Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

Well hello to all you loyal readers and new readers. I know I promised a Marketing post but it is taking longer to write that section of self publishing. With today being Christmas Eve I wanted to post this.

I have spent the last few days battling sickness and hearing the never-ending banter of is it Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays. Here is my house we are firmly saying Merry Christmas to everyone we know even those who do not share our choice of words for the Birth of Christ.

So to all you out there. Merry Christmas to all.

Self-Publishing Part 2: Ground Zero to The Front Line

Here we are again for another installment for your reading pleasure. Today I want to talk about the self publishing from point A (Ground Zero) to point B (The Front Line).

Let's get started:

As with all writing the beginning starts with getting your novel, novella, or short story compilation completed. I find it is the first draft that is the hardest part for most writers. I can't count the amount of drafts I went through on my first novel. I just wrote, had someone read it, changed and added stuff. There was moment where I had to drag myself away from adding adding adding because I found that I was over detailing a scene or spending too long on a conversation between characters. There are two avenues to take to help you get through your first draft with come good efficiency.

1.) Write and outline, not the standard outline you made in school. I am talking about a detailed outline. Take the time and you may want to either dedicate a word document or notebook to this project. You need to go through you story step by step chapter by chapter in your head. Use your synopsis or first blurb you used when you came up with the idea. Take each chapter and write one or two paragraphs about what is to happen, where it might take place, what is the problem at hand, and a special dialogue you want to include. Doing this will give you something to go by for each chapter to help make sure you get all your ideas into the first draft.
2.) Some writers like to get their basic story line out there and then just let the story flesh itself out as it progresses. This is good if you can keep all your ideas and details in line as you write and as you change your mind through out the writing process. I have met a few people who do this and basically details their characters and then do about a page or two on the story to get the problems and possible resolutions out there but the meat of the story just develops itself as they write.

Between these two I prefer the 1st one because you always have a firm place to go back to, to make check off your to do list for that chapter. It may sound funny; but I like to let my characters evolve themselves as the story progresses. I still have the firm basis of then out there. Their past, their personality, how they relate to people, and how they dress. As well as the chapter breakdown as to what I have in store for them. But I can honestly say that there is nothing cooler then to watch one of your characters start out one way and gradually evolve into a different character. I had one character from a manuscript a long time ago who started out as a normal-Joe with normal friends but deep down he was a wreck, and as the story moved along so did his transformation and it was too cool the way he turned out. It was a complete 180 from his beginning.

Okay, okay I'm getting off topic here,

I know you really want to get your novel done, but do not just throw anything out there just to get one done. Think of this as your child and you are molding them to be a better adult as they grow. As your story grows you need to mold it into a strong and better novel. This is where the editing come into play, and I know just how bad editing sucks. But nevertheless once you have gotten this far you need to think editing, and I strongly recommend someone who knows what they are doing. My first mistake when publishing through a friend was just to merely have half a dozen people besides me and my I.R. read it and make their changes. This is a major mistake and a nightmare to have to deal with after the fact of publication and printing. I have about fifty copies of the first publication of He Watches just sitting around my house. You can't go wrong with a good editor. Book Surge LLC where I go through for my publishing and printing offers an editing service for a fee, here is the link to that page for more details on what that whole process entails. BookSurge Editing.

Editing is always a difficult part of the process as well because it is then that you have to be the Judge Jury & Executioner with you story. This is the point where a small character might get the axe or a character that was a possible larger character with a bigger part in the story might get knocked down to a minor character. Sometimes you find that you are cutting scenes either all together of trimming them down. I myself hate to go through editing because I often see my characters as one of my kids and I never want to get rid of them or take anything away from them. This is hard but I take the plunge and go through with it, I have a folder on my computer that is for cut character (each has a detailed history and personality), I keep them for later use. I have two or three characters that have found their way into the story I am writing now. It isn't planned but I will be writing and I will get to a point and I will say to myself, "Man this sounds a lot like such and such" or "so and so will fit in here nicely". It is more of a thing that just happens. So for all intensive purposes there are positive points to cutting material from a current story.

So when you have gone through the intensive act of editing which might in some cases take any where from half a year to a year. Not say that it could possibly take a lot less time. I have had people who can edit a full novel very well inside a couple of months. But like writing where you do several drafts your novel will pass through the editors hands several times or at least until they feel your story is finally ready for publication. Usually after the editor has gone through my works I take one last stab at them and read them cover to cover actually taking in the story as a reader not the author…..This is a very good technique to utilize. You can leave the manuscript for a couple of weeks or even a month and basically clear your head. Doing this it will allow you to read the story from a fresh perspective and not in your writer's frame of mind.

Now that you have gotten past the editing process, you need to decide what to do from here on out. This is where you need to think about where to go for your graphics (front cover, back cover, and any other internal images), publishing, printing, and marketing. This is the point where it gets really interesting. Here is a list of a few Print on Demand companies that also offer publishing packages.

1.) LuLu.com
2.) Book Surge LLC
3.) Xlibris

Each of these sites offers Publishing (includes your ISBN #'s), Printing, and Graphic Design. You can check any of them out and get yourself started on the Self-Publishing road. You can contact each of them to get a better feel for them and the packages they offer. As far as the graphics, I was fortunate because I do all my own graphics for my novels. Anything you can either get done for cheap by going through someone you knows who is qualified and is willing to help you our go for it. There are many places to go online to find graphic artists to do this work for you. One such place is:

1.) Guru.com

Another place you can go to find graphic artists is, writers forums such as Writer's Digest there you can converse with other writers and find connections with artists there. I myself have found small work through this avenue. Like I mentioned already these places are goldmines for writers not just for graphic artists but you can also get advice from other authors on their publishing experience. Connections of this sort have proven time and time again to pay off in the long run for many writers.

The one thing that causes many people to turn away from self-publishing is the fact that you are the Head of it all. You finance the whole ball of wax. It can be stressful at time but it also can work for those who love to be in charge and have no problem taking the bull by the horns.

When you choose on the three sites, LuLu, Book Surge, and Xlibris, or choose one not mention here they will require you to submit your work to their specifications. For those of you who will be having said company do your graphics all you will need to submit will be your manuscript which will more often then not be in PDF format? They will have the specs listed on their site. Once you have uploaded your manuscript they have to send it through their system to verify that all is well and you are ready to go forward with online listings and printing. For those of you creating your own graphics you will have an added step and that is where it is a little more difficult. The spec for the front and back cover are really precise because they have to consider the bleed area and also include the exact width of your spine. It took me about four times to get it where they wanted.

Once you have this all in place you are set to go and they will print two copies and mail them to you to be approved. I'd advise that you carefully go over your book inside and outside. If you have any internal images make sure they have turned out as intended, also take a look at your pages and make sure the margins look good and the text is legible. And finally make sure your front and back cover art is clear as well as any text that you have on there is legible.

Once you have given the okay you will be in business and ready to go.

There are a plethora of avenues for knowledge about self-publishing; below I have listed a few books that might help you out.

1.) The Complete Guide to Self-Publishing: Everything You Need to Know to Write, Publish, Promote and Sell Your Own Book
2.) The Complete Idiot's Guide to Self-Publishing
3.) How to Publish, Promote, & Sell Your Own Book: The insider's guide to everything you need to know about self-publishing from paste-up to publicity

Next time we will talk about the ins and outs of marketing your novel, I will also give you a few hints as to how to get into stores like Borders and Barnes&Noble.

Til then party on
& God Bless.

Self-Publishing: Part 1 – The Overview

Well here we are for the first installment in a series that revolves around the art of self publishing. I will be talking about my history as a self publisher as well as the pro's and con's that I have encountered along the way. I will also look into some of the risks of self publishing compared to getting and agent and being published.

Okay lets get started shall we,

My experience with self publishing started in 2005 when my first novel He Watches was officially published through a friend. First off the issue was very very poor editing which I can take some of the blame for, but a bit of advice to those who plan to self publish, either get some one with a great deal of experience in editing and grammar, or hire a professional editor. The last thing you want it to hype your book and then have those who bought it come back to you and say, "What the heck happened with all the misspellings?" I can honestly say that I had about a quarter of the people who bought the original release of my book asked me just that. I take the following nine steps now when I write.

1. Write First draft
2. Personally Read & Write Second Draft
3. Give to my I.R. (Ideal Reader – got from Stephen King) to read
4. Edit where necessary based on I.R.'s observations
5. Give to reading group – I would say no more then five people. This will help avoid having too many copies floating around and reduce the chance that one might go missing.
6. Edit where necessary based on reading groups observations.
7. Pass on to an editor friend to go through with a fine tooth come and make any and all corrections necessary.
8. I now make any last minute changes.
9. Send out to Publisher / or Print on Demand company.

Currently I am going through Book Surge; it was them I used to do my printing when published through my friend. In mid 2006 I decided that it was in my best interest to part ways with my friends as far as our publisher / author relationship went. I put my mistake ridden novel through a grueling run of editing. A good friend of mine agreed to do a massive edit on it for free (don't count on getting this lucky). At this time I found out that Book Surge also provided a self-publishing package. This package charge included the charge for uploading the PDF file into their system. An ISBN number, as well as being listed with five online books stores, two good ones that were included were Bordersstores.com & Amazon.com. They also offer several editing packages and I advise purchasing this in the case that you don’t have anyone at your disposal to do your editing to an acceptable level and to your liking.

In my case I had my editor friend go through my novel and it took her about two weeks to edit it to the extent that I wanted. When she was done I read it through and once I was comfortable with that I sent it into Book Surge to be published. It took them about two weeks to have it go through their system to make sure that I had followed their required specs properly and the file was in their print ready format. I also had to submit my cover to them for approval to make sure that all again met the specs that they had provided. Book Surge also offers professional cover design for those of you who would rather have a professional artist take care of the art work.

Once it was all approved and ready I got my authors copy to approve and then once I gave them the okay they put it in their system and at that point it was available online through their list of online stores. As far as the marketing and pushing it physically into stores I had to embark on that on my own. I worked some magic with the local Borders store and got it in there and was able to line up a Book Signing in 2007 the weekend before Halloween.

One problem with Self-Publishing is that you need to have a little bit of capital to get it moving. Some stores won't carry novels that go through print on demand printers because if they buy forty copies in January and by June only four have sold then they are left with thirty six copies that they cannot return. Book Surge offers a service that the author has to pay a particular amount which will allow the stores to return whatever inventory they want due to lack of sales. Pushing to stores can be hard but you just need to be determined and go out there and don’t take no for an answer – but rather then go out half cocked you need to have a strategy for your approach. This of this as a persuasive performance and sit down and think about what a store manager might ask.

1. Why should (Store Name) carry your title?
2. How many are you planning on putting on the shelf right now?
3. Can we have a couple of test books to see how they sell?

#3 one is a good way above all to get your foot in the door with a store. When going from store to store always have at least twenty copies on hand. Not that the store will take all twenty they may take anywhere from five to ten to start off. Keeping twenty on hand will provide you enough on hand stock to get two locations going if they max out at ten. I worked with a few locations and had about ten copies in each. Once you have built a relationship up with your locations (in some cases this may take up to a year), you can start hinting at a book signing event. This might be a touchy subject for the store if you book isn't selling well but rather four or five copies every couple of months or so. However four or five books in a couple of months for a book with little to no publicity which we will get to in another installment) is pretty good. My first novel sold about forty copies at a local Borders Book Store in about ten months and I sold another twenty at the book signing event I hosted there.

Do not be discouraged when a store will not carry your title, it is as they say, "There are other fish in the sea." Aside from the physical on hands at the stores you can sometimes get them to list your title in their online system where it can be ordered by online surfers or people surfing the stores online stock at a store PC. All is good for those who are persistent.

Well there you have it for this installment. I will try to have to next installment in by the end of the week.

For now
God Bless & Party On…..

Just finished and Just begun.....

Well here we are just for a quick update on my recently finished reading and my current reading. Well I just finished(finally) reading The Circle Trilogy, something I started several months ago and due to a load of stuff I was delayed on completing it. Well I read more then 200pages Saturday night and the remaining 80 some pages yesterday. Man I was like a kid in a candy shop with the details and the slight twists. Was an awesome ride and I suggest this novel to any and all who like or have a fasination for Fantasy. Very well written and very captivating through and through. This is one of three books that I had Ted Dekker sign while at The Gathering 2008, however it is not the same cover - I have 2copies of the earlier release.




With that said I began reading Chosen book 1 in The Lost Books series. I am already about 75 pages into it and all I can say is wow, Dekker keeps the momentum going from The Circle trilogy into these. I am so glad I grabbed these right after finishing the trilogy. All teh details of the trilogy still fresh in my mind helps to keep the story going for me. I'll post more on this one when I finish it.

As for the little test project I spoke of in the last post, I have mine just about done was a little lazy this weekend aside from my reading time. LOL...I will try and have it up today or tomorrow at the latest. I didnt receive anything from anyone so I'll just have mine up....Not to discourage anyone you can still try out the project and send me your works and let me know anytime and I will post them as I get them.

Well for now I have to finish getting ready for another blessed quarter of College which means ten weeks of a little more stress in my life...Yippie. Well its as they say what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger.

See ya for now...
God Bless and Party On.

How places we write can influence our writing....

We here we are again for another installment. I have been thinking a lot about this entry, the context of the location I plan to write about reminds me of a few unsavory dreams, but in the end I still felt the need to share it with everyone. I also wanted to talk about how places can have an impact on our writing, whether we write novels, poetry, short stories, music, or even a diary or journal.

Places we go to write are often places we go to get away from the buzz of life and society, or just to hide away in a place that we can be ourselves with out consequence. Although sometimes we go to places where we can hide in the crowds and not be worried about being picked out or picked at. With all that said it is evident that the places we go to hide and write more often than not have an impact on what and how we write. Think of this picture, a poet may go to an open flower field to write a love poem or they may go to a rather dark place to write darker poems. Novel and short story writers often do the same thing; some may go to an office that is riddled with influencing content or decorations. Some may go to a café to write where there is a variety of people to people watch and use to develop characters.

I myself went to a variety of locations when penning my Suspense Thriller novel He Watches. The location that I would like to share with you had a massive influence on that story and in one shape or form made its way into the novel and became a character location. This location is the Allen Park Michigan Veterans Hospital. It had long been shut down when I started penning my story but just hanging out on the lawn in front of the mammoth structure was motivating enough. When I say motivating I mean that it helped the creative juices flowing and also helped pull a little more of the darker stuff out of me. I have to laugh at that last sentence because I have listened to people tell me from time to time through out the better part of my life that I was a tad bit demented. My wife is currently the ring leader of this group, but I still love her though.

Okay back to the Allen Park Veterans Hospital, here’s a little back story on this structure and me. Years ago I was working the evening shift and I would always get off about 1am or 2am in the morning. I would pass by this place everyday on my way home. Was always a looming menace over the highway in the dead of night with only a few location lights lighting the grounds. The place had a different demeanor at night then it did during the day. Just a tad freakier when you slowly cruise down the service drive looking up at it, I can honestly say I was waiting to see someone hanging out in a window looking out at me like in the horror movies. There was one night that I can remember going down the highway looking up at the building when the roof door flew open just as I looked up. Totally freaked me out, but when I turned around (which only took a couple of minutes) and made it back to take a confirming look the door was closed again. From that night on I would always see a couple of low dimmed light coming from a couple of rooms facing the highway but that darn door never opened again.

From then on out I would go and sit on the front lawn away from the view of the street and just write notes in my notebook or sometimes I would have my laptop with me and I would type away at the story. Unfortunately it was torn down before the completion of He Watches and I wasn’t able to get a tour of the grounds (a military friend was going to see if we could arrange something) It was the skeleton of the building that made its way into the novel and I played demolitionist in my own mind with it, but not before it played host to a few good freaky scenes in the novel. For those of you who are curious and want to check it out I urge you to go to either your local Borders store and order it or the borders website, you can also get it through Amazon.

Here are a few pictures of the Allen Park Veterans Hospital, sorry they are older pics, didn’t get my digital camera until after it was torn down.








Here is a good Front view of it.










Another front view.
















Here is a good aerial view to help see just how big it is.




Well back to the subject at hand now that my story is out there for you all to ponder on. LOL…

I have talked to people that have braved the traffics and hassles of the airport to merely sit, watch and write what they see, how the people interact. There are no particular places that are better then any other. The places you go are unique to you for a particular reason which is what keeps bringing you back.

It is the atmosphere of these places that influences us or has a tendency to set not only the tone but the mood and pace of whatever you maybe writing. There was a musician friend of mine who used to sit in his dark garage with only a little desk lamp to illuminate his lamp. He said the darkness shielded him from the pressures of life and his mind was free to roam and his words would rum rampant on the page. He wrote his first album inside a couple of day this way.

Many authors, poets, song writers, bloggers, and all walks of writers use their surrounding to write about or base their stories there. Think of Stephen King, he writes a lot about Maine because as he puts it you write what you know. Anne Rice's stories take place in New Orleans because that is where she spent most of her life and that is what she knows. The list goes on and on and I do agree with King when he says write what you know, and the locations you frequent to write will help this along.

Writing about a place you grew up is the best way to be able to give your readers a very inside look at the world you are writing. Knowing the locations personally add to your ability to describe them in good detail and weave the story around the location. When I wrote He Watches I didn’t really have a particular town or city in mind so I wrote it as happening in an unknown city or town thus giving the reader the ability imagine the story happening in their town, I think it made the story more universal in the understanding of it all. Nevertheless there were particular locations that I talked about that I grew up around or worked in myself.

Here is a little exercise that one of my teachers had us do in my High School English class. Think of a place you like to hang out. It can be anywhere but it has to be a place that you frequent and know a lot about. Examples might be, a pool hall, a club, a club house (my buds and I had one in the woods near my house), your garage, your basement, an abandoned building or even a grocery story you shop in every week. Once you have this place in your mind or written down, develop a story that revolves around your location or the story happens due to a history you can create about the location. Just take a little while and come up with something, it will not only be fun but it will be interesting to see what you come up with.

For those of you interested, I will be posting my part in this exercise shortly, you can contact me via the comments section of this blog and I will individually provide you with the email to send your story to and I will post them here on the blog for all to see what we can come up with for such a simple exercise.

Until then,
Party on & God Bless

Captivating Audiences

Well here we are again for another joyous installment and I am sure that I threw a few of you my loyal readers with the last posting but again I say they are questions that we all have asked at one point or another. Today's posting I wanted to change the pace a little and talk some more about writing and give a few tips and tricks that I have developed over the years.

Today I want to talk about captivating your audience regardless of the genre or age group you write for. So with out further hesitation on my part let's get started.....

I myself have been writing for the better part of 15yrs beginning slowly back in my sophomore year in High School, briefly stopping until about 1997 when I began my first novel. The key lesson that all my English and Lit teachers and Professors tried to get me to learn was how to hook your audience within the first couple of pages of your work (be it a short story, novella, or novel). They hammered it into my head and it wasn't until years later that I finally understood and grasped what they were talking about.

There are some readers who like to me wowed from beginning to end and then there are those who like to have it dealt out a little at a time. Me personally I like it somewhere in the middle of the two. When I write I am writing from the perspective of my readers. I am basically watching my novel in my head as the words flow to the page or screen. With your reader in mind at all times you will have a much easier time keeping the flow of the story at such a pace that will suit just about anyone. My first novel was a Star Wars Fan-Fic that was roughly 300pgs long and is the first installment of a vast series I had lined up and plan to complete soon(with any luck) but with this novel I experimented with the roller coaster method of revealing new details or plot twists to keep my reads wanting more.

Here is a basic line up of how it goes:

1.) (UP) Start with a subtle but gripping conflict to grab the reader(s) attention (this will quickly draw them in). This may be for several chapters.

2.) (DOWN) Slow done just enough not to lose their attention but just enough to develop some of your characters (this will give them a moment to process the conflict they just experienced and get to know your characters). This may be for several chapters.

3.) (UP) Again deal out the conflict to grab your reader(s) once again. This will help keep their attention even through the lower action points where you are developing characters and plots. This may be for several chapters.

4.) (DOWN) By slowing down again you will maintain you speed and continue to give your reader(s) time to process the conflict you just introduced and give them a little time to draw their own conclusions as to how the conflicts thus far will affect the outcome of your character(s) and the story. This may be for several chapters.

5.) (UP) No that your read(s) has been given several conflicts to think about you take the results of those conflicts and twist them to help keep your reader(s) guessing. This way they are always concerned with the character(s) and how it will all end. This may be for several chapters.

6.) (DOWN) This will be the last down you will have, this will give the reader(s) a last minute chance to think about all that they have read and still try to draw their final conclusion(s). This may only be 1 or 2 chapters.

7.) (UP) Here we are at the end. I like to always end my books on a wow note. This will give your reader(s) one last jolt and reveal how the conflicts through out the story relate and how they affected the conclusion. This will also be your chance to leave a few bread crumbs if your story is part of a series. You can leave a few what ifs and a few loose ends unresolved.

Well there you have it, this is how I go about writing my novels and I have had many of my reader(s) express their liking of my style. I think constructing a story in this fashion creates the perfect roller coaster ride of conflict and resolution as well as leaves enough room to develop your characters on a level that the reader(s) begin to really care about their welfare. One major lesson to learn is just how much detail you want to reveal at a time, this will come with time and practice. Too much or too little detail can maybe not ruin your story but more so cripple your ability to maintain your reader's attention. I myself sometimes have a difficult time reading a book with way too much detail and get bored and move on to another more captivating book. Other times, depending on the story flow I want the detail and get left with the lack there of and again get bored and move on.

I was reading an article another writer had written about their style and it was very insightful. They said that they concentrate on their characters a lot and dive deep into their heads and get to know them as a real person, this helps them write true that the personality they have developed for them. they also said that they often find their self writing just about any point of their project that they want never always writing from point A to point B. Maybe the middle then this key point then this twist then the end and finally start at the beginning and work their way through what they have already written and write until it all fits together like a puzzle.

There are loads of ways to write a novel but there is only one true way to write your story and that is from the heart. If you truly believe in your story and connect with your characters you will succeed. The more real you are with your story the more real it will feel to your reader(s). When you develop a reputation of being able to write a truly captivating novel, you will find that you have gained a loyal following of faithful readers.

Keep your mind open and the words flowing....

Keep checking back for the Posting that will entail my experiences with self publishing and some of the pros and cons that other self publishing authors have shared with me.

God Bless and Party On.....

The big Questions????

Well today I wanted to talk about a couple of questions that Christians are ask quite often. These questions also seem to be a very volatile ingredient for argument, hatred, slander, and in some countries if spoken about can lead to death. To be honest, at one point or another these question were on my mind and I can probably guess that the same goes for a lot of the people in this world. These questions have stirred up resentment and have caused rifts in families, they have broken down the strong walls of friendships.

The two questions I am referring to are:
1.) "Why does God allow us to go through trials and tribulations?"
2.) "How do I get saved?"

For me I have asked questions many times through all the rough times where I messed up, I would always ask, "Why me?" What I didn't know or understand at that time was that God has a plan for all of us and this plan may not lead us down the most rosiest of roads or to the most polite or hospitable people, but we are set on this path to maybe influence a particular person or persons. Maybe we are there to show other just how good it is to be a Child of God and have Him in our lives.

Like I said I used to ask questions all the time, but for question 2, I have only ever needed to ask it once and the answer I got was uplifting and heart warming. So before you decide to click away from this blog just give the words and message a chance and you will be thankful you did....

Now back to the questions:::::

For the first questions I found this brief article online that talks about trials and tribulations and the reasons for them as well as our need for them at time. For the second, I have actually attached a MP3 file of the Sermon given at my church by Lead Minister Brett Kays which talks about the jailer asking Paul and Silas about how he could be saved. Both of these are very good for everyone to check out I hope you get as much out of them as I did.

Question #1) : "Why does God allow us to go through trials and tribulations?"

Answer: One of the most difficult parts of the Christian life is the fact that becoming a disciple of Christ does not make us immune to life’s trials and tribulations. Why would a good and loving God allow us to go through such things as the death of a child, disease and injury to ourselves and our loved ones, financial hardships, worry and fear? Surely, if He loved us, He would take all these things away from us. After all, doesn’t loving us mean He wants our lives to be easy and comfortable? Well, no, it doesn’t. The Bible clearly teaches that God loves those who are His children and He “works all things together for good” for us (Romans 8:28). So that must mean that the trials and tribulations He allows in our lives are part of the working together of all things for good. Therefore, for the believer, all trials and tribulations must have a divine purpose. As in all things, God’s ultimate purpose for us is to grow more and more into the image of His Son (Romans 8:29). This is the goal of the Christian, and everything in life, including the trials and tribulations, is designed to enable us to reach that goal. It is part of the process of sanctification; that is, being set apart for God’s purposes and fitted to live for His glory. The way the trials accomplish this is explained in 1 Peter 1:6-7: "In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which perishes, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ." The true believer’s faith will be made sure by the trials we experience so that we can rest in the knowledge that it is real and will last forever. Trials develop godly character, and that enables us to "rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us” (Romans 5:3-5). Jesus Christ set the perfect example. "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8). These verses point out aspects of His divine purpose for both Jesus Christ's trials and tribulations and ours. Persevering proves our faith. "I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me" (Philippians 4:13).At the same time, we must be careful never to make excuses for our "trials and tribulations" if they are a result of our own wrongdoing. "By no means let any of you suffer as a murderer, or thief, or evildoer, or a troublesome meddler" (1 Peter 4:15). God will forgive our sins because the eternal punishment for them has been paid by Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. However, we still have to suffer the natural consequences in this life for our sins and bad choices. But God uses even those sufferings to mold and shape us for His purposes and our ultimate good. Trials and tribulations come with both a purpose and a reward. "Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." "Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life, which the Lord has promised to those who love Him" (James 1:2-4,12).Through all of life’s trials and tribulations, we have the victory. "But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord, Jesus Christ." These verses encourage us to see that although we are in a spiritual battle, Satan has no authority over the believer in Christ. God has given us His Word to guide us, His Holy Spirit to enable us, and the privilege of coming to Him anywhere, at any time, to pray about anything. He has also assured us that no trial will test us beyond our ability to bear it, and “he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it” (1 Corinthians 10:13).

This article was found at http://www.gotquestions.org/trials-tribulations.html

For question #2 please listen to the following sermon "An Exorcism, An Uproar and a Midnight Miracle" by Southpoint Community Christian Church's Lead Minister Brett Kays. It is 33:27 long so please make sure you have the time to listen to it is its entirety. Please click here::: Listen

Thanks for taking the time to read this blog I have gotten a lot of these messages.

God Bless and Party On.....