Tag Archives: stories

The Art of Telling True Stories

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Keep the Hearer in Mind: The Art of Telling True Stories

“Why did God create people?” The answer, according to Yiddish tradition is, “Because He loves stories.” Who doesn’t love to hear a good story?

The Criticism
One day, after hearing me tell a story at a meeting, a friend said, “I remember the situation you talked about. I was there and it was not like you told it. You left some things out.” He then told me of several elements that I had omitted or de-emphasized and hinted that I had lied. He was right, they were facts, they were true, and I had left them out and thus changed the story, putting a different twist to it. But lying? I needed to think about that.

Driving home alone that night, I retold the story to myself several times, adding in all the missing elements and undoing the changes. This time, however, the story felt flat, the details distracted from the point. So, I continued to tell that anecdote with things left out. Was I holding back on some facts? Yes, I was. Was I telling lies? No, and here is why.

Photographers and Storytellers
One year while on furlough in Edmonton, I took a fantastic course on photography taught by Freeman Patterson, a world-famous Canadian photographer. I also studied his book “Photography and the Art of Seeing.”

A good photographer does not just snap a scene, she studies it, knowing her purpose and her viewers. She isolates what is irrelevant, or might distract her viewer, and focuses on what she wants people to respond to. So does a good storyteller. The storyteller needs to know his purpose, his audience, what to leave out, what to contrast, and what to focus on, so that his point will get through clearly to his audience.

Who would criticize the photographer for asking a family group to move slightly to one side to eliminate the power pole in the distance that looked like it was growing out of Grandpa’s head? We are grateful when she tells little kids to look up instead of down at their shoes. No one would ever say, “You have to leave it in! There really is a power pole in the background, and the kids were looking down at their shoes!”

One Rule for Photography and Story Telling
My storytelling rule and my photography rule are alike, “Never let the facts stand in the way of a good story, or a good photograph.” Power poles are facts, but I eliminate them, focusing on the people. Good storytellers, like good photographers, get rid of distractions and focus on the main point. All good stories, just like all good photographs, are changed in some details, but they tell the truth.

The same is true in Bible translation. As a Bible translator for the Canela people of Brazil, I had to remember, “Never let the facts of culture or language stand in the way of a good translation”.

I always asked myself, “What does this passage, illustration or metaphor mean?” And “What is the best way to translate that into the Canela language and culture?” I never hesitated to change the Jewish culture-based metaphor into one based on Canela culture. It may look like a lie, but it is the only way to tell the truth. Happily, I am in good company.

Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John were the first Bible translators of the Christian era. Jesus often spoke of the kingdom of heaven in Aramaic, the language commonly spoken in Palestine.

Matthew, who translated for the Greek-speaking Jewish people living in Asia, Europe, and Africa, simply translated the words kingdom of heaven straight into Greek. He knew his Jewish readers would know exactly what Jesus meant by that term since they still maintained their Jewish culture although they spoke Greek.

Following the Apostles’ Example
Mark, Luke, and John, however, translated Jesus’ stories, from Aramaic into Greek for non-Jewish people who lived in a Greco-Roman culture. They kept the culture of their readers in mind and did not hesitate to change the very words of Jesus to suit their purpose.  They knew that the term kingdom of heaven would instantly bring to their readers’ minds the rather tacky group of gods like Zeus, Aphrodite, and Hermes—not at all what Jesus meant.

So, they unhesitatingly changed the words kingdom of heaven to kingdom of God. While Matthew used kingdom of heaven thirty-one times, Mark, Luke, and John never used that term even once. Instead, they used kingdom of God, Mark fifteen times, Luke thirty-eight times and John three times. Paul, also, in his letters to non-Jewish believers never once used kingdom of heaven but used kingdom of God eight times.

Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the original gospel writers changed the actual words of Jesus and could have been accused of lying to tell the truth. Just like all good photographers, Bible translators, and storytellers.

Note: My Next Blogpost will be published Thursday, January 4, 2024. Have a great December filled with Christmas and New Years celebrations!

My Summer Blogging Break

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I know this will be a disappointment to all my raving fans, but the time for the annual JSBB has come. Jack’s Summer Blogging Break will last all of July and August. Some of you will survive this enforced fast from my InSights and OutBursts through sheer willpower. Others of you will cheat by dipping into the archives and reading past issues by copy/pasting this address into your browser: www.jackpopjes.com

Work on the Long-Awaited Main Book
Here’s how I will endure these two JSBB months: I will be working on the fourth volume of my memoirs. This one is of the years 1967 to 1990, the twenty-four years Jo and I focused on translating the Word of God with and for the Canela people of Brazil. The temporary working title for the volume is, From Adventure to Mission: Giving the Canelas Choices.

Prepare to Read Great Stories
The book is packed with a huge number of true stories about what God did during those two decades. We experienced so many divinely appointed coincidences that we started calling them “God-incidences.” Our family went through an incredible number of downs, as well as ups. We realized we were in a battle for the souls of the Canela. The spiritual enemies were strong and inflicted much emotional hurt and stress. But we applied 1 John 4:4 “You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.” As most of you know, although work on the task was often delayed, it all ended well.

Pray for Jo and Me as We Revise and Improve this Book
Although I have written two drafts of what are currently twenty-eight chapters, I plan to revise them all at least three more times. My wife, Jo, who has been gifted with the ability to critique my writing and tell me what needs to be corrected, improved, or deleted, goes through each draft and exercises her God-given abilities with marvelous patience.

It will probably take the rest of the year for Jo and me to complete our part of producing this book. Pray that God will give us the physical stamina and mental ability to finish.

Have a great summer! God willing, I’ll be back with the next blog post in early September.
Many Blessings,
Jack and Jo

 

Of Stories and Storytellers

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It Started Eighty Years Ago
I have always loved stories. Eighty years ago, my mother read stories to me when I was just a little boy, and she taught me to read years before I entered grade One. I was already reading Dutch translations of Dickens’ classics and Jules Verne’s science fiction in grades Four and Five. It’s no wonder that I have always written stories, mostly true stories. When our grandkids were young, I told them stories I made up on the spot.

Three Kinds of Stories
Even today, I read, write and tell stories.
1. Some are fiction stories that I may have read or heard, or I may have made up myself; some may be jokes.
2. Some are true stories about other people, which they told me, or which I had read or heard from others.
3. Some are true stories about me. I tell what has happened to me, what I did personally, what I saw, heard, said, and felt.

My Story
This third type of story is the most important to me because it is My Story.
When someone listens attentively to me telling My Story, they are accepting me. They may not agree with everything I did or said during My Story’s events, but if they let me finish My Story, they are accepting, even honouring me.

If, on the other hand, they interrupt me or stop me from telling My Story, their actions do not say, “Your story is not important,” but “You are not important.”

When we interrupt or walk away from someone telling His Story, we reject not just the story but the storyteller. We are our personal Story.

Responding to a Personal Story
After someone tells Their Story, we need to respond somehow—thank them, ask questions, or make some positive comments. We may feel the person did or said something wrong or hear something we disagree with, and we can point that out, but only after hearing their whole story.

To some extent, this is also true when the storyteller is telling someone else’s story. We must be careful not to interrupt since telling that story about someone else is important to the speaker, and we need to listen closely to discover why this is important.

What God Thinks About Our Stories
Jesus pointed out that the words we speak show what is in our hearts, our real inner selves. “A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.” Luke 6:45.

We all need to monitor what we store in our memories and emotional centre since Jesus also said, “By your words, you will be acquitted, and by your words, you will be condemned.” Matthew 12:37.

I have often noticed when someone in a small group has told His Story, there is a second of silence, and the next speaker jumps in with a story of their own. That is as rude as being introduced to a stranger, and instead of conversing briefly with them, turning away immediately to talk with someone else. God has something to say about this too, “Everyone should be quick to listen and slow to speak.” James 1:19

Supernatural Spiritual Power in Our Story
God empowers Our Story with Satan-defeating power when we tell Our Story of what Jesus did for us or through us, or possibly even despite us. Revelation 12:11 describes a group of martyrs. “They triumphed over him (Satan) by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony.” In other words, they put their faith in the atoning death of Jesus, and they told Their Story of what Jesus had done. As a result, they defeated Satan.

Our ability to tell and to appreciate hearing stories is a beautiful gift from our Creator. Let’s treat this gift with honour, both when telling and when listening to stories.

God-Stories–A Powerful Weapon Against Satan

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How About A New Story?

My teenage friends and I rolled our eyes as the elderly gentleman rose from his accustomed side front pew. As usual, he half turned to face the congregation, leaned his left hand on the back of the pew in front of him, as he always did, and began his testimony . . . again. We had all heard his conversion story from sixty years ago so many Sundays, we could have recited it for him.

I wanted to ask him, “Hasn’t God done anything for you recently?” but I had been a Christian only a few years, and now, I was learning how to be a well-behaved member of our small evangelical church.

True, some members of the congregation did stand and tell of recent answers to prayer, but for the most part, “giving your testimony” meant telling the story of how you came to repent of your sin and turn to God for forgiveness for the first time.

We do need to tell the story of our spiritual rebirth, but we need to realize that this birth starts a whole new life, filled with other God-stories—answers to prayers, amazing coincidences, needs He met, healings and special guidance. Our lives as believers should be overflowing with stories that bear witness to others of God’s work in and through us.

People Listen and so do Spirits
But not just to people. Spiritual beings are also listening. Angels give praise to God along with us as we tell our God-stories. The “other side” is listening too. Satan and his evil spirits hate hearing about God’s power in our lives. When we tell what God has done for us, Satan will do anything to shut us up. Why? Because our God-stories are weapons: powerful Satan defeating weapons.

How They Overcame Satan
Check out the scene in Revelation 12:11 which describes a large number of Jesus-followers who overcame Satan. How did they do this? By telling everyone about what God had done for them, through the atoning death of Jesus Christ. They were powerful witnesses against Satan and for God. They made God look so good, and Satan look so bad that he killed them. Yes, they were martyrs. That is why the word “martyr” comes from the Greek word that means “witness.”

Our testimonies, our God-stories of God’s actions in our lives are powerful Satan conquering weapons. What a pity that we don’t hear them regularly in church! No, not the same old story every Sunday, but new God-honouring, Satan crushing stories.

We who are followers of Jesus need to tell our God-stories to each other for encouragement, and to those who are not yet believers to let them know God can and does act in people’s lives.

A Fifteen-Year-Old Photo

Six of our Grandkds Telling Stories Over a Cup of Tea

Six of our Grandkids Telling Stories Over Cups of Tea

Fifteen years ago they were little kids telling stories. Now they are telling even more stories. Our youngest grandson is now seventeen; the five granddaughters range in age from nineteen to twenty-two years old. Each of them can tell a dozen stories of what they experienced while overseas on mission service trips. They have all been to Mexico and Brazil. Some have been to Guatemala, some to Pakistan, Thailand, and Zimbabwe. Some have lived for months in Australia. One worked on a Mercy ship for three months serving countries on Africa’s east coast—God-stories galore. And they have many more stories of God’s dealings in their everyday lives

Whenever I speak in public, I tell plenty of personal God-stories—what God has done for me, through me, or sometimes in spite of me. As I greet people at the door afterward, they often say, “Thank you for telling those stories. Isn’t God wonderful?” I smile and imagine Satan’s groan of pain.

What has God done in your life this past week? Have you told anyone yet? The angels are waiting to compose a song of praise about it. Satan hopes you’ll just keep quiet.

God’s Problem and His Solution

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The Problem
God had a problem. Having created human beings to multiply throughout the habitable areas of the earth, He now wanted to communicate with them. But, although they were all created on the same basic pattern, every one of them was a unique person. Their bodies, personalities, emotional makeups and cultural environments made them all different from each other.

How could He tell them about Himself, His expectations of them and His love for them? Clear logical statements would speak to some types of people but would turn off other groups. Lists of do’s and don’ts would be understood by some, but would be rejected by others.

God’s Solution
In His divine wisdom He gave mankind the Bible, a Book that is packed with stories of real people. Stories are the universal language: they speak to everyone. Narratives telling the Who, What, When, Where, Why and How of situations are informative. But when they are told in a story form that has a Beginning in which someone has a problem, a Middle describing their struggles, and an End telling of the solution, they will captivate any audience.

Some preachers and teachers try to make the Bible what it is not. It is not a handy-dandy Manual for Life. The books of Proverbs and James come the closest, but even these are mainly a collection of miscellaneous observations and pieces of advice. Although there are many clear commands and explicit instruction for certain situations, the Bible is not the Help tab on Life’s computer. We cannot click it and expect a drop menu of prompts to follow for specific directions in every possible situation. Instead, God gave us a Book of stories about people, their successes, their failures, their loves and their hates. As we see ourselves in these situations, we can learn from them.

The Psychology
The best speakers and writers do not use stories to illustrate a point already made. They use the stories to carry the point. They tell a story and let hearers come to their own conclusion. There are psychologically sound reasons for doing this. People tend to mentally argue against points made by speakers, pastors, or teachers. People tend to reject plainly stated advertisements, advice, and even moral lessons. But people never argue against conclusions they have come to by themselves—conclusions they have come to by listening to a story. Check out Jesus—the master story-teller—and His parables for examples.

Grandpa's Stories

Grandpa’s Stories

A Story
A dozen years ago, when our eight grandchildren were still in grade school, I published two 50,000-word story books and gave them each a set. They were filled with stories that I had written for them during several years of Sunday afternoon story-letters to the grandkids. By the way, the heroes and heroines of these stories bear an uncanny resemblance to my grandchildren. As they read the stories, our grandchildren soaked up solid biblical concepts such as the value of relationships, initiative, work, honesty, teamwork, having fun, and eating ice cream.

We not only learn from other people’s stories; we can tell our own. Everyone has a story. All of us, especially if we are followers of Jesus, can think back to things He did for us, problems He helped us solve, prayers He answered, and troubles He guided us through. I call these experiences God-stories, since we start with a problem and God provides the solution in the end.

I continue to teach and lead workshops for people who want to learn how to write their own God-stories to leave as a legacy for the children and grandchildren—a solidly biblical thing to do.

Another Story
I phoned our daughter one day, many years ago, and our four-year-old granddaughter answered.
“Hi Savannah,” I said, “this is grandpa.”
There was a period of silence as she wondered which of her two grandpas she was talking to, then she asked,
“Are you the Grandpa who tells us stories?”

Yes! Oh yes!
“The Grandpa who tells us stories” has been my sub-title ever since.

Here’s hoping that you too will be remembered for the God-stories you tell.

The Survey, The Problem, A Solution, and an Ad

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First Some Boring Numbers
I just completed another Wycliffe Associates promotional banquet speaking tour. Here are some numbers: 5 weeks, 6 states, 24 cities, 5,600 kilometres/3,500 miles. We started in North Dakota on the border of Minnesota, an hour’s drive south of the Manitoba border, then traveled south into Iowa and south-west to Colorado, 30 kilometres/20 miles from New Mexico, and as far west as 40 kilometres/25 miles from Utah.

The Reason I Bored You with These Statistics
Every night after I speak, I offer my books for purchase by guests as they leave. And every night people happily buy whole sets of the three printed books and the two ebooks. Very nice. Good for them. Good for me.

But what bothers me is that in city after city, along the entire route, many hundreds of people shake my hand and say,
“Your stories are so inspiring! Thank you so much for coming!” but when I invite them to buy my books with even more inspiring stories, they give me any number of reasons why they won’t.

Favorite Reason for Not Reading
A frequent one is “I am just so busy, I just don’t have time to read.”
I sometimes joke with them, “Buy my books and for only $10 more, I’ll pray ten times a day for ten days and ask God to give you time to read them.”

Others, especially older folk, mention poor eyesight, or extreme light sensitivity that makes reading difficult. Some tell me they love to learn by listening, but just can’t get anything from reading. A few confess they loved reading as a child but learned to hate it during their school years.

By far the most popular reason given is, “Sorry, I have too many books on my shelves already. I just can’t buy any more.”

A Suggestion That Will Work
I know what they mean. My wife and I, too, used to have many books on many shelves. But a few years ago, we asked ourselves, “Are we readers or librarians?”

We decided that we were readers and that books existed to be read and enjoyed, not just to sit on shelves and gather dust.

We started by pulling out books we had read and probably wouldn’t read again. We also culled books we had once thought we might like to read, but which had been sitting there for a long time and we probably were not going to read.

Two Out for One In

Two Out for One In

We are still working at it. Our current policy is, for every book we acquire we give away two books. This “two books out the door for each one coming in” is an excellent downsizing measure. Not only that, it keep us opening and reading books we really do want to read.

And have you noticed, when you open a book, it tends to open you?

***This is the end of my column***
Now here is the advertisement.

Just In Case You Got Inspired to Buy Books
My second ebook will be published this summer.

The Why and How of Bible Translation: What Every Christian Should Know, but few do . . . very few. In this ebook you will

  • Discover why in some instances Mark and Luke did not quote Jesus exactly as Matthew did, and why today’s translators need to follow their example.
  • Find out why it is sometimes essential for translators to clearly state explicitly in the target language what is merely implied in the Greek text.
  • Read why support for Bible translation would skyrocket among Christians if linguistics was taught as widely as biology, chemistry or physics.

Here are the links to my books—three printed collections of 52 easy-to-read, true-life stories, the kind of inspiring books you definitely will read. Order them through these links, and while waiting for them to arrive, make some room on your shelves by giving away some other books.

A Poke in the Ribs: http://www.thewordman.ca/jacks-books/a-poke-in-the-ribs.html
A Kick in the Pants: http://www.thewordman.ca/jacks-books/a-kick-in-the-pants.html
A Bonk on the Head: http://www.thewordman.ca/jacks-books/a-bonk-on-the-head.html
A Tickle in the Funny Bone: my first ebook, read it on your Kindle, Nook, Kobo, iPad, tablet, laptop, or computer. Download it as many times as you want in whatever format you need. Yes, it is funny. It needs to be to counteract all those physically abusive titles of the print books.
http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/258000