J. Timothy King’s Blog

Are We Scared Yet?

I’m experimenting with a new newsletter, starting just through the holidays. I’m actually mailing this to people, but I’m also posting back-issues online. Here’s the first, the October 2008 issue, all about fear.

-TimK

Friday Snippet: Kick the Pastor Out of the Church

Another snippet from my dad John King’s memoir Can You See God in This Picture, this time a particulary painful chapter in my own memory.

Unlike many Christian memoirs, this is not a book full of feel-good experiences. It’s not always “Praise God!” and miracles, because that’s not life. As Dad said to me:

[In another book I read] everything was blessing and miracle and miracle after miracle, in his whole book. My book, you read it, and you don’t see any miracles. You see us getting beat up and knocked down and tripping up and making mistakes, which is the greater part of life. The miracles are few and far between. Where people really live is where we were.

Preachers get in the pulpit every week: ‘Praise God, what He’s going to do.’ It’s always ‘what He’s going to do.’ You know, ‘I can see revival in the air.’ It’s always ‘revival in the air.’ It never comes. It’s always ‘in the air.’ And this book was written to say: I’m not looking ahead to what’s coming. And I’m not taking one miracle in my life and letting that be the sole testimony. We went through this, and now we want to explain this in terms of a blessing from God, in terms of true ministry, in terms of achievement and success and calling. That’s the way it was. And it doesn’t deny us the fact that we were called, that we were blessed.

And sometimes the blessings were tiny. I didn’t win the lottery. Someone didn’t come to me and give me a brand new car when mine broke down. But the real blessings were, I played football with you boys across the road in Burgettstown. Or we played hide and seek in the woods. That’s life. And you lose the little things, because you’re looking for the big things.

-TimK (Read more…)

New Website about Software Engineering & Custom Web Development

Just a quick note: I’ve started a new website at JTSE.com about software engineering and custom web development. Like most of my sites, it’s a blog (or pseudo-blog), and there’s an RSS feed. If you’re interested in software-development topics (especially if you subscribed to this blog back when I was talking a lot more about software development), please check it out.

Friday Snippet: Back to Butler, PA to Teach Biblical Greek

Here’s a snippet from my dad John King’s memoir Can You See God in This Picture. This is part of the story of our life in Butler, PA. At the time, I was just a few years old, so I don’t really remember these stories first-hand.

I’m glad Dad wrote them down before he ran out of time.

Letting our children in on the bad times of our lives requires vulnerability. And that’s what I saw most reading my dad’s memoir, vulnerability. He told me that of all the people he mentions in the memoir, no one really comes out looking bad, except for him. After reading it, I agree. But as a writer, let me tell you, vulnerability is where passion and poignancy come from.

And I’m thinking now that maybe it’s also where wisdom comes from. What if you had to reach down into your soul and explain to your kids why you quit your job to pursue your dream? Or why you work at a job that keeps you away from them? I’m not saying that either A or B is the right or wrong choice. I’m only asking: What if I had to reach down deep into my soul and explain my choices to my kids? What wisdom would I end up imparting to them?

I’m not sure I know the answers. But I do know, I’m glad my dad imparted that wisdom to me before he ran out of time, because it’s at least nice to know that he didn’t know what he was doing back then any better than I do now. (Read more…)

How Much Does It Cost to Publish a Book?

A friend of mine emailed and asked:

If you don’t mind me asking, how much did it cost you to publish your book (or your dad’s)? You seem to be doing all of the important things that subsidy presses do and probably at considerable savings.

I’m still refining my publishing process, and I don’t intend to publish many books by other authors (which is more expensive than publishing my own books, because you have to coordinate between two people, rather than just between the two sides of my own brain). But here’s what I’ve found out so far: (Read more…)

Good Enough, Smart Enough, and Doggone It, People LIKE Me

Yeah, I’m probably dating myself with the Stuart Smalley reference.

Anyhow, the first comments are in on the first book of The Conscience of Abe’s Turn, and largely positive. “Can’t put it down.” “Want to find out how things turn out.” And so forth.

Of course, these were all from friends and family, whom I expect to be as honest as they can without hurting my feelings. But at least they are reading it, which says something about how engaging it is. Expecting other comments soon from those not related to me.

-TimK