Full Transcript for The 30-Second Writer: On Reclaiming Time and Publishing on Your Terms

00:05:43.040 --> 00:05:49.279 And I could have done it and moved on with the rest of my day and accomplished other things. 00:05:50.160 --> 00:05:58.399 So in doing this, I I've learned to use what I call the unused moments of life. 00:05:58.639 --> 00:06:00.160 And all of us have that. 00:06:00.399 --> 00:06:03.920 And almost all of us think I don't have enough time. 00:06:04.319 --> 00:06:07.279 I've discovered that I do have enough time. 00:06:07.439 --> 00:06:10.399 It's just found in the time I'm not using. 00:06:10.800 --> 00:06:11.439 Fascinating. 00:06:11.519 --> 00:06:12.720 Can you give me more examples? 00:06:12.879 --> 00:06:17.279 So you mentioned the commercial time you do something, like swatting the flies. 00:06:17.360 --> 00:06:17.600 Okay. 00:06:17.680 --> 00:06:23.199 What give me examples of lost time and what do you do in these lost time moments? 00:06:23.600 --> 00:06:23.920 Okay. 00:06:24.959 --> 00:06:27.199 Everyday life is filled with it. 00:06:27.360 --> 00:06:38.160 Um my wife wanted me to, well, we we had letters, like uh the great big letters that spelled joy on the front of our house at Christmas. 00:06:38.399 --> 00:06:42.079 And I needed to take those down in January. 00:06:42.399 --> 00:06:53.120 And so I got a ladder and I set it up and I climbed up the ladder and I had a screwdriver, and I thought, this would be a lot faster if I used my electric screwdriver. 00:06:53.360 --> 00:06:55.199 Why don't I go get it? 00:06:55.360 --> 00:06:57.120 Well, it takes too long. 00:06:57.360 --> 00:07:06.720 So I sat there struggling with that handheld screwdriver, trying to undo those screws out of a brick wall, and I finally gave up. 00:07:06.879 --> 00:07:08.000 I timed it. 00:07:08.240 --> 00:07:18.720 It took me like 25 seconds to get down off the ladder, go around the corner, into the garage, get my screwdriver, my electric one, and come back. 00:07:19.199 --> 00:07:34.560 And I would have wasted more and more time hand unscrewing those things than just taking 25 or 30 seconds to go get a tool that would make it incredibly fast. 00:07:35.360 --> 00:07:38.399 So I learned to acquire time. 00:07:38.560 --> 00:07:45.040 Now, I I've discovered that we use a lot of phrases like, I'm going to save time by doing this. 00:07:45.279 --> 00:07:48.560 I found that you cannot save time. 00:07:48.879 --> 00:07:54.160 You can use it more effectively and more efficiently, but you can't save it. 00:07:54.319 --> 00:08:02.000 At the end of the day, you do not get a bucket of unused time that you get to carry over to tomorrow. 00:08:02.480 --> 00:08:14.800 So, how can I use my time most effectively, most efficiently to get the most dumb, to get the most accomplished and the most fruit made in my life? 00:08:15.040 --> 00:08:24.160 So I've learned really to quit use to quit not using time, time that's vacant. 00:08:24.399 --> 00:08:29.120 When my wife goes into the grocery store, I might wait in the car. 00:08:29.519 --> 00:08:31.839 She

might be in there 15 minutes. 00:08:32.080 --> 00:08:39.840 What can I do with that 15 minutes in my car when I'm waiting in line at the drive-thru window? 00:08:40.000 --> 00:08:47.039 Is there anything significant I can accomplish while I'm doing nothing more than waiting? 00:08:47.200 --> 00:08:53.919 Uh while I'm waiting in line at the bank, waiting my turn to get to the tell it. 00:08:54.159 --> 00:08:58.720 Is there anything I can do with the time while I'm in line? 00:08:59.200 --> 00:09:01.200 So I began listing those. 00:09:01.519 --> 00:09:05.279 In this book, I listed 30 uh in every chapter. 00:09:05.519 --> 00:09:12.080 There's 30 things you can do in 30 seconds in different episodes or occasions of life. 00:09:12.240 --> 00:09:22.480 It was an eye-opener to me, and it released me to accomplish more things by using those unused moments. 00:09:22.639 --> 00:09:31.279 And so my goal is not to get people to use my list as a checklist and say, can I do this in my closet? 00:09:31.440 --> 00:09:32.559 Can I do this and this? 00:09:32.720 --> 00:09:34.159 No, it's to realize. 00:09:34.320 --> 00:09:43.360 I want to encourage them to understand and realize they have unused moments that they could put into practice. 00:09:43.679 --> 00:09:48.799 And it can change their life because they will find they are accomplishing more. 00:09:49.440 --> 00:09:53.919 Their life and their time is more effective and more fruitful. 00:09:54.080 --> 00:09:57.840 Almost everybody complains, I don't have enough time. 00:09:58.399 --> 00:10:01.759 But nobody has more time than you. 00:10:02.480 --> 00:10:05.200 We all have the same amount of time. 00:10:05.840 --> 00:10:08.080 Twour hours in a day. 00:10:08.399 --> 00:10:17.039 Why is it some people can uh seemingly accomplish more than we do in the same amount of time? 00:10:17.440 --> 00:10:20.960 I just try to help them understand and get that done. 00:10:21.279 --> 00:10:28.720 Okay, so give us an example of what would you do while you're waiting for your wife at the grocery store or if you're waiting at the bank online. 00:10:29.759 --> 00:10:30.879 Just what what would you do? 00:10:31.039 --> 00:10:32.159 Just give me a few examples. 00:10:32.480 --> 00:10:34.879 Okay, first I I have a to-do list. 00:10:35.039 --> 00:10:36.320 I have one every day. 00:10:36.399 --> 00:10:40.559 When you and I finish chatting, I have two things I have to go do. 00:10:40.879 --> 00:10:43.120 I will carry that list with me. 00:10:43.360 --> 00:10:49.279 Oftentimes, if my wife is in the grocery store, there's a stream of other stores nearby. 00:10:49.519 --> 00:10:50.480 I can go there. 00:10:50.639 --> 00:10:58.000 If I'm staying in the car, I have 30 things you can do in your car in 30 seconds each. 00:10:58.240 --> 00:11:18.320 Check the air pressure in your tires, clean the dashboard, get rid of all the junk that's in the pourboards, get rid of the stuff, clean out, organize your glove box or your sensor console, check the fluids uh in your car, or your windshield wiper fluids, check the oil. 00:11:18.559 --> 00:11:25.679 These are things that we could do, but we put off until we need to, and then we tend to not have time to do it. 00:11:26.000 --> 00:11:29.120 But you do have time, you can do it now. 00:11:29.600 --> 00:11:34.320 And you can do it when what were you going to do in the car otherwise? 00:11:34.559 --> 00:11:36.879 Sit there and listen to the radio. 00:11:37.120 --> 00:11:37.600 Maybe. 00:11:37.840 --> 00:11:41.279 So why not use the time effectively? 00:11:41.600 --> 00:11:47.200 I just try to open the gate and show you things you could get done while you wait. 00:11:47.440 --> 00:12:04.000 Okay, so what about people might argue like, are we pushing ourselves too much to the degree of burnout where sometimes those we need those 30 seconds for like mindfulness, or just sometimes we just need to stare at the wall. 00:12:04.159 --> 00:12:10.480 I don't know, just to to clear our our minds and give our mind a rest. 00:12:10.559 --> 00:12:17.759 But if like every 30 seconds of our life do this, be productive, do this, it can lead to a burnout. 00:12:17.840 --> 00:12:19.600 Do you agree or or not? 00:13:08.379 --> 00:13:15.259 If you persisted at it habitually without ceasing, yes, you would burn yourself out. 00:13:15.659 --> 00:13:17.899 But none of but none of us do that. 00:13:18.139 --> 00:13:18.379 Okay. 00:13:18.859 --> 00:13:21.419 We like to be amused. 00:13:22.459 --> 00:13:25.259 To muse is to think. 00:13:25.659 --> 00:13:32.219 Remember back in the old Greek times there were muses, those who would think and come to wisdom. 00:13:32.459 --> 00:13:38.539 Well, we like to muse, but we also like to be mused or to not think. 00:13:38.939 --> 00:13:41.099 We go to an amusement park. 00:13:41.179 --> 00:13:43.979 We do things so that we're not thinking. 00:13:44.379 --> 00:13:46.539 We use this little thing right here. 00:13:46.699 --> 00:13:54.059 We use our phone to watch TikTok and to watch Facebook to write notes and to be amused. 00:13:54.539 --> 00:13:57.500 We watch TV to be mused. 00:13:57.740 --> 00:13:59.979 We go into a fantasy world. 00:14:00.219 --> 00:14:06.059 And to say I don't have time because my life's full, I'm watching too much TV. 00:14:06.219 --> 00:14:10.859 Well, maybe take out a TV show and get some things done. 00:14:11.099 --> 00:14:13.259 I I've never met anybody. 00:14:13.500 --> 00:14:18.379 I have not met them who are actually burned out from doing too much. 00:14:18.620 --> 00:14:23.019 So you're thinking we're doing more amusing than musing in general? 00:14:23.339 --> 00:14:34.459 Because amusing is fun, while musing requires a mental load or a mental, like you have to exert some mental effort. 00:14:34.779 --> 00:14:36.939 And with with amusement, you don't. 00:14:37.019 --> 00:14:39.500 You just sit back and take the information. 00:14:39.740 --> 00:14:40.219 That's right. 00:14:40.379 --> 00:14:42.299 I

believe that is very true. 00:14:42.539 --> 00:14:53.579 And I think it's more true of the younger generations because they have more amusing devices available to them with them all the time. 00:14:53.899 --> 00:14:56.379 Okay, so I mean, this is fascinating. 00:14:56.620 --> 00:15:03.819 And I just want to shift gear a bit and ask you about your background and how did you get into that? 00:15:03.979 --> 00:15:13.579 So you were a pastor, yeah, and you taught the Bible, and then how did you get into being an author of, let's say, self-help books? 00:15:13.740 --> 00:15:23.899 How was this transition from being, let's say, a man of God, teaching the Bible, to being an author about like self-help and productivity and all of that? 00:15:24.059 --> 00:15:24.859 How was that shift? 00:15:25.179 --> 00:15:29.579 Well, most of what I write is Christian-based. 00:15:29.740 --> 00:15:34.379 It's a faith-based ministry and writing that I do. 00:15:34.620 --> 00:15:49.579 The first book was, it was a fun book called Cat and Dog Theology, and it's rethinking and living passionately, rethinking the relationship with God and living passionately for the glory of God. 00:15:50.139 --> 00:15:57.259 I called on a pastor at the end of that to have close us in a time of prayer, and he said, No. 00:15:57.740 --> 00:16:00.859 I said, Well, what do you mean no? 00:16:01.339 --> 00:16:02.779 Afterwards, I spoke to him. 00:16:02.859 --> 00:16:07.259 He said, after what you taught us, I realized I don't know how to pray. 00:16:07.500 --> 00:16:18.459 I spent most of my prayer time being the master of God, telling God what to do, what I want, when to do it, how I and he said, I don't really know how to pray the way I should. 00:16:18.620 --> 00:16:23.099 And so we followed that up with another another book, Cat and Dog Prayer. 00:16:23.259 --> 00:16:27.019 From there, I like to do everything with a sense of humor. 00:16:27.179 --> 00:16:33.819 And I began to look at the glory of God all around us and in the animal world. 00:16:33.979 --> 00:16:41.259 And I thought, you know, we so often overlook seeing God just when we look at the world around us. 00:16:41.419 --> 00:16:48.620 I noticed there was a woodpecker that had a tongue that is too long for its mouth. 00:16:49.019 --> 00:16:53.740 But you don't see it flying with the tongue flapping in the wind. 00:16:53.899 --> 00:16:56.139 So what did he do with his tongue? 00:16:56.459 --> 00:17:01.740 God gave him a tongue that was able to reach down inside a tree to pull bugs out. 00:17:01.979 --> 00:17:06.859 But that tongue, he has to do something with it when he flies. 00:17:07.099 --> 00:17:13.819 So he wraps it around his neck and takes the tip and puts up his right nostril. 00:17:14.140 --> 00:17:15.740 Well, that's rather odd. 00:17:15.900 --> 00:17:17.500 Why did God do that? 00:17:17.740 --> 00:17:24.059 Well, the Bible says God made all things according to his will, or he liked it. 00:17:24.220 --> 00:17:28.620 So I wrote a little cartoon book called Because He Liked It. 00:17:28.779 --> 00:17:39.180 And it's just filled with cartoons, but unusual odd things about animals, bugs and fish and birds and all kinds of things. 00:17:39.339 --> 00:17:40.700 That began to grow. 00:17:40.859 --> 00:17:44.299 Eventually, I sat in a church at Christmas. 00:17:44.620 --> 00:17:48.059 I'm sorry, on another occasion, we were talking about Christmas. 00:17:48.380 --> 00:17:58.299 I thought this the guy that was the innkeeper in the original Christmas story, he sounds like a bad guy. 00:17:58.460 --> 00:18:03.419 You know, he had no room for Mary and Joseph and the baby Jesus. 00:18:03.659 --> 00:18:07.259 But what does the Bible actually say about that? 00:18:07.419 --> 00:18:12.779 So I went back and reread the story, and I came up with a different story. 00:18:13.019 --> 00:18:19.740 Not different from what the Bible says, but different from what most of us interpret that story to say. 00:18:19.899 --> 00:18:23.339 So I wrote a book called The Innkeeper. 00:18:24.379 --> 00:18:31.500 It's a it's the retelling of the Christmas story, but from the innkeeper's perspective. 00:18:31.659 --> 00:18:41.740 So it brings in some humor, it brings in some thinking that makes your brain cells work a little bit more than just hearing the same story over and over. 00:18:42.139 --> 00:18:54.059 When tongue cancer hit me, they removed part of my tongue, and they the doctor said, You're fortunate we were able to grasp some tongue material onto your tongue. 00:18:54.220 --> 00:18:56.700 And I said, What is tongue material? 00:18:57.099 --> 00:19:00.940 And he said, Well, it's tongue material. 00:19:01.099 --> 00:19:05.980 I said, Okay, where did you get tongue material? 00:19:07.500 --> 00:19:09.899 He said, We got it from a cadaver. 00:19:10.059 --> 00:19:13.899 I thought, oh, oh, a dead guy? 00:19:15.500 --> 00:19:18.700 He said, Yes, he wasn't using it anymore. 00:19:18.940 --> 00:19:22.619 To just say, I do not know if that person was a Christian or not. 00:19:22.700 --> 00:19:28.859 So I told my friends, if I say anything that offends you, it's the other guy talking. 00:19:30.139 --> 00:19:31.500 That's a good line. 00:19:32.859 --> 00:19:42.460 Well, the tongue can the tongue cancer came back, and then I had I had portions of my tongue removed on three different occasions. 00:19:42.700 --> 00:19:49.899 I really, we we really thought there was a day on the calendar that would be my last day. 00:19:50.059 --> 00:19:55.419 And I wanted to give my I wanted to get my life in order. 00:19:55.579 --> 00:20:02.059 I wanted to accomplish what I wanted to do in the length of time that God gave me. 00:20:02.379 --> 00:20:10.539 And that's when I began thinking about the small units of time that I have overlooked and don't use. 00:20:11.019 --> 00:20:12.779 How can I use those? 00:20:13.019 --> 00:20:15.899 And that's where the 30 seconds book came from. 00:20:16.220 --> 00:20:17.019 I love it.

00:20:17.259 --> 00:20:19.259 So, Gerald or Dr. 00:20:19.500 --> 00:20:24.539 G, my question is about your publishing journey. 00:20:24.859 --> 00:20:27.980 So you you published all these books. 00:20:28.220 --> 00:20:32.539 Did you use an agent, a hybrid publisher, a publisher, self-published? 00:20:32.619 --> 00:20:38.299 How was your publishing journey through all of these books and what worked and what didn't work in terms of book sales? 00:20:38.539 --> 00:20:38.859 Okay. 00:20:39.259 --> 00:20:54.220 The first two books, the cat and dog theology and cat and dog prayer, those were written with a friend of mine who had been previously published, and we used his publisher, which was Interversity Press. 00:20:54.379 --> 00:20:54.700 Okay. 00:20:55.099 --> 00:20:56.220 To IVP. 00:20:56.619 --> 00:21:04.379 When the next book came up, IBP was not interested in that one, the cartoon books. 00:21:04.619 --> 00:21:10.539 And so I said, okay, I will publish those elsewhere, but I want to do it now. 00:21:10.619 --> 00:21:17.339 And the only way to do it quickly and to make sure it was done was to do that on my own. 00:21:17.579 --> 00:21:17.819 Correct. 00:21:18.139 --> 00:21:20.460 So I independently published. 00:21:20.779 --> 00:21:28.379 When other books came to mind and to my heart, and I began to continue writing, I began to look elsewhere. 00:21:28.619 --> 00:21:35.259 And it takes so long, they have to fight so many battles to get to the typical publisher. 00:21:35.740 --> 00:21:38.299 I said, there's got to be a better way. 00:21:38.619 --> 00:21:40.779 But I'm not a marketer. 00:21:41.099 --> 00:21:43.180 I need marketing help. 00:21:43.419 --> 00:21:46.139 So there were two groups I looked at. 00:21:46.379 --> 00:21:52.299 I chose not to go down the independent publishing again because they don't help. 00:21:52.619 --> 00:21:54.859 They print, but they don't help. 00:21:55.899 --> 00:21:57.980 If you want it marketed, you do it. 00:21:58.139 --> 00:21:59.259 Well, how do I do that? 00:21:59.419 --> 00:22:00.220 Who do I go to? 00:22:00.619 --> 00:22:01.579 I didn't know. 00:22:01.819 --> 00:22:05.339 So I found a group, a guy that runs it. 00:22:05.419 --> 00:22:07.339 His name is Steve Harrison. 00:22:07.740 --> 00:22:10.299 Steve offers all kinds of help. 00:22:10.619 --> 00:22:14.379 He has public people who specialize in marketing. 00:22:14.619 --> 00:22:17.500 He says, take some of our seminars on that. 00:22:17.740 --> 00:22:19.899 We can do help you with the publishing. 00:22:20.139 --> 00:22:21.339 Let us do that for you. 00:22:21.419 --> 00:22:23.099 We can help with the editing. 00:22:23.339 --> 00:22:28.059 And they did a lot of things, but a lot of it came back to me as well. 00:22:28.460 --> 00:22:32.220 I went that way, but I also kept looking elsewhere. 00:22:32.460 --> 00:22:36.619 And so I found another publisher called Leadership. 00:22:36.940 --> 00:22:38.299 It's a hybrid. 00:22:38.460 --> 00:22:41.259 They let you independently publish. 00:22:41.500 --> 00:22:43.259 They have the rights to the books. 00:22:43.419 --> 00:22:46.700 You know, this is something that our folks need to be aware of. 00:22:46.940 --> 00:22:52.139 When you go with a publisher, Publisher, they own your book. 00:22:52.379 --> 00:22:54.940 They own it and they have rights to it. 00:22:55.259 --> 00:22:56.460 You don't. 00:22:56.779 --> 00:23:03.980 And if you want to do something further with that, you almost have to get every kind of permission from them to do it. 00:23:04.220 --> 00:23:08.859 They will pay you a small amount of royalty for each book they sell. 00:23:09.099 --> 00:23:14.539 But they have to recoup their cost on the printing, the publishing, and all that. 00:23:14.779 --> 00:23:23.980 Well, doing it yourself means you pay less, but now you can't market it unless you have somebody to do that or pay them. 00:23:24.220 --> 00:23:30.299 So the hybrid is one that says we'll take the lights, but only for five years. 00:23:30.940 --> 00:23:36.460 We will put it in hardback the first year, softback the second year. 00:23:36.619 --> 00:23:38.859 We'll do an ebook the next year. 00:23:39.019 --> 00:23:41.339 We'll do an audio the next year. 00:23:41.500 --> 00:23:44.859 After five years, all the lights go back to you. 00:23:45.339 --> 00:23:46.539 I kind of like that. 00:23:46.700 --> 00:23:50.539 Now I pay them up front because they do the printing. 00:23:50.700 --> 00:23:57.019 I pay them for various things that they do, but they do much of the marketing. 00:23:57.180 --> 00:23:58.059 Oh, that's good. 00:23:58.299 --> 00:24:01.819 So they do because they are selling the book. 00:24:02.539 --> 00:24:03.019 I see. 00:24:03.259 --> 00:24:07.419 So they do the they do the marketing, they do the illustration. 00:24:07.740 --> 00:24:09.019 They do so much. 00:24:09.500 --> 00:24:12.379 They don't do everything, but they do a lot. 00:24:13.019 --> 00:24:21.019 And so I pay them more, but then I can buy the books at an independent cost almost. 00:24:21.419 --> 00:24:26.940 Sell them myself, but they can also sell online where I also gain money. 00:24:27.180 --> 00:24:31.180 And then within five years, I have all the rights back. 00:24:31.500 --> 00:24:37.899 So each option that you have has ups and each one has downs to it. 00:24:38.139 --> 00:24:41.740 Some you pay more, but you get more. 00:24:41.899 --> 00:24:45.740 Some you pay less, but you have to do more. 00:24:45.980 --> 00:24:53.019 Some you don't pay, but all you get is a royalty and you lose ownership of the book. 00:24:53.339 --> 00:24:56.779 So those things have to be weighed out by all of your authors. 00:24:57.500 --> 00:25:00.619 So in terms of marketing, what worked best for you? 00:25:01.019 --> 00:25:12.779 I'm I'm not fully there yet, but going with this other agency, the hybrid, where they are doing the marketing, I have some of those cartoon books that I showed you. 00:25:13.019 --> 00:25:17.980 I've now got a

series of 15 of those being done. 00:25:18.220 --> 00:25:26.940 And they're being done in not in this small fashion, like this, but they're being they're being done in a book this size. 00:25:28.059 --> 00:25:29.740 And it's all full color. 00:25:30.859 --> 00:25:35.099 They are going to be putting it into social arenas on the internet. 00:25:35.659 --> 00:25:45.579 They have people who have book reading groups, they will interview them, they put them on video, they put the videos on YouTube and other things. 00:25:45.819 --> 00:25:47.659 We're just not there yet. 00:25:47.819 --> 00:25:53.259 So I can't tell you how well that's working, but I am looking forward to it. 00:25:53.579 --> 00:25:58.940 So how does your day-to-day look like as a prolific author and also as a pastor? 00:25:59.019 --> 00:26:00.539 How do you divide your time? 00:26:00.619 --> 00:26:05.180 How do you fight the 30 seconds to write? 00:26:07.899 --> 00:26:15.740 For me, I have to have an unction in my heart that this is a message that needs to be conveyed. 00:26:15.899 --> 00:26:16.220 Okay. 00:26:16.460 --> 00:26:21.259 Once that is there, then I come up with the outline in my heart and mind. 00:26:21.339 --> 00:26:25.180 And there's no telling how long either one of those takes. 00:26:25.339 --> 00:26:28.059 And it might start with a title. 00:26:28.139 --> 00:26:28.299 Okay. 00:26:28.619 --> 00:26:32.059 Because somebody will say something that captures my attention. 00:26:32.220 --> 00:26:36.859 And I think, yes, that is a theme I could write on. 00:26:37.099 --> 00:26:39.099 Then I begin to develop that. 00:26:39.259 --> 00:26:42.700 Then I develop, you know, what's going to go into it. 00:26:43.019 --> 00:26:50.059 When I actually sit down to write, I can write for hours or I can write for a half hour and go quit. 00:26:50.299 --> 00:26:50.779 Yeah. 00:26:51.019 --> 00:26:53.259 I don't keep regular hours. 00:26:53.419 --> 00:27:00.700 I don't say to myself, okay, from eight until five on Tuesday, you need to be at your desk and you're writing. 00:27:00.940 --> 00:27:13.419 Because if I don't feel that unction, if I don't have those thoughts in my mind, you're not going to pour it from my mind through my fingers into the computer and onto a screen. 00:27:13.659 --> 00:27:17.659 And I love it when it just flows. 00:27:17.980 --> 00:27:27.099 When I've thought it through, I have it up here, or I've made my notes and I can work my way through it. 00:27:27.259 --> 00:27:28.220 I love that. 00:27:28.379 --> 00:27:35.180 And I it it might be a half hour, it might be several hours, it might be several days in a row. 00:27:35.419 --> 00:27:42.460 If there's a whole book and I've got the whole thing in my mind, I can knock it out in a couple of weeks. 00:27:43.259 --> 00:27:51.659 Then I have friends and family that do the editing, that kind of thing, and then I send it off to be further edited. 00:27:51.899 --> 00:27:54.940 But for me, well, I'll tell you about. 00:27:55.339

--> 00:27:59.500 Let me deal with this one, the cartoon book, because I was dealing with that this morning. 00:27:59.819 --> 00:28:04.539 I had six new facts about odd animals. 00:28:04.859 --> 00:28:07.819 Animals which most people have never heard of. 00:28:08.059 --> 00:28:10.539 And each one's only a paragraph. 00:28:10.859 --> 00:28:14.700 That's about all I need for a cartoon book like that. 00:28:15.019 --> 00:28:18.940 So it was easy to knock out all six of those quickly. 00:28:19.099 --> 00:28:21.819 I had my notes, I had my computer. 00:28:22.059 --> 00:28:31.740 If I want a photograph of one, I just bring it up on the computer, put that in my notes, and so I got all six and shipped them off to the illustrator. 00:28:32.299 --> 00:28:37.180 That took maybe 30 to 45 minutes, and then I'm done. 00:28:37.339 --> 00:28:40.460 That's all he needs to fill in some gaps. 00:28:40.779 --> 00:28:43.019 So I'm not on a schedule. 00:28:43.180 --> 00:28:45.659 I don't put myself on a schedule. 00:28:46.059 --> 00:28:51.500 I like to write because I feel there's a need to say something. 00:28:51.740 --> 00:28:56.299 I don't want to feel I have to say something. 00:28:56.619 --> 00:28:59.500 I want to think I have something to say. 00:29:00.220 --> 00:29:00.700 I see. 00:29:00.779 --> 00:29:01.339 I like that. 00:29:01.500 --> 00:29:08.139 Do you do this full-time or do you still like practice being a pastor, or now you're just doing the writing full-time? 00:29:08.460 --> 00:29:13.899 Well, I'm I'm turning 75 this year, so I'm not pastoring. 00:29:14.539 --> 00:29:16.299 But I am retired. 00:29:16.460 --> 00:29:21.099 I can do as my time what I wish, but I still enjoy teaching. 00:29:21.259 --> 00:29:26.859 So when I get invitations to go speak here or there, I love to do that. 00:29:27.019 --> 00:29:29.099 And the right What do you teach? 00:29:29.419 --> 00:29:33.419 I teach about missions, Christian missions around the world. 00:29:33.579 --> 00:29:41.740 And while so many Christians think yes, we ought to do it, it's our Christian obligation and our responsibility. 00:29:41.980 --> 00:29:46.460 It's not something they desire, that they're passionate about. 00:29:46.940 --> 00:29:56.379 My job is to be help people become passionate so that that's something they desire to do. 00:29:56.859 --> 00:30:00.220 And so I use a lot of humor to do that. 00:30:00.779 --> 00:30:13.980 But that's something I teach, how to get churches turned on to, become vivacious for, become desirous of, helping God's kingdom to grow around the world. 00:30:14.779 --> 00:30:15.980 So what are you working on? 00:30:16.059 --> 00:30:19.180 What does the future hold in terms of new books coming? 00:30:19.339 --> 00:30:27.019 What is uh I'm look I'm working on one right now, another Christian-based book of solving the Easter problem. 00:30:27.579 --> 00:30:38.139 As Christians, we've learned to live with contradictions, and we know it's a contradiction, or there's something wrong with that, but in faith we accept it. 00:30:38.299 --> 00:30:40.460 Well, faith isn't the question. 00:30:40.779 --> 00:30:43.259 Reason is often the question. 00:30:43.500 --> 00:30:56.059 When we we think, you know, we've been taught that Jesus died on Friday and he rose on Sunday, or that's Friday, Saturday, and he rose Sunday. 00:30:56.220 --> 00:30:56.460 Okay? 00:30:56.859 --> 00:30:59.500 That's not three days and three nights. 00:31:00.220 --> 00:31:02.139 No matter how you cut it. 00:31:02.460 --> 00:31:09.099 So we either have to come up with excuses, the what I call theological excuses. 00:31:09.740 --> 00:31:15.259 Any part of a day or night equals the whole day or night. 00:31:15.500 --> 00:31:22.700 So it's Saturday becomes Saturday and Saturday, or Friday, Friday night, Saturday, Saturday night, Sunday. 00:31:22.940 --> 00:31:25.659 That's still not three days and three nights. 00:31:25.899 --> 00:31:30.299 But we accept it because the scripture says he died. 00:31:30.460 --> 00:31:35.740 They had to take him off the cross because the Sabbath was approaching. 00:31:35.980 --> 00:31:38.460 So we think Sabbath, that's Saturday. 00:31:38.539 --> 00:31:40.379 So he must have died Friday. 00:31:41.019 --> 00:31:52.139 What we forget or what nobody taught us is that there were special days like the Day of Atonement or the Day of the Passover. 00:31:52.539 --> 00:32:01.819 These were what they considered high holy days, they were also called Sabbath days. 00:32:03.019 --> 00:32:11.419 And Jesus died before the Passover occurred, when the Passover lamb was slain. 00:32:11.819 --> 00:32:16.700 And if suppose that was either Friday or Thursday. 00:32:16.940 --> 00:32:28.539 Well, if it was Thursday, that means Jesus had to be off the cross before three o'clock on Wednesday, because Thursday for the Jews started Wednesday evening. 00:32:28.779 --> 00:32:49.019 Well that would have put him in the grave Wednesday night, Thursday, Thursday night, Friday, Friday night, Saturday, and Saturday night, sometime before the sun rose, he's happening out of the grave. 00:32:49.259 --> 00:32:58.139 Now, with that thinking, he died before the Sabbath, but it was the High Holy Sabbath, not the weekly Sabbath. 00:32:58.460 --> 00:33:02.139 And the High Holy Sabbath happened on Thursday night? 00:33:02.460 --> 00:33:08.700 Well, it happens on the Passover day, and the Passover could have occurred on Thursday. 00:33:08.940 --> 00:33:09.419 Yes. 00:33:09.740 --> 00:33:21.980 It can have so there's there's any number of things that could have happened that just don't fit what I call Sunday school theology that we've been taught or led to think. 00:33:22.220 --> 00:33:25.819 I wrote coming up with some other ideas. 00:33:26.059 --> 00:33:29.740 Another book was one called Before I Was Jesus. 00:33:30.139 --> 00:33:37.659 For instance, Genesis says, in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 00:33:37.899 --> 00:33:48.059 And most of us who were

raised in Sunday school, like I was, we picture God as a very, very old, ancient man with long white hair. 00:33:48.379 --> 00:33:51.419 He creates the heavens and the earth. 00:33:51.819 --> 00:34:19.340 But when we read Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, especially John, it says, in the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God, and the word became flesh, and a few verses later, and it says, and when he became he, it was through him that all things were made. 00:34:19.579 --> 00:34:22.380 So it was through Jesus. 00:34:22.619 --> 00:34:23.420 Oh, really? 00:34:23.820 --> 00:34:37.820 When you read the book of Colossians, chapter one, and you get down to verse 16, it says that all things were made by him, and there was nothing that was made that was that was not made by him. 00:34:38.220 --> 00:34:40.220 So it was Jesus. 00:34:40.700 --> 00:34:47.659 It was God, but it was God the Son, not God the Father. 00:34:47.980 --> 00:34:53.500 Who who created the words saying it was it was God the Son, not God the Father. 00:34:53.740 --> 00:34:54.539 That's right. 00:34:54.780 --> 00:35:03.019 And when you when you read scripture, it says that God the Father is spirit, and it says he is invisible. 00:35:03.260 --> 00:35:04.700 But isn't that the Holy Spirit? 00:35:04.860 --> 00:35:06.140 No, that's God the Father. 00:35:06.380 --> 00:35:06.940 Ah, okay. 00:35:07.260 --> 00:35:10.220 The Holy Spirit is also invisible. 00:35:10.539 --> 00:35:16.300 But God the Father is spirit, and God the Father is invisible. 00:35:16.620 --> 00:35:26.539 Well, if it throughout the Old Testament, if there were people who saw God, how can they see God if God's invisible? 00:35:27.500 --> 00:35:38.300 So it must have been if Jesus has always been, if it he was with the Father in the beginning, then he has always been. 00:35:38.539 --> 00:35:44.940 Well, where was he between creation and Bethlehem when he came in the flesh? 00:35:45.180 --> 00:35:46.620 What was he doing? 00:35:46.860 --> 00:35:57.900 And we've often attributed so many of the appearances of God throughout our Bible as if it were as if it were God the Father, because we use the term God. 00:35:58.380 --> 00:36:05.260 But in our Christian belief, Jesus is the visible representation of God. 00:36:05.820 --> 00:36:19.340 So this book deals with where in the Bible did God appear, and people were afraid because they knew if they see God, they will die, God the Father. 00:36:19.580 --> 00:36:22.060 They said you cannot see God and live. 00:36:22.380 --> 00:36:25.019 And that happens throughout your Bible. 00:36:25.180 --> 00:36:30.780 Even in So you're saying in the Old Testament, like when when was it Abraham that saw God? 00:36:31.019 --> 00:36:36.220 And you say that was in the form of God the Jesus, uh the Son, not God the yeah. 00:36:36.539 --> 00:36:40.220 If you see him, it is God the Son. 00:36:40.620 --> 00:36:46.539 He is the visible representation of the Father, which no one can see. 00:36:46.860 --> 00:36:49.180 Are you getting pushback for this theory? 00:36:49.260 --> 00:36:51.420 Like people would say, no, you can't say that. 00:36:51.580 --> 00:36:55.580 Is it is it a controversial theory or is it acceptable? 00:36:55.980 --> 00:37:03.420 It's only controversial if you hear the end summary before you hear the steps that get you there. 00:37:03.580 --> 00:37:06.300 And I take you step by step. 00:37:06.620 --> 00:37:10.620 What does the Bible say about God the Father? 00:37:10.860 --> 00:37:17.660 Well, it says he's invisible, it says he's spirit, it says if you see him, you die. 00:37:18.860 --> 00:37:23.500 But, but we have to live with the idea people saw God. 00:37:24.220 --> 00:37:32.300 Even Samson's parents, when they were told that they were going to have a son, both the father and the mother were deathly afraid. 00:37:32.380 --> 00:37:36.220 They thought, oh no, we've seen God, we're going to die. 00:37:36.940 --> 00:37:37.980 But they didn't die. 00:37:38.300 --> 00:37:40.380 Samson from Samson and Delilah? 00:37:40.620 --> 00:37:41.100 Yes. 00:37:42.539 --> 00:37:53.340 In Exodus chapter 4, it says that God came to kill Moses because he had not circumcised his son. 00:37:54.060 --> 00:37:57.980 That's Exodus 4, 14 to 24. 00:37:58.300 --> 00:37:59.900 You have to, well, wait. 00:38:00.140 --> 00:38:01.180 Did they see God? 00:38:01.340 --> 00:38:01.820 Yes. 00:38:02.060 --> 00:38:06.780 What about when the three Hebrew children, my brain's gone blank? 00:38:06.940 --> 00:38:09.980 Shadrach, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. 00:38:10.380 --> 00:38:15.100 When they were in the furnace, the king says, Why, how many people did we throw in there? 00:38:15.340 --> 00:38:16.300 They said, three. 00:38:16.460 --> 00:38:19.740 He said, Why do I see a fourth person? 00:38:20.300 --> 00:38:23.500 And he appears as the son of God. 00:38:24.300 --> 00:38:25.340 He's God. 00:38:25.660 --> 00:38:27.740 So who was who was this? 00:38:28.300 --> 00:38:32.539 This was Jesus, but before he came in the flesh. 00:38:32.700 --> 00:38:37.100 Now, I don't want anybody to take my word for it. 00:38:37.260 --> 00:38:41.100 I take you to the scripture, what does the Bible say? 00:38:41.980 --> 00:38:46.220 And then lead you to say, make your own conclusion. 00:38:46.380 --> 00:38:49.420 And when people do that, there's no controversy. 00:38:49.660 --> 00:38:49.900 Yeah. 00:38:49.980 --> 00:38:52.060 Well, I mean, this is this is fascinating. 00:38:52.300 --> 00:38:55.340 And I'm sure people will enjoy reading it. 00:38:55.580 --> 00:39:00.620 And you might you might probably get some pushback, but that's part of the writing process. 00:39:00.860 --> 00:39:04.380 And so where can people find you, Gerald? 00:39:04.460 --> 00:39:06.780 How can they get your books connect with you? 00:39:06.940 --> 00:39:08.940 Like if you can tell us, where can we find you? 00:39:09.260 --> 00:39:10.220 A couple of good ways. 00:39:10.380 -->

00:39:14.940 One is to go to my name, and it just spells a little unusually. 00:39:15.260 --> 00:39:19.660 It's Gerald G-E-R-A-L-D. 00:39:20.380 --> 00:39:22.539 And the last name is Robison. 00:39:23.019 --> 00:39:24.860 That's the one that gets misspelled. 00:39:25.019 --> 00:39:29.100 It's R-O-B-I-S-O-N. 00:39:29.580 --> 00:39:31.580 There's no N in the middle. 00:39:31.740 --> 00:39:36.940 If you were to separate some of those letters, it would say Rob is on. 00:39:37.980 --> 00:39:40.700 Like Rob is on base or something. 00:39:40.940 --> 00:39:52.860 And but if you go to Gerald Robeson.com or go to the most prolific would be Amazon.com, books by Gerald Robeson. 00:39:53.340 --> 00:39:54.620 And they'll be there. 00:39:54.940 --> 00:39:55.500 Great. 00:39:55.740 --> 00:40:05.100 Well, uh, Gerald, this has been fascinating and eye-opening, and now you're gonna make me think about a number of things, including the 30 seconds I waste all the time staring at the wall. 00:40:06.220 --> 00:40:16.380 Also about like God in the Bible and whether it was God the Son or God the Father, which is I never thought before. 00:40:16.539 --> 00:40:18.780 And I am the original Christian, by the way. 00:40:18.860 --> 00:40:21.900 I'm from the Holy Land, so I should be understanding. 00:40:22.940 --> 00:40:27.660 Yeah, I'm the origin I'm the original Christian with ancestry from Northern Jordan. 00:40:27.900 --> 00:40:35.820 I did my DNA test, Northern Jordan and Bethlehem and Bejalah, which is outside of Jerusalem. 00:40:35.900 --> 00:40:36.220 Yeah. 00:40:36.539 --> 00:40:37.900 That's a beautiful area. 00:40:38.060 --> 00:40:39.180 It's God's temple. 00:40:39.500 --> 00:40:40.300 Yeah, exactly. 00:40:40.539 --> 00:40:46.700 Well, again, um, Natasha, I I don't seek to upset anybody. 00:40:46.780 --> 00:40:49.260 I don't look for controversy. 00:40:49.500 --> 00:40:56.460 I look for things that make Christians think more deeply about what they read. 00:40:56.620 --> 00:40:57.180 That's all. 00:40:57.500 --> 00:40:58.140 Yeah, of course. 00:40:58.220 --> 00:40:58.860 Yeah, definitely. 00:40:58.940 --> 00:41:01.180 I mean, we're and I want to help them. 00:41:01.500 --> 00:41:06.460 I want to help them come to reasonable answers to disturbing questions. 00:41:06.780 --> 00:41:13.980 Yeah, I mean, this is fascinating, and I'm gonna dig deeper into that just to uh I'm gonna go down the rabbit hole. 00:41:14.220 --> 00:41:17.740 But anyways, so thank you very much for your time. 00:41:17.980 --> 00:41:23.340 This has been uh amazing and very insightful, and I wish you the best of luck with all your writing and everything. 00:41:23.420 --> 00:41:27.180 And I'm glad you're feeling better after the cancer diagnosis. 00:41:27.420 --> 00:41:38.220 And for anyone who's listening or watching, thank you so much for joining us for another episode of Read and Write with Natasha, and until we meet again Sunday. 00:41:41.740 --> 00:41:45.580 Thank you for tuning in to Read and Write with Natasha. 00:41:45.660 --> 00:41:47.740 I'm your host, Natasha Thomas. 00:41:48.300 --> 00:41:55.580 If today's episode inspired you in any way, please take the time to review the podcast. 00:41:55.820 --> 00:42:01.180 Remember to subscribe and share this podcast with fellow book lovers. 00:42:01.580 --> 00:42:03.180 Until next time.