The Creative Way Journal - 8: Questions Of Discovery

I am on a journey with Ted Dekker, through “The Creative Way,” a course in transformation fiction. Ted has published over 35 novels and sold over 10 million copies worldwide. Two of his novels, Thr3e, and House were made into movies with more in production. For more of his biography, you can read at http://teddekker.com/about/.

Why is this important to me?

After Ted had graduated from college, he entered the corporate world and proceeded to climb the proverbial ladder. So did I. But his personal drive left him restless and, after many successful years, he traded corporate life for entrepreneurial pursuits. So did I. In the early nineties, Ted decided to pursue a long-held desire to be a novelist. This is where my path diverges.

My writing as a novelist was a serendipitous desire to explore my life and write spontaneously about it using characters that displayed a bit of people I encountered in my life experiences and me. I did not have a theme or a plot line. I just started writing about three characters. What I discovered was a question that everyone wants the answer. After writing what would become the first novel, PURSUIT, a story about forsaken love, I fell in love with a daughter of the Father that I felt He had reserved for me. Thirty days of her love was all that I experienced. Texas deputies shot and killed her son for a minor crime, shoplifting. His death crushed his mother’s heart, and she left me to move back to Texas to be with her only remaining son. She was heartbroken, and so was I. I wrote the third novel, CONQUEROR, over the next three months as I journeyed through the healing process of redemptive love.

I returned to writing the segue novel, SCANDAL, a rogue, realistic story about scandalous love. I discovered the theme of my five years of writing during this anguishing time of exploring my past relationships, and to bring to light the question that we all want an answer.

What is Love?

Love is sacrifice.

Loving God first is selfless love,

     Yet if I didn’t love others,

     I would have gained nothing.

Love is fruit of the Holy Spirit

     To be given freely without restraint.

Love is not jealous or envious or vain.

Love is kind and compassionate, hopeful and enduring.

Love is patient and long suffering through trials and strife.

Love does not seek its own way.

Love is faithful and true, never boastful or proud.

Love is honest and just, yet completed with grace.

Love is virtuous and pure, not irritable or rude.

Love holds no record of wrongs.

Love never falters in faith.

Love never fails and lasts forever.

God is love.

Apostle Paul’s letter written in 1 Corinthians 13 is the substance of my poetic answer to the question. Christian marriage ceremonies often speak of this wisdom. I was searching for the answer, and it was already written and available to me as a guide for all relationships.

Why do we ignore, why do we not practice the wisdom of the Word of God?

That is the question that we all want the answer.

Discover yourself in the Light that is already within you. It may be blocked by grievances you hold against another person or yourself. Forgive yourself and others, and the Light will dispel the darkness, and you will discover your true identity as a son or daughter of the Father.

The Creative Way Journal - 7: World Of Dreams

Jeremiah is writing every day. The words flow like blood coursing through his veins from a fountain of endless supply. He is alone, yet in a world surrounded by love. He writes about love and longs to find that love in a woman that lives with the same love that he has. He writes in the light and sees the daughter of the Father reserved for him. He reaches out to touch her and feels her warmth beside him. The accuser claws at his back, tearing open wounds of his past. Control and manipulation, their hands attempt to draw him back, but he has let go of the fight, and they have no power over him. Drawn to love, he embraces what is before him and slips into the world of his dreams, now a reality. Two become one as occurred when he received Christ as his Savior. He no longer needs a woman to save him from his past, and so Father gives him what he no longer needs, rather, what he wants.

I Had A Dream

I had a dream.

I had a dream

That my children

Would stand beside me.

I had a dream.

I had a dream

That they would say

Let him live his life

The way he wants to live.

I had a dream.

I had a dream

That they would denounce

The call to chain me

To bind me to rules.

I had a dream.

They said, Let Dad live

He is a unique and loving dad

He love us

Unconditionally

No matter what

He loves us.

I had a dream.

They stood and renounced

The call to chain me

They called me

Dad of all time.

They were not dreaming.

The Creative Way Journal - 6: Surrender Is Power

I was born again to write. At the time, I did not know it. Following my rebirth in Christ, dying to the flesh and born again of the Spirit, I began to read God’s Word. I took the Bible as a book of life; I could not wait to discover the mysteries that God would make clear to me. I started with Genesis and ended with Revelation, just as I would read a novel. The journey took some time, and I set aside the morning hours when I was off work to read, journal the rhemas that spoke directly to me, and to ponder questions about life.

I am reaffirming my identity now, as a son of the Father. I used to refer to me as a son of God or a man of God. Naming God as my Father is the ultimate of spiritual intimacy. I talk to Him as a Father with whom I can be most vulnerable and honest. I tell my Father every desire, passion, and need that I have. I praise Him, thank Him, and glorify Him throughout my day.

I have a brother, too. His name is Jesus. You may know of Him as the man who died on the cross. I hope you know Jesus as your Savior because He proved He had victory over death as the living God when He died on the cross. You also can have victory over death. Because of His death and resurrection to live, you are saved from spiritual death, if only you would believe in Jesus and receive Him to live forever with you in your heart.

What is forever? What is eternity? It has no beginning or end. Eternity is outside of our dimension of time. Eternity is God, and we live in it as soon as we receive Jesus as the Savior of our life, the atoning sacrifice for all sin, yours and mine and all of humanity. All you need to do is say from your heart, “Jesus, come into my heart and live within me. Forgive my past and cleanse me today and for every tomorrow. Jesus, you are Lord of my life.”

Simple enough. God is not complicated. Life is not difficult. We may make it so, but Jesus says, “Take my yoke (join with me), it is easy, and my burden (how Jesus sees your circumstances) is light.” But, to do this, you must surrender. Surrender is the most difficult for some, for we have been taught to fight. Yet, when we surrender to God, we gain His power and relinquish our own. Think about it. Would you rather have the power of God or your strength? The answer is obvious, so why not surrender to God?

Back to “Born Again To Write,” I find myself on a new journey. I have been writing stories since 2004. I was born again in 1995. From 1995 to 2004 I poured out my laments with tears and ink on paper. After an epiphany on St. Patrick’s Day in 2004 in which I saw a man writing and heard the word, “Author,” I began to write, inspired by the Holy Spirit - He spoke the words - to compose meditations about life.

In November 2010, I began to write my life story. No, not an autobiography, not a stuffy, “I did this and that, and this is how it affected me.” I wrote from my heart a story with characters that reflected my life. My life story grew over the next five years to a trilogy of PURSUIT, SCANDAL, and CONQUERER.

Story is the blood and life of the writer, the descriptive prose and poetry of the darkness that he or she desires to overcome, the clouds that block the Light. We are all sons or daughters of the Father, you only need to embrace Him as yours to receive the blessings of the kingdom of God that are within you when you claim Jesus as Lord of your life. It’s all about surrender, and letting go of the grievances you have with others, “There is no revenge so complete as forgiveness,” dispels the darkness with Light. Light chases away all darkness. There is no darkness in Light. Live in the Light, for you have all that you need within you right now, the power of God when you surrender.

The Creative Way Journal - 5: Through The Eyes Of A Child

I was one of the Hardy Boy detectives. Remember them, or maybe your fantasy life as a child was in Nancy Drew? I was there with them, and I recall the time when we ran into Nancy, hot on the trail of solving the latest criminal mystery, “Who Shot Hawkeye?”

Hawkeye was a legend; a myth passed down from parents to their children during the telling of campfire stories. As a child, we need the sense of security that someone is always watching over us, protecting us from danger, and rescuing us when we find ourselves in trouble. Since we cannot see God, describing Him is beyond the comprehension of a seven-year-old, and Hawkeye was the hero of those tales. But, the villain of a child’s imagination ended the soaring bird’s watchful eye on the day that music died.

On the hunt for clues to find the weapon, to find Hawkeye, and to capture the villain, Nancy and us Hardy Boys crossed paths.

“How do we know that someone shot Hawkeye?” Frank asked.

“How else is a bird killed?” Nancy shot back. “Of course, Hawkeye was shot.”

“Maybe he was captured. Maybe he is still alive,” Joe offered with hope.

“No, the story is that Hawkeye fell to the ground out of the sky. He had to be shot,” Nancy announced.

“But no one has found him. Maybe he was making a dive to rescue someone,” Joe countered. “We have no body, no weapon, and no motive for the killer.”

“We do have a motive,” Frank affirmed.

“What’s that?” Nancy asked, hand on hips as if to say, How would you know?

“Hawkeye is every child’s hero. If the hero is taken out, the stories end. End of story, no hero, no story.”

“And no stories, and we may as well give up campfires.”

“And no campfires, no more S’mores.”

“And no more S’more’s and we’ll have to buy your Girl Scout cookies. Nothing like a real S’more.”

“Okay, let’s retrace our steps. When was Hawkeye last seen?”

“At the campfire at Crooked Creek. Dad was telling the story of Hawkeye rescuing Ranger Rick and his dog, Red.”

“Nah, I last heard of him during the story of ‘Dead Man’s Fall.’ Ranger Rick and Red were in a canoe and were swept over the waterfall.”

“Nuh-uh! Hawkeye plucked Ranger Rick and Red out of the avalanche when they were skiing. That was the last story I heard.”

“Well then,” said Frank, the oldest of the three. “Why don’t we make up a story about Hawkeye falling from the sky and biting the head off the villain that shot him?”

“Yeah, and then Red finds Hawkeye lying on the ground and Ranger Rick takes the bullet out of him, and he lives.”

This is how stories begin, within our imagination, the creative power that lives within everyone. All you need to do is see the light within you, through the eyes of your spirit beyond your circumstances. You have the power to create your own life story. The sandcastles of the past - your past life story - have been washed away. Build a new sandcastle every day. You have permission to do that. There is a child within everyone. Be that child. Be the child that forgives and forgets, the one that let’s go of the grievance and plays again.  

Case closed.

The Creative Way Journal - 4: Spiritual Wings Of Destiny

As I look out into the world, I see no boundaries, no fences, and no barriers to exploring and discover life in my true identity as a son of the Father. This identity is infinite and boundless, for it is my eternal identity that escapes the dimension of time. Eternity has no beginning or end.

Father gave me spiritual wings when I received the Light of my salvation in Yeshua - Jesus Christ - but I had yet to learn to fly. Frankly, when I was born again in the Spirit, I did not realize that I had wings; my physical body did not change, but my spiritual being became one with Christ, and Christ became one with me.  This is how I received my wings, the power of God resides within me, and I can do anything in Christ, nothing is impossible. I am not referring to physically flying. Spiritual wings allow me to transcend my life experiences - my life story - and free me to write a new story as the son of the Father.

I am a new spiritual being born again of the Spirit. With wings of the Spirit, I can go to places outside of physical boundaries - my roles and their locations - and do all that my Father has called me to be.

As a writer of transformational fiction with the eyes of the Spirit, I can see beyond the trees that I am now viewing and spiritually fly to where my spiritual vision takes me. This is what Jesus means when He said, “My burden is light, and My yoke is easy,” when I see my situations, obstacles to overcome, and trials that would torment me if I did not rise above them with spiritual wings.

“Let Me do it,” Father says to me. “I will take care of it when you surrender your life to me, the evil and the good, so that I can make good of everything for the purpose for which I have called you.”

Daily, I surrender my will for the cup of His will filled with the living water of His Son who died for you and me. In doing so, Father takes my plans and the desires of my heart and places my footsteps on the journey He has set out for me. This is destiny that we will realize our passion in life when we surrender to Him and follow The Way, for Jesus is the way, the truth and the life for all who believe in Him as their Savior from this temporary world.

Praise my Father for the vision and word He gives me.

Copyright © 2016 by Jeff Cambridge

The Creative Way Journal - 3: Rider On The White Horse

Jeremiah stood at the podium scanning the audience that filled the stadium as an increasing crowd outside watched a live stream of the sold-out event. The last of the series, Revelation7Strong – “Harvest,” the bookend to the seven messages from Christ in the book of Revelation, would be released the following day.

What drew thousands to hear the words of Jeremiah? They are followers of The Way, and every one of them received the Light that pierced the darkness in their lives. They saw the Light when they received the Savior, dying to self and born again with the Spirit living within them. They are the light of the world, and Jeremiah, through the story of his journey in the world, opened the doors of their hearts, so that they could see themselves as who they truly are, sons and daughters of the Father.

Jeremiah spoke, and the crowd hushed to silence. The world listens.

“All of you belong to the Harvest, those who overcame the obstacles of this world that blocked your true identity.

"For some of you, it was Love, forsaking your first love for the materialism of the world. Your reward is the Tree of Life, the tree that sustained the garden where everything lived in harmony with every need satisfied.

“For others, it was Faith, your refusal to let go of the past, to get out of your boat of security and walk on the water in faith that all of your needs are met in Christ who lives in you and you in Him. You will receive the Crown of Life.

“Still others, your stumbling block was Loyalty, being true to your identity in Christ, the image in which you were created, for you will be given a New Name.

“Some of you were self-centered, your world revolved around you, but you surrendered your pride and became humble in Service, ‘So those who are last now will be first then, and those who are first will be last.¹ For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.²’ For these servants in Christ will be rewarded with Authority.

“While others were dead in the spirit, lacking Worth, you were rescued by the Good Shepherd who let not one of His sheep be lost. For all of us, the Shepherd became the Lamb of God, worthy is His name, worthy is the lamb who was slain, for you died with Him, born again worthy as a son or daughter of the Father. For you, He rewards the Book of Life.

“Some of you with Perseverance kept God’s Word and have not denied Christ’s name.  You will be a Pillar in His kingdom, the New Jerusalem to come.

“Those of you who were lukewarm in faith overcame your tepid relationship with Christ through Discipline, finding your treasure in Him. To you will be given a Throne.

“Now, return to your homelands and reap the Harvest of souls before the final day of these End Times at the Second Coming of Christ when every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.³”

The crowd erupted in applause and praise to the Father in heaven where they would live forever in His mansion in the sky.

      References:

1          1. Matthew 20:16

2          2. Matthew 20:28

3          3. Philippians 2:10-11

Refer to Revelation chapters 2 and 3 for the seven messages of Christ: Love, Faith, Loyalty, Service, Worth, Perseverance, and Discipline, and the rewards: Tree of Life, Crown of Life, New Name, Authority, Book of Life, Pillar, and Throne.

All glory to Father God for the words He has given me.

Copyright © 2016 by Jeff Cambridge

The Creative Way Journal - 2: Looking Back To The Present

Sitting on the deck of my cabin in the clouds of Black Mountain, I overlook the town and its valley originally inhabited by the Cherokee Indians.  The town is in the shadow of the peak of Black Mountain; upon which is a panoramic vista of mountains clad in oak, maple, and beech trees with splotches of the darker pines and fir. Fluffy white clouds seemingly skirt the mountaintops as the high sunlight reflects off their floating plumpness.

The story of my finding this gem of mountain views dates to my spiritual journey to Black Mountain in response to God’s call to “move on” and vacation in the mountains in May of 2016. Surprisingly, I was apprehensive about taking the trip. I drove through torrential rain most of the journey, but eventually I outran the front to find the azure sky dotted with billowy wonderings. Cresting a rise and unbeknownst to me, the Blue Ridge Mountain range came into my view. A smile uplifted my dark face as I listened to REO’s “Ridin’ The Storm Out” just moments before. I felt I was coming home.

Interesting, because I have never lived in the mountains. Yet, there is a spirit of love and acceptance by the mountain people who call you “friend” when they first meet you.

I look back on that visit with a gleam in my eye for it forged a bond with the mountain that drew me back and inspired me to publish my first novel, PURSUIT. The story is about a college grad that aspires to make the American Dream his life, only to find that he is on a road to perdition, of sidetracked escapades that bind his life in the control of a lying vanity with whom became his idol. The novel became a best-seller after its first year in print.

Yet, that is what Father promised me as I sat in my chair off the one-lane roadway that climbed the mountain’s face, listening to my mentor, Ted Dekker, describe the basis of my true identity as a son of the Father. When I realized this, that He was not only God but also, Papa, Abba, Father, my life exploded with my dreams being realized. He said, “Let me do it,” and so, I surrendered my will for His cup of my life, filled with the sweet, living water of His Son, Jesus.

The chill of the evening mountain air drifts across the porch perched on this precipice. My wife sits in a wide rocker filling only half of it. A mountain woman who draws ancestral ties to the Cherokees and the pioneers who created a settlement when the first road was carved through the mountains in 1850; she is the daughter of God that He reserved for me with His promise in 2010. Oh, how I waited long and patiently for that day when, after a trek to Looking Glass Rock, I had supper at the Trailhead Restaurant. Was it because she called me “friend” that I opened the eye of my heart? She served my meal, and at the time, I thought nothing of it. But, when I returned to view the autumn foliage, she was there again, waiting on my table, and this time, I called her “friend.” Maybe it was the comeback of my response, or possibly she remembered my visit in Spring, or could it have been divine providence that we would connect?

She had a dramatically beautiful tattoo that encompassed her shoulder and forearm. It was an owl with eyes that seemingly peered into mine. The owl symbolizes wisdom, mystery, and transition. The Native Americans associated the meaning of owl with wisdom, foresight, and keeper of sacred knowledge. The owl is a creature of the night, and its nocturnal nature symbolizes dreams and secret knowledge. Now, keep in mind that my identity is a son of the Father, He is in me, and I am in Him, so I view any symbolism in the Light of my Father. I am the light of the world, and I see with a spiritual eye of Light. There is no fear or darkness in my life, because Christ is in me, and I am in Him.

We spent the next day together hiking the Old Toll Road on Rainbow Mountain. I listened as she told me the story of her heritage, the blend of Cherokee mysticism and Christian values that wove through her family lines. I asked her about the owl, mildly concerned that it could represent dark spirits, the rulers of the night. She laughed at my concern, and then became serious in her reply.

“The owl is the wisest of birds. It thinks more than it flies. It can see from any direction, rotating its head 360 degrees. Nothing passes by the owl unnoticed. It flies at night when no other birds can, and its wings surpass that of an eagle. An owl makes its home inside a tree, safe from the ravages of wind and weather, like building a house on a rock than on sand. I bear this image on my right shoulder to honor the source of my wisdom from God. God created every living creature for a purpose, and each represents a faction of Him. Do we not describe God as a lion, an eagle, and a lamb?

It was a warning, the owl, of upcoming desolation. She bore the symbol of humankind’s doom if they did not find The Way. What is The Way? This is how Jesus explains that He is the Way to the Father:

“Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am.  And you know the way to where I am going.”

“No, we don’t know, Lord,” Thomas said. “We have no idea where you are going, so how can we know the way?”

Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.  If you had really known me, you would know who my Father is. From now on, you do know him and have seen him!”

Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.”

Jesus replied, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and yet you still don’t know who I am? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father! So why are you asking me to show him to you? Don’t you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words I speak are not my own, but my Father who lives in me does his work through me. Just believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me. Or at least believe because of the work you have seen me do.

 “I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father. You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father. Yes, ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it! (John 14:1-14 NLT)

And you my beloved are in Christ, and He is in you. He is the all in all, and you are a part of all. Your identity is in Christ; you are a son or daughter of the Father, an heir of Christ who is your Brother.

I set my pen down and closed my journal. The sun set behind the mountaintop. With my wife beside me, her premonition of desolation and wisdom written on her shoulder, the screech of the owl in the ruins of mankind, I knew that I was with a daughter of God that foretold of the destruction of this world, of a new Jerusalem that would descend from heaven for Christ to reign forever more.