As I mentioned yesterday a major part of my role with ACT 3 is research and writing. I will spend anywhere from 4-7 hours a day on reading and writing. This includes blogs, the ACT 3 Weekly (which you can get by free subscription at www.act3online.com) and reviews and articles for other ministries, books and periodicals. But the major effort is always writing and publishing books. Several of the ACT 3 Weekly series in 2010 are being considered for book use in 2011.
The most important book question, for the past year, has been this: “What follows the publication of Your Church Is Too Small?” I would have answered, until recently, that I thought it was a book on how the Trinity impacts missional-ecumenism. This is still a book I hope to write. But recently my sense of God’s direction took a new turn in a direction that I did not see coming at all.
Right now I plan to write a narrative memoir. (This is a popular style these days. It is not an autobiography, which I have no business even thinking about.) This book would be the story of my life told around the three great themes that have marked my journey of six-plus decades: Jesus, Holy Scripture and the Church. I would especially relate how God led me to change my mind, admit my mistakes (which were many) and then seek Him afresh for new grace and insight during the pilgrimage of my life. My goal is to provide encouragement, especially to younger pilgrims who will be the leaders of the future. I hope to be a mentor through this book. This is a distinct part of my calling so it makes sense that God has impressed this upon me deeply in the last few weeks.
In some ways I think the discipline of blogging has shown me the way to proceed. I see this book as a “big blog” wherein readers can get insights from the heart of one Christian trying to live in the 21st century with a deep love for Jesus but a lot of questions about the church. I will also show how we have used the Scripture to win arguments rather than to love our neighbors and one another. Our views of Jesus, the Scripture and the Church are so central to who we are as we love God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength that I think we should continualy examine them. The sheer mystery of being loved by Jesus, and loving him in return, astounds me. And the way Scripture reveals Christ to faith is astonishing. Add to this the largeness and greatness of the church as Christ’s body on earth and you have a narrative I think I can write with God’s help.
Would you please pray for me as I work and write in 2011?
Would you also consider helping ACT 3 financially?
We want to move forward on every front without having to unduly slow down our good work because of a lack of funding. You can help us to do this by giving at: www.act3online.com. The secure donor feature is on the left hand side. You can also send a check to:
ACT 3
P. O. Box 88216
Carol Stream, IL 60188.
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