LENT - Fast - Give - Prepare - Pray

This insert was handed out with our church bulletin this morning, so I thought I would pass it on to my readers.

For Presbyterians the 40-day season of Lent is an important one. But what is Lent? Do the Scripture mention it? Why do we observe it?

Though the Scriptures do not mention Lent, it was a longstanding tradition in the Church. It began very simply as a time of preparation for Easter. From the earliest times it was customary for Christians in most places to fast before Easter (or the Paschal Feast). At first this was a 2-day fast (Friday and Saturday). As time passed, the fast was extended here and there to a week (E.G.  in Alexandria and perhaps Rome). Though we are not certain how it developed, by 350 A.D. the 40-day fast that we now have was already in vogue in most places. Today Lent begins on Ash Wednesday and ends on Holy Saturday (Sundays are excluded to preserve the number 40).

For Christians living in the Fourth Century Lent had two major emphases: (1) It was seen as a time of repentance and denial of self. All Christians were to examine their lives according to the Ten Commandments and other Christian ethical precepts and repent where necessary. They were to remember what it cost their Savior to save them. (2) It was a time of instruction and preparation for the elect. I.E., catechumens who wanted to become members of the Christian Church. During Lent they learned the Christian doctrine by studying the Creed. They were led step by step through prayer and special rites toward baptism. If they "passed" they were baptized and received the Lord's Supper in a joyous service either on Easter Eve (the Easter Vigil) or Easter itself.

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So Why Am I Giving Something Up?

Today begins the season of Lent, a time when many people think of "giving something up." What does that mean exactly and why do we do it? I never gave anything up as a kid because I wasn't raised in the Catholic church. As an adult, I attended the Catholic church for many years. Now, I no longer do, but that's not what this blog post is about today.

To me, Lent has always meant a time to scrutinize the part God plays in my life. Am I putting something before Him? Have I let so many other things take priority that He has been pushed to the back burner of my life? Do I dedicate only what is "left over" of my time and energy to living for Him?

These are all questions that have weighed heavy on my mind for some time now. Lent is a time to turn our hearts toward God, to remember the abundance he has given us and to put aside our selfishness. When we remove something from our lives that is not necessary to worship God and not always good for us either, it is a way of drawing closer to Him.

In the past, I have tried to observe the season of Lent by committing to a  positive habit, whether it be Bible reading or prayer or a random act of kindness on a daily basis. Somehow, those efforts have not been that sacrificial to me. This year, due to certain spiritual issues I've been dealing with, I feel a strong call to sacrifice by giving something up that I enjoy immensely.

This year, I'm giving up chocolate. OK, I'll be honest. I had not thought of giving anything up until someone else mentioned that she was giving up chocolate. Personally, I don't think that person has near the addiction to chocolate that I do. The more I thought about it, the more I realized it would be a true sacrifice for me. Maybe the seed this person planted in my heart was God's way of nudging me and saying, "will you do this for me?"

I hope to gain a deeper knowledge of and draw closer to my God during these forty days. When I crave chocolate, I'll take some time out to pray and listen for His voice.

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Wow! What a Book!

I've hosted several authors and talked about a number of different books since the inception of this blog. Today, I want to present a series of books, written by several different authors, but inspired by only One. Genre classification is mixed and includes history, action, and mystery, to name a few.

Mostly, it is the greatest love story in the history of man.

By now, I'm sure you realize I'm talking about the Holy Bible.

Somewhere around mid-January, I came across one of those "read the Bible in a year" schedules. It had been a while since I'd done that, so I thought it was about time to make that commitment again.

Something's different this time around, though.

Perhaps it is the version of the Bible I'm using (The Life Application Study Bible in Large Print). The notes at the bottom of each page, the charts, the detailed insets depicting the characters, and the maps, along with other helpful features,  bring the story to life.

From Joseph in Genesis to Job and back to Moses in Exodus, I have a heightened sense of awareness that the events I read about actually happened to real people.

Joseph's betrayal by his brothers made me sympathetic, his forgiveness brought tears to my eyes.

Job's confusion and despair as he faced his losses,  his increased frustration as his friends heaped their accusations on him, and finally God's response to all of them compelled me to read on.

Today, I read nine chapters in Exodus.I just had to get through those plagues and up to the point where the Pharoah finally let the Israelites go.

I can't help but wonder if my new fascination with these age old stories that I have heard and read since childhood has anything to do with the way I relate to them today. As my life progresses, I find myself identifying with more situations and people depicted in the Bible.

Man's mistreatment of man, man's jealousy, man's disobedience, man's greed.

My sin, my desire to know God better, my longing to seek His will, my need to be as perfect a servant to Him as I can be.

Above all, I marvel at the recurring theme of God's mercy, grace, and undying love.    

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Interview With Author Staci Stallings

It is my pleasure to introduce eclectic and inspirational author Staci Stallings.

Hi Staci! Welcome to Patti’s Porch. It’s such a pleasure to have you here!

You have a new release entitled Coming Undone that's Free on Kindle today and tomorrow. Tell us about it.

Coming Undone is one of those books that should come with a box of Kleenex.  I should have invested in them before I started writing it.  I'd be rich by now. LOL.  It's the story of Ben Warren, a guy who's never really grown up because he didn't have to.  His theory is the less tied down he is, the better.  So he has dates not girlfriends.  An apartment, not a house. And a job he could take or leave.  He makes good money, has some good friends, a great car, and a lifestyle that's free and easy.  And then, the unthinkable happens.  He gets a call that his dad, his rock, his hero in life is in the E.R. and suddenly 

Ben's faced with decisions and responsibilities he never saw coming.

On the other side of the story, we have Kathryn Walker.  Kathryn is like so many women today--independent, good at her job, a friend to everyone, but no one's someone special.  She is the social worker at the hospice, and she's very good at what she does--which is helping families through the dying process of their loved one.  The problem is she's not married.  She's not even engaged or thinking about being engaged or really even going out on actual dates.  Oh, she wants to, but all the good guys are married and the others are in jail. So she's half playing the waiting game and half playing the "it's okay, there's a lot of good things about being single" game.  When the truth is, she's really started to think there's something radically wrong with her.

You have authored novels, devotionals, articles, and much more. Tell us about your writing journey.

What a journey! I wrote my first full-length novel in 1996.  I followed that one with five more until I found out I was going broke making copies of them for my friends at Kinkos. So I found a POD/trying to be a traditional publisher.  Got an editor and a publicist, edited the book, finally got it out, and then I realized a couple of things.  The editor had edited me--my voice, my style--right out of the book to make it "marketable."  My friends were like, "Well, it's a good story, but it sounds nothing like you.  What happened?"  Around that same time the publicist decided she now had the authority to run my life.  It was a nightmare! 

So I rethought my approach, spent a lot of time with God and just writing and finally decided to open my own publishing company.  Since then, I've helped two friends publish their books, and I've put out 7 of my own in print and 14 in Kindle and Nook.  I have several blogs as well as 30 total novels, 6 Bible Studies, and 8 collections of short stories that I will be publishing over the next several years.

What is your favorite type of writing, fiction or non-fiction and why?

They are different and helpful in their own ways.  One often feeds off the other.  Like the book I'm writing now. "More Than This" is the story of a dyslexic writer.  I didn't know he was dyslexic when I started it.  In fact, I'd written about 50 pages before I figured out why he was doing the things he was doing. During that same time, I found out my son is dyslexic.  I was writing about our challenges on my blog with the articles and then writing about the character going through some of the same challenges.  It's not an either-or thing.  All of them as well as all of my life experiences play in together and teach me truly incredible things about life and God.

Your website (www.stacistallings.com) carries many uplifting and inspiring messages for writes and non-writers alike. How did you know you had been called to this encouragement ministry?

I'm not sure I realized it until just recently actually.  I've always been a good sideline cheerleader.  In fact, when my daughter played volleyball, other parents wanted to sit by me because if they had a good play, I was encouraging them, and if they had a bad play, I was encouraging them, "That's okay.  Keep your head up!  You can do it!  Be ready for this one!"  That's just the way I am.  God has shown me over the years that I'm the same way with authors.  I've helped several authors become published authors (even through traditional means) and then multi-published authors and then award-winning multi-published authors.  And I take the same approach with them.  Praise for the things they are doing well, and we can work on the weaknesses together.  Interestingly, I'm the same way with my readers as well--point out the things that work, encourage, encourage, encourage.  Show how to work on the life weaknesses.  Encourage, encourage, encourage!  I truly believe God sent me here to build people up because the world was designed to knock them down and He knew they were going to need a friend.

I read your book, Cowboy, in electronic format several months ago. What do you feel the future holds for the ebook?

Kindle and Nook as well as Sony, Apple and all the others are exploding right now. I read something the other day that the ebook-market went from 15% saturation to 20% in six months.  The truth is, there are a lot of people who love to read, but carrying around books in this increasingly fast-paced world is just not practical.  But if I can read a book on my phone if I've got ten minutes at the doctor's office, I can actually read.  Versus thinking about the book that's still on my table and wishing I had it with me.  Now, you can take your whole library with you!  And I think based on the saturation-levels, it's only going to get bigger in the coming years.

Marketing is a huge part of a writer’s responsibility after publication. What marketing techniques have garnered the most success for you in promoting your work?

If you're a reader and you really don't care, please feel free to skip this question.  But if you're a writer... I am laying out marketing strategies in a course I'm teaching for a group of writers that I founded 3 months ago (it's hard to believe it's only been 3 months!).  The course is at: http://gnfmarketing.wordpress.com/  On there we talk about the macros of marketing (the big concepts like push vs. pull and content vs. promos).  As the course goes on, we will slowly work our way into micro-marketing, like how to write a great tweet, how to attract Facebook Fans, how to use Pinterest and KDP to get attention and sell books. 

I would say in direct answer to your question, however, the single best thing I've done is join hands with other Christian authors to cross-promote each other.  The group is called Grace & Faith Authors Connection, and right now we are 110+ members strong.  Through the group, we help and we learn and we teach and we encourage.  That has been THE thing that was the hinge on being an author with a few sales and being an author who knows what to do and how to do it and is now bringing in new readers and bringing back prior readers to make them actual fans.

What advice would you give to writers who are striving to break into the publishing world?

Don't be afraid to try.  So much of writing is about the willingness to get in the game.  Before you can write The End, you have to write the last chapter, before the last chapter, the first.  Before you write the first chapter, you have to write a paragraph, before a paragraph, a sentence.  And before you write a sentence, you have to write that first word.  You would be surprised how many people never write the first word.  Oh, they have a great story to tell, but they are so afraid of making mistakes that to put something down in black-and-white that might not be perfect is terrifying.  In that way, I think our educational system has failed us.  We've been graded and had our mistakes pointed out to us so often that we become afraid to even try.

So breathe! Understand that God gave you the desire.  Practice will give you the talent.  Find others who will encourage you and help you grow as a writer, not just criticize you. Once you do that, the only thing that's stopping you... is you! 

Staci Stallings, the author of this article, is a Contemporary Christian author and the founder of Grace & Faith Author Connection. Staci has a special surprise for you today and tomorrow only...

FREE ON KINDLE TWO DAYS ONLY!

Feb. 1& 2, 2012, Staci's novel

Coming Undone

"If you've ever searched for love, been afraid to love, or lost someone you love, you will love Coming Undone."

The story of two people trying to live life by the world's rules who find that loving someone only happens when you learn to love without asking what you're going to get in return. Available as a free download from Amazon today only!

http://www.amazon.com/Coming-Undone-ebook/dp/B005GGP3HI/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

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