And so it begins, again...

Today I'm going to start to rewrite a story that I have picked up and put down multiple times for nearly 25 years. Will I get it right this time? I don't know. I do know the version I had 25 years ago wasn't very good or even 5 years ago. I'm hoping this time will be better at least 90%, which is good enough to publish.

There are times you need to set something aside. The key is to not leave it there forever. The key is also not to quit doing anything else. If I had waited until this story was done, before starting anything else than 10 different books, 27 different versions, of other books would never have been completed not to mention the other 5 which I am also working on. I would never have blogged every chapter in the Bible or started a small group of people journaling the Bible themselves.

This blog isn't about me, it is about any of us who feel we need to set something aside for a time but then either don't pick it back up or don't start anything else. It is a warning, if you wait until everything is perfect then you will never get anything done.

Even God doesn't ask us to get perfect then come to Him. If God doesn't why should we ask it of ourselves?

It can't be done! and you're right.

I have been thrilled to hear Jon Acuff's book Finish. To sum it up it says no to perfectionism and yes to accomplishment. What I love is that most of the advice I am hearing I have been doing for the last 12 years. Saying no to things, Cutting the goals down, and accepting imperfection, just to name a few.

One of the great reasons people give up as Jon puts it is they think it can't be done. And you know what? He's right.

You can't read the Bible in a year.
You can't journal faithfully every day.
You won't always eat healthily.
You won't be perfect. (By the way, this is why God has grace.)

The problem is we don't give ourselves grace. We think it has to be perfect and we have to do it all right now.

I am right now finishing up on the edits on Bible Reflections. For those not familiar with it, it's my thoughts on every chapter in the Bible. It is nearly a quarter of a million words. It is the culmination of 3 years worth of work. Except it isn't. The work is the result of 12 years worth of writing first in online classrooms and then on a blog. In the first year of the 3 years, I was writing on one chapter for each 5 in the Bible five days a week (2 days built in so I could stay ahead). Guess what that first year, I didn't always succeed.

When I choose to take on the whole Bible I used those posts but saw that doing it 7 days a week wouldn't work so I broke it down to 6 days a week with two-week-long breaks. Then I broke it up into a 4-year project because I knew more than one chapter a day would be impossible. Then I went further and gave those who joined with me, permission to miss a day of journaling or more. I told them if they only did half, that then they would have only journaled half the entire Bible, which was better than most Bible scholars would do in a lifetime.

When I published the first book so the church could start with me, it was full of mistakes. If I waited until everything was perfect we never would have started and the project would never have been completed. Trust me, those that have taken this journey with me this first time aren't going to be talking about those mistakes in grammar when we finish.

I say all of this to point out that if you wait until it's perfect or you're perfect, you won't accomplish much or as much as you could.

I am saying that you should produce junk? NO! There are books I have written which are not published because they need real work (a real editor) to get them ready. When I have the money then they will be completed. However, there are times that it is better to have it, as Jon would put it, "90% and published than 100% and in my head."

Thanks, Jon.

Ministering every day

The great thing about having a blog that very few people read is there are no expectations to perform. This being said, I do want to get back to blogging regularly for my own sake and for those few who get this. This, however, is not why I am writing today. I am writing to celebrate today.

With the Covid-19 shutting everything down it seems less ministry can take place. Yes, there are online service and phone calls but not the Bible studies where I can share the Word. This bothers me most for those who don't understand or have assess to technology. I use to teach or in some way participate in 7-9 services/groups a week. This didn't include other meetings I was involved in. Now, I am doing 2 online services. It seems that the ministry has really cut back.

The truth is something else. Now, with those services online I have the capacity to ministry to more people than I did before. With work that I did in the Bible, Reflections books are still being used, so I am leading personal Bible studies for people. I was told yesterday by someone that though he doesn't write things down, he makes sure and reads the devotional every day. This person doesn't have the access to technology and yet, I'm in a way ministering to him in this crisis.

This is the great gift of books. They can teach when you aren't around. I knew this and thought it was important but it wasn't until yesterday that I really truly knew how important that could be. I might not be CS Lewis, Chuck Swindol, or Max Lucado, but what I have written is helping some in a time when other ministry isn't available.

So why didn't I write this yesterday, right after I got the call? I was working on reviewing the edits on and formating of Bible Reflections 6 both the devotional and journal. A work I can now see could do more ministry than any personal work I could ever do. It seems I am ministering every day.