The Whole Truth

An Interview with PRESIDING BISHOP J. DREW SHEARD

TheWholeTruth recently sat downwith Presiding Bishop Sheard todiscuss his brand new, inspiring compilation of daily devotionals entitled, Say It.Tell It. Live It. Bishop Sheard reflects on the success of Holy Con - vocation 2023. We sincerely appreciate the Presiding Bishop’s time, as well as his candid spirit, as he shares his insights with all of us.

TWT: Bishop Sheard, can you give us insight into the evolution of your journey as a writer, and your most recent installation, Say It. Tell It. Live It.?

Bishop Sheard: First, let me say that people kept prophesying that I would write some books. I would hear them but would just keep on going; I wouldn’t give those prophetic utterances much value. The first book, Hang in There, is the phrase I use as my tag line.When I text, I end with “Hang in there.” I’ve been doing it for years, so I moved into writing something about that.There’s also a book that will come out later that I’ve been working on for 10 to 15 years - Just Because I’m Called - but I haven’t finished that one; it’s just a long process. With my second published book, A BoutWith Doubt, I had some challenges, and I began to just write and pull some sermons together. My third book, Say It.Tell It. Live It. has been a journey to where I am now. I had to speak that thing - you have to speak it into existence:

SAY IT - I say it to myself… ‘You know it’s going to work.’

TELL IT - Then I had to start telling how it was going to work.Write the vision and make it plain… I had to tell it.

LIVE IT - The more challenging part of doing something like this is that you have to be the first partaker.That’s where life allows us to impart what was said earlier.You live this life, indeed, by the words you are saying to yourself, then tell others.The live-it part is where you get the victory.

TWT: Many authors create titles with 5 steps to this, or 8 steps to that. It sounds like a three-step process that simplifies the road to victory.

Bishop Sheard: Yes, you have to take some steps if you are going to be successful in this life. Way back when I was a little boy, I had a plan.You have to work that plan and then you see that plan come to fruition.

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