Sacrificing Your Darlin's

I have a book.  Of course, I have a book.  This ones name is "A Change Of Heart".  That is far better than its original working title: "Sister Mountain".  The story really wasn't about the sister mountain at all; the mountain was just something that the travelers went over.  The sister mountain was about my family; the female side, at any rate.  I liked that part.  It was fun.  It was poetic and beautiful.

But I realized it didn't have to be there.  So I chopped it.  I wouldn't even have considered chopping it if it hadn't been for something my mother said.  She told me that sometimes you have to sacrifice your darlin's.

It's not easy.  In fact, it's downright hard.  You get attached to these parts.  They become so much a part of your story, that to think about your story without them is difficult.  Or maybe they are just little lines that are so witty, yet so unnecessary.  Those parts that you just love to pieces, just as themselves, those are your darlin's.

Not all darlin's have to be sacrificed.  I have heard a definition of sacrifice that I find rather accurate.  To sacrifice is to give up something good for something better.  If disposing of a darlin will make the book better, you know what to do.  If it aids the book, by all means: keep it in.

Looking Through Another's Eyes

It has been proven that when you see something, you feel like you're doing it.  When you're rooting for a guy that has just made a touch-down, you just made that touch-down.  When Cinderella marries the prince, you just married that prince.  That's why I can get drunk from too many or too much emotion or tension scenes.

  

That can be great at times.  But, like anything but serving God, you can get too much of it.  God recently opened my eyes to the fact that I sometimes like to live through someone else; usually a character either of mine or of someone elses.  I feel alive through them, and when I feel I need to be thinking about God, I'll even serve God through them!  After all, surely there can be nothing wrong with thinking about a "God Story".  Actually there can be.  Love God and do what you want.  Love God first; then do what you want.

God has made us to live a wonderful life, full of ups and downs and brimming with love.  God has not made us to simply feel another's experience, He's made us to have our own.  Now, you're going to feel other peoples feats when you watch and when you read; I don't see how you can change that, nor do I see why you would want too.  But don't let it stop there.  Live your own life, love your own friends, and accomplish your own feats.  Be inspired; don't be satisfied.

The Living Water

I haven't read my Bible for nearly a week.  I have done supplement Bible studies, but not Bible.  Yesterday was Sunday, and I missed both the sermon and the Sunday School.  I was starving this morning.  I set my alarm clock to 5:30 and then read the Bible 'till 6:30, usually.  I haven't gotten up the past week.  This morning, I slept through an hour and a half of raucous harpy shrieks (I hate that alarm clock) and woke up at 7:02.  If I had followed the pattern I had been following, I wouldn't have done my Bible studies.  But I was starving, and I was desperate.

  Mom gave me the analogy of water.  When you drink water, you crave more water; when you don't drink water, you don't feel like you want it.  But then come the repercussions: your fingers become raisins and your lips become cracked.  If you go without it long enough, your lips will split and you will be in pain.  It is then that the flavorless water becomes sweet, cool, flowing, delicious.  And maybe you have to choke down the first glass, as your throat rebels.  But it is wonderful.

  I started reading John today; John 13, where Jesus washes the disciples feet.  I love John, especially the end of it.  But once when I was starving, I landed on Jeremiah and it was comforting.  Jeremiah!  Jeremiah: the weeping prophet.  Really, when you're starving, anyplace in the Bible will do, and it's then that you remember what you loved it about it and what you were missing.  It's beautiful; but it's a rhythm that I can't say that I love, just yet.  One day I'd like to like it, but I hate the emptiness I feel of starving.  It is Gods gift to me, though, and I thank Him for it.

Sacrificing Your Isaac

Books are wonderful.  I love them; I find delight in them; they give me joy.  I love pretending to be another person; to live a different life and see things a different way.  I love to see the rhythm of words.  The poetry, the creation, the power of a skillfully arranged set of words.  Such power words hold.

But words belong to you; you can't belong to them.  It's not how it was designed to be.  At any and every point in the process, are you willing to say to God, "If You ask it of me, I will give up my books"?  Be cautioned: He might say, "I ask it of you; lay them at my feet, and let them be."  Are you willing to sacrifice your Isaac?

Last night, I told Him that: "If you ask it of me, I will give up my books."  He replied, "No.  I have given you words, you must use them."

And God has given me words.  There are consumers and creators, and I am both.  He has given me a way with words, to craft them and mold them.  Now, I'm hardly Charles Dickens, but I will not hide my gift because it is not as grand as anothers.  God has shown me how to use words as great encouragement, and that is one of my favorite things to do.  I have not always used His words as I ought, but I strive to.

Ask yourself this: has God given you words?  There is no pride there, for pride lurks in your strength; hiding your gift is denying God his credit.  It's hiding your talent in the ground

If the answer to the question above was 'yes', ask of yourself another question: how can I use this to the fullness that God may receive twofold or fivefold or tenfold His investment?

Your gift of words may be with your mouth; that you know exactly what to say and when to say it.  If so, encourage others to be more like Him.

You might fear to speak, but you love to encourage.  I write anonymous letters of encouragement to people, five or six lines long, and I illustrate the borders.  That is one of my favorite things to do; and I will never receive any thanks, but that is part of the point.

Perhaps you don't know how to encourage people you know, but you can craft a beautiful picture that is not real.  Perhaps you can encourage someone you have never met by a book that was simply glorifying to God, whether it held His name or not.

Maybe your gift is not with words.  The Word promises you have one; and it will be your adventure to find what it is.

If I have blessed you with this post or any other, please tell me, for I love to be encouraged.

If I have distressed you with this post or any other, please tell me, for I love to learn.

If I have troubled you with this post or any other, please tell me, for I love to sort things out.

You can comment or Email me at Sarah@BadgerEMail.NET

Ships and Shores; Chapter Two

I know it took a while, but here it is.

Chapter Two

Daryn swung in his hammock, lazily. He was done with his chores for the morning. He took out his pendant that his mother had given him. He swung it before his eyes, staring steadfastly, and remembering her. Joel opened the door suddenly, and it startled Daryn. He dropped the chain, quickly grabbing it, but catching only one end of it. The pendant rolled away on the floor.

“Have you seen Hosea,” Joel asked.

“I think he's on the second deck.”

“'Kay. Thanks.”

Daryn sighed and dropped to the floor to look for it. He saw it a ways away, still rolling. He scrambled for it, all the faster when he saw it go through a hole in the floor. He got to the hole and saw with regret that it was too dark to see the charm. He stretched two of his fingers through the hole, for that was all that would fit, but alas! it did not reach. He withdrew his fingers, or tried to. But they were stuck.

He pulled and pulled but they would not budge. He sighed and backed up as far as he could for extra strength. He braced himself and pulled with all his might. It gave no resistance whatsoever this time and he found himself set painfully on his backside, a part of the floor still attached to his fingers.

“Good heavens,” he cried. “I've broken it!”

He looked in the hole again, a nice square hole, and looked for his pendant. And he saw it; it laid upon a pile of crates, which were of two sizes: tall and wide, and short and wide. There was a whole hold in the hole. He reached for his lost article, but it was too far down.

“Oh great,” he said as he clambered down into the little room. It turned out to be a big room, spanning the length and depth of the boat. There were no crates directly underneath him and he hung from his fingers as he accidentally fitted the hatch back in its place.

“Ahhh,” he cried as his fingers finally gave way and he fell to the ground. He heard foot steps above him and he hid behind a stack of the tall and wide crates. He felt anger at himself for being frightened, as if he had done something wrong. He was at the point of coming out when a great shaft of light came as the door opened and he felt a fear that drowned out all the reasonable thoughts.

“Come on, Corey; we ain't got all day,” Daryn heard.

“Ya quiet yerself. Some un'll 'ear you.” There were quiet footsteps to the shorter crates.

The door closed and the light disappeared. A moment later, a different light filled it's place; someone had lit a lamp.

“An' that 'some un' wouldn' 'appen to be Douglas, would 'e?” Douglas? The first mate? What was going on? Daryn heard wood sliding against wood. It sounded like a crate was being opened that had been un-nailed earlier.

“It's bad enough we 'ave to work fer 'im, but stealing from 'im quite another thing.” Glass rattled against itself.

“'E'd sure tan our 'ides if 'e knew.” A cork was popped from a bottle.

“'Tan our 'ides'! We'd be lucky if 'e didn't split our skulls! 'E'd most likely pin this 'ole lot on us en take off wi' it when they isn't lookin'!” Douglas?! He worked men hard but that seemed a little excessive.

There were great sloshings of liquid.

Daryn felt angry. These men had no right to steal and talk about a man in authority like that. He moved to the side to be able to stand up and confront them. But he happened to look to the side and into one of the crates. He found himself looking straight into the barrel of a gun. He gasped; guns were illegal in this region.

“'Old on a minute,” one of the men said. Daryn held his breath. Had they heard him? “What's this?”

“Give it me. . . It looks like a medallion.” His pendant! “'Arry must'a left it. 'E always has knicks about 'is knacks about 'im.”

“I'll have to 'emember to give it to 'im” Daryn looked through the slats in the crate and saw one of the men put it in the breast pocket of his jacket. The other man laughed and there was more sloshing sounds.

“You're likely as not to ferget you even put it in your pocket.”

There were footsteps on the ceiling above them. The men fell silent. “Mark? Corey? Dan? Any yous here?” There was silence for a moment before the footsteps went up the stairs again. The men corked the bottle and hastily put it away. They were silent as they extinguished the light and left. When their footsteps could no longer be heard, Daryn came out of hiding.

Smugglers? In this ship? The first mate involved? What was going on? Daryn grimaced. He was not going to like what he had to do.

A Time For All Things

When you start writing a book, you are enthused by all the wonderful aspects of it that you have brimming in your mind.  When you start reading a book, you have a cautious delight or a whole-hearted expectation of joy.  God loves to see you happy; to see you enjoy a beautiful pleasure.
But sometimes, thoughts go stale.  It doesn't happen as easily with reading, but just it's as possible.  I hate stale thoughts.  I hate them as much as I hate bad thoughts, even though I shouldn't, and need to work on that.  But stale thoughts are from the Lord.
When you've tasted the ever-steady, yet ever-new wonders of the Lord, no stagnant thought will do.  Only His goodness will suffice; and beyond sufficing, it fills, overflows, increases.  Stagnant thoughts will tell you where your focus is.  If you're growing weary of your boring thoughts, turn to God and let Him fill you with new delight.
A great part of writing and reading, is knowing when to back away and take an objective look at it.
If you're not satisfied with old thoughts, that's because God created you to be delighted with new and beautiful things, yet still love the steady things.  Look around!  God created something really special in you.  He loves you.  Look to Him.

Sorry if the post wasn't very focused.  Hope you get something out it.

Good to Great in God's Eyes

Today is Sunday and I heard an incredible sermon and I want to share the highlights of it.  It was entitled Good to Great in God's Eyes and it had two headings besides the introduction and the conclusion.  The two headings were as follows:
THINK GREAT THOUGHTS
READ GREAT BOOKS
The first thing you need to do is to define your definition of great.  The preacher put it this way: When you're seventy years old and you think "I have lived a successful life" what would you have done to get to that point?
The next thing you need to do is find out why you want to be great.
There are three kinds of Christians:
Nominal
-I say I'm a Christian
Good
-Others can tell I'm a Christian
Great
-They go beyond themselves
That was the introduction.  After that was the great thoughts, and that is by no means a light matter.  You can train yourself to think positively, and you need to.  The media is constantly bombarding you with negative, and your books do that too, if especially if you are not aware.
The last was reading great books.  Those who read the truth are likely to live it out.  Great Christians read great books, historically.  Great books impact your life, sharpen you mind, inflame your heart, and develop your skills.
The conclusion is this: Those who dream of the internal impact in the Kingdom of God, who envision crossing the finish line as one of God's great saints, are motivated to do whatever it takes to be used powerfully by God.
In the end, the very end, don't you want to be one to whom God says, "Well done, good and faithful servant."?  Wouldn't it be awful to hear Him ask, "Why didn't you do what I asked?"
This mostly came from the notes of the sermon today; it's not my own, and it's a little stilted.  But I enjoyed it and I hope you learned something.
God Be With Thee 'Till We Meet Again

Sold

This post is about only one book; a certain book, known commonly as The Bible.  More importantly, it's about you and this book.
In Luke 22:3-6 you read about Judas deciding to betray Jesus.  (I suggest you read it now.)  He took the ever-infamous thirty coins in payment for it.  I have heard a lot of discussion on that, and I believe a few things that may or may not be.  I believe that Judas wanted Jesus to rise up against the Romans, and their attacking Him would be a good way to get Him to do that.  I believe that Judas thought that, just as Jesus walked away from the crowd unscathed when they wanted to throw Him off the cliff, He would also not be hurt by this.  But whether this is true or not, Judas was apparently repentant: Matthew 27:3-5.  However, it was too late: Luke 22:22.
Now we go to Matthew 28:11-15, in which we find that soldiers were bribed to tell a lie.  That they would say that the disciples took the body.  How could they do that?  How could they take money after they had seen an angel of the Lord whose countenance was like lightning and whose clothing was white as snow?  How could they be bribed after they had just seen a man rise from the dead?  I don't know.  But so it happened.  They took the desires of this world rather than the truth of heaven.  They sold Jesus.  They sold their salvation.
Judas sold Jesus and his salvation too.  All of these men were living in this world in their hearts and minds.  The soldiers wanted pleasure and Judas wanted a free country.  Jesus wanted free people.  So let me ask you: are you selling Jesus.  Now maybe you're a christian, and you go to church and pray and such, but are you selling a deep relationship with Him for friends, money, books, movies, clothes, food, sports, or something else?  Is something more important to you than Him?  God wants to give you the desires of your heart, but He wants you to be fulfilled and satisfied with Him first.
So ask yourself: Am I sold for Christ, or am I selling Him?

A Tale of Two Tales

I thought this title was much more interesting than "Post Script to God In Your Books," but it could be considered as such.  This is a story about two of my stories.

I have two ship stories: Ships and Shores (the one that I've given you the first chapter on) and Onward Christian Sailor (of which I've not told you yet).  Ships represent to me dramatic adventure like the old books used to portray so beautifully.  But back to the point, Onward Christian Sailor is about a boy who is a wonderful Christian and sword fighter who gets drafted into a fleet of pirates, and he is trying to stay a wonderful Christian in spite of horrid influences.  Ships and Shores is more of a child's tale written from a Christians perspective.  However, OCS is not good for me right now, possibly ever.  The pirates are really mean to him, and it doesn't give me a godly mindset.  SAS is wonderfully good for me (or perhaps I just like to write it), and it gives me a godly mindset.  Children's books are generally good for cleansing your thoughts.

So, in conclusion, you need to look beyond the print, however fine or bold.

Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any  virtue, and if there is anything praiseworthy - meditate on these things.  - Philippians 4:8

P.S - By the way, I apologize for not giving you the next part, which I haven't written yet.  I always get annoyed when I get a piece of a book that is promised to be continued and never is.  I'll try to get that to you shortly.

Sing Your Song

Today I'm going to talk about something slightly less book related.  Music.
For what purpose did God create music in the way He did, I do not know.  Why He gave it the power to pull us with is beyond my comprehension.  I do not even understand how He made our spirits to glide along with it; our blood to pulse with it; our emotions to lift and fall and dance with it.  Music: that unseen force with more power than most realize, as they turn to it for amusement.
"Bach gave us God's love; Mozart gave us God's joy; Beethoven gave us God's fire; God gave us music that we might praise Him without words."
I was in a funk, some might say, last week.  I was feeling a bit depressed, and I went to music.  I could have gone to Twila Paris, for friendship; or Michael Card, for encouragement; or Michael W. Smith for God's awe.  But I wanted something to fit my mood, so instead, I went to "Gollum's Song," as heard at the end of Lord Of The Rings; The Two Towers.  It's full of tensions and valleys.
If I had kept listening to it, I would probably still be in that "funk", but I remembered what my mother had said.  (I know: it's always what your mother told you.)  That depressed people listen to depressing music which in turn makes them more depressed.  So I talked to her about it, and she said it's okay to listen to slow music as long as it's a happy kind of slow.
My understanding of it is this: that underneath the shell of misery is a layer of comfortable self-pity covering the root of misery.
"I don't want to listen to peppy music, even when that's exactly what I need."  At times like that, my advice is that you just gotta listen to peppy stuff, until it gets you out of your groove, no matter how much it doesn't please you at the time.
May the peace of God be with you, Amen

Go "Go Teen Writers!" Teen Writers!

This is a personal note to the participants of the Facebook page Go Teen Writer's.  Thank you for visiting my blog.  As I do not have Facebook, I cannot be a part of your wonderful group, but thank you for being a part of my blog.
I can publicize practically nowhere, and it can be very discouraging as a blogger when she feels as though she was writing to the empty cyberspace.  And though you don't follow (I understand that junk email is always annoying) you comment; and even when you don't comment, you let me know that someone cares about what I write [if what my sister says is true ;) ].
Thank You.
Sincerely, Sarah 

Do I Need To Spell It Out?

I know it's not the end of may, but I couldn't wait for this one.

As a reader, the amount of information received at a time is very important.  If I have too little, I don't understand what's going on and I don't have a connection to the book.  If I have too much, I get bored  and don't bother to finish it, as I already know what's going to happen.  Long mysteries are very difficult to write, as the amount of information is critical.  But there's something amateur authors do that drive me crazy.
They tell me everything.  They give the motive, the character, the underlying hope in the action.  And the worst of it is, they don't let me find it out; they have to tell me.  They don't even do me the dignity of showing and letting me see and think of why they did it.
There are a few reasons not to tell outright, but my favorite one is this:
The reader reads it, thinks "So that's why!" and suddenly he's in cahoots with you.  He figured out your secret message and now his pride makes him own the book.  It's his book.  He understands it, and no one else does.  Even if these aren't conscious thoughts, most of the time they're there.
It's not easy to let go of that control, but if you do it will make your book more interesting.
So in answer to the question I posed in the title, no.  Just show them.  Remember the old axiom of writing: Show, don't tell.

May God go throughout you life, and may that be echoed in your reading and writing 

Attention Blog Readers:  I am doing a blitz on my schoolwork, and I will have little time to write.  I shall continue writing every weekend at the end of May.  Thank you for your consideration and please read this June.  God go with you in your reading, writing, and life.

I Swear...

Today we're going to talk about swearing.  Swearing is so ingrained in today's culture, that, if you want an accurate portrayal of a situation, it's simple to slip it in here and there.  Perhaps one character is more inclined to swear than another, and you want to show it.
   The problem is that it's blasphemy.  It's taking God's name lightly.  It's not only disobedient, its dangerous.  It's real.  It's a part of your attitude towards life.  When you read books that have swearing in them, it will change how you think for a moment at least.  You read a chapter where every third sentence, or perhaps only every third page has swearing, you're going to go away thinking your unaffected, but your changed for the day; and when someone says something, or something happens, and you think a swear word, you think, "LORD GOD!  Where did that come from?!"  I'll tell you.  From the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks.  What you read goes into your heart, and you can do nothing to protect it but flood your heart and mind with the word of God and other good influences.  But how often do we do that?
   So what do we do as readers?  I would say, go immediately into prayer when you finish a chapter.  Talk to God about the book.  He wants to know.  If your embarrassed to tell Him, maybe you should examine what your reading.  He wont take it away from you unless it hurts you.  Also remember: He went to Hell; He's not the one who needs protecting.
   So what do we do as writers?  The best way I think, is not to put it in at all.  If you want to put it in, though, there are a few ways you can not say it.  Say he uttered an expletive, or he swore, he cussed, he uttered a singularly rude word.  If you put it in a sentence, dashes or stars or bleeps or #@>! work.  I like dashes personally: "Why can't the --- just mind his own business!"  But keep in mind, that leaves a lot for the readers imagination.
   Be careful and pray.  Keep in mind that what you are doing has effect not only on who you are, but on your eternity; and not only on your eternity, but also on others eternity.

Follow Your Heart

SOAP-BOX TIME!!!  A common theme in today's culture is "follow your heart".  Go where you feel led inside of you.  Let your feelings dictate your answer.  Sarah's Quote Of The Day: Letting your heart lead you is like letting a hamster take the steering wheel.  My feelings aside, what does the Word say?
Jeremiah 17:9 - "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?"  Yes!  That makes perfect sense!  That's exactly what we need to obey!  A lying, wicked thing, that we can't understand.  To follow your heart blindly is quite plainly foolish.
But rarely is there only one side of a story.  Any real one, at any rate.  I can't find the one I want, but their are many verses about the heart that suggests you take advice from it.  Now, why would God say that?  I asked my brother, and he said that it was because when man turns more towards God, his heart becomes more like God's.  I still wont put it in my book, and it's up to you whether or not you put it in yours.

God In Your Books

You're a Christian writer.  You want to write to glorify God.  But do you want to put a reference to God in your book?  Why not?  Well, you may have an answer to that.  Maybe it doesn't fit in with your book; maybe it's in a different era or world; maybe you want to appeal to a wider audience.  It's scary to put something controversial in your book; it might affect how your book sells.  Remember two things, though:

1.  It's possible to put God in your book without preaching, though it may be difficult.

2.  Throughout history, Christianity has been the accepted religion, making it easier to be accurate while including your religion has opposed to other religions.

You could have it be a part of the culture, such as Jessica Day George's  "Princess of the Midnight Ball"; or you could have your character consider religion as he is faced with death, such as in Veronica Roth's "Divergent"; (I'm not trying to be feminist; those were the ones that popped into my head, and I'm sure there are other wonderful ones, which I would love you tell me about below).  You could also make it laced all the way through your stories, as I hope it is through your life.   In my story, I use the different characters religion and their behavior towards it to help describe their different personalities.  The main thing really is, what is God calling you to do with your book?  You can write books that have no reference to God, but that tell of a Christian perspective, like in C.S Lewis' "Chronicles of Narnia".  On the other hand, how does that benefit anyone else if they don't know how to get it for themselves?  George McDonald is a wonderful author, and he wasn't afraid to either put God in or not put God in.  C.S Lewis became a Christian in part because of one of his fantasies, that didn't have a reference to God, but it did have a Godly world view.  It's between you and God, and it's a serious matter if that's where you're investing your time and hoping that others will invest theirs.  Pray, and consider God before everything else.                                                                                           

I was all done with this post, and I talked to my mom about it.  She brought up the issue of glory.  Who gets the credit for the book you write?  She said it was fine to put it in, and fine not to put it in.  What really matters is why you do it.  Are you going to put it in so the audience can see how spiritual you are?  Are you going to give God the credit for a book with no references to Him?  What's inside of you?

This is chapter one of a story I'm writing, that is of brave things and bright things and, I pray, honors God.  I have given it a working title of Ships and Shores, but I would love it if you had some ideas for a permanent title. 

Ships and Shores ~ Beyond the Swallows Wings Production

She swung from the ropes with marvelous grace. As she traded the cords, the acrobat lifted legs in front of her and wrapped them around the rope, eventually letting go with her hands and letting the breeze catch her hair. She smiled as everything in her was caught up in the feeling.

“What a foolish girl,” thought Daryn. “One weary rope and she's history.” He returned to his work of mopping the deck. But soon he heard a light thump in front of him. He looked up and saw the form that was swinging a short while ago. She looked at him.

“Good day,” he said awkwardly.

“I'm Seana,” she said.

“I'm Daryn,” he said warily.

“I know who you are. I heard you talk to my father.”

Daryn was startled. “You eavesdropped?”

“'Course,” she said proudly. “You ever need any information on what goes on in this ship, you come straight to me,” she said jutting her thumb towards her chest.

“I'll remember that,” Daryn said, which was quite true, but he prayed to high heaven that he would never need to be a part of something like that at all. He returned to his work.

“You're rather a rude boy,” Seana ejaculated.

Daryn looked up sharply. “How so,” he asked indignantly.

“You wont talk to me.”

“I'm sorry I can't spend time with you, but I need to work. That's the only way I can afford to pay my passage, as I'm sure you've overheard.”

Seana laughed. “And what is father going to do? Throw you overboard because you haven't been working as hard as you can?”

“It would be dishonest not work when I can get away with it. Besides, even if it wasn't dishonest, it's not a Christian thing to do.”

“You're a silly boy. Now I insist that you talk with me.” She paused a moment. “I'm going back to my ropes. Talk to you later, Daryn!” With that she scurried up the mast and started swinging again. Daryn shook his head. What a curious girl he had met up with.

Post Script to "Being Swallowed By Books"

This is an add-on post to the one written in February entitled, Being Swallowed By Books.  I found another two verses, which I would like to share with you.
Psalm 106:13b-15 -
And He gave them their request,
But sent leanness into their soul.
This goes back to "all things a lawful, but not all things are helpful".  He'll let you read that book, but he wont satisfy you.  He loves you too much to allow you to be satisfied with less than the best.
Romans 14:23 -
But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because he who does not eat from faith; for whatever is not from faith is sin.
Whatever is not from faith is sin.  That goes for everything.  If you're unsure, do not do it.  This is sin we're talking about; and the payment for it is death.  This is no light matter.  Whatever is not from faith is sin.
Note: If you see an error anywhere in this blog (in reference to the teachings), please tell me, and I'll look into it.  The last thing I want is to lead anyone astray.

Tension Moments

Let's talk about tension moments.  You know what I mean when I say tension moments; when our hero has been captured and our villain is taunting him, perhaps threatening a loved one.  I've just finished Inkheart and there are tension moments everywhere.  When Dustfinger ties up Basta, takes his knife and good luck charm, and teases about burning his hair; when Basta captures Dustfinger and runs his new knife up his chest; when Dustfinger locks Basta up and takes his new knife; and many places in between.  It's that feeling that makes you smile even when your hero feels horrible.  It's rich with emotions.  But are they "Christian"?  You can go into a big discussion on this, but honestly, I'm certain that I will get hopelessly lost if I try to do this without God.  Would this glorify God?  Would it please God?  I was really stuck with this one, so I asked my mom.  She said that that was life.  You will get into situations like that, though perhaps not as drastic.  Emotions are everywhere.
But just like about everything else in this world, too much is not healthy.  In all honesty, that was my drug; my addiction; my besetting sin.  I would drink in that excess emotion and create horrible stories around it, just so I could feel that tension again and again.  Now, I wouldn't like it if it was real life, because you can't just turn off real life.
I'm sorry if I made this more confusing than it already was.  As you can see, I'm a long way from the end.  But I kind of like it that way, because then there's more to discover.  Mull over it; think about it; above all, pray about it.  Discover where it is in relation to you.

Being Swallowed by Books

The thing I have struggled with most throughout my short life is probably being "swallowed" by pleasure reading.  I have a collection of books that I got involved in too deeply, and so I thought it was bad because it was taking the place of God, and therefore, I put them away unfinished.  Some of you wont know what the heck I'm talking about, and some of you will completely understand.  If you are of the latter, I have something to share with you:
Galatians 5:16 - "I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh."  If you're right with God then you wont be committing sin to read a book and get very far into it.
Romans 14:14 - "I know and am convinced by the Lord Jesus that there is nothing unclean of itself; but to him who considers anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean."  If you think that it's wrong to read that book, it's wrong.  There's a little trick I do sometimes.  I would say "Oh, I think it's fine to read this book," all the while really believing that it really was wrong.
1 Corinthians 6:12 - "All things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful.  All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any."  When you can't put the book down, you are addicted to it and brought under it's power, and you need to put it down.  I'm homeschooled, so I can't start books until Friday evening, because otherwise I read it instead of doing school.  Even if I don't read it, I think about it.  I am put under it's power.
One more thing: if you're unsure, don't flirt with the line!  God wants you to have pleasure, but he does not want that to interrupt your walk with Him or damage you in any way.  God wants your best, and flirting with the line is not honoring Him and not healthy for you.
Note: A thanks to my pastor for direction with verses and ideas in his sermon today.

Good Christian Books

Okay, so I have a story idea.  There's a boy named Howie Munching who has a great Christian life: great family, great friends, great home, great church.  He's really popular, and there are never any bullies in his school; almost every day he brings someone to Christ.  Howie grows up to and becomes a successful zoo keeper and rides in a limousine.  He gets married to a great Christian trophy wife and has three wonderful Christian kids who grow up to live a life just like their father.  Now tell me honestly, what do you think?  It stinks, doesn't it!  Howie Munching is boring!  There is no way to relate to him.  Is this what we mean when we say that we ought to dream of bright and beautiful things?  Absolutely not.  We want to read good books that fill our minds with good things.  (A plus to that is that if you're a writer and you read good books, you'll write good books).  Let's face it: there's a lot of Christian garbage out there.  There's also a lot of books that aren't "Christian" per se, but that definitely fill your mind with good a noble things.  This week, take a look at the books you are reading and/or writing.  Are they good for you, even if they're not "Christian"?  Are they bad for you even if they are?  I can't read modern Christian romances, though I love a good Austen.  And please keep in mind that I haven't learned all the answers, and I'm growing in this as well.