I have self published several books. Briefly this consists of
writing the book and creating the book interior style. It means creating a cover
for the book in Photoshop. Being a self-publisher also means exporting the
interior and cover files in a format that can be uploaded to a publishing
website.
I write and edit my documents in Microsoft Word and then import
them into Adobe ‘InDesign’. InDesign is a powerful software program that
combines word processing and graphics. I am “self taught”. I unfortunately know and use very few of
InDesign’s features. One important consideration is the stability of the document. Will the document retain the formatting,
fonts, and graphic placement when exported to another program/format? The
stability of the document is based on what are called “presets”. This is
similar to laying a good foundation on which to build a house. The fact is that
there is no “work-around” and no retrofit when problems arise. I have started
over too many times because I failed to learn the rules.
Presets allow for
style consistency and format stability. For example there should be as few
paragraph returns as possible in a document. They should not be used to create
extra white space in which a graphic is inserted. Tabbing at the beginning of a
new paragraph should be an entire document preset. If it is not, the paragraph
tabs may occasionally disappear when the document is exported.
What is most maddening is graphics that move to other
locations in the document. Sometimes the graphics disappear entirely or drift
on top of text. This is dealt with by using a preset for text flow that allows
for text changes that won’t affect the graphic. In short, there are rules that
must be followed in constructing a document that will allow it to keep the
formatting stable even when exported to other programs.
A Word document can be exported to a portable document
format (PDF) and keep the formatting because it has essentially become a kind
of photograph in PDF. All of the work-arounds are hidden. Don’t try converting
that same document to a mobi file. The proof in document stability is when the original
document is exported to a mobi file (Mobipocket eBook file) and retains the
formatting. Without the proper presets the document interior characteristics
become corrupted and and its stability is ruined.
I have been
discussing rules, presets, instability, loss of formatting and my frustrations.
The simple fact is that without proper instruction, my experience has been
trial and error. Many of my work arounds have been counterproductive in the
long run.
So Dale, where are
you going with all of this publication jargon? What does this have to do with
Christology? Christ is not only the Word but also the “preset”. We have the
basic rules (doctrine) to follow as Christians. We are given the mind of
Christ. It is through his still small voice that we honor those rules and guide
our decisions and lives.
The Christian and the church need to learn the program.
Christianity is powerful and robust. There is only one version. It is Christ “1.0”. Changing the Christology does not make the program more robust. He is God. He
is the only way to God. He is also a human. He died on the cross to save us
from sin and eternal damnation. He rose again and ascended into Heaven.
In a church, when this Christology is removed, the truth
moves around like graphics in a poorly formatted document. The document
(message) loses its coherence. The message is no longer exportable. Evangelism
suffers. All of the work-arounds (other gospels) make up a patchwork of patches
that conflict with and contradict one another.Without Christ there is no message
and no message to be communicated. Christ is our Savior, Lord and only Preset.
