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People are eager to see the fastest man in the world.

The 100m sprint is considered to be the benchmark for fleet-footed human speed…

But today I have another faithful sprinter I want to introduce.

Lonnie Skinner is a Bible teacher with decades of ministry experience under his belt. As president of Patriot Bible University, over the years, he has written hundreds of thousands of words, but only now has he written and published a book!

Lonnie joined the Anointed Authors Program in April and faithfully followed the 90-day pathway to published. Prior to this, something was preventing him from taking the bold step to publish a book. I call them roadblocks. The great thing though, is that roadblocks can be removed!

Sometimes having other like-minded authors alongside is the key to success.

At other times it’s just having the right coach or proven training pathway to follow opens up the floodgates.

In our Anointed Authors program several of our first time authors like to engage every day in the Anointed Authors cohort community, while others prefer to just work away quietly in the background. Whatever your personality and preference, there’s a place for you.

For Lonnie he simply grabbed hold of the training and followed it quietly in the background, applying himself to the process. He availed himself of the coaching when he needed a nudge or some advice but for the most part, the program simply provided the steps he needed to follow and he faithfully applied them.

Lonnie tapped his book out rapidly, so much so that he contacted me after the 90 days and confessed he’d written almost two books, not just one!

The first to hit the shelves was his excellent book, The Grace Race.

The Grace Race was my poolside reading on my recent family holiday. It’s a short book (I’m a big fan of short books!) and packed with experience, stories, humour and great revelation of God’s grace to win the sometimes gruelling race of Christian life. You can tell from the picture below how gruelling my Christian race was as I read Lonnie’s book 😉.

One by one, this cohort of first-time authors is fulfilling what, for some, has been a lifelong dream – to write a book and become a published author.

You can write a book!

Take a look at how happy these other Anointed Authors look, proudly holding their books in their hands…

The next cohort of Anointed Authors will begin their 3-month miracle (to write and publish a book in 90 days or less) on 7th September.

Do you want to join Lonnie and become a first-time published author by the end of 2024?

Don’t delay, enrol today at https://christiancreative.academy/anointedauthors/
Capacity is limited so be sure to secure your spot. Let’s do this!

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The gospel is the centre furrow of every creative field.

Jesus first, everything else follows.

It will take grit and grace to run your race.

By nature we are visionary.

No child of God is devoid of dreams, having already caught a glimpse of the city whose Builder and Maker is God!

But the creative path in life is not an easy one. It always beckons us to stretch and seek new boundaries, pushing possibilities and dreaming things into existence.

This brings us into Hebrews 11 territory:

“These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.” (Hebrews 11:13)

We see things afar off and set our inner compass and course, but not all of these hopes and visions will be fulfilled this side of eternity.

Although I’m deeply aware how privileged I am to have enjoyed a modicum of success in many of my creative endeavors, I also have a vast store of questions and disappointed hopes that I’ve had to swallow along the way. For every success, there has been a “string of lessons that I’ve learned” (a nice way to describe flops and fails).

What do you do when reality is not rosy and the road is far from smooth?

Grit your way through, knowing your Father is fully aware and in control, and dig deeper wells of grace in prayer to discover the lessons He is longing to teach along the way.

I have often, with hindsight, thanked God for not giving the things I thought I wanted.

Needless to say, there are also some startling omissions in His answers (or seeming lack of them) that I still have to work through. But more often than not, I’ve learned that Papa knows best. He knows the end from the beginning, and the most effective pathway there to shape my character for eternity.

Eternity after all is your ultimate destination.

Sometimes we forget.

Where we see an inch in front of our face, Father’s design and desire for your future stretches into eons.

Whatever peak or valley you are navigating right now, know that your great God, the Father of all, Creator of the worlds and all that is in them, has your back.

Read Hebrews 11 and add your name to the roster.

In the race for eternity, these were the Olympic gold winners in our Father’s eyes, and the majority of them did not boast this world’s accolades. Many were rejected and despised. Many held to hopes that made them the butt of jokes and jibes.

But when the podium is pulled out, we’ll be surprised how the final scores are calculated.

First will be last and last first.

Rich will be stricken, poor will be praised.

This is why, dear friends, even in our pursuit of excellence and success in our endeavours, eternity must remain the frame through which we define our existence.

One of the great dangers and frustrations that praying creatives face is success.

A little progress under the belt builds confidence, but naturally, that confidence can tip into self-reliance. We forget that the same grace we desperately desired when the starting gun fired is still required, perhaps increasingly, as the race continues.

Paul lamented the fact that the Galatians began in a spirit of reliance and humility but switched gear once they had a little experience under their belt.

“Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?” (Galatians 3:3 KJV)

The scriptures also speak of this in the book of Jeremiah. Instead of humble and thirsty dependence on the Source, God’s people hewed shallow troughs to draw from:

“For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.” (Jeremiah 2:13 KJV)

Retain your reliance.

Hold fast to the Fount.

Come back to simplicity, sincerity, and a sweet spirit that seeks God at every turn.

He fills the hungry, satisfies the thirsty, and instead of your energies bleeding through the cracks of self-reliance, gushing grace will overflow from your inner man to bless the world.

For years I had a cheap print of Millet’s sower on my wall.

I wanted to be reminded every day why I’m here in the field.

To sow.

Knowing that what I sow, I will reap.

“But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.” (2 Corinthians 9:6 KJV)

While the world schemes for all it can get, we believers conceive for all we can give.

Knowing this precious truth keeps us writing, making, moulding, learning and sharing.

Every seed sown puts roots of faith deep into the soil of prosperity. Some may sprout pounds, dollars and yen. Others might yield changed lives and transformed minds.

God, the Master of our creative stewardship, is no man’s debtor. No seed is wasted other than those that remain unsown.

Don’t hold back. Never fear putting your best seed to the field!

Share your best, show up every day, and pour out your heart and life in service to the King.