| FaithWriters - July 2019
News & Information for the Write Brained Christian"
Growing Christian Writers and Spreading the Gospel in over 230 Countries Best of the Best 2019
Devotional & Newest Member E-books Included |
| | | We can learn and improve our own writing by reading the winners.
While you are there, sow some good seed by leaving a comment.
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The Challenge WILL Improve Your Writing!
NEVER MISS THAT PERFECT CHALLENGE TOPIC AGAIN. GO HERE and sign up in the right hand column for a weekly topic email. |
| | The Challenge Will Improve Your Writing Dramatically! Our 2nd Place Best of Best Winner 2019 Allison Egley
Previous Challenge Entry (Level 4 – Masters)
Topic: Vanity (11/15/18)
TITLE: Strength and Dignity
By Allison Egley
Esther’s hand ran down her simple, pleated dress. Everything must be perfect, or she would be reprimanded by the elders. “How we dress and how we act are reflections on how we view God,” the elders always said. And so, the only acceptable standard was perfection. Organized and orderly.
She walked to the compound’s school, ready for another day of lessons. Esther wasn’t sure “lessons” was the right word, even. Lesson indicated learning. Interaction. Discussion. No, “lectures” was the better word, because there was no room for discussion. The only acceptable answers in school were all just a few words long. “Yes, sir.” “I understand.” “It is God’s will.” And answers longer than that were written on the board, so there was no room for deviation. She settled in to her desk. Feet on the floor. Pencil in hand. Sit up straight. Eyes on the elders.
“What,” Elder Nahum began, “does ‘vanity’ mean? Let’s all read it together.”
On cue, Esther and the other girls in her class started to read, in a unified, monotone voice. “Vanity is excessive pride in one’s appearance.”
“That’s right,” Elder Nahum continued. “And vanity is not something that should be in our lives, as members of The Holy Anointed. That is why we always dress modestly and make sure we are presenting ourselves properly to God. Because....”
“How we dress and how we act are reflections on how we view God,” the girls recited.
“Correct. That’s why we don’t go dressing like those in the outside world, and we don’t go gallivanting around, doing whatever we may please.”
Esther shifted in her seat, uneasy. She had a thought – a bit of a revelation, if you will, which was unusual. After so many years of being told what to do, what to say, how to act, and reciting the rules of The Holy Anointed, it was almost rare for her to have in independent thought. But... she had to know. Hesitantly, she raised her hand.
Elder Nahum raised his eyebrows. “Miss Esther? Do you have something to say that will benefit us? Has God given you a word?”
The other girls chuckled nervously. They all knew that God only gave words to the elders, and, on occasion, to the boys who were finishing their schooling, to see if they were fit to be the next elders. But girls? Girls never received a word from God.
“I... I have a question?” Before she lost her nerve, Esther pushed on. “Isn’t it vanity to think that the way we dress is the only way to dress? Isn’t that claiming we are better than others, and having pride in our appearance?” Esther braced for the hand across her face she knew was likely coming, but what happened next was worse.
Allison has been one of our favorite members on FaithWriters for years. Continue reading this article and leave her a message HERE. |
| | Please Change Your FaithWriters Password
6-26-19 - We have just learned that data was taken from FaithWriters in 2018. We suspect it was a vendor who was doing some work for us. We do not hold any credit card or financial information, so that is not at risk.
The information would be names and email addresses at worst case. Passwords are encrypted so they are not readable. However, we are still asking members to be proactive and change their passwords on the site. Log in, and on the first page you come to, look in the center-left column, and click on update profile. You can view the total data we have on you there. You can also change your password. After you change it, it is encrypted so even we cannot read it. We recommend you change all of your passwords on a regular basis As we all know, many large financial institutions have been hacked and so has the US Government at times. Hackers have software that can automatically try an innumerable number of passwords to access accounts.
If we are going to be online, we need to protect ourselves. It only takes a few minutes to change your most important passwords. Always use different passwords for each place you log in and keep them in a safe place. A great way to remember a password is with a sentence. For example, I am a 35 year old Christian writer. Using the first letter in each word plus the numerals and the period, the password is: Iaa35yoCw. Make up a sentence with your pets or kids names, or whatever sentence you can remember. Make sure to include a numeral or two, upper and lower case and a symbol like the example shows. Here are a couple more: 1) I live at 4533 Canyon, Wonderful, AZ. The password ends up being: Ila4533C,W,AZ. 2) I graduated from Alhambra high school in 1977. The password ends up being: IgfAhsi1977.
The world's system is placing all of their faith in the internet, even when they can see how vunerable it is. Thankfully, we know the only place where our faith belongs.
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Support Fellow Christian Authors - Free Reads for Reviews
Read Great Christian Books for Free in Exchange for a Review
Many already have multiple five-star reviews on Amazon.
These are all free to read for you while others pay full price on Amazon. Plus you receive the bonus of helping a fellow believer and FaithWriters member. It takes reviews to sell books these days, and other members appreciate your help.
This Months Featured Free Read for Review
When God Says Drop It: Chronicles of my Healing
Donna Martelli
Strange and seemingly unrelated symptoms continued to plague me. My PCP told me that there was nothing more that she could do. She refused to see me anymore for these same symptoms, although nothing that she had come up with had helped in any way. Her final conclusion was that it must be stress!
Learn how to get todays book for free HERE.
We have some great books for you to read for free!
There are several member books you can read for free in exchange for a review. Many already have multiple five-star reviews. One book is running just below five stars with over 200 reviews online, and it is listed in the top ten books of its two categories on Amazon. Another with over 40 reviews is running close to five stars and was honored as the book of the year by a major theological website. Another has over 30 reviews and is running almost five stars. Read one of these or one that has just joined the program and desperately needs reviews.
Go HERE to find other great books to read for FREE for a REVIEW.
Hurry and choose one while they are still free to read! The authors can take their books out of this program at any moment.
Have you written a book and need reviews? Learn about submitting your book to this program HERE. |
| | Platinum Member Books
Now Appear in Over 100 Site Ads
Promote your Christian book on FaithWriters, and you will help support our mission to grow Christian writers and spread the gospel in over 230 countries online. You will not find more exposure for your Christian book anywhere at this price.
Watch this short video HERE. |
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Devotionals submitted from members publish on thousands of websites worldwide!
Great Multitude Daily Bible Devotional Receive it by email or place it on your website HERE
Flirting with Fire – Ken Barnes
Moreover, he shall not multiply horses for himself, nor shall he cause the people to return to Egypt to multiply horses, since the Lord has said to you, ‘You shall never again return that way.’ He shall not multiply wives for himself, or else his heart will turn away; nor shall he greatly increase silver and gold for himself. (Deuteronomy 17:16-17 NASB)
God is a jealous God and man has always been enticed from God by riches, honor, and pleasure. Pursuing these things is like flirting with fire.
Moses was instructing the people about the king they would choose after they entered the Promised Land. In following Christ and putting our hands to the plowshare, there is always a temptation to look back to what we have left behind. The Kings of Egypt would arrive in a procession on many horses. Israel was not to copy the ways of the world. Jesus came into Jerusalem riding on a donkey. The King was not to pursue many wives or great wealth. I John 2: 16 tells us, “For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.” Beware of putting riches, honor, and pleasures before God.
The world has always been swayed by an inordinate desire for what we can have, or can do, or how we can satisfy the flesh. Solomon, the wisest man of his day, fell prey to multiplying wives and they turned his heart away from God. You can only serve one God, the God of heaven. Serving the gods of this world, like riches, honor, and pleasure is like flirting with fire. You will always get burnt.
Contact Ken and read more from him HERE.
Help us spread the good news of Jesus around the world. The FaithWriters devotional is on thousands of websites HERE , plus thousands go out by email and Twitter daily. They are also published about 90 days after FaithWriters on IDisciple HERE . Members are encouraged to submit an edited devotional for publication HERE. Submissions are a maximum of 300 words, helping you learn to write to topic and word count. You never know how your writing may inspire a brother or sister in Christ or impact a lost soul.
Watch this short video that will show you a few of the unique websites the devotional is currently on. Sites like the Kenmure Church of Scotland, Los Angeles Police Wives Association, Shields of Christ, Slavic Youth Fellowship, Go the Distance Radio Ministry, New Life Assembly, Holy Communion Lutheran Church, Metropolitan Baptist Church, ETBS South Africa, Westminster Presbyterian Church, Group Seven Technology , Nassau Tabernacle of Praise , Police Wives of America and Christian Hope Church U.K. |
| | Love getting comments and critiques on your articles? We all do.
We are asking all members to commit to being a blessing by commenting on at least one Challenge entry per day? It just takes a few minutes, and there are some great entries to read every week.
Be a blessing today by clicking the links below and leaving at least one comment.
We also encourage you to comment on regular articles now and then. Think of the encouragement we can be if many of us commented on one article per week or even per day! Just look at the newest 200 titles and choose a few that draw your attention.
Reading the work of others and critiquing them on a regular basis, helps us grow as writers. Both parties benefit.
You Are Just One Comment Away From Being and Receiving a Great Blessing.
A special thank you to all our members who do leave comments on a regular basis. You will reap what you have sown. |
| | Come Back to the Writing Challenge - We Miss You! We have relaxed the guidelines without losing site of God's purpose.
Important Change in the Writing Challenge Effective with April 4th Entries "I could write a fantasy piece with a lion and a witch and no mention of God, and yet be firmly Christian." C.S. Lewis
About a year ago, we made a change to the Challenge submission rules after some had expressed concerns about the direction of the entries. The concern was that the entries were gradually drifting further away from FaithWriters' mission to improve Christian writers and put out good Christian writing. We agreed and made the change that has been in effect for the last year. This made some happy, and some not so happy believing we were being too restrictive.
Recently, we have talked to several members who approached us with knowledge of the change. We discovered that it was not necessarily the submission guidelines that they viewed as an issue. Their concern was that the guideline that entries come from a Christian worldview was not always being upheld, especially for winning entries. All agreed, from both sides of this matter, that they want to put forth writing that honors God.
Therefore, after many discussions with members, we have decided to adjust the guidelines to more of a middle position based on these talks, while asking the judges to pay closer attention to this matter. We have asked the judges to keep in mind our desire to promote Christian authors and Christian writing. We believe it is important that especially those entries selected as winners in the Challenge should not only offer great writing, but also be from a Christian worldview. Our goal in doing this is to continue to produce great articles from a Christian worldview while encouraging more members to enter again. FaithWriters is obviously a Christian writers' website, and we trust that our members as a whole desire to honor God with their writing. In my opinion, members are writing for God and not FaithWriters.
The new submission guidelines are somewhere in the middle of where they were from the beginning of the Challenge and where they have been this last year. These new guidelines will commence in the second quarter of this year, starting April 4, 2019. We appreciate your support.
The guidelines will state:
Entries may be in any style or genre, and they do not need to be overtly Christian in message. However, they must, at minimum, come from a Christian worldview/outlook. The entry may be directed to readers in general, the Christian reader, or may be evangelistic in nature. Entries can also be simply clean, fun and humorous from a Christian point of view, Christian Soup for the Soul style, provided they fit the topic. In the case of fiction, the Christian worldview/outlook may be subtle or allegorical, but it should still offer a fairly clear Christian viewpoint. While it is not required, adding a scripture verse is always encouraged to clarify a message. Entries that are clearly outside of a Christian worldview will remain on the list, but will be not eligible for judging. Entries with offensive language or content, that are overly violent or sensual, and/or are deemed inappropriate for the Challenge and Christian readers, will be removed, even if these elements are used in the portrayal of a non-Christian character.
Go HERE for some guidance on a Christian worldview.
Thank you to all of those members who helped in this matter.
We are the body of Christ, not perfect in the flesh, but always loving each other and working together.
Blessings, Michael |
| | Do This Today!
Do You Always Keep a Copy of Your Articles? We STRONGLY recommend you do this today and occasionally in the future as you add more articles
We appreciated your patience when FaithWriters was down for over two days a few months ago, due to issues with our service provider. The issue we experienced makes this message of even more importance. We do not want you to lose your articles. Therefore, we have been pushing this for over a year and hope you have already taken advantage of it. You can download a copy of your articles in mass, with one click on the site.
We back up the site regularly but cannot give you a 100% guarantee of there safety. Things happen online as you know. Hackers are a big issue and some out there would like to take a Christian site down. If you log into the site and look in the middle left column of the My Account page under Update and Manage Your Profile/Account, you will see the following link on the website.
Click Here to Download a Copy of Your Articles in Mass
When you are logged into the site, click on that link on the website and a copy of your articles will be downloaded to your computer in a zip file. It will be fairly quick depending on your internet speed and number of articles. Save them to your computer or a thumb drive. While this should download all of your articles, sometimes a couple are missed for some unknown reason. Therefore, double check the downloaded articles by opening each one on your computer. If an important one is missed, you will need to manually copy it to your records from the site. Then going forward, make sure to keep a copy of each new article you post.
Make sure to do this today to protect your writing. Log in HERE. |
| | Another Great Way to Improve The Critique CircleFellow Members Need Your Help.
Providing comments and critiques for fellow members is of great encouragement to them. It is also the perfect way to improve your writing skill.
Tips on Giving Critiques
Critiquing the work of others requires balance. Being too nice will not help your fellow writers develop their work; being too harsh can crush a writer’s ego (particularly new writers, who tend to be shy about sharing their work). How can you achieve the right balance? Here are some tips:
Take care to point out both what works, and what doesn’t. If you’re new to critiquing, a good hint would be to point out one thing you like (a phrase, a description, an idea) for each thing that bothered you.
Whenever possible, be specific when pointing out things that you didn’t like (don’t just say “I didn’t like this part” or “I’d cut that,” say “I didn’t like this part because…” or “I’d cut that because…”).
Try to offer suggestions when you think a change is needed. Suggestions, even to the point of an offered rewording, can be very helpful; even if the suggestion isn’t exactly right for the author to use, he or she may get a good idea from it, or at least a better understanding of the point you are trying to make.
Be honest and direct, but in a polite and caring way. Holding back your feelings about a piece because you’re afraid to share your thoughts isn’t going to help anyone. Just be mindful of how you share your opinions!
We Also Need Your Article to Critique!
Members and paid editors provide the critiques in the circle. You can even submit your judged Challenge entries to the circle.
"I have a few, very few, trusted friends who will edit me with a scowl. Most people want you to feel good so they give you compliments about your writing, and these don’t help at all (except emotionally). Really, you need some grouches to edit your work." Philip Yancey in a FaithWriters interview.
This is a real chance to help others and receive some very constructive and private critiques of your writing.
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| | | Article Comment Emails Not Getting to Your Gmail?
In the past, some members have had issues receiving notification emails when their Challenge or other articles receive a comment. We just did a test of the system and placed a Gmail test address in my profile. I then posted a comment
on one of my articles. I also did this test on a Challenge article for a member who said she was not getting the emails. In both tests, the email notification of the comment did come through to the Gmail address, but in both cases it went to the junk file in Gmail. So, FaithWriters automatic email system
is working to Gmail but may be going to your junk.
If you have not been receiving notifications of comments on your articles, post a test comment on one of your own articles and then check the junk tab on your Gmail. Be aware, my junk tab in Gmail showed there were no junk emails until I clicked on it and found the comment notification email from FaithWriters in there. If you find any emails from FaithWriters in your junk, move them to your inbox and hopefully next
time they will not go to junk. Make sure to check your junk on a regular basis and click on the other tabs just to check. Each time move them to your inbox. There is also a tab titled "view all email" that should be checked. Sometimes Gmail divides email up into different tabs, so check all the tabs once in awhile just in case. This is something you should check if you have Hotmail or others too. |
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Support FaithWriters Spread of the Gospel
Fishers of Men in Over 230 Countries Together We Spread the Gospel on The Net
There is only one unforgivable sin, the sin of unbelief. Those who believe will trust God and are led to the safety of Jesus. Those who do not believe will be like those who did not enter the Ark and were lost.
The enemy is alive and rampant online with a word of unbelief. A message of hate for Christianity and Jesus. A message that is leading countless children to embrace unbelief. (Free book HERE you can review with your kids on the objective evidence for Christianity.)The number of atheist sites and organizations posting online is increasing rapidly. If you go no further in this message, at least go HERE and see for yourself the growing number of purveyors of unbelief online. Here is a short video we would like you to watch also.
Not all of us can go around the world as missionaries in person, but we can reach the world online. We can even reach many places missionaries cannot go in person. The world needs sites like FaithWriters, prepared Christian authors and as many Christian articles and books that point to Jesus as possible. The web especially needs your Bible studies, apologetic articles, calls to salvation, nonfiction and fiction articles and books leading people to Jesus. Together we attract lost people from all over the world who need Jesus along with believers who need their minds renewed and encouraged. God has given us a great opportunity to reach many people who may have never heard of Jesus. The image above marks the location of our visitors.
Numerous people from around the world have accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior directly through FaithWriters. 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. Consider how much time people --- especially kids --- spend on the internet these days. Watch this two-minute video from Kimberly on how she found God on the internet
A few unedited emails from people who have accepted Jesus on the site.
1) This first one was from a person who hacked FaithWriters a few years ago. We feared the entire site might be lost. We prayed for our hackers and posted articles letting them know that their salvation was more important than the website. The shutdown of the site stopped and we received this message through our evangelism page. I am certain is was our hacker.
Type of prayer : first time prayer
Country : Algeria - Please leave a comment. : "I JESUS PRAY TODAY MAKE EVERYTHING BETTER I USED TO BE THIEF CRIMINAL IDENTITY SCAM BUT NOW LIFE IS BETTER UNDER JESUS CHRIST MY LORD SAVIOR."
Your work occupation : Other Religious background : Muslim
2) "Hi my name is Collin I live in Utah heber I know that we are n the last days and I want to be saved so please I need help I've been going to site to site I'm tired of going home from school a sinner I'm stressed with all my homework I cry more than ever sometimes I need Jesus." (This message was obviously from a young boy)
3) "I felt the the holyspirit lead me to you and that God's message of love drew me here."
4) "I want Jesus to be the number one in my life."
5) "I'm saved from sin and I've rededicated my life to HIM who owns me. I'm now free from lies, exam malpractice etc. Pray for me to believe that indeed "It is finished "
6) "I accepted Jesus as Lord and Need A Bible." (We sent Roger a Bible.)
7) "I have accepted Jesus and prayer not continue to commit sin any more." Matthew
8) Recently had a deputy police chief from a major city accept Jesus on the site. He is responsible for over 1,500 officers and staff and could be a big influence for Jesus. Please pray for J. Ramar.
9) "Jesus is my Lord and Savior, please save us from witchcraft, sorcery, divination, polygamy, immorality, astral projection, pride, all sin iniquity fathers, false religion, false gods, show me your way, give me purity, holiness, give me Jesus true, save me from work of devil, and evil spirit, kingdom of darkness be destroyed, give me holiness, save us from Satan and his work, premature death, I need to serve Jesus, thank You Jesus, Amen." Anna S.
For quite some time now, FaithWriters has been experiencing increasing expenses and declining income. The vast majority (99%) of our members are free, even though our membership is only pennies per day. Our main ongoing expenses come from administering the Challenge, other tools that help writers improve and site maintenance. We have increasing regular expenses and heftier one time expenses like converting our large site to a mobile responsive site. We always seem to have some type of technical issue cropping up that needs to be corrected too.
We need your help by upgrading! Go Gold at $5.95 or Platinum at $10.95 per month and help support the spread of the gospel and the growth of Christian writers on FaithWriters. As followers of Jesus, we are making a difference by publishing the truth of Jesus. Men and women from over 230 countries (View Countries Here) are drawn to the FaithWriters by the various articles on the end of our virtual fishing pole. Often our visitors are from closed countries to the message of Christ and they have no other way to learn about Jesus. They are able to learn from our evangelism site and the sister-sites to which we have provided links, including sites with in-depth information in their native language.
You can also upgrade and designate it as a payment to sponsor new writers. We have many people from around the world who do not have the funds to upgrade. In some countries, even if they do have the funds, no payment processor will handle online payments due to online corruption in their country.
Upgrade or sponsor a person HERE. Just click on Gold or Platinum. As a current member you just need to do the PayPal portion. You do not need to do a new profile. When we see your PayPal come through, we will credit your account. If you wish to sponsor a member, email us after you do the PayPal and tell us your payment was for this purpose. We need to keep telling people about Jesus! Will you help us?
We wish you many blessings in Christ and thank you for your support! Michael & Bea Edwards and everyone at FaithWriters
In supporting FaithWriters you gain access to more tools to improve your writing, foster the growth of new Christian writers and spread the gospel in over 230 countries online. All for pennies per day.
Free E-Book to build up your faith and help your friends and family members come to Christ. |
| | We Always Respond to Emails
If you do not receive a timely response to an email, we did not receive your email, or you did not receive our reply. We are constantly battling overwhelming amounts of spam and sometimes emails we should receive end up in our spam by accident.
You should check your spam and make sure that writer-support@faithwriters.com,
bea@faithwriters.com and michael@faithwriters.com are on your email providers approved list.
If you have tried more than once and did not receive a reply, click on a contact link at the bottom of most FaithWriters pages and send us a message telling us of the issue. We will try and email you from another email provider.
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Don't Skimp on the Editing Hire a FaithWriters Approved Editor Today!
Noel Mitaxa is an Aussie storyteller and one of several editors offering editing services. He has syndicated his weekly Good News column in Australian secular newspapers for over twenty years; a syndication that's recently expanded into Australia's armed services and to the USA and the UK.
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| | This Months FaithWriters Great Reads Selection
We have some excellent writers and many topics to choose from at FaithWriters. Bless your fellow members by reading one or more of their books. Just imagine how you would feel if they did the same for you. Many of these books have multiple five-star reviews on Amazon.
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Recently Added Books as Described by the Author
Family matters
Wake up Mama You're Killing Me
Donald Standeford
Your Price: $0.99
'Wake up Mama You're Killing Me' is my prayerful attempt to lend my voice to an aborted fetus.
The Fetus addresses the doctor who performed the 'routine procedure' that ended its life.
This is a kindle-book. The paperback is a 35-page pamphlet. Dan Caringer narrates the Audible version.
from Amazon.com!
Non-Fiction
Shaping our Life Files God's Way
R.H. Sutter
Your Price: $6.99
The decisions that we make daily have a crucial impact on our life here and on our eternal destination. We can think of the source of our choices as contained in Life Files deep in our inner man.
from Amazon.com!
Church Administration
A Discordant String in God's Harp: A Compassionate Approach to Mental Illness in The Church
Donald Standeford
Your Price: $5.99
In glancing at the sun through the warmth of one August, sky; God in the glory of his fantastic being.
Just as he hung on the cross in love, he hangs his love in the cloudless sky.
He watches from above.
I hope someone out there can benefit from this book.
Enjoy.
Donald Standeford
from Amazon.com!
Endtimes
A Flaming Arrow in God's Bow: Pondering Your Past As a Guide to Your Future
Donald Standeford
Your Price: $7.49
This is the audio version of my book, A Flaming Arrow in God’s Bow. The paperback and Kindle versions are also available.
I like this Audible version; I feel producer Dan Caringer has managed to catch perfectly the tone, mood, and emotional resonance I intended for the written version.
from Amazon.com!
A Flaming Arrow in God's Bow: Pondering Your Past As a Guide to Your Future
Donald Standeford
Your Price: $3.49
A Flaming Arrow in God's Bow is a mixture of narrative, prose poetry, autobiography, and reflections on God.
Jesus Christ plays a major role in this book, as is fitting since he's really stepped up to playing a major role in my day to day life. I wrote this book with boldness, trying to show one p
from Amazon.com!
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| | | | Thanks for your Membership and Support!
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