Jeff is a prolific blogger (goinswriter.com) who writes about writing. This book is an extension of those posts with a few juicy bits added.

Jeff loves giving; you can tell by the way he writes. In this case Jeff is giving advice on writing and how to get your writing out into the world for people to connect with. This advice is aimed at writers and wannabe writers who are too afraid to show their work to others (yeah, that’s me and probably you).

Throughout Jeff seeks to inspire and give practical tips on how to get started in this writing caper. In his fast-paced, sharp, and punchy style the reader is drawn into his personal stories and advice. It’s a great read and could be completed in one sitting if you’re keen.

If you’re teetering on the edge of wanting to launch yourself more seriously into writing but aren’t sure how to do it then this book answers your fears.

In fact, it’s all about fear according to Jeff. Fear is what stops us from doing those things we want so desperately to do. We are fearful of taking risk and in this case we are fearful of others reading our work and laughing, or criticising, or actually liking it!

The two main areas that Jeff writes about are:

Writing. It’s hard, it’s great, it takes practice, and it becomes you. Jeff wants you to find your voice and get you to start believing in yourself. You need to think of yourself as a pro. That’s simple enough isn’t it? Just say you’re a writer and begin writing.

Platform Building. Jeff gives tips on what to do to be heard. In this busy information filled world it is not easy for our ideas to stick. Jeff tells you how to make it happen. Through a bit of effort and consistency in your use of social media and blogging you can raise your platform just like he did.

This, however, does require a mind shift. The key ingredients to this whole argument are:

1. Choose Yourself. You’ve got to be the initiator and change your attitude to your writing. It’s no longer a hobby. You’re a pro. Stop waiting around for someone else to pick you on his or her team, start a team yourself. Practice, work hard, and put yourself out there. That’s what Jeff’s saying.
2. Overcome The Fear. Seth Godin calls it “The Resistance”. It’s that fear factor in the back of your head, or perhaps it’s on your shoulder, stopping you from becoming a real writer (Hang on, that’s right, you’re already a real writer). This fear is costing you. It’s costing you time and energy, it’s stopping you from pursuing your dreams. It’s costing you from taking risk. It’s time to get over that fear and begin.

Perhaps we’ll let Jeff say it in his own words:

“We’re afraid of the cost. Worried we don’t have what it takes. Anxious of the road it takes to get to greatness. So we play it safe and abide by the rules. Before we start, we sabotage our work and subvert our genius” (p13-14).

“Real artists risk failure every time they release their work into the world. If your words are going to matter, you will have to do the same. You will have to let go. Until you do, you’re not creating art. You’re just screwing around. Remember: The fear of something is always scarier than the thing itself. Yes, there is pain and rejection. But the greatest failure is to never risk at all” (p32).

So, what’d I think?

First, I think it is a great book and well worth the time to read. It didn’t take very long (2 days?) and is packed with inspirational advice about writing. I was certainly encouraged to get cracking on a few writing projects I want to complete.

Second, I don’t think it matters whether you’re a writer or not. Much of the book is really aimed at anyone who is creative, wants to be more productive, or in leadership. The principles in this book can help you launch yourself upon the world. Hopefully for the good!

Third, as I opened with, there are thousands of closet writers. Read this book and come out. I know I will be.

Fourth, if you’ve read a bit of Seth Godin, Michael Hyatt and the like then you will probably notice a fair bit of overlap. Much of the content within is described by Godin and Hyatt in their works. Jeff says it another way and specifically about writing – I think that’s great.

Fifth, if you’re still not won over to buy the book and you’ve actually read this far then my final point would be that you need to show him some sympathy. Go and buy the book. He’s a wranga after all, they need all the help they can get.

You can find more information or purchase Jeff’s book at http://youareawriter.com/.

1. Your First Two Years in Youth Ministry by Doug Fields
2. Fruit That Will Last by Tim Hawkins
3. Leaders That Will Last by Tim Hawkins

I also added a fourth in my response as years ago Al Stewart put out a little primer on youth ministry called No Guts, No Glory worth reading.

I’d recommend these books to anyone beginning in youth ministry or a good refresher for those who’ve been in it for a while. A number of years ago I also reviewed book number 3 which you can read here.

What are your favourites? What would you recommend if you were asked for your top 3?

Flickr: Tony Hall

Right this minute I am meant to be writing one for theology class that is due in just over three weeks. It’s a broad topic that requires truckloads of researching. To this point i’ve done minimal reading but have already written well over the word limit. In coming weeks I look forward to culling most of what I’ve written… :/

After a decade of formal tertiary study I’ve finally got to that place where I’m happy with my writing process. It’s not for everyone, I know a few people who couldn’t handle it, but for me, this is the process that makes me feel as if I’m being productive.

And the process is:

Read some. Write heaps. 

Yip. That’s it.

Once my initial reading is done and a broad structure has been outlined I simply sit and write whatever seems most pertinent to the question. I hate spending time worrying about where this idea or that comment came from. I do that later. I simply like writing words on a blank page culminating in a first draft.

With more drafts comes definition. The structure begins to tighten, loose words, sentences, and paragraphs are culled. The essay is on it’s way to being something that i will be happy with. But first I must have words on a page that I can work with.

I suspect that this process is a personal one. It’s not for everyone. I also expect that this process doesn’t bring me the best results. But what I do know is that the important thing is to have words stringing together that create paragraphs and pages for an essay. There is nothing worse that getting to the end of a study day having written very little. It is a must to write. I must see words forming, thoughts coming together, sentences growing, and paragraphs expanding. My writing process must include words written, no matter how early in whole essay process, no matter how muddled they are, no matter how little will be used in the end.

How about you? What’s your writing process?

1. Hawthorn
2. Geelong
3. West Coast Eagles
4. Collingwood
5. Essendon
6. Carlton
7. Sydney
8. North Melbourne
9. St Kilda
10. Fremantle
11. Richmond
12. Adelaide
13. Melbourne
14. Western Bulldogs
15. Port Adelaide
16. Brisbane
17. Gold Coast Suns
18. Greater Western Sydney

Always text or call when you are running late.

Regularly eat meals together.

Remember and celebrate special days and anniversaries.

In the case of an emergency – buy flowers.

Acknowledge your faults (incl. communication, body odour, and habits).

Go to bed at the same time.

Enjoy your life together.

Ramez is Egyptian and the leader of the Bible Society in Egypt. His talk, that i listened to this morning, is very powerful and challenging for anyone looking at or in ministry. He tells his story, speaks of what it is like to minister in Egypt, a bit of history about mission to Egypt, and also about the garbage people. Over-arching this talk is his five principles that a Christian leader should have.

After listening to both Piper’s and Ramez’s talks i think they are both worth listening to. I came away thinking that Ramez had put a few things in perspective for those of us in the West.

Highly recommended.

I did toy with the idea of working the Dewey system or using the Library of Congress numbers but decided that might be a bit extreme. In the end the best advice came from Andy Naselli’s post on “Why you should organise your theological library and a way how”. I’ve adjusted some of what he’s suggested but used the main categories to organise mine. My library is obviously not as big as his so it probably doesn’t need as much detail as what he has laid out. But here it is:

1. Biblical Theology

• Languages (NT Greek)
• Hermenuetics (how to interpret the Bible etc.)
• Commentaries (on each book of the Bible)
• OT & NT introductions, theologies, and overviews

2. Historical Theology

• Biographies
• Church & Christian History
• “Works” by old dead guys

3. Systematic Theology

• Bible doctrine (the sort of topics in a general systematic theology book)
• Apologetics
• Philosophy

4. Practical Theology

• Christian Living (all those great books people pick up at the front of Christian bookstores )
• Preaching
• Leadership
• Youth Ministry
• Church
• Pastoral Ministry
• Missions

At this stage all sub-categories are mixed in together in the broad categories. I’m not convinced this works for the Practical Theology section at this stage but it’ll take too much time sorting it out at the moment.

Comments? Suggestions? How do you sort yours?

If you’re like me then no doubt you visit the same sites each week, perhaps even each day. With GR the content that is on those sites come to one place and immediately after it’s posted. GR is then an efficient way of reading the articles and posts that i find interesting. It also means i don’t have to go searching for what i want, i can decide whether or not to read the content straight away, leave it for later or not even read it at all.

If you look at a number of sites each day or week then i’d recommend getting on GR. There’s just no other way.

If you’d like to subscribe to this blog then put joncoombs.com/feed in the search box over at GR. Alternatively, sign up via email on the right hand side of this page.

The books I’ve read are:
1. Troubled Waters: Re-thinking the theology of baptism by Ben Witherington.
2. Baptism: Three views ed. by David Wright.

A few initial comments on these books:
- They are both great books on baptism and I’m glad to have chosen these as the first two to read. They’ve covered all the issues that differentiate the baptist and infant views.
- Witherington is rather persuasive in his thoughts about the importance of infants and children. Not convinced this means that they should be baptised so young and without making a decision for themselves but puts the issue on the table well.
- The point above is linked to the very real question of whether children of Christian parents are saved or not. This has practical and theological ramifications and Witherington does well to persuade here.
- The importance of baptism seems to be undermined a little when Witherington questions it’s importance in the NT. This is odd considering he writes a whole book on baptism anyway. Certainly the weight of the NT on baptism is a consideration in whether one should make a larger than life issue out of it.
- Acts seems to be be main book for where the main arguments come from in this book. I did wonder whether it was relied on too heavily or not.
- The three views book is excellent with two particular scholars, B. Ware and S. Ferguson going at each other.
- Ware, a proponent of the baptist view, is more convincing here. Ferguson spends heaps of time explaining the covenants, which is good but isn’t so convincing re baptism and the NT.
- Ware is thorough in his exegetical points whereas the other two aren’t as much. The third view, a middle ground view that includes both views by A. Lane, is interesting but quite inventive and too reliant on historical grounds and not the NT.

Overall, these are two good books to begin with. It’ll be time to crack on with a few more in the coming weeks.