I’m having second thoughts about having a business blog. I think I’d rather simply refashion this one somewhat. In any case, I’m doing everything at once as I transition into the bivocational world. I already have a project and am working on getting another one under way. It is one of those “Don’t look down; keep climbing” periods in my life.

Among other things I haven’t done yet involves spelling out services and, as best is possible, rates. So far, I know I’ll be offering manuscript review (my wife has actually had a small business called the Write Review, so this is easy), ghost-writing, manuscript creation out of other materials (notes, audio, etc–this was basically one of my main duties as an assistant pastor last year), and illustrations (though a contact).

I can’t say that this isn’t tainted with some regret. Starting a business like this at my age to support a family of six is doable, I think. And, I’ve done this enough times (both before and during the pastorate) to have a reputation enough to hope to compete with the single college student who can underbid me in hourly rate (you get what you pay for and all that). But I’m now looking back on life and realizing I could have really capitalized on work I did and built up an even better rep by offering services at a lower rate. Back before Jennifer and I had children and when we both worked, I could have afforded to really offer some skills (though I’ve improved since then) at a lower rate. Maybe our time in seminary could have been done more easily when it was time to go….

Sadly, I really didn’t “get it.” At the time. Generating a business simply did not occur to me. I tried to 1) simply get steady work and 2) get rich from some great book I would write (Why didn’t that intimidate me? I couldn’t tell you.). I had a lot of connections and I realize now that I didn’t utilize them. If anything, I expected them to bring opportunities to me. Youth is wasted on the young.

But I’m not too worried about it now. I was reading John Calvin’s 1536 Institutes this morning before church and came accross this piece of wisdom:

…even while we walk in the Lord’s ways by the leading of the Holy Spirit, to keep us from forgetting ourselves and becoming puffed up, something imperfect remains in us to give us occasion for humility, to stop every mouth before God and to teach us always to shift all trust from ourselves to him…

For some unaccountable reason it has become scandalous to some Presbyterians to point out that good works are necessary in believers as means of obtaining final salvation. But the full truth is even more scandalous: our sins are also means of our salvation.

Paul is quite clear about this. When he writes that

in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

there are two things to remember. First, Paul certainly includes our own sin in this list. Second, Paul is not merely saying that we stay in the love of Christ despite these things. The phrase could bear that meaning but the context militates against it. We remain in Christ’s love through these things. “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”

All things. Even our sins are means to bring us to glory. This was Paul’s message. It would be easy to see how someone might think Paul was encouraging sin. In fact he was accused of preaching “why not do evil that good may come?”

So paradoxically, even though I can see when I might have done things differently and had an advantage, I have to believe this is the right time.

Just to give you an idea of what I’m trying to do, here are a few agencies I found on the web:

• Cambridge Literary Association
• Schmidt, Kaye, & Company
• Johanna M. Bates Literary Consultants
• Executive Ghostwriting Services
• Chartwell
• Lisa Taylor Huff
• Monkey Outta Nowhere

More later