IMAGINE THE FUTURE YOU

Imagine the future you

 My next book, Imagine the Future You, will be out in a few short weeks. Here’s a glimpse at what it’s about.

What will your life will be like in the future if you become all you can be? How are you working toward achieving your dreams for now and the future?

The intriguing thing about our dreams is we’re always the “Star.”  Comedy, romance, murder mystery, drama, documentary of a heroine—there we are in the middle of everything.

When we’re awake we also star in our dreams. Dream big and work toward your goals and you’ll write a story with your life that will cause satisfaction beyond what would occur if you were a television or screen celebrity who plays roles about fictional people’s lives.

Each of us “stars” in his life, and whether the story is a tragedy or a cherished classic depends on who we want to become and if we pursue our dreams.

If you continue to do or not do what you practice now, what kind of future do you imagine for yourself?

If we take time to dream and to imagine, it often changes our choices and our future.

The decisions we make ourselves affect our future more than those made for us. We have control of our attitudes, our work ethic, our sense of wonder, our faith to believe in God and for great things. It is pretty much up to us where we end up in life and eternity.

Chapter headings

1.      Imagine your story. What kind of story will you write with your life?

2.      Imagine: Joseph’s story. Why you can succeed no matter what happens in your life and what other folks do.

3.      Imagine a unique You. Don’t be a copy of others. Let the talent, beauty and wonder inside you surface.

4.      Imagine: The really big show. What kind of person would you like to be? Who do you admire? What kind of character do you desire? The career and serious hobbies?

5.      Imagine: Important things you can know—and things you don’t want to know. Why our future is affected by positive knowledge we need to acquire, as well as evil that would like to work its way into our heads and damage our tomorrows.

6.      Imagine: Someone who was, is, and is to come. How belief in God changes your future.

7.      Imagine: God in a seven-pound body.  Why believing the evidence that Jesus is God and rose from the dead changes everything.

8.      Imagine: Clean! How the wonder of being God’s child enhances our lives.

9.      Imagine: A love letter to me? How God communicates to us through the Bible, showing us the right path into the future.

10.  Imagine: The Creator listens to me? How knowing God hears our prayers adds another great dimension to our tomorrows.

11.  Imagine: Falling in love. How preparing yourself for love and marriage gives a greater chance for success.

12.  Imagine: You on your wedding day. How making the right choice makes a difference.

13.  Imagine: Reachable goals. No matter who we are, what our background, who our parents are, with God’s help we can fulfill dreams.

QUESTION AND ANSWER SECTION FOR EACH CHAPTER

WHAT CAN WE DO TO HELP THE CHURCH SURVIVE AS NATIONS TURN TO SECULARISM?

     

I'm thankful our daughter, Carolyn, who became a strong Christian as an adult, was ready to go to heaven when cancer took her at age 31.

If Jesus tarries his Second coming, will the church be around in the decades ahead  for our children and grandchildren?

  Christians are concerned. Nearly every family has a child or grandchild who isn’t serving God despite being raised in a Christian home and the church.

      When I worked as a newspaper reporter, I asked the late general superintendent of the Assemblies of God, Thomas F. Zimmerman, whether he believed if Jesus doesn’t return in this generation whether he thought the church would survive.

      “It will survive,” he said, “but the next generation won’t do church like we do.”

      The music changed. Churches developed satellite congregations. We have podcasts, and numerous other advances from modern technology. Thank God all my children and grandchildren know the Lord, are involved, and despite changes, God is still working.

      But still, statistics show a large percentage of youth leave the church during or after college.

      What can we do?

       I worked with youth the majority of my life, and despite being a senior citizen now, I watch non-Christian youth with a heavy heart. Ultimately it is each young person’s decision, but the church is supposed to be salt and light which causes people to seek the Lord. Jesus still stands at the door and knocks—but he’s not going to crash through and enter without being invited.

So, with that in mind, we can:

1.    LIVE THE WORD

How we’re supposed to live was summarized for us by Jesus: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind; and, love your neighbor as yourself " (Luke 10:26-28).

 If we do this, we model our faith. It’s not easy.

The first four of the Ten Commandments have to do with serving and respecting God. The last six have to do with how we treat our neighbor.

I can’t forget, however it is, “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost” (Titus 3:4-6)

Nevertheless, if I love God as Jesus told me to, I’ll talk to Him, read His words, be in His presence, obey Him, and work in His kingdom.

Much hinges on the fruit we produce and walking in the Spirit.

 The Apostle Paul told the Galatians, “Walk in the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.”

2. SHARE THE WORD AND YOUR TESTIMONY

Why are you a Christian?

Your children and grandchildren should hear your testimony. Did God change your life? Give you something to live for? Fill the emptiness inside you? Given you joy unspeakable and full of glory? Has he healed you or given miracles for your family?

God reminded sometimes reminded people to be sure to tell their children about God’s miraculous works.

      Read about it in Joshua 4, which tells how God parted the Jordan River similar to how he parted the Red Sea and Israel crossed. The Lord told them to gather stones and build a memorial about the miracle.

“This may be a sign among you when your children ask in time to come, saying, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’  Then you shall answer them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD; when it crossed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. And these stones shall be for a memorial to the children of Israel forever.”

 “What do these stones mean?” I’m fortunate because I’m a writer and I’ve been sharing my testimony since my youth. My children have read some of it, and today if I write something in which they could be interested, I send it to them. Often they comment that they enjoy it. You might be surprised at your family’s reaction.

3. BELIEVE THE WORD We have specific promises for our children.

 “Raise up a child in the way he should go. Even when he is old he will not depart from it” (Proverbs 22:6NASB).

God's Word will make a lasting impression on our children's lives.

“As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: it will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it” (Isaiah 55: 9-11). (If you’ve taken your kids to church, or had devotions at home, this promise if for you.)

And we can claim the promises from the Word that says our children can choose to be filled with the Holy Spirit, which has many benefits:

A prophecy by Peter on the day of Pentecost: “For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call” (Acts 2:38-40).

4. TAKE YOUR FAMILY TO CHURCH  “Let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching” (Hebrews 10:24-25).

            If you make the Lord and meeting in His presence the center of your lives, it makes a difference in families. Children learn the Word, doctrine, to obey their parents, and they make best friends who also want to follow the Lord. The church usually provides good clean fun, too. This gives children the opportunity to accept Jesus as Savior, discover that God loves them no matter what and has a plan for their lives. Children faithful in God’s house usually also choose Christian mates.

5.  PRAY AND BELIEVE The Bible is filled with promises and testimonies that state God answers prayer. Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, told the jailer who wanted to become a Christian, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household” (Acts 16).

            ©Ada Brownell June 2013

     

---

[i] See Galatians 5:16:23

TITLE:  Book Blast: At The End Of Our Journey by JACK R EAST JR {June 18, 2013} - $50 Amazon Gift Card Giveaway!

At The End Of Our Journey

By: JACK R EAST JR

About the Book
At the End of Our Journey is a personal testimony of the life and Christian faith of the author. The inspiration for the book came from two incredible and powerful dreams about Jack's Christian faith. The dreams were experienced in November of 2010 on two consecutive mornings. Jack awoke from both dreams with precise and detailed memories of the events and emotions felt during the dreams. He can recall all of the events of both dreams two years later. To be able to remember all of the details of both dreams is very unusual for him and for most other dreamers.

The two dreams did not reveal anything new about his Christian faith. The first dream expressed all of the doubts, fears, and questions that all followers of the Christian faith have asked themselves many times. The second dream was a direct confirmation from God that all of the promises of the Christian faith are true and will happen for all who believe in Christ's redemption and follow his teachings. Words cannot adequately describe the events and emotions of the second dream. The author has difficulty finding words to describe the emotions experienced in his dreams, but he can share the following conclusions about his dreams and the Christian faith with you.

He experienced the finality of knowing that he had died.
He knew the joy of knowing that his Christian faith allowed him to conquer death.
He felt hope and joy to know that his spirit had conquered death and was rising
into Heaven.
He was overcome with joy, peace, contentment, fulfillment, and the sure
knowledge that the only place he could possibly be was in Heaven. No other
place could feel so good and right.
He cannot adequately describe how it felt to know that God was there to
welcome him to Heaven where he heard his powerful and loving voice
say to him,


"Jack, I am glad you are here,
 I have been waiting for you."
How could he describe hearing God's welcome end with the
following words...


"but, I am not ready for you yet."
At the End of Our Journey is Jack's attempt to share with you the wonderful experience of his life, dreams, and Christian faith. His wish is that you may also know the joy of the personal presence of God in your life and feel the full depth and beauty of His powerful love. And that you may receive a taste of what awaits for us at the end of our journey of Christian faith.

Get the PAPERBACK on Amazon!
JACK R EAST JR

Jack was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in September of 1940. In 1945 his family moved to Southern California where he lived for 30 years. He started his journey of Christian faith in 1956 at the age of sixteen. Jack married his wife Barbara in 1961 and their marriage has lasted for over fifty years. Jack started his career as a CPA, and he and Barbara started their family while living in Southern California.

Jack and Barbara moved to the far north coast of California in 1975. Jack continued to work at his accounting and tax practice as he and Barbara raised a family of three great sons. Their boys and their spouses have provided them with four precious grand children. Both family and the Christian faith have always been important parts of the life of Jack and Barbara. At age 72, Jack is still working at his accounting and income tax practice with Barbara's help. Retirement is under consideration, but it is not their greatest priority at this time.

In November of 2010 Jack experienced two incredible dreams about his Christian faith. The dreams were the inspiration for writing a book and for this website. The dreams have started a new chapter in the life and Christian faith of Jack R. East, Jr. at age 72.

Follow JACK R EAST JR

  Website | Facebook 

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This book blast is hosted by Crossreads.

We would like to send out a special THANK YOU to all of the CrossReads book blast bloggers!

 

IF DADDY GETS THERE FIRST

Our family. I'm the youngest on the bottom right. My scanner isn't working correctly, but I used this anyway.

                              FATHER’S DAY: REMEMBERING DADDY

I wrote this years ago when it appeared my Daddy, Joe Marion Nicholson, was dying. As our family prayed, God brought him through this crisis. He had prostate cancer and it spread to his bones. Tests showed it even was in his skull. Our main prayer was that God would take away the pain and wouldn’t allow him to suffer.  Although he didn’t fully recover his health, if I remember correctly, he took only one radiation treatment. He didn’t like the side effects.

“I’ve lived a good life, so at my age I’m not going to take any more,” he said.

Amazingly, though, even when he was no longer able to care for himself, he had no pain and the physician said there was no cancer.

Daddy was a strong man, steady in his beliefs, and righteous in the way he lived. He became a committed Christian about the time I was born—the eighth child. He loved the Word of God, listening attentively when Mama, and later my stepmother, read at devotion time.

He wasn’t that talkative, but I learned as adult when Daddy spoke usually it was with wisdom. As a child, I knew when he said “no,” that was final.

In order to feed and clothe our large family, he worked hard. In Kansas either during the Dust Bowl or during the Great Depression (before I came along) they needed firewood. He knew of a large tree stump nearby and went out with ingredients for homemade dynamite—something containing salt peter. He was pounding the dynamite into the stump when it exploded, sending a large splinter through one of his eyes.

Daddy was blind in that eye as long as I knew him.

But that night I sat in the hospital waiting and praying with my sisters, I knew his spiritual eyes had been opened years before and when his earthly life was over, He was going to the place prepared for Him by God’s Son, Jesus Christ.

Jesus said, “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to myself; that where I am, there you may be also” (John 14:1-3).

                              IF DADDY GETS THERE FIRST

I sit in the waiting room at the hospital in Grand Junction, Colo. The sound of air circulation through a ceiling duct and nurses chatting at a nearby desk are the only night sounds.

The room is small.

Down the hall in Room 137, my father awaits surgery on his arms because he broke both of them in a fall. The surgeon says the bones in his arms are “honey-combed” because of cancer. He hadn’t been able to walk for a couple of months before he fell.

My insides tremble when I think of him lying on the white hospital bed—pale and gaunt—the sparkle in his eyes fading.

Will he survive the anesthetic and surgical trauma? Will the man who provided the food and clothing for me throughout my single life still be there tomorrow? The man, who possesses such strong character and faith in God; who had seen his family grow in grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ?

It is at times such as this that I groan and cry for the redemption of the body Paul talks about in Romans 8:22-24.

How does one give up a loving father; Right now, as the lump in my throat makes it difficult to swallow and tears blur my sight, I can’t give him up. But I can let him go into the presence of God and wait there for me to join him. He was on earth before I got here. It must be all right for him to be in heaven before I get there.

He didn’t need me before I was born, and he won’t need me when he leaves this earth.

But I need him. Mother has been gone 21 years. Both my husband’s parents are gone. We’re the youngest children of both families and when Daddy is gone, there will be a great void.

I have memories, though, if God takes him. I have a heritage given to me by both my mother and father that will live on after the grave has snatched them from me.

From their graves, even, parents will have influence on me and through me.

Yet the grave will be only a symbolic display to humankind that my parents moved elsewhere. It will be like the shell left behind when the chicken hatches. My parents will not be in the ground; they will be in the presence of God, just as the thief who repented on the cross before he died was with Jesus that day in Paradise.

Even so, my mother and father will return with Jesus Christ to unite with a resurrected immortal body to house their spirits. Death will be swallowed by life (See 2 Corinthians 5:4NLT).

The Bible says, “But I would not have you to be ignorant brethren, concerning them which are asleep that ye sorrow now not even as those who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with

a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trump of God’ and the dead in Christ shall arise first.

“Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air” and so shall we ever be with the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 4:13-17).

I find comfort in those words. Whether we live, or die, we are the Lord’s--and that includes my daddy.

© Ada Brownell June 2012

How The Caney Creek Series Came to Be

By Jo Huddleston

That Summer is Book 1 in the Caney Creek Series. The setting of That Summer is the Southern Appalachians of East Tennessee where my ancestors and I were raised. I’ve listened to older generations tell stories at family reunions about time before telephones and automobiles. Their stories fascinated me and caused me to want to write about a time before I was born.

This story percolated in my mind in the late 1990s. I’m what writers call a panster type of writer. I don’t outline my plot on paper. My entire plot and characters simmer in my mind before I write a word. Many times I don’t know the ending but I know how to get there. Of course, sometimes characters surprise me by going this way when I intended them to go another way. I love how my stories many times work themselves out as I write.

While this story still rumbled around in my mind, in 2001 I received a life altering health diagnosis with a negative prognosis. My first symptom was the loss of penmanship that nobody, even I, could read. Then I began to have involuntary muscle spasms that prevented me from holding my fingers on the home keys of a keyboard. I couldn’t write and couldn’t type—this was before speak-to-type.

I thought my writing career had vanished. I cleaned out my files—even trashed all my rejection letters I’d been saving. Now I wish I’d kept them to prove that I really am a writer. I gave away most of my writing craft books.

My mind was still intact but my body wouldn’t do what it was told. My balance while walking started to diminish and I quit going to writing conferences. My doctor advised me not to drive. I was dependent on my family to even get to my doctor’s appointments and still am.

In 2008, I began to improve. My hands were steadier and I could get my story started. The biggest aggravation when I write anything is the time I have to leave my story to research the facts. When the story starts pouring out of my mind I want to write. I write continuously, not indicating chapters but I do indicate scene and POV changes. After I finish that first draft I go back and insert chapters.

I’ve outlived my doctor’s prognosis by two years. I’ve finished the second of a 3-book contract and feel fine other than fatigued when I don’t stop to rest now and then. Fatigue brings on more unsteadiness in my hands and legs.

From 2001 to 2008 I had a lot of time to meditate. A relative marvels that I’ve never questioned, “God, why me?” I have not become bitter because of the health issues. I think God just gave me time to understand a lot of things when I was inactive. I’m a more peaceful, patient, and faithful me.

That Summer hibernated for seven years, and then became a story on paper. When I finished That Summer, I thought I had accomplished my goal. However, I found I couldn’t leave my characters in some of their situations. I had to write at least one more book about them. Book 2, Beyond the Past, came to be. I’m now writing Book 3, in the Caney Creek Series, Claiming Peace, scheduled to release in September 2013.

 URLs

Website: http://www.johuddleston.com/p/home.html

Blog: http://www.johuddleston.com

WHERE TO PURCHASE CANEY CREEK SERIES BOOKS

Signed copies available in left sidebar of my blog: http://www.johuddleston.com

Paperback copies available at publisher’s site: http://www.donaldjamesparker.com/sOSProducts.aspx

Paperback and eBooks available at Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Jo+Huddleston

HOW DO YOU ARRIVE BEYOND THE PAST?

Tomorrow Jo Huddleston will share the suspenseful and miraculous story of how she wrote the Caney Creek series of novels; how her own history is wrapped around the stories; and how she had to climb over many obstacles to be where she is today as an author.

Christian novels often reach deeper than suspense, romance, drama, humor, mystery into not only the heart of characters, but dig into who we are--our problems, our needs, our frustrations, our fears--even our guilt.

I feature Christian writers here because as the title of this blog implies, "Ink from an Earthen Vessel," the humble  lumps of clay that we are, formed by God for a special use, can bless, encourage, lighten and brighten the lives of others--even for eternity. Jo Huddleston is one of these writers and her testimony will certainly bless you.

I read Christian novels because they minister to me spiritually as well as give me a wonderful read that's enjoyable. It's finding the answer to every in problem in life through our Savior and Lord that truly thrills the soul, and characters in Christian novels discover that.

Here's an introduction to Jo and to Jo's latest book, Beyond the Past. Log in to the blog tomorrow for Jo's interesting testimony of how she rose above a devastating medical diagnosis--and went ahead and created the books inside her heart.

BIO - Jo Huddleston

Jo Huddleston's debut novel, That Summer, released in December 2012 as the first book in The Caney Creek Series. Beyond the Past is Book 2 in the series. Huddleston holds a B.A. degree with honors from Lincoln Memorial University (TN), and is a member of their Literary Hall of Fame. She earned a M.Ed. degree from Mississippi State University. Professional membership: American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW).

Beyond the Past back cover blurb

Emmajean Callaway’s life in Atlanta plummets from bad to worse. Can big brother, Jim, lead her back to the family who loves her and also hold the imploding Callaway family together?

Jim Callaway looks forward to 1951 and the chance to forge a relationship with

Caroline after twenty years apart. He’s sidetracked when his sister and his best friend need his help. His baby sister, Emmajean, skids into jail on drug charges in Atlanta. The ordeal of incarceration and trial diminishes her and she needs rescuing, not only physically but spiritually. She struggles toward recovery and restoration with her lawyer’s help as he champions her inside and outside the courtroom. Jim’s nephew Joe is one step ahead of the truant officer, wrecks his car, and officials suspect alcohol is involved. Joe awaits his fate at the hands of the juvenile court judge. Jim and Caroline continue their bumpy journey as they seek realization of their dreams, wondering if they really can overcome obstacles to their being together after so many years.

URLs

Website: http://www.johuddleston.com/p/home.html

Blog: http://www.johuddleston.com

WHERE TO PURCHASE CANEY CREEK SERIES BOOKS

Signed copies available in left sidebar of my blog: http://www.johuddleston.com

Paperback copies available at publisher’s site: http://www.donaldjamesparker.com/sOSProducts.aspx

Paperback and eBooks available at Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Jo+Huddleston

NEWS RELEASE ABOUT BOOK SIGNING ON JUNE 8

SPRINGFIELD, MO--Ada Brownell, a retired newspaper reporter and Springfield inspirational author, will sign her books from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.Saturday, June 8, at Christian Publishers Outlet, National and Republic Rd.

Brownell’s book, Swallowed by Life: Mysteries of Death, Resurrection and the Eternal, is featured in The Pentecostal Evangel’s June 2 “Reading for Spiritual Health” edition. The magazine, published by the Assemblies of God, exerpted with permission, a portion of the chapter, “A Love Message.”

      In the book Brownell shares how losing a daughter to cancer tested her faith, but also how being a medical reporter helped strengthen it. She cites evidence she believes shows we’re more than a physical body. For instance, weight gain and loss; cell death and regeneration; and the surgical removal of body parts and transplanting of vital organs, such as the heart.

 She also dives into the spiritual, discussing the mysteries surrounding the change from mortal to immortal; where we go when our body dies; resurrection; and what she believes the Redeemed will do in heaven.

The book is written for support groups, religion classes, people with chronic or terminal illness, individuals who fear death or are curious about it, the grieving, and those who give them counsel. Questions and answers for each chapter make the book suitable for a Bible study text.

 Brownell has written for Christian publications since age 15 and worked most of her career as a journalist at The Pueblo Chieftain in Colo., where she spent the last seven years as a medical writer. After moving to Springfield, Mo., in her retirement she continues to free lance for Christian publications and write non-fiction and fiction books. She is critique group leader for Ozarks Chapter of American Christian Writers and a member of American Christian Fiction Writers.

Her first novel, Joe the Dreamer: The Castle and the Catapult, was released Jan. 15, 2013. A non-fiction book, Confessions of a Pentecostal, published by the Assemblies of God’s Gospel Publishing House in 1978, is out- of-print but released in 2012 for Kindle. Her next book expected to be available this summer, is a self-help book, “Imagine the Future You.”