2009 June | Paula Wiseman

Friday update- 21 down, 4 to go

Wow! Friday again. We survived the first week of camp and saw a bunch of elementary and jr. high guys and girls meet Jesus for the first time. Pray for them as they take their first baby steps. Next week- the high school kids. I have a few things to accomplish today then we plan to head to the pool (that is, if it will stop storming for a few hours). Baseball tonight.

Friday update- I am about to finish chapter 21 for this round of edits. I just need one killer/cliffhanger-y line for Bobbi, something that will pull the reader to the next page. Once that’s accomplished, I’ll have 4 more chapters to edit. Whew!

Next up- something new. I’m not sure if I’ll go to Matt and Shannon or if I’ll do Claire and Mike. Stay tuned. After that, I’ll need to edit something else, I’m sure.

Reading- I got almost nothing read this week. Check with me next week, or maybe after camp.

Psalm 39:4 Lord, make me to know my end, and what is the measure of my days, that I may know how frail I am.

Filed Under: Books, Friday Update Tagged With: Contingency, editing

Anger Management

By Paula

Camp for the elementary age kids finishes today. My two younger ones cannot wait for Lauren to get back home.

Continuing with a peek at the camp lessons… Dan and I talked with the kids about being superheroes, that God had given us powers to accomplish a mandate, but we also reminded them that we have weaknesses the Enemy will exploit. One of the big ones is anger.
Ephesians 4:26-27 reads: In your anger do not sin: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold. (NIV)

Satan will take advantage of our anger and get us distracted from our mission. Whether it explodes or it’s stuffed, anger can destroy our relationships, our focus and our credibility as followers of Jesus Christ. So what is anger exactly? Anger is an emotional response to being or feeling wronged that leads to a desire for vengeance. What’s wrong with that? God says, “Vengeance is Mine. I will repay.” (Deuteronomy 32:25). If I act on my anger, I am taking on God’s responsibility. That’s called “usurping”. It shows I don’t trust God to handle the situation.

I struggle with stuffing anger. Stuffed anger can morph into bitterness or depression, either of which can destroy a person. In writing fiction, I can explore these issues through my characters. In Contingency, Bobbi stuffs her anger at Chuck’s affair and slides into depression. I shared a few things I’ve learned in my own battle as she fights her way out.

It is possible to be angry without sinning, but it’s hard. Our best strategy is to avoid it altogether. Knowing what causes it can help us avoid it. James 1:19 gives a three step strategy for avoiding anger.

My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry (NIV)

Quick to listen – Make sure you get all the facts and that you understand them. Don’t jump to conclusions!!
Slow to speak – DON’T say the first thing that pops in your head, which is usually something like “You big dummy, how could you do something so stupid?!” This only escalates things. It is NOT helpful.
Slow to become angry – Don’t fly off the handle.

Filed Under: Living Tagged With: anger, church camp, Contingency, depression, Deuteronomy, Ephesians, James

Study Tip: Break It Down

By Paula

One of my favorite things about teaching is getting to share something that might be familiar to me, but completely fresh to my listeners. It makes me stop and consider what I’m teaching, and come up with a way to interpret all the ‘jargon’. Next time you study one of your favorite verses or passages, break it down word for word. Ask yourself what the significance is of each word choice the writer used. What idea does that word convey? What difference does that word make in the rest of the passage?

Here’s an example. Yesterday, I got to break down the gospel for the kids at church camp. We used 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 as a framework.

For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance : that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.

Since we weren’t studying Paul or Corinth, I skipped the first part and concentrated on the gospel as Paul defined it.

Christ: Paul doesn’t call Him Jesus here. He wants to draw attention to His title – the chosen Son of God, born for this purpose
Died: Even though He was God, Christ allowed Himself to die a physical death
For: The reason it happened
Our: Christ’s death is sufficient for the sins of every individual person
Sins: Everything we say, do or think OR fail to say, do or think that is contrary to God’s perfection
According to the Scriptures: It is recorded, not made up and God’s reputation is staked on its absolute truth.
Buried: The fact that Jesus was buried is proof that everyone there was thoroughly convinced He was dead.
Raised the third day: Resurrection is awesome enough, but it means His death was acceptable to God as payment for sins and whoever accepts that payment to cover his or her own sins gets to raise from the dead as well, just as God promised.

Dear God, may we never get so familiar with Your word that it loses its meaning and impact in our lives. Like Your compassions and mercies, Your word never fails. It is fresh and new every morning.

Filed Under: Study Tip Tuesday Tagged With: 1 Corinthians, Bible study, Paul

Great Power, Great Responsibility

By Paula

Church camp begins today for the 3rd-8th graders, and we have a series of lessons titled “I Am That Hero” stressing to the kids that God has empowered them for a very important mission- carrying out the gospel. Today we’re using Spiderman’s famous tagline- With great power, comes great responsibility. Most of us don’t consider ourselves anything special and certainly not heroic. Changing diapers, doing laundry or paying the electric bill are certainly not my idea of significant work. One of Satan’s great weapons is getting us to forget who we are. At the moment of salvation, Christ blessed us with “all spiritual blessings” (Ephesians 1:3) including eternal life! He also gives us the fruit of the Spirit- love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. We don’t see these as special so much of the time. The fact is, all of these ‘powers’ are supernatural in origin and exercise! He also gives us the indwelling Holy Spirit.

So what’s our mission? Jesus spells it out at least 4 times in the New Testament-
(Matthew 28:18-20) Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

(Mark 16:15-16) He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.

(John 21:15-17) When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?” “Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my lambs Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you truly love me?” He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.” The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my sheep.

(Acts 1:8) But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

A witness is someone who tells what he knows. We don’t need lots of experience or training to tell what we know. Did Jesus change my life? Does He matter to me? How are my daily activities different because of Jesus? How is my outlook affected? Does He make any difference?

Then here’s the ‘great responsibility part-
(Ezek 33:8) When I say to the wicked, ‘O wicked man, you will surely die,’ and you do not speak out to dissuade him from his ways, that wicked man will die for his sin, and I will hold you accountable for his blood.

The character of God hasn’t changed. If He held an Old Testament prophet responsible for not doing His job, He’s going to hold us New Testament saints responsible as well. Our responsibility is limited to the “speaking out” part. We ARE NOT held accountable for someone’s rejection of the warning.

Today and everyday, I need to remember I am a superhero with a mission to fulfill.

Filed Under: Devotional, Living Tagged With: Acts, Bible study, church camp, Ephesians, Ezekiel, John, Mark, Matthew, mission, Spiderman

Friday Update

By Paula

Another beautiful Friday has arrived. The weather is fabulous, and we are looking forward to a tremendous match-up on the PeeWee diamond tonight as Crawford Healthworks faces down Cotillion Ridge Nursing Home (Well, not the actual folks from the nursing home… you know what I mean.) It’s Media Day for Crawford as the players will be available for pictures before the game. We are most interested in the starting right fielder, veteran Alan Wiseman, who went 1-4 in the opener Tuesday night.

Ok- I got the ‘sportswriter’ out of me for the moment. I often get teased for including football and baseball in my books. I really need a basketball one.

This week, I had my opening critiqued by the awesome Mary DeMuth. You can see it here. I’ll be taking a break from writing for a while. Next week is the first week of church camp.

Books read this week: Still working on The Wounded Heart by Dr. Dan Allender, and I’m about halfway through Healing is a Choice by Steven Arterburn. Both are good, not to be read too quickly. Next week I have the first books in the Chronicles of Narnia on the schedule.

Filed Under: Friday Update Tagged With: baseball, church camp, Contingency, critique, Dan Allender, healing, Mary DeMuth, Narnia, Steven Arterburn