partsofspeaking

A few days ago I posted about branding, and decried my own failure at branding myself as a writer.  I was just looking at my "deep" numbers on Amazon and they are really horrible, embarrassing.  And I have written and published four pretty good novels.   Very little money has come from it.  As a friend said, it's an expensive hobby, since you have to spend money marketing.  That's why the indie publishing thing is so appealing, but it doesn't let you out of the marketing prison. Content is king .  Keep that in mind.  Like anything else, there has to be a reason for people to buy your product, unless you just want to give it away.  Writing is too hard to give it away, and I won't do that any more. That said, other than writing a play that was well received at my college when produced but did not win a contest I entered (I don't think it was the kind of thing they were looking for--I think they wanted easy to produce, and mine isn't), I haven't w

Over the years I have become aware of the depth of our problem in the US church regarding the high level of Biblical ignorance or illiteracy.  Most who would decry this problem would just see it as a spiritual problem, related to lack of commitment to Bible study.  I see it differently. The real issue is a lack of ability to read long and complicated portions of text.  It is an intellectual and critical thinking problem, not just a spiritual problem (if that at all).  It is a literacy problem, not just a Biblical literacy problem. The other day I had the BCM students who came to the meeting read through the book of Philippians in one setting.  I have a feeling they have never had to do that, or even thought it was an option--to read a whole book of the Bible at one sitting, to see the natural flow of the argument, to not lift a verse or two out of context.  Reading, dissecting, and interpreting (and reading as I am talking about it is about interpretation and meaning-making) a long

The local Moody station has been playing an ad for a book about needing to "brand" oneself in this marketplace.  I find it odd that a conservative Christian station would make a big deal of that subject, but I have been mystified by the concept anyway.   I have been concerned by "branding" oneself; I even heard of a first-year-experience program that based on getting the students to "brand" themselves.  In fact, that's pretty repugnant when you think about it--telling 18-year-olds that they should be defining themselves in terms of the marketplace.  So, I thought, maybe I misunderstand the concept, so I did some research.  Here is a pretty good website on the subject.  As a writer, I have done a pretty horrible job of branding myself as a writer.  I just (foolishly) thought when I got started that one just wrote and people just read them, liked, and kept reading more books.  I see now I have no brand at all, no platform, and no persona.  I am t

There is a very short distance from denying religious viewpoints or speech in the public square to denying religious people access to the public square.

Ezelsbruggetje. I just learned this Dutch word which doesn't have an English translation.  It means something like, "A play on words to help you remember things." Something like a mnemonic device.  It came up in my LIFE GROUP (Sunday School class) from my Dutch friend when I said I used the phrase "General Electric Pepsi Cola" to remember the order of books Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians.  I am a word nerd. 

It is my habit to post my notes for Sunday School (Life groups?) lessons.  I am teaching tomorrow on this passage. This is one of four major Christological passages, which means 1.   John 1:1-5.   This one tells us the Christ is eternal, equal to God, and creator and life and guide to mankind.   a.   In the beginning—where else do we see that?   b.   Word here is the Greek word logos, meaning expression.   c.    Although the “trinity” or “tri-unity” of God is beyond full human thought, the Bible does invite us to understand and appreciate it through such passages.   The Son of God is distinct from God the Father but not a “separate” God.   God was not diminished while Christ was on earth, not “separated” or “split.” 2.   Colossians 1:15-20.   This passage points to the fact that the Son of God is creator and sustainer of the physical world, that He is the eternal expression of God, and reconciler. a.      firstborn is not a title of time, but of

We used to say "Is the Pope Catholic?" as a sarcastic response to an obvious question.  With this pope, it's a real query.  Is this guy Catholic?  He has some unusual ideas . . . Our College had a common reader experience this year around a book about happiness.  I will not get specific.  I read the first chapter of it last night and thought, "White people's problems."  Or as some people call it, first world problems. But it has got me thinking about how we throw around words without common understandings. Happiness.  Balance.  Meaning. The book on happiness seems to have no reference to spiritual sources of happiness or contentment, so I don't think I will pursue it.  It seems to be an "I did this each month for a year" kind of approach.  Whatever.  Happiness comes from gratitude and acceptance. Balance.  Well, balance between what?  Can two unequal things be balanced?  What people mean when they talk about balance is that the

This is my first blog post in almost two weeks.  I started a new job on January 5, one that requires my attention to some extent 50 hours a week right now as I am getting used to it.  I am an interim assistant vice president for academic affairs at my institution.  So far I am enjoying the job immensely, but it does affect my blogging.  One, I don't have time; two, I don't have time to come up with ideas that would be appropriate; and three, in this position I feel a responsibility to measure my words much more than I normally would.  Teachers can be provocative; administrators not so much. But I do want to exercise my freedom of speech, which is subject of this blog.  Breakpoint has a good essay on the Je suis Charlie trope here . I am all for free speech and press, but as they point out, we don't have to defend what people say just because we defend their right to say (or write, or in this case, draw) it.  If most Americans were to actually know what the Charlie Hebdo m

I'm going to start a new category, sharing links to good stuff I see.  This is just funny, from a former student, now pastor in the Midwest. Daniel Jepsen's blog