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The National Religious Broadcasters Convention

My first NRB convention, held in Nashville last month, was an experience I won't forget.

Thousands of people, among them a who's who in Christian communicators, crawled the Ryman Exhibit Hall and adjoining spaces at Gaylord's Opryland Convention Center.

I affiliated with the Christian Independent Publishers Association / Christian Authors Network and roamed the premises, awestruck. Impromptu interview shoots appeared at every turn. Exhibits of various ministries and all forms of media blanketed the floor, from television to books. One ministry peddled a keychain-sized "radio" with the Bible loaded on to it in any one language. Fascinating!

It was impossible to absorb the content at this convention in three days. The scope and breadth, the activity, and the energy blew me away.

With competition heavy, interviews proved difficult to obtain. However, my highlights suggest God had other purposes in mind:

1. I was interviewed by Chris Carpenter of Crossmap.com, a division of the Christian Post. Some of you may have listened to my Thanksgiving Testimonial, which featured Chris's father Harold, a man who modeled well for me how a godly man acted and what he stood for. I'd not seen Chris Carpenter face-to-face since his family left my hometown when he was only seven years old. Meeting him brought back fond memories.
2. Patricia Bradley is a USA Today bestselling author who endorsed The Persistent Road. She released Fatal Witness earlier in February and was at the convention to sign books. A scheduling conflict "resolved itself," freeing me to meet Patricia. She has encouraged me so much. And her publishing journey, which began later than most, inspires me.
3. A legendary broadcaster on Christian radio carved out time to meet me. Even though appearing on his show is unlikely, he was gracious and showed genuine interest in my work.  I'm withholding his name, because, well, he has enough people pitching him already.
4. The clincher of my NRB debut wasn't on my radar. You can read A Divine Appointment on my blog, but in short, total strangers redirected, trained, and facilitated me to pitch The Persistent Road to Christian filmmakers. What an experience! I have no expectations my novel will land on the big screen - that's not the point. The blessing was God moving me. For what purpose, I know not. Yet.

If you ever have an opportunity to attend this convention for just one day, I think you'll be impressed. It's exciting when like-minded Christians gather to do Kingdom business.

Special Deals for Subscribers Only!

My wife, Debbie, and I wrote a memoir entitled Two Are Better. As lifelong singles living in separate New England states, we met online, married seven years later at age 52, and then bicycled across America self-supported. Two Are Better is a testimonial to prayer and waiting on the Lord. It has a full-color interior with pictures of our first bicycle ride across the country.

When purchased directly from Open Road Press, we're offering this paperback to newsletter subscribers for just $10 a copy plus shipping and handling. That's a 50% discount from the retail price. Use promo code HALFOFF at checkout before March 21. The offer expires in a week.

But that's not all. If you purchase the paperback edition of our four-time, first-place award-winning devotional, Wheels of Wisdom, or my new novel, The Persistent Road, we'll throw in a copy of Two Are Better for free. Two books for the price of one! It won't show in your cart, but we'll include it in the package and pay the incremental cost to ship it. Available exclusively to newsletter subscribers in North America when purchased directly from Open Road Press before March 21. Thank you for your support!

I've joined an online bookstore in March called Christian Literature Sales. It contains nonfiction titles, including books appropriate for Easter. You'll find our Wheels of Wisdom devotional among the other books there. And, yes, we'll honor the two-for-one deal above just for newsletter subscribers in North America if you order the Wheels of Wisdom paperback through this store.

Check out the books here: 👉 https://books.bookfunnel.com/c...

I've recorded last month's blog post on grief as my latest Wisdom from the Heart podcast, entitled "Good Grief." Can grief really be good? It can be if it moves you forward in gratitude with a determination to pay forward the debt you owe the person you lost. Listen here.

Are you a trailblazer by nature?

In the spirit of my field trip to the NRB convention, I wanted to touch on what I'll call breaking new ground. What prevents us from discovering more about life, ourselves, and God?

I meet resistance all the time when coaching people online. It's called being stuck. They've chatted in with a problem but aren't open to proposed solutions because it means changing behavior. People tend to fear change. Misery has either become perversely comfortable or better than an unknown alternative.

Social anxiety is a term coined to describe a condition that often results from excessive exposure to device screens at the expense of face-to-face engagement with people. I see this a lot, usually in young people. Social skills don't happen automatically; they must be developed through use. It's difficult to motivate sufferers to engage in face-to-face settings such as a club, Bible study, or even a church service. Those activities would help them make progress and accelerate their healing.

Expanding our horizons as children was a natural part of our growing up. Daily activities were all about discovering new things.

Gradually, though, we become set in our ways. But that's incompatible with God's plan for us. He calls us to grow in faith until the day He takes us home. It's hard to grow when a person isn't open to change.

Are you ready for a new adventure? Is there something you've been meaning to do when you get "a round tuit"? Or is there something you know you should do but don't want to? There's no time like the present to resolve to do it and begin either the planning or the doing!

In my NRB pitch-a-thon experience, I felt the nudge to do something specific but had no idea how to go about it. And, yes, it was intimidating. But it became easier with each successive step. And true to His Word, God provided enough guidance to help me grow through it. He'll do the same for you!

“I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you.”

-Psalm 32:8 ESV

“For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.”

-2 Timothy 1:7 ESV

Order Your Copy Today!

If you've not yet picked up your copy of The Persistent Road, you can do so at a variety of online booksellers.

You can purchase the audiobook there too.