RELIGION Art Posters

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

[the world in my hand]

I recently received a query from Kathy at AOL, who had a very good suggestion of my having a "about the author" section on my LylePublishing website.  I'd not thought of doing that, though it was good suggestion.  In addition, she asked 3 pointed questions.

So I'm assuming others might also like to know the answers to her questions, and am providing that here.

Even though some of that info is in the introductions of my books, I suppose I was trying to let my works speak for themselves by placing large hunks of them directly on the site, rather than trying to push myself as some authoritative expert that people should listen to by dent of a heavy CV; and by not "nailing down" hard positions to open up the Discussion Forum to every one else's good ideas and thoughts.

Kathy's specific questions are well-phrased, on-target, and important, which are below, followed by my brief answers:

1)  "What credentials have earned you the right to be heard?" 

I've over 50 years experience as a serious, dedicated, still-active member of a moderately conservative Protestant Church group, the Church of Christ, where I've done a lot of Bible class facilitation/teaching, lay-preaching (but deliberately not as a paid minister), and learning of both positive and negative lessons.  My primary "authoritative" credential is my Ph.D. in biology---which I consider my license to "study life"…that I take for all aspects of life, including spiritual.  As part of that credentialing I've taught all levels of students up to and including graduate medical students and research postdocs.  I believe my biggest "credential" to being heard by others, though (as in their buying my books, CDs, Art), is my genuine, demonstrated interest in hearing THEM and allowing them in turn to listen to each other (my no-charge, open Discussion Forum with spaces created for people to give their own decent/respectful views on just about any religious/quality/self-development/creative/beauty-exploring topic).

2)  "What do you believe?"

As stated above, I come from a fairly conservative Protestant background, practicing "New Testament" Christianity where the Bible is considered the only authoritative religious source.  Rather than believe, however, that my own present personal knowledge constitutes nothing-but and all of Truth, I'm well aware that I'm often not as smart as I sometimes think I am, can be wrong even when I totally think I'm right, and "Truth" (especially Bible truth) always has a deeper/wider/higher/more-complex/more-substantial aspect which if I've an open mind to comprehend, can expand and deepen my knowledge.  To that end, I've not put God into my own personal "box" and am quite happy to allow Him to have and explicitly define His own parameters; and by gratefully/sincerely listening to other sincere folks (even those outside of Christianity) I can broaden the limits to my own understanding of God.  As to my own personal present beliefs in religion, I am firmly in the corner of what I call "practical Christianity" where we focus on the "rubber-meets-the-road" issues of effectively applying Christ's teachings in positive ways to self-development, helping other people in systemic/ongoing-ways, applying Bible Principles through all aspects of our lives, expanding our own God-given positive Creative efforts (as in my Speculative Fiction and Art Posters sections), and in appreciating the beauty of this existence (my Biology/Reptiles section).  So rather than concentrating on being against things, I choose to be "for" the edifying/positive things.

3)  "Why should I listen to you?" 

I translate that question to the ultimate act of "listening"---i.e. buying my books, music, and art.Why should you pay me the ultimate compliment by shelling out your hard-earned cash to buy my stuff?  Great question.   Here are some possibilities:  1)  He listens to ME (has put out a considerable hunk of HIS time and money to provide ME a forum for publicly "publishing" MY own views/thoughts---the LylePublishing Discussion Forum;  2)  His religion books are unique and practical (in-depth overview of Bible as logically laid-out verse summaries ["Basic Bible, Christ and His Church"]; rather than "telling" me "the" answer he facilitates my own exploration [over 2,000 open-ended question in BB,C&HC; "The Expanded Christian Life" is a facilitation, not lecture, guide;  "100 Club" is for helping kids think and work out own answers to important/interesting Thought Questions]; the great edifying Principles of the Bible are applied to the tough hard world of specific problems/challenges in our everyday interacting-with-others, families, congregations, and jobs ["In Search of Quality"]; and Evangelism is not beating up people, but offering polite help to pre-existing friends ["The Basic Bible Evangelistic System"]);  3) His music is personal yet universal [own group updating to 21st Century great Gospel time-tested favorites: ["GOING HOME"]; and  4) His Art vividly visualizes powerful/practical/truly-helpful Bible Themes ["Religion Art Posters"].  So I guess my short answer to "Why should I listen to you?" is:"If what I say is of value to you."

Dan, 5-19-02

A brief history of the Lyle Surname

As approved by the Standing Council of Scottish Chiefs:

Origin of "Lyle"---William de Lile, Sir Robert Lyle, Lyells, Hercules Lyle.

The LYLE Genealogy Center

Links to the majority of Lyle surname data on the web, as well as to individual Lyle homepages.

Lyle Family Genealogy Forum

Lots of individual posts by Lyle and Lyle-related people concerning Lyle Geneaology.

Lyles Surname Resource Center

Links to other sites useful in uncovering LYLES family records and histories:  Lyles, Lyle, Liles, Lile, Lyall, Lisle.

Voices of Christmas Past

October 30, 1889 banjoist Will Lyle made history by recording "Jingle Bells," the very first Christmas record.

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