FaithWriters January 2014 "News & Information for the Write Brained Christian" Today's Devotional and the Newest Member E-books.
Happy New Year! |
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New Year Resolutions
Christ in Us
I used to jump on the band wagon with all of the New Year resolution stuff, and like many I failed at a lot of them. There are many things folks attempt each year, like; to lose weight, quit smoking or complete a project to name a few. I would do okay for a month or maybe two and then other things became of greater importance to me and my resolution sort of fizzled out like a dud firecracker. But now I have only one resolution, and it's the same every year; to allow Christ to be more fully formed in me.
What is a New Years Resolution? Is it an annual reminder of those things that we would like to do but never really get around to doing? Perhaps it is merely a self improvement opportunity. It seems that a lot of folks attempt, at the beginning of each new year, to change something about their lives or themselves that they are not happy with. If you are like many you may tend to lose interest in your resolution after a month or so, or you just can't find enough motivation to give the decision impetus.
A resolution is by definition; "a course of action determined or decided upon", or "the state of being resolute".
As followers of Christ we must many times (most times daily) renew our decision to die to ourselves that we may live in and for Christ, following the leadership of the Holy Spirit. Even the Apostle Paul found it necessary to "...Die Daily..." (kill self will) so that Christ could be better formed in him.
Here is another definition used in photography for the word; resolution: "The fineness of detail that can be distinguished in an image".
The Bible tells us that as Christians we are predestined by God to be conformed to the "image" of Jesus Christ, the Son.
"For whom he did foreknow, he also predestinated to be conformed to the image of his Son..." Romans 8:29
Back in Genesis, mankind was created in the image of God, yet that image was marred by sin, the "fineness of detail" was lost. As the redeemed in Christ, we now have the opportunity for that image of God to be restored in us! Placing our faith in Jesus Christ for our salvation justifies us in God's sight. But that is only the first of three phases of salvation. We are now being sanctified or growing to be holy, becoming like Christ.
The final phase of our Salvation; the redemption of our bodies, shall take place when Christ returns. We shall receive a new spiritual body like His, and our Sanctification will be complete. What an encouraging truth this is!
How fine tuned is the image of Christ in us? Can others see Christ in every detail of our lives? As we look to our hearts, do we see a picture with great resolution of the Son of God?
The beginning of a new year is a good time to reflect on how well the image of Jesus was portrayed in our lives over the past year. It is also a good time to renew our resolve to allow the Holy Spirit and God's Word to form Christ more fully in us, throughout the coming year.
One day the image of Jesus will be perfected in us "with fineness of detail" when we shall be "Raised incorruptible". (Read 1 Cor. 15:51-58)
Until then, let's joyfully continue to renew our resolve to walk in the Spirit, in close communication with God that His image may shine forth, reflecting His light and love to the world around us. May our resolve be strong.
Sheldon is a Christian minister who writes to edify Christians and glorify God. He's is also an inspirational speaker, Bible teacher and serves as a mentor to homeless men, teaching vocational classes for ex-convicts. |
| | $250 in Prizes to Be Awarded to Readers in the Free Reads for Reviews Program * All members are eligible to participate.
You read books, right? Make your next read a newly released Christian book that you can read for FREE! If you haven't yet checked out our " Free Reads for Reviews" program, you don't know what you're missing! There are over thirty great books currently in this program. View the list now. http://ebooks.faithwriters.com/readsforreviewscurrentbooks.php
*Rewarding members who participate in this program. Starting January 1st and ending at midnight June 30th
First Place: The member who reads and reviews the most books in the six month period will win $150.00.
Second Place: There will be a drawing of names from the balance of members who submitted reviews. The selected name will win $100. Each review you complete will enter your name into the drawing one time. Reading and reviewing more books in the Free Reads for Reviews program increases your chances. There is no limit to the number of times your name can be entered.
IMPORTANT: With each book you read and review simply send an email with the book title, copy of the review and location of the review (url of the page) to freereadscontest@faithwriters.com. You will receive an auto-reply of receipt.
Reviews do not need to be lengthy but should be a reasonable review, not one or two lines. If the book is on Amazon, the preferred place for the review is on Amazon. A positive review is not required but an honest one is. You do not need to purchase the book on Amazon to review it there. If you have purchased anything on Amazon before and have an account they will allow you to write a review.
Make a commitment like Mike and Bea have done to read books in this program occasionally. You will not be disappointed. Plus, you are sowing good seeds for when your book need reviews while you help and encourage fellow writers. |
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The 2014 Page Turner Contest is now open!
Calling all non-fiction writers! The eighth annual Page Turner Contest is now open for submissions! All that’s required is the first chapter of your completed or just-started non-fiction manuscript, along with a synopsis of the entire book. This could be just what you need to spur you on to fulfilling that dream of being a publishing author! You have plenty of time to enter, but now is a great time to start brainstorming, plotting, and outlining. Deadline is October 31st, 2014. Winners will be announced in December.
First Prize: $800 cash, editing of your entire manuscript, and more! For complete guidelines, visit the official contest page: PAGE TURNER |
| | | FaithWriters News
Three Publishing Contracts to be Awarded
We are in the process of working out an agreement with a large Christian publisher who will be awarding up to three comprehensive publishing packages for FaithWriters members this year. These will be in addition to all other contests. Keep your eyes open for more details. Upgrade your membership to be eligible to participate and win.
Testimony Book
The Testimony book will be released any day now. As soon as it is available, we will send the authors an email, along with an e-version of the book and instructions on how you can obtain print copies.The page for the Testimony book is up: http://faithwriters.com/testimonies.php. We have added a banner on the top of the site and we will be advertising it heavily on the site upon release.
We are asking all authors to:
1. Prepare your profile page. This page is linked to the Testimony book page (link in above paragraph). Your profile should contain a nice description and photo of yourself, as well as any websites or blogs to which readers can connect. We decided we could not print everyone's individual links in the book, so to track things, readers are pointed to the Testimony page, where your name is easy to locate. Your profile will then take them where you want them to go. So make sure you have your preferred links listed!
2. Begin to prepare your blog and Facebook posts for the book. Make sure to add a link to http://faithwriters.com/testimonies.php . If every author posts their article at least three times, we will have 120 posts pointing to the book. The more, the better!
3. Read the book when it comes out and post a review on Amazon.
4. Pray that God uses the book for His glory, and that many come to a saving knowledge of Christ.
FaithWriters 2014 Conference
Chicago, Chicago, that toddlin' town, Chicago, Chicago, I will show you around, I love it. Bet your bottom dollar you'll lose the blues in Chicago, Chicago ... (Frank Sinatra,- Chicago lyrics.)
This year's conference is tentatively set for July 31st through August 2nd at the Chicago O'hare airport Hilton. No rental car needed, just fly in, and you are there. To see the downtown sites you can take the short train ride from the airport. Plus, many members are within driving distance, and flights are fairly reasonable from most of the country. This is a very nice hotel with plenty of amenities. And a wonderful bonus... the normal $199 room rate looks like it will be $99 for the conference!
We cannot provide many details yet but based on previous conferences, we know it will be a great experience filled with learning, workshops, and fellowship. There is nothing quite like meeting other Christian writers in person, especially those you have connected with already online. Kinda of like a family reunion. For now we need to calculate the interest level so we can plan accordingly. If you think you might be interested, please let us know by sending an email to fwconference@faithwriters.com. We will not be responding to these until we have more information. We are simply trying to gauge interest.
We truly hope you can make it!
Become a Published Devotional Writer!
We are looking for devotions for the FaithWriters Great Multitude Daily Devotional. We would love to hear from members who have never submitted and members who have not submitted in some time. Our daily devotional is published on thousands of websites around the world, plus it goes to about 12,000 email addresses and 4,500 by Twitter. Writers often get feedback from readers. Here is a message member Lillian Rhoades recently received on one of her devotionals.
" Hi, thank you so much for this timely message. A friend and I were discussing this just last week and she pulled out the verse you quoted about the armor of God. Then I read this devotion. All I can say is that God knew what I needed to be encouraged. Blessings! Shelly"
Go HERE to learn more and submit a devotional.
Challenge Book Release
Lightning Source is the title of the next book to be released containing top Challenge entries. Deb Porter of Breath of Fresh Air Press has contacted you already if you are included in this book. Deb handles the publication of these books and has now given me a firm release date of the end of March. With Deb handling the publication, we are looking forward to a book that will be a step above past FaithWriters books. We are very excited for this release. |
| | | Become the Writer You are Called to Be Make a Commitment to the Challenge
Many of us believe strongly that God has called us to write. The problem is that most of us struggle when it comes to writing for public consumption. We may have a great message for a book, but we lack confidence and/or knowledge in how to create a piece of material that will captivate the reader and get our message across. So we either never end up achieving our calling, or we release a less than excellent finished product
We could be compared to the guy who wanted to climb to the peak of the mountain, but failed to prepare. He just drove to the mountain and started climbing, with no training, supplies or proper equipment. Do you think that man would make it to the top? If so, how long do you think it would take? And how many obstacles and pitfalls would be encounter along the way?
The truth is, being a successful writer requires commitment and preparation. FaithWriters cannot help you make it to the top of your mountain, but with the tools we offer, we can help prepare you for the climb. One of the best tools we offer is the Weekly Writing Challenge.We urge you to make it a point to enter the Challenge on a regular basis in 2014. We guarantee that if you make the commitment, your writing will improve and you will make great strides toward being the writer you are called to be.
"I got involved in the weekly challenges and thoroughly enjoyed writing down "my little Africa stories" as I call them and submitting them to FaithWriters. It was very encouraging when I consistently placed close to the top of the challenge, sometimes getting first place and Editor's Choice. With my new-found writing confidence from FaithWriters, I submitted one such story to Xulon Press's July 2013 Writing Contest.To my complete surprise, I won first place, receiving a book publishing contract free. Between July 1 to October 10, I went from writing 750 word stories for FaithWriters to holding my very own book in my hand! I have never even considered writing a book. The title is Kindergarten Lessons I Learned in Africa. But the real lesson was what I learned from FaithWriters - keep doing your best, submitting your works to God (and FaithWriters), and watch what happens. Thank you for this wonderful web site. Blessings, Claudia Thomason"
We have reopened the Challenge one day early for 2014. Topic 1 – Day’s End
Begins January 1/Ends January 9 with Winners Announced January 16. Learn more about the Challenge and enter HERE. |
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Don't Skimp on the Editing Hire a FaithWriters Approved Editor Today!
Joanne Sher is one of several editors offering editing services.
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| | | The Great Multitude Daily Bible Devotional for January 1st.
What Gifts Shall You Give? By Karen Pourbabaee
“…they fell down and worshipped Him; and opening their treasures they presented to Him gifts…” Mathew 2:11
We have celebrated His coming. Now’s the time for contemplation of His coming. Long ago, wise men from the East traveled far just to behold Him and kneel in adoration of this historic arrival wrapped in swaddling clothes. They did not merely worship in their hearts, but worshipped WITH their hearts by presenting the Christ Child with gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. They offered something to show their adoration, friendship, and affection of this new babe-king---gifts of the heart!
A gift defined is something given to show friendship and affection. Gifts have surrounded us this season, both given and received. The Church commemorates finding of the Christ Child by three wise men after Christmas, a wonderful time to reflect upon offering our own gifts to the Lord .
Walking afresh into a new year, let’s spread gifts of the heart, leaving the fragrance of Christ in our pathways, like incense rising unto heaven. The Lord will know we have been about His work: Tending His sheep. Loving with His love. Spreading His joy. Offering His peace.
There are so many gifts to offer, for you are indeed rich in Him. Make the most of your days. Serve Christ by serving others. Give away the natural talents God created in you. Offer your treasures. Send up incense unto heaven. Not to an innocent babe but to the now reigning King. Your King.
What shall you give this year to show your friendship and affection to Jesus?
Karen has been a FaithWriters member since 2009. She has published award-winning short stories and devotionals in various venues. Contact |
| | Fishers of Men
FaithWriters
is unique in it's dual purpose: We are writers and evangelists. On
FaithWriters, you'll find fiction, non-fiction, poems, devotionals,
Bible studies and other articles written from a Christian perspective.
Content you would not find on a site that is strictly evangelistic in
nature. With so much variety, we receive many visitors who might not go
to a traditional evangelism site. Many may not even be looking for
Jesus. But Jesus still meets them when they visit. In our experience,
God tends to find people where they are at in their life. This may be
while they are reading your article about marriage or divorce. It might
happen when they read about struggles with sin or your fictional story.
What we are saying is to keep on submitting your various pieces that
could only be authored by you.
Men
and women from over 220 countries are attracted to the FaithWriters
site by the various articles on the end of our fishing pole. Many have
no other way than the internet to find out about Jesus. They are able to
learn a lot from our site and the sister sites we have provided links
to.
To date, at least 419 people have accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior directly on our FaithWriters. Plus we refer many people to other sites to help
answer their questions and accommodate their language. We know it is not
about just about numbers. We also know that accepting Jesus in their heart and confessing Him is where it starts. It is honor to consider the fact that God would use us in this way.
We
contact every person who leaves an email address, and provide them with
more information. Sometimes we correspond with them several times. We
even offer to place them in contact with another believer (FaithWriters
member) in their country.
First consider how much time people, especially kids spend on the internet these days. Watch this two minute video on how Kimberly found God on the internet.
Here are two of many emails we received this month.
1) Yes I Prayed and Rededicated My Life to Jesus.
My name is Ali Challenger my life has been full of evil torment by spirits. That don't want progress for me I am a father of twin boys Ajahli and Tuali Challenger please help and pray for my deliverance.
2) Yes I Prayed and Rededicated My Life to Jesus. I was troubled by the parable of the sower, thanks to your site I have found peace of mind! Thank you I feel as though God is helping me thru my daily walk of faith and life. I read The Parable of the Sower article. Chuy
Thank You FaithWriters
Mike & Bea |
| | | Upgrade and Support FaithWriters (Gold is only .20 a day)
At
FaithWriters we want to help you grow as a writer as we work together
to
spread the gospel. We really appreciate all of our members. However, the
vast majority are free Silver members. Like any business, we have
expenses, website overhead, employees and other items. Please consider
helping FaithWriters by UPGRADING to Platinum or UPGRADING to Gold. We promise to do all we can to give you a lot more than it costs. Another
way you can also help is by purchasing products through our Amazon
links. They are found at the top of most site pages and are entitled Shop, Save, Support. We thank you for your support. -- Mike & Bea and the FaithWriters staff |
| | | | Great Reads is a New Feature
We are Committed to Promoting Your Writing
This newsletter Goes to thousands of members. |
| | | | | | Books Added to the RevelationBooks.org in the last month.
Biblical studies
Reclaiming the Land: God's Formula for Revival
Rusty Kuhn
Your Price: $4.95
In Reclaiming the Land, Pastor Rusty Kuhn has clearly outlined God’s formula for revival that God has given in II Chronicles 7:14. Reclaiming the Land unfolds the biblical principle that if you plan and promote your agenda, bestowing glory and honor upon yourself rather than Jesus, the hand of God’s blessings will not fall. However, as demonstrated in this book through the principles of God’s Word, if we choose to pursue God’s way for His glory, His promise will be kept: “Then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”
from Amazon.com!
Jesus in Sheol
Gabor Kover
Your Price: $9.00
The basic version of the book is a bachelor's thesis written in the 1990's. Since then, the text of this book has been taught in more than 30 Christian churches and in Bible schools. This teaching about the suffering and resurrection of Jesus Christ has been a great success everywhere!
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Devotionals
Christmas Devotions
Edmond Ng
Your Price: $2.90
Christmas devotions covering:
1. Countdown to Christmas
2. Beyond Christmas Greeting Cards
3. Demystifying the Claus of Christmas
4. Home Coming
5. Lights Shining Bright
6. Gifts of Blessings
7. Cooking and Feasting
8. Tree of Life
Each devotion includes teaching, application and closing
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Non-Fiction
Finding God in a storm
Maggi Ogunshuyi
Your Price: $5.00
Finding God in a Storm is a devotional illustrated book written for Readers who are experiencing loss, worry and anxiety, bereavement, job loss, illness, depression, emotional pain and heartache or approaching a crossroads in their lives.
The book is a collection of biblical scriptures and images supported by words of encouragement and inspiration. It is meant to be read as a reflective personal study that encourages the reader to look beyond their circumstances and seek the heart and wisdom of God using scripture and images. The book does not claim to hold any answers as to why we go through our various trials and tribulations. Instead the Author takes the reader through a spiritual journey of contemplation through thought provoking encouraging Scripture and images.
from Amazon.com!
A Summons for Champion Strength, The Legacy of an Unsung Bible Hero
Stephanie Sinclair
Your Price: $3.99
It’s Time to Shake Off the Dust! If you thought your life was over at the moment of rejection, think again. As depicted in Judges 11, Jephthah’s obscure entrance into the world led him to become a champion. S.R. Sinclair welcomes you to discover how you can rise above adversity by choosing to live.
from Amazon.com!
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Poetry
Marcia: Eyes To The Soul
Marcia Harvey
Your Price: $9.99
MooreLove Ministries presents…Marcia: Eyes to the Soul. This is the second book of a three part series. Eyes to the Soul is a compilation of poems from Marcia’s young adult life. It is about a journey of further exploration, growing up, finding love, losing love, self-awareness, and discovering a RE
from Amazon.com!
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Free Reads For Reviews
Surviving the Predatory Lies of Anorexia
Abby Kelly
Your Price: $6.99
A raw and passionate story of one women’s battle overcoming Anorexia.
from Amazon.com!
Available in more formats from:
Smashwords.com
No More Whacky Worship (God's Revival Series, #1)
Omaudi Reid
Your Price: $3.99
No More Whacky Worship is a no nonsense admonition of current and prevalent behavior among many named Christians – behavior that nullifies our claim to true worship. The book addresses how to identify and overcome personal and corporate practices that disqualify us from true worship.
from Amazon.com!
Available in more formats from:
Smashwords.com
Tie My Shoe
Shann Hall-LochmannVanBennekom
Your Price: $2.99
Tie My Shoe is a whimsical look at a day in the life of a kindergarten class. Rhymes and colorful illustrations make it an ideal book for children ages three to six. The ABC format will help kids learn each letter of the alphabet. As parents read the repetitive verse aloud, the child will soon be ab
from Amazon.com!
A Summons for Champion Strength, The Legacy of an Unsung Bible Hero
Stephanie Sinclair
Your Price: $3.99
It’s Time to Shake Off the Dust! If you thought your life was over at the moment of rejection, think again. As depicted in Judges 11, Jephthah’s obscure entrance into the world led him to become a champion. S.R. Sinclair welcomes you to discover how you can rise above adversity by choosing to live.
from Amazon.com!
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