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WRITER'S GUIDELINES
What are Fresh Illustration?
Well, for starters, they aren't stale-they're
fresh. Not the same old
stuff preachers get from illustration books they
pull off their dusty shelves
or that they've heard and told a zillion times
at conferences and conventions.
They are original, something you've written
based upon a news story
or a quote from a book or movie.
They are more likely to feature:
-
someone who is living rather than someone who
is dead.
-
someone who is famous rather than someone who
is obscure
-
an event that is familiar rather than one that
is unfamiliar
-
an event that is recent rather than one that
happened long ago
-
something that is interesting, maybe even a
bit strange, rather than ordinary
FRESH ILLUSTRATIONS ARE:
-
Specific rather than general. i.e. "Tom Brown
said," rather than, "A deacon
in the church said."
-
Active rather than passive. "He hit the ball."
Instead of, "The ball was
hit by him."
-
Brief rather than lengthy. Avoid needless
words.
-
Original rather than quoted. Rewrite lengthy
quotes. Experts disagree about
what constitutes "fair usage," we choose not
to publish any quote over
300 words. We prefer our illustrators to
rewrite a story, rather than quote
it directly.
-
Conversational rather than technical. Be
conversational. Remember that
illustrations are heard, not read.
FORM:
-
Begin with a title that captures the point of
the illustration
- Add a topic in All Caps
-
Body of illustration
-
source information dash, followed by title,
author page if it is from a
book, publication, date page if it is a
newspaper, URL if it is a website
-
Scriptural application, Text, (version) verse.
-
submitted by (your name)
SAMPLES
Forgiveness is possible because of Jesus Christ
FORGIVENESS
Simon Wiesenthal, an Austrian Jew spent
four-and-a-half years in various Nazi
concentration camps during WWII. Wiesenthal, one
of the few to survive the atrocities of the
Holocaust, recounts a harrowing story in his
memoir, The Sunflower. While working to clear
rubbish from a make-shift hospital, a nurse
summoned Wiesenthal to a secret room, where a
severely wounded Nazi soldier lay on his deathbed.
The soldier told Wiesenthal how he volunteered for
the SS (Schutzstaffel), and how his superiors
ordered him to gun down innocent Jews. Wiesenthanl
listened to the soldier as he expressed deep
sorrow and regret for what he had done. He said
that he wanted to confess his sin to a Jew before
he died. Wiesenthal, unable to offer any
comforting words of forgiveness, left the room in
silence.
Wiesenthal, Simon. The Sunflower: On the
Possibilities and Limits of Forgiveness. New York:
Schocken Books. 1998 p. 176-8.
Unfortunately, the solder confessed his sin to the
wrong Jew. There is a Jew who would not walk out
of the room unable to offer forgiveness. Jesus
Christ is willing and able to forgive the sins of
all who come to him with a sincere heart and a
desire to change.
Mark 2:9-12 Which is easier: to say to the
paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say,
‘Get up, pick up your mat, and walk’? (10) But so
you may know that the Son of Man has authority on
earth to forgive sins,” He told the paralytic,
(11) “I tell you: get up, pick up your mat, and go
home.” (12) Immediately he got up, picked up the
mat, and went out in front of everyone. As a
result, they were all astounded and gave glory to
God, saying, “We have never seen anything like
this!”
Submitted by Loren C. Pirtle
Time spent with family is a well-advised
investment
FAMILY
Dr. Graham calls the 1949 Los Angeles Crusade
the Watershed of his ministry.
It was the one that made him a household name
and propelled him to the
super-evangelist status. But the eight weeks of
meetings took a personal
toll on his family. Toward the end of the
meeting, the Montgomery's, Ruth's
sister and brother-in-law came up for the
meeting.Billy greeted them and
admired a child they were holding. "Whose baby
is this?" Billy asked, only
to find out it was his own daughter Anne.
-Just As I am, 156-157
In a recent interview with HOME LIFE, Billy
Graham was asked, "As you
look back on your ministry and its effect on
your family, do you wish you
had done anything differently? Graham responded,
"I would spend more time
with my family . . .every day I was absent from
my family is gone forever."
-Home Life, June 2000, p. 14
For more information on Just
As
I Am, go to http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0060633921/freshministry
A person needs a lot of love
LOVE
While ministering in Rural Montana, David
Hansen met a feisty 94-year
old blind woman whose fierce independence
buffeted his early attempts to
minister to her. She chopped her own wood,
cooked her own meals and wouldn't
accept help from anyone, much less the preacher.
She would, however, allow
him to drop by to give her the Lord's Supper.
For the longest time, he couldn't convince her
that people loved her.
"Love isn't in the Bible," she said, "The Bible
calls it charity, not love."
He continued to be faithful to minister to her
on her terms.
With time, she began to allow the church to
bring meals by and even
let the Pastor chop some wood for her. Her cold
exterior began to thaw.
The church started helping her with her bills
and assisted her niece in
cleaning up around the place. Pastor David began
chopping wood for her
on a regular basis-it was his way of showing
Christ's love for one of His
children.
Before her hundredth birthday, she went into a
local nursing home where
she receives the care she needs. Though Pastor
David didn't need to chop
wood for her anymore, he continued to minister
to her. In his book, he
describes what happened after stopping by the
nursing home to give her
communion one day.
"Upon rising to leave, I stoop over and give
her a hug. She reaches
up and returns my embrace." Before leaving, he
tells her something powerful
"'I have charity for you, Kathryn," And she
responds, "Well, that's nice,
a person needs a lot of that."
Christ's love, excuse me, charity can melt the
hardest heart and heal
the deepest hurts. Kathryn was right, a person
needs a lot of it.
1 Cor. 13:13 KJV "And now abideth faith, hope,
charity, these three;
but the greatest of these is charity."
--The
Power of Loving Your
Church, David Hansen (Hansen, 169-170)
For more information on The
Power
of Loving Your Church, go to http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1556619685/freshministry
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Fresh Illustrations, send
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