I have been putting some thought into my writing lately. Why do I write? What is it I wish to communicate? What is the focus or themes of my writing? What is my unique writing voice? These are some questions I’ve rolled around in my head lately. Here’s what I’ve come up with so far.
Writing for me is a way of self-expression. Writers write for all sorts of reasons with all sorts of focuses. But really underlying all those reasons is this desire for self-expression. Writing is a vehicle for getting one’s thoughts, expertise, ideas, opinions, perspective, take on life out there for others to see. My brother-in-law, Ken Jones, a very good writer and published author once told me that great writing comes from great thinking. Well, I tend to do a lot that – thinking that is. You’ll have to be the judge as to how great it is.
In a nut shell, my objective in writing is to inspire, encourage, and catalyze a more intentional approach to life. Not any kind of life, but rather one that is centered around following Jesus Christ. One question I have been wrestling with the better portion of my life is, “What does it mean to be an authentic follower of Jesus vs a cultural Christian?”
Each of us have been born with a potential and a purpose. As apprentices of Jesus we are in training to be developed into mature disciples who represent him well and are about the Father’s business. As we move toward this potential and purpose in Christ, not only are our lives enriched, the benefit and impact for good we bring to others and the world around us is dramatically increased. And, ultimately, God is glorified.
A central message of my life is about process – the ways God develops and fashions us into vessels of honor designed to carry and reveal the beauty of Jesus. Themes such as process, journey, relationship, perspective, intention, engagement, purpose, destiny, potential, big picture, calling, God’s role, our role, heart transformation, soul prosperity, and of course coaching and the coaching process, are all focuses and subjects I find myself thinking and talking about a lot. All of life is a journey. And this journey is the training ground God uses to develop and grow us in Christ.
I am immensely intrigued with the way Jesus went about developing his first disciples. I believe there are keys here to more fully mine as it relates to how he builds our life in him. So, in my writing, these and related themes will be showing up in my writing.
In all I write I will endeavor to be authentic, passionate, and deliver what I call reflective or distilled thinking. I do not consider myself to be a brilliant intellectual. But I am a student – an observer and thinker with a unique perspective. In what I communicate, by no means do I believe I am the first to say it or will be the last. My thinking and words owe a tremendous amount to others who have thought and written deeply about these same themes before I ever gave them much thought. In one sense, none of us are completely original in what we think or say. Our originality is in the way we uniquely process and articulate an idea – our unique perspective or angle.
I have a carpentry background. In carpentry a miter box is a tool designed to provide a guide for cutting a piece of wood at different angles. In the construction of a house or piece of furniture it is the different angles, coming together at the right places and in the right ways which create the finished product – often something beautiful. All of us bring a unique perspective and angle to life. Those different angles can contribute to a more complete, fuller and richer perspective. This blog is my simple effort at joining my perspective with yours and letting God use it as he wishes.
There you have it. This is what you can expect in this blog. In all I write and put out there for public consumption, I trust it will in some way inspire, encourage, and catalyze a more intentional and authentic engagement with God, your heart, and the journey God has you on.