Curing Tutorial

Here's a link to a great tutorial on curing meat.
Click here

How to Work a Room Tips

Summary of How to Work a Room.
From Susan Roane @susanroane

1. Read name tags. Wear one.
2. Reintroduce yourself.
3. Look for the White-Knuckled Drinker
4. Extricate and Circulate
5. Allow for Serendipity
6. Be nice to everyone
7. Ditch the digital devices
8. Have Fun

Generating Story Ideas

From S. James Nelson on Youtube.

Watch for ideas. Keep a notebook.

Every story needs:

• Characters
• Setting, Place
• Problem
• Plot

Brainstorm the mundane, then brainstorm the opposite of each mundane characteristic.

Ask, "What if …" or "What could go wrong?" "Is there a secret from his past?" "What is his motivation?" "What is the threat here?"

Finish a book a year. Do it!

Eternal Salvation is NOT a choice

Eternal Salvation comes to those who believe that "Jesus Christ" is the messiah:

John 3:14-16

14 As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; 15 so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life.
16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His [e]only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.

Belief is a state, not an action.

For example. Suppose I said, "He who has blue eyes and blond hair is of Nordic descent."  Did I chose to have blue eyes? Did I chose to have [naturally] blond hair? No. Likewise, I did not choose to believe.

How do I come to believe? I must first have Faith. 

How do I obtain faith?

It is a gift of God.

Ephesians 2:8

For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God

We cannot reject the gift and calling of God.

Romans 11:29

The gifts and calling of God are irrevocable.

 How do I get this gift?

This is strictly God's call. He choses who he calls, according to HIS purposes, not ours.

[Also note the phrase "for good to those who love God" does not say "for the good of those who love God." God's definition of good does not mean my safety, comfort, and happiness. Good means in accordance with His prescribed will. But that is another study.]

Romans 8:28-30 Emphasis is mine.

28 And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. 29 For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; 30 and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.

So what is the point of Evangelism?



God gave us, the believing body of Christ, a task to perform in making this process happen. Our task is to preach the word and to send others to preach.

Romans 10:12-17

12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him; 13 for “Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
14 How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? 15 How will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of good things!”
16 However, they did not all heed the good news; for Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our report?” 17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.

John 5:24

Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.

Revelation 3:20

Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.

We are God's chosen instrument here on earth, chosen to glorify Him by preaching His Word, empowered by the Holy Spirit. Note that some do not heed the Word and believe. This was because they were not among the called.

Matthew 28

18 And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

Mark 16

 15 And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. 16 He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned. … 

20 And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them, and confirmed the word by the signs that followed. 

Objections

Some object to this by pointing out Deuteronomy 30:19 tells us to “choose life.” But then we read in Romans 3:11 that “there is none who seeks for God”(NASB).

Romans 3, [quoting Psalms 14:1-3; 53:1-3; Eccles. 7:20]

 as it is written,
“There is none righteous, not even one;
11 There is none who understands,
There is none who seeks for God;
12 All have turned aside, together they have become useless;
There is none who does good,
There is not even one.”

So we are absolutely incapable of seeking God and doing good without the initiation, intervention, and empowerment of the Holy Spirit. In fact, were were dead in our sins. Dead means we could do nothing; and nothing means nothing.

Ephesians 2

1 And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, 2 in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience.

… 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.

Paul also says that we were slaves to sin, which means that we must obey that master, until we are born again.

Romans 6:6-7, 12, 16, 17

6 knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; 7 for he who has died is freed from sin.
… 12 Therefore do not let sin (T)reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts
… 16 Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness? 17 But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed

John 8:34

Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin

We were chosen by God, not by our actions, to do good works, which are the prescribed will of God.

Some argue that it is possible to fall or turn away from God and lose their eternal salvation.

1 Tim 4:1

But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith

Heb 12:3

For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

However, God has promised that salvation is a gift of eternal life. God promised eternal life to those who confess with their mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in their heart God raised Him from the dead.

Rom 10:9-11

 9 … if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; 10 for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. 11 For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed.” 

 This is a promise from God. Can we choose to break God's promise? I think not.

God also promises that he who has faith will overcome the world and that the evil one does not touch him.

1 John 5:4 &18

 4 For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. 5 Who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
… 18 We know that no one who is born of God sins; but He who was born of God keeps him, and the evil one does not touch him. 

Therefore, I can only conclude that those who fall away never believed in the first place.

Creating Compelling Content

From Copyblogger:

Like this infographic? Get more content marketing tips from Copyblogger.

15 Ways to market your freelance writing

From Make a Living Writing: You want more leads because that allows you to pick and choose the types of projects you want to do. It makes you feel more confident asking for higher rates, too. As it happens, there are a fairly limited number of ways most writers find paid freelance work. Here are the basic options, with a look at the pros and cons for each type: Friends and family. That’s right — let the people in your life know you are looking for freelance writing clients. You never know who they might know. You could earn a little, or a lot. Content mills. The pay is rock-bottom, but once you’re accepted, it’s so easy to grab assignments off that content mill dashboard. Bidding sites. It’s a race to the bottom against every writer on the globe on oDesk/Elance/Guru and all their imitators, but if you’re selective and choose quality gigs few are bidding, you might do fairly well. Revshare platforms. The effort you put in writing for Examiner and similar platforms will determine whether you earn pennies or thousands. I’m told you should post 1,000 articles in a short time to earn well. Craigslist ads. These are so easy to find…and so full of scams and lowballers. Every once in a while a real client wanders on here because they don’t know its reputation, which keeps scads of writers checking Craigslist compulsively in hopes of finding that one gold nugget. Place your own ads. Whether you get in the resource guide of your local professional association or place Facebook or Craigslist ads, you can spend a bit in hopes of attracting some new clients. This one’s real hit-or-miss, though with Facebook you’ll at least know how many people viewed it. Inbound marketing. If you take the time to create a strong LinkedIn profile, blog and writer website, they could send you quality clients while you sleep. I’ve gotten several Fortune 500 clients this way that paid $.50-$2 a word. Query letters. You don’t need connections if you know how to develop a stellar story idea and pitch it to the right publication. Pay at publications is all over the place, from $.10 a word to $2. Letters of introduction. For custom publications (that hospital magazine, for instance) and trade publications (think Ad Age), emailing off a strong letter of introduction can open the door to a steady string of assignments. Most pay $.30-$1 a word. Social media marketing. If you know how to do it, you can use LinkedIn and Twitter to connect with prospects of all sorts, from magazine editors to corporate publications managers. In-person marketing. Grab some business cards and show up at a business event. Shop around until you find the meeting your prospects visit. You never know who you could bump into — I met the editors of Costco Connection and Microsoft Office Live at in-person events. Cold calling. Reach out and touch marketing managers. Find out if they need freelance writers. Repeat as needed. Cold calling allows you to hit a lot of prospects in a short time. Direct mail. Sure, you’ll spend to put together a slick postcard or marketing package. But it allows you to impress the heck out of big-money clients. Referrals. If you have happy editors or business clients, either current or former, from either paid or pro bono work, they may tell their friends and send more gigs your way…especially if you tell them you need more clients. Contests. I got my start winning two of these. The prize isn’t the money — it’s the connections you make with the editors who read your entries. I ended up writing long-term for both the publications where I won contests. My free Marketing 101 for Freelance Writers series has a ton more detail on the best ways to do the types of marketing that get better results, but that’s a quick overview. How

Campbell's 'Hero's Journey' Monomyth

From ChangingMinds.org. See that for numbered links.

Disciplines > Storytelling > Plots > Campbell's 'Hero's Journey' Monomyth
Separation | Initiation | Return | See also

Joseph Campbell defined a classic sequence of actions that are found in many stories. It is also known as the Monomyth, a term Campbell coined from James Joyce's Finnigan's Wake.
I. Separation / departure
The first section of the story is about the separation of the hero from the normal world. Separation has symbolic echo of infant transition away from the mother and so has a scary feel to it.

  I.1 The Call to Adventure
  I.2 Refusal of the Call
Acceptance of the Call
  I.3 Supernatural Aid
  I.4 Crossing of the First Threshold
  I.5 Entering the Belly of the Whale

II. Initiation
In the main part of the story the hero is initiated into true heroic stature by various trials and rites. Through daring and battle, the true character emerges.

  II.1 Road of Trials
  II.2 The Meeting with the Goddess
  II.3 Woman as Temptress
  II.4 Atonement with the Father
  II.5 Apotheosis
  II.6 The Ultimate Boon

III. Return
After initiation the hero can cleansed and return in triumph to deserved recognition, although this in itself may not be without its trials and tribulations.

  III.1 Refusal of the Return
  III.2 Magic Flight
  III.3 Rescue From Without
  III.4 Crossing of the Return Threshold
  III.5 Master of the Two Worlds
  III.6 Freedom to Live

As with other frameworks, Campbell receives his fair share of criticism, typically that not all stories are like this. His much-admired and much-copied pattern has also been criticized as leading to 'safe' movie-making, in which writers use his structure as a template, thus leading to 'boring' repeats, albeit in different clothes. The same has been said about Shakespeare, of course, as well as other classic writers.
See also
Propp's Morphology of the Folk Tale, Vogler's story structure
Campbell, J. (1949). The Hero With a Thousand Faces, New York: Bollingen

Seven Tips From Ernest Hemingwa

From Open Culture:

1: To get started, write one true sentence.

2: Always stop for the day while you still know what will happen next.
So obvious, but we never do it. We try to press on.

3: Never think about the story when you’re not working.
Let your subconscious work on it.

4: When it’s time to work again, always start by reading what you’ve written so far.
This builds continuity.


5: Don’t describe an emotion–make it.
 The key is to not only watch and listen closely to external events, but to also notice any emotion stirred in you by the events and then trace back and identify precisely what it was that caused the emotion.

6: Use a pencil.
You need to work at it and using a pencil forces you to slow down.

7: Be Brief.
Using a pencil forces brevity.