Why ???????

 

Y? WHY?
Saturday, November 1, 2025 by Brave Knight Writers

We have been blessed with some terrific guest bloggers over last few months. Thank you.

Our November blog is inspired by our young granddaughter when she said, “I’m having trouble with the alphabet, I don’t know ‘Y’.”

Her joke stuck in my head. I pondered the impact of Y or WHY or even WYE. Surely this is the question bothering big brains since the beginning of time. Ever wonder about the letter? The sometimes vowel, sometimes consonant letter which for all intents has the sounds ‘I’ or ‘E’ but also has a unique sound of its own, which is demonstrated in the word YES. So, what’s up with Y? This blog isn’t about the letter Y, it’s about the word WHY, and WHY NOT.

One recent church service started off with a reference to WHY. So many occurrences today are difficult to fathom, which is also a word with two meanings. The first is the measure of depth using a sounding line, while the other means to penetrate to the truth, comprehend and understand. Let’s not try to go too deep, but to penetrate the truth at times requires deep thought.

To understand who humans are and what motivates us, let’s look at our common drives or motivations. The top three common desires are connection (love), success (individually defined), and security (wherever we find it). Each of these desires lead to a crossroads. They sound innocuous to a peaceful heart but to an individual caught in a web of chaos and confusion these desires can lead to horrific results.

Human history documents the follies of people driven by the same desires as those with the most benevolent outcomes. WHY?

So, we focus on our struggle with the alphabet of motivation. Before we pursue a desire, we need to embrace peace and forgiveness. The question WHY? should always proceed any action or thought. Our desires fog our reasoning, a fog which prevents us from seeing the end results. A focus on near-term gratification is easy, and not totally in error. Everyone enjoys moments of success.

Self-focus or self-worship motivates the most harmful and egregious outcomes; the perpetrators’ own needs lead them to justify their actions. In their mind, others only matter if they can be used. The self-worshipper seeks others to worship them. This leads to infidelity, cults, gangs, and nefarious political leaders to mention a few.

One of the major tenants of Christianity requires us to remove ourselves from the throne and replace ourselves with Jesus Christ. Not all those who claim to be Christians are successful in doing this.

The human moral compass exists in every heart, WHY this is true becomes a point of disagreement. To some it was placed there by our creator, to others, it is just a natural phenomenon based on survival. The latter argument falls apart with a study  of humanist theory throughout history. If we don’t remove ourselves from the throne, our motivations lead to destruction and suffering of others.

Our focus is WHY do we focus on God and his teachings, or choose to focus on ourselves and make up our own rules Almost all cultures contain the same basic values.

WHY does a teacher make tests so difficult? Challenges create character and evaluate our efforts.

The greatest “Y’ is found in the name, Yahweh. He challenges us to change our motives. Some observant Jews find this name so Holy that they replace it with Adonai.

WHY does God let terrible things happen? He is the teacher, He knows the outcome, what we regard as terrible may lead to better things. Some of the biggest changes in our hearts and viewpoint have come from tragedy and the witness of those who meet their challenge with courage and faith. Brave Knight Writers embraces such people.

Don the full armor of God, we are in a spiritual battle ground.

WHY do we leave the comforts of our life to risk everything and be uncomfortable on mission trips? Sacrifice states how much we love, and who we love.

Do we remember the name of God and hold fast to worship of Him, or do we let other gods sit on our throne? We all conjure good and not-so-good excuses for what we do or don’t do.

Amos’ lament and warnings to the Kingdom of Israel for seeking their security in earthly alliances rather than worship and knowledge of the Lord. Ask yourself where you seek your security? Is it in finance, ownership, violence, bullying others into doing your will, or do you rest at peace knowing God’s got it?

WHY do we write? Writing puts one at risk for rejection, ridicule, and attacks, all for working hard. So WHY? Our motivation isn’t financial, it’s not to be famous, or to cause others harm, we simply enjoy the process and dialog in this way so we can share a message.

WHY include a message in our books? We love to present solid characters overcoming a challenge, and how faith grounds them.

WHY does God challenge us? God gave us life, and with it came tests. How else could God filter out those who love Him from those who seek themselves?

Do we seek a participation award, or do we rise to the challenge and respond in a positive way to our troubles, do we find peace in our trust in God? God doesn’t want lukewarm; he spits it out. He asks us to step out of our comfort zone, to go forth and share the good word.

What might we do with this?

The weight of our next mission trip is upon us, and we ask ourselves, WHY do it? Does anyone care and WHY do we care if anyone but God cares? Will anyone support us? WHY pray to God, not the world? We make up WHYS to justify our thoughts and actions as well as others, we mask reality and motives to find temporary comfort.

Even God asks us WHY. (Emphasis added)

Psalm 2:1

WHY do the nations rebel and the peoples plot in vain?

Ecclesiastes 2:15

So I said to myself, “What happens to the fool will also happen to me. WHY then have I been overly wise?” And I said to myself that this is also futile.

Acts 22:7

I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, WHY are you persecuting me?

Matthew 7:3

WHY do you look at the splinter in your brother’s eye but don’t notice the beam of wood in your own eye?

ANSWER:

Romans 12:12

Rejoice in hope; be patient in affliction; be persistent in prayer.

God’s will be done.

WHY?

This is The Way.

https://braveknightwriters.com/blog/1077-Y-WHY

Mission in the works.

                           We can not share details for security reasons,

                        Medical in the moutains of Mexico. 

         To support our efforts, buy one of our books on Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/stores/William-A.-Wright/author/B0164HULKG?ref=ap_rdr&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true&ccs_id=b1289364-daa1-4736-bca9-1e4e96a8c9e0

Book signing veterans' day

Veterans' day, November 11, 2025 we will be at Mission BBQ in Boardman, Ohio to sign and sell books.

   100 % of proceeds will be donated to Mission BBQ charities benefiting veterans and first responders.

Honor our veterans, first responders and meet the author.

 

We look forward to meeting you.

The food is awesome and servers are super friendly.

Check out their facebook page or website.

Read about the good work their charities do.

St. Croix, the series

https://www.amazon.com/St-Croix-novel-William-Wright/dp/1735752207 

Book #1 of series  

In the beginning.

https://www.amazon.com/St-Croix-Through-William-Wright/dp/1735752266

Book #2 in the series

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=st+croix%3A+the+gift+paperback&i=stripbooks&ref=nb_sb_noss

Book #3 in the series.

The final storm.

Another Brave Knight, posts.

 

Embracing Interruption and Changing Course: Bravely Navigating Disasters
Monday, September 1, 2025 by H. Lynn Pierce

When we read the Bible, there are many verses that we accept willingly, even
exuberantly: the gift of eternal life in John 3:16; the idea that God works all things
together for the good of those who love Him found in Romans 8:28; Mark 9’s
“Everything is possible for one who believes.” These verses are easy to embrace. We
memorize them and store them in our hearts for the tough moments when we need to
remember the goodness of God.
What happens then when we come across statements in God’s Word that are not so
easily embraced? When reading the book of Amos, we are forced into confronting what
our idea of ‘good’ looks like. Perhaps it’s not all rainbows and sunshine. Could there be
purpose in the darkness and storms of our lives?
Amos 3:6 reads, “Does disaster come to a city unless the Lord has planned it?” Initially
we might think, “Of course, God is sovereign over all things.” Then we realize what
we’ve just conceded to and pause. Our automatic agreement wanes into an internal
conversation:
Wait! Disaster?
Okay, let’s think about this. The Lord planned disaster, so it must be for our
enemies. Yes, God can ordain disaster to punish those who stand against His
people.
Right? But this disaster was coming to Israel, His children.
If God would send disaster to His children and I’m a child of God, could disaster
come to me too? Could God truly have planned it?
And how do I bravely navigate such a thing?

Amos’s Choice

Amos, a minor prophet, lived in the times when the Promised Land was divided. The
northern portion was called Israel and currently ruled by Jeroboam II and the southern
portion was Judah. Judah is where God found Amos living a quiet life of shepherding
and tending fig trees. God gave him visions and words that Amos was to deliver to the
people of Israel. This would not have been a very enticing invitation. Let’s just say
there’s a reason that the kingdom was separated. And to quote Amos “Can two people

walk together without agreeing on the direction?” (Amos 3:3). Israel and Judah were
definitely NOT walking in the same direction and agreed on very little.
So, Amos was doing his thing, surrounded by his sheep and figs when God showed up.
Then Amos had to choose. Was he going to keep doing his thing or change paths?
Would he embrace the interruption and follow where God was leading him? I’m sure this
was not in his 5-year plan. It probably wasn’t on Amos’s radar of possibilities for his life.
Isn’t that how God tends to work though? We are plugging along doing our thing when
He steps in and invites us to change course. We get to choose. We can keep to our
original path or accept the new way.
Amos chose to follow God. This did not bring confetti cannons. This did not rocket him
into popularity. This did not fill his storehouses with riches. This meant he left his home
and traveled to a place where no one wanted him around to tell people things they didn’t
want to hear. You see the people of Israel were doing their thing too. They had a plan.
They were waiting on the Day of the Lord! God was going to intervene on their behalf.
He was going to swoop in and save the day. And He was going to step in and make
some changes, but not like they thought.

God’s Plan

It’s true that the people surrounding Israel and Judah were doing some bad things and
God did intend to deal with them. Amos opened with this prophecy. (Perhaps God knew
he needed something to grab the Israelites’ attention before He shared more of what
was really on His heart.) However, Amos carried a message that God was more
focused on saving Israel from themselves than from their enemies. You see, the things
they had chosen to do had led them far from Him. They had found some comfort, some
wealth, and some religion. They went through the motions of worship, but their hearts
were disengaged. How could God know this? Well, He, of course, could look into their
hearts, but their actions also proved the conditions of their hearts, as they always do.
Israelites were treating people badly. They weren’t helping those that needed help. In
fact, they weren’t even noticing.
But God did. And because He loved them, he had to do something.
So, God sent Amos to tell them about it. Amos told them that God was going to
intervene, but that they weren’t going to like it. They needed discipline and God was
getting ready to dish it out. Dark times were ahead. Pain and suffering would be
inflicted. Destruction of their whole way of life was headed their way. All of this because
they had chosen to go their own way instead of God’s. Here we find ourselves back
where we started in Amos 3:6: “Does disaster come to a city unless the Lord has
planned it?”

God was planning disaster to come to an Israelite city. This city held His children. Those
He loved beyond measure. We can look at this as cruel punishment, but we’d be
missing something: the character of God. God is love. His desire is for His people to
live. Amos 5:6 tells us how to do that: “Seek the Lord and live.” The truth is God loved
His people too much to let them continue down this road that led them further and
further away from Him. He had tried other ways to get their attention and invited them to
return to Him. They failed to listen and change course. That was their choice.

Our Choice

Sometimes we fail to listen as well. We fail to change course at the interruption and
invitation of God to do so. And sometimes people we love choose to keep doing their
thing even when God has prompted us, like Amos, to point them to truth and life.
I don’t know exactly how Amos dealt with that. He did what God called him to do. He
spoke the very words God gave him to speak. He traveled into unfamiliar and possibly
hostile places to bravely share truth. And maybe it was easier to speak to strangers.
These were people that God loved dearly, but Amos didn’t really know. What if the
people we’re called to share visions and words with are those we share a home with
every day?
God called me to adopt, to take some of those strangers and bring them into my home
and love them like He did. I embraced that interruption and followed His lead. Some
people think that adoption is simply generous and beautiful, but I think those people
haven’t actually adopted. There is grace and beauty, but trauma is commonplace in the
land of adoption. Rejection and hostility find their way into the home in which you hoped
love could be enough. The children in my care had no say in what happened to them in
the first years of their lives. They didn’t choose for traumatic experiences to override
God’s plan for their brain development. Yet, the possibility remains to move toward
healing even though it requires loads of hard work. God’s invitation still stands; anyone
can return to Him. He calls to each of us, “Seek me, and live.” (Amos 5:4)

My Idea of Love

When I was little, I played with dolls and dreamed of being a mom. My journey to
motherhood was long and arduous, perhaps preparing me for what lay ahead. I
imagined a world in which love felt like a pit of Squishmallows. I would jump in, and it
would envelop me with cushy softness. However, as I stepped into parenting, I quickly
realized that was not the case. It was more like a ninja course, and it required sure

footing and constant vigilance. I had to be firmly standing on the cornerstone of Christ
because life would be full of unexpected storms. It also required armor to bravely step
into another person’s hurt and speak truth and life. There are moments of Squishmallow
bliss, but parenting often feels more like hugging a sea urchin. Love can cause
callouses and wounds, but that doesn’t mean it’s not worth it. And it doesn’t mean you
give up. Love means trying again and again and making hard choices in the face of
seemingly insurmountable challenges.
I also don’t know how God felt when he chose to make hard choices that effected His
children. He loved Israel. I know that. He also chose to make hard calls when others
suffered at their hands. I can relate to that. When children in my home chose to inflict
pain on others, it broke my heart. When they entertained homicidal ideations, the
danger was real. Something had to change; hard calls had to be made. Those included
emergency room visits, psychiatric inpatient stays, partial programs, residential
treatment facilities, and group homes. Extremely hard calls, especially when you love
your kid. Yet, there were other children in the home; I loved them too. Their lives
mattered, just like the poor being oppressed in Israel at the time of Amos. God loved
them too.

God’s Idea of Love

Just like God would go to extreme lengths to win back the heart of His children, He
would do the same for mine. That included planning some disasters. Always at the root
of such awful circumstances is His goodness. He will use whatever means necessary to
reach our hearts, to turn us away from death and back to life with Him.
Now, admittedly, I’m not God and I haven’t always make perfect decisions. I do my best
to bravely navigate the disasters that God plans. I do have peace about following God
through unimaginable horrors. I also find comfort in the fact that God shows love
through discipline and making hard calls for His own children. All of my children are
alive today, even though there were some days I wasn’t sure that would be the case.
They don’t all live with me, but some do. There are years of trauma that occurred in our
home. Some of which I may never know, because even after years of feeling safe there
are still things coming to light. I do know that we all have the choice to return to God and
move toward healing. And it’s up to us to make that choice.
In Amos 5, God describes to His children how to return to Him and find life. He speaks
of great sorrow at how they have treated their fellow human beings and especially their
pretense and hypocrisy of religion (vs. 21-23). God doesn’t want them going through the
motions, He desires their hearts. “Instead, I want to see a mighty flood of justice, and
endless river of righteous living. (vs. 24)” says God to all of us. For though we have to
make hard calls sometimes when it comes to those we love, we are all only able to

change our own hearts. That is truly brave. To recognize where we’ve veered off, to
seek the Lord and return to Him, this is where we discover how to truly live. That is our
choice: to embrace the interruption and correct our course.

St. Croix: the gift, book 3 of the series

 Book 3 launch scheduled for August 30, 2025 on Amazon. We are also offering free eBook St. Croix: through the wall from August 29, 2025 through September 2, 2025.

https://www.amazon.com/St-Croix-Through-William-Wright/dp/1735752266

Book #3

                                                            The final storm

Book #1

In the beginning

Book #2

The great escape

braveknightwriters.com

Stepping into God's Plan with Courage

 

Stepping into God’s Plan with Courage
Friday, August 1, 2025 by C. Joy Pierce

I’ve always loved music; notes carry me as I go throughout each day. So when God asked me to step into music, the answer was an easy yes, right? No. Not as simple as anyone can imagine. Some people may say it’s our calling to do this or that, but my music instructor Will B. Smith II put it more simply: “Our calling is to make Jesus known and bring glory to His name.” God has blessed us with gifts to make His kingdom greater. Living in a way where our calling is to make Jesus known is a less complicated way of thinking. Making mistakes? We’ve all messed up, many times. Feeling unworthy? I feel that way too. God’s word says, “The LORD your God is among you, a warrior who saves. He will rejoice over you with gladness. He will be quiet in his love. He will delight in you with singing.” - Zephaniah 3:17

It’s easy to be silenced by the noise all around us. We may hear from ourselves or others that we’ll never be good enough. Or we may want to stay in the tempting comfort zone. The hard part is that we are often criticized by those who matter to us the most. The ones who are supposed to support us through thick and thin sometimes let us down.

I’ve been blessed to have many great influences in my life, which has taught me a lot. I’ve had my times of being pushed out of the nest so I could learn how to fly, and eventually soar. Think of the eagles, designed by God to rise above the storms, to be safe from dangers and obstacles. I like to think of fledging out of the nest, learning to fly.

We can see the small bits and pieces as God reveals. We can hear His voice when we are still. When the storm comes, our Heavenly Father will help us rise above it all. We will experience the storm but come out better because of our ability to hear and see God. “Now to him who is able to do above and beyond all that we ask or think according to the power that works in us—to him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever, Amen.” - Ephesians 3:20-21

Mustering the courage to lead worship at church is not through me or about me in any way. I once heard it said like this, “I’m not confident in myself, I am confident in God.” So the path we take to gain courage is by believing in the God of possible. I can’t do anything on my own strength, but trust in the One who can. Psalm 57:7 says, “My heart is confident God, my heart is confident. I will sing; I will sing praises.”

The journey to becoming a member of the worship team has been long. This dream has bubbled inside of me for many years. Learning to accept correction, learning to fall, learning to get back up again, and learning to be strong are all parts of the process.

The lesson that has captivated me the most is, “Worship leaders are ushers, they lead you to your place (praising in spirit, in truth), and step out of the picture.”- Will B Smith II.

Acknowledging my participation on the worship team is not shining a spotlight on me and that I’m just a guide is what beckons me forward. The Bible tells us that people of worship were put in the front (Psalm 68:25, 2 Chronicles 20:21). When I think about the power of worship and praise, 2 Chronicles 20 comes to mind. King Jehoshaphat faced a huge obstacle. Three different armies had banded together to try and take his kingdom down. The first thing Jehoshaphat did was pray. Then God told him to march into battle as victors because He was going to win this battle. God is present in our times of trouble, and in our weaknesses. He’s fighting and winning our battles. They’re His.

If the hard part about God’s plan is that it seems impossible, most likely it's bigger than you. There are many examples in the Bible of unlikely leaders. Take Gideon for example, he was literally in hiding. He did not want to show his face at all. But an angel appeared to him and called him a mighty warrior of God! He ended up leading an army of 300 men and through God won the victory. There are many, many other examples of other people just like this in the Bible. I have heard it said that “God doesn’t call the qualified, he qualifies the called.”

We shouldn’t miss out on the amazing opportunities that God has for us. There is freedom in obedience. Would Moses have gotten to use his staff in the parting of the Red Sea? Would Noah have gotten to build an ark that took over 100 years to build and witness animal kinds walk onto the boat two-by-two? Would Mary have gotten to give birth to and raise the Son of God? If they hadn’t stepped out in obedience, they probably would’ve missed out on the miraculous that took place in their lives. “Now if you will carefully listen to me and keep my covenant, you will be my own possession out of all the peoples, although the whole earth is mine.” - Exodus 19:5

If you are interested in stepping out into God’s plan, pray this prayer with me:

Heavenly Father, I want to be on fire for You. I don’t want to lean on my understanding; I am choosing to trust You. May I make You the center of my life and stand on Your word. You are my firm foundation. I long to be Your hands and feet. Guide my steps and lead, I will follow. When I pass through deep waters, the fire, the storms, I know You will be with me. Sometimes we will walk on water, sometimes we will make it to the top of the mountain, and when I sink, You are right there to lift me up. Lord, make my ways straight, keep my eyes on You. When I seek You, let me find You. Use me to bring glory to Your name. Help me to plant seeds in the lives of other people and make Your kingdom greater. Humble me when my pride gets in the way. I want to make You famous. May everything I do not be about myself, but about You.

In Jesus’ Name I pray, Amen.

Step out into this beautiful journey. Jesus is calling you, where endless possibilities await.