Carl McKever's Blog: Author's Blog

Last night, I had a heart-to-heart conversation with God and it’s been a long time since I’ve fully confessed ALL of my sins and transgressions before Him. You may be wondering what lead me to be so vulnerable in confessing. Prior to prayer, I was watching a sermon by Pastor Mark Ashton of Christ Community Church. It seemed a little strange to watch because I was just reviewing and going over my notes from Pastor John Weasel’s message at my local church. The Holy Spirit doesn’t make mistakes and will use whatever device and tool He can to minister to you.

I was laying in bed listening to Pastor Ashton’s message on the power of confession and how confessing meant agreeing with God. I thought to myself, “am I fully in agreement with God in every area of my life?” I wasn’t and I started confessing so many things to God; my fears, disappointments, hurts, and lack of intimacy with Him. The inner me was really my enemy and once and for all, I was ready to lay everything out in the open before God. I began telling Him about my inadequacies of being a man of God and temptations to lust. I even talked to God about my anger issues and being afraid to open up to the believers within the body of Christ.

Here’s what last night taught me… God understands and He wants to hear everything that is troubling you in your mind. More importantly, He wants to speak to you about those things and show you a way of escape. God desires freedom, peace, and a bright future for all of His children. Fear, shame, guilt, and a misunderstanding of your purpose on Earth was never and will never be in God’s will or plan for your life. After confessing everything to God on my personal altar in bed, I felt whole and so clean inside. I hadn’t felt this way in so long. It was easy to pray and worship again. It was easy to write and blog again. It was easy to spread the love of Jesus again.

How did I get to this place last night? Why did it take me so long to open my mouth and verbally confess everything to God? All I can tell you is I had to reach a breaking point where inside of my soul I really had enough. Scriptures I had forgotten years ago were brought back to me and the desire to study and really understand their meanings rekindled in me. It goes beyond a feeling to a desire and longing to do right and be clean before God. I would be lying if I told you it was an easy process confessing everything, even in private, before the Lord. I can tell you it was the best decision I had ever made.

God is an all-knowing God. He’s omniscient and it’s one thing to know God knows your sins versus verbally confessing them. John 5:6-8 talks about a crippled man who attempted to go into the pool of Bethesda each year, but someone always came in front of him. This went on for 38 years. Yes, 38 years! Jesus comes across this man and asks him the question, “do you want to be made well?” Already seeing his condition and the bystanders dismissing him, it seemed odd for Jesus to ask him this question. So, why ask?

The only way for us to be well, just like this man, is we have to acknowledge we are in need of Him and allow Jesus to come in and lead us towards our healing. Today, arise, take up your bed, and walk in the freedom and healing God has for you! Confess any shortcoming or besetting sin you may have to your Heavenly Father. 1 John 1:9 encourages and proclaims that He is faithful is just enough to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. There’s power in full confession to God, the body of believers, and others!

1. Art of War - Sun Tzu
2. Invisible Man - Ralph Ellison
3. The Mental Floss History of the World - Erik Sass
4. Bait of Satan - Pastor John Bevere
5. Act Like Men: 40 Days to Biblical Manhood - Pastor James MacDonald
6. Unlocking the Heart of the Artist - Matt Tommey
7. Delighting in God - A.W. Tozer
8. Man of God - Charles F. Stanley
9. Every Single Man's Battle - Stephen Arterburn
10. Five Love Languages for Singles - Gary Chapman

Mission Statement
"To expand the kingdom of God to novice, intermediate, and experienced writers throughout the world through the effective use of writing"

Vision Statement
"I want to see lives changed through the heart of serving in ministry and influencing the world through writing"

Vision Plan
Below is a list of responsibilities I have set for myself to ensure my mission and vision for life is being accomplished:

1) Establishing an IT missions team who travels overseas to third-world countries; building technical equipment for unpriviledged children

2) Sponsor a writing conference and hosting a writing workshop with a major writing affiliation, such as AWP

3) Become financially stable by paying off debts and being a good steward of the Lord's blessings

4) Begin a "Love Letters" campaign with experienced Christian writers who share their love for Christ with those incarcerated

5) Sponsor an annual college scholarship of $1000 for college students majoring in Creative Writing

6) Help novice writers, who can't afford publishing costs, with publishing their first book


7) Engineer a "Verse of Day" SMS distribution blast to all of my blog subscribers through email

I hope to find each of you in a tranquil, yet thriving place in your writing life. 2018 has been incredibly busy for me as there are many projects I am tackling all at once. I would like to list a few projects, occurring behind the scenes, for you.

a) Mother’s Day Discount – Poetic Expressions will receive a 67% discount the first three days of May and then a 34% discount the next four days afterwards. This promotion is to bring in the celebration of Mother’s Day
b) ACX Audible conversion – All seven publications are being composed into an audiobook for Audible users to listen to. Joel Schrank is mastering the manuscripts and doing all recordings
c) Book Giveaways – 4 authors had giveaways done on their books through Amazon and Poetic Expressions Vol. VII is going on a FREE ebook promotion from April 24th-28th.
d) X-Ray indexing – To the digital world, a technical writer is doing indexing with Amazon to enable XRay on all of my books
e) Writing series – A writing series, called “Blinded”, is being released in mid-May 2018. The series consists of testimonials and stories of how God has delivered individuals from the blinders Satan has placed over their spiritual eyes.
f) Reconstruction of author website – My technical team is making enhancements to my author website for quick engagement and user friendliness.
g) College scholarship for writers – During the summer of 2018, I will be working with my team to start a college scholarship in 2019 for college students majoring in creative writing and liberal arts

I sincerely apologize to those trying to reach me for the past months. Writing projects, approving copyrights for my material, composing endorsement letters, and going through book reviews consumes a lot of time in my schedule. The quickest way to reach me, if you do not hear from me within weeks, is to fill out the contact form on my website or personally email me at carl@carlmckever.com. Please be mindful of my email being used for business purposes only.

Keep aspiring others to become novice writers in all you do and influence the world around you through the power of writing! You’re loved, valued, and appreciated for your writing endeavors.


Sincerely,
Carl McKever, Indie Author & Independent Christian Writer

Luke 10:38-42 presents an interesting story about the feet of Jesus. Jesus went to go visit Mary and Martha, the sister of Lazarus. Martha moaned and complained to her sister Mary because she stayed sitting at Jesus' feet for a very long time. She wouldn’t leave the presence of Jesus. Martha was so concerned about preparing for dinner and making sure everything was ready by dinner time. She confronts Mary about the situation and while confronting her, Jesus tells her to stop worrying about unnecessary things. Today, I ponder why Mary stayed at the feet of Jesus.

The feet of a human body are the lowest position on the body. The feet represent “humility” and “submission”. The Bible doesn’t say what Mary was concerned about, but we can tell by her actions she understood the answer came from spending time with Jesus. Mary bowed before the presence of the Lord in “humility” and “submitted” to the things Jesus told her. During this era, it was common for women to take care of household duties, such as preparing dinner.

Sitting at Jesus' feet is an act of listening to what Jesus has to say and then obeying what He says. Mary shows us an example of inner worship while Martha displays external service. In order to be effective in our outward service for God, we must first spend time at Jesus' feet in His presence. 1 Peter 5:7 tells us to cast every carry and worry to the Lord because he cares about us. Psalms 55:22 tells us God will not allow the godly to slip and fall. God already knows every detail of our lives, but He still wants us to address the details with Him.

When I think about how Jesus used His own feet, I think about missions. His mission was to do the will and purpose of His father. His father’s will and purpose was to redeem a lost world, backslidden by sin, and give humanity a second chance to eternal life. So, he traveled from one area to another carrying the Good News, known as the gospel, to people. Ephesians 6 refers to this spiritual attire as the “shoes of the gospel of peace”.

There is also another scene where Jesus went away from the crowd and prayed to His father in the Garden of Gethsemane. He told his disciples to stay awake, watch, and tarry. Matthew 26:39 tells us that Jesus Himself bowed His face to the ground. This was an act of submission to His father’s will. We gain a heart and passion to do God’s will when we sit at the feet of Jesus. We were created and design to worship with Him and fellowship with Him.

I’m also reminded of the Great Commission given by Jesus to His disciples. Matthew 28:19-20 tells us to go into all the earth, make disciples, teach and preach the gospel, and baptize others in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Sitting at the feet of Jesus is our source of strength to do whatever it is He has asked us to do. Life is tough and it’s also busy. In all of the hustle and bustle, I pray we take time every day to sit at the feet of Jesus to hear what He has to say. It may not always be something pleasant to our ears, but just imagine how liberating it is to know “fully” the plans God has laid out for you. This takes the guesswork out of worrying if our external acts of service is pleasing Him or is in His will for us.

©Carl McKever, 2016

Every Christmas, my family and I take a road trip to Atlanta, Georgia to spend time with my aunt and her family for a few days. I was excited every single year and out of mom's three children, I learnt the roads, directions, and interstates really quickly. When my mom would drive to give my dad a break, she would rely on me for directions because I knew the way.

Have you ever been confused and placed into a state of uncertainty, where you didn't know where your next step would lead you? I thought I had my life figured out and planned. Shucks! I had a terrific job making a lot of money, a strong support system, amazing friends, and a daily routine typed in Google Calendar of my whereabouts. Crazy, right? People literally could stalk me if they had access to my online calendar. I kept it organized and detailed. My time was so consumed mapping out the next 10 years of my life and developing a solid budgeting plan to help me get my heavy $78,000 college student loan paid for. I watched God go from the driver seat to the passenger seat to the back seat of my life. I was spiritually blinded.

The time I used to spend reading my Bible went to oncall rotation duties at work as well as getting to work super early and leaving work incredibly late. Home was only a napping place in between work opposed to a place of peace and restoration. Any other free time granted was allocated to mapping out my future plans; not really fully understanding God holds my future in His hands. My career and the time spent shaping it became gods over God. They were idols! I was spiritually blinded!

My spiritual life merely consisted of attending church twice a week and any programs held. Putting on a smile and remaining tranquil, I was asked how I was doing. Time after time again, my response would be I'm fine. I knew this was a lie and I knew I was broken and hurting inside! So, why the hidden mask? Why the façade? I was spiritually blinded. I allowed the enemy to beguile my mindset into believing I couldn't trust anyone with my problems and that everyone had enough problems on their own. I didn't want anyone bearing my pain; let alone they have burdens themselves.

I kept drifting away from the things of God and before I knew it reading my devotionals, praying throughout the day, and spending time in worship became optional. The enemy is so cunning, clever, and subtle. The routine seemed monotonous with no benefit. Yet, I love how the Lord chases and chastises. Three to four weeks went by and something had to change! I couldn't deal with or handle mediocre anymore! Normalcy felt like prison bars! It seemed as if my days were no longer productive and I was only keeping busy to escape boredom. The more I accomplished and set new goals, I figured, the more happier and satisfied I would become over time. This was not so!

I felt empty! I felt worthless! I felt like a failure! I felt death! Nothing satisfied my inner longing! The exterior looked nice, but the interior was a mess; tore up to the floor up! Right at this moment, I knew I needed to make Jesus top priority of my life again. However, I didn't! I was hard-hearded! I wasn't ready for 100% surrender and relinquish of control! I wanted my way and my solution! This lead to entertainment. "Entertainment could ease my mind", I said. I began watching R-rated movies at the theaters, fine dining at least three times a day (ordering the best appetizers and desserts from the menu), and hanging out at the bar with my coworkers to bring fun and joy back into my life; even though I've never sipped any alcohol or beer. I visited the bar with them to see them behave foolishly and for scenery. Praise God I never got lured in and stopped before anything dire occurred. All of this and still felt empty!

A dear friend of mine at work recommended yoga and counseling. I already had a hate for yoga, so I sought counseling. Each session costed me a ridiculous amount of money and I felt the psychologist only wanted me to be transparent about my childhood life to be nosy. Every single session was difficult and after session six, I stopped showing up and dropped out. I had trust issues.

One night, I took introspection of my life and asked, "why didn't I heed to God's promptings?" I was spiritually blinded and set in my ways. I figured I would find out the right way eventually if I kept on making mistakes and bruising myself. I'm not sure if that's life or if it's because I'm only 27 years of age. I wanted to explore; you know, dab into the lusts of the world and give the remnants to God. Oh, what a mistake! How could I be foolish? During this time, I learned three times about God:

#1: God is zealous, wants to be #1 in my life, and wants all of me; not partial. This means total surrender and submission to His will and His plans for me.

#2: I'm still finding the right way and the only way that's right is the way that leads to God. He is the way, truth, and life.

#3: God really does love me and chaos is bought to shift my perspective as well as bring my attention back to God because His attention is always on me.

To find God, I must seek Him with my whole heart and cry out to Him for direction. This is how I'll find my way and the right way to go.

I could never ever forget my intense need for Mountain Dew sodas on my first corporate job. Well, it was everyone’s need on my floor and the floor below me. The daily count would be somewhere between six to eight Mountain Dew soda bottles. You could pretty much say everyone on my team was a Mountain Dew addict. The vending machine company tried replacing those sodas with Diet Mountain Dew to see if we would choose a different Pepsi or Coca Cola brand. It didn’t work. The diet version tasted the same as the original to us.

I can even remember drinking one soda and still feeling thirsty. Before I could get from one conference room to another, I found myself going to grab another soda. It was tempting and I spent about $5 a day on the vending machine. This was a bill; more like a monthly payment. I knew I could drink water and be satisfied, but I kept to my choice because everyone else enjoyed the same thing.

Have you ever drunk something, besides water, over and over again and still felt thirsty? Today, I want to talk about water, but not the ordinary water you are thinking of. Society knows water is good for them and they know it can kill any source of thirst. It’s recommended to drink 8 glasses of water a day. Water existed before we did. When God created the earth and He made the seas, oceans, and rivers, He created water. He made each human being with 60% of water.

A thirst is a strong desire for something. Everyone has a desire they want to fulfill in life. The Bible recalls a story of a Samaritan woman who went out to a well to fetch some water. She went out in the sunniest and hottest time of the day. Everyone else came to the well in the evening, but she came at this time because the Samaritans did not favor her. When she arrived at the well to fetch water, she saw Jesus beside the well exhausted from His long walk. Jesus asked her for a drink.

The woman was confused because Jews did not socialize with Samaritans. Jesus simply told her if she continues getting the water from the well she will continue being thirsty. The water Jesus offered her would quench her thirst forever. Imagine someone giving you a water bottle filled with water that will forever quench your thirst? You could save a lot of money on water. To summarize this passage, Jesus reminds her of the truth. She has five husbands and the one she is currently with, she is not married to him.

The only way to fulfill our desires and find complete satisfaction in them is worshipping the one who gave us those desires. When we worship Him in spirit and in truth, He satisfies us in a way the world cannot satisfy. Rather than being thirsty on carnal things, we will begin to become thirsty on spiritual things and see God’s perspective towards the carnal things. Be blessed.

I remember being a Staff Sergeant for JROTC my junior year in high school. Whenever my captain or lieutenant needed the attention of our platoon, he would shout “attention”. Everyone in their squad knew to stop what they were doing and listen completely to him. We needed his instruction. Thankfully, we were not preparing for battle, but we needed instruction on how to protect our high school, represent them, and how to march properly during ceremonial parades in the city.

Every day, I thank God for the opportunity of being a Christian writer and writing blog posts to uplift and encourage others. This week, the word “attention” stayed on my mind. Just like my JROTC experience, God wants to be the captain and lieutenant of our lives. He wants to instruct us. I love Matthew 6:33 because it’s a great reminder to seek God’s attention first and everything else would be added in our daily lives.

Inside each of us is a need for attention. We want to feel valued and loved. God values us and loves us. He values us because He created us in His image and likeness. He loves us because He sent His Son, Jesus, to die on the cross for our sins. Matthew 5:6 tells us those who are happy, fulfilled, and satisfied are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness. Every day, I pray we make it our goal to live right and treat others rightly.

The world offers us many opportunities to be recognized and stand out above others. Sometimes, we can tear others down in order to lift ourselves up. As I thought about the word “attention”, I thought about how God repeatedly says “attend unto my words” to the early Biblical prophets. Time after time again, God used His prophets to minister and speak to the people of Israel. They kept straying away and every time they took their focus and “attention” off of God and placed it on idols, they found themselves in trouble and despair.

Many times we find ourselves in the midst of many troubles. The good thing is love knows no borders. The Lord told Hosea to go marry a promiscuous wife named Gomer. When I read the chapters of this book, I pondered why the Lord would tell Hosea to do that. God had a purpose and a plan and this was within His will. He wanted to show the people of Israel their love towards Him and the longevity of His love towards His people. No matter how many times Gomer ran around and cheated on her husband, Hosea went and rescued her. Imagine God rescuing us from our troubles with His love.

This week, I pray you and I take time to give God our full attention. He wants to instruct us and love on us. I strongly believe He wants to pour a deep revelation of His Word upon His children. May we silence our everyday distractions and focus on Him. Spend time in His presence. Let Him show you things to come and mysteries you could never imagine or dream of. Love you.

Are you well? Do you want to feel well? Did you know you can be well and never ache again? Today, I am reminded of the story of a man who suffered an infirmity for 38 long years. He was crippled and couldn’t walk. Every year, around a certain time, an angel would come down and stir the waters of the pool of Bethesda. There was nothing spectacular about the pool, except the power the water possessed once it was stirred by the angel. Year after year, he tried to get to the edge of the pool. I’m not sure if there were crutches back then or even a walker, but I can imagine the struggle getting there.

Coming to the pool of Bethesda was similar to Christians going to a gospel concert for their favorite music band. This event was popular! The people of the town knew about it! They couldn’t wait and just as people line up to audition for American Idol, people began lining up in anticipation of the angel stirring the water in the pool. No one had sympathy or a bit of compassion to help the man into the pool and after so many years, his soul also became crippled. He lost faith, he lost courage, and he lost determination in reaching the edge of the pool.

Life throws us many ups and downs and at times, we too can feel crippled in our spirit man. We can lose courage or hope for a brother or sister we’ve been praying for. We can damper our faith, a little bit, when it comes to a healing or deliverance we’ve prayed for year and year. I can imagine just how this man felt. The story gets better though. Jesus shows up on the scene! Has Jesus showed up in your situation yet?

When Jesus shows up, He does something very unique. He asks him one question – “do you really want to be made well?” Sounds a bit sarcastic, right? It wasn’t. Jesus knew of the man’s infirmity before He showed up on the scene and the answer the man needed was standing in front of him. It’s important to know Jesus already knows your circumstance and when He arrives, He is coming with the answer to your problem. He is the answer! Just like this man, we can complain and give God all kinds of excuses to why we aren’t healed or delivered. He’s omniscient and knows everything about us; even the strands of hair in our heads.

Today, I challenge us to take up our beds and walk in victory! We do not have to live in defeat, worry, frustration, and pain. Jesus is the answer! Jesus has arrived and He’s saying to you and me, “do you really want to be well?”