Kate’s handed over Kate’s Comics. Grade twelve is proving to be a lot of work that doesn’t leave extra hours for sketching. I’m keeping the name to honour what she started, but the comics are my take on the writing life from here on out. I hope you enjoy it!
By Emily Conrad
To be honest, King David bothered me.
I was offended that he (and other heroes of the faith) had multiple wives. I’ve read and accepted that the Bible doesn’t condone sin, even when it doesn’t directly call it out in a particular passage. But David. He took things further when he committed adultery with Bathsheba and then had her husband killed to cover his sin.
God sent the prophet Nathan to confront David. David repented, but the consequences the Lord assigned were devastating and long-lasting: the child born of the adulterous union died, and eventually, another of David’s sons rebelled against him.
Much later, in Acts, Paul summarized David’s life and legacy this way:
“God raised up David their king. He testified about him: ‘I have found David the son of Jesse to be a man after my heart, who will accomplish everything I want him to do.’ 23 From the descendants of this man God brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus, just as he promised.”
Acts 13:22-23, NET
How could David, the adulterer and murderer, be a man after God’s heart? How could he be a hero of our faith, the author of so many beloved passages of Scripture, in the lineage of Christ?
I knew the answers lay in David’s repentance and God’s forgiveness and restoration, but my niggling dissatisfaction with the way God used David told me I had more to learn about the heart of God and the redemption He offers.
As a novelist, one way I work out my deep questions is by writing about them, so I borrowed elements of David and Bathsheba’s lives and loosely translated them into a contemporary story.
David was famous and a musician. So, the hero in To Bring You Back is a rock star. (At this point, I hope you’re sensing I wanted the story to be entertaining and not something that would read like a Bible study.)
Like David, Gannon has tragic sin in his past, but he’s repented and embraced God’s forgiveness.
We’re not told much about Bathsheba’s side of the story in the Bible, so Adeline, the heroine in To Bring You Back, allowed me to put some of my own doubts and questions in the story.
Unlike Gannon, she’s still carrying heavy shame over what happened years before. It’s crippling her life, and when Gannon shows up again, you can bet she resents the freedom he’s found.
Confounded, Adeline poses the question in the story, “How good is grace?”
And there it was. I’d finally found the central question, the answer to which would not only free Adeline, but would also resolve my feelings about King David, the people I share my life with, and even myself.
I’m sure I didn’t answer the question completely or perfectly, even in the 300+ pages of To Bring You Back, so you can’t bet I wouldn’t do it justice in the short space of a blog post.
Rather, I’m writing to extend an invitation.
If you find yourself stumped by the way God’s mercy and grace have played out in the pages of the Bible or in the lives of believers around you, I invite you to lean in. Instead of flipping to a new chapter or avoiding the discomfort, explore until you find the central question, and then seek the answers in God’s Word.
There are answers in Christ, and they are beautiful.
If you happen to also wonder how good grace is, well, the book I wrote is nothing compared to God’s. You can read about David and Bathsheba in 2 Samuel 11 and 12 and Psalm 51.
Are there people described in the Bible that you sometimes struggle with? How has God helped you come to a new understanding of His work in their situations?
Emily Conrad writes contemporary Christian romance that explores life’s relevant questions. Though she likes to think some of her characters are pretty great, the ultimate hero of her stories (including the one she’s living) is Jesus. She lives in Wisconsin with her husband and their energetic coonhound rescue. She is the author of the stand-alone novel Justice and the Rhythms of Redemption Romance series, as well as a series of short stories, which she emails in installments to subscribers. Learn more about her and her books at emilyconradauthor.com or on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.
I listened to this title using the read to me option on my Kindle. (If you have never tried this before, I included instructions on how in my August newsletter.) This option is not the high-priced voice actor version. It’s more like Amazon’s Alexa or Apple’s Siri. Despite the mechanical narration, I LOVED this title. I couldn’t wait to hear more. In fact, I think I put in more miles running because running time was the only time I had to listen. That alone speaks volumes about how much I grew to love Adeline and Gannon.
There are few authors that I find reliable enough to convince me to pre-order their next title, but Emily is now one of them. I can’t wait for the next installment in the Rhythms of Redemption series. Conrad consistently writes clean and God-honoring stories, and she threads beautiful redemptive threads through her novels. If you’re a romance lover that hasn’t read her, you’re missing out.
He’s determined to confront the past she’s desperate to forget.
When Adeline Green’s now-famous high school crush descends on her quiet life, a public spotlight threatens to expose her deepest regret. After eight years of trying to bury her mistakes under a life of service, she’s broke financially and spiritually. The last thing she can afford is feelings for the man who took center stage in her past—even if he does claim to know the secret to her redemption.
Gannon Vaughn and his rock band, Awestruck, have conquered the music industry, but he can’t overcome his feelings for Adeline. When he hears she’s struggling, he sets out to turn her life around and win back the love he lost to poor choices eight years ago.
But when Gannon’s fame and their mutual regrets jeopardize their relationship anew, will grace be enough to bring them back to God and each other?
To Bring You Back is the first of the Rhythms of Redemption Romances, a series of Christian, rock star romances.
“Sometimes the hardest person to forgive is yourself. Fans of Karen Kingsbury will enjoy To Bring You Back.” – T.I. Lowe, author of Under the Magnolias
Check out To Bring You Back on Kobo, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, & Apple
“Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God,
O God of my salvation,
and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness.
O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth will declare your praise.”
Psalm 51:14-15
The psalmist asks the Lord for mercy and forgiveness of sin and declares he will tell others of God’s righteousness.
When I began writing fiction, I created a purpose statement that conveyed my desire to create God-honoring, life-changing messages through the form of entertaining stories. I keep this statement and a key verse, “I’ve decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified,” 1 Cor 2:2 before my heart and mind.
Psalm 51 reminds me that knowing nothing except Jesus and Him crucified is an impossible task apart from God. We need God’s mercy to cleanse and purify us. God creates clean hearts. God causes ears to hear and bones to rejoice. God restores joy. God delivers from bloodguiltiness. God opens lips and mouths to declare His praise. Apart from God, our sin is ever before us. God not only calls us to a purpose but then requires us to depend on Him to live it out.
The singing and declaring that burst from the lips of the psalmist are a result of God opening his lips. What impact might it have on our writing if we began every writing session by confessing our guilt and inviting the God of our salvation to open the lips of our pens and the tongues of our keyboards that our words might declare His praise?
Lord, too often, I run ahead of You, eager to get the words on the page, anxious about meeting a deadline or goal. Today, instead, I begin by confessing my desire to control the outcome of my efforts. I confess that sometimes, I need less productivity and more time with You. I need to listen better. I need to welcome You and set aside my words. I invite You to open my lips, and I pray the words that flow would teach others Your ways.
Lord, I desire to obey You in all things. David models the kind of humble repentance that pleases You. He freely admits that his sin is first and foremost against You. The same is true in my life. Against You and only You have I sinned. Therefore, you are justified in Your wrath. You desire truth in the innermost of my being, so Lord, I ask that You will make me know wisdom. Lord, show me how to weave Your truth through my writing. I do not want a separation between my faith and my job. I desire to have my faith in You impact every word that flows from my mind. Create in me a clean heart. Renew a steadfast spirit. Keep me in Your presence. Fill me with Your Spirit. Restore to me the joy of salvation and sustain with a willing spirit.
By: Shannon Popkin
Even after I had several articled published in magazines, I didn’t call myself a writer. Even though I spent most of my free time writing, it felt too presumptuous to say, “I’m a writer.” Instead, I would say, “I like to write.” Or, “I have written a few things.” But to give myself the title, writer? I just couldn’t do it.
That is, not until I approached the registration table at my very first writer’s conference. I looked down at the label on my nametag and there it was: Writer. I hesitated, glancing out at the atrium filling with people who actually were writers. Did I need their permission? Should I show someone credentials?
Putting on that nametag felt like a deeply solemn thing to do. I took a deep breath and with gravity, feeling the weight of the action, I slipped it on.
Fear is the number one thing that prompts writers and speakers to bury our “talent” in the ground, rather than investing and multiplying what we’ve been given by God. Instead of stepping up onto our platforms to boldly proclaim truth, we slip into the back section of the auditorium, labelled “Still Too Afraid”.
What sort of fears hold us back?
Do any of these sound familiar? If fear is holding you back, I’d like to offer you one simple strategy for gathering courage as you step out to write or speak, using your God-given talent. I call it the Principal of the Foreword.
A foreword in a book is the “word” that comes “before” the main message. The foreword often offers an explanation of how this material evolved or it gives the backstory, telling what prompted the author to write it.
Instead of asking you to think about the foreword of your next book, I encourage you to think about the foreword for your ministry as a whole. How did this all begin for you? What set you on this path, in the first place?
As you consider your “foreword”, consider asking yourself these three questions:
Take some time to think through these questions thoughtfully. Reflect and journal your responses. Consider the various legs of your platform-growing journey. Now go back and title your journal response, “My Foreword”.
Often the foreword of a book is written by someone with expertise, giving the book credibility. As you glance through your journal entry, ask yourself, “Who wrote my foreword?” If you think deeply, I think you’ll come to the conclusion that you didn’t actually write this backstory. God did.
God is the one who wove together the happenstance of your life, creating significant experiences which stirred up the messages inside of you. God also is the one who brought people to encourage, affirm, and train you. And God alone has opened the doors you’ve walked through. He’s given you opportunities and platform-building experiences.
Do you agree that God is the author of your foreword? To emphasize this, at the end of your journal entry, write, “Written by: God”.
Why is this helpful? How does this exercise grant new confidence?
Suppose you’re cringing at the thought of sharing your news about a book contract on social media. Or suppose you’re worried about what people would think if you present yourself as an “expert” on any given subject. Suppose you are quivering in a corner, with a decided case of impostor syndrome, thinking, “Why did I ever set out to do this?”
In times like these, go back to your foreword. Remind yourself of the ways that God gave you this message. Review the ways other Christians have affirmed your gifts and calling. Look back at all of the doors God has opened in the past. The opportunity you now face is just one more door to step through!
Reviewing your Foreword helps put your message into context. You aren’t stepping out on a platform to share your big ideas with the world. You’re stepping out onto the platform God put under your feet to share the message he prompted you to deliver.
As you step out onto your platform, you’re part of something much bigger than yourself. You’re part of the bigger story of God.
Influence: Building a Platform that Elevates Jesus (Not Me), was co-authored by Shannon Popkin and Kate Motaung, and is designed to help you think about how to gather followers of Jesus and change the world—but not in the way the world says to. Check out Shannon’s site for more resources and take the Influence Quiz here.
Bestselling author and speaker Shannon Popkin loves to blend her gifts for storytelling and humour with her passion for God’s Word. Shannon is the co-author of Influence: Building a Platform to Elevate Jesus (Not Me) and Control Girl: Lessons on Surrendering Your Burden of Control from Seven Women in the Bible. She is also a contributing blogger at Revive Our Hearts.
Shannon is happy to be sharing life with Ken, who makes her laugh every single day. Together, they live the fast-paced life of parenting three high school and college-aged kids. For more from Shannon, please go to shannonpopkin.com, or connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.