Writing articles for Christian publications

Sean D. Schaffer said:

I have only experience with which to speak. No higher education, no seminary, no theological training, as it were.

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Me neither.

Sean D. Schaffer said:

I've put article writing on hold, even though I think that might be part of my calling in Christ. Consequently, I feel slightly displeasing to the Lord.

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Kick that feeling to the curb, Sean. God doesn't need articles and he doesn't want you saddled with guilt. He wants your joy to overflow because of your relationship with Jesus. He want you to enjoy your freedom.

I really believe God is like a father and he takes pleasure in our pleasure. "You wanna go ride your Big Wheel on a sunny afternoon? Go for it! That makes us both happy." He's not shaking his head in disappointment saying "Man, Sean is really letting me down by not cranking out those articles. Why do I waste my time with him?"

Enjoy the freedom and make God laugh, man. Write for the pleasure of it. God's gonna use whatever you do, quite often in the way you least expect it.

... oh, but to answer your question I've never published an article so I have absolutely nothing helpful to say on that subject

Wisdom Of God

Sean:
Hi Sean, it's your old pal, Jim. My heart is filled with joy, now that you are home. I was most concerned about you and let my temper rule me for a while. We both learned forgiveness and love from that situation.
From what I see, you have an excellent platform. Correct me if I'm wrong but it seems you were ready to give up on Jesus due to the failings of men. I can't help but wonder how many thousands have lost their way for the same reason.
I grew up when there were "white" and "colored" drinking fountains and clearly recall someone telling about the men, in his church, joining hands to form a human barricade. This was done to keep out the blacks. The individual telling the story said he had not been back to church since that happened. We know that to be the stupidity of men, who acted totally in league with Satan and in opposition to the love of Jesus.
I think God let you wander so that you might be able to get such a message out to people, who by looking to men and not Jesus, have become dis-enchanted with Christians.
You expressed some hesitation due to some choices you have made. I've been in this spiritual battle many years and have done some pre-meditated backsliding, yet God has forgiven and forgotten. If we had to be perfect to wittness, Jesus would be the only preacher.
God has given you a tremendous talent with words and now the empathy to share your experiences.
I pray you do just that.
Love In Christ,
Jim

If you love writing and feel led to write articles - Go for it! I never went to college for writing - that's the cool thing about God . . . he gives gifts and the Christian experience is worth far more than any degree. (Although studying the bible or writing at any college is awesome) Wishing you many blessings in your ventures!

Sean, just my thoughts here, but I think it's pretty neat how God so perfectly equips us for our calling. He has equipped you like no one else; no one else has had quite your combination of experiences, gifts, and challenges. Without even thinking too long and hard about this, I can tell you ways that He has obviously gifted you for Christian writing:

1) you are an effective communicator--specifically skilled in writing. Anyone who reads your posts can see that.

2) along the way on your journey, you got to know your Bible very well in your search for truth--you frequently pepper your posts with appropriate and applicable scripture. So you haven't been to seminary...neither have I or lots of other Christian writers. But we all have access to people or sources of deeper theological study as needed (eg. www.bible.org).

3) you have become 'real'--you've been humbled. In your case, you had the humbling experience of believing you were a Christian, then getting derailed a bit, and then experiencing His incredible, amazing grace in personally and tenderly leading you back. NO one knows grace like a prodigal.

And now you feel His call to write--to share Him with others. Can you see the progression here? I think if you were to study the lives of other Christian writers, you'd see the same key ingredients. (Hey, look at Paul for example!) Each of these 3 are SO important that I honestly don't think you can be an effective Christian writer without them. (I know I wouldn't be a Christian writer today had not the Lord led me through these same steps.) True, I'm still in process. I haven't fully matured in the craft, my knowledge of the Bible, or my personal relationship with the Lord; but if I were to wait until then to write anything, I'd be like the steward who hid his talent in the ground for fear of losing it. I'd end up having done nothing with what He's given me--all because of focusing on what I still lacked.

I think your sense of calling is a perfect fit, personally. So go for it! Where to start? Write from your heart. Try a personal experience essay--write about the number that legalism can do on your faith. Who better but you to share that experience? That happens to be close to my heart as well, because that was my early Christian experience. So I share with others about that. I also write devotional poetry, because that's just what flows into my mind sometimes during devotional times. Keep a journal handy when you read your Bible in the mornings...jot down the thoughts that God puts into your mind as you meditate on Him. A journal like this can be a minefield for article ideas.

(Also, if you don't have it yet, get a copy of the Christian Writers Market 2008--it'll tell you what types of writing different publications are looking for.)

ETA: If you can, pick up a copy of Effective Magazine Writing by Roger Palms (available on Amazon). I went to his workshop a few years ago at a Christian writers conference--just excellent, and this slim volume covers basically what he went over in the sessions.

And Sean, feel free to post as needed while you're working on your articles, too (even in the Christian SYW board if you want). I've only published a few articles, but there are a lot of experienced article writers here who can offer some helpful insights.

Sean D. Schaffer said:

My reason for asking is that I've heard people tell me in the past they don't believe people should be paid for ministering.

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The vast majority of pastors are paid for their ministry. I don't see why writers should be any different. Max Lucado is paid for his writing. So is Tim LaHaye.

That said, I don't know about the market in general. I do know, however, that Christianity Today pays for articles, but when I looked just now at their Writer's Guidelines, it says they are close to submissions.

Also, if you scroll through the Christian Markets thread, you'll get an idea of what markets are available and in some cases how they pay. Note: many of these markets may be currently closed.

Re: Payment. There are two books you can consult, Sally Stuart's Christian Writer's Market (I think that's what it's called...may be slight variation. Google Sally Stuart.) and Writer's Market published Writers Digest. They list markets, what they're looking for, what they pay, who to send it to...everything you need to know.

Most publication also either publish wtiter's guidelines or will send them to you if you request with a SASE.

You will probably get the best reception by writing person experience/human interest articles. They wouldn't consider an article on something like "Johanin vs Pauline Theology as Expressed in their Epsitle's" unless you have a degree and teach at the university level. But, I doubt that's the type of material you anticipated producing anyway.

Sean, just like the secular market, there are some markets that pay, and others that only send 2 copies. What I do presently is to start by submitting a piece to my favorite (best paying) market, and then work down from there, if it doesn't get accepted. But when I first started writing for publication, my focus was more on getting published clips, so I submitted to the non-paying markets. So there's no 'right' way to go about it; just decide what's best for you. (And there is certainly nothing wrong with getting paid--even people 'in the ministry' are supported monetarily.)