Bare Friendship

Bare friendship. 

~ * ~

What does it look like for ourselves? For our characters? How do we become a friend who will stand the test of time?

Some little friends in my house. :)

Below are some of the facets of a what a solid friendship, a bare friendship, looks like:

Honesty

This is the friend will tell me that a certain item of clothing *cough* makes me look fat is unflattering. 

They will point out sin in our lives and gently guide us into a deeper relationship with Jesus. Will say the hard truths even when we might not want to hear them.

~In a story, how could this be played out with a secondary character (the ultra extroverted friend who is honest to a fault, or perhaps a quiet older friend who says something at a low point of a main character's journey to pick them up), or how could the main character develop this trait and show it to someone else?~

Forgiving

We're human. Broken. Flawed. Sometimes, even with the best intentions we can hurt someone else--and they can hurt us.

Colossians 3:13 NIV "Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you."

Doing this requires of us, requires of our characters, to strip away those layers and bare ourselves, to say "hey, I'm wrong. I'm sorry. Please forgive me?". The friend who can live this out can stand the test of time, trials, and silly squabbles.

~What character in your story needs forgiveness? What would it take for your main character to forgive that person? How can you make it harder for them, push those bitter roots to the surface to be dealt with?~

Sacrificial

2 Samuel 24:24 NKJV "Then the king said to Araunah, “No, but I will surely buy it from you for a price; nor will I offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God with that which costs me nothing.” So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver." (emphasis mine)

A solid friendship sacrifices for the other person. That sacrifice will cost them something, whether it be time, effort, prayers, money, or resources. 

~What can your character sacrifice for someone else? What is one thing they would never give up--and what would force them to make that sacrifice?~

Generous

This goes hand-in-hand with being sacrificial. This is the friend who shares their chocolate biccy's (cookies to non-Aussies), shares their troubles--and your own, and would more than likely give you the shirt off their back should you need it.

They never give up. Never give up extending the hand of friendship. Are kinder than they need to. Listen without judgement. Love without ceasing.

~What act of generosity can your character perform to highlight a strength/weakness? At a low point what generous action would give your main character/s the courage to get back on their feet and face their trials?~

Christ-filled

We are all at different parts of our journey with Jesus. A faith-filled friend will be growing in his/her own faith--and will encourage us in our own journey. As iron sharpens iron, they will sharpen us.


Through all of this, Jesus is the perfect friend. He loves us in all our weakness, through all of our trials. His love never fails us. The music clip below shows this.

I leave you with "What a Friend We Have in Jesus" sung by Alan Jackson. May we focus on Jesus, thank him for His hand of friendship, and strive to maintain bare, Christ-filled friendships. :)

Lucy Morgan-Jones is a stay-at-home mum to four precocious children by day and a snoop by night, stalking interesting characters through historical Colorado, and writing about their exploits. She enjoys meeting new people from all over the world and learning about the craft of writing. When she can be separated from her laptop, she is a professional time waster on facebook, a slave to the towering stack of books on her bedside table, and a bottler, preserving fruit the old fashioned way so she can swap recipes and tips with her characters. 

Her home is in country Victoria, Australia where she does not ride a kangaroo to the shops, mainly because four children won’t fit.  Represented by Chip MacGregor of MacGregor Literary, she is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers, and Romance Writers of America.

We are Lost; Can We Ever Go Home?

Middle Earth is not the US, so I figure LOTR counts as international fiction. J. R. R. Tolkien was a devout Catholic. In fact, a friend of mine used to require a paper on the trilogy as an allegory of missions in his Biblical Basis of Missions class. (Wrap your mind around that for some creative thinking!) So I have good precedent for writing about some of my favorite books on this International Christian Fiction blog.

The first DVD my husband and I ever bought was The Lord of the Rings extended version, boxed set. I listen to the audio-book at least once a year (usually starting with The Hobbit and moving on through the trilogy). I have the soundtrack music to all three films on my ipod. The other day at the ice rink “Gollum’s Song” from the ending of the second movie, The Two Towers, came on. You may remember that Andy Serkis, the actor who voiced Gollum, won awards for his role that became far more than a voice-over of a computer-generated character.

Gollum was the slimy creature lurking in a goblin cave who lost the One Ring that was picked up by Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit. Throughout the trilogy Gollum follows the company, trying to get it back. In The Two Towers Frodo calls him by his old name, Sméagol, reminding him of the life he had before the coming of the Ring. Frodo’s kindness almost wins him over. In a moving scene a schizophrenic Gollum argues with his other nature, seduced by the Ring, over how to respond to Frodo’s kindness. The facial expressions alternate pitiful and crafty. Later Frodo lures Gollum into a trap and, in Gollum’s eyes, betrays him (even though Frodo did it to save Gollum's life), breaking the fragile trust that might have turned Gollum's corrupt and unnaturally-long life around.

Gollum is a pathetic creature. That second film ends with Gollum leading Frodo and his faithful companion Samwise toward what readers of the books know will be a trap. The song that runs through the credits is slow and anguished.

Where once was light,
Now darkness falls;
Where once was love,
Love is no more.
Don't say goodbye;
Don't say I didn't try.

Gollum thinks his feeble efforts to break out of his isolation and addiction should have been enough, but they weren't. As he closes the door to any sincere human compassion, he blames Frodo for his failures.

These tears we cry
Are falling rain
For all the lies you told us,
The hurt, the blame!
And we will weep to be so alone.
We are lost;
We can never go home.

As someone who has moved around A LOT! that’s the line that tears me apart the most. “We are lost; we can never go home.” I find myself comparing Gollum to the human condition. “We are lost; we can never go home.” To use the old religious language, sin has separated us from God. The relationship our heavenly Father planned for us in Eden was broken, not just by Adam’s sin, but by my own selfish choices. Much as I would like to blame my pride, my thoughtlessness, my resentments and my ingratitude on someone else, I can’t. As the Apostle Paul said, “I decide to do good, but I don't really do it; I decide not to do bad, but then I do it anyway.... Something has gone wrong deep within me and gets the better of me every time.” (Romans 7, The Message)

Gollum is tragic. He has suffered so much from years of isolation. He was tortured by the orcs of Sauron for information about Bilbo. The power of the Ring has created in him (as it does in Frodo) an overwhelming addiction to its possession, which has corrupted his very soul.

It’s not his fault! I want to say.

And yet Gollum is not innocent. His possession of the Ring began with murder. Across the years he has committed many terrible deeds without pity. He had choices, as Frodo has choices, . . . as I have choices. Sam is right to call Gollum vile ... as God is right to call my sin vile. And yet God didn’t turn away from my vileness. When he found me like an abandoned baby tossed on the rubbish heap, covered with blood and filth (Ezekiel 16), he didn’t reject me.

Jesus tells the story of a young man who told his father he wished he was dead, took his inheritance and squandered it (Luke 15:11-22). But when he came to his senses and returned home, his father had been waiting for him and ran to meet him.

Without Christ we are like Gollum:

And you will weep
When you face the end alone.
You are lost;
You can never go home.
You are lost;
You can never go home.

 In Christ, I can go home.

.

___

When LeAnne Hardy has lived in six countries on four continents. Home is wherever her family is together. Her books for children and young people come out of her passion for stories that will stay with them throughout their lives. Find out more on her website. (This post is reprinted from her blog, My Not-so-ordinary World.)

The Centrefold of the Gospel – The Cross!

It is nearly Good Friday followed by Resurrection Sunday.   My husband Ray has his devotions included here on our blog and I have invited him to share his thoughts here today.  He has just released this third book in his 31 Day Devotional Series and with Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday this coming weekend, we would like to give a copy away to someone, somewhere, in this world of ours to help him or her be "captured by the wisdom, power, grace and wonder of Calvary"- as the blurb on the back cover invites.

These devotional meditations take you to the heart of the Gospel. They will fill you with awe of God. They will cause you to bow before the Lord in adoration.

Ray writes:-

Recently Australian Television screened Islamists desecrating Australian and British war graves in Libya. The natural response of course was outrage and the question asked, “Why would they do such a thing?” Part of the answer was portrayed in the scene of a number of men hacking at the tall memorial in the shape of the cross. For followers of the Crescent the Cross is anathema. In their eyes the West is Christian and the Cross our standard.

In our Western Democracies Christendom is either being sold short even by some of its leaders or opposed by militant agnostics. What is their focus? The smothering or removal of the symbol and message of the Cross! No wonder the scriptures speak about the cross being a stumbling stone or an object of foolishness (1 Corinthians 1:18-25).

I was motivated to write a devotional with the specific theme about the Cross. As a person convinced about its unchanging message, I was concerned that too many were tending to ignore the Cross’s crucial centrality to our faith. Most sermons or teaching major on the way God made the Cross of Christ our means of salvation. This wonderful truth should constantly overwhelm us and make us more devoted to our Lord. However there is so much more to what Jesus achieved on the Cross. From Genesis through to Revelation the shadow or reality of the cross, in symbol, implication or direct illustration confronts the honest reader who takes the Bible seriously.

In these devotions I’ve endeavoured to take you into the heart of God not simply for us, important as that is, but for the very honour of His Name and the redemption of creation. The cross is actually the cover, centrefold and back page of the Gospel. Without it the Church has no message and Humankind has no hope. We can talk about God being glorified, we can sing about the wonder of His grace but if that excludes the Cross we are in fact robbing the Lord God of His glory!

Once again the Church is being seduced into compromise. Wanting to be popular, relevant and non offensive there are those who want the Cross to be put into a cupboard and only mentioned on special occasions. Certain Denominations don’t want to upset Islam or atheists with a message of the crucified Son of God/Son of Man. Then they wonder why the Spirit of God writes over them ‘Ichabod!’

The Cross is the glory of God.

Therefore, ‘I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jews, then to the Gentiles. (Romans 1:16).

‘May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.’ (Galatians 6:14)

I may not wear a cross around my neck but it is over my heart. The cross is the badge of identity with Christ Jesus the Lord of Glory.

Ray (who enjoys the centrefold) Hawkins.

For years, Ray has been writing in various ways, including Bible studies, articles for church papers and also poetry - and beautiful love letters too! Since having his 31 Day Devotional meditation books published, he has become more and more involved in the "world" of writing that I have been now for over nineteen years.
It has been my real delight to share with him in the Christian writers' conferences held in Queensland the last couple of years. His Book One in this series was short-listed in the devotion book category of the CALEB awards while my Justice at Baragula went on to final. For details about all Ray's books click on  http://www.evenbeforepublishing.com/ 
Mary is multi-published in inspirational romance and her third book, Justice at Baragula, is available as an e-book as well as print from http://www.koorong.com/search/product/view.jhtml?code=9781921589515   
To learn more about Mary and Ray Hawkins, check out their website and blog from:  http://www.mary-hawkins.com/

Please leave a comment and you will be entered in the draw for a signed copy of Captured By Calvary - and please don't forget to check back to see if you are the winner and we then need your address details .  

White as Snow

Snow fell this past week in Lancaster, PA. It glistened on the branches and hedge in our front yard. Drifted deep over the field across the road. Covered over the unraked leaves and brambles along the creek bed behind our house. Sparkled back the reflection of Christmas tree lights from a window. With candles in windows, wreaths on doors, Moravian stars twinkling a welcome from porch eaves, and the occasional Amish buggy on the road, it is as beautiful as a Thomas Kincade painting.

This isn’t our first snow since moving from Miami and points further south to Lancaster, PA. We’ve had flurries and a couple good stick-to-the-ground snowfalls in the last three years. But it usually comes in later January and February, not during the Christmas season. I am a tropical bunny with a firm conviction that if humans were meant to live where that cold, wet stuff falls from the sky, God would have created them with fur. Accustomed to lush greenery and lighted palm trees at this season, it has been hard to see any beauty in a northern Christmas with its desolate, barren landscape and raw, icy winds.

Until snow fell.

The unnecessary extravagance of it is what boggles imagination. In the darkest, dreariest season of the year, God takes the effort and some frozen H2O, transforming dead, brown earth to pure, sparkling white. And for no crucial reason or scientific necessity that I can see—except to delight His creation with its sheer beauty.

And perhaps as an illustration of just what this Christmas season is about. In the darkest, deadest winter of human desolation, God stepped into our world, and through the coming of Jesus Christ blanketed the ugliness of our sin and despair with the pure, clean beauty of God’s love and mercy and redemption. As Isaiah tells us in chapter 1, verse 18, ‘Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.’ That’s the true promise of Christmas.”

Wherever you are living at this time, whatever climate--whether green or brown or white--you may be enjoying, may God's ultimate gift, His Son Jesus Christ, shine joy and love into your hearts in this season of thanksgiving and celebration.

Merry Christmas!