One of the most insightful books about the isolating effects of screens and technological overreach was written 114 years before any of our modern technology existed.

During an interview, best-selling author Neil Gaiman was asked where his ideas come from. I love his response. 

I’m a big fan of vinyl albums (check out this eclectic design for Vince Guaraldi’s A Charlie Brown Christmas). And as any lover of physical records knows, it matters where you drop the needle.

For decades, Christian movies, novels, and songs have been viewed as subpar to secular offerings. Sometimes the criticism is unjustified, but other times, it’s accurate from a craft perspective.

The way we interact with time impacts every aspect of our lives. But most view the concept of time somewhat like gravity. It’s the same for everyone. It just is what it is. 

As the founding Fiction publisher at one of the world’s largest Christian publishing houses, I oversaw the release of more than 500 novels. During that decade, I noticed the growing shift among Christian publishers towards what I’d call Clean Fiction. 

Those determined to create with God will, by necessity, become good friends with mystery, wonder, risk, and faith.  

We’re born into Story 2. It was never the story God intended for us. And though most see it as normal, it is filled with distracting bright and shiny objects that consume our attention and keep us from Story 1. 

Highly imaginative teens see the world differently than we do…and that’s okay. 

When God invites us to create, we have a choice. We can say yes and create it with God. Or we can be conditional creators, proceeding only if perceived limits are first removed.

Has the start of your summer been filled with days of deep joy and restoration—or packed with projects, events, and demands that leave you weary and depleted? 

Popularity and influence aren't the same thing. It’s crucial not to confuse them...because the goal is eternal influence, not fleeting popularity. 

When you think of Jesus, what’s the first image that comes to mind? Is he a thirty-year old man in a robe and sandals…or the eternal creator of everything? 

How do you interpret the rejection of your creative efforts? 

When I think of those no longer here, I’ve always been curious why I tend to remember the day of their birth—not the day they passed on. Now I know. 

July kicks off the second half of the year. Which makes this a particularly good time to reflect on the effect the first half of 2023 has had on your heart and walk with God.  

When we play it by ear, we’re winging it. We don’t go in with a plan but make it up as we go. It’s reactive.  

We live in a world where we’re expected to constantly change our minds about everything. Scripture refers to this as being double-minded (James 1:8). It is the fruit of being anchored to nothing. 

One of the best Superman comics of all time was written as if it were the “last” Superman story of all time.

We love our independence. It’s not something we have to be taught. We’re born with an aversion to any and all constraints.