How to Do a Radio Interview

photo © 2009 Renée Johnson | more info (via: Wylio)     With the publication of my three books, I’ve had to quite a few radio interviews, mostly on Christian radio. I’ve also done some TV interviews as well, but mainly I do radio, because it enables me to do it from home or office […]

How to get (and capture) ideas

Ideas are the lifeblood of the creative life. Whether you’re a poet, a pastor, or a professional contractor, ideas fuel your work. But even the most creative folks run out of ideas. So how do we stimulate more? Here are some things I do that seem to get the juices flowing again: 1) Move away […]

Friday Five Interview: Eric Metaxas (Repost)

  Our family is taking some needed vacation time, so I’m posting some classic Friday Five interviews. This interview with Eric Metaxas posted on March 11, 2011. It was the most popular interview on my blog so far. Eric is extremely candid in talking about the process of writing Bonhoeffer and defending his work against […]

Creative Tensions: Between the Editor and Your Voice

This is the third post in a series of posts on writing and the creative life. The other two posts are: “Between Annoyance and Passivity“; “Between Authenticity and Plastic.” Today I want to discuss another tension, the one that exists between your unique voice and the hot red pen of the editor. One of the […]

Creative Tensions: Between Plastic and Authentic

This is the second post in a series on writing I’m calling “Creative Tensions.” The first was entitled, “Between Annoyance and Passivity.” It is some advice on nurturing relationships that can grow your writing opportunities. Today I want to discuss another tension you will need to navigate in your writing, especially if you’re writing (as […]

Creative Tensions: Between Annoyance and Passivity

I’ve had some folks ask me to post a bit more on the writing life. So I decided to begin a series I’m calling, “Creative Tensions.” I’m not coming at this as an expert, as some kind of know-it-all bestselling author. My goal is to share what little I know about writing in hopes that […]

Shooting the Gaps

I’m a huge sports fan, and when the Cubs or Sox are actually good, I’m a huge baseball fan. I’m not sure there is another sport where each move, each pitch, each play can carry so much significance. Especially when you get the the playoffs. Well if you’re building a good baseball team you need […]

Friday Five: Jared C. Wilson

  If you’re a fan of Twitter (as I am), you’ll know that Jared C. Wilson is one of the great “follows.” He’s alternatively funny, serious, and poignant. Jared is a prolific writer, church planter, and conference speaker. He blogs regularly at his blog, The Gospel-Driven Life and at his group blog for writers, Thinklings. […]

Can We Retire This Word?

I’ve only been preaching for three years, so technically I’m a “rookie pastor.” But already I’ve seen some tendencies I’m working to correct. One I find in myself and also see in other Christian communicators is an over- use of the word, “most.” We arrive at a countercultural truth in our study, perhaps a doctrine […]

Friday Five Interview – Terry Whalin

If you’re a writer, editor, book publisher, agent or anyone associated with publishing, it’s likely you know my friend, Terry Whalin.W. Terry Whalin understands both sides of the editorial desk–as an editor and a writer. He worked as an editor for Decision and In Other Words. His magazine articles have appeared in more than 50 publications including Writer’s […]

Download Sample Chapter of iFaith

New Hope Publishers graciously allowed me to post a sample first chapter of my latest release, iFaith, Connecting to God in the 21st Century. This first chapter includes the table of contents, introduction, and first chapter. Hopefully it will give you an idea of the purpose of the book and whet your appetite for more: […]

Friday Five Interview – Renee Johnson

So today, I’m honored to have my friend Renee Johnson stop by. Unless you’re under a rock, you’ll know she’s the world-famous, “devotional diva.” Seriously Renee has been writing devos for 20-somethings for quite some time now. They are downloaded, tweeted, read by email, and forwarded by thousands of young people around the world. Lately […]