Stories

[Zoologistkid]

Sorry, Sillindle, I got confused that was your name. I hope I didn't offend you because of my goof up. I am really terrible with names and I mistook that for your name.

[anvilhauler]

Hi Caleb

Sillindle has summed up exactly what I had really been wanting to write too but I didn't want to be responsible for your perhaps leaving the forum and feeling crushed.  I hope you do stay here.  Like the others I agree it would be good that you changed the way the characters in your novel operated. 

Therein lies the skill of an excellent novelist.  How about writing a novel about a poacher who becomes a Christian and is repentant of all they have done in the past and then that person's interaction with the other people they have been around up until that point.  Your novel could also point out the struggles in life with no longer having such a readily available supply of meat and the other animal items they used to sell.  The more realistic to real life the more people will read a book and they can relate to the characters in the book.  Even I would read a novel that was real to life but I have to admit that I don't think I would read the ones you were initially proposing. 

I hope you are not hurt by anything written and I can assure you that I hope you do very well with your writing.  In writing an excellent novel you may have a big impact in a positive way on a very large number of people.

[Zoologistkid]

I first want to say thank you for worries, I will stay Kevin because where would I go? You all have great teachings and clearly are worried about me. You also give great responses and show Christ through your works. I want to create something unique, something that hasn't been done before. I have always been called unusual or weird (those are the most pleasant versions), so I want to create unusual things. I want my books to be realistic in many ways and do want to show animals. Don't forget to not judge a book by its cover, .

In all seriousness, however, I want to get people interested in the Bible with animals. His handiwork is seen in animals and in our very bodies. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse Romans 1: 20 but I won't take too far: And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things. Romans 1: 23.

[creationliberty]

Perfectly said Silindile. As you guys already know, I'm against the "stories" anyway because they're always fantasy, and fantasy doesn't help the church or unbelievers.
Fantasy Novels: Invitations to Hell

[Zoologistkid]

I have already that article, Chris and I know that you're against them. It was well written and got me away from paganism. I just to do something right for once. I can't stop this constant feeling that no matter what I do, I can't do anything right. Remember, how I said that I felt unworthy of your time, that was that feeling speaking. I have tried everything to try and help people: talking to them, giving your website to them, and like I said, creating stories but all three have shown themselves now just as useless as the next. Looks like I was right, I can't do anything to help anyone. I'm sorry if I bothered you by bringing up the topic.

[Jeanne]

Don't give up so easily, Caleb. We all have to go through a learning curve to see where the Lord can use us the most. Maybe writing non-fiction would be a better way to show off God's creation. Most of the books like that on the market now are put out by so-called 'creation ministries' that are so full of leaven they don't do anyone much good, either, and they're more interested in making money than in presenting the truth.

[Zoologistkid]

I am not good at making non-fiction plus it's just going to junk anyway. Every time I try something, it always goes bad for me in one way or another. I want to create the stories regardless of money, I want to give them away and run on charity. It's like a bad running gag, I try one thing, the thing turns out to be evil, bad, worthless, or some other thing (always negative).   Like I said, I am a better writer than I am a talker because I goof up so much in simple conversations. So why even try?

[Jeanne]

Why even try? Because a true failure is not one who fails at many things, but one who allows failure to keep them from trying again. God DOES have a plan for you, and just because you haven't yet found that plan does not mean that He has given up on you. You are not wasting anyone's time by being here; the church exists to help and encourage one another, but also to keep each other from straying away from God's word.

I thought Kevin gave you some excellent advice on how you could handle these stories. but you seem to have rejected that because it's not the kind of thing YOU want to write. Well, guess what? Living a godly life/serving God is not about what WE want, but rather, what GOD wants. And it's very often the case where those two things are in direct conflict with one another.

I'm sure there are many things Chris would rather be doing than have to rebuke/answer hateful email from people who claim to be Christians but aren't, too. He could just as easily give up the writing and teaching he does because there are so few people who will listen, anyway.

At least you have a DESIRE to serve God and spread His word, which puts you way ahead of most people, let alone most people your age. So hang in there, and figure out what God has in store for you. You need to be prepared to put aside your own desires in the process, though.

[anvilhauler]

I have already that article, Chris and I know that you're against them. It was well written and got me away from paganism. I just to do something right for once. I can't stop this constant feeling that no matter what I do, I can't do anything right. Remember, how I said that I felt unworthy of your time, that was that feeling speaking. I have tried everything to try and help people: talking to them, giving your website to them, and like I said, creating stories but all three have shown themselves now just as useless as the next. Looks like I was right, I can't do anything to help anyone. I'm sorry if I bothered you by bringing up the topic.

Hi Caleb

What you describe is so close to real life for probably all of us here.  We have all failed at so many things and it actually our failures that makes us the people who we are and gives us that determination to go on. 

In my job I work as a development engineer and that is what I get paid for, on the outside it probably sounds fantastic, I design and make items for the dairy industry as well as for horticulture and pest control.  Working in any kind of development has way more failure than success and that is just the way it is and it is why development costs so much.  Just in the last couple of weeks I developed a device for dairy cows, it got sent away and a vet had a try with it and sent it back as being totally unsuitable and has to be completely redesigned because they didn't tell me all the details I needed to know.  Just another job I thought I had made a brilliant job of and all five of the prototypes are only good for salvaging parts and the rest goes in the rubbish bin like so many other things.  A vast amount of what I do just goes straight in to the rubbish bin.  Does that get to me?   .....  yes, sometimes it sure does. 

Our problems are small considering we also have God watching over us and we have a sureness of the future whereas the general population are completely lost and have no idea about life.  They don't know where they came from, they don't know why they are here, they don't understand life and they don't know where they are going.  You know all of those things.  In the grand scheme of things you are an absolute winner. 

All in all, the way you feel is really quite normal and affects all of the rest of us probably way more than you imagine.    You're just like us.

[Zoologistkid]

Thank you both, Jeanne and Kevin for your kind words because I was very upset last night. I was crying because of the fact, the feeling that I couldn't do anything right just kept getting stronger and stronger until I couldn't take it anymore. Jeanne, I am terrible at writing nonfiction and I would be just regurgitating information. That would that I would tell you that the witchetty grub tastes like peanut butter when it has been cooked, rather than showing it off with a character eating one of them. I was brought up with the phrase "show, not tell" and I think it has stuck with me.

I really do want to help Christ and people but every time I try, I mess it up horribly. Be it accidentally dropping things onto feet, confusing people by not describing things better, forgetting where I got the information from, forgetting very important details, and other problems that I always cause. I don't know why but I have always had the feeling like back in fourth grade, the school was doing something about teaching about disabilities (at the time I wasn't diagnosed with Autism or ADHD, that wasn't until I was sixteen to seventeen years old), I was supposed to draw with my left hand (I am right handed) and draw my right hand with my back turned. I was the only kid in class who got upset because they couldn't create a good drawing. I think I am a perfectionist in a negative way, nothing I create is good enough. Like I said, every time I try something new it turns out to be some negative thing. There are people who believe they can do no wrong, I am the opposite, I can do no right. There are other feelings that don't go away either like I can't help anyone, the fear that someone is going to go to hell because I didn't do something correctly like talking, the fear for my friends and family, the worry that I will become a false teacher, and other negative things.

Thank you all once again for your words of rebuke or encouragement I pray that you all have a good day.

[creationliberty]

You're under the impression that you save anyone or that you make anyone have a love the truth based on how you phrase things. That's not what the Bible teaches us. It is the Spirit of God that gives men repentance and a love of the truth.
In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth;
-2Ti 2:25
Where did you begin to believe that it was by your own abilities that men would turn their ears to you? Certainly, we persuade men, but the Bible tells us that NO ONE seeks after God and NO ONE understands:
There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.
-Romans 3:11
Thus, it is by the Spirit of God that men understand and seek Him, not by a fancy method of words you came up with. Do you think you listened to my teachings because I have a grand way of presentation? No. You listened because the Spirit of God gave you understanding.

When I was saved, the Lord God put a huge desire to teach in my heart, but it took years before I started doing it because I thought I had to have a lot of money and support to start. Finally, I got to a point where I didn't care if I had money or support, I was going to do it anyway, and that's when things started moving. Later, I learned that I didn't need fancy ways to present anything; that the Word of God is given to men today in the same way that it was 2,000 years ago.

When I got started, I was in my apartment, alone, and going broke because the person who promised me a job to this new place I moved into went back on his word.

• I ended up having to move in with my parents.
• I had no job.
• I had no money.
• The man who originally helped me get started in ministry died shortly after I met him.
• I got involved in a creation organization that ended up making me go broke again on the lies of a pastor.
• Pastors and church buildings everywhere turned against me.
• I got fired from a job over giving a presentation in the town I lived in.
• 99% of the emails and communication I got were hate mail and scoffers.
• Churchgoers would commonly get on board with what I was doing until I rebuked their sin and then they would depart.
• My wife and I struggled to make ends meet, while all my so-called "friends" and most of my family abandoned us; all the while my wife was (i.e. used to be) mean and abusive to me.

I'm just giving a few examples here... but I kept teaching. Why? Anybody else, doing anything else, would have just quit because nothing was happening and no one would listen. It's because God put that desire in my heart, and if I have to put a finer point on it, the one thing that's really kept me going, is that God put in my heart this thing that... I don't know if I can describe it. When I see wickedness and false doctrines, I get angry and motivated because of the people who are being deceived; I can't stand to keep silent. Then, when I learned that God preserved His Word for that reason (Psalm 12), to protect the poor and needy, then I knew that God had put in me a strong sense of justice for those are oppressed, and that's really kept me going, to do what's right for the Lord Jesus Christ on behalf of His elect.

Fanciful writing can make you money if you market it to the right crowd, in the right way, but support for it will only come from leavened sources, and that's not what you want. What will invest into heaven and eternal life is to understand the doctrine of Christ, and teach it to others.
And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
-Mat 28:18-20

[Zoologistkid]

Chris, I know all of those things. I said that I feel that I can do nothing right and that feeling really happens when I believe that I have failed Christ. I don't believe that it is my abilities that will lead people to Him, however, I believe that it is my fault when I talk to people and when it doesn't go the way I planned (which always happens), I blame myself and my abilities. There are incidents where they believe I am lying because I forgot the verse location or where I got the information. I make all of Christianity look bad when I fail in these simple conversation. I really try to spread the truth but I fail miserably every time. I have the desire but fail in every way. Another reason that I was afraid to join all of you was that I was afraid that I was going to the little leaven that ruins everything for all of you. I'm sorry, Chris, I always feel like I am always going to ruin things for everyone and create problems for everyone. The feeling that I can't help anyone comes from all of these incidents rolled into one, I'm sorry. I know that I do not deserve the grace of God but I still feel like a failure and I'm trying to get rid of that.

[Jeanne]

There's a saying in network marketing circles that I believe is applicable here. I don't believe in a lot of the gobbledygook they teach, but this one thing I do believe to be true:

You can't say the right thing to the wrong person and you can't say the wrong thing to the right person.

Either someone is looking for the truth or they're not; either they will be receptive to the truth, or they won't. In either case, it doesn't matter what you say or how you say it; what matters is the condition of that person's heart and whether they will listen to the Holy Spirit or not.

So what if you can't remember where a particular verse is found or where you got a particular piece of information from? If a person calls you a liar because of those things, they were looking for an excuse not to accept what you were saying in the first place. Even if you said everything perfectly and had all of your information neatly organised and presented it in a compelling manner, they would find some other excuse not to believe or to get out of the conversation with you.

Like Chris said (indirectly), if you continue to wait for the perfect circumstances, you will never get started. Just go do what you feel you should be doing and learn as you go. Chris fell flat on his face many, MANY times before he got to where he is now, and so will you. The thing is to just keep going. I'm sure there were times the apostles felt like quitting, too. Having people say mean things to you is nothing compared to the beatings, torture, imprisonment, and threat of execution those guys faced every single day. Look how many times Paul had to leave places in a hurry because there were angry mobs out for his blood!

Look at it this way: If people hate you because of what you're saying, you must be doing something right!

[Zoologistkid]

Thank you, Jeanne, Chris, Kevin, for the words of encouragement. I can get a little depressed at times and I am trying to get rid of it. I will learn to be better at trying to reach to people with words. I am just rather new at all of this and have only tried to do so for the past few years. I am trying to make it so I don't get so fired up (emotionally distraught) about stuff, so I thought creating stories would be a relaxing thing to do. Chris, you're right about if I were to get support for the stories I would just get leaven and trouble. I am a little confused about what you said though,

Fanciful writing can make you money if you market it to the right crowd

. I said I didn't care about money and wanted to give the stories away.

I want to create the stories regardless of money, I want to give them away and run on charity.

I wanted to spread God's word and I thought that animals could be a way to create a talking point for they are so cleverly created. Their abilities, their design, and all about them just scream that they are created. Once I have them with animal information, I wanted to explain they had a creator and what happened to them to be fallen. I didn't want animals to have the traits of people because man is above animals. I also wanted to weave the information into the story along with the Bible. So I thought I could make stories about biblical topics where the people in the story learn along with the reader. I began to create stories based on topics like the environment/conservation, anger, how a country should be run biblically, keeping your word, and others. Looks like all that is for nothing and will amount to nothing. I was right about the stories being useless because you said it yourself,

fantasy doesn't help the church or unbelievers

[Zoologistkid]

I have an idea, I wanted to see what you all think. Maybe I could create a book about creationism and evolutionism are two sides of the same wicked coin. In the book, I could talk about evolution is bad but creationist organizations are just as bad. I'll talk about how the organization's yolk up with evil organizations, how they defend witchcraft holidays to an insane level, what leaven is, how corrupt they are with money, how uncharitable they are actually, how many of the organizations are not even lead by Christians, how full of false converts they are, and other wicked things that they do. I think it would certainly raise some eyebrows and ruffle some feather .

[Jeanne]

That's a possibility. Another thing I was thinking was that you could write a series in which a character (maybe a child) was listening to stories of different animals from an older person. This way, you could present all the known facts about each animal in short stories, along with the wonder of the child listening to the stories.

[Zoologistkid]

That is a good idea, Jeanne. Could you flesh it out a bit more?

I should let you know that I had more stories than the two I mentioned like Pests, What is a monster?, Job Finishers, Family Reunion, Predator and Prey? Nope!, Hooved Chaos, and more. Looks like all of those are destined for the trash barrel to burn, eh?

I liked to create the stories because it was a calming thing to do. I can get really upset because of the Autism and ADHD. I have really tried to work on my social skills during the past few years and I can thank Christ for that in Chris's article about charity. I really began to examine myself due to how blunt I was and how intense I was. I am still learning to less blunt and still trying to examine myself a lot. I am sanctifying myself the stuff I was interested in and the problems that come with them. Was it the same for the rest of you in the way you examined yourselves?

[ThomasHGW]

Hey Caleb, I dont think we've met yet, I'm Thomas and I joined the forum around april this year.
I have been reading this post but have kept silent on what is going on because I agree with what other people have already said.
I did have a thought on your situation.
It sounds like you are really interested in preserving Gods creation (poached animals) and exposing the wickedness that goes on behind the scenes. As well as the different kinds of animals out there.
I know this may take years but have you considered what it would be like to actually go out and do what you are thinking of writing about in real life? Then you could write about your actual experiences and the wickedness that you saw and what you did about it and include your testimony so that others will see the work that God has done in your life. I know you think ADHD and autism is a stubbling block for you but I know that God created you the way you are on purpose. You can look at it as a disability or an advantage, and you can let it bring you down or you can allow God to build you up into something that glorifies him. Allowing the way you are to bring you down does not glorify him in any way.

Was it the same for the rest of you in the way you examined yourselves?

I used to "suffer" from OCD where I would become incredibly stressed and anxious because I thought I had to touch things around the house a certain way or count the number of times I did something vain, and if I didnt do it right, I would have to start all over and it became very overwhelming.
Honestly I'm not sure how I "grew" out of it but when I started studying Gods word I became more relaxed in my every day life. I was able to put my burdens away and focus on His Word, rather than something completely pointless.

[Zoologistkid]

I have thought about it Thomas, however, I don't think I could do that. I am not that physically able and plus I hate dealing with certain textures. I hate it when it rains on me to the point where I almost go ballistic (which is what my family says what happens). On the topic of Autism, it can be a stumbling block because I am poor at catching/making sarcasm and I really had to learn social skills because I was so intense on people.

I want to get people to question stuff that we are taught. A lot of people think we have figured out everything, discovered everything, and all things have a natural explanation. The "know" that dinosaurs are extinct, they "know" that all religions are the same, they "know" that somebody is a hero or a wicked person, and how do they know this? That's easy, a lot of people believe it so it must be true or I was taught this from kindergarten up. People think that America is fine but the other countries need help. That statement is completely false, all countries need Christ but they are fooled into believing that they know everything about Christianity and that Christianity is nothing more than evolved paganism.

[Zoologistkid]

I have an idea that I think you would like. I want to create a story about said to be extinct animals in a different light than popular culture and hellywood teaches. They teach that if a man were to meet a said to be extinct animal, the two would fight and either the man would win or the dinosaur would eat the man. They teach that we are incompatible (incapable of living with) with creatures like dinosaurs, aquatic reptiles, pterosaurs, or any group of animal that they declare extinct. The book would a collection of stories of people meeting animals that people say are extinct. For example, a young girl lost at sea gets help from a mosasaur . Hellywood and popular culture show off any and all animals as bloodthirsty abominations that are gone from the world. I think it would an interesting read and I am also going to little hits at evolutionism with their millions of years insanity. Along with their beliefs in feathered dinosaurs, missing links, a meteor striking the earth, and other insanities that they cook up. I can already imagine the hate mail from them and from other people because I dared to question their holy sacred cow. I also want to show God through his creations and how God uses them for judgments.
Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. Matthew 10:29
I people to question what evolutionism says because everyone I have talked to has accepted their lies and defend them viciously. Do you think it would be a good idea?