As many of my faithful readers are aware, since my retirement, I have now published two novels and am currently writing the third one. At the risk of sounding arrogant, multiple readers have included the phrase “a real page turner” in their reviews of each work. Of course, in regard to works of fiction, being referred to as “a real page turner” is a considerable compliment.
But the reading of books is not the only time in life where turning the page is necessitated to advance one’s story. “Turning the page” applies to so much more. There are times when one must move on from prior activities and previous approaches. This is especially when true such undertakings detract from one’s ability to seek other, equally noble, if not grander endeavors. As D. L. Moody once said: “I’d rather say this one thing I do than these forty things I dabble with!”
That being said, this week marks the fifteenth year of my regular blogging here on my website. In the intervening years, I have attempted to faithfully post blogs an average of two or more times a week. Some of these have been halfway decent- even thought-provoking. Others, by my own admission, have been sorely lacking in that regard.
Of course, whatever the quality of the contents of the nearly 1575 blogs written and posted here over the last decade and a half, I am thankful for all of my faithful readers. Over the years, your engagement and feedback, for the most part overwhelmingly positive, has been very encouraging.
Nonetheless, writing blogs, like all endeavors in life, is an undertaking which serves a purpose until it no longer does. It was Stephen Covey who once famously said:
“You have to decide what your highest priorities are and have the courage—pleasantly, smilingly, nonapologetically, to say ‘no’ to other things. And the way you do that is by having a bigger ‘yes’ burning inside. The enemy of the ‘best’ is often the ‘good’.”
As my regular readers hopefully know by now, the bigger “yes” burning inside me is my calling to write novels. While I may never write a best-seller, the novels I have already written along with the ones I plan to write will always be seen as stories that are imbued with Godly values and scriptural perspectives. Hopefully, this will give me an ongoing if slightly nontraditional pulpit in which to champion just such principles.
After all, as bad as I hate to admit it, statistics seem to indicate that we live in a day where far more unchurched people in the modern world are likely to read a novel and/or to see the movie based upon it than they are to darken the doors of a local church.
Given this, please pray for me as I now move to devote my creative energies to writing novels rather than writing blogs. To be sure, both are important venues for communicating truth. But I have come to realize that, as a writer, I only have so much talent and so much time.
Therefore, since the bigger “yes” currently burning within me is the passion to write novels, I will henceforth be devoting the bulk of my creative energies to that process. Given that I believe this passion is from the Lord; I trust that He will use that effort in His time, for His purposes, and to His glory.
Please pray for me as I now turn this page in my life. It is at once both frightening and exhilarating. If you are unfamiliar with my novel writing endeavors, please visit my other website at: www.cleojackson.org. Here, you can find out about my previously published works, what I am currently writing, and also what all I have planned.
Thank you for your faithfulness in reading my ongoing thoughts here on this website. In the future, I may even continue to post an occasional blog on this site. But to be true to my calling, most of my future thoughts will be found on my writer’s website. There, I plan to post blogs related to my calling as a writer, along with such topics as motivation, inspiration, sources, processes, and publishing concerns, etc.
In the meantime, I plan to leave this website up and running. As a result, the tremendous catalog of blog posts will continue to be available for searching and/or perusal. Down through the years, many a pastor, teacher, and/or author has told me that they made use of my blogs as illustrations in sermons, lesson plans, articles, and books.
Lastly, the Good Lord willing, it is my intention to issue one or more books comprised of the hundreds of blog posts available on this site. One work is a book of 365 daily devotions titled App-2-Go: Daily Applications from the Word of God. Another work in the making is titled Begged, Borrowed, and Stolen, and consists of a topical collection of illustrations for preachers, teachers, and writers organized alphabetically.
But the reading of books is not the only time in life where turning the page is necessitated to advance one’s story. “Turning the page” applies to so much more. There are times when one must move on from prior activities and previous approaches. This is especially when true such undertakings detract from one’s ability to seek other, equally noble, if not grander endeavors. As D. L. Moody once said: “I’d rather say this one thing I do than these forty things I dabble with!”
That being said, this week marks the fifteenth year of my regular blogging here on my website. In the intervening years, I have attempted to faithfully post blogs an average of two or more times a week. Some of these have been halfway decent- even thought-provoking. Others, by my own admission, have been sorely lacking in that regard.
Of course, whatever the quality of the contents of the nearly 1575 blogs written and posted here over the last decade and a half, I am thankful for all of my faithful readers. Over the years, your engagement and feedback, for the most part overwhelmingly positive, has been very encouraging.
Nonetheless, writing blogs, like all endeavors in life, is an undertaking which serves a purpose until it no longer does. It was Stephen Covey who once famously said:
“You have to decide what your highest priorities are and have the courage—pleasantly, smilingly, nonapologetically, to say ‘no’ to other things. And the way you do that is by having a bigger ‘yes’ burning inside. The enemy of the ‘best’ is often the ‘good’.”
As my regular readers hopefully know by now, the bigger “yes” burning inside me is my calling to write novels. While I may never write a best-seller, the novels I have already written along with the ones I plan to write will always be seen as stories that are imbued with Godly values and scriptural perspectives. Hopefully, this will give me an ongoing if slightly nontraditional pulpit in which to champion just such principles.
After all, as bad as I hate to admit it, statistics seem to indicate that we live in a day where far more unchurched people in the modern world are likely to read a novel and/or to see the movie based upon it than they are to darken the doors of a local church.
Given this, please pray for me as I now move to devote my creative energies to writing novels rather than writing blogs. To be sure, both are important venues for communicating truth. But I have come to realize that, as a writer, I only have so much talent and so much time.
Therefore, since the bigger “yes” currently burning within me is the passion to write novels, I will henceforth be devoting the bulk of my creative energies to that process. Given that I believe this passion is from the Lord; I trust that He will use that effort in His time, for His purposes, and to His glory.
Please pray for me as I now turn this page in my life. It is at once both frightening and exhilarating. If you are unfamiliar with my novel writing endeavors, please visit my other website at: www.cleojackson.org. Here, you can find out about my previously published works, what I am currently writing, and also what all I have planned.
Thank you for your faithfulness in reading my ongoing thoughts here on this website. In the future, I may even continue to post an occasional blog on this site. But to be true to my calling, most of my future thoughts will be found on my writer’s website. There, I plan to post blogs related to my calling as a writer, along with such topics as motivation, inspiration, sources, processes, and publishing concerns, etc.
In the meantime, I plan to leave this website up and running. As a result, the tremendous catalog of blog posts will continue to be available for searching and/or perusal. Down through the years, many a pastor, teacher, and/or author has told me that they made use of my blogs as illustrations in sermons, lesson plans, articles, and books.
Lastly, the Good Lord willing, it is my intention to issue one or more books comprised of the hundreds of blog posts available on this site. One work is a book of 365 daily devotions titled App-2-Go: Daily Applications from the Word of God. Another work in the making is titled Begged, Borrowed, and Stolen, and consists of a topical collection of illustrations for preachers, teachers, and writers organized alphabetically.
Blessings!
CEJ
CEJ