CJ Penn's Online Writing Hangout

September 2, 2015
by CJ Penn 1 Comment

The Spirit Speaks – of Love

Dear one, I long to fill you with my love. I am the Spirit of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. As God is love, so am I. To have my Spirit within you is to have love filling every part of you. To know me is to know true love – unconditional, humble, other-centered love. My love, true love, knows no limits and imposes no requirements. It just is.

Yet do you sometimes hold back my love, as a dam holds back a wall of water? Look inside yourself. Is there a wall within? My loved ones often build such walls, with stones of pride, and fear, and doubt, selfishness, greed, guilt, and the world. Gently lower your wall and my love will flow and flood your entire being. My love will overflow you, and splash onto those around you.

Do you feel empty at times? That empty feeling is your soul, hungry for my love. Please, let me in.

September 1, 2015
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The Spirit Speaks – Seek & Find

Do you wonder at my existence? Are you uncertain, yet curious? Am I really the Spirit of Jesus Christ? Do I really exist within your being, sharing your body with your very soul?

If such questions occupy your mind, maybe that’s because I occupy a space in your heart. Such questions come from me, within you. Your earth-bound rational mind will doubt, yet there is part of you that is able to escape the limits of your humanity and look beyond the things you can see, to me.

Look for my story within the pages of the Bible. Look for me within you. Seek, and you will find me in prayer. For prayer is where you and I come together. Prayer is where wonder and curiosity becomes reality… with me, within you.

August 29, 2015
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Avoiding The Mess

Look at all the evil going on in the world. Then there’s selfishness, hate, anger, stress, fear, arrogance, bigotry… on and on. My personal opinion is that humanity is a big malignant mess. And since I’m a typical human, I only add to the mess, even when I try not to. It’s just part of my prideful human nature. I also think all the messes have their roots in our natural pride and selfishness. Yet, is there a way for me to live without adding to the mess? Yes.

That’s why I try to surrender my life to Jesus so that His Spirit can live through me. I want my “self” to step aside, making room for Jesus to fill me with His Self. Then, this person called CJ can be a part of humanity without adding to the mess. It’s not easy, for me anyway. But it’s my hope.

What do you think about this?

August 28, 2015
by CJ Penn 1 Comment

The Spirit Speaks – of the One True Church

When I walked the earth as Jesus Christ, space and time trapped me by their physical limits. You know how this feels. Yet I now have no limits. I can be everywhere, within everyone, all at the same time.

In this way, I can bring unity to humanity. With me within you, and if I’m also within your neighbor, then you and your neighbor are firmly connected to each other, through me.

This is the true Church of Jesus Christ… all Spirit-filled believers, united by their common bond with me. The true church is not a building or an organization run by men. The church is you, if you believe in me and recognize my presence within you.

“Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you? … for God’s temple is sacred, and you are that temple.” (1 Corinthians 3:16, 17)

August 27, 2015
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The Spirit Speaks – I’m Always With You

Dear friend,

I, the Spirit of Jesus Christ, am forever and always with you. My eyes never close. My mind is never somewhere else. I focus my being on you.

Your mind scampers from one thing to another throughout the day, sometimes landing on me. Yet you will soon step off and chase after other thoughts. Such is the way in the world – it can be difficult to stay with me for more than a moment. Then at night while you sleep, you lose all control of your mind, and you may rarely come to me in your dreams.

But I’m forever and always looking upon you. I’m standing right here, next to your conscious mind, waiting for you to turn to me. How does that feel, to know that I’m always here within your very being, hand-in-hand with your soul?

August 26, 2015
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Book Challenge Day #41 – The Deadline

My 93-day window of time to write a book is well over a third of the way closed (or open, depending on how I choose to look at it). And I’m far from a third finished. At this point, panic is an option. Or at least rising stress – that would be my usual response. Yet while praying this morning, another window began to open for me, a window of understanding and trust.

What began to seep into my mind while praying is this: my three-month deadline is artificial and has no meaning beyond the meaning you or I may give it. My prideful self would choose to make the deadline a matter of success or failure. That’s where the stress and eventual panic would come in.

Or, I could choose to give no meaning to the deadline and just focus on trusting Jesus – trusting Him to show me the way to the completion of this book, with no concern for when that happens. The deadline then becomes only a fun way to help motivate myself to write this book, with no stress, only trust.

Guess which one I’ve chosen.

(August 24, 2015: day 40 down, 53 more to go, of The Challenge… to write a book, from concept to self-publish, in 3 months.)

August 25, 2015
by CJ Penn 1 Comment

The Spirit Speaks – From Within You

I, the living Spirit of Jesus Christ… I know how hungry life is for all your conscious thoughts. The world around you is greedy, not content with anything less than your full attention. And I know how difficult it can be to wrest your mind away from the world and look to me.

But I’m always here, just below the surface of your thoughts, waiting for you to look my way. Look inside yourself – you will find me there. While I walked the earth as Jesus Christ, I promised all of humanity that I would send my Spirit to live within you. Not walking with you, side by side, but living in you, sharing your body with you. Your soul and my Spirit living together as one, just as our Father and I are one – this is my promise to you.

Does it feel like you don’t know me? Do you doubt my reality? Then please, look inside yourself – you will find the truth of me there, living within you, patiently waiting for you to look my way.

August 24, 2015
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The Spirit Speaks … to You

When your alarm goes off and you pull yourself out of bed, you’re not alone. As you go about your day, you’re never alone. All day long, I am there with you – the living Spirit of your eternal friend, Jesus Christ. I died for you – I now live with you.

Do you not believe in me, or does your belief feel weak and uncertain? My love for you is not a measure of your belief. My love for you is overflowing and unchanging. And my love is patient – I will not chase after you. My love will wait for you to turn to me.

Yet when you turn, you will find me right there. You are never alone. I’m always here with you, just a thought away.

August 23, 2015
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Book Challenge Day #38 – Back in the Saddle Again

This blog, and my personal book challenge, has been very quiet for the past few weeks. I’ve been traveling for three weeks, and though I had hoped to find lots of time for writing and blogging, there was actually very little. I made almost no progress on the book. But I’m not worried… yet.

You see, whenever I do find time to write, and as long as I am able to quiet my mind and focus on the Spirit of Jesus within me, the writing just happens. I focus on Jesus and the words seem to flow through my hand and into my notebook. This morning I effortlessly finished the first draft of chapter 4 – thirteen more chapters to go.

So now that I’m back home and into my familiar writing space and daily routine, it feels like I’m “back in the saddle again.” And I hope to continue to blog about my experience with this personal writing challenge. The highs and lows – they’re out there, waiting for me to reach them.

I think challenges are good in how they stretch us and help us grow. How might I grow through my book writing challenge? It will be fun to find out, and maybe at times a bit painful. Stay tuned.

(August 23, 2015: day 37 down, 56 more to go, of The Challenge… to write a book, from concept to self-publish, in 3 months.)

August 5, 2015
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Book Challenge Day 20 – Forgetting

Miles away from home. I think I left my mind there. Well, my writing mind anyway.

I’m now one week into a three week trip. The only progress on the book challenge was a brief window of time on the airplane. After that, for the most part, the book has been forgotten. But I’m committed to my personal challenge to write and self-publish this book in three months. This trip, with all its distractions, certainly adds to the challenge.

Actually I think I’m grateful. I want to be grateful, for the added challenge pushes me to rely on God more, and myself less. As John the Baptist said in speaking of Jesus, “He must become greater; I must become less.” For me, that may be the best part of this book challenge.

(19 days down, 74 to go)

Thumbed in on my iPhone.

July 30, 2015
by CJ Penn 1 Comment

Done with Church

Here’s a brief and interesting post I just came across…

JLP Pastor

Over at Scot McKnight’s blog, the first of a planned series of excerpts from Church Refugees, a book about “dechurched” people. Not marginal attenders or cynics, they were the kind of high-involvement people every church wants to have. But along the way the church converted them, and they went from from enthusiastic church folks to “done with religion.”

We call these people the dechurched or the Dones: They’re done with church. They’re tired and fed up with church. They’re dissatisfied with the structure, social message, and politics of the institutional church, and they’ve decided they and their spiritual lives are better off lived outside of organized religion.

Here’s an example from one such “Done” called Ethan:

when we finally left the church, we’ve just done house church where we create and do things with, others rather than for them. I’m done with the top-down, institutional church. I thought…

View original post 89 more words

July 29, 2015
by CJ Penn 1 Comment

Book Challenge Day #13 – Out of Focus

Work has been crazy busy. Yet my self-imposed challenge to write and publish a book in three months is still standing tall right in front of me. In my minds eye this project sometimes appears as a large person scowling at me, with their arms crossed and boldly proclaiming, “I’m waiting!”

Though this book is gradually growing within my mind and on the pages of my notebook, it’s often out of focus. My sites are mostly set on other things, like work. Work is demanding and ever hungry for all my time and thought… 24/7. So I have to fend off works hunger just to pry my gaze away long enough to let my mind focus on the book.

I get mini moments with the book. Just a few minutes at a time, it seems. But God is so good to me, because He honors my brief moments of focus and fills those seconds with more of the book – from His heart, to my mind, to my notebook. And I’m so grateful.

(July 29, 2015: day 12 down, 81 more to go, of The Challenge… to write a book, from concept to self-publish, in 3 months.)

July 28, 2015
by CJ Penn 2 Comments

Book Challenge Day #12 – As the story pours onto the page

For the fiction book I’m trying to write and publish in 3 months, a couple of days ago I dictated the essence of chapter 2 into the memo app of my iPhone. This morning I worked on transcribing those notes into my notebook, and converting them into more of a story. BTW, I enjoy handwriting rather than typing directly. I read somewhere that handwriting uses more of the creative portion of your brain than typing, and thereby can add to the creative output. I’ll type my handwritten draft later.

Well, I don’t know much about how to activate the creative portion of my brain (other than a glass of wine or beer in the evening), but this morning the story of chapter 2 seemed to pour out of my mind and onto the pages. I would listen to a snippet of my notes, and then while focusing my thoughts on the Spirit of Jesus within me, the words began flowing down my arm, out my fingers, into the pencil and onto the paper. I so enjoy this part of writing, this free-flowing creative part, especially when I’m not writing alone, but collaborating with Jesus.

Is He really guiding my hand? I believe so. I almost feel it. Maybe not with every word. But when I look back at what’s been written, I’m convinced it’s not all from me. It’s too good to come from me.

(July 28, 2015: day 11 down, 82 more to go, of The Challenge… to write a book, from concept to self-publish, in 3 months.)

July 27, 2015
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Book Challenge Day #11 – This is not my book project

I’m writing this post just to remind myself this is not my book challenge project. As I believe the idea came from the Spirit of Jesus within, I want to remember not to try to wrestle control from Him. My ego, of course, will want control. My ego will want to make a certain amount of progress each day, gain a certain number of new followers interested in the challenge, and make sure the book is actually published by the October 17^th deadline.

But I must remember, this is not my book project. It’s God’s. The daily progress isn’t important. The number of people who follow the project isn’t important (though the people themselves are very important – I just felt like adding that), and the deadline isn’t important.

What’s important with how I deal with this book challenge is the same thing that’s most important with the everyday challenge of dealing with life… my focus on God. As long as I keep my heart, mind, and soul focused on God within me, all is just right. The book challenge is not my purpose; it’s just an outcome of my purpose, which is to live with the Spirit of Jesus living through me.

(July 27, 2015: day 10 down, 83 more to go, of The Challenge… to write a book, from concept to self-publish, in 3 months.)

July 25, 2015
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Book Challenge Day #9 – Talking Through Chapter Two

Day 8 of my personal writing challenge turned out better than I could have wished. After having written chapter one in the morning, I wrote chapter two on my drive home from work in the evening.

Actually, I spoke chapter two into the voice memo app on my iPhone. As I was pulling onto the freeway, a clear picture of chapter two started painting itself in my mind. Rapidly, the picture became vivid and complete. Yet I worried about my crumby memory. How was I going to remember all this by the time I got home and could write it down?

Well, the Friday evening commute traffic gave me a “break.” While in the middle of a solid stop that lasted almost a minute, I safely activated the voice memo app, set my phone down and started dictating the picture of chapter two that was fresh in my mind.

When I had emptied my mind of chapter two, I turned my thoughts to God, and gave Him big thanks for making this so easy for me. I know chapter two is from Him, because I don’t have the talent to come up with something that looks so good.

(July 25, 2015: day 8 down, 85 more to go, of The Challenge… to write a book, from concept to self-publish, in 3 months.)

July 24, 2015
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Book Challenge Day #8 – Follow the Bouncing Ball

The only time I have to write is early morning, yet it can be the worst time. My mind is so scattered in the morning. Oh, things begin to come into focus as the coffee takes hold, but my mind still tends to bounce from one thought to another, just more slowly. It’s like a super-ball hurled to the garage floor, bouncing around so fast it’s hard to keep your eyes on it, but slowing a bit over time. Such is my morning mind.

Well, the coffee cup is empty now. My mind is able to spend more time focused on the loving Spirit of Jesus within me. And He’s helping me, tugging on my thoughts, keeping them from bouncing too far away again. So now I’ll open my notebook and see what grows out of my pen. Will there be progress with my book challenge this morning? Stay tuned…

… I’m back, an hour later. It’s amazing what can happen when I step on the bouncing ball of my thoughts and focus on Jesus. I just finished the first draft of the first chapter. And though it’s still rough, I like the tone that’s being set.

It always happens this way when I’m writing. The best stuff grows out of my pen and crawls across the pages of my notebook only when my thoughts are set on Jesus within me, when He is writing with me. And I’m so grateful.

(July 24, 2015: day 7 down, 86 more to go, of The Challenge… to write a book, from concept to self-publish, in 3 months.)

July 23, 2015
by CJ Penn 1 Comment

The Barrier of Life

Life often feels like a barrier between God and me.

The distractions that battle for my attention block my view of Jesus.

Even though His Spirit is always here with me,

within me, so close to me …

I often cannot see Him or feel His presence.

Life is ever hungry, craving every thought.

Yet I’m hungry too.

I hunger and thirst for Jesus,

for a sense of His companionship,

His presence.

I’m sometimes torn in two.

Part of me despises life and it’s struggle for my full attention,

it’s battle against my love of Jesus.

But the other part of me is so grateful for life.

I cannot fully appreciate something unless I’ve first lived without it.

Yes, for now life is a barrier between God and me.

But when that barrier is gone, and my fuzzy view of Jesus comes into bright focus,

my heart will burst with love and gratitude.

And my dammed up tears of joy will finally flow as a river.

This mortal life and all it’s struggles,

will help me appreciate life with God so much more.

July 22, 2015
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The Church’s Hidden Back Door

Holy Soup

Beef up outreach. Emphasize evangelism. Plant more churches. Polish the marketing.

None of this is reversing the overall trend of church decline. Even when a church attracts new members it doesn’t grow. Why?

It can’t add people fast enough to make up for the legions slipping out the back door.

They are the Dones–those who are done with organized church. New research reveals the enormity of the back-door effect. Sociologist Josh Packard, as a follow-up to his book Church Refugees, conducted a new national study through the Social Research Lab to determine the size, make-up and motivations of the formerly churched population in the United States.

The survey results are stunning. Some 31 percent of the entire U.S. adult population was once churched and now has dropped out and disconnected from any organized church. That’s a population of 65 million adults.

With that kind of exodus, it’s difficult for any…

View original post 465 more words

July 22, 2015
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Book Challenge Day #6 – Still on the Foundation

I made some good progress this morning on the foundation of my 3-month-to-publish book idea. The story is historical fiction, writing in a first-person narrative style. The outline is almost finished, with the flow of the story and the chapters defined.

My progress this morning started with a prayer. As with most of my mornings, it can be hard to clear my cluttered head of the junk that fills my life, and focus my mind on the Spirit of Jesus within me. But for some reason, this morning was easier. I think it was because I felt frustrated with myself, and my own cluttered mind. So I mentally grabbed a large broom and vigorously swept all that clutter out of the way so I could clearly see Jesus. And it worked.

Oh how I cherish those moments when I feel really close to Jesus, within me. I found such a moment this morning. And in that moment, Jesus gave me an image of what I could do with the book idea. So I opened my eyes and started writing. And I’ll start all over again tomorrow morning.

(July 22, 2015: day 6 down, 88 more to go, of The Challenge… to write a book, from concept to self-publish, in 3 months.)

July 21, 2015
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Book Challenge Day #5 – Fuzzy

Day 4 (yesterday) was lost to my busyness. No progress. Barely a thought given to this book I’m trying to write and publish in 3 months.

Day 5 is starting with a fuzzy mind. Yet there is progress this morning. I’ve loosely defined all the chapters. The outline is beginning to firm up. Yet I’m feeling itchy to actually start writing.

By the way, most of my progress will happen in the mornings. With my full-time job, the early morning is the only writing time I have. And evenings are usually sacrificed to fatigue from a busy day. My shortage of available writing time adds to the challenge.

But since I’m convinced that God gave me this book idea, I have faith that He will see this book get written. Will it be published within 3 months, according to the personal challenge I’ve given myself? I would like to give that one to God, and not be concerned about it. But I won’t fool myself – I’m sure there are days ahead of me when I will severely stress about my self-imposed deadline. Yet this is just another reason to rely on God to help write this book.

(July 21, 2015: day 4 down, 89 more to go, of The Challenge… to write a book, from concept to self-publish, in 3 months.)