Hello everybody,
I'm a long time lurker on here and thought I would make the jump and join you all on this forum.
I'm considering writing a book titled "The Great Tithing Scam".
Obviously it would be about how tithing is in fact not a requirement of those living under the new covenant.
Is this something that we feel needs writing and would be a good contribution to Christian culture?
Thank you.
The best piece of advice that I received from a good mentor was that if I got an idea, put it in writing, because then I would have a permanent record of it. Often we get inspiration from God's Word and if we don't put it in writing then it is soon forgotten. Also, I learned that when I got an idea and started writing about it, it soon turned into an article or book. As a result, over the last few years I have written a number of books and articles, which were shared through an international ministry run by a friend and mentor, and it was quite a blessing for me to received feedback from people in India and African about how they were blessed and uplifted by a particular book or article I wrote. It actually amazed me that I can sit at my computer like this, spend a few hours writing a book about, for example, "How do we know that Jesus is alive today?" have it published through the international ministry and have someone all the way from Africa say how they were blessed by it. That wouldn't have happened if I had not have taken the time to put my thoughts into writing.
We often think that the ideas and inspiration that we receive is not that special - that everyone knows about it. Such is not the case. I wrote an article for the international ministry called "Examine yourselves to see if you are in the faith" in the early 1970s. A couple of years ago, my mentor in the ministry sent me the article, and I read it through and realised that if I wrote that article today, I would say exactly the same thing. This shows the enduring quality of a piece of writing that when assisted by the Holy Spirit, remains as true 40 years after it was originally written.
So, it is important to get your ideas down on paper, or in your computer, and then file them away. Or you might start writing and more inspiration comes until you have written 60 pages of a book that might be useful and helpful to others.
Then, I learned how to self-publish, with Title page, Contents page, Copyright page, page headings with numbers, footnotes where necessary. Then knowing to have the number of pages divisible by 4 so I could print it out as a booklet. I then designed a cover and printed it out as a 4 page booklet on heavier grade paper. I had access to a colour laser printer that made the cover more attractive. I bought a long-arm stapler to stable the booklet together. I wrote a book called "Why do we come to church?" of around 40 pages. I put it together and gave a copy to each person in the church. I felt it was important to get the message to them.
If the book became too large to just staple together, I learned bookbinding, and made myself a wooden bookbinding press (from Youtube), and produced a number of books that way, using cotton thread and PVA glue. I had to print the book as a number of 4 page booklets, which I folded and pressed together, drilling holes with a fine drill and threading through them, then gluing the ends. I found a number of instructional videos on Youtube to assist me.
If your church is supportive of your writing and decides that your "message" is important to them, they may provide funding for paper, ink, copying, and other supplies to help get your books printed and published. There may be authors in the congregation who can give you advice and proofreading, and assistance to getting it more widely published. I have put my books on Amazon Kindle, and I have had some sales. But don't expect to make heaps of money from that. There is a lot of competition out there and after around four years of having books on Amazon, I haven't made the first $100 for them to be able to send me a cheque (I can't receive electronic funds transfers to New Zealand from Amazon).
So, there it is. I hope that this has been helpful to those who think they want to embark in a writing ministry. Every now and again I get inspired and I can spend hours writing because the ideas keep coming and I don't want to stop in case I forget something important. I can write a booklet in a day (I am a fast, trained typist as you can see) and can type as fast as I can think, which is an asset when putting ideas down on the page.
So, my advice is, if you get an idea, write, write and write some more. Let a trusted mentor proofread your book for errors, and confirm to you that your doctrine is correct and your book will be helpful to others. Take a notebook with you wherever you go so that if you get an inspiration while you are away from your desk, you can write it down so you don't forget it. Don't let anyone pour cold water on your ideas, because your ideas are unique to you. As you write, you may be amazed at how the flow comes, and often you will get the sense that the Holy Spirit is helping you with fresh ideas. Sometimes you might feel that the flow is like giving a prophecy, except that you are writing it down.
Also, you will get Scripture verses come to you, as they do for me, to confirm through Scripture your own thoughts. I use Google to enter the parts of the verse that come to me, and I am able to get the full quote plus the reference, on Biblehub or Bible Gateway. I often have MS Word cascaded alongside Google Chrome so I can quickly switch from one to the other.
This has been a long post, but I think worthwhile for those thinking that they may have a writing ministry but are wondering how to get started.
