When I first read that the bible study Before His Throne covered the book of Malachi I figured it was going to be a 9 week study on tithing. Boy was I wrong! Before His Throne: Discovering the Wonder of Intimacy With a Holy God changed me.

Through studying the book of Malachi Before His Throne teaches what it means to live a life with a healthy fear of God. If you live your life with a healthy fear of God then you don’t need to fear anything. Anything!

I am excited to have Kathy Howard as our guest for the month of December. If you are looking for a new study to begin the 2010 year, I would strongly suggest Before His Throne: Discovering the Wonder of Intimacy With a Holy God.  Allow me to introduce you to Kathy Howard.

1. Kathy thank you for visiting us here, can you tell us a bit about yourself.

I’ve been teaching small groups for over twenty years. My desire as a speaker, teacher, and Bible study author is to challenge Christians to discipleship and obedience.

I graduated from the Canadian Southern Baptist Seminary with an MRE in 2004. My husband and I have three children – grown and almost grown. We live in Midland, Texas where I serve as Adult Education Minister at Fannin Terrace Baptist Church.

I write to have something to do while I drink coffee and eat chocolate.

2. What inspired you to write the bible study “Before His Throne?”

New Christians had been asking me what the Bible meant when it said we should fear God. I gave them the answer I had always been given, but I increasingly felt like it wasn’t adequate. Then, I began to study the topic of godly fear because I needed to know what it meant. God put it on my heart to learn for my own spiritual life and growth. As I studied and God taught me it became clear I needed to develop material for others to use.

3. In your bible study “Before His Throne” you state that there are three reasons why people should fear God.  Without going in a lot of details can you give us a brief overview of the three reasons we should fear God.

First, when we fear God we don’t have to fear anything else. When we fear God, we can move forward in obedience to whatever He directs because we trust and depend on Him to do what’s best for us.

Second, Scripture tells us that God delights in those who fear Him. He is pleased with them. This kind of relationship fosters a deeper intimacy with God.

Third, godly fear is key to our spiritual growth. It draws us to repentance, obedience, and the refinement of our faith. In short, it fosters holiness – and God wants His children to be holy, to reflect His character to a lost world.

Additionally, the Bible is full of promised blessings for those who fear God!

4. What do you believe is the biggest obstacle we as a society face while living a life of Godly fear?

I believe the biggest obstacle to fearing God is our view of Him. Most of us have an understanding of the nature of God that is too narrow and small. Part of the problem is that our view of ourselves is too big. We are often the center of our own universe. We’ve bought into the “me first” teaching of our culture. Also, we tend to reconstruct God into a god that suits us best. We gladly accept that God is loving, gracious, and merciful. But we don’t like to contemplate the truth that He is also all-powerful, holy, just, and worthy of our worship. If we accepted that, then we would see the need to submit to His authority and obey Him.

5. Do you have any advice for first time authors?

Attend a Christian writers conference. There are many good regional ones. Here is a link to Sally Stuart’s website page that lists a lot of the conferences. It is from 2009 but most of them have them about the same time every year. Many websites are listed or you can Google that particular conference. http://www.stuartmarket.com/Conferences.html

Read some key books about publishing and specifically learn how to write a proposal. Here are a few books that are highly recommended and that I found packed full of helpful info.

1. “Book Proposals that Sell,” by Terry Whalin
2. “Sally Stuarts Guide to Getting Published,” by Sally Stuart
3. “Christian Writers Market Guide,” by Sally Stuart (New version every year. It lists all the Christian publishers, contact info, whether or not they take unsolicited manuscripts or queries, and what kind of work they publish)
4. “The Complete Guide to Christian Writing and Speaking,” by Susan Titus Osborn

Find a local writers group to join. You will get support, encouragement, and critique of your work.

Write, write, write.

6.  Is there anything you are working on that you can share with us today?

My next Bible study will be released by New Hope Publishers on March 1^st. I am very excited about this new resource. “God’s Truth Revealed” is a twelve-session Bible study that presents the basic beliefs of Christianity in a way that is engaging, personal, and biblical. With the understanding that faith is not illogical, the study provides biblical, historical, and scientific evidence to support creation; the reliability of the Bible; and the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. The study takes participants on a straightforward journey through the Bible to understand the importance of knowing God, not just knowing about Him. Each chapter also includes the real-life story of an individual who became a Christian as an adult.

7. What is one thing or bible verse God has impressed on you lately?

God has been stressing something over and over with me in recent weeks. His command to His people to love and serve each other – and that means me! In fact, in my quiet time recently I’ve been reading the last chapters of the Gospel of John. One of the last things Jesus did was set an example of service for His disciples for washing their feet. One of the last things He told them was to love one another. I don’t do either of those well enough.

About:

Kathy Howard is passionate about studying and teaching God’s Word. Currently serving as the Minister of Adult Education at a Baptist church in Midland, Texas, she has been teaching adults the Bible for almost twenty years. Kathy’s love of teaching led her to begin writing Bible study curriculum to meet specific needs among those she teaches. The result was a nine-week study based on the book of Malachi. “Before His Throne” was released by New Hope Publishers in January, 2008.

Kathy’s newest book, God’s Truth Revealed, is a twelve-week Bible study that presents the basic beliefs of Christianity in a way that is engaging, personal, and biblical. Using the Bible as its foundation, God’s Truth Revealed answers questions like “Who is God?” and “Why am I here?” Participants will journey through the Bible to discover the importance of knowing God. This study will be released in March 2010.

To read more of Kathy Howard’s writings visit her blog (http://www.kathyhoward.org/blog/). You can also find her on Facebook and Twitter.

You May Enjoy These Books Also:

• Do You Know Who I Am? and other Brave Questions Women Ask God by Angela Thomas
• God’s Truth Revealed by Kathy Howard
• Set Apart by Jennifer Kennedy Dean
• 100 Bible Verses Everyone Should Know By Heart by Robert J. Morgan
• The Women In Jesus’ Life by Mindy Ferguson