John Adams' Faith in Time of Crisis -Guest Blog By William Federer

by William Federer John Adams wrote to his cousin, Rev. Zabdiel Adams, June 21, 1776: "Statesmen, my dear Sir, may plan and speculate for liberty, but it is religion and morality alone, which can establish the principles upon which freedom can securely stand. The only foundation of a free Constitution is pure virtue, and if this cannot be inspired into our people in a greater measure, than they have it now, they may change their rulers and the forms of Government, but they will not obtain a lasting liberty."

America's God and Country Encyclopedia of Quotations

On July 1, 1776, John Adams wrote to Archibald Bullock: "The object is great which we have in view, and we must expect a great expense of blood to obtain it. But we should always remember that a free Constitution of civil Government cannot be purchased at too dear a rate as there is nothing, on this side (of) the New Jerusalem, of equal importance to Mankind."

On July 1, 1776, John Adams spoke to the delegates of the Thirteen Colonies at the Continental Congress: "Before God, I believe the hour has come. My judgment approves this measure, and my whole heart is in it. All that I have, and all that I am, and all that I hope in this life, I am now ready here to stake upon it. And I leave off as I began, that live or die, survive or perish, I am for the Declaration. It is my living sentiment, and by the blessing of God it shall be my dying sentiment. Independence now, and Independence forever!"

The Continental Congress selected John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Robert R. Livingston, Roger Sherman and Thomas Jefferson to be on the committee to draft the Declaration of Independence. John Adams personally urged Thomas Jefferson to write the draft. In contemplating the effect that separation from England would mean to him personally, John Adams wrote: "If it be the pleasure of Heaven that my country shall require the poor offering of my life, the victim shall be ready, at the appointed hour of sacrifice, come when that hour may. But while I do live, let me have a country, and that a free country!"

On July 3, 1776, the day following Congress' approval of the Declaration of Independence, John Adams wrote to his wife, Abigail Adams: "It is the will of heaven that the two countries should be sundered forever. It may be the will of heaven that America shall suffer calamities still more wasting and distresses yet more dreadful ... The furnace of affliction produces refinements, in states as well as individuals ... You will see in a few days a Declaration setting forth the causes, which have impelled us to this mighty revolution, and the reasons which will justify it in the sight of God and man ... The new governments we are assuming ... will require a purification from our vices and an augmentation of our virtues or they will be no blessings. The people will have unbounded power. And the people are extremely addicted to corruption and venality, as well as the great. I am not without apprehensions from this quarter, but I must submit all my hopes and fears to an overruling Providence, in which, unfashionable as the faith may be, I firmly believe."

As the 2nd President, John Adams wrote, April 26, 1777: "Posterity! You will never know how much it cost the present generation to preserve your freedom! I hope you will make a good use of it. If you do not, I shall repent in Heaven that I ever took half the pains to preserve it."

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John Adams' son, John Quincy Adams, was the 6th U.S. President. He stated, March 4, 1825: "'Except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh in vain,' with fervent supplications for His favor, to His overruling Providence I commit with humble but fearless confidence my own fate and the future destinies of my country."                                            *** Hope the above article inspired you during this crisis time in America battling the Covid-19 virus. My family is choosing to live in Psalm 91 and defeat fear in all its forms.  Psalm 23 is a great blessing, too! We are praying for America to come back to God and His word. This is our way to mercy and victory. May the Lord bless and keep you is my prayer today! Elva Martin

How I Write a Novel - Part 1 Prayer & Faith

By Elva Cobb Martin

Happy  Valentines Week!

Since I've just sent in my fourth novel and am starting work on my fifth, I am inviting you along to see how I write a novel. It will be a good review for me and, hopefully, help to you in writing your novel.

Here's a quick outline teaser of the coming blogs:

Part 1 Cover the project in prayer and faith - Today's blog
Part 2 How I Write the First Draft
Part 3  How I Write the Second Draft
Part 4 Print Out Second Draft to read and mark.
Part 5 My Editing Process 
Part 6 Fine Tuning and Final Checks before sending off

Part 1 - Faith and Prayer

Every time I start a novel, I have to believe God as though it were my first. There it is. I admit it. This keeps me depending on Him versus my own ability.

Two Important Aspects 

A) Study and confession of the Word of God--especially the promises relating to writing.

Jesus said in John 6:63: "These words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life."

In 2 Timothy 3:16 we read: "All scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable..."

A Greek study of the word inspiration reveals it means God's breath. God breathed into those He chose to write the Bible, and the words they wrote had God's breath in them. Think of a balloon you blow up and tie in a knot. Your breath, part of you, is still in that balloon even though you're no longer blowing into it.

God's breath is still contained in the Word of God, the Bible. This is why Jesus could boldly say, "These words...are spirit and life."
No other words or books can make this claim truthfully.

This is why I read through the Bible systematically each year. This is why I attend a Spirit-filled, Bible-preaching church weekly. I want God's breath to keep blowing on me. I want more of His Spirit and His life flowing through me and my writing.

Another great way to release God's breath into our lives (and writing) is by verbal confession of scriptures, and having faith in those words to bring life.

I have compiled some Christian Writers Confessions of Faith

If you email me at elvacmartin@gmail.com, I'll be happy to email you a copy of my 12 Christian Writers' Faith Confessions." 

Here are the first three:

1) My tongue is the pen of a ready writer. Ps.45:1

2) A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth that which is good.    Luke 6:45

3) (My) pleasant words are as honeycomb, sweet to the soul and health to the bones. Prov. 16:24

B) Prayer - Mine and Others

1) Prayer Partners

I have a group of prayer warrior partners to whom I send a monthly prayer request list of personal and writing needs. They are free to send me their personal requests to lift up. Their prayers have helped in many ways.

2) Daily Prayer for my Writing:

Lord, I invite and thank you for being a Co-Laborer in my writing today.

Help me work hard and not get distracted. In faith I ask for:

1) Your plans, wisdom, inspiration, plotting, characterization, dialog, clear DPOV, my best writing, and Christian theme and nuggets to impact readers’ lives for good.

2) Good computer operation and time spent, efficiency, best daily schedule, right diet, exercise.  Help me not spend too much time researching, but get accurate details.

3) Strength, energy, good health, good sleep and good chair posture.

4)We ask favor and divine connections to helpers, editors, for best editing, publishing, book covers, great street team and reviews, sales and good social media action.  

Help me write a great book in six months and give favor for a movie contract.

I thank You in advance that You are going to pull this off perfectly as I trust You and WRITE.  Ps. 37:5  The Passion Translation. Amen

In my next blog I will tell you how the Lord gave me the first bare outline of the novel I am beginning --during my prayer time last week.

Thanks for stopping by. Would love to read your comments and please share this blog by clicking on the small icons below.

Elva 

Elva Cobb Martin is 2020 President of the SC Chapter of American Christian Fiction Writers. She is a former school teacher and a graduate of Anderson University and Erskine College. She has three inspirational novels published, Summer of Deception, a contemporary romantic suspense, and two historical romances, In a Pirate’s Debt, and Marisol, Book 1 in a new Charleston Brides series for  Wild Heart Books. All three novels have spent time on Amazon’s 100 Best Sellers List for Women’s Religious Fiction. She has indie published a Bible study on Amazon, Power Over Satan, on the  believer's authority in Christ. Decision, Charisma, and Home Life have carried Elva's articles. She and her husband Dwayne are retired ministers. A mother and grandmother, Elva lives in South Carolina. Connect with her on her web site http://www.elvamartin.com, Twitter www.twitter.com/ElvaCobbMartin; Facebook http://www.facebook.com/elvacobbmartin;  and Pinterest https://www.pinterest.com/elvacobbmartin  
 Link to her romance novels and non-fiction works on Amazon: http://amzn.to/2pOgVHI  

Why Do We Write Romances? Guest Blog MaryLu Tyndall

God is a Romantic at heart!  By Mary Lu Tyndall  https://www.marylutyndall.com/ Posted: 16 Sep 2019 12:30 AM PDT Sometimes people ask me why I write romance. Aren't there more important things to write in these trying times? I always answer them that I write about God, and God is a romantic!  In fact, the entire Bible is one huge love story composed of a bunch of little love stories.  It goes something like this. God seeks out a bride for Himself. A people who will love Him and follow Him and be in relationship with Him. He wants a bride who will tell the rest of mankind about Him.  He chooses the Jewish people. He saves them from bondage (Egypt), marries them on Mount Sinai, and then intends to bring them into the promised land where they will live happy and free with Him.  The Jewish people cheat on God. They run off after other lovers.  God divorces them.  Then I saw that for all the causes for which backsliding Israel had committed adultery, I had put her away and given her a certificate of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear, but went and played the harlot also. Jeremiah 3:8 Jesus becomes a man in order to pay the penalty for everyone's sin and bring the Jews back into relationship with God.  God loves the Jewish people (all people) so much that He is willing to sacrifice His own Son in order to win them back.   The Jews reject Jesus. Jesus turns to the gentiles to seek a new bride.  God has sent His Holy Spirit to earth to call each individual member of the bride and help them get ready for her wedding!  Note:  In the end, God will save Israel when they turn to Jesus, and they will once again be His bride.. He's not done with them yet. (This is mimicked in the story of Jacob listed below) So you see, the entire Bible is a love story!. It's all about how much God loves us, how much He is willing to pay to set us free from our prison of sin, how much He is willing to lose to bring us back to Him, how much He is willing to suffer.. It's the greatest love story of all time., and embedded within it are a dozen great love stories that all illustrate and point back to the major one: God loves you with an undying, sacrificial, unconditional, immense love! And He never leaves you and never gives up on you, and He pursues you as if you were the only object of His great affection. Don't ever forget that! Look how God has woven the same story throughout Scripture! Adam and Eve What a grand love story. Adam was lonely. He needed romance in his life. He needed to fall in love. So what did God do? He brought him Eve. What is God preparing for His Son now? A Bride, which He will bring to Jesus at the rapture. Note. Jesus doesn't come down to earth. We go up to meet him in the clouds! Just as God brought Eve to Adam. Abraham and Sarah. What a grand love story!  Apparently she was so beautiful he had to lie and tell other men she was his sister so they wouldn't kill him for her. Not his best moments. Isaac and Rebekah!  Who could forget this great love story that mimics the love story between Jesus and His bride. Abraham (Father God) sends Eliezer (the Holy Spirit) back to his homeland (earth) to find a suitable bride for his son, Isaac (Jesus). Eliezer finds Rebekah, who agrees to marry Isaac. He pays the bride price and brings her willingly home to her new husband (Jesus) Joseph, who many scholars believe is a typology of Jesus, took a gentile bride from Egypt, an Egyptian princess. Just as Jesus is taking a Gentile bride (the church) Jacob, who was forced to marry a bride he did not want at first, Leah, in order to get the bride he did want, Rachel.  Sounds a lot like Jesus who is now about to marry a gentile bride, (the church), but that is not the original bride God wanted for His Son. The Jews were to be the chosen people, the chosen bride but they rejected him. However, after Jesus marries the gentile bride, the Jews will be saved during the tribulation and they will once again become part of God's family. Moses took a gentile bride. Rahab, the prostitute of Jericho who sided with the Jews. She married a Jewish man and from their union, Jesus was eventually born. David and Bathsheba - who can forget this love story, as immoral as it started out. It was through their lineage that Jesus came as well. Ruth and Boaz, one of my favorite love stories. It it the perfect analogy of Jesus and the Church. Boaz was Ruth's kinsmen redeemer, just as Jesus is ours. If you don't know the story, I encourage you to read the book of Ruth.  Esther - who doesn't love a story about a young girl who is nobody but who then becomes Queen of the Realm!   And of course the ultimate love story. Jesus, who loved us so much, He gave up everything to become nothing, who was beaten and scorched and crucified so badly, He didn't even look human. He was rejected by men, a man well acquainted with sorrows, belittled, mocked, spit on, and harassed. And He did all of that to win your love,. to save you from eternal fire. Now, there's a love story for the ages!  In fact, many of the things Jesus said are idioms for a Jewish wedding. It's a fascinating study, and I encourage you to read this article about the Jewish Wedding and Jesus And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.  Romans 8:38-39 Remember you are bought with a huge price--the death of the Son of God. It is the bride price God paid for you to become His Son's bride. That makes you the most valuable thing in all of creation. Highly loved and exceedingly precious!                                                                        *** Thanks for stopping by! Would love to read your comments about this post by a dear author friend, MaryLu Tyndall. Feel free to share by clicking on the icons below. Be blessed, Elva Elva Cobb Martin is Vice President of the SC Chapter of American Christian Fiction Writers. She is a former school teacher and a graduate of Anderson University and Erskine College. She has two inspirational novels published with Lighthouse Publishers of the Carolinas. Summer of Deception, a contemporary romantic suspense, and an historical romance, In a Pirate’s Debt. Both have spent time on Amazon’s 100 Best Sellers List for Women’s Religious Fiction. She has indie published a Bible study on Amazon, Power Over Satan, on the  believer's authority in Christ. Decision, Charisma, and Home Life have carried Elva's articles. She and her husband Dwayne are semi-retired ministers. A mother and grandmother, Elva lives in South Carolina. Connect with her on her web site http://www.elvamartin.com, Twitter www.twitter.com/ElvaCobbMartin; Facebook http://www.facebook.com/elvacobbmartin;  and Pinterest https://www.pinterest.com/elvacobbmartin    Link to her romance novels and non-fiction works on Amazon: http://amzn.to/2pOgVHI  Coming Nov. 12, 2019  Marisol  Book 1 in Charleston Brides           https://amzn.to/33Npc2L

Sailing Ship Devotion

by Elva Cobb Martin

Have you ever felt like the kind of storm described below in Psalm 107 was happening in your life? Notice the sailors were simply going about their normal business, and even seeing the "wonders" of the Lord. Then a terrible storm came to shake and toss them.

Scripture Psalm 107:23-30 Amplified

23 Some go down to the sea and travel over it in ships to do business in great waters.

24 These see the works of the Lord and His wonders in the deep.

25 For He commands and raises up the stormy wind, which lifts up the waves of the sea.

26 [Those aboard]mount up to the heavens they go down again to the deeps: their courage melts away because of their plight.

27 The reel to and fro and stagger like a drunken man and are at their wits end [all their wisdom has come to nothing.]

28 Then they cry to the Lord in their trouble and He brings them out of their distresses.

29 He hushes the storm to a calm and to a gentle whisper, so that the waves of the sea are still.

30 Then the men are glad because of the calm, and He brings them to their desired haven.

No matter how hard the storm you may be facing, keep praying, crying out to the Lord and believing. Speak "PEACE BE STILL." Find a scripture that promises your need will be met.

If for healing, memorize Psalm 103:1-5. For other needs, check out III John verse 3, and Romans 8:37. Meditate and confess these aloud in faith as you pray. Rebuke the enemy of your soul when he tries to seize you with fear. You will find your way to a safe harbor.

Can't fail to find it. We Christians have quite a Captain at the helm!

Blessings,
Elva

Elva Cobb Martin is vice-president of the South Carolina Chapter of American Christian Fiction Writers. She is a former school teacher and a graduate of Anderson University and Erskine College. She has two inspirational novels published with Lighthouse Publishers of the Carolinas. Summer of Deception, a contemporary romantic suspense, and an historical romance, In a Pirate’s Debt. Both have spent time on Amazon’s 100 Best Sellers List for Women’s Religious Fiction. She has indie published a Bible study on Amazon, Power Over Satan, on the  believer's authority in Christ. Decision, Charisma, and Home Life have carried Elva's articles. She and her husband Dwayne are semi-retired ministers. A mother and grandmother, Elva lives in South Carolina. Connect with her on her web site http://www.elvamartin.com,on Twitter www.twitter.com/ElvaCobbMartin; Facebook http://www.facebook.com/elvacobbmartin;  and Pinterest https://www.pinterest.com/elvacobbmartin  
 Link to her romance novels and non-fiction works on Amazon: http://amzn.to/2pOgVHI 

Writers' Devotion: Be still and know...

by Elva Cobb Martin

With this blog I start something new--a brief writers' devotion the first week of each new month. This week is a good time to start. The first Thursday in May each year is America's National Day of Prayer which I participate in on our Court House Steps.

Psalm 46:10 KJV

"Be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the heathen."

It may look like the heathen have taken over, but God says: Be still and know...I will be exalted among the heathen.

In the past others have tried to exalt themselves above God: 

Lucifer
Pharaoh
Hitler
Stalin

Today, abortionists and pro-abortion pushers/judges, 
the LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer or questioning), 
Islam, and ISIS are trying to exalt themselves above God and His Word.

Like every Christian writer, I read the news and am troubled by the inroads evil seems to be making in our nation and world.

But God says: Be still and know that I WILL BE exalted among the heathen.

That's good news to keep remembering and agreeing with daily as we continue to pursue our writing mandates.

Onward! In His Majesty's Service,
Elva Martin

Elva Cobb Martin is vice-president of the South Carolina Chapter of American Christian Fiction Writers. She is a former school teacher and a graduate of Anderson University and Erskine College. She has two inspirational novels published with Lighthouse Publishers of the Carolinas. Summer of Deception, a contemporary romantic suspense, and an historical romance, In a Pirate’s Debt. Both have spent time on Amazon’s 100 Best Sellers List for Women’s Religious Fiction. She has indie published a Bible study on Amazon, Power Over Satan, on the  believer's authority in Christ. Decision, Charisma, and Home Life have carried Elva's articles. She and her husband Dwayne are semi-retired ministers. A mother and grandmother, Elva lives in South Carolina. Connect with her on her web site http://www.elvamartin.com,on Twitter www.twitter.com/ElvaCobbMartin; Facebook http://www.facebook.com/elvacobbmartin;  and Pinterest https://www.pinterest.com/elvacobbmartin    

 Link to her romance novels and non-fiction works on Amazon: http://amzn.to/2pOgVHI