I had just finished watching a Gospel music program on TV the other day and I reclined back in thought. I remembered when that group was just a blip on the radar, barely making it, but carrying a burning passion to carry the Gospel in the way they knew best, in singing and songwriting.

Have you ever watched someone as they grace ‘the big stage,’ perhaps preaching from the pulpit of the latest mega-church or performing their latest hit with a microphone or a guitar in hand, and you think to yourself, I wish God could use me that effectively? That He would just impart that exceptional wisdom or gift that could inspire many?

Certainly that has crossed our minds at some point, and then, perhaps we quickly cede to the nay saying voice we carry, “God could never use ME that way.” But could He? It’s easy to get caught up in the glamour of how others are used of God and we imagine ourselves in that role – with their gift.

What is your gift? What unique gift has He created in you to facilitate His purpose in your life? I think our discovery and calling of our gifts quite commonly parallel the Mt Sinai conversation Moses had with God. There are many great studies in these few passages, but we’ll stay on topic here.

God shows us a need and then makes a request. God said in Exodus 3, “I have seen the misery of my people… I have heard them crying out….and I am concerned about their suffering. I have come down to rescue them…… So now go. I am sending you to deliver my people from Pharaoh.”

Moses said what many of us have likely said before.  “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh?” Who am I? Why me? Certainly, God, you had someone else in mind here. And there was some legitimate cause for Moses to doubt. He, a shepherd, should go ask the ruler of a powerful nation to compromise his economic balance by releasing his slave labor? Let’s not forget that Moses had personally escaped two death warrants from this palace, first as a baby and then as an adult, for murder. Then God gave Moses specifics: who to talk to first and what to say.
So, after Moses recognizes the peoples’ needs, and hears details on how to carry out the plan, he asks that wonderful question “What if they don’t listen or believe me, or say you didn’t appear to me?” Is this our way of stalling, asking God, ‘are you sure?’

Identify your gift. God replies to Moses with perhaps one of His most important questions here, “What’s in your hand?” Moses, what’s your gift? Moses, what is it that you already excel in?
What’s in your hand? The only certainty here is if we don’t find our gift and be willing to use it, we likely will never know what He has planned our mission to be. What are you naturally skilled or gifted at? In some cases, others see our gifts before we do. Ask someone close to you, what’s my gift? Don’t be scared of the answer. And, if you need to watch yourself through those ‘new eyes’ for a bit just to be sure; it’s okay, see how you like it.

For Moses, it was simple. He was a shepherd so he carried a shepherd staff. God told him to throw it on the ground. It became a snake and he ran from it. Moses was afraid of snakes or he would not have run.

Using our gift may require overcoming fear. The snake was restored to a staff once Moses overcame his fear and grabbed its tail. Moses wasn’t done, however, and it is really nice to know that even when we carry our fair share of doubts, God is patient with us and will give us as much clarity as we need.

Moses, “Lord, I am slow of speech and tongue”. You’re asking me to speak here, and I’m not that person. I’m not the one who takes charge, or speaks in front of an audience. The silly thing is we forget that God already knows where we lack confidence or where we might even lack ability. He knows this before He makes these requests. So Moses just needed a reminder, as we often do.

God, “Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, the Lord? In other words, I already know that, and that, and that, and anything else you want to throw in my way. Let’s go already!

God’s next statement – my personal favorite portion of the story – is in Exodus 3:12. “Now go. I will help you speak and I will teach you what to say.” Moses, here’s your formula:  1.) Go, 2.) I will help you speak, 3.) I will teach you what to say. If we are willing to test faith’s waters and just go, stepping out on His words alone, then He will fill in the gaps with courage to carry out his request and then the words with which to speak.

My personal gift is in music. While I may have specific skills in music, my vision for it needs to align with God’s, not with what others may be doing with their similar gifts. And, God has responded in detail, giving me a passion to arrange music in ways that reaches out to all worship audiences in inspiration to lift up Christ.

Whether His scope for my gift is to remain focused in my congregation, or be distributed through many channels on a broad scale, or even simply relegated to the piano in my living room, by being faithful to His call for my gift, I will unleash His passion and purpose in my life.

Moses could NEVER have imagined the incredible gift of leadership that God saw. He had problems speaking, had some very visible fears and a past which littered his path with doubts. But his obedience to use his gift as God called on it, broke open a fountain of miracles that very few stories can rival.

That same staff was raised to deliver horrific plagues upon Egypt. It parted the great Red Sea liberating the trapped Israelites. It turned a dry desert rock into a pure water fountain from which the entire nation could drink. When that staff was raised over a battlefield it ensured their victory against much mightier enemies. It facilitated many miracles, each a testament to his gift and its preordained divine purpose. Let’s not forget that it is widely accepted that this aging shepherd, beginning this exhaustive ministry while in his eighties, also authored the first five books of the bible.

God may call on us to change the world for many, as in the case of Moses. Or, He may call on us to change the world for one person. Either way, He has granted each of us with unique purposeful gifts and He’s waiting for us to answer the call. What’s in your hand?

Previous Articles:

• Does God Really ‘Feel’ Me?
• Power of a Testimony
• Finding Relevance through Biblical Characters: Job
• Finding Relevance through Biblical Characters: Introduction
  

 And Now...How?

Say you’ve committed to writing for publication, chosen your market, ordered sample magazines, and studied their writing. 

You’ve opened yourself to critique, taken advice, and locked in for the long haul. You suspect you won’t get published right away, but you’re committed. You’ve got a plan, made crucial decisions concerning your schedule and personal habits, have clear focus on what you want to write, and an idea where to submit.

So now, you ask …how?

Let’s assume you dabble in short fiction—although as I’ve said, these steps can be adapted to different genres and markets, although publication for novels, non-fiction books, children’s illustrated books or poetry chapbooks follow slightly paths.

In any case – where to start? Well, you need to determine the genre.  Let’s say, (showing no personal preference), you’ve decided on horror/dark speculative fiction. You could type “horror fiction/dark fiction magazines” into Google, and come up with hundreds of results. Herein lies an important question, immediately: where do you ultimately want to go?

Potential Destinations

First of all, there are many different payment scales, but rather than use labels like “token payment”, “non-payment”, “contributor copy payment”, “semi-pro” and so on, let’s break it into four categories:

1. “4theluv”, non-payment, non-exposure: these journals are run by folks with little publishing experience or background, featuring little exposure. Often, these are online “ezines”, and the only contributor copy you receive is a .pdf.  Anthologies printed through Lulu.com often – but not always – fall into this category.
2.  “token payments”: magazines and ezines that offer flat payment for fiction, ($5, $10, $25), or offer payment per word – say, .005 cents – but still have a payment plateau.
3. “semi-pro and above”: magazines that offer at least .01 - .02 a word and don’t have payment cap but rather a word count cap, or anthologies that offer at least $60 - $80 per story.
4. Reputable magazines and anthologies, regardless of payment: Certain magazines are run by knowledgeable people, featuring well written material, that simply can’t pay every contributor in cash, and usually pay with contributor copies, or feature cash-prize contests. These magazines often have decent circulation and are well regarded. Their claim of “exposure” and “publication credit” actually holds merit.

Relief and Coach’s Midnight Diner fall into this category, (again, no bias), as do most college literary magazines – depending on the size of the college, and the nature of the publication.  Last year, I was a reader for my grad school’s literary magazine, The Harpur Palate , which pays contributor copies, but has received critical acclaim, and holds several notable, well-paying contests. A note: most college literary magazines don’t accept genre fiction, and those that do usually gear towards fantasy and science fiction. A good example is The Fairy Tale Review, a co-publication of The University of Alabama Press.

One genre magazine that’s fairly reputable and only pays in contributor copies is The Ghost Story Society’s All Hallows magazine, which I find interesting, because the website itself isn’t that impressive. However, I’ve heard many good things from notable writers. Also, Morpheus Tales, a new magazine in the UK, has featured many interesting writers who’ve done well, and Fear and Trembling Magazine – though only offering token payment – shares the corner market on Christian horror with Coach’s Midnight Diner.

Why cover this first? Honestly, because I wish someone had done the same for me three years ago. If you’re choosing this route to publication, consider your list of credits as a writing resume. Even though the quality of your writing and story, the needs of a publisher, your professionalism, and God’s Will are the ultimate factors determining publishing success, there’s much to be said for “reputation by association”.  Who you hang out with, associate with – who you’re published by and with – can make an impact.

I’ve seen lots of opinions, blogs, and rants on this topic – some of them pretty scathing, almost demeaning. A very good blog about this topic posted recently by Christian Horror Writer, (note: not writer of Christian Horror), Maurice Broaddus addresses this issue with candor.  Here’s my take: in the beginning, I don’t think it matters. During college, when you’re working for pennies in the dinning hall or at the supermarket, you’re not worried about your resume. You’re learning good work ethic, timeliness, responsibility, and earning enough to scrape by.

As you start to send fiction into the market, I think it’s the same way. Hitting a few “4theluv” markets in the beginning is more for your benefit. It boosts morale; you put process into effect, and refine it. At some point, however, an important question needs to be asked: where do you want this to ultimately go?

Why Are You Doing This Again?

If you’re writing for your own enjoyment, (which we all do to some extent), and have no career plans for writing, you can do what you like. However, if you’re interested in a career, you need to look closely at where you’re submitting work, analyzing the quality of their format, their writers, their circulation, and their pay scales.  If you’re in this bracket, the following three are huge priorities:

1. You want to gain some “street cred”
2. You want to gain some fans
3. You want to get paid

For the most part, you won’t obtain these by submitting to “4theluv” and “token payment” publications. Honestly, I am extracting myself from #1 and #2, and applying myself to #3 and #4 (though you should  break these rules as you see fit) Say you submit a few older stories to ezines, simply to have links to stories from your website that browsers can read in a mouse click. Feel free. Say a close associate who runs a token payment anthology solicits a story, and you have no previous writing conflicts – why not? Be careful, though, and I write this warning as someone who, again, wishes I’d been counseled this from the very beginning.

So now – all that stuff is out of the way. You’ve finished your first story, typed ‘The End’, proof-read it to death, and learned how to recognize different types of publications. So where do you find them?  And how do you approach them? Tune in next week to find out.

Not Exactly An "Acceptable" Request

When my pastor looked at the floor, I knew my prayer request wasn't what he wanted to hear.

It was Wednesday night. The night of the week when my church comes together for the midweek "Family Night" service. Kids tucked away out of sight in the basement for their programs; adults upstairs in a circle of chairs for Bible study.

At the end of the evening, Pastor asked for prayer requests. I had one – a pretty good one too. Or so I thought.

"I write for a couple of websites and I'm trying to figure out how to be a good witness"

I'd love to say Pastor jumped up with a shout of praise or a heart-felt Amen. "Way to go, Monica! What a great opportunity!" Nope. Nothing like that for me. Like I said, he looked at the floor, and one of the church deacons, sitting next to him, did the same.

Oops. Body language.

If you think that reaction was bad, it gets even worse.

"The evil on the Internet... '' Pastor ran a hand through his hair. That's about all I heard, cause the rest I didn't want to hear.

Let me just put this out there before I continue:

I love the Internet, with all it's social groups, Facebook, blogs, and StumbleUpon. The people I've met through blogging and Twitter I consider my friends, just as real as flesh and blood relationships. Hey, I'm a stay-at-home mom, don't forget. I need my water cooler time too. Online shopping makes Christmas fun. Suddenly writing alone at night isn't so... alone. Company is just a click of the mouse away. Often you must ignore it, or get nothing done.

Oh, and email. I love getting email.

A Different Generational Perspective

I understand where my Pastor is coming from, I'm sure he's dealt plenty with the dark side of cyberspace. The porn, the chat rooms with Lord-knows-what going on, the predators lurking, wanting to lure a child to harm. A few years back we had a guy in our congregation meet a young lady online, they married, but the marriage crashed and burned after a short run.

My Pastor is of a different generation, a grandfather. Perhaps if he were younger, he would see the Internet differently, like I do. He has a computer with Internet access in his office (with some sort of software to block naughty sites) that he uses for writing the sermon, email and research, but using the web for social interaction – I bet he thinks it's a waste of time.

Now that you know where I stand, I want to hear from you: Is the Internet the devil or your friend? How does your church use the web to its' advantage. And does your Pastor need to be baptized into the beauty of free high speed Internet and FriendFeed?

Relief's Editor-In-Chief Kimberly Culbertson points readers to some helpful advice from a wonderful writer.

Relief Author and Pushcart Nominee Christopher Fisher posted an article over at So You Wanna Be Published . Here's a teaser:

Work out your salvation with fear and trembling, but not your novel (or poem, or essay, or short story).

When I was reviewing manuscripts for The Texas Review, there were two particular things in a story that would turn me off quicker than anything. The first was a narrative voice that lacked confidence. The second was a story that was poorly imagined. At the heart of both of these flaws, I think, is a basic lack of courage. In the voice or the action or both, there is no gusto, no “umph.”

Why? Is the author unsure of himself? And if he’s unsure of himself, why should I read the story he has to tell me?