Word Weavers

Well, I crawled out of bed(reluctantly - smile - ) to make my monthly meeting. I received some good feedback on my latest chapter of Searcher's Honor. FYI meetings for the Orlando chapter are at Northland Church, every second Saturday of the month at 10am(9:30 for fellowship). There's a link from my blog for more information.

Word Weavers is now a part of Jerry Jenkins' Christian Writers Guild. We were briefed on more of what that means this morning. Could be interesting.

A small note on the events in Arizona. Because we are indeed blessed to be in this country, free speech is always an option. If you dissent on a political matter use your voice in whatever manner you prefer. There is no excuse for the attack on these people and my heart and prayers go out to those affected.

Spiritual Warfare

This post is directed at the Christian Readers of my blog. I just wanted to share something I've learned in my time as a Christian. Often times when we are attacked spiritually, we beat ourselves up about how we handled it. We are especially vulnerable in our dreams I've found.

This is why it is so important to be in the Word on a daily basis. I've found that even without the active process of memorization, Bible passages seep into the unconscious. This doesn't mean you shouldn't try and memorize verses by the way.

Getting back to how we beat ourselves up.

 KNOCK THAT OFF!

 GOD knows how we struggle. Ask forgiveness and then move on. There will be times when I wake up, just glad that the Holy Spirit dragged me out of a dream.  And then there are times that GOD so graced me with the right verses that I come out of an attack energized.

Either way, remember to thank GOD for HIS protection. And even when you are upset about the lost sleep, sing HIS praise. Because frankly HE deserves it.

Thanks for reading this. I hope it helps.

A disgrace

The company that Steve Jobs made has stuck its foot in its mouth big time. Apple's latest response to the continuing efforts to restore a Christian app to their system was very telling. They refused on the basis of said content being defamatory, offensive, mean spirited or likely to expose the targeted group to harm or violence. This was their flimsy way of saying that the teachings of the Bible are offensive, even dangerous.

The Manhattan Declaration IPhone app, the app in question, had been on their app network with a rating of 4+. It was taken down because of a petition on Change.org and not restored even after a revised version was submitted.

This most recent statement by Apple disgusts me frankly. I will not be purchasing anything from them in the future and I encourage my readers to follow suit.

Death in Media

I'm sure other Christians have called the media on this but it's a lesson worth repeating. In literature, movies and television, there is so often repeated that statement "taken before their time". Aside from being ignorant, this phrase and others like it are a direct slap to GOD.

GOD has our lives so measured that HE knows the amount of hairs are on our head(Matt 10:30, Today's NIV). It was HE who set our lifespan.(Genesis 6:3, Today's NIV) The amount of days in our life were decided before we stepped into this world of ours. When we go home is at HIS discretion and it is never before HIS time.

What one should be concerned about is that they be ready when that time comes. That can arrive before the next breath. For those who don't know Christ, HE is as near to you as the air you breathe. HE loves you and wants you safe. But HE respects your free will and won't come unasked.

To those of the Body of Believers, we should be about our GOD given tasks. When HE comes in HIS perfect time, we want to be ready as well.

Browsers...

I just thought I'd make a comment on the plethora of web browsers that are now available. You see I was a child(so to speak) of the Netscape vs Internet Explorer conflict. Personally I felt that IE was easier at the time but don't mind me. Nowadays there's Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and the venerable yet ubiquitous IE.

An old fart by todays standards I still use IE but I can't help but be a mite curious. My IT friend says that Firefox is a bit more secure.  That it probably is given IE has been around so long, a 2 year old knows the ins and outs. Still I hold on to IE. Call it a digital security blanket for a thirtysomething computer amateur.

Of course I can be fickle. (smile)

In other news...

I submitted a short story for the 2010 Word Weavers Retreat Contest. Fortunately, you don't have to attend to submit. No moolah as they used to say. When I get the results back I will post them here.

Christian Game Visibility

Just a small comment. I am disturbed that the Christian Computer Game publishing community does not garner more support from the Body. It is very difficult to find games with a Christian bent. I personally am an aficionado of computer role playing games. These are rare indeed among the few scattered Christian games  out there.

I would suggest that these publishers need to reach out more. Perhaps they could start dialogues with Christian magazines, websites, and bookstores. Frankly they are losing business because we don't know where they are.

That being said, we Christians also need to do our part by buying from these companies. This will promote growth and diversity of subject matter.

The demand for cleaner, less bloody games is there. I for one just need to know where to look.

Resolutions

People often make resolutions on New Year's. Perhaps the simplest should be "to act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your GOD."
(Micah 6:8, Today's New International Version)

Take Care and GOD Bless