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Generally I read a book on the way to work (I walk), today I walked out the door checking Twitter. My friend Kelly Stone (@KellyMarieStone) reTweeted: “RT @michaelgungor: A bit of a fiery rant about Christian media, wine, and yes, zombies. (http://bit.ly/t3Zfzz). Compelled by curiosity I followed the link.

Wow. Amazing. It turns out its the blog of Michael Gungor, who I have previously never heard of, and his post is a few of his thoughts on “Christian” media.

By “a few of his thoughts,” I mean 2,969 words of awesomeness!

You have to read it (click here).  I know you’re thinking, “3000 words? really?” But you know, it’s worth it.  Some things can’t be packaged into tiny 250-300 word capsules. Maybe that’s part of the wonder I felt when reading it, that Michael didn’t care to shorten his thoughts, or abbreviate his point into separate posts. He just put it out there: Ready or not, here I come.

And that’s also the point of his post, that “Christian media” has become more a marketing machine than culture of artistic impression, and God forbid, creativity.

His focus is music, but I would also agree this point is true with books.  I read quite a bit, maybe more than the average Joe (my bookshelf), but most of the fiction I consume is not Christian, as it generally annoys me in the first few pages.

I am writing a novel and in doing so have read the “bibles” on writing, and the “what not to do” sections could be filled by many “Christian” novels written by the higher selling authors. They have a “feel” to them that’s easy to pick out, much like Christian radio stations, which are easily distinguished even before the “Jesus loves me” lyrics can be heard.

Not that it’s entirely bad, but the eerie feeling is one of inadequacy, of missing the empirical standards set by many secular authors like Stephen King, Philip Roth, Dan Brown, and John Irving.

I know my ideas may never be bought into by the larger marketers (oops, publishers), but that’s why I must create it. That is why I cannot settle for the subpar, call it “Christian” and expect people to like it. The Christian public may buy it, but like me, they are likely tired of the same old crap they get handed.

And so I raise my Guinness and toast to writing the way I want, to making my posts 2,969 words if I must. *chug chug*

For those of you still reading, Gungor’s music is amazing, and I leave you this video.  If you want to buy their album, as I did, click here: Gungor – Ghosts Upon the Earth.

I love to read and I love to write, but no matter how hard I try when I write, I always feel like my ideas and words are mediocre at best, and every one else is a brilliant literary savant.

I frequent Jon Acuff’s blog, made famous by his comical and witty book “Stuff Christians Like” (my review here) and more recently “Quitter” (great book!), and I was blown away by a recent post titled “The talent we have the hardest time recognizing is our own.”

He posted a video by a guy named Derek Sivers which sums it up pretty well.

Derek asks at the end of the short video, and I would like your thoughts as well, “Are you holding back something that’s too “obvious” to share?”

Mine is writing.

The talent we have the hardest time recognizing is our own.

On July 8, Christopher Hopper posted a blog (here) about a company he found at Creation Fest.  First attracted by their merchandising table, he soon found that by spending a few bucks on an awesome watch and a hoodie, that he helped to feed 400 kids.  See, Hello Somebody is a non-profit whose mission if to feed the hungry.  So far they’ve helped the people of Honduras, Haiti, Pakistan, Mexico and Japan.

Inspired by Christopher’s blog, I decided to make Hello Somebody the recipient of my blog earnings for the month of August (more about giving through my blog here). The total earned was $31.84, so today I made a donation of $32 to Hello Somebody.  It doesn’t sound like much, but Cat (the kind lady who took my money), informed me that the donation would provide about one hundred meals.  That’s right, one hundred people will have something to eat because people clicked through the Amazon book links on my measly blog and bought something.

So a big thank you from me to those of you that helped me to give!

See, it doesn’t take something huge to make a difference. A lot of people giving even a little can make a huge difference in the life of another person.  I’m sure Cat and the people would love even a donation of $5.  Here is their story, and if God moves on your heart to give, please click the logo at the beginning of the post (or here) and give what you can.

The Hello Somebody Story from Hello Somebody on Vimeo.