Salutations.
Recently, I chatted with a friend regarding doctrine of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS). Numerous religions take Christianity, building on it. Instead of allowing the Gospel (as the Bible teaches) to stand on its own as the means to spending eternity with God, these wayward faiths add extra hoops for people to jump through, which flies in the face of Biblical scripture. Read the rest of this entry »
Salutations!
It’s not unusual to hear about New Year’s Resolutions. I think they are a novel idea. However, for me as a Christian and a professional, setting goals is something I like to do year round. I do so to push myself further. Read the rest of this entry »
I hope that my stories capture imaginations the way X-Men comics captured mine!
When writing a story, I am often told that it is best to write or plot out the conclusion first. It’s much easier to plan and write your story when the ending is already done. That way, you just have to ‘back into it,’ in a manner of speaking.
I remember waiting for the next issue of my favorite comics to come out. Hopefully, people will look forward to my next story in a similar fashion!
I plan on taking a similar approach here. First, I lay out my final goal, and then I plan on how to get there. Being an accountant by day, planning is one of my strong suits.
Ultimately, I would like to be able to write serial, ongoing stories, similar to comics such as Wildlight. Of course, I want those to be of the best quality I can possibly produce. Hopefully, they would be compelling enough to entice readers to come back on a regular basis, eager to find out what happens next!
I realize, however, that writing is not an easy task at all. To help get my skills to that level calls for a strategic approach to preparation. I plan on using multiple tools and resources to learn as much as a I can, while practicing by writing a variety of short stories. Even this blog provides me ample opportunity to hone my admittedly limited talents. By virtue of age, I have learned the benefits of patience and proper planning. I shall take advantage of the benefits they provide.
Some people, myself included, believe that the reason behind an action can be just as important as the action itself. A person who breaks the law in saving a life is treated far differently than one who does so for selfish reasons. Knowing the destination, or end goal, which I wrote about earlier provides the direction; the purpose provides the drive to get there. Many projects fall by the wayside because they lost sight of the reason they began that project to begin with.
We were created to glorify God.
Simply stated, I wish to glorify God through my best possible effort in this endeavor. In the 20+ years I have been serving God (stumbling many times along the way), He has been faithful to me. He has given me life when I was dead in my sins, and given me direction that I may not parish. That may all sound a bit overly spiritual and cryptic. Rest assured, I will provide numerous examples and further dissertation through future entries. Doing so makes for great writing exercises!
It is really that simple. I have no hidden agenda, or motive. Any work I distribute will be done freely as to avoid the very appearance that, perhaps, I write simply for my supper. I am not part of any larger political or faith based organization, so I have no pressure to slant my message. However, I have a number of close friends who I share my deepest thoughts and works with to ensure that I do not stray from the central message that God lays out in His Word. Sharing a mutual love for Christ, I depend on them to help keep me focused when I get distracted by those things which might pollute my thoughts from that which God has called me to do.
The DifferenceIn speaking with people regarding entertainment, I noticed that a number of them mention that they do not care for stories which have overly political messages in them. I relate to this sentiment myself. So many things, hear and watch we read have an agenda attached. Tired of the pandering, many people have turned to less cerebral media, hoping to avoid those who seek to change their mind on matters of the heart which they already settled on.
So what will make my writings different?
Well, for starters, my agenda is not hidden. From my pen name, “JCServant”, through the closing remarks on anything I do, I make it crystal clear that I follow the Lord of the Bible and seek to glorify Him through my efforts. If you read this blog, or any of my stories, you pretty much know ahead of time what you are getting into. Second, I act independently. I have no ties with any religious or political organization; outside of those I have created myself, by God’s grace. Therefore, no man behind the curtain pulls the strings. Everything you see comes directly from my own mind and heart. This also means I have no political agenda. I simply want to glorify my Lord. If my works draw you closer to God, or encourage you to do also glorify God through your talents, than that, of course, makes me quite happy. However, it is not a pre-requisite for what I do.
Finally, I write from experience, as one who has walked an imperfect walk with God for nearly three decades and still learns something new everyday. My works will reflect such, rather than be filled with hypotheticals. Of course my stories will feature fantastic situations, but the people in the stories will be quite realistic. They will have faith, but they will falter, fail, doubt and question just like any Christian. The Bible does a very excellent job of showing the ‘saints’ as very real, fallible people, and I intend to follow that pattern. I believe this approach will show my audience that I respect their intelligence.
So, there is an agenda, but it is not hidden. If that agenda offends you, then we can agree to disagree and you can stop reading here. Like any entertainer, I fancy the idea of having hordes of people reading my works. However, I do what I do in order to glorify God first. And if that offends every person on the planet to the point where not a single one reads what I have so carefully, and painfully, written — then so be it. Conversely, I will work hard to ensure that people do not leave because they feel my work insults their intelligence, or that the work is so amateurish as to not be worth their time. For that, I will practice hard and pray that the Lord guides my hand.
Let me know what you think in the comments below.
-JCServant
It is hard to believe, but I wrote the above introduction to this blog seven years ago. Now seems as good as time as any to take a look back on what I have accomplished on this blog, and what I hope to do in the future. Read the rest of this entry »
Salutations. I was recently asked, “How do you know that this (the Bible) is divinely inspired text from the creator of the universe?” Like with many things in life, we have a ton of evidence here to support the claim, but if you want 100% proof, you will not find it. You also cannot find camera footage that Michelangelo painted the Sistine chapel. However, we have many documents pointing to that fact and his style in the art work remains to this day. Because of this strong evidence, we believe he painted it. We can use that approach with God and the Bible. With that said, here are a few reasons why we can believe that the Bible is directly inspired and given to us by God. Read the rest of this entry »
Salutations.
As another Christmas day comes and goes, I gave thought to what I would like this holiday season. I thank God that I have access to all of the basic necessities in life. With a roof over my head, plenty of food, a good job, a wife, and plenty of loved ones surrounding me, I feel very grateful that I do not go through this time of year lacking in any key area. My heart and prayers go out to those who do. Yet, I have something else very precious to me. Read the rest of this entry »
Salutations. I received some more questions from Reluctant Pessimist on Twitter. Generally speaking, some of these questions seem to imply that the person inquiring does not truly seek answer, but asks them as a way to throw the one with faith somewhat off balance. Generally, I walk away from such encounters. After all, as Jesus taught us to share the truth with those who truly seek it, not to argue with those who have already set their mind against Him. With that said, I have seen similar questions in the past, and wanted to share them with everyone. Even if the original poster does not truly desire the answers, perhaps others do, and can find some of those answers here. Be prepared, as this is quite possibly my longest post ever! Read the rest of this entry »
