Daniel Darling's Blog, page 37
March 23, 2017
The Way Home featuring Rich Stearns
What motivates the CEO of a luxury goods company to leave it all behind to work on behalf of the most vulnerable around the world? How can Christians both proclaim the gospel and live it out by serving the neediest around the world? Today my guest is Rich Stearns, President and CEO of World Vision, one of the largest nonprofit humanitarian organizations in the world.
Stearns has travelled to 40 of the 100 countries where World Vision has a presence and is the author of several books, including The Hole in Our Gospel[image error].
Show Notes
Twitter: @RichStearns
Book: The Hole in Our Gospel [image error]
Websites: richstearns.org and worldvision.org
March 16, 2017
The Way Home featuring Esther Fleece
Does the church provide enough space for lament? Why are modern Christians so reluctant to admit their struggles? My good friend, Esther Fleece, knows all about this. As a Christian leader, writer, and speaker, she has often been tempted to hide her difficulties. But God has allowed her to see the value of lament in her life. Esther is the author of No More Faking Fine: Ending the Pretending. She is also founder and CEO of L&L Consulting, Inc. “She helps new and established Christian ministries develop innovative strategies for non-profit sustainability, new business development, next generation outreach, marketing and communications and relationship brokering.” Esther joins me today to share from her deeply personal and tragic story and how she helps other Christians lament well.
Show Notes
Twitter: @estherfleece
Book: No More Faking Fine: Ending the Pretending [image error]
Websites: estherfleece.com
March 9, 2017
The Way Home featuring Trevin Wax
Should Christians be nostalgic about days gone by or be excited about living out their faith in the 21s century? Your answer is a good indicator of how you see yourself and your mission in the world.
To help us with this, I’ve invited my long time friend Trevin Wax to join us. Trevin is the Bible and Reference publisher at B&H Publishing Group. He is also the managing editor of the popular Gospel Project curriculum. Trevin is a thoughtful voice and the author of several books, including his latest one, which we will discuss This Is Our Time: Everyday Myths in Light of the Gospel[image error]. He also blogs regularly at the Gospel Coalition.
Trevin and I will discuss Christians and our politics, how different generations of the church see the world, and why he is hopeful about living out the gospel in today’s complex culture.
Show Notes
Twitter: @TrevinWax
Book: This Is Our Time: Everyday Myths in Light of the Gospel [image error]
Websites: Gospel Project and B&H Publishing Group
March 2, 2017
The Way Home featuring Johnny Hunt
How can and should the church address the manhood crisis in their communities? How is leadership changing in this digital age? What is the secret to pastoral faithfulness? These are the questions I posed to my friend Johnny Hunt, the longtime pastor at First Baptist Church of Woodstock. Johnny is a former president of the Southern Baptist Convention. For more than 25 years he has hosted the Johnny Hunt Men’s Conferences and Timothy-Barnabas pastors retreats. He’s the author of several books, including his latest: Demolishing Strongholds.
Show Notes
Twitter: @johnnymhunt
Website: johnnyhunt.com
Book: Demolishing Strongholds: Finding Victory Over the Struggles That Hold You Back [image error]
February 24, 2017
The Way Home featuring Jamie C. Martin
How can Christian parents encourage their kids to read books? I’m joined by Jamie C. Martin, author of a great new book, Give Your Child the World: Raising Globally Minded Kids One Book at a Time[image error]. Jamie is a homeschooling mother and a writer. She and her husband have three children, including two adopted from overseas.
Show Notes
Twitter: @jamie_cmartin
Website: steadymom.com
Book: Give Your Child the World: Raising Globally Minded Kids One Book at a Time [image error]
February 21, 2017
Editor Series: Richard Clark Asks: “What Can You Give the World That No One Else Can?”
This year I’m starting an occasional series of interviews with editors. I’ve had the privilege of knowing, writing for, and learning from many fantastic editors in my writing career. In my view, good writers are good because they have good editors. Today I interview Richard Clark, the online managing editor of Christianity Today. CT has meant much to me, allowing me opportunities and a platform to grow as a writer.
Richard is an incredibly gifted writer and editor. Prior to that he helped found and edit Christ and Pop Culture. I have had the opportunity to work with Richard quite a bit over the last few years and have learned much from him.
Dan Darling: Let’s talk about your calling. Has writing and editing been a lifetime pursuit or something you picked up late in life? And if so, what first interested in you in words?
Richard Clark: I became conscious of my affinity for editing relatively late in life – at least, well after I had spent 8 years in higher-education getting theology degrees. But honestly, I should have known. This kind of work has always been a theme in my life. From elementary school through high school I was involved in creating newsletters and “zines.” I had one about saving the whales in elementary school, one about videogames in middle school (It was called “Controller Overload”), a Christian zine in high school, and another in college. I didn’t do super-well in school, but my favorite class by far was English.
This realization didn’t really hit me, though, until I started a relatively successful website (Christ and Pop Culture). I found the whole experience so rewarding, and not even in predictable ways. Yes, I loved refining and improving articles, but even more than that I loved the management aspects of the work. I loved finding voices and getting them out there. I loved making decisions about audience, about what needed to be said, and defining the voice of an outlet.
So in terms of calling, I’m really less interested in words than I am in people, and their respective ideas. I’m obsessed with understanding, appreciating, and connecting people with others through their ideas. For me, it’s about connection and mutual understanding more than anything. This can’t happen without words, but they’re a means to an end, not the end itself.
DD: We live in an age when anyone can be published instantly via social media, personal blogs, book reviews, etc. Explain, then the value, of a good editor?
RC: Because words are so useful, I’ve seen over time the way wrong words can be used wrongly or recklessly to destroy progress, obfuscate truth, and break relationships. I’ve always loved editing, but it took me a while to see the inherent value and crucial role it plays in our society.
It goes beyond preventing writers from saying something stupid. Editors think about – obsess over, really – their particular audience. They agonize over questions like “What do they need to hear? What will help them hear it? What will help our outlet and this writer build good will, and what will squander it?”
Trust is in short supply these days, and we gravitate toward the outlets we trust implicitly. This leaves us seldom challenged and in the habit of writing off those we disagree with. The editor’s value is that he works to build trust with an audience that is stingy with their loyalty (and understandably so). Once I’ve done that, I can vouch for people or ideas that otherwise wouldn’t have the ear of my readers.
It may feel nice to “just say it,” and there’s room for that in our personal conversations. But the bigger the platform, the more competing starting points and constituencies come into play. I don’t really want the writer to have to think about that as much when they’re writing, but I want them to live and think charitably toward their fellow man. Then I want them to say what they want to say, with a little guidance from me. And then if there’s some way we can make that even more affecting or persuasive, we’ll make those changes later.
DD: Is there a distinctly “Christian” way you do your work? In other words, does your personal theology affect the practice of writing and editing?
RC: Christianity Today’s current editorial guidelines were formally re-introduced as “Beautiful Orthodoxy” right before I got here, and they’ve been hugely instructive to me over the last year or so. It’s nothing too world-changing, but it’s been an anchor for me. Is it good, true, and beautiful? Does it reflect God’s love and grace? And is it true?
This is harder to do than you think. It’s insidiously easy to pre-judge or assume the motives of whole swaths of people. Just my understanding of total depravity tells me not only that writers need editors, but that editors need editors too.
All this in mind: grace, grace, grace. I put a lot of stock in my work. Sometimes, too much, too the point where I can overstate my influence over the general shape of reality. But it does matter, and it’s impossible to convince myself otherwise. So when I screw up, or don’t do “enough” (whatever that is) to solve or address an issue, I can be incredibly down on myself.
That’s when I have found it incredibly valuable to remember God’s sovereignty, the reality of God’s grace, and that he uses imperfect vessels to accomplish glorious ends.
Man, I’m glad you asked that question. I needed that.
DD: When you are making decisions about content to publish, how are you evaluating the writer, the piece, and the publication?
RC: Are they interested in persuading, rather than merely getting their opinion out there? Are their ideas something our readers need to hear, or are they something they already believe or have heard a million times. If they do already believe it, does reminding them of that truth help?
And, lest I sound too idealistic – will people care to read it? If not, is there a way to make them care?
These answers are vague and broad for a reason. Most of it comes down to impulse. Which is tricky, because my impulses are restricted based on my own perspective and biases. So I try and step out of myself sometimes and emulate the impulses of someone else as much as possible.
My ideal situation is a writer pitches an idea I would have never thought of, and it’s not quite right for CT, but we get on the phone and make it work. Those are really satisfying times.
DD: Who are some of the formative writing influences that have shaped the way you go about your work?
RC: I’m most shaped by the people I work with. I can’t say enough about the influence of my co-founding partner at Christ and Pop Culture, Alan Noble, who taught me (through general collaborative friction) some of my best editorial instincts. Writers shape me every time. The one’s I’ve been editing for a while have shaped me in major ways: D. L. Mayfield, Martyn Jones, Derek Rishmawy. These are writers I’ve known since Christ and Pop Culture’s early days, and their voices ring in my heads. I haven’t worked with him as much as I’d like, but I’m inspired by someone like Jemar Tisby’s singular, unwavering vision on display via his work at RAAN.
To a lesser extent, I’m shaped by writers who helped me to look at complex, controversial ideas in unexpected, guard-dropping ways: C.S. Lewis, Douglas Adams, Harper Lee, Flannery O’ Conner, more recently Ta-Nehisi Coates. All of those authors are subversive in their own way, often persuading the reader of ideas through seemingly sideways means.
DD: What is one piece of advice you would like to give aspiring writers as they seek to get published?
RC: When your editor says “No thanks,” it’s not about you as a writer, it’s about their editorial needs. If an editor gives suggestions for revision, almost always take them – push back only when absolutely necessary. Your editor has an understanding of the audience that goes well beyond what you could imagine. It’s not a question of the editor being better or smarter, it’s a matter of submersion. He eats, drinks, and sleeps his outlet, and he knows what will work for its readers.
Be open to and ready to rewrite. The very best pieces are total rewrites of first drafts. This is a depressing, frustrating reality, every time. But it’s all for the aim of creating something that is great, not just good.
Start with a blog. Then write for small outlets, and gravitate toward ones that edit writers, rather than just publish stuff as is. This will teach you better than anything else. Once you’ve written for small outlets for a while, aim high. You never know when a big-deal outlet might be intrigued by your pitch.
Most of all, ask: what can I give the world that no one else can? What is my unique place as a writer? It will take you a while to figure it out, but stick to it.
Figure out your lane and stay in it. Find a theme (maybe not a topic!) that you are passionate about and that you know better than most everyone else, and explore every angle. Don’t be afraid to be pigeonholed, because as long as it’s not a topic, you can apply that them to almost anything.
February 17, 2017
The Way Home featuring Brandon Smith
Why should evangelicals study the Reformation? How do the five solas of the Reformation affect our engagement with today’s culture? Brandon Smith, author of a brand-new study, Echoes of the Reformation[image error], joins me to discuss the Reformation, theology, and a brand-new Bible translation from B&H Publishing. Brandon works with Bibles and Reference at Lifeway Christian Resources and is the host of the Word Matters podcast. He is an adjunct teacher at California Baptist University.
Show Notes
Twitter: @brandonsmith85 and @wordmatterspod
Blog at Patheos
Book: Echoes of the Reformation[image error]
February 14, 2017
Editor Series: How different writing styles influenced Matthew Schmitz
This year I’m starting an occasional series of interviews with editors. I’ve had the privilege of knowing, writing for, and learning from many fantastic editors in my writing career. In my view, good writers are good because they have good editors. Today I interview the literary editor of First Things, Matthew Schmitz.
First Things is a terrific publication. I try to read most of the articles in every issue. It stimulates thinking on culture, faith, and life. I’ve had the honor of writing for them. Today I ask Matthew to answers some questions about his writing and editing approach.
Dan Darling: Let’s talk about your calling. Has writing and editing been a lifetime pursuit or something you picked up late in life? And if so, what first interested in you in words?
Matthew Schmitz: My earliest ambition was to be either an electrician like my father, or an astronaut. Over time, my ambitions dimmed, and I thought the highest thing to which I could reasonably aspire was a life of writing. My interest in words started with my interest in the Word. I hoped to be a pastor and writer, and imagined that the center of my writing life would be the sermon. That plan had to be abandoned when I became a Catholic, though. A desire to be a pastor did not transfer into a calling to be a priest.
DD: We live in an age when anyone can be published instantly via social media, personal blogs, book reviews, etc. Explain, then the value, of a good editor?
MS: An editor has distance from the words, something the writer, no matter how skillful, will never fully possess. Go back and reread something you wrote years ago. Some things will make you cringe. A good editor can catch those things before publication.
DD: Is there a distinctly “Christian” way you do your work? In other words, does your personal theology affect the practice of writing and editing?
MS: I tend to think that Christin work is simply good work, and the rest is commentary.
DD: When you are making decisions about content to publish, how are you evaluating the writer, the piece, and the publication?
MS: My criterion is simple: Would I want to read this and recommend it to others? If not, I reject it. An editor must be ready to say “no.” Too many try to do favors for writers when they should instead be doing favors for readers.
DD: Who are some of the formative writing influences that have shaped the way you go about your work?
MS: I’m not a mature writer and so tend to write in the style of whoever I’ve most recently read. Some recent favorites: John Henry Newman, Bernard of Clairvaux, Robert Louis Stevenson.
DD: What is one piece of advice you would like to give aspiring writers as they seek to get published?
MS: Only write for places that pay for your work and edit it. Places that don’t pay have no incentive to make sure your work is good (they can just throw it online for clicks—especially hate clicks!). Of course, if you’re independently wealthy and the greatest stylist since Gibbon, you should publish things wherever you like.
The Editor Series: You can read other interviews in this series, with David Bennett, Jamie Hughes, Marvin Olasky, Matt Smethurst
February 7, 2017
Editor Series: Matt Smethurst on rap music and writing
This year I’m starting an occasional series of interviews with editors. I’ve had the privilege of knowing, writing for, and learning from many fantastic editors in my writing career. In my view, good writers are good because they have good editors. Today I interview Matt Smethurst.
Matt is the managing editor of The Gospel Coalition. I am deeply grateful for the way Matt and his colleagues at TGC curate rich, biblical, creative content that really helps pastors and church leaders. When I was a young pastor, TGC was a very helpful resource in helping me think through difficult theological issues. I’ve had the privilege of contributing to TGC. Matt here shares his approach to editing in a way that I think you will find helpful:
Dan Darling: Let’s talk about your calling. Has writing and editing been a lifetime pursuit or something you picked up late in life? And if so, what first interested in you in words?
Matt Smethurst: Calling is not super mystical; it’s found at the crossroads of affinity, ability, and opportunity. Do you like it, can you do it, and is there an open door? By God’s grace, all three pieces have fallen into place, at least for now, in the arena of writing and editing.
As a kid I loved words, especially ones like, “And now, at guard, 6’6″, from North Carolina, Michael Jordan.” My plan was to become an NBA player, not an editor. But God closed that door, and he didn’t open a window.
In all seriousness, I owe a lot to my mom in this regard. She majored in English at William and Mary, and instilled in me a love for words. Her edits on countless school papers taught me what skilled writing looks and sounds like.
Perhaps I should also mention that I’ve loved rap for almost two decades. I have no doubt that the lyricism of secular artists like Eminem and Christian artists like Shai Linne has made me a better wordsmith.
DD: We live in an age when anyone can be published instantly via social media, personal blogs, book reviews, etc. Explain, then, the value of a good editor?
MS: Good editors enhance a writer’s voice without eliminating it. It’s a dance that I’m still learning.
Candidly, I’ve found most people who write aren’t very good at it. I don’t mean to be harsh; it’s simply that the Internet has democratized the opportunity to be read. There are benefits to this, of course, but drawbacks too. Just because your writing is true doesn’t make it good. Did you labor to make it beautiful? Does it sing? In Reformed circles we often elevate theology at the expense of humanity and truth at the expense of beauty. It’s a tendency that rarely yields stellar prose.
Just as not being published doesn’t mean you’re a bad writer, being published doesn’t mean you’re a good one. Numerous pastors, for example, are authors but not writers. Welcome exceptions include Andrew Wilson, Greg Gilbert, Jared Wilson, Garrett Kell, Isaac Adams, Scott Sauls, Russ Ramsey, and Gavin Ortlund.
DD: Is there a distinctly “Christian” way you do your work? In other words, does your personal theology affect the practice of writing and editing?
MS: Well if insisting on the Oxford comma and removing needless uses of “that” aren’t Christian convictions, then what are?
Everything we publish at TGC is informed by our foundation documents. We want to show how the gospel governs and animates all of life. This doesn’t mean each article needs some lame Jesus Juke at the end, but it does mean we want to be intentional about producing content that wouldn’t easily fit, say, on a Jewish site. We are gospel people, and that should fragrance our writing. (No, “fragrance” isn’t a real verb. I need an editor.)
DD: When you are making decisions about content to publish, how are you evaluating the writer, the piece, and the publication?
MS: Questions I’ll encourage aspiring writers to ask include: Where and how have you seen God’s character, and his gospel in particular, intersect with your experience? What’s a concrete challenge you’ve faced, and what did you learn? What stories can only you tell?
It’s almost always the case that the more specific and personal the angle, the better. “The Most Important Thing I Taught My Kids” will make for a better article than “Advice for Parents.”
DD: Who are some of the formative writing influences that have shaped the way you go about your work?
MS: Besides my mother, Collin Hansen (TGC’s editorial director) has shaped my editorial instincts more than anyone else. Some contemporary writers I enjoy include Laura Hillenbrand, Malcolm Gladwell, Russell Moore, Kevin DeYoung, Jonathan Leeman, and Jen Wilkin. And the women I work with at TGC—Bethany Jenkins, Betsy Howard, and Melissa Kruger—are each brilliant thinkers and writers from whom I’ve learned much.
DD: What is one piece of advice you would like to give aspiring writers as they seek to get published?
MS: Proactively seek out constructive criticism. Your craft won’t master itself. One of our regular writers at TGC recently e-mailed to ask how she can work to improve her writing in 2017. She didn’t act as if she’s arrived, and she didn’t wait around for someone else to initiate. Humble yourself, assume you’re less skilled than you think, and then solicit critique from a writer you respect who will give you the gift of honesty.
The Editor Series: You can read other interviews in this series, with David Bennett, Jamie Hughes, Marvin Olasky
February 3, 2017
The Way Home: Michael Wear on serving in the White House
What is it like for a Christian to work in the White House? And should Christians be engaged in politics at the highest levels? Today I’m joined by my good friend, Michael Wear. Michael was also one of the youngest White House staffers in modern American history: He served in the White House faith-based initiative during President Obama’s first term, where he led evangelical outreach and helped manage engagement on religious and values issues, including adoption and anti-human trafficking efforts.
He joins me today to talk about his new book, Reclaiming Hope in which he shares his insights on working in the White House and what Christians can learn from his experience and why, despite the cynicism and failure, Christians should continue to be engaged on politics.
Show Notes
Twitter: @MichaelRWear
Website: michaelwear.com
Book: Reclaiming Hope: Lessons Learned in the Obama White House About the Future of Faith in America [image error]
