Adopt- A-Christian Author

Hi,


My wife, Shanita, and I happily welcome you to this website which tells you about the October 1-2, 2004 Mid-Western Christian Book Fair in Iowa (www.christian-book-fair.com), why and how to adopt a Christian author and HOW TO TELL A GOOD CHRISTIAN BOOK.

We believe you visited this site because you like Christian books and delight in celebrating the sovereign Christ who is the focus of Christian books. Isn't that wonderful? Surely, it is. Allow us, therefore, to ask you some simple questions.


***Do you want to see copies of your favorite Christian author’s book(s) in your church library, school or city library?

***Is yours a church or school wishing to incorporate Christian book reading in one or more of its activities?

***Are you a Christian not-for-profit organization, bookshop, grocery store, gift shop, restaurant, service provider, department store, discount chain and you have been thinking of a very cost-effective way of attracting more clients?

***Are you a customer service-minded business that wants to give customers a special delight?

***Do you know that a Christian author can help garner goodwill for you and improve your influence and patronage within the community?

***Do you know that people hold authors in high esteem and are delighted to see, interact with and get autographs from them?

***Are you a Christian youth or adult interested in promoting Christian writing?

***Have you always wanted to be close to an author or have you always imagined what makes a typical Christian author tick?

***Have you always wanted to be an author but have not yet articulated your ideas for print and you want to derive inspiration from an author?

If your answer to any of those questions is YES, then join the wagon. Be part of our Adopt-A-Christian Author Program !!! It’s simple. It’s easy. It’s free.

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Please, mark your calendar for...

Mid-Western Christian Book Fair, October 1-2, 2004 at Robert Lee Recreation Center, Iowa City, Iowa.

Major highlights: book sales by Christian authors, publishers, bookshops, book distributors; exhortations; conferment of eight MCBF awards; much fun!

Admission free to members of the public. Remember to nominate your favorite Christian author, publisher, bookseller, news media and book buyer for the MCBF awards.

Details at www.christian-book-fair.com.

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You Want To Know How?

(1) Browse our list of authors at www.christian-book-fair.com

(2) Choose one (or more)

(3) Get in touch with the author(s) through their contact information

(4) Buy at least one autographed copy of the author’s book(s). It is important that it is autographed

(5) Encourage your friends, relatives, colleagues and acquaintances to buy the author’s book(s)

(6) Request the author to give you his/her promotional materials for distribution to people

(7) Keep in touch with the author through emails, phone calls or surface mails. Feel free to ask the author questions about the bible and/or his/her books.

(8) Arrange a face-to-face meeting with the author and do not forget to take a photograph with the author

(9) Find out the author’s birthday or wedding anniversary and give him/her some presents

(10) Write about the author in your school, church, business, professional or community newsletter or the local newspaper

(11) Tell bookshops in your community to stock the book(s) of the author and to host the author regularly (book signing)

(12) Encourage organizers of events in your school, church or community to invite the author to grace or speak at their occasions.



IF you’re a business or not-for-profit organization


(1) At least, once a year, the author will grace an occasion organized by you – to be mutually agreed upon. It could be an anniversary or fundraiser. If you are a church or school, the author can come and read excerpts of his/her book(s).

(2) If you are a business, the author will, at least one day in a year, be your official greeter, welcoming clients to your shop/business premises and also promoting and selling his/her book(s). The author can give a brief talk on an issue related to his/her book(s) which, you can be sure, will be a pleasant delight to your clients.


What You Will Do For The Author


(1) Buy copies of the author’s book(s) and give as prizes, gift items

(2) Donate copies to your church or local library

(3) Distribute the author’s promotional items like bookmarks, leaflets, pens, key holders (which the author will supply to you) to your clients/visitors/partners.

(4) Keep at least three copies of the author’s book(s) in your shop/business premises/offices for display and perhaps sales purposes. You may buy the book (s) from the author and resale on commission basis or the author will supply the book(s) to you at their own expense with the understanding that if you sell any book, you will make the payment available to them.




BUT YOU CAN GO A STEP FURTHER:


If you are the more entrepreneurial type, you may choose to sponsor the printing of the author’s promotional materials (which incidentally is not high in cost) and have your advert placed on such materials.



You may even decide to sponsor the printing of his/her next book(s) or reprint(s) and have your organization’s advert placed permanently in the inside front cover or inside back cover of the book(s) or both, which means that wherever the book(s) goes, your advert goes.


You may provide accommodation, transportation and boarding for the author when you invite him/her to an event you organize in your area but that is in no way an obligation. Besides, the author is not obliged to heed your advice regarding the content or presentation of his/her book(s).



For more information, please contact me, Paschal Eze, at metapas2@yahoo.co.uk. Fax: 1-8016841562.

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Paashan News Service Commits To Christian Authors

Paashan News Service has transformed itself into a Christian author promotion hub.

Its website, www.PaashanNewsService.com, has been given a complete makeover of content, outlook and focus.

The site which was hitherto used for news syndication is now promoting Christian authors, Christian books and author events, all for a token annual subscription fee.

According to its Marketing Director, Shanita Eze, "We responded to the needs of the market and we're very happy about the newfound ability to help Christian authors and others in the Christian book industry."

The site, she went on, is primarily for the self-promotion savvy Christian author who sees book writing as a vocation and ministry.


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EARNESTLY SEEKING SUCCESS? CHECK THIS OUT



My Success Creed

I believe my God created me to be a success
And that Christ died to guarantee my success
His Spirit dwelling in me leads me on success path
Therefore, I have no fear of failure
I have all it takes to be a success
And I will succeed in Jesus name

I believe the Bible is my success pathfinder
I will study and meditate on it always
I will think, say and do what it says I should
To be a success

I believe I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me
Nothing, nobody and no devil can stop me
From being the success I was created to be
Because the God of my salvation is for me
And He is greater than everybody, everything, every devil and every problem

I believe my success will not turn me away from God
I will rather glorify Him for, and with my success
And let others light their candles at it for love’s sake

Amen!

© Rev. Paschal Eze, 2004
Author, Help! My Success in Chains, a biblical guide to attaining and retaining real success. Visit www.successbook.ezc.info


Note: Please, feel free to print, frame and place this creed in your home or office or to give it to friends and loved ones as love gift.You can be sure they will appeciate it.


If you email me at metapas2@yahoo.co.uk, I shall send you an autographed copy of the creed. Success is your portion in Jesus name!

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HOW TO TELL A GOOD CHRISTIAN BOOK
by Paschal Eze

There are millions of Christian books in print around the world and many more are being added to the long list mainly because of the increasing number of Christian authors, publishers and potential readers. Readers of Christian books are therefore faced with the burden of choosing the right books that meet their varying spiritual needs more so when their dollars are pulled from left, right and center by their many needs and wants.

This piece which is by no means the last word on the subject is an attempt to help them make that choice. It is also an attempt to help Christian authors stay focused on the author and finisher of our faith, Christ, and not on themselves.

It begins with the permissible definition of a Christian book as a bound printed volume aimed at drawing, transforming and nourishing the lives for whom Christ died a shameful death on the cross and resurrected in amazing victory. That simply means that Christian book writing should not just be a past time or something motivated by monetary gains. It is a ministry and I believe by reading a Christian book, you can tell whether the author sees the book as a ministry or money-spinner. A Christian author is among the laborers God has called to His harvest.

The Mistakes

There are five major mistakes people make when choosing a Christian book:

(1) The Hype: Some Christians take any hyped and made-to-look-great book with a Christian focus as a very good one. If there is a lot of buzz about the book, it must be really good, they hold. That’s the way of the world and we Christians should not follow it. A book may be hyped up but evasive in the core task of helping to win, transform or nourish the precious lives that Jesus died for. In II Samuel 15, we read of how Absalom, one of King David’s sons, “stole the heart of the men of Israel” by mischief. He hyped himself up and became very popular among the men of Israel who supported him in a coup plot against his own father.

Now, let’s go to I Samuel chapter 4. The account there is of the people of Israel in one of their frequent battles against the Philistines. When they lost in the first round of the battle, it was obvious to them that God was not in their midst. So, they sent people to Shiloh and they brought the ark of covenant of the Lord, which signified God’s presence, into the battle camp. “And when the ark of the covenant of the Lord came into the camp, all Israel SHOUTED with a great shout, so that the earth rang again.” And what happened next?

They also lost the second round of battle, despite the “presence” of the ark of the covenant of the Lord which they had brought in with great, earth quaking shout. The shout made only one short-lived impact – it initially frightened the Philistines. But who won the battle? The Philistines did! The reason is simple. The people of Israel had offended God who usually fought their battles and no amount of shout could have fetched them victory.

The question in verse 3 “Wherefore hath the Lord smitten us today before the Philistines?” shows they knew they must have offended God but instead of repenting of their sins and seeking the face of God, they hastily thrust themselves into the wrong judgment that God will ignore their iniquity, desecrate His own holy presence and fight for them. God does not work that way.

Did the ark cease to epitomize God’s presence? No! How do I know? I Samuel chapter 5 tells us that when the Philistines took it into the house of their god, Dagon, in Ashdod, their god was dismembered and God rained His judgment on the people of Ashdod, smiting them with a plague of boils. “The ark of the God of Israel shall not abide with us: for his hand is sore upon us, and upon Dagon, our god,” they lamented.

Still talking about the ark, history has it that Roman General Pompey who conquered Jerusalem in about 63BC had described the ark as a mere hype after entering the Holiest of Holies and finding no ark. Apparently, the ark had been safeguarded by the priests but Pompey had expected to see it in its glow in the Holiest of Holies. He must have dreamt of what it looked like since he had heard a lot about it, but his dreams and very high expectations were dashed because the Holiest of Holies had become only an empty room in the absence of the ark. So, if a hyped book does not proclaim the gospel and glorify Christ, it is like an empty room even if it is on everybody’s reading table.

(2) The Sales: Some judge a book by the number of copies it has sold, the very yardstick of the world. It is just like judging a congregation by its number. Granted that “the more, the merrier,” the point has to be made that it is not so much about the number as it is about how well members of a large congregation are imitating Christ. I Samuel 14: 6b says “for there is no restraint to the Lord to save by many or by few.” Put differently, it is not about number. And in Judges 7:2, God makes it clear that it is all about Him-His power and His love. No more, no less.

There is nothing wrong with selling many copies of one’s book. That’s the desire of every author, including me. Of course, the more copies of a Christ-pointing and glorifying book are sold, the more people are saved and nurtured and the more money that is brought into God’s kingdom on earth. But that’s is IF the book is directing people to Christ and glorifying Him. If a book does that and sells only a few copies, so be it.

Just as the Holy Spirit can lead a minister to preach a Sunday sermon to a 5, 000 member congregation but specifically addressing the immediate or remote need of only one member, a book can also be purposed by God for one soul and nothing more. The moment that soul is won, the purpose of the book has been fulfilled, even though the book may still be selling. A party is thrown in heaven to celebrate the sinner’s repentance as we learn from Luke 15:10.

Is it not instructive that in the parable of the sower, not all the seeds fell on good ground? There were the rocky ground, the thorns and the way side waiting to rubbish some seeds. The most important thing was that those that fell on good ground “did yield fruit that sprang up and increased; and brought forth some thirty, and some sixty, and some an hundred.” God’s thoughts are higher than our thoughts and so are His ways.

(3) The Name: Some conclude that books written by big-sounding names on TV or the pulpit are priceless reading, just as the world does, forgetting that God can use anybody and anything to bring about His will. He used a donkey in the case of the deviating and disobeying Prophet Balaam in Numbers 22 and in Luke 3, John the Baptist warned the multitude that “God is able of these stones to raise up Children unto Abraham.” The work of evangelism is for everybody who has believed in his heart and confessed with his mouth that Jesus is Lord.

The Great Commission is for every Christian and a Christ-glorifying book written by a poor and unknown widow is as good as the one written by a well-known miracle crusade figure. The bottom line is being in obedience to God, doing what His Spirit leads us to do. There is nothing wrong with any televangelist or pastor writing a book but there is something wrong if such a book is assessed primarily by the status of the author. Imagine what the people in Jesus’ village had said about him in Matthew 13:54-56: “Whence has this man this wisdom, and these mighty works? Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother called Mary? And his brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas? And his sisters, are they not all with us? Whence then hath this man all these things?”

It was beyond their comprehension how a carpenter’s son could possess and display such wisdom and mighty wonders. To them, wisdom should flow from the ranks of the high and mighty, those in authority and those who are rich and influential. They believed wisdom has nothing to do with financially poor, low class people. That’s not different from assessing a book by whether the author attended one of the leading theological seminaries or whether he is a TV personality or someone that pastors a large congregation.
The bible says “Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise (Matthew 21:16).”

(4) The Aesthetics: Some see any book that looks colorful as a must read, again as the world does. Let’s get it right here. There is nothing wrong with a Christian book having a colorful cover and a beautiful layout. In fact, I recommend them to Christian authors who seek my advice. My books have colorful covers. But those are not the things that make them Christian books. If Christianity is all about being colorful, Christ would not have been born in a manger amid smelly dung of animals.

If a book’s colorful cover and layout are where the importance of a book dwells, what about the content? The cliché “all that glitter is not gold” comes handy here. In Luke 11:39, Jesus noted that the Pharisees “make clean the outside of the cup and the platter; but your inward part is full of ravening and wickedness,” and one can relate that statement to a scenario of a colorful book with a shallow content. Publishing experts will tell you publishing is 10 per cent content, 30 per cent presentation (layout, cover design, binding, etc) and 60 per cent marketing which has now been reduced to mere hype.

I would rather submit that Christian publishing should be 100 per cent Christ-focused and glorifying content. It should be content, content, content!

Presentation and marketing are important but they are meaningless if the content does not glorify Christ even if the book sells 200 million copies. This point is buttressed very well in I Samuel 16: 7b, where God told Samuel, “for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.” In other words, what is on the inside is more important than what is on the outside.

David proved this point. He was probably not as tall and handsome as Saul (I Samuel 9: 2), but unlike Saul, he was a man who understood what responsibility is all about. As a boy, he was busy watching over the sheep of his father in the dirty jungle fields while his seven older brothers were at home adorned in their robes and most likely idling.

His sense of responsibility had made him go after and kill the lion and the bear that menaced his father’s sheep. He was summoned from an unsavory and uncelebrated duty to be anointed for a similar but dignifying and more demanding post. Note that he went on to humbly and loyally serve Saul, the person he has already been anointed to take over from as king of Israel, as his armor bearer.

(5) The Size: Some Christians take any book that has many pages as top quality, yet again as the world does. A Christian journalist once told me that a book that is not up to 120 pages is not good and deserves no review. I disagreed. In my training in Librarianship in the 80s, I learnt that a book is a bound printed volume that is at least 50 pages. Anything less is a pamphlet. My position on that has not changed but I believe a self-published 30-page Christ-centered pamphlet can make more Christ-glorifying impact than a 400-page hardcover, widely endorsed, traditionally published book by a very popular figure. If a faith as little as a grain of mustard seed can move mountains, so can a book of 50 pages and above written to glorify God move mountains. After all, Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount is only three chapters and 109 verses, yet it is the engine room of His teachings. Albert Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, calls it “His manifesto for the church.” Paul’s epistles were not bulky, nor were the four gospels. So, a Christian book may be 50 pages or above and yet convey the right message the right way.


The Meters

I have identified four major things to look out for when choosing a Christian book. You can prayerfully add yours.

The Message:
Find out what message the book is conveying. Is the book Biblical or is it expounding human philosophy? Is it talking about the undying love of God for sinners and saints or about the fantasies of the author? There is no fence-sitting in Christianity. A book is either telling the truth or denying it, nourishing lives or destroying them. In page 135 of Rick Joiner’s book, The Final Quest, he was told to recover the ministry and the message which have been lost by the church. Challenging, isn’t it? He was told that ministry is sacrifice and the message is the cross. In page 125, Rick himself talked about Jesus being God’s communication to mankind. Nobody else is.

In Acts 4: 12, Peter made it clear that salvation is in no other name, except that of Jesus. Peter and John were later in that chapter commanded by the authorities not to preach in the name of Jesus but they vehemently refused. “And they called them, and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus.” The devil is still giving such a command today but unlike Peter and John who boldly declared “Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye,” some are heeding subtly, trying hard not to offend people, not to lose members and sponsors. Should we be obsessed with being politically correct but spiritually wrong? Writing under the caption “Is Christianity Under Attack Here In America,” Reverend John Miller of The Church of Living Water responds succinctly thus: “we must not take away the sting of that message” just to “make us seem to be tolerant.” I concur.

The Motive: This is related to the message factor for if the motive is right, it will be evident in the message. Is the book drawing its readers to Christ or to the author? Is the author trying to share God’s glory with Him or even to seize it completely? This is one of the issues my book, Playing Casino With God (www.paschal.ezc.info), addresses. Every thought, every word, every gesture, every road, every book in Christianity should lead to Christ and nothing and nobody else.

If I write a book to bring attention to myself or glorify myself, it cannot be a Christian book because a Christian book directs people to Christ. Period! Note that in John 16: 13-14, Jesus said the Holy Spirit that now lives in us and guides us will not speak of Himself but will speak of, and glorify Christ. Pure and simple! In Acts 1: 8, Jesus made it known that the Holy Spirit’s main role in our lives is to help us witness about Christ everywhere, not about ourselves. A Christian book should be an effective medium to witness about Christ because He gives the power to write.

James 1:17 tells us that every good and perfect gift comes from God and Luke chapter 19 reminds us that we will give account of our gifts and talents. It was multi-award winning Christian author and journalist Philip Yancey who described writing in his book Soul Survivor as about “bringing spiritual oxygen to people trapped in air-tight boxes,” and that’s the truth. Christian book writing is a God-ordained ministry.

The Method: A Christian book should convey a Christ-centered message in a clear, simple and easy-to-understand manner. A Christian book is a means of communication and the essence of communication is understanding.

If I want my book to help bring people to Christ and nourish those who are already in Christ, I should write in a way that the people I am targeting will understand me. If I dwell in high-sounding words, jargons and abstract or ambiguous expressions, I am either forcing a number of my target readers into cognitive closure or throwing them into utter confusion. How is Christ glorified in that?

The Bible tells us an interesting account of two sets of people that God broke the news of Christ’s birth to - the Bethlehem shepherds and the wise men from the East. Because the shepherds could identify with an angel and knew what an angel was, God sent an angel to break the news to them and a host of angels to kick off the praise party. To the men from the East, He sent them a star which they could understand. Sending them an angel could have been like giving me a French book to review. I wouldn’t know where to start since I speak English and review only books in English.

The Milestone: A Christian book should not just be about head-knowledge but about experience. If I am an unbeliever and somebody writes and tells me to become a believer, I would want to know if the person is already a believer and how things are turning out for that person. If somebody writes about financial prosperity, for instance, the person should be writing from an experiential perspective but anchored on the teachings of the Bible.

When I talk about healing and deliverance in my book, Help! My Success in Chains, I write about what I have experienced, not just what others told me they experienced. And I am always eager, by His grace, to physically prove to my readers that the same Jesus Christ of Nazareth who went about doing good, and healing all manners of diseases is still alive today and has not changed. Hebrews 13:8 says Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever. In the first week of 2004, I read and reviewed a book titled “A Travel Guide To Heaven” and that the author, Anthony DeStefano, is an avid pilot was visible all over the book.

The same is true of David Steward’s “Doing Business By The Good Book.” This book is the voice of experience speaking loud and clear as he is a successful business man who (aided by his wife) has been running a Sunday school class tagged “Doing Business By The Book.” in his church. He gives you a tried and tested illumination of God’s word in a down-to-earth manner.

Another important factor one may consider is affordability. If a Christian book that should trumpet, harp and drum about Christ is beyond the reach of its target readers, its purpose is certainly defeated. So, a Christian book should be affordable.
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(c)Rev. Paschal Eze
Permission is hereby granted for this article to be published elsewhere but the name of author and the source must be included.
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© Paashan Books, Coralville Iowa, 2004-2007






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