As of this year I’m on the other side of sixty. I made some past resolutions about what I would do when I hit this age. Seems I promised myself and certain others that I would gather all of my archived ministry material, and bring it forward into print. That is, into books.
Excuse me if this sounds pathetically self-important. I am a non-celebrity, mediocre in practically every way. Call my resolve to publish thankfulness, not vanity, gratitude toward the One who has graciously given for so long. And a hope that I just might bless someone else with what He’s given.
Anyhow, it’s always easy to say, “Someday…” so, I started the project yesterday.
The guys working with me have collected about twenty years’ worth of recorded teaching, training, fellowships, workshops, messages, and conferences.
Salvageable content will be an issue because a lot of material is fragmented. I’m talking about all those times when somebody forgot to hit the “record” button, or when equipment just wasn’t cooperating. This also includes notes that were accidentally pitched, files deleted, yada yada. In those cases, I’ll need to do some reconstruction work.
And some topics have lower priority. Frankly, certain themes were so specific to certain circumstances back in the day, that their relevance has completely disappeared.
Still, I figure there’s a dozen books that could emerge from that pile.
Sounds like a lot of work, which means a lot of time I don’t have.
That brings me to the point of this blog post. I can’t add ambitious writing projects to an already full plate of congregational leadership. I’ll need to rearrange some things.
This blog, for instance, in its current form, consumes a certain amount of time every week, as I generate new ideas, or upgrade and re-share old ones. I’m simply not one of those folks who can dash thoughts off on paper and be done with it. Writing is work.
Accordingly, I am going to transition this blog from a teaching oriented format to a less formal one. That will free up about six hours a week, which I hope to use for pursuing “The Project” I’ve shared with you. I still plan on posting here weekly—it just won’t be a mini-Bible study every time. Instead, you’ll find more a mix of personal observations and life experiences, church adventures, various updates, spiritual journaling, and Scripture, of course, informing all of it.
