Family and Friends

Thinking About Ford v Ferrari

Thinking About Ford v Ferrari

Thinking About Ford v Ferrari

I am preparing this blog in consultation with my son, Matthew, aged sixteen years. He and I have prepared the text below, so some of the writing is entirely his. He and I saw the movie Ford v Ferrari late last year, and, because we found it thought provoking, I also took Sue to watch it a few weeks later. The movie is PG-13, largely as there is some fallen-world language.

It’s a sports action drama, a period setting from the early- to mid-1960s, the time I was growing up. It was fun to see how authentic the setting was—the style of cars, dress, décor, etc., though it did provoke discussion as to whether the Coca Cola bottles were quite authentic.

Characters and Plot

Based on the true story of Ford’s efforts to build a car that could rival Europe’s prime car, Ferrari, at the renowned twenty-four-hour, high-speed endurance race, the story line goes something like this:

Carroll Shelby is a former race-car driver who had to quit the sport because of a heart condition. Lee Iacocca, a member of the Ford Motor Company’s board of directors in charge of marketing, is challenged by Henry Ford (Junior) to find a way to appeal to an emerging youth demographic—baby boomers—who are attracted to more attractive, high-speed foreign cars. With Shelby, he thinks he has just the man for the job. Shelby decides to build a Ford car that will have capability to win the Le Mans race, and lobbies to have Ken Miles, an old friend, in the driver’s seat. Miles, a part-time racer, part-time auto-mechanic—a British man living in LA with his wife and son—is a hothead who is unwilling to help until the IRS come knocking. And then the need for finance propels him into the position.

After much corporate resistance, the Ford company reluctantly agrees to let Shelby and Miles apply their own ideas in a way that works, even if it does not conform to conventional company values. This climaxes in several thrillingly shot racing motor-racing sequences (the surround-sound effect in a cinema adds compellingly to the experience).

Well Produced

The movie would be entertaining but nowhere near as compelling if not for the strong character acting from Matt Damon and Christian Bale—and the good direction and cinematography that undergirds the production, courtesy the skills of people such as James Mangold. The witty, clever dialogue is the frosting on the cake, as my son insists!

A Key Quote

“There’s a point, seven thousand RPM, where everything fades. The machine becomes weightless, it just disappears. And all that’s left is a body moving through space and time. Seven thousand RPM, that’s where you meet it. It creeps up near you, and it asks you a question. The only question that really matters. Who are you?”

Thought Provoking

The movie elicited several thoughts:

  • This is a reminder of how the can-do American spirit can propel gifted people to excellence, notwithstanding several circumstantial challenges along the way.
  • Challenging the status quo—that is bucking the system—is sometimes the only way to get something done.
  • Life in this world is often fundamentally not fair! (And that is a profoundly biblical line of thought.) Without giving away anything in the movie, suffice it to say that not everyone is rewarded as he should be!
  • Facts can be as entertaining as fiction; the movie is well rooted in historical fact.

Matthew offered a parting summary: “A movie about American men doing manly, American things in the masculine America of the time.”

View the Trailer HERE: or below

Featured Image Credit: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/ford_v_ferrari/pictures

Posted by Jim Holmes in Creativity and Aesthetics, Family and Friends, Reflections, Spirituality, Technology, Worldview, 0 comments
Anyone Can Be an Author

Anyone Can Be an Author

Anyone Can Be an Author

Does that sound strange?

In my experience, almost everyone has a story to tell. But many people need help in coaxing the story to come out the right way. And then there are the others who have no difficulty in getting the story out, but they need some help in preparing the book for publication.

Amazon offers some remarkable tools to this end. It has been my pleasure to help in two projects in recent months where authors have elected to publish on Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing model. (KDP used to be called CreateSpace, but was renamed.) Simply stated, the program works something like this:

  • You already have an account with Amazon; to this, you add your bank details so that you may collect payment for sales of your forthcoming book(s).
  • You have prepared a book and your material is edited and ready for publication.
  • You upload the typeset text (or eBook) per Amazon’s requirements.
  • You upload the cover (specifications are given where necessary).
  • Some internal checks are run within the Amazon system; you have to wait patiently, but not for long!
  • Your book goes live and people from all around the world can buy or download a copy. All the revenues that come from this are yours to keep, though you have to be proactive in thinking of ways to stimulate the sales of your publications.

Authors have the choice of preparing an eBook first, or a print book first. I prefer to prepare the print book first and then create an eBook permutation.

Because some of the steps require particular care and professional expertise and experience, I either offered (or was asked) to help in the instances of the books below.

HABARI

God’s Timing: A Journey of Discovery … And Eventual Healing (Janet E. Green)

Amazon Info HERE

Lucy has suffered a crushing sorrow and now, to her, the world seems to be a place of chaos and disharmony. She is convinced that she or her family will sooner or later be caught up in some disaster and longs to know what the future holds so that she can be prepared. Although she is holidaying in one of the most beautiful places in the world, her dark thoughts drag her down to the point where she is almost overwhelmed. Is it by sheer coincidence that she is introduced to someone who has the knowledge and absolute proof of what the future holds? Lucy finds herself going on a journey of discovery that almost blows her mind. And at the end of her holiday, there is one last surprise. . .

Janet Green has enjoyed writing novels for a number of years. She was born and brought up in Kenya, East Africa, and also lived in central and southern Africa for many years. Now living in England, she draws on her memories of Africa, where her heart still remains, for inspiration. Most of the books she writes are sagas and some of them are seasoned by her strong Christian beliefs. You can find out more about Janet Green by visiting her website and blog at www.janetegreen.org.

It was fun to prepare a publisher identity for this book–Habari Publications–in keeping with the African theme and identity of Janet Green’s writing and other publications.


OLD PATHWAYS

Martyn Ellsworth is a gifted writer whose imagination takes readers into historical fiction.

Journey to Prea: The Judayon Saga: Book 1 (Martyn Ellsworth)

Amazon info HERE

After years of darkness and foreign rule, the High King of Judayon prepares to bring about the long-awaited Restoration which will usher in a new era of freedom for his people. Expectations among Judayon’s faithful are raised as a man named Rulorn begins to proclaim the truth of the High King. In the capital city of Tamaton, four young people, Morikahn, Valroff, Razna, and Eramin, discover that the momentous events of their day will not leave them untouched. Amidst sweeping changes in the land, their lives will be imperiled, their friendship will be tested, and they will find themselves playing a role in the unfolding drama that they never envisioned.Journey to Prea is a work of Christian fiction inspired by the events of the Protestant Reformation.

Martyn Ellsworth is a preacher of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and he has served as a pastor for several years. He and his wife Rebekah are homeschooling their two young children. He enjoys listening to hymns and to sermons by Martyn Lloyd-Jones. He also loves to read The Chronicles of Narnia and books on theology and history. The Protestant Reformation and World War II are areas of particular interest to him.

It was also fun to prepare a publisher identity for this book–Old Pathways Publications–in keeping with the more old world feel and context of Martyn’s writings.


Cover design and identity is key in these kinds of projects and I am thankful for the authors and their creative input into determining how best to put together the various elements that were used! In particular, God’s Timing involved merging and airbrushing several elements into a composite graphic…



Featured Image: A CorelDraw screenshot from the preparation of the cover of God’s Timing. I have used Corel for many years and find it a versatile program for this kind of work.

Posted by Jim Holmes in Creativity and Aesthetics, Family and Friends, Heritage, Windows on My Work, Writing, 0 comments
Thinking about Books

Thinking about Books

Thinking about Books

Earlier in the year, I was challenged on Facebook to write notes on books that I have read and enjoyed. Here are some of the notes:

Pilgrim’s Progress

My sister Margaret Jones asked me to share books that I have found significant. So I thought of my copy of The Pilgrim’s Progress and am thankful for being persuaded to purchase the cloth-bound copy as long ago as 1981! Did you know that PP is said to be the second-best-seller to the Bible?


The President, the Pope, and the Prime Minister

Continuing to engage with my sister, Margaret Jones, who asked me to share books I have found significant, I thought this time that I would reference John O’Sullivan’s “The Pope, The President, and the Prime Minister.” While there are some aspects and interpretations in the book I would not agree with, I very much enjoyed the way in which O’Sullivan wrote so engagingly about three figures who had a remarkable influence on the world in the 1980s onward.


Hard Call

As I continue this short journey of reflection on books I have appreciated over the years, as requested by my sister Margaret Jones, a leadership book by the late John McCain comes to mind, “Hard Call.” I first read it about ten or more years ago, perusing the chapters with enjoyment as I was flying from place to place in my sales and marketing job. McCain engagingly teases out lessons of leadership from a wide range of people and events! You can dip into any of the chapters without reference to the others.


A Body of Divinity

Continuing the thought of books that have made a strong impact on me, as requested by Margaret Jones, I am thinking right now of the remarkable writing of Thomas Watson, a puritan minister, who prepared, inter alia, “A Body of Divinity.” It proved to be my first puritan book purchase, and came from The Bible Centre in Pietermaritzburg in 1982.
Watson is incredibly readable. You can find something quote-worthy at random on any page. Here is one:
“The wisdom of God is seen in making the most desperate evils turn to the good of his children. As several poisonable ingredients, wisely tempered by the skill of the artist, make a sovereign medicine, so God makes the most deadly afflictions co-operate for the good of his children. He purifies them, and prepares them for heaven. 2 Cor 4: I7. These hard frosts hasten the spring flowers of glory.”
Pictured is a later edition; I am pleased to own the hard-cover edition with muted red tones!


The Forgotten Spurgeon

As I continue this occasional journey through books that have been seminal in my thinking (at the request of Margaret Jones), today’s reflection is on Iain H. Murray’s “The Forgotten Spurgeon.” I received my copy as a gift from a good friend in the early 1980s but I only read it a few years later. And when I did, it was most helpful, relative to some issues I was working through. In it, Iain Murray provides a brief bio of CHS, the so-called (and well-deserved name) of the prince of preachers, 18th century Charles Haddon Spurgeon. Thereafter, Murray traces three noteworthy issues CHS faced: baptismal regeneration, the free offer of the gospel, and the Downgrade Controversy, a battle he faced with fellow Baptists who were crumpling and crumbling under the effects of modern, liberal, Bible-denying criticism. Spurgeon’s oft-repeated saying, as I recall from memory, “Fellowship with known and vital error is participation in sin,” should be axiomatic in today’s church, but sadly is not so. There is much to learn and apply from this excellent work, and I commend it as the right medicine for many of the issues modern believers are facing.


Surprised by Joy

Continuing the meander through thoughts about books I have enjoyed over the years, as requested by Margaret Jones, the next one that comes to my mind is one by C.S. Lewis. I was a university student at the time, battling my way through a mountain of indiscriminately varied books in an English syllabus–many of them patently boring, others full of filth. Then, in a secondhand store, I came across Lewis’ little gem, “Surprised by Joy.” The title is derived from a Wordsworth sonnet and of course also has peculiar significance to C.S.L. personally. Tracing his early life and influences, the author, with grace and freshness of style, paints beautiful word pictures of the earlier parts of his life, and how even in his rebellion, he found himself finding God and grace. What an oasis this book was to me in the wilderness of everything else I was reading at the time!


Look out for more book reflections as we move into 2020!

Posted by Jim Holmes, 0 comments
2019 Arrives

2019 Arrives

Welcome to 2019!

Another Year Dawns. . .

THANKS BE TO GOD FOR HIS UNSPEAKABLE GIFT

The apostle Paul was almost overcome with a sense of the profound greatness of God’s gift—the gift of a Person, the Savior. In fact, he had to cobble together a word in the Greek language (in which he wrote his letter, 2 Corinthians) to express the fullness and wonder of what that gift was really like. Indescribably wonderful, ineffable, unable to be fully valued and appreciated—these are some of the meanings of this hard-to-translate adjective.

Who is the gift? None other than God the Son, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity. One fully equal with the Father and the Spirit, co-existent, co-eternal, without beginning and without end.

Why the gift? To secure the redemption of sinners. That’s ordinary people like you and me—folks ruined by the fall, born in a state of enmity with the one true and living God, and needing to be reconciled in a way that only God Himself could determine.

In our family we always enjoy giving and receiving gifts. But what a small thing this is in comparison with God’s gift to humanity in the Person of Jesus—and in the wondrous work He would do in reconciling us to God. As the saying goes, Bethlehem is really to establish the setting for Calvary. That’s where redemption was accomplished for all who would turn away from sin and trust in Jesus the Savior. Have you done that?

General Reflections from 2018

Pictures tell the story better than words…well, sometimes, that is. So, we thought that for 2018, we would let you have a glimpse into several aspects of the last twelve or so months. View the link below this text to see them!

In January, I made a very brief visit to the UK to visit my mother to be with her at her 91st birthday. It was also opportune to visit with my siblings, Janet and Markie, as well as a close friend, Raymond Zulu.

It was a busy year for Matthew with school (transitioning from being a freshman to a sophomore at Bob Jones Academy) and doing various musical and speech events.

Sue has continued to work at Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary as administrative assistant to Dr. Joseph Pipa.

Our travels as a family have not been extensive but have taken in a little of Tennessee. I had a brief visit to California to meet with work-related (Shepherd Press) clients, including Joni and Friends. We were delighted to have cousins, James and Frith Robb, visit with us from Scotland in March.

View a full report of our year with some additional pictures HERE or click on the image below.

Enjoy listening to Matthew’s rendering of Good Christian Men Rejoice from a recital at Bob Jones University late in 2018.

Posted by Jim Holmes in Family and Friends, Friendship, Memories, 1 comment
The Discipleship Process: How Iron Can Sharpen Iron

The Discipleship Process: How Iron Can Sharpen Iron

A Post I Prepared for Through the Lens of Scripture

(For more info, see HERE)

I remember when I was in Bible school how a visiting chapel speaker made this point one day in the form of a leading question: “Did Jesus say that we are to go into all the world and get people to make decisions?”

His thesis was that we are to make disciples, and not just converts. A disciple is, in essence, a learner or a student, as the origin of the Greek word for disciple presses us to understand it. Jesus had twelve such learners or students around Him, and He, the God-Man, discipled them in a wonderful way for three remarkable years as He spoke to them—and demonstrated their application—words of grace and truth.

Disciples or Decisions?

Monty Sholund: A picture probably taken in the 1980s.

“The discipleship process is a continuum,” remarked Monty Sholund, then principal of the Bible college I mentioned above. “You have not demonstrated your own discipleship until you have yourself made disciples. Turn with me to 2 Timothy 2:2,” he instructed as he leafed through his well-worn, leather-bound copy of the Bible. His head inclined at a slight angle, he spoke with a tone of gentle urgency: “You guys are emphatically not a part of that continuum until you have done what the apostle Paul said Timothy should do. Do you see it in the text?” His finger jabbed his Bible for emphasis. “It is in this process of not only being a disciple but forming other disciples that you will be blessed in the demonstration of your obedience to the Savior. And in the measure that you are responsive to introducing new converts—disciples—into the church, that is the measure of your success in demonstrating your obedience to the Great Commission as articulated by Jesus in Matthew 28.”

Monty’s words resonated strongly with me, and they do so nearly four decades later. Of course, our primary influence is with people is often in a face-to-face context, usually as we are in at least an informal relationship with them.

But the transfer of information, insight, knowledge, wisdom, convictions, values, and passion—and so much more—via the medium of writing comes in a significant second place to that which is primarily relational and personal and face-to-face in character. Books are wonderful facilitators of the disciple-making process!

Printed Media Has a Long Shelf Life

I love anecdotes such as how a scrap of paper that had been used for wrapping some food (and on which had been imprinted some catechism questions and answers) led to the “coincidental” conversion of the reader who just “happened” to be eating the food—and then there is the story of how a piece of literature that lay in the dust and darkness of an attic for over a generation was instrumental in blessing the eventual reader with the knowledge of God’s way of salvation, through repentance and faith, in the light of day when the attic was being cleaned out.

So, how can writing, editing, and book production further the process of disciple-making? Well, think with me of Francis Bacon, an English philosopher, who made these three comments:

  • Reading makes a full man;
  • Writing makes an exact man;
  • Conference (discussion) makes a ready man.

The first two in the triad suggest the deliberate use of words in the formation of character. We might like to paraphrase Bacon as saying something like this: “By reading the right kinds of materials, you will gain a breadth of knowledge and insight that is way beyond that of others, and that will be of benefit to you in your worldview and in the way in which you navigate the pathways of life; writing is similarly valuable: if you take the discipline seriously, you will consider carefully the meaning and value of words, and you will harness their power and effectiveness for communicating with laserlike clarity, economy, and efficiency.”

One of the titles for Jesus is the Word, the point made so emphatically by John in the opening comments of his Gospel. The words of the wise are as goads (Ecclesiastes 12:11). A goad is an instrument of prodding to propel others forward. Words used rightly can have the most amazing outcome with respect to motivation for behavior and transformation of values and character.

So, to join some dots together, think of it this way: In the continuum of discipleship, it is desirable that the learner make progress—progress in grace and knowledge of Christ, in particular (2 Peter 3:18)—progress in sanctification, becoming more like Jesus (the goal of our salvation), gaining greater understanding of how God’s Word and ways guide us along the pathway He has prepared for us, increasing in understanding of the whole counsel of God (Acts 20:27), becoming more discerning with respect to error and heresy (often so prevalent in Christian circles these days) and becoming increasingly useful in practical things like parenting, being a godly spouse, being an effective employee in the workplace, and an instrument of God’s grace in bringing the knowledge of the gospel to people in darkness, ignorance, and confusion.

And what better a way to facilitate this wonderful process of transformation than through words—words of godly people who themselves have imbibed God’s Word, and who have been equipped by Him not only to explain the content and concepts of that Word, but also to draw clear lines of application from the body of Scripture to the real circumstances of life, whether in helping shape attitude or transform behavior!

Valuable Values

With respect to Shepherd Press, the kinds of authors we love to see investing into writing and publishing books that will enrich the continuum of discipleship are those who embrace the three core values of the publishing mission of Shepherd Press. This means that whatever is seriously considered for publication should be:

  • Life changing
  • Heart driven
  • Gospel centered

Publishing occupies the remarkable position at the intersection of the two disciplines of reading and writing. I so appreciate the words of the godly Richard Baxter, a Puritan pastor, who made the point that it was not in the reading of many books that benefit was to be found, but in the careful reading and consideration of the right ones.

At Shepherd Press, being involved in the publishing process provides remarkable opportunities to envision—and to think through—how the material that is being considered for publication, and is subsequently in the process of developmental editing, will challenge and enrich the minds and hearts of readers.

I often make the point that the publishing process is incomplete until the books have… wait for it… not merely been produced, and, no, not even been sold with money in the bank to prove it, but have actually reached into the hearts and minds of the readers they are meant for.

Please pray for us at Shepherd Press—and pray for all publishers committed to the model of preparing and presenting excellent, scripturally based materials—not just for the success of the publishing process, but to the end that Christ might be glorified, sinners saved, and a robust paradigm of Word-based discipleship might come about as a result.

Are you a disciple-maker? Suggest two or three areas in your calling (whether at work, at home, or at school / college / university) in which you could naturally foster a disciple-making mindset with potentially good outcomes.


Jim Holmes is a freelance publishing consultant who serves Shepherd Press in editorial and related matters. You may find out more about him at www.blogspot52.com or follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/jameswholmes1


Thanks to Shirley Crowder of Through the Lens of Scripture (for whom this post was originally prepared) to share this on my own site.

Posted by Jim Holmes in Family and Friends, Gospel, Publishing Books Today, Spirituality, Writing, 0 comments
Welcome to 2018!

Welcome to 2018!

Another Year Dawns. . .

 

A PRAYER OF MOSES, THE MAN OF GOD

Moses was a remarkable man. Born in days of danger, and yet early in life secured—even cocooned—in luxury, he might have lived a life of opulence and hedonism. And yet God so worked in his life and circumstances that he became aware of his calling not to be indulged in the privileged position of a son of the palace in Egypt, and with the very likely opportunities that would come his way from that, but to choose mistreatment along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the short-term pleasures of sin. His words are recorded in Psalm 90 (“A Prayer of Moses, the Man of God”) in which he sketched and summarized the brevity of life on this earth.

Only as we are in a reconciled and saving relationship with God through the person and work of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, can we truly learn to number our days aright and so apply our hearts to wisdom. It was in the fulness of time that God sent forth His Son to be the redeemer of sinners such as we are, and to bring us into His family in a relationship of adoption and privilege. May this be wonderfully true for us all as we move into 2018 and as we endeavor to live well for Him who lived, died, and rose again for us whose faith and only hope is in Him.

News at a Glance

Jim: Working on several new projects in a professional editing and book production service including Shepherd Press, and building a global network through social media portals as well as developing key relationships with influential individuals and publishers worldwide.

Sue continues to serve at Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary as fulltime administrative assistant to the President, Dr Joseph Pipa, and enjoys her work.

Matthew has caught up Jim and Sue in height and enjoys the lifestyle of South Carolina as well as being a freshman in high school at Bob Jones Academy.

Key events in 2017 included a visit from our cousins James and Frith Robb and their daughter, Mary, in April, a visit to Ohio to attend the annual ICRS trade show in June where we also watched a ball-game in Cincinnati, and, on the way back, spent time at the Ark Encounter. At Thanksgiving, we spent a relaxing time at home with a friend who visited for the day.

View a full report of our year with some additional pictures HERE or click on the image below.

Enjoy listening to Matthew’s rendering of Joy to the World from a recital late in 2017.

Posted by Jim Holmes in Family and Friends, Friendship, Memories, Networking, Reflections, 0 comments
Publishing: 3

Publishing: 3

More from Jim on Publishing

In my last post, I mentioned April Fool’s day 2014, the day that dawned following over ten years’ service to my erstwhile employers, Day One Christian Ministries. In my tenure there as director of publications and marketing, I had gained a good sense of the publishing world, its strengths and its weaknesses, and how it could maybe benefit from having things done differently. I enjoyed working with editors and with graphic designers, and it was both pleasing and productive to develop so many new lines of books. I’ve mapped out some of these things in my portfolio in one of my websites [HERE].

Working in publishing significantly connected me with some fairly well-known authors, including people like John Blanchard, John MacArthur, Andy McIntosh, Roger Ellsworth and many others (you could see a part list HERE–there are over seventy names in it–but since then extended to more than one hundred). Some of them said some kind words [HERE], especially Dr. John Blanchard (pictured, right, with his wife, Pam) who wrote:

“Integrity and Efficiency”
Two words come immediately to mind when I think of Jim and Sue Holmes—integrity and efficiency. When you add gracious courtesy to those you have a combination that encourages you to work with them, as I have in South Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States. Their experience and expertise will be of great benefit to authors who choose to partner with them and I commend them warmly to any who consider doing so.
Dr. John Blanchard, Evangelist, Author and Christian Apologist

All said and done, I now found myself in the somewhat unenviable position of having been let go of, with a significant workplace injury (which my employers at Day One knew well about and for which they refused to take any responsibility), though, thankfully, with a green card and the right to reside and work in the USA.

Making a Plan

“Well, Sue,” I remarked over my mug of tea. Her gentle face was showing some anxiety and I knew that I would have to work to keep her from stressing overmuch. “It has to be publishing in one form or another. That’s what I know best, and I am happy to be guided by the principle of Ecclesiastes 9:10—Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might.” Around this time, John Lehman, an associate minister at a nearby church, had come into my life. He had, he explained, written a long letter that he wished to convert into a book and wished it to be a blessing to his family members. I looked it over, and it was very promising. Now that I have gotten to know John, we can enjoy a good laugh about how I helped to get the book “out of him.” See the graphic above on the right; John is much better looking than the patient undergoing the X-Ray and I hope I would not be mistaken in real life for the doctor! He and his wife, Suzie, are pictured below. John now has three beautifully produced books—the first on parenting, the second on marriage, and the third on fitness, all with engaging titles: It’s Apparent…You’re a Parent; I Do or I Don’t; and Fit for the Master.

As good J C Ryle said, “The best way to do something is to do it.” So I decided that the best way to start was by pushing ahead in some projects, feeling my way forward using social media and making myself as useful as I was able to. Principles lead to empiricals. “Just try doing it,” I counseled myself. One of the concerns driving me was to establish fair competency in website building and development, so while working on some editing projects for P&R Publishing, I also forayed into the world of Google-Sites and WordPress, soon finding the latter to be quite powerful, and that even eCommerce was not as complex as it might first seem. With thanks, under God, for free online tutorials and perusing numerous FAQs, it was not long before I found my way forward in developing websites for other people to help them promote their writing ministries. These include www.fitforthemaster.fit, www.deborahhoward.net, www.timothyjcross.org, www.lifelineminibooks.com, www.twelvedaysofchristmas.org, www.exposingthefederalvision.org, and several other ones.

An Unexpected Phone Call

An email that dropped into my in box from an online form submission from one of my websites was very interesting, and even more so when I phoned the man from whom it originated. “I represent a publishing family,” he said, “And in doing due diligence, we wish to establish whether you might be the right person to help in their publishing ministry.” It was an extra surprise, a pleasant one, too, to learn that the publishing family was none other than that of Tedd and Margy Tripp. Tedd (pictured here) is well known for his remarkable book Shepherding a Child’s Heart, a manuscript derived from a doctoral thesis that nobody wanted to publish when he first wrote it, so it ended up being self published (under the quickly thought-up name of Shepherd Press). Now with a sales history of well in excess of a million copies, it is a book that has challenged, blessed, and guided countless parents and teachers over the years. To cut a long story short, following a weekend visit to northern Pennsylvania, there commenced a relationship between me and Shepherd Press that enables me to be of service in the promotion and development of the ministry, and to help in recruiting new authors and rolling out of new resources. That’s just one of the various things that I love doing. You can find out more about Shepherd Press HERE and HERE .

Waging War on Worry!

Because the Shepherd Press work is flexible and part-time, there are many other things that I do in publishing. Like when Simon Robinson, my good friend in England, told me that he had been writing some notes all about anxiety. “I think we should make a book of it,” I ventured. “If you could get to 31 readings, it could even become a daily reading book.” Simon warmed to the idea immediately and soon after we were exchanging emails and sharing ideas. The outcome not long afterwards was a book in a black and red cover with an anxious man regarding people holding the book—the man on the cover that is—with 31 easy-to-read chapters, complete with Bible reference, application points, and a suggested prayer to pray—even if just to prime the pump, as it were–all to strategically help readers get over the worry factor.

So, why do I publish… That’s a great question. Perhaps it’s something like ink (rather than blood) in my veins.

So I am not yet done in sharing these thoughts. There is more to say about this ministry of publishing, especially inventing new and more efficient and effective ways of doing it, so I will add to this short cluster of posts and share some interesting insights into what I do and how I do it—and especially how the paradigms are changing!

To read the earlier posts on this topic, see HERE and HERE. To read the next one, see HERE.

Posted by Jim Holmes in Family and Friends, Friendship, Gospel, Heritage, Memories, Publishing Books Today, Reflections, Technology, Worldview, Writing, 1 comment
Publishing: 2

Publishing: 2

Why I Publish: Jim’s Account Continues . . .

In my last post [HERE], I reflected somewhat on the early interests and influences that were involved in steering me into publishing. I wrote a little about how I faced rejection from a secular publisher in South Africa, notwithstanding the fact that I (probably rather vainly) considered myself eminently suited to the position.

Providence directed my steps into a book-selling and distribution operation in South Africa, one Sue and I started from scratch. Interestingly, what led to this was really, humanly speaking, a low-level dabbling in selling books on a church book table. I think my passion, and Sue’s, was helping others to be enthusiastic about books, and how they could enrich one’s life in the experience of transforming grace. The book table we started was pretty inauspicious, but, like a steadily rising stream, it flowed further and faster and pretty soon became a full-time operation. Our intention, under God, was to fill and flood southern Africa with good books.

But back to why I publish, and some developments that took place once we had the book business in place and had started some printing…

Britain

A family situation arose in which we felt that our time in South Africa was coming to an end and that relocation to the UK was necessary. By the late 1990s, I had developed significant and strategic relationships with several UK- and US-based publishers, so it was not entirely an unexpected development for me to receive a job offer from Darlington-based Evangelical Press, now known as EP Books. David Clark’s crisp voice on my cell phone as he spoke to me from England (I was in the bank in Johannesburg at the time) spoke confidently of EP’s interest in hiring me, and in due course, the contract was signed for my impending position of International Sales Manager, with particular activity anticipated in developing sales in the North American market.

With our feet firmly planted on British soil, so began a new chapter in our lives. Working for EP was both stimulating and challenging. Frequent travel to the USA introduced us to new friends, new ways of thinking, and new opportunities. And because I maintained friendships with other publishers I knew, there were always fresh opportunities at trade shows and other events to compare notes and to think of new ways of doing things.

The Shortest Distance between Two Points

This publishing thing… there often seemed a top-heavy dynamic in the process of moving an idea into print, processing it through all the systems, getting the content edited, a book jacket designed, typography agreed, and then the process of channeling it out to would-be readers through a wholesaler, distributor, retailer, and sales-representative system. Why couldn’t we just get the book from the publisher to the end-user and make the process leaner and more efficient?

In other words, why not just make the whole process more efficient?

I plan to write more of this in my next post…

Christian Care for Body and Soul

When I met Jackie Ross of Blythswood Care, I liked him straightaway. I think most people liked Jackie; he was the kind of person you couldn’t not like. At the time, he was terminally ill with cancer, but close friends reported that his energy was almost unabated. Good friends with him, and related by marriage to William Mackenzie of Christian Focus Publications, the two men were very much like brothers. Both had been visionary and instrumental in the inception of Christian Focus. “We’d like you to work for Blythswood and help us with our literature ministry,” Jackie intoned in his highland Scots accent. My heart was strongly pulled. Some months later, I was engaged as director of Blythswood Books for Life. Blythswood’s primary mission was to show Christian care for body and soul; what better way to help with the soul part than with books! How exciting it was to be back in the discount mail-order operation system once more, this time in the United Kingdom. All the skills learned in South Africa came in useful as once again Sue and I were able to promote the best kinds of books from reliable publishers. And it was a relatively short gap between publisher and reader!

And guess what? I found myself talking again to printers, and also developing a website!

One thing leads to another, and, after Jackie’s passing, a certain measure of restructuring was inevitable. How would God lead us now, I found myself wondering. Then the phone call came from Day One. Would I give some time to them, maybe equivalent to one day a week, on a flexible basis? It seemed a fair question. “What would you like me to do?” I asked. “Well, more or less anything you think you could or that you are good at,” came the reply. So, soon I was in up to the elbows in new projects; there was some editing, there was magazine work, there were customer relations to take care of, and there were authors—authors to encourage, to nurture, and to discuss projects with. John Roberts’ Yorkshire accent was distinctive: “Well, lad, if you think you could develop this series, I think that’d be a right good idea,” his voice boomed.  Before I knew it, I was the invisible series editor of “Opening up the Bible” and also pioneering many other of Day One’s sub-brands, such as Creation Points, Life Stories, Faith Finders, and several others.

America

“Jim, I think you have really put Day One on the map as a publisher,” offered one friend and mentor. “You’ve straightened up the list and brought discipline and order to it in a significant and strategic way.” His words were carefully chosen. And it was around that time relocation to the USA became a serious consideration. A week before Thanksgiving 2010, the Holmes family placed their six feet on American soil for the first time with the intention of not taking them off US soil for several months. With things that took place then, there might even be a book’s worth of events that I could derive from those early months!

April Fool’s Day

Here is not the place to go into what happened in Day One’s revised thinking with respect to its US operation and my and my family’s being transplanted here. Suffice it to say that I am thankful to know that the Lord God omnipotent reigns in the details as much as the big-picture events of our lives. So it was that on April 1st 2014 I awoke with somewhat of a sense of “What is God going to do in my life now?” I had but the barest sense of whatever it would be, it would be in publishing…

So, why am I a publisher? Let me try to share some more about that in another blog post! [HERE]

 

Posted by Jim Holmes in Family and Friends, Gospel, Memories, Networking, Reflections, Spirituality, Travel, Writing, 1 comment
Publishing: 1

Publishing: 1

Why I Publish

My résumé looked good–at least I thought it looked good.

So why did the response letter start, after the salutation, with these words: “We regret to inform you that, while we were impressed by your credentials, we are unable to offer you the position…”

I had thought the publishing position tailor-made for me. It did not involve relocation. It required literary and management skills, all of which I had been building up in the years of teaching I had undertaken in a school operated by the KwaZulu government in recent years. Perhaps, unknown to me, the principle of Proverbs 16:33 was at work:

The lot is cast into the lap,
But its every decision is from the LORD.

Be that as it may, a few months later security conditions in the school deteriorated to the point that it was no longer safe for me, as a white South African, to commute the seven or so miles to the school where the students were all black South Africans. A large rock hurled by someone in the bushes on the roadside–intended for my face–narrowly missed going through the windshield (creating a massive dent, instead, on the corner of the roof of my Volkswagen Beetle) and it was considered prudent that I seek employment elsewhere.

To Johannesburg we go!

So, with our vehicle bulging at the seams, we found ourselves en route to Johannesburg after so many happy years in the Natal midlands. I served as bookstore manager for a while before engaging in a temporary excursion back into the teaching world and before biting the bullet and starting an import and mail-order discount bookstore. It grew auspiciously and soon required full-time attention.

It wasn’t quite publishing, but, well, it was a way of serving publishers and people who needed the books.

James Dearmore and the A B Dick

Jim Dearmore was a Texan in Africa. His story was remarkable for its adventure and spiritual verve. He and his wife, Georgia, had been missionaries in the Congo and then moved to what was then Rhodesia before ending up in the northern regions of South Africa, where they continued their missionary endeavors. His outspokenness against Marxist doctrine made him the kind of person who probably would not be welcome to stay in the country once an ANC government was established. He was one of my favorite customers, a godly man, a no-nonsense American in whom there was no guile. I loved the way his gas-guzzling 1970s automobile drove into the parking lot, so much like a great ship, taking as it seemed several minutes to come to a halt as it berthed. From deep within its recesses (it may have been a Cadillac; it was huge) he would emerge, his short white beard outlined against the greenery in the background. His eyes were kindly, always twinkling. His voice deep and his drawl slow and pronounced, he always spoke wisely and well, often punctuating his speech with apt quotations from the Bible, always in the King James version.

“Brother Jim,” he informed me (he always called me Brother Jim or Brother Holmes), “Brother Jim, I am a kicker of sacred cows; if I see a cow in the distance, I will go up to see if it is sacred, and I will kick it if it is. We should only believe and practice things that are in the Bible.”

I loved his straightforwardness, his directness, his call-a-spade-a-spade mentality.  He was no stranger to hardship and to hard work. One day he told me about his A B Dick, a printing press he housed in his garage. With relocation back to the USA in mind, he needed to sell it, and he considered that I should buy it. At the time, I was running the book business I had started, and it involved quite a lot of printing that I usually got done in a copy center in Johannesburg. I was also editing a magazine at the time, Reformation Africa South, so that put me in connection with a commercial printer, Leonard Venter. Len was another character. Everything he described was “fantastic.” I mentioned Dr. Dearmore’s offer to sell his A B Dick press to me. In his Germiston accent he enthusiastically said to me, “Fantastic! Jim, my boet, let’s go check out the doctor’s printing press.” A few days later, riding along in his Toyota Camry at around 100mph, we made the long journey north of Pretoria to Dr. Dearmore’s location in a very short space of time.

“Ag, Jim, I think you should buy it,” Len told me. “It’s quite an old machine, but these are fantastic for jobbing.” Jobbing, he explained, was for doing the run-of-the-mill printing that involves a printing press that just keeps on going in a stable way–ideal for catalogs, newsletters, flyers, etc.

The deal agreed some weeks later, we knew we would need space to house it, so a few months later, we commenced building a double garage on our Strubens Valley property. Getting the press from where Dr. Dearmore had housed it to our location was challenging; it weighed more than a ton. And it arrived with a bewildering number of rollers and peripheral items, all with special names and functions that would need to be learned!

Then Julian showed up. Julian Glover was one of those young chaps who will try his hand at anything. “Yeah, I think I can make this machine work,” he said confidently. I must say that I wondered… Long into the night hours he tinkered with it, multiple colors of ink adorning his fingernails, hands, arms, face, and hair. And, sure enough, the steady duff-duff-duff of the press eventually yielded some remarkable output, including printing in full color.

Why I Publish

So, why do I publish? I’ll have to explain this a little more in my next post! I read Theology, Biblical Studies, English, Greek, and Hebrew (and some other stuff) in my Bachelors degree; I trained in postgraduate studies and practiced as a teacher; I started a book business; and I purchased a printing press knowing a little more than nothing about how I would make it work, but in the care, purpose, and providence of God, it worked–and it worked well. I think that might hint a little as to why I have ended up as a publisher…

So I will take up more of the story in a future post [HERE].

 

Illustrations of James and Georgia Dearmore, from CWS Funeral Home. The A B Dick printing press is one rather like the one I purchased. Image credit here.

 

Posted by Jim Holmes in Family and Friends, Friendship, Heritage, Memories, Publishing Books Today, Writing, 3 comments
On Boundaries and Neighbors

On Boundaries and Neighbors

My Backyard

Talk of border walls made for contentious media reporting in the run-up to the US elections in 2016. Less contentious is the matter of the wall that defines the extent of my backyard. A few months ago it was in rather a dilapidated state, and from time to time in the last few years I had braved snakes, female mosquitoes (the males are harmless—they don’t bite, apparently, though I have never looked closely enough to check for myself), and some ominous looking plants in order to do a temporary patch-up job and stop the whole thing from falling down like a giant pack of wooden cards.

Then, one day, a letter in an important-looking envelope from the Taylors Fire and Sewer District arrived informing me (and all my neighbors, for they also received the same) that the area of no-man’s-land that runs between all the back-to-back properties was to be cleared and widened, and, sorry to say, all fences would have to be taken down—or, if we preferred, the Taylors Fire and Sewer District staff would do this for us, endeavoring to minimize damage so as to enable subsequent reconstruction to take place.

Well, who am I to take issue with the Taylors Fire and Sewer District Chiefs? And maybe, after all, the fence could be improved on being put back up. So, a week or two later, I watched, resigned, as what looked like tons and tons of timber was removed and stacked in somewhat unruly piles. My heart sank at the thought of having to reconstruct this mess.

New Friends

But this clearing the no-man’s-land suddenly enabled some good neighborly conversations to take place. Steve, or someone from the shadowy safety and confines of his side of his wall who had once shouted obscenities at me when I was burning some yard waste late one Saturday afternoon, suddenly became friendly and conversational, and his wife donated several golf balls to my son who has recently developed a fascination for the game. My son Matthew, now fourteen years old, has wildly been sending these little white missiles in ever more dangerous arcs across our backyard and not infrequently violating our neighbors’ airspace. Mrs. Steve’s generosity concerned me, as I imagined one of these projectiles, like friendly fire in a war setting, entering her closed kitchen or bedroom window and doing more than a little damage. But I thanked her kindly and was glad for one more opportunity to be friendly and hopefully to begin to build into her and her husband’s life.

Do we need walls? Are you familiar with the poem by Robert Frost, Mending Wall? It starts like this:

Something there is that doesn’t love a wall,
That sends the frozen-ground-swell under it,
And spills the upper boulders in the sun,
And makes gaps even two can pass abreast.

Frost seems to think walls have some benefit, if I understand his poem well enough. They do demarcate territory; they do map out where one set of responsibilities ends and another set begins; but they don’t have to be overdone or overbuilt.

I’ve made a good start on building our wall again, but this time it is a recycled wall, a less-than-it-was wall. A previous owner of our home kept large dogs, so a wall was an important detail. But I thought a new wall should be less prisonlike and so, the way I designed it, instead of towering imposingly over me and hiding me from our neighbors, it’s more like a picket fence, not much more than four feet high.

I am thankful for a background in Africa that has encouraged frugality and good stewardship, so whatever could be kept and used again has proved the axiom “We need what we have, and we have what we need.” Old screws carefully removed have found new usefulness in lumber that should still be serviceable for some years. Warped beams have been coaxed back to a measure of straightness. And there, rising from the ground if not with elegance then at least with some character, a new wall graces and defines where our yard ends, and no-man’s-land begins… and not too much further away, our neighbor’s backyard begins.

Practical and Spiritual Lessons

I am thankful for the example and influence of my late father. I wrote about him some months ago HERE. He taught me some skills that have come in useful—like how to drill a hole, cut wood, use a hammer and nails, and many other things—all without loss of life or limb. I also learned from him that, if you do something routinely and keep at it, you will make progress. Rome does not get built in a day, but it does get built. The tortoise does cover some significant ground in a few hours, simply by keeping going, as I was able to point out to Sue one afternoon recently when one such little creature traversed our backyard.

I’ve also come back to the need for objective measurements: not just estimations or guesswork, but actual feet-and-inches dimensions, degrees of levelness, and the necessity of a straight line and a truly objective vertical reading. Our backyard slopes downhill, so posts have had to be put in vertically, even if they do not look upright. Crossbeams have to be horizontal and on more than one occasion I found myself thinking that my spirit level was wrong. But when I laid hands on my large L-square, I discovered that I was being deceived by an optical illusion. “Don’t do what you think looks right, Jim, do what you KNOW is right,” I found myself mentally admonishing myself. It was a good and practical lesson for Matthew who was helping me on that occasion.

We need objective measuring tools. Amos spoke of a plumb line (See Amos Chapter 7); I had to have at least a tape measure, a length of string, and a spirit level to establish that everything will fit, and will not look horrible once I am done with the work. By way of spiritual analogy, I am thankful that we have such in the Bible—the canon, the measuring line—that determines right from wrong, true from false, and gives us what Francis Schaeffer once called “true truth.”

Oh, and what about the sweat and mosquitoes I mentioned a bit earlier? Adam was promised hard labor after he exited Eden. Even though the small spade I got for the job worked well, the ground was hard and my shoulders and arm muscles were more than ready to take a break once each of the holes had been dug. Mixing the cement, too, was an interesting experience. And yet, even in circumstances such as these, it is possible to honor God in this kind of labor. Psalm 104:23 states that “Man goes out to his work and to his labor until the evening.”

Walls. I’m thankful for them, but glad also not to have to depend on them!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Posted by Jim Holmes in Family and Friends, Friendship, Reflections, Worldview, Writing, 1 comment