THE TWITTER POOL
BY NIKKI HAHN
Twittering is the latest hot thing with editors, agents, and writers. I know because I am all ready diving head first into this new fad. There are rocks at the bottom of this twitter pool. Spam and porn jut from the bottom ready to catch your head on its surface. The water is cool and inviting and undeniably full of fish. Michael Hyatt, the CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishers, wrote a blog about twittering. He says it is an opportunity as a leader to influence. I believe it is another way to shed Christ's light onto a dark world.
In this twitter pool, we are fishers of men. Christ called us to catch each one in His net of Salvation. Now in this twitter pool there are all sorts of fish; lonely fish who are crying for comfort; loud fish who are crying to be crying; some fish named Shelley Ryan that won't take no for an answer; disciple fish who are working to lead believers to lead others to Christ; strong fish and knowledgeable fish for the rest of us fish to drink from their vat of knowledge. It brings on the question of purpose.
Why do we write? Why do we live each day? Why do we wake up in the morning and do the same things every week?
If you cannot answer the above questions, it is time to reevaluate your life. This means you either do not have Christ as your personal Savior, or you have yet to discover His peace and purpose for you. Yes, you are just another fish in the great big twitter pool; part of the cry of many anonymous voices over a dark internet sky, but you are loved by Him. After all, His walk to the cross, His shed blood, was not done without purpose. He lived His life here on earth with purpose. He walked with purpose. He talked with purpose. Not a single word was said in vain. How many of us can say we do this every day?
Everyday we stare at the screen of our latest genius creation and next to the computer is a letter from an editor who says she wants us to cut out this or that from the story; she also wants us to bring down the word count. Yikes! Now this is difficult, but in literary fiction every word is used with a purpose. There are no frivolous little phrases flitting around in our fictional universe. Likewise, our lives have a word count way too high for the great Editor in the sky. We have to cut pride, immorality, temptation, hate, dislike, jealousy, and above all we have to honor our promises.
Terri Blackstock has an excellent book called, “Word of Honor.” It made me see Covenant as I had not seen it before and it made me remember the empty promises I made in the heat of the moment. My marriage to Tony is a Covenant marriage. This means I cannot simply divorce him unless he beats me or he commits adultery. This means it is a long complicated process to get out of my Covenant marriage by Arizona law.
In this twitter pool, we are fishers of men. Christ called us to catch each one in His net of Salvation. Now in this twitter pool there are all sorts of fish; lonely fish who are crying for comfort; loud fish who are crying to be crying; some fish named Shelley Ryan that won't take no for an answer; disciple fish who are working to lead believers to lead others to Christ; strong fish and knowledgeable fish for the rest of us fish to drink from their vat of knowledge. It brings on the question of purpose.
Why do we write? Why do we live each day? Why do we wake up in the morning and do the same things every week?
If you cannot answer the above questions, it is time to reevaluate your life. This means you either do not have Christ as your personal Savior, or you have yet to discover His peace and purpose for you. Yes, you are just another fish in the great big twitter pool; part of the cry of many anonymous voices over a dark internet sky, but you are loved by Him. After all, His walk to the cross, His shed blood, was not done without purpose. He lived His life here on earth with purpose. He walked with purpose. He talked with purpose. Not a single word was said in vain. How many of us can say we do this every day?
Everyday we stare at the screen of our latest genius creation and next to the computer is a letter from an editor who says she wants us to cut out this or that from the story; she also wants us to bring down the word count. Yikes! Now this is difficult, but in literary fiction every word is used with a purpose. There are no frivolous little phrases flitting around in our fictional universe. Likewise, our lives have a word count way too high for the great Editor in the sky. We have to cut pride, immorality, temptation, hate, dislike, jealousy, and above all we have to honor our promises.
Terri Blackstock has an excellent book called, “Word of Honor.” It made me see Covenant as I had not seen it before and it made me remember the empty promises I made in the heat of the moment. My marriage to Tony is a Covenant marriage. This means I cannot simply divorce him unless he beats me or he commits adultery. This means it is a long complicated process to get out of my Covenant marriage by Arizona law.
Our promise to each other was made in front of God and witnesses that I would love and cherish my husband til death do us part through sickness and health. He promised the same thing. We have to honor each other. It's not hard to honor each other because we swore at the very beginning to put Christ first in our marriage. Our marriage is a trinity—Christ, us. There is no “i” in our marriage. There is only “we.”We cut away empty promises and we remember where we came from in order to recall no man or woman is beneath us. We think of the words and sentences we say and think about how they may impact someone else that day. We think of our actions every day.
This counts in Twitter, too. There are real people behind that Twitter facade with real hurts, real problems, real blessings, and real purpose. Twittering is more than just networking—twittering is a gateway to bring Christ's light into the human world.
The twitter pool is vast. I cannot see the shore anymore. I swim alongside other fish, learn from their experiences, share my own, and try to connect with other believers. I believe in bringing together the Christian world and throwing aside the false assumptions people make about Christians. We preach Christ crucified and His blood. We preach God's Word in whole, not talk only about the parts that are pleasant, but speak about His justice, His love, and His desire for us to grow in Him. We hate sin in ourselves first and in others, but we love the sinner. Our marriages are only as strong as our faith and devotion in Christ.
So why do you write? Why do you twitter? Why do you swim amongst us? Stoke the fire of your dreams throughout your life and do not let cynicisms diminish your fire or passion. One day the coals of your fire may burn bright and you may reap the benefits of your dreams. If your dreams do not turn into a raging fire, at the very least, you will grow old, grow in God, and you will look back with no regrets because you chose to live life in spite of its valleys and peaks. You chose to find joy there in spite of its heartaches. Someday, I will be in my Savior's arms and I long to hear Him say, well done good and faithful servant.
The twitter pool is vast. I cannot see the shore anymore. I swim alongside other fish, learn from their experiences, share my own, and try to connect with other believers. I believe in bringing together the Christian world and throwing aside the false assumptions people make about Christians. We preach Christ crucified and His blood. We preach God's Word in whole, not talk only about the parts that are pleasant, but speak about His justice, His love, and His desire for us to grow in Him. We hate sin in ourselves first and in others, but we love the sinner. Our marriages are only as strong as our faith and devotion in Christ.
So why do you write? Why do you twitter? Why do you swim amongst us? Stoke the fire of your dreams throughout your life and do not let cynicisms diminish your fire or passion. One day the coals of your fire may burn bright and you may reap the benefits of your dreams. If your dreams do not turn into a raging fire, at the very least, you will grow old, grow in God, and you will look back with no regrets because you chose to live life in spite of its valleys and peaks. You chose to find joy there in spite of its heartaches. Someday, I will be in my Savior's arms and I long to hear Him say, well done good and faithful servant.
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