#197: A New Podcast Name! Welcome to the Kingdom Writers Podcast.

Welcome to Kingdom Writers, where we help equip and empower Christian writers of all genres to share your unique gifts with the world. We're your hosts, C.J. and Shelley Hitz.

This podcast is filled with spiritual encouragement as well as prayers to help you overcome the resistance you face as a writer. Your story matters.

Welcome back to another podcast. This is Shelly Hitz, and if you haven't noticed already, this podcast has a new name. That's right, it is now Kingdom Writers. Previously, for the past four years, it's been Author Audience. But, you know, the last few months, I haven't released any new podcast episodes. And it's because I was really waiting to receive clarity from the Lord on this podcast. And really as far as what he wanted me to do with mentoring writers, you know, I've had a Membership Author Audience Academy again for almost four years. Over four years, actually. It was March 2015, and, you know, it's been quite the journey. And so I finally have clarity, and God has shown me that he is not finished with me yet. And he has so, so much more for you. And we are just really excited to share with you this big, exciting news that the podcast name is now Kingdom Writers, and the Membership Author Audience Academy is now going to be Christian Book Academy. And the changes will be official in August. So you'll be hearing more about that in the coming weeks. So stay, Stay tuned. But I just wanted to introduce my husband, C.J. to you. He has been here on a few episodes, but now moving forward, he and I are going to host the Kingdom Writers Podcast together, and we're going to lead Christian Book Academy together. So welcome, C.J.

Hey, glad to be here, Shelley. And, you know, I'm excited just for this whole new endeavor going forward. You know, we really want to be about the Kingdom. You know, as the Kingdom Writer podcast title implies, you know, this is about something much bigger than ourselves. It's about something that lives on for eternity long after we've passed.

Yeah, definitely. And it was actually this last Friday at church. We go to church on Friday nights. And when we were at church, our pastor just mentioned something about this is the way the Kingdom works. And, you know, I had been praying and asking God, like, what is it that you want for this podcast? And all of a sudden, I just felt like God just told me in that moment, the name is going to be Kingdom Writers. It's going to be a movement, it's going to be a ministry, and that the podcast was really going to focus more on encouraging and equipping Christian Writers of all genres, no matter if you write Christian books or not, but that we are here to pour into you spiritual encouragement, and that this podcast is going to really pivot to not be so much about training on new things, but about really encouraging and equipping you. And so one of the things that I've really done over the years, especially with my writing retreats, both virtual and in person, is I'll ask God for specific themes and then specific scriptures and encouragement to give. And that's really what I sense God asking CJ and I to do moving forward is to really press into him, seek him for what he has for you in this season, what he wants us to share with you. And so today's theme is the word together.

Yeah. And, you know, there's all kinds of scripture that we can look at regarding even just that theme of being together, encouraging one another, you know, really being a team. I want to read just a few, you know, and highlight that theme, you know, as we move forward. It's really, you know, in my mind, you know, when I think of together, I'm thinking of both Shelly and I doing more together in terms of being that team. You know, we've been in ministry for, you know, over 20 years, all of our marriage, you know, in some capacity, and we have done a lot together, but we've also had seasons where we were very separate, doing our own thing, kind of living life. And, you know, this is something that we definitely feel like, hey, we can be a dynamic duo, a team that helps you and helps encourage you. The Kingdom writer.

With where you feel God calling you. And that's what we want to be about. But we also want that bigger theme of, yes, we are Kingdom together. We are this group of writers, this movement, and we want to see God use us all to encourage one another, to lean on one another. And so, you know, as iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend. So that's Proverbs 27:17. So we want to be about sharpening one another, helping one another, you know, so that we can have sort of, you know, essentially a sharp tool going forward. You know, in all that we're doing, we want to be sharp.

Yeah. And, you know, I just thought of this right now, but, you know, the quote about, you know, using a dull axe, you know, if you're trying to chop a tree down with a dull ax, it is going to take forever. And it's like, you know, oh, I don't have time to sharpen my axe. But if you just take Time to get sharp, then you're going to get the work done so much quicker. And I think it even applies to that scripture in that we can sharpen each other so that we can be more effective in our writing. And I think it's just so powerful when we come together, whether it's online or in person, and be able to encourage and sharpen one another.

Absolutely. Another scripture that comes to mind is Hebrews 10:24, 25, and it says, let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another. And all the more as you see the day, and that's capital D, the day approaching. And, you know, that's really what we're aiming for. You know, Jesus is coming back one day, and as we're living on this earth, we are building that kingdom. We are kingdom builders. We're kingdom writers. Everything that we're writing, we want to glorify God. We want to lead people closer to the Lord. And so that word spur, you know, in Hebrews, can also be translated to mean to stir up, to motivate, to incite, to provoke. And isn't that what we want to be about? We want to stir one another up. We want to.

Motivate one another, to sort of provoke one another to our best, not in a negative way, but to really provoke the best out of each of us. And as we're with each other, we.

See life differently. We aren't just out on our own. We're, you know, not on an island, but we're really working with one another as a team. And, you know, it's similar to when you think of, you know, hot coals in a fire. You know, you could see, you could build a fire, enjoy it, and then the next day that fire is down, you just see ashes. But there are still hot coals underneath those ashes. They're sort of under there, ready to be provoked and stirred up. And when you do stir those coals up and you have some fuel like paper or kindling there, it can reignite. And that's what we hope with all of us, is that maybe some of us have sort of lied underneath the ashes. We've sort of been dormant in our giftings. And as we stir one another up, we're going to see the flames ignite and the Lord catch fire for each of us as we. As we use our writing gifts to not only bless the Lord, but to bless others as he uses us.

Yeah, and I also Just see that picture of a candle. Like, some of you may feel like your passion has gone out for writing or you just hit a wall. Maybe you're stuck. Maybe you've hit that resistance, the doubt, the fear, the procrastination, the perfectionism. All of these things that can just feel like it. Put your fire out. I just see all these candles out there. Almost like, you know, the candlelight service that we might have on Christmas Eve or something like that.

Yeah.

And I just see, like candles being lit all across the room. Like just this, this movement of Kingdom riders getting lit, getting reignited, getting that passion back of what God has called you to do. Like, we're not here to tell you, like, you need to do this, this and this in this time frame or whatever. Everyone, we want you to go at the pace of God's grace, like my friend Shay Bind says from Kingdom Driven Entrepreneurs. But we want you just. We want to see you reignited. We want to see that fire come back, the Holy Spirit just flow through you so that your writing can have impact. So you're not just another voice in the noise of online marketing, of online, of all the books out there, but that you're writing from a place of what God is giving to you, and that you're impacting lives through that.

Yeah. And then a final scripture that I want to look at. I think sometimes we look at this scripture only in the context of perhaps a marriage between a couple. But specifically, I think we can use this just even in this whole gathering of Kingdom writers being together and leaning on one another. But it's Ecclesiastes 4, 9, 12, and it says two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help, but someone who falls alone is in real trouble. Likewise, two people lying close together can keep each other warm. But how can one be warm alone? A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back to back and conquer. Three are even better. For a triple braided cord is not easily broken. And I just want to say that we have a real enemy out there that just hates this whole Kingdom writing thing.

Yeah, that's right.

There is a resistance. There are attacks. There are specific plans for your life and my life to derail everything God wants to do through us. And so typically, when you even think of this out in the animal kingdom, let's just take a lion, for example, you know, going after sort of that weak straggler of perhaps an antelope or a zebra whatever it might be, they're always zeroing in on the straggler, the one that's sort of apart from the group because there is some intimidation factor, even with lions, when they see packs of animals all together.

Bonding. And I think it's the same with us when we lean on one another as we go forth in this Kingdom writing endeavor and we work together, we spur one another on, we lean on one another.

We gather together, we're encouraging, we're essentially.

A lot more intimidating. And of course, we don't say all this to say that we're doing this on our own. We, along with God are a majority.

That's right.

Yeah, I like that. And you know, this is just a new fresh season for CJ&I. It's just God's time for us. You know, it just wasn't the time before to launch into these new, these, these new fresh endeavors. And yesterday I talked in depth in the Author Audience Academy private Facebook group about just the journey and why we're changing Author Audience Academy to Christian Book Academy and why we're changing the podcast to Kingdom Writers and really just the behind the scenes, raw, real journey that we've been on and just what God has been speaking to me. So if you want to hear all of, just email me@supportrainingauthors.com and I will be personally answering those questions during this transition. I'll send you a link to that video and you can really just hear more of our heart behind what's going on. If you're an Author Audience Academy member, make sure to watch that video in the group. And if you're not a member, we would love to invite you to join our community now@authoridienceacademy.com or when you join now, you'll keep access to the entire training and all the membership that was in authoritance Academy over the last four years. Plus you'll get the brand new membership Christian Book Academy when it launches in August. So again, if you have any questions or if you want a link to that video to really hear the behind the scenes of why we're making this decision and this change, just go ahead and email me@supportrainingauthors.com to kind of close out. Today I wanted to share just why we do what we do. I'm going through some business coaching right now and they had me really just write out my why behind the why. I've done this before. Those of you that have taken Planet Day training with me, you know that we go into the deepest why and so it hasn't really changed, but it was just I wrote it out in a different way. So I just wanted to share this with you as we close out this episode, the first episode of the Kingdom Writer podcast that's transitioning from author audience. We love you guys. We are just so honored that you are part of our community and we just cannot thank you enough. But let me just share this with you. The first one is, why do you do what you do? I just said I'm a communicator. I love words, whether the spoken word or the written word. Books have changed my life. Would you agree? Have books changed your life as well? I've seen how the books I've written have changed others lives. I want to help Christian writers tell their stories and impact lives by empowering them to self publish books. So the next step was. But why? Why do I believe that? Well, it's because I believe every person has a story to tell and that your story matters. I believe that you've been given unique gifts and a specific role to play in the Kingdom of Heaven to impact lives for eternity. And because of this, I will pour out my life encouraging writers to not only tell their stories, but to take the courageous step of self publishing their stories and books that will outlive them and leave behind a powerful legacy. But then they had us go another step, like what's the real why behind the why? And I wrote, I never dreamed of writing and publishing a book. In fact, I never considered myself to be a writer. But after an intense season of deep healing from trauma from my grandma's murder when I was 8 years old, sexual abuse in middle school, also a pornography addiction. As a married Christian woman, God opened the door for me to start speaking and sharing my story to teen girls. And that was in 2007. And the very next year, in 2008, I learned about self publishing from a friend and birthed my very first book into the world. In fact, I remember standing in front of a campfire at a retreat center and really sensing God say that my story would impact many people. Now at that time, I didn't even know that I was going to publish a book. But you know, I had no idea how God would use my imperfect book and my testimony of healing and freedom for his glory. But I've seen teen girls from around the world accept Christ as a result of reading my books. And you know, I've received emails from women trapped in a pornography addiction be set free because they read my testimony. I've seen the impacts the so I've, you know, I have seen the impact my books have made, and now I want to help others do the same. In addition, I have not been able to give birth to my own children, but I've given birth to over 40 of my own books. And it is now my passion and I believe my calling to help Christian writers of all genres tell their stories and share their unique voice by giving birth to books. In doing so, many writers also are giving birth to their dreams of being a published author someday. I help them make those dreams become a reality today. So you never know the impact one courageous step of obedience will make in the kingdom of heaven. If God has prompted you to write a book, he will empower you to cross the finish line. And so C.J. and I, you know, we both have seen the power of books, right, C.J.

Oh, yeah. Been impacted in huge ways. There's just nothing like having that book. And then even more specifically, sometimes, you know, you've got that hard copy in your hand. You know, you can turn the pages and. And you. You sometimes can just get, you know, whether it's lost in fiction or, you know, you're. You're actually, you know, traveling along a journey with someone that's written about their true story, and it's powerful. God uses our own stories and our testimonies and the things from our lives to impact others, and we just never know who is going to get a hold of that book.

Yeah, it's just that one step of obedience. And so we're here to cheer you on. Just a couple little things just to let you know some of the changes. Christian Book Academy is actually going to expand, and it's going to be open to all writers, Christian writers of all genres. So Author Writings Academy really focused on Christian nonfiction writers, but now Christian Book Academy is going to be for fiction writers, nonfiction writers, children's book writers, and any kind of book that you're writing. If you're a Christian, you are welcome. You don't have to be writing a Christian book. And we really are excited to be launching this to where we're going to be doing the curriculum and the training together in semesters. So our first semester will start this fall, and then we'll close the membership down. No one new will be able to join after August because we're going to be going through this together. So the theme of this podcast is together. And that's really what we're sensing moving forward is that we want to just really be in this together with you, to do it together with You. And a picture God has been given to me is that C.J. and I are like guides on a hike. We live in Colorado Springs and we've hiked a lot of fourteener mountains here, 14,000ft or above. And it's the picture I always get. And then, you know, it's like we get to the summit and we have this celebration with you all together, but it's just like no one gets left behind. And, you know, CJ went on a hike previously where he had a friend that was struggling getting to the top, right?

Yeah. You know, several years ago, before Shelly and I even lived in Colorado, I used to go on these trips with several guys from Ohio. We come out to Colorado to hike several 14ers, which are, you know, 14,000 foot mountains. And I remember one particular 14er, it was Mount Sneffles. And, you know, it's not the hardest of all the 14ers, but there's definitely some difficulty, you know, in that, that last mile and a half, you know, with so much elevation gain. And we had a gentleman on our, you know, in our group named John that, you know, was. Was certainly not in the best shape coming in. And, you know, there were several points along the way where he, you know, we're hiking together and he looked over at me and he said, cj, you know, I think I'm just going to stop here. You guys go on ahead and I'll catch up with you when you come back down through here. And I just said, you know what, John, that's not going to work. Yeah, we're going to all get up to that summit together, one step at a time. I'm going to be with you and we're going to help each other. You're going to get there as well. We're all going to celebrate on that summit. And, you know, there were a few more of those pushbacks where, you know, he wanted to stop. I said, no, we're going to keep going. And finally, you know, step after agonizing step, especially as you get higher and higher and that oxygen gets thinner, we finally hit the summit, you know, and I let John go on ahead. I wanted him to hit that summit.

He had earned it before me.

And we did a high five dance, hug combo, whatever it was, and it was exciting. It was an achievement, you know, and it took effort. And nothing worth having in life is easy. It's all agonizing. But when you hit that summit, when you accomplish your goal, oh, there's cause for celebration. And, you know, that day we determined that no man was going to be left behind.

Right? And that's what I really picture with Christian Book Academy as we just relaunch it or actually, you know, just launch it for the first time in August that we are just, we are reaching out our arms to you. We want you to join us. No man left behind, no woman left behind. We're going to do this together. Wherever you're at on the journey, we want you to join us because it is more powerful when we do this together. We want Christian Book Academy to really be the place online for Christian writers to be and for us to just receive the encouragement and the strengthening and to really break through those barriers so that we can each do what God has called us to do. I know God has laid on many of your hearts. Those of you that are listening right now that can hear my voice, God has spoken to you in different ways and he's given you a book idea. He's laid something on your heart. You might even have first drafts on your computer or in your notebooks. You might have scribbles somewhere and you just may never have crossed that finish line yet. But that's where we're here. We want to help you. And so, you know, moving forward. The Facebook page for author audience has also changed. The name of the Facebook page is now Christian Book Academy. So make sure to go over and find us at facebook.com ChristianBookAcademy we're gonna be going live with these Kingdom Writer podcasts over there and then we're gonna be sharing them again here on the podcast. So, you know, we wanna be able to spend time with you and be able to connect with you live as well. So we'd love for you to join us there. And again, thank you for being here. Thank you for being on the podcast. Thank you for, for being on this journey with us. And if you want all the details and all the backstory, just email me@supportrainingauthors.com I'd be happy to send you that link. And until next time, we pray that God just flows through you and your writing.

God bless you guys.

Bye. Bye.

Thank you for listening to this episode of Kingdom Writers. We believe that you, as a Christian writer, have a specific role to play in the Kingdom of Heaven to impact lives for eternity.

And because of this, we choose to pour out our lives into encouraging writers like you to not only tell your stories, but to take the courageous step of self publishing your stories in books that will outlive you and leave behind a powerful legacy. This podcast is sponsored by Christian Book Academy, where we help you give birth to your books. We invite you to join our community of Kingdom writers.