Blog Manifesto

So what is the point of yet another blog to add to an already crowded blogosphere? Why publish writings few have ever seen and many never will? God has led me, normally a very private person with no interest in social media, to share my writing. As I want to be a faithful steward of the talents He has given me, I have chosen to obey.

Why do I write?

I write for the glory of Jesus and to allow the Holy Spirit a tool to reach people and work in their hearts and lives.

Whom is the intended audience?

As a writer, of couse I want as many people as possible to read my work so in that sense my intended audience is anyone inclined to read my writing. But given the potentially controversial title of my blog, you would probably assume there is a more targeted audience. And you would be right. I don’t write for shock value but every writer does want to illicit some response from the reader. I didn’t choose this title to shock or confuse people. It is meant to attack the fallacy that God only sees us as unimportant pawns and uses ploys to keep us at arm’s length or guessing if He really loves us or that He is just toying with us. Isn’t the phrase “The Ploys of Heaven” painting God in a bad light? It is not intended to, despite what it sounds like. The phrase is meant to to address different ideas, scenarios, and false beliefs about God and how He works that seem to be nothing more than ploys- as if we are in nothing more than a cosmic game with Him and He is using us for His amusement. It is to address and attack the misconception that we are not important to God and neither is our suffering. Our lives, sufferings, and selves absolutely matter to God, no matter what our feelings, senses, thoughts, or others may tell us. Our tears are not unnoticed by God; our frustrations, failures, and longings are important to Him. He is not shallow, indifferent, uncaring. Whether most in the Church admit it or not, we all struggle with the question of “Does God really care?” from time to time. Some of us wonder this more often than others.

To be clear: God does not play games with our lives and we are not mere entertainment for the angels. We are eternally important to Him and He is anything but shallow. If God were fickle, uncaring, indifferent, and capricious as we often assume He might be than He wouldn’t have delivered up His Son to the most brutal death the world will ever know just to redeem, save and heal us, and let us be with Him forever. The Cross permanently settles whether God is the meaning of love. Whenever I begin to doubt if God loves me one thing I can never deny is that the sacrifice of Jesus forever proves His love. The Cross is the definitive evidence for a lot of things but also this truth: God doesn’t waste suffering. The truth is that the only ones that can waste our suffering, pain, afflictions, disappointments, failures, and frustrations is us. God won’t waste them if we but let Him have His way and work in our lives. If so, we will see Psalm 92:4 come to pass on a regular basis: “For thou, Lord, hast made me glad through thy work; I will triumph in the works of thy hands.” This verse doesn’t make me think of Him as a God of trivialities Who wastes His time or ours in interacting with us and loving us. It gives me hope that God actually wants me to enjoy life and find meaning and purpose in His love and work in, through, and for me.

To be more explicit I write for: the disillusioned who have all but given up on God and think God has all but given up on them; the broken- in spirit and heart- whose dreams became nothing more than living nightmares and regrets with shadows that are yet cast over their lives; those who know that though weeping may endure for a night that joy comes in the morning- except the night never seems to end and the morning never seems to come; those who don’t feel good enough for anyone- especially themselves and God; those misunderstood by the Church because every time they give the honest answer instead of the polite one people can’t understand (or don’t even try to) and drift away from them; those whose cynicism and frustration get the better of them because they are war-weary, exasperated, and exhausted; the people who have lost the awe of God’s love and think His face will never shine on them again; people who wonder if life is nothing more than a daily struggle of continual sighing, disappointment, anxiety, frustation, and defeat; the hopeless who forgot what hope truly is and that God is the God of hope; the hardened heart scarred by the consequences of their choices and the choices of others; those watching life pass them by and wondering when God’s plan will unfold, if ever; the absolutely desperate who can’t understand why God is taking so long or seemingly not coming through (and secretly think He never will.) 

How would I describe my writing voice?

I found my own writing voice years ago and it is based on this overarching premise: the honesty of the character (whether first-person or third-person) meets the honesty of God (found in the Bible) and the collision that results is my writing.

What kind of writing can you expect on this blog?

A few short stories, some personal essays, Bible commentary, and musings. For the time being most of the writing I will share will be poetry dealing with issues of the heart, faith, and soul but also an occasional romantic poem thrown in. My poetry is what I have spent much of my focus on and developed thus far more than other genres. But this isn’t your typical poetry. It is poetry with a purpose beyond poetry just for poetry’s sake. I seldom write funny or happy poems as I find them rather challenging despite possessing a decent sense of humor. My writing, especially my poetry, is not trite or whimsical. It is very serious and meticulously written with nothing less than the hope of God using it to change lives.

My honest prayer is that you will enjoy my writing, but more importantly, that God will use it to help and heal you. And if you don’t know Jesus as Savior, I pray that the Holy Spirit will use my writing in some way to help you in coming to know Him. Contrary to many opinions, Jesus is not overrated or over-hyped. He is everything- all we ever need and more than we could ever want or dream of. If you come to know Him personally you will see I am right. I sincerely hope my writings will lead you to agree.

In Christ’s love,

Chris