The Gathering. Atlanta 2011.

Of course, The Gathering was awesome! Ted Dekker and Kevin Kaiser (Ted's producer) were both so nice and down to earth. April 22, 2011 is a day that I will never forget for so many reasons! For the sake of keeping this short I'm only going to talk about two of those reasons, but if you want to hear more, I would love to tell you all about it!

Writing has always been one of my passions, but recently it's become more like a chore. It's just seemed like I've had to force myself to write. Thankfully, all of that changed 8 days ago. That's when I went to Ted Dekker's Gathering in Atlanta. I told Ted about how his books always spoke to my current situation and how they always left me feeling challenged and changed and I asked him how to write books that will change the world. Well, his advice sort of threw me at first, but now it's been such an inspiration and encouragement. He said that I should "write without an agenda. Don't worry about changing the world. Write to discover. Write about love and light and truth." He said, "That's what draws people and ultimately changes them." Since then I've thrown all of my old "writing theology" out the window and I've been writing a story that I've fallen in love with. "Broken" is IT. Besides all of the epicness that comes with meeting my favorite author for the first time and rediscovering a passion that I thought was long lost, God also sent me the friend I've really been needing! In Emily I've found a fellow Dekkie that shares my passion for reading and writing. She has also been awesome at encouraging me and I hope I've been an encouragement to her too! A big "Thank you!" to Ted Dekker and Emily for all of their encouragement and advice!

Dive Deep,
Beth

How do We Embody Patience, Love and Forgiveness in an Impatient, Hateful and Begrudging World?

Patience. Love. Forgiveness. Unfortunately, most of the time I have difficulty living out those words. Especially when I feel like a great injustice has been done. My first response to such situations is usually anger-okay, maybe it's always anger. I have little enough patience in day-to-day life that I have no patience left for those that do wrong and know better. In my self-righteous anger I make a list of all the wrongs they've done and think about how I would love to tell them off. The last thing on my mind is to love and forgive them. Well, God doesn't work the way. And it's a good thing too! Over and over our loving God reiterates the importance of being patient, loving our enemies and forgiving those who trespass against us. He never says, "Have patience with those that know no better." or "Love the people that love you." or "Forgive and forget the small stuff." Instead He gives us verses like: Proverbs 19:11 "A person’s wisdom yields patience; it is to one’s glory to overlook an offense.", Galatians 5:22-23 "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.", Colossians 3:12 "Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience." and Luke 6:34-36 "And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full. But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful." Also, our God is loving and has commanded us to love and He even paints a picture of what love is for us. 1 Corinthians 13:4-5 "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs." We have also been called to forgive. Colossians 3:13 "Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.", Matthew 6:14-15 "For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.", and Matthew 18:21-22 "Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, 'Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?' Jesus answered, 'I tell you, not seven times, but seventy times seven.'" I know that these words go against the grain of this world, but we're meant to swim upstream. God has called us to bring Him glory and what glory is there in being impatient, hateful and begrudging? The hardest things I am having to learn is to forgive and forget, love the sinner (but not the sin) and have patience with the undeserving (including, but not limited to: the post office, chickens, dumb people, and my computer. Just kidding.) Trust me, those are not things I can do on my own. I have to seek God and let go of the hurt and anger inside me, which is no easy task because hurt and anger can be great comforters. Then I have to let God heal my heart. When we do these things, we become become a light in the darkness drawing others to Christ.

Love,
Beth

The Priest's Graveyard by Ted Dekker

This time I'm not posting a review. This time I'm posting a request. Ted Dekker is poised to release his newest masterpiece on April 19th! I, like so many others, wait with bated breath.  The Forest Guard has been issued new orders. We're on the march. To spread the word and share the message is our main goal, but for this particular mission we are charged with changing our profile pictures and sharing the links to this interview with Ted and this review of The Priest's Graveyard. Help yourself and me by taking a look at these links and sharing them with others! :) Thank you! :)

P.S. Rest assured that I'll post my review as soon as I read the book! :)