Fish and Bread and the Writer's Life

I was looking at a flyer that had been shoved inside our letterbox—it was for “Angela’s Pizzas”, which I am told, taste scrumptious. My son looked at me.

“Did you see that?”
“See what?”
“They’re Christians.”
“Why do you say that?”
He smiled. ‘Look!” he said.

I looked. I saw. Their logo was the word 'Jesus', cleverly camouflaged. Wow! How had I missed it? It was thrilling to discover a Christian Pizza Business. Even better that they let their Christian presence be known. I thought it was subtle but bold. Refreshing. What has Jesus to do with pizzas? Can we put food and Jesus together? Why not? He often ate with people, didn't He? It brought to mind a well known story.

I've been studying John’s gospel this year with my church family, as we focus on the word GRACE. When I read the story of the feeding of the 5000, I pondered on the little boy who was willing to give up his lunch to feed the masses. Wasn’t he a generous little lad? But you know, no matter how altruistic, he could never have fed all those present. Five loaves and two fishes might have fed two or three people. There was no way they would feed 5000. Unless of course a miracle took place! I think that story is like a multi later cake (with gooey delicious icing) which must sliced and eaten slowly, in order to be appreciated.

It’s not what I can do that will bless others. It’s what God does with it.
It’s not just sharing the little I have. It’s offering it to Jesus every day.

Has God called me to write? I believe He has.
Can He use what I write? Of course.
But how was the bread and fish multiplied? Through prayer and thanksgiving.
Ah! Prayer and thanksgiving. The fuel of our Christian journey.

What are the 'fish' I can offer Him in my writing life, I wonder?
1. My walk with God?
2. My hopes and dreams?

And what are the 5 little barley loaves I can give Jesus?
1. My time
2. My experiences
3. My unique giftings
4. My mind, my hands, my feet, and indeed, all of me
5. My desire to share God’s love with His world

If they are all blessed by Jesus, who knows what will happen?
So here’s my challenge today:
1. Be like the little boy —share with others; my gifts are given for the greater good
2. Be like Andrew—discover what God’s providing me with today
3. Be like the disciples—do exactly as He asks.
4. Be like Jesus—Compassionate, thankful, surrendered, prayerful.

And don't forget ... expect a miracle!

Let nothing be wasted, said Jesus.12 baskets full of food were left over. A blessed reminder of the abundance of God’s kingdom. What did the disciples do with them, I wonder. Feed the hungry? Have it for their own dinner? Take it home to their families?

What do those 12 baskets signify in my writing life?
What could be the overflow of my writing?
1. My own life being transformed as I write
2. Readers discovering God’s love for themselves
3. Readers' lives changed by the Holy Spirit
4. Readers blessed and built up
5. God being glorified.

Father God. Thank you for calling us to be Christian writers. This morning, we offer our all to you. Our hearts, our minds, our giftings, our dreams, our desires. Thank you for blessing us richly through them. Please multiply our efforts and use our writing to reach, teach, bless, inspire, edify and build your kingdom. May all that we do, resound to your glory. In the mighty and precious name of our Creator God, Jesus, the Word. Amen.

What are the unique God moments in your own writing journey? Times when you remembered to follow His lead and when blessings followed? Or moments when you, like that little boy, offered all you had to Jesus only to be surprised and thrilled that God had multiplied it? Instances when like Andrew, you were humble enough to lift others up or bold enough to bring them to Jesus? Times when like the disciples, you didn’t comprehend what was about to happen, but obeyed implicitly and witnessed a miracle?

I’d love to hear your God stories.

Anusha’s been on many interesting detours in life, as a lab technician, a computer programmer, a full time Mum, a full time volunteer, a charity director, a full time job chaser, until one golden day (or was it a dark moonless night?) God tapped her on her shoulder and called her to write for Him. She has never recovered from the joy it brought her. She loves to see others enjoying life with God and does her mite to help the process along through her writing and her life. The goodness of God is her theme song each season, as she dances in the rain with Jesus. Please stop by at her website to say G’day. She’d love to see you there. Dancing in the Rain

Are you Ready

   Are you ready? Ready for the unexpected? Ready for the new thing?
   Revival is coming to Australia. As a writer, are you prepared? As a reader are you open?
   Two thousand years ago, Jesus came at the fullness of time. He came when everything was ready. The Roman empire supplied roads and communication systems that had never been seen before  The stage was set for the Good News to travel the known world quickly and efficiently.
Revival was been prophesied for this nation for over 200 years and the time is ready. Although there have been mini outbreaks in places, our nation has never seen a big revival. It is now imminent.  Across our nation  stories abound of the Spirit moving in power. My Facebook feed reports miracles and healings daily here in Australia.
   About six weeks ago, we saw an amazing miracle at our church . A young lady from England came to Australia for a holiday. She was deeply depressed and had lost hope. The first day here she stumbled across our church. Three weeks later she went home renewed in spirit, but also with restored sight. Yes, you read that correctly! She had been totally blind in one eye. One morning, after prayer in a home group the previous evening, she woke with near perfect vision in that eye. (See her story here)
   A blind eye opened! Here in my Aussie church! Amazing.
   The Spirit is on the move and I'm excited! So writer - get ready.
   With every move of the Spirit, there comes new revelation. God opens his Word in new and fresh ways.     These revelations will be written in blogs, e books and books to spread the message to the world. All is ready. Messages can travel the world in a nano second! But the world is also suffering information overload.    So as writers we need to ask God for the messages and the communication methods that will be noticed!       And we need to keep our ears to the ground and know what God is doing.
   Along with readers, we need open minds. The greatest enemy to revival is an attitude that says "I know."
We've read the Bible. We've heard the sermons. When we think we know what the passage says, our minds switch off, unconsciously. But this is a time when we need to deliberately turn on! Turn our hearts toward the heart of God and be open to His thoughts, His revelations. We then apply them to our lives.
   The day after I wrote this blog, I sat under the teaching of Brian Simmons, one of the most revelatory teachers I have ever heard. He put it this way.
             The on-ramp to revelation is  "I don't understand, Lord. Show me."
             The door to revelation isn't a sharp mind, but a spirit that is tender toward God.
   As Christian writers, we have never had such an opportunity. God is pouring out new revelation, doing a new thing. Lets catch the wave and fill our writings with new understandings that will inspire our readers

PS. Check out Brian Simmons and his range of books. He is translating the bible one book at a time, restoring the passion to the Word. I really love his translation.


Jo Wanmer (Check out her blog) is on a road of learning, desperate to be transformed, degree by degree, into His image. Her book, Though the Bud be Bruised, is also transforming lives, bringing healing and hope. 

Who is your super hero?

            Recently my husband went to speak at a conference run by University students. The young woman who was to introduce him asked him a couple of interesting questions beforehand, in preparation for her introduction. The first was ‘Who is your super hero?’  The second was ‘If you had magic powers what would you like to do with them?’

            My husband was stumped! With a lifetime of experience behind him as an engineer, business manager and CEO, he found the questions bemusing at best. Aspiring to live life like Spider Man, or having Harry Potter powers are very far from his mind set.

            ‘Whatever happened to the values of ‘down to earth responsibility, hard work and commitment’? he later asked me. ‘Why does the younger generation long to escape into fantasy?’

            He introduced his talk to them by challenging them to face the realities of life and to strive to bring about productive, practical changes in their world.

            I must say I agreed with him. As a writer of historical fiction, I am focused on understanding the mistakes and the achievements of those who have gone before, and trying to inspire readers to learn lessons that will help them make the best decisions for their lives. I love to imagine the personal experiences, conversations and interactions of my characters and to pour into them qualities and insight that I believe will inspire and challenge my readers. But my stories are all very down to earth, and based on real people who faced great challenges and struggles.

            This does not negate my desire to present readers with the love of God and the amazing changes He can bring into a person’s life. I believe fully in the power of God to bring about the miraculous, but I believe that the work of God is grounded in our daily walk on this earth and our interactions with the people around us.

            I am often disturbed by the tendency of many young people these days to escape into fantasy, to live half their lives (or more) in some virtual reality they can create digitally, or to interact for the most part through their computers, phones, I-pads etc rather than spending time with real people in real conversations about real issues.

            Am I just old fashioned? I know there are have always been beautiful nursery rhymes, fairy tales and fables, with great lessons for the young, and also great newer stories set in fantasy, which for some readers provide wonderful challenges and inspiration to live the best kind of life. However last week I saw a preview of a new kid's movie where four mythical characters team up; the sandman, tooth fairy - and I think Santa Claus and the Easter bunny were the other two - to help children make the most of their lives. Are we crossing a line into fantasy which is dangerously misleading?
           Perhaps it’s a stage of life thing? Do young people learn better through fantasy and older people through real life experiences? Or perhaps there are many roads to learning, and potential for getting lost along any of them?     

            Recently I read “Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power.”  Of course that appealed to me, but may be that's just my age. Or have I lost the child in me too soon? What do you think?  

Carol has written seven novels based on her family history in Australia.

The Oakes Family Saga includes Suzannah's Gold, Rebecca's Dream and The Price of Peace.

The Turning the Tide series includes Mary's Guardian, Charlotte's Angel

and Tangled Secrets with Truly Free to be released in 2013.

The Face of Forgiveness, Carol's fourth novel, can now be read in serial form

under the title Forgiving Michael  http://www.carolpreston.blogspot.com

You can read more about Carol's other novels on her website  

http://www.carolpreston.com.au or find them on http://www.amazon.com/author/carolpreston

Or you can contact her on http://www.facebook.com/writingtoreach