Musings About Writing and Printing Motivations

By Dwight David Croy

In the 1960’s, the way to get an “A” in the subject of English in High School was to be a good creative writer. The mechanics were secondary, the organization was secondary, punctuation and the spelling was also secondary. If you were fortunate enough to get a teacher that smoked weed, these things were not even a priority. The more creative the writing minus the rules, the better your grade. Excellence in writing was not a priority, but throwing out the rules was elevated. My college degrees became the crucible for learning the rules about different forms of writing.

Getting good grades in Junior and High School was about survival. Good grades in college was about English formulas. In Seminary it was about accuracy. In a doctorate program it was about critical thinking. Different times, different goals, different reasons to write. My growing motivation has always been Jesus Christ. If I am to strip away grades, degrees, positions, articles, books, money, etc.… Writing for excellence to please my Lord Jesus Christ is my primary motivation.

Christians have always been early in printing and getting the living Word out. Printing the Bible has been a part of the worlds spiritual battle with Jesus Christ. The Bible is sent out from microchips, microfiches, printed page, and audio in multiple languages. It is a privilege to be a part of the great commission in writing and providing material that helps in discipleship. Make no mistake, all genre’s that promote and glorify Jesus Christ are in the work of discipleship.

All the history that we know of in writing and printing makes me think about what was going through the heads of Bible writers. They teach me how to think straight. (II Peter 1:21) The men and women who wrote the Bible had God in mind. Moved by the Holy Spirit, New Testament writers had Jesus Christ in mind, specifically, his living body the church made of people from various backgrounds in the forefront of their discipleship. (Hebrews 1:1-2)

The various parts of professional writing (genre’/organization/grammar/creativity/motivation/formula’s/detail/etc.) are there for our various personalities to struggle with. God uses the creative gift of writing in some (like me) to mature them as a believer. Writing for me, makes me dig deeper into the Word of God and I pray those who read my work will be prompted to be “swift to hear.” (James 1:19) But in the end, it is all about Jesus Christ and what He wants us to write. The ever-present image of that disciple that is in the forefront of our mind as we write.

Thus far, I have written non-fiction with Christ’s church in mind and Biblical fiction with 13–17-year-old boys in mind. God may change my writing in some way, but it will always be about His priorities. As a Biblical fiction writer, I have one fantasy. That is to have guessed an extra-biblical fact about a character or culture, not in research, that turns out to be right. It would be a small chuckle that will not merit an iota of worth in eternity. For now, and eternity, my greatest joy would be someone coming to know and then growing in Jesus Christ through this writing ministry.

As I pray over my writing, I ask, Lord make me an instrument of communicating your love and grace. I pray for all those encouraging saints that write and help me write (That includes my readers).

Dwight David Croy is retired and the author of God’s Focus on the Fatherless (2016),  God’s Gracious Killer (2023) and God’s Illuminating Blindness (2024). He came to know Christ as his personal Savior at a young age and has served the Lord in a variety of teaching and serving roles in the body of Christ until entering the ministry as a pastor, military army chaplaincy, and teaching juvenile boys in an Eckerd residential home under the North Carolina Department of Justice and Safety for an overall forty years of experience. Dr. Croy obtained a BRE at Multnomah University, an MDIV at Denver Seminary, and a DMIN at George Fox University. Married to Karen for over forty years with two children, Amber and Jonathan, Dr. Croy is now blessed with three grandchildren: Caleb, Ada, and Joshua.