some old birds,” came the reply.

“What are you going to do with them?” I asked.

“Take ’em home and have fun with ’em,” he answered. “I’m gonna tease ’em and pull out their feathers to make ’em fight. I’m gonna have a real good time.”

“But you’ll get tired of those birds sooner or later. What will you do then?”

“Oh, I got some cats,” said the little boy. “They like birds. I’ll take ’em to them.”

The pastor was silent for a moment. “How much do you want for those birds, son?”

“Huh?? !!! Why, you don’t want them birds, mister. They’re just plain old field birds. They don’t sing. They ain’t even pretty!”

“How much?” the pastor asked again.

The boy sized up the pastor as if he were crazy and said, “$10?”

The pastor reached in his pocket and took out a ten dollar bill. He placed it in the boy’s hand. In a flash, the boy was gone. The pastor picked up the cage and gently carried it to the end of the alley where there was a tree and a grassy spot. Setting the cage down, he opened the door, and by softly tapping the bars persuaded the birds out, setting them free. Well, that explained the empty bird cage on the pulpit, and then the pastor began to tell this story:

One day Satan and Jesus were having a conversation. Satan had just come from the Garden of Eden, and he was gloating and boasting. “Yes, sir, I just caught a world full of people down there. Set me a trap, used bait I knew they couldn’t resist. Got ’em all!”

“What are you going to do with them?” Jesus asked.

Satan replied, “Oh, I’m gonna have fun! I’m gonna teach them how to marry and divorce each other, how to hate and abuse each other, how to drink and smoke and curse. I’m gonna teach them how to invent guns and bombs and kill each other. I’m really gonna have fun!”

“And what will you do when you are done with them?” Jesus asked.

“Oh, I’ll kill ’em,” Satan glared proudly.

“How much do you want for them?” Jesus asked.

“Oh, you don’t want those people. They ain’t no good. Why, you’ll take them and they’ll just hate you. They’ll spit on you, curse you and kill you. You don’t want those people!!”

“How much? He asked again.

Satan looked at Jesus and sneered, “All your blood, tears and your life.”

Jesus said, “DONE!” Then He paid the price.

Whoever wrote this expounded the entire gospel in these few lines. I thought it well worth sharing. The theology is slightly skewed by the use of the name of Jesus at the time of the garden, but other than that, it’s pretty much what happened.

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If you abide in Me and My word abides in you, then you shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.

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For more information about David N. Walker, click the “About” tab above.

For more information about his books, click on “Books” above.

Contact him at dnwalkertx (at) gmail (dot) com or tweet him at @davidnwalkertx.

Filed under: Christian Thoughts Tagged: Bible, Christian, Christian Fellowship, Christianity, David N. Walker Christian Author, David N. Walker Historical Fiction Author, Faith, Fancy Series, Forgiveness, God is in control, Godly Wisdom, Grace, Heaven Sent, inspiration, Jesus, satan, Sins, Works

A Personal Victory

Amid all the ups and downs of life, it’s important to find small moments of victory now and then. I found one of those moments one morning this week.

As those who know me are aware, my entire adult life has been one big battle with the bathroom scales. Okay, any scales. Scales have not been my friends. When I go in to see my doctor, I always try to walk past the scales on my way to the exam room, but the nurse never lets me. I think she must take some perverse pleasure in my lack of ability to get my weight under control.

Some of you know what I’m talking about. I’m sure there are those of you among my readers and friends who, whether for the sake of appearance or health or whatever, would like to get rid of some poundage but just can’t seem to do it.

In college, my weight problem only arose during the summer. While home from school I would receive enough help from Anheuser Busch—and home cooking—to increase my normal weight of 190-195 pounds up to 215 pounds or so. Then I’d go back to school and soon drop back to normal.

In my 20’s and 30’s that ‘normal’ crept up to 220 or so. In my 40’s I discovered that I could easily attain 260, and in my 50’s I came to realize that getting below that was extremely difficult. When I was diagnosed with type II diabetes around age 60, my doctor told me I needed to lose 40 pounds. Of course, he’s an ex-marathoner with about a 30-inch waistline. People like that can’t really relate to people like me.

For the next six or eight years I would lose a few pounds and then put them back on, but I could never really enjoy any victory. Every time I’d lose a little, I’d bounce right back up to 260. I couldn’t seem to do anything to alter that pattern.

Finally three or four years ago I decided to be serious about getting my weight under control. I’ve never been one who could count calories, and I already avoided most carbohydrates because of my diabetes, so there was only one thing to do. I had to alter the amount of food I ingested and/or the time of day I ingested it.

I started eating large breakfasts, medium-sized lunches, and small suppers. As long as we weren’t visiting other people or having others over to our house, that was doable. Small suppers just don’t fit when you’re entertaining dinner guests or eating at someone else’s house, and these became stumbling blocks, but overall this new eating regime worked for me.

It took awhile, but I dropped into the 250’s and then into the 240’s and finally into the 230’s. If you’re one of these slender people who can’t identify, just imagine carrying a 30 pound bag of sand around with you all the time. That’s what I had lost.

But my goal was to get to 220, and that eluded me. I’d get a few pounds below 230 and then balloon back up. Frustration.

About a month ago I concluded that my big breakfast and medium-sized lunch wasn’t going to get me there. I started cutting my breakfasts from three eggs to two and then one, or eliminating my toast, or having one pancake instead of two, depending on whether I was eating at home or, if not, which restaurant.

For several years now, my lunches have generally consisted of two El Monterrey bean and cheese burritos with grated cheese and shredded lettuce on them, with a sugar-free fudge bar for dessert. I decided to eliminate one of the burritos.

After several weeks of this, I stepped on the scales on morning this week and the figure 224 appeared in the display window. I know, that’s still not 220, and I probably should have waited for 220 before I wrote this, but I was so excited by the 224 I couldn’t help myself.

The future may see me yoyo back up toward 230, but I feel like I’m really on the right track this time. I’m determined to get below 220 and keep it there. Sadly, at age 72, I’m not going to look the same at 220 I would have at age 50, but it’s still got to be a good step for my health.

What battles have you fought with your weight? What have you been able to do to achieve victory over your bathroom scales.

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We may not have it all together, but together we have it all.

——————————————

For more information about David N. Walker, click the “About” tab above.

For more information about his books, click on “Books” above.

Contact him at dnwalkertx (at) gmail (dot) com or tweet him at @davidnwalkertx.

Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: Advice, Authorship, Bathroom scales, Caring, David N. Walker Christian Author, David N. Walker Historical Fiction Author, Fancy Series, friends, Heaven Sent, Life, Life experience, Life lessons, Life truths, Life values, People, Personal development, Self-help

Divine Healing

All of my life, and I suspect for some centuries before, a debate has raged within the Christian community as to whether or not God still heals people. A large portion of the body of Christ argues that healing, deliverance, and other such things took place in the first century but not since. Many others of us firmly believe He still heals.

Don’t talk to Annabel Beam of Burleson, Texas, if you want to argue that. It’s too late to sway her to believe it was for the first century only.

Annabel was diagnosed at age 5 with two rare, life-threatening digestive disorders—both incurable. For years she was in constant pain, in and out of hospitals, undergoing endless testing, and never finding anything that eased her pain. It got bad enough that she told her mother she wished she would die so she could go to heaven and be free of pain.

Then, three years ago last December, Annabel fell headfirst 30 feet into a hollow cottonwood tree. Trapped for six hours, she came out uninjured, telling a story about meeting Jesus in heaven, and she suddenly tested symptom-free. In the over three years since then, she has been completely asymptomatic and is leading a normal life without any therapy. No doctor has been able to come up with any scientific explanation for her recovery.

Annabel doesn’t worry a lot about the theology of healing—she just knows she was healed, and that it was Jesus who healed her. She talked of conversing with Jesus and seeing a little girl whom Jesus identified as her little sister.

This last fact blew Annabel’s mother Christy Wilson Beam away. She had two miscarriages after Annabel was born, and Annabel knew that. What Annabel didn’t know was that one of the miscarriages was a blighted ovum, meaning there was never a fetus formed. Not knowing that, if Annabel had made up this story, she would have mentioned two sisters.

That’s when her mother was convinced that this was truly a divine healing and that her daughter had really been with Jesus. She has since written a book – ­Miracles from Heaven: a Little Girl, Her Journey to Heaven and Her Amazing Story of Healing, published by Hatchette Publishing.

The specifics of this story come from an article in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram by David Martindale, but it didn’t take much to make me believe it, since I was healed of a heart attack 20 years ago and was delivered from a long-time nicotine addiction over 30 years ago. I already knew God is still in the business of healing and delivering His people.

You can google Annabel Beam for more information, or you can just praise the name of Jesus and believe Him.

What miracles have you or people you know and trust experienced?

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If you abide in Me and My word abides in you, then you shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For more information about David N. Walker, click the “About” tab above.

For more information about his books, click on “Books” above.

Contact him at dnwalkertx (at) gmail (dot) com or tweet him at @davidnwalkertx.

Filed under: Christian Thoughts Tagged: Annabel Beam, Bible, Christian, Christian Fellowship, Christianity, Christy Wilson Beam, David Martindale, David N. Walker Christian Author, David N. Walker Historical Fiction Author, Faith, Fancy Series, Forgiveness, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, God is in control, Godly Wisdom, Grace, Heaven Sent, inspiration, Jesus, Sins, Works

Internet Etiquette

The importance of observing a degree of etiquette on the internet has been brought home to me with great force recently. Most of us maintain a level of decency in our face-to-face relationships, yet we somehow figure the impersonal nature of cyber space gives us license to be less respectful.

A couple of times recently I have posted something on Facebook or in a blog that brought very strong disagreement. One might even say violent disagreement.

I don’t expect everyone to agree with me. In fact, I’ve known for a long time that most of my beliefs represent minority positions. Even though I fervently believe I’m right, I accept that fact. Many, if not most, of the people who hear what I say or read what I write are going to disagree with me, and that’s okay.

What is not okay is being rude in that disagreement. I’d like to suggest a couple of rules of rectitude for all of us to follow.

If I post something on Facebook with which you disagree, feel free to comment on it—but do so briefly and politely. Don’t be rude, and don’t kidnap my post for a long, involved rant on the subject. If you want to spend more than a sentence or two in your disagreement, do it in your own post, not mine.

Similarly, if you disagree with something I say in a post on my blog, feel free to state that disagreement, but, again, do so briefly and politely. Don’t attack me as if I’m some kind of idiot who needs your permission to express an opinion. Don’t use any foul language or write a 500 word piece stating your opinion as if it were the only opinion on earth.

Someone operating under the name “Christadelphians” wanted to take issue with a point in a recent blog. It wasn’t even the main point of the blog, but this person wrote a long comment attempting to correct me as if I were a kindergartner and he were my teacher. I could hardly believe the rudeness of this person.

Assuming he had a legitimate misunderstanding of the point in question I referred him to an earlier blog that explained the point in greater detail. He went to that piece and read it, then made three comments, once again acting as if he were an expert and I knew nothing of what I was talking about.

I have since removed his comments to the trash bin, but I don’t like doing that. I’d rather leave all comments, both favorable and unfavorable, where readers can see them, but I couldn’t stand letting this person hijack my blogs like that.

When you read a blog—mine or anyone else’s—if you disagree with what it says, always feel free to make a brief, polite comment stating your disagreement. Please don’t ever use bad language or make lengthy statements as if you were correcting a student. To do so is rude and shows a gross lack of consideration for the blogger in question. If you have a disagreement serious enough that you feel it just has to be stated and will take more than a sentence or two, write your own blog and post it on your own site.

As I wrote this, I wondered if I’ve hurt anyone’s feelings in the past with comments I’ve made in response to things that person posted. Knowing how strongly I feel about some things, I very well may have. If so, I’d like to apologize here and now. I hope I keep this in mind for the future and practice what I’m preaching here.

How have you dealt with hurtful or pompous comments people have made on your posts?

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We may not have it all together, but together we have it all.

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For more information about David N. Walker, click the “About” tab above.

For more information about his books, click on “Books” above.

Contact him at dnwalkertx (at) gmail (dot) com or tweet him at @davidnwalkertx.

Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: Advice, Authorship, Blog, Caring, Christadelphians, David N. Walker Christian Author, David N. Walker Historical Fiction Author, Facebook, Fancy Series, friends, Heaven Sent, Life, Life experience, Life lessons, Life truths, Life values, People, Personal development, Self-help

Freedom of Religion

With all the controversy about the bill passed in Indiana defending the freedom of religion, I posted the following picture on Facebook the other day:

I posted it for the benefit of my Christian friends. I couldn’t imagine that it would stir up a controversy. It’s such an apt analogy, I anticipated no serious disagreement.

One of my dear friends offered a very polite disagreement, which surprised me a little, but her politeness kept it from being offensive. Then several other people jumped on and made heated derogatory remarks about it. These haters pretty much took over the post. I thought about deleting the whole thing, but I decided to let it stay.

Several people thought it would be horrible for a black man to be forced to aid the KKK but that it was fine for Christians to be coerced to aid homosexual couples. (Why do we call them gay? I’ve never understood that.) In other words, these people were saying persecution is okay as long as it affects your group and not ours.

Would someone please explain to me why a Christian should be forced to cater a wedding of two people who flaunt their sins in the face of God and man? I realize that Christians sin, too, but we don’t flaunt our sins and tell God that He’s wrong and we’re right to sin. I don’t understand how anyone can defend such behavior.

In the second chapter of Genesis, God says it’s not good for man to be alone, so He took one of Adam’s ribs and fashioned it into a woman. Not another man—a woman. And God said in verse 24:

For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.

Marriage—one man and one woman. That was God’s design. In the first chapter of Romans, Paul speaks very directly and specifically to the sin of homosexuality:

26. For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural,

27.  and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error.

God is very clear on this, and yet much of our society says there’s nothing wrong with it. We fail to recognize the warning in Isaiah 5:20:

Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil. . .

Our society today says those who overtly sin and shake their fists in God’s face are good but Christians who seek to uphold God’s word are evil. We think that if we can gather a majority, or even a large enough minority, we can override God’s word and substitute our own wisdom, but it doesn’t work that way. In the first few verses of 2 Timothy 3, Paul says:

But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money. . .without self-control, brutal, haters of good. . .lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power.

Does this mean God hates homosexuals? Emphatically not. Nor do I and other Christians who hate homosexuality. Like God, we hate the sin, not the sinner. My own brother was a practicing homosexual most if not all his adult life. I always loved him, but I could not condone his sin. I don’t condone my own sins. The difference is that rather than trying to tell God my behavior is okay, I confess it to Him as sin.

The sign I posted on Facebook says nothing about hating homosexuals. It says we shouldn’t be forced into the position of condoning their homosexual lifestyles. For the life of me, I can’t see how forcing a Christian to do that is okay.

What are your thoughts on this subject? Feel free to disagree with me—briefly and politely—but please don’t post a long rant. I will remove it if you do.

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If you abide in Me and My word abides in you, then you shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For more information about David N. Walker, click the “About” tab above.

For more information about his books, click on “Books” above.

Contact him at dnwalkertx (at) gmail (dot) com or tweet him at @davidnwalkertx.

Filed under: Christian Thoughts Tagged: Adam, Bible, Christian, Christian Fellowship, Christianity, David N. Walker Christian Author, David N. Walker Historical Fiction Author, Faith, Fancy Series, Forgiveness, God is in control, Godly Wisdom, Grace, Heaven Sent, Homosexuality, inspiration, Jesus, Paul, Sins, Works

Losing the Story

Recently, while visiting cousins in a small West Texas town, we went to a book sale their local library was having. Actually, the sale was already over, and they were trying to move the books that didn’t go in the sale, so they were letting people buy a grocery bag full of books for five dollars.

For several years now, I’ve enjoyed watching the Jesse Stone made-for-TV movies, which are based on books written by Robert B. Parker. I’ve also enjoyed reading at least one Jesse Stone book for which I haven’t seen a movie, so when I came across a couple of his books, I added them to my grocery bag. Once I finished the Jack Reacher book I was reading at the time, I decided to read one of Parker’s next. The one I picked up wasn’t the Jesse Stone—it was a western called Resolution, about a power play in a small town.

Through the years, I’ve read over 75 Louis L’Amour novels, Dana Fuller Ross’s entire Wagons West series, and a number of other westerns. All of these books left me totally unprepared for Resolution. Unlike those his Jesse Stone mysteries, the characters in Resolution seemed to have extremely limited vocabularies. Every third or fourth word started with an ‘f’—IYKWIM.

I realize from Facebook posts that many, if not most, of my writer friends disagree with me about the use of curse words and vulgarity, but I find it distasteful. I also find it distracting and unnecessary. The action and moods can easily be conveyed without the use of this language, and having to deal with it disrupts the flow of the story.

Louis L’Amour and Dana Fuller Ross managed to write well over 100 westerns between them without having to resort to this. John D. MacDonald, Erle Stanley Gardner, and Lee Child wrote at least that many mysteries without having to fill them with gutter talk. These writers have all sold millions of books, so they must have been doing something right.

John Wayne and Jimmy Stewart and others starred in western movies for decades without lowering themselves to this. Along the way, they drew millions of people to the silver screen, so there must have been something right about the way they did it.

Writers from Shakespeare to Child have given us a glorious craft to be proud of. Have we suddenly lost the ability they exhibited across the centuries to write stories they could be pleased to let their mothers and their children read? I always think that my daughter or grandchildren or church members might read something I wrote, and I’d be beyond embarrassed if I knew they were going to encounter language in my books that would make a sailor blush.

What do you think about this dumbing down of our craft?

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We may not have it all together, but together we have it all.

——————————————

For more information about David N. Walker, click the “About” tab above.

For more information about his books, click on “Books” above.

Contact him at dnwalkertx (at) gmail (dot) com or tweet him at @davidnwalkertx.

Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: Advice, Authorship, Caring, Dana Fuller Ross, David N. Walker Christian Author, David N. Walker Historical Fiction Author, Erle Stanley Gardner, Fancy Series, friends, Heaven Sent, Jimmy Stewart, John D. MacDonald, John Wayne, Lee Child, Life, Life experience, Life lessons, Life truths, Life values, Louis L'Amour, People, Personal development, Self-help

Resurrection Sunday

Since next Sunday is the day commonly called Easter, let’s talk about it for a moment. A good starting place might be to trace the origin of the term.

According to the New Unger’s Bible Dictionary, it “is of Saxon origin, derived from Eastra, the goddess of spring, in whose honor sacrifices were offered about Passover time each year.” Baby bunnies and chicks were Eastra’s special animals, because they symbolized new life and fertility. This pagan goddess’s attachment to these animals opened the door for the highjacking of this crucial Christian holiday and making it all about finding eggs laid by rabbits.

Many of the Christians in my circle—not liking the use of a pagan term to denote the celebration of the ultimate sacrifice which paid the price for our sins—prefer the term Resurrection Sunday. I’ve called this day Resurrection Sunday off and on through the years, but now that I’ve discovered the pagan origin of the term ‘Easter,’ I will strive to use only Resurrection Sunday in the future.

Some 2,000 years ago, God changed the nature of the godhead. The person who was known as Jehovah or Yahweh in the Old Testament became Jesus when the Holy Spirit planted a sperm containing His essential nature in the womb of Mary, thus creating God-man. Jesus was a man, because, like any other man, He was born of a woman. But He was also God, because his nature and character were those of Jehovah.

This God-man whom we call Jesus came to reconcile fallen man to God. He took our sins upon Himself and allowed Himself to be placed upon a cross to be slain for our sakes. Then He arose from His grave to conquer death once and for all time, in the process paying the price for all our sins, past, present and future.

Sometimes, Christians place all the emphasis on the cross, but it would have been meaningless without the Resurrection. If Jesus could have been killed and had remained dead, there would have been no victory, but because He rose from that grave we have a huge victory to celebrate. Join me in celebrating that victory Sunday.

How do you celebrate Jesus’s resurrection?

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If you abide in Me and My word abides in you, then you shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.

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For more information about David N. Walker, click the “About” tab above.

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