Why Write?

question-markOver the years few people have not taken me seriously when I tell them I am a writer. Most people shake their head. Others say everyone needs a hobby. They then tell me their’s is a real manly hobby. Their next words are “My hobby is hunting and fishing.”

I would ache inside when I received this patronizing response. It would get worse.

When I was a first lieutenant I requested release from active duty from the US Army to attend seminary. The commanding officer of Charlie Company asked, “Lieutenant Kepler, what is your plan on going to seminary?”

I replied, “I am going to earn a master’s degree in religious education.”

“What are you going to do with that degree? Are you going to transfer to the Chaplain Corps?” was his follow-up question.

“No. I hope to be a Christian educator and a writer,” I said.

“A writer?” Then he started to laugh. It was a deep belly laugh. He added, “everyone thinks they can be a writer. You haven’t done anything to write about. You don’t have a story to tell.”

“But I do. I will tell about the hope I have in Jesus,” I said.

I then quoted  Jeremiah 31:33 (King James Version), “But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.”

“What?” was his confused reply.

“My writing is going to help people write the word of God in their hearts,” I said mustering all the courage I could.

“You’re crazy?”

“I’m just going to share Bible truth and principles helping people apply them to everyday life,” I said.

I shook his head, told me I was half-crazy and wasting a potentially good military career.

Maybe like me, people have told you writing is crazy. I felt called by God to write and share. What about you?

Maybe you picture a little red devil sitting on your shoulder questioning your worthiness to write about the things of God. He reminds you of every sin you have ever committed or even thought of committing. You don’t feel worthy.

I’m an imperfect sinner save by God’s grace. I know I am not worthy, but I still share. It isn’t me I want them to see. I want others to look to the Creator.

Think about these things:

Why do you want to write? Has God called you to be a Christian writer?

Maybe like me, you are a Christian who includes God and Christian themes in your writing.

Have you ever considered what God may be wanting to say through you?

I feel God wants me to communicate Christian themes in the secular marketplace.

 

Battle for the City of the Dead: In the Shadow of the Golden Dome, Najaf, August 2004 by Dick Camp

9757715

The year was 2004. During the spring and summer, the Iraqi nation was overwhelmed with violence. The nation’s Shiites and Sunnis headlined the sectarian fighting. The Army of Iraq had been disbanded by the United States Proconsul.

The results of his actions were infusing a large number of angry young men into the streets of the population centers in Iraq. These men had no jobs skills, no jobs, and no prospects for employment.

These men were literally angry in the streets. The clergy fueled their anger which developed into a rage and campaign for jihad against the United States and all “occupation forces”.

By August 2004, Muqtada Al-Sadr, a Shiite cleric, called upon thousands of Mahdi Militia, his armed followers and de facto private army, to resist the occupation. Fighting would break out in several locations. The holy city of Najaf, the site of the largest Moslem cemetery in the world, and the Imam Ali Mosque were major sites of fighting. U.S. forces found themselves fighting in 120-degree heat. The battleground was through a tangle of crypts, mausoleums, and crumbling graves. The fight was rough. It had the religious zealots against the motivated and disciplined United States Army and Marine Corps troopers. It makes for a spellbinding account of Americans in battle.

The book itself is excellent. Dick Camp tells an excellent story. The quality of the book is remarkable. I am referring to everything from the writing, the large amount of high quality color pictures, and even quality of the paper the book on which the book is printed.