Thank you for your participation. We were thrilled with the entries for this contest. We learned a lot in the process that will help this program grow in the right direction. There are endless possibilities and they all include exposure and real paid writing experience for you, our writers. We encourage you to polish your writing in the Challenge and by utilizing the critiques from other brothers and sisters in Christ. There is not a safer and more caring place to step out and take the risk. After you view these winners please visit the new contest that starts today 7-13-12 and give it your best.
With the Challenge you are judged with a very critical eye in the effort to refine your skill. With this contest your writing is judged by the client just like it is in the real world. You need to grab their attention and keep it. Congratulations to all of you as you promoted Christ while improving your gift of writing. Here is the email I received from PTL with the top three entries.
From: Katherine
To: Michael & Bea Edwards
Sent: Wednesday, July 11, 2012 8:00 AM
Subject: Top 3
1. Where is my bride?
2. God's Word Speaks
3. Nothing More Important
p.s Love them all!!!
First Place and the winner of two paid writing assignments from
The Pocket Testament League goes to -
WHERE IS MY BRIDE? By Kimberly Miller
The vivid experience of sorrow felt driving down Independence Avenue gripped my heart with untold anguish. Tears soon blurred my view of the desolate and decaying street, as an unknown fury began to rise up from my belly. Anguish had turned to weeping and weeping to anger; anger had then led my weary heart into groaning intercession with the Almighty.
I cleared my eyes and continued to survey the avenue. Prostitutes stood far from discreet at various vantage points, drunks stumbled disarrayed throughout the littered alleys, mothers dragged along numerous children who since birth were sentenced to the cycling mentality of poverty, and at every corner I drove by there stood a church.
God’s grief and longing for humanity had become mingled with my own angered discontent with society’s brokenness and bondage. I began to cry out to God, asking Him why He was doing nothing about the state of my city, and why He continued to leave the people hurting and without a Shepherd. My fury at the injustice I was viewing, lead me to come all but close to accusing God of doing nothing to save the lost.
And that’s when He spoke, gently whispering into the depths of my being, “Child, where is My body? I can do nothing apart from My church. She is My hands and feet. She is My voice that speaks. Where is My church? I am in the midst of My city doing My work, but who is there partnering with Me? She is a spider without legs. No change can be wrought and no souls can be saved, without the hands and feet of My body going forth with My name.”
I sat silently stunned; left unable to move, unable to speak, and unable to even weep. When I got home I opened a phone book and began to count the number of churches and ministries throughout the city. I stopped at 943.
I closed the phone book and prayed. I asked God to send forth laborers to His vineyard, and to give us a heart-you and I-for the lost ones He loves.
The other day I stumbled across a ministry that shed a glimpse of hope within my soul. The ministry is called the Pocket Testament League. Their main goal is to lead souls to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, and to equip others to do the same. Not only does the site offer free devotionals to strengthen and encourage the believer, they also offer the necessary evangelism tools that we as believers need to be His hands and feet to a lost and dying world. The ministry encourages every believer to carry a pocket sized gospel of John, to daily read and share with those we come into contact with. One believer with God’s heart for the lost and adequate training in evangelism, can be the tool He needs to set just one soul free.
Let’s be His hands and feet.
Quote from Kimberly –“Thank you for the news. My husband and I are truly elated and in a bit of shock. I am very excited to work with Katherine and support the ministry at PTL. I believe they are a sincere ministry faithfully fulfilling Jesus' commission to His church.
"I am thankful and thoroughly privileged to receive an opportunity to further Jesus' kingdom. If I can have any part in the honor of revealing Jesus to a lost world, then I am one truly blessed. Thanks to PTL for allowing me to partner in their work of spreading the gospel of peace. Thanks as well Mike; Faithwriters is a platform and training ground for so many writers to begin what God has called them to.”
Second Place and one paid writing assignment goes to
God's Word Speaks by Lisha Hunnicutt
God's Word Speaks
“Jack left,” wept Alison. “He wants a divorce. What am I going to do?”
“I don’t know, but I know someone who does,” said Kate slipping a pocket testament into Alison’s hands. “This book has answers.”
Late at night, Alison opened the book. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. She continued on. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. “Life,” she thought. “Mine’s going nowhere.” Into the night she read, weeping as the words of Jesus pierced her heart. “Such love,” she thought as her knees hit the carpet. “Jesus,” she wept. “Please forgive me. My life and marriage is in shambles. I give it all to you.”
Two weeks later, Alison and Jack sat across from each other working out the finer points of their divorce. “Something’s different about you,” said Jack. “I can’t put my finger on it. You seem so, joyful. Have you met someone?”
“Yes I have” she smiled. She reached into her purse, pulling out a slightly worn Pocket Testament. “Here,” she said, “You can read about him.” Jack looked at her quizzically, slipping the book into his brief case.
Saturday, while Sawyer ran around the playground, Jack began to read. “In the beginning was the word…” He read more after tucking Sawyer into bed and again after dropping him off at Alison’s on Sunday. Monday night, he lay on the sofa thinking about his life. “God, help me know if you’re real. Alison has changed. I want what she has.” A peace like none he’d ever felt filled his soul.
A year later, Alison and Jack renewed their vows. Morgan pulled Jack aside. “Wow man! I never thought I’d see this! How did you win her back?”
“You really want to know?” asked Jack.
“Yeah, I really want to know.”
“Here,” said Jack. “Read this.” He slipped a well-worn Pocket Testament into Morgan’s hand.
A couple days later, Morgan suffered from another hangover. “Man, I feel like I’ve been hit by a Mac truck.” The book that Jack gave him sat on the coffee table. He picked it up. “In the beginning was the word…” It took a few days, but Morgan read the entire book, pondering its message. He knelt by the couch, “Jesus,” he prayed. “I’m not big on words, but I need something.”
A few weeks later, Morgan ran into an old friend. “Yo dude! Where you been? The guys at The Hound have been asking about you.”
Morgan answered. “Let’s just say I have better things to do.”
“Like what?”
“Here, read this,” said Morgan handing his friend a Pocket Testament held together by duct tape. “This will tell you all you need to know.”
One Pocket Testament, three redemptions, and counting.
If you’d like to know more about evangelism, visit the Pocket Testament League. This ministry equips Christians with free evangelism training, daily devotionals, and the distribution of the printed Gospel.
Faithwriters
http://extramilegirl.wordpress.com/
http://biblestudywithpatti.blogspot.com/
http://www.faithwriters.com/article-det%20...%20?id=149431
Quote from Lisha -
"I am so excited! I had so much fun writing that piece, and I'm looking forward to writing something more for the Pocket Testament League. The Gospel of Christ is the greatest gift of all time. If God can use me to help spread his good news, then I consider it an honor. I'm really looking forward to working with the Pocket Testament League."
Third Place and $25 goes to
Nothing More Important
By Jennifer Suchey
The beachside cafe bustled with activity. Patrons sat beneath red umbrellas engaged in conversation while enjoying California cuisine.
The ocean breeze blew strands of hair across Vanessa’s face. “I can’t believe Courtney Wilhelm is meeting us here. It’s been, what . . . twelve years since we graduated USC?”
Megan sipped iced tea and nodded. “The internet is a wondrous thing, right? I was shocked when I saw the friend request.”
“Vanessa Blackwell! Megan Roland!” The vivacious voice carried.
The two women locked eyes and grinned as they stood to face Courtney Wilhelm.
After hugs were exchanged the three friends sat and chatted for the next hour. Courtney’s life sounded amazing. Her career as a high-powered attorney intrigued Vanessa.
As the conversation continued, however, Courtney’s countenance began to change. Her face was now flushed and her eyes moist. Summing up her marital troubles she announced, “He got full custody of the kids.”
The words pierced Vanessa’s chest like a spear.
“Oh, Courtney.” Vanessa placed her hand over her friend’s. This was deep. This was real life pain her friend was experiencing and Vanessa had no idea what to say.
Megan turned her chair toward Courtney. “Courtney, do you go to church?”
Courtney dabbed her eyes with a cloth napkin. “I don’t have time for church.”
Vanessa then watched and listened with great intent as Megan shared the love of Jesus with Courtney, the gift of salvation and how when we rest in God, He carries us through trying times.
“You don’t have to go through this life alone, Courtney.” As Megan spoke she pulled a small book from her purse and set it in front of Courtney.
“This is the Gospel of John. Take it with you and read it when you get a chance. There’s nothing more important than your salvation, Courtney, so please promise me you’ll at least read it.”
Courtney took the pocket testament and flipped through it.
“Pay attention to the verses in bold,” Megan pointed to one. “They’re key to understanding new life in Christ. There’s also a section detailing the plan of salvation. You’ll find a clear explanation with some of the verses I shared with you today.”
“Alright.” Courtney looked at the time on her phone. “For you, Megan, I’ll read it.” She pushed her chair back and stood. “I’m late for a meeting.”
The three friends hugged and Courtney hurried off to her car.
Lingering in front of the cafe, Vanessa eyed Megan.
“How did you do that?”
“Do what?”
“Share Jesus with her so easily. I could never do that.”
“Yes you could. Go to The Pocket Testament League . . . ptl.org. You can order pocket testaments like the one I gave Courtney and get free evangelism training. It’s easier than you might think to share your faith.”
“Pocket Testament League?”
“Yeah, it’s a great site with wonderful resources, including free daily devotionals and evangelism tools. It’s where I learned everything I shared with Courtney today.”
“Really? ptl.org. Maybe I can be an evangelist.”
http://theauthorwithin.wordpress.com/20%20...%20important/
http://jennifersuchey.wordpress.com/201%20...%20important/
http://www.facebook.com/JiffChick?ref=profile
GO WRITE SOMETHING!!!
Jennifer Suchey Quote - "Thanks so much, Mike. That is very encouraging. And this is my very first actual money I've earned as a result of my writing.
"I just earned twenty-five "big ones" for my writing! Thanks, Faith Writers, for creating the Blogging Contest and thank you, Pocket Testament League, for creating a ministry worthy of promoting. I hope this program succeeds and draws more websites needing promotion to more writers needing opportunities to use their gifts. Now what will I spend all that money on? Hmmmm."
I look forward to the next contest."
Go to new contest - http://www.faithwriters.com/Boards/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?f=92&t=35527
CONTEST AND ALL OTHER ENTRIES BELOW THIS POINT
THIS FORUM IS FOR THE SUBMISSION OF ENTRYS ONLY. PLEASE ASK QUESTIONS IN THE QUESTION FORUM UNDER BLOGGING CONTESTS. The deadline was posted in error for 2 different times. We have switched everything to the later posted date of 7-9-12 at 10AM New York time.
This contest is now open.
You must read the blogging contest overview before reading this forum or you will not understand this program. I suggest you print out the overview and this article to prepare. This program has tremendous potential and I suggested you get involved early and learn the basics such as hyperlinking and setting up a free blog. They are both very simple and these articles should come fairly easy for you. We have two other ministries in line behind this one and every ministry I have approached really likes this program. We have even had a Christian publisher approach us who really likes this program. They are considering offering a publishing package as a prize for the winner of their contest. So getting involved now and learning how it works is strongly suggested. Preparation is 90% of the job. If you do not consider yourself computer or know nothing about blogging, do not fear. A blog is simply a collection of articles you write and post. Full instructions are in this forum and in the blogging overview forum.
The first ministry we will be promoting is the Pocket Testament League. They are 119 years old. There main focus is leading people to a saving knowledge of Christ and equipping others to do the same.
The prize for this contest is a paid writing opportunity for the Pocket Testament League. The total value of the prize is $300 for three articles. ($100 per article) First place will receive two of the assignments and second place will receive one. Third place will receive $25 from us. While I cannot guarantee it, if you are the winner and do an excellent job with the paid articles they assign you. I think it is quite possible that you will get further work from PTL. We have already had some of our members receive paid writing opportunities from PTL. I will also endeavor to make sure that the 2nd and 3rd place writers end up on PTL's approved author list. This is a great opportunity for writers who want exposure and potential income.
Your assignment for this contest is to review their site and ministry. Check out their website here http://www.ptl.organd look around. Get an idea of what they do. Join as a free member to get inside the site. Take some time and do a great job. You are promoting a ministry whose number one goal is to promote Jesus by using the gospel of John. You may want to utilize some scripture from John.
23Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, 24knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ. Col 3:23-24
Specifics for this contest. Failure to follow the rules will lead to disqualification.
1) You are to write a a promotional review of their site and ministry that would lead your readers to click on the links you place in the article that lead to PTL. The article MUST have a title. Please consider what someone might search under if they wanted resources PTL offers. Be creative but not overly creative. They are seeking visits mainly from believers who want to share their faith and need tools.
6-25 update - You can choose to write a straight review as explained or you can choose to write a unique storyline built around the keywords listed in this post. For example you might write a story about a Christian who suddenly realizes the importance of sharing the gospel. Every time you use one of the keywords like "evangelism" you would hyperlink it to http://www.ptl.org
2) The maximum number of words is 500.
3) Here is the list of keyword or keyword phrases PTL would like us to promote so that their site shows up better on an internet search in these areas.
evangelism
free evangelism training
evangelism tools
daily devotionals
free daily devotionals
what is evangelism
It is vital that you include at least three of these keywords, keyword phrases in your articles as contextual links. You can use them all if you wish. (A contextual link is simply a highlighted keyword in the article that if clicked on will lead to a designated URL, web address.). They must be incorporated into a sentence. For example the first one is "Evangelism" with a link attached that goes to ptl.org. You could write - The Pocket Testament Leagues heart and soul is to promote evangelism and teach others to do the same. Every time you used the word evangelism you would hyperlink it to http://www.ptl.org. You can see live hyperlink examples by looking at the very top or bottom of any page on FaithWriters. The link that says home for example, is hyperlinked to our main page (URL) of the website.
On many of the blog sites where you can set up a free blog, setting up a hyperlinked keyword or keyword phrase is very simple. On the http://www.blogger.com screen you highlight the word you want to link in your article and click the link tab and enter the URL (the web address you want to go to). http://www.blogger.com is a great site to set up your free blog. You can then use it for future posts for this program and other articles you write.
If you are on a site that requires the links to be in HTML code - like our regular articles section - to create a contextual link. Here is what you need. Only the keyword or keywords would be displayed in the article. For example the keywords in the third line below are – evangelism tools. It would show up in the text underlined as a link. When clicked on it would lead to http://www.ptl.org/.
<a href="http://www.ptl.org/">Evangelism</a>
<a href="http://www.ptl.org/">free evangelism training</a>
<a href="http://www.ptl.org/">evangelism tools</a>
<a href="http://www.ptl.org/">daily devotionals</a>
<a href="http://www.ptl.org/">free daily devotionals</a>
<a href="http://www.ptl.org/">what is evangelism</a>
Here is a page with more help - http://www.ehow.com/how_5070703_create-hyperlinks.html
Here is a 59 second videohttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vihzXwjq8y8&feature=related
The method for creating a contextual hyperlink will vary on different sites. For example in our regular articles section you would use <a href="http://www.ptl.org/">Evangelism</a>like we just reviewed. But on our free reprint section this is not necessary. You need to check the specific information for the site you plan on posting too. Once you know how to do it, future writings will be easy to accomplish. After you post your article please check to make sure your links work. To win you must have functional links in your article.
4) You MUST post the article in this specific forum. You must also post the article in three (3) other locations. We will accept our regular articles as one of the three other locations. When you post it in this forum, please include the URL’s for the other three postings at the bottom of your article. Do not include this list in your other postings.
To create a contextual link in our forms you need to do it like this
[url=TheURLHere]free evangelism training[/url]
It would look like this
free evangelism training
Here are some more options to set up a free blog- http://sixrevisions.com/tools/top-free-online-blogging/ .
Of course these can also be posted on the site or blog you already have set up. They can also be posted on Facebook. On Facebook you might want to also post the article on one of many open Christian Blogs. Whatever you do set it up right so you have easy access for future contests.
5) The deadline for these submissions is 10 AM New York time on 7-9-12. Winners will be announced as soon as possible after the deadline in this forum and on the main site and by email to the winners.
6) VERY IMPORTANT - Everyone is invited to participate. However please remember that paid writing assignments will only go to Gold or Platinum members. I need a lot of upgraded members to participate. If a Silver member wins we will give them a 1 year free Gold membership. But the writing assignment will go to the highest ranked upgraded member in the contest. If a Silver member wins and gets a Gold membership prize, they would be eligible for the writing assignment prize in future contests. So if you want to be in the pack that could win a writing assignment in this contest you would need to upgrade before the contest starts. As I mentioned this could possibly lead the winner to more work and exposure. Gold is only about .20 per day and you are helping this ministry help Christian writers and spread the gospel.
Please do not contact PTL direct unless you are one of our writers who was recently contracted with them and need to discuss your assignments.
This contest is open now.
God Bless, Mike
THIS FORUM IS FOR THE SUBMISSION OF ENTRYS ONLY. PLEASE ASK QUESTIONS IN THE QUESTION FORUM UNDER BLOGGING CONTESTS.
