Petra, An Unbroken Legacy with Lisa Dorsey

Dr Lisa Dorsey's website
Mistletoe @ Christmas Tree Lodge  (Text Jan at the top of the show notes with your email to request an autographed copy of her book. $10 + shipping)
Jan's website

Ever wonder about what the life of Paul (aka Saul of Tarsus) was really like?

What if you could go there through a book?

An award-winning historical fiction book called Petra, an Unbroken Legacy.

Lisa’s expertise includes writing, consulting, speaking, education, mentoring and strategic planning.

She was born and raised in New York city and now resides in Southern California with her husband Charles.

She has four children, one daughter-in-law, and four adorable grandchildren.

She currently serves in ministry with her husband.

For twenty-eight years, she owned and operated a business in the healthcare industry.

 Lisa’s focus is to help women in ministry, to find their identity, step into their purpose and own voices using her training, mentorship, community and story.

She paves the way for new and emerging women leaders.

She works with seasoned women leaders to help repurpose their vision. Through the regenerating and transforming power of the Holy Spirit.

She uses her life experiences to write compelling stories that reveal the saving grace of Jesus Christ and offer solutions to problems women face in ministry, in their personal and professional lives.

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Transcript

[00:03] Jan Johnson: Welcome to Just Talking about Jesus. I'm Jan Johnson, a seasoned believer who loves relationships and, you know, just talking about Jesus. We are so fortunate today to have Dr. Lisa Dorsey with us.

[00:16] Welcome, Lisa.

[00:18] Lisa Dorsey: Thank you. Thank you for having me. I appreciate it.

[00:21] Jan Johnson: Yeah, thank you. I'm really interested in your topic. You had, you wrote a book, right? Is this your first book?

[00:30] Lisa Dorsey: It is my first fiction book. I have some academic work that I co-authored, but this is my first fiction book.

[00:39] Jan Johnson: Very good. Yeah. How was that for you writing? You get your idea and then where do you go? How do you get decide how to write?

[00:48] Lisa Dorsey: Well, I wanted to write a nonfiction book, actually. I wanted to start with a Bible study, but I had this series of dreams and that's how this book came about.

[01:01] And my dreams are those very vivid dreams. And so it was kind of like you're in a movie theater and it's playing on a cinematic screen.

[01:11] And so over About a week, seven to 10 days, I was dreaming like almost every night and I had to wake up and I would write and journal down everything that was in the dream.

[01:22] And then I set it aside. I actually set it aside for a couple of years because I was still working full time. I was running a healthcare business at the time, and I just didn't have time.

[01:34] So when my husband and I sold our healthcare company and I, I say I retired, but writing a book is not retiring. Okay. So I guess I semi-retired and then picked back up these journals and started pondering as to what I was supposed to do with this dream that I had.

[01:55] And it really played out even as I wrote in my journal because I didn't go back to it, but as I'm reading these journal entries, I'm like, this really reads.

[02:04] Not only does it read like a book, it reads like a movie script.

[02:08] And so that's how the book was birthed. And that's why I went with fiction before I wrote my nonfiction book and now I'm doing a sequel. So it's going to be a trilogy.

[02:21] So I, I can't even get to my nonfiction book until I finish the trilogy.

[02:26] Jan Johnson: I don't know. You can do like I do, I set a timer. I do an hour on my Bible study, an hour on my fiction. Yes, yes, yes. A couple hours.

[02:36] Two or three or four on podcasting.

[02:39] Lisa Dorsey: Right, right.

[02:42] Jan Johnson: For those who have to have a multiple plate spinning at the same time. What's the title?

[02:48] Lisa Dorsey: I.

[02:49] It's that it's Patron Unbroken Legacy. And I was going to say I actually tried that, but switching from this fiction, you know, world building and then putting my head space in something that's like Bible study, like really intense.

[03:05] It's quite difficult. It's not as easy as it might sound. That's true, but.

[03:10] Jan Johnson: But your Bible study would be related to your topic in your fiction book?

[03:17] Lisa Dorsey: Yes and no. I have one Bible study that's almost finished, and I really want to. I don't. Well, I'm praying because I'm not sure if the Lord would have me to do my Bible study related to Petra.

[03:28] Because there's some real themes that are in there that speak to what we go through in our walk with Christ, that even non-believers, these are the same issues that non-believers go through as well.

[03:40] Just daily dealing with life, finances, marriage, raising children, grief, you know, lot death and loss. So the themes in the book, I could literally do Bible study from it and how the Lord has given it to me is that we talk a lot about self-care.

[04:03] And self-care is really, as I was doing, you know, really in-depth scripture reading the scripture of over self-care and especially when I'm writing these characters, trying to make the characters come alive, trying to make them jump off the page at the reader to capture the reader's attention.

[04:23] And I thought about, you know, self-care is really soul care. And when you think about soul care, soul care has to do with taking care of not only your body, you.

[04:35] Because you, you're. We're a tripart, right? We're body with soul or spirit. So we, we have to take care of our body as well as our spirit. But our soul consists of our heart, right?

[04:46] Our emotions. And we know that. I believe it's in Proverbs where it says that the, the issues of life, they flow from the heart.

[04:55] And so we need to learn how to take care of our heart, our emotions. Guard your heart, right? And then our mind. Guard your mind.

[05:05] We have to be careful what we see, what we read, what we take in and be able to really guard our mind so that we don't have strongholds in our life.

[05:17] The enemy likes to put strongholds in our life to make us just stop, not move forward, make us feel defeated, make us feel like we're less than what God says we are.

[05:30] And we know that we are what our Bible says we are. And so soul care is also about decision making, right? And so how do we make decisions that line up with the word of God?

[05:41] So just this whole idea of self-care is soul care.

[05:46] And so as I wrote the book, I wrote the characters with these themes in mind. Okay, so what were they going through in the book and how did they navigate through the challenges in their life and relationships?

[06:00] How did they deal with the death of a loved one so that it could resonate with us and so that we could find Jesus in the pages of not only the book, but we find Jesus in the pages of Scripture.

[06:15] Right. And so my book touches on those points. It's not meant to be preachy by any means because it has intrigue and romance and adventure in it, but it's like telling the story of a particular person and that person just so happens to be a person of faith.

[06:32] So you're going to have those faith-based themes in there and you're going to have reference to Jesus and the God of the Bible. But it's not meant to be like a preachy book, but it's.

[06:43] But it's the life of a person and how that person navigated through life challenges to come to be able to move forward.

[06:52] Jan Johnson: Exactly. Yeah. That I think you're overarching theme and thinking of how you are going to relate that people relate to what characters have gone through in the Bible.

[07:08] That's what my Bible study that I'm writing is. It's called Journeys Hand in Hand with Jesus. The members are writing down their paths that they've gone through in their lives with an outline of this happened.

[07:25] And because that happened, such and such happened which resulted in the chain of events of your life. And had this not happened, this probably wouldn't have happened, or you wouldn't have.

[07:35] Lisa Dorsey: Right, right.

[07:36] Jan Johnson: But then I compare it to Ruth and Jonah and Joseph and David and all the things that God taught them. And then you go back into your own journey and see where those lessons were and how.

[07:48] Lisa Dorsey: Yes, yes.

[07:49] Jan Johnson: The same God that was with those characters are with you.

[07:52] Lisa Dorsey: That's right. That's right. And that actually is another goal of mine is that I want, I want to get people to love, have a love for reading the word of God and not to find it so daunting and challenging that these are real people who dealt with real situations.

[08:10] And God didn't spare us. You know, he didn't spare us. He told us about, you know, David's adultery and, and you know, his murdering her husband. You know, the Lord did not spare us anything because he wanted to show us about his grace and his mercy and forgiveness and reconciliation and salvation and, and we all need those.

[08:33] We all encounter situations in our life where we can relate to each of those characters. You, you mentioned Jonah, you know Jonah, he was just so self-righteous, right. He didn't want Nineveh saved.

[08:45] God wanted to save Nineveh. He didn't want it. He was running in the opposite direction. Right.

[08:51] And so there's just, there's something in there for everyone.

[08:55] But we can read, especially in the Psalms. We just, I love reading the Psalms alongside the life of King David in the book of Kings and Chronicles, so. Because if you know what he's going through when he's writing that psalm and you put it together with what he was going through, whether he was running from Saul or whatever he was doing it, that psalm comes alive to you and you're like, oh my gosh, okay, now I understand, I understand what that psalm means.

[09:23] And then you can better apply it to your own life. So I want people to have a love for the word of God.

[09:30] Jan Johnson: Exactly, exactly. And, and every character is flawed.

[09:36] Lisa Dorsey: Yes, yes. Character.

[09:38] Jan Johnson: But Jesus.

[09:39] Lisa Dorsey: That's right. That's right. And my, and my flawed. One of my flawed characters in the book is the Apostle Paul. Right. Saul.

[09:49] And we just, we, we know that with fiction we have some literal literary, literary license to make the story evolve. But what I've done is in my book I put a list of characters and in that list of characters I put like key scriptures that might pertain to their role in the novel.

[10:08] Because I want to somehow be able to let people know what fact is or where fact starts and, or where fiction is and then where fact starts and where fiction goes back.

[10:19] So you know, we, I do, in his journey to Damascus, on his road, his conversion, when I put him with this Arab family in the book of Petra, because people say, well, where did you get the name Petro from?

[10:34] Well, Petra is the geographical location.

[10:37] And so Petra is modern day or was Arabia was called in biblical times, Arabia or the Nebatean Kingdom. And so it's modern day Petra. And so that's how I came up with the name for the book.

[10:50] But Paul or Saul, we talked about his thorn in the side in the book. And so we know the Bible isn't explicit about what that thorn in his side was.

[11:01] And so I create this story around what his, the thorn of his side could have been. And for me, in the fiction part of the book, it was that he had to grapple with the fact that he persecuted and partook in the death of Christians.

[11:18] Jan Johnson: Yeah, yeah. And that makes perfect sense because that's something he would be. No matter forgiven or not, you still are gonna Always, you know, have that.

[11:30] Lisa Dorsey: Right, right.

[11:32] And, and imagine, imagine how that can speak to someone who is in jail, who committed murder, and they find Jesus. Right. And now how, how do they, how do they live their life among Christians as well?

[11:49] We know that the Christian community was like taken aback by Saul. Right. They didn't know whether to believe.

[11:57] They were scared of him. Right. And so those parallels, you could use that to help someone who is in that situation, someone who finds Christ, who has a past that we would see as so horrific.

[12:10] You know, David's past of being unfaithful to his wife and having her husband murdered. I mean, these are, these are really tough issues. These are real life issues that people face today.

[12:24] And that's why I said the Bible is timeless and the Bible is relevant and it's. It has something for everyone.

[12:32] Jan Johnson: Yeah, yeah, yeah. All places, all times, all peoples.

[12:37] Lisa Dorsey: Yes, yes.

[12:39] Jan Johnson: Yeah, yeah. Well, you had to do a lot of research for that.

[12:43] Lisa Dorsey: Yes, I did. It's. The book is considered what the genre, historical fiction. And then the subgenre is biblical fiction. So, yes, I had to do a lot of research.

[12:53] It's a dual timeline. So I was doing research back from the 1st century and also the 21st century. So you'll find out a lot about the Nabataean kingdom. King Aretas IV was the king of that kingdom.

[13:09] He was listed or named in the Bible.

[13:12] And so when Paul actually had to flee from the Nebuchadnezzar kingdom, he went back to Damascus. And it says in the Bible that King Erectus had emissaries or people there who were waiting to kill Saul.

[13:29] And so we also know that King Aretis and the Nean community had some issues with, with Herod because Herod actually married his daughter and then put her aside for Herodias.

[13:43] Jan Johnson: Yeah.

[13:44] Lisa Dorsey: Which was Philip's wife. So, yeah, there was a lot of research, and it was fun research. It really was.

[13:51] Jan Johnson: It kind of gives me a rabbit hole, doesn't it?

[13:53] Lisa Dorsey: It does. It really does.

[13:55] And then I had to come to the 21st century and I did a lot of research about Christian Arabs, both Christian Arabs who were Christians in the first century, and then Christian Arabs that are present in present day Jordan in Petra and in other Middle Eastern countries.

[14:13] Like, like Syria has a large number of Christian Arabs in that area as well.

[14:22] And then there's a lot of underground Christians in the Middle East. So it was a lot of research.

[14:28] Jan Johnson: Yeah. Oh, gotcha. Yeah. Your book could be far reaching, I think.

[14:34] Lisa Dorsey: Yes, yes.

[14:35] Jan Johnson: Yeah. Well, I'm anxious to Read it and thank you. What's your testimony? Tell me.

[14:42] Lisa Dorsey: Oh, I was saved at a very early age. 13 years old. But I was that type of child that was just very curious about the world around me.

[14:53] You know, if I'd look up at the sky and I'd ask, why is the sky blue? And if you didn't give me a good enough answer, I'd ask you the same question a different way until I could get an answer that made sense to me.

[15:08] I was very much into superheroes, space movies, anything that would help me to understand the universe that we live in.

[15:18] Creation was just a wonder to me. Just, you know, looking at the beauty of God's creation. The mountains, the depths of the ocean, the expanse of the universe, of the sky, the stars, the sun, the moon.

[15:30] I mean, you know, I'm trying as a child to understand all these things and I knew that there was something that was bigger than myself.

[15:38] Jan Johnson: Was that something your, your parents pointed out to you? I mean, nature and things all the time?

[15:45] Lisa Dorsey: No, actually, not at all.

[15:47] No. I grew up Catholic and although I'm non-denominational to, to this day, I'm, I'm non-denominational. But my Catholic roots, what it did was it instilled a deep spirituality into me and, and, and it gave me the safe space to ask questions about who God is and ask questions, the why questions.

[16:13] And so I don't know, I, I turned to superheroes and space movies, to trying to find the answers, right. Because I didn't know how to read the Bible. I mean I was being taught the Bible, but I really didn't know how to read the Bible and how to equip, waited.

[16:28] So when I did come to the Lord, when I had that experience with Jesus and I did start reading the Bible and did start putting together my curiosity with what I could see and what I'm reading and with that just sense of I, I know that there is a God.

[16:46] It just came alive to me. It's like when I read the Psalms and it talks about, about just the beauty of God's creations and it, and it lists animals and it lists the birds and how God cares, you know, about us.

[17:00] If he cares about the sparrows that fall, how much more does he care about us than about the great expanse? And you know, it just, the Bible came alive to me.

[17:10] It was like a living. When it talks about the word of God being a living, a two-edged sword living, that's how it was burning inside of me.

[17:18] Jan Johnson: And even when you 13, when you were young, you yes.

[17:22] Lisa Dorsey: Yes. Yes.

[17:23] Jan Johnson: Yeah.

[17:24] Lisa Dorsey: Yes.

[17:25] Jan Johnson: Yeah.

[17:25] Lisa Dorsey: And so I. You know, all these years, I still serve the Lord to this day with the same passion and the same inquisitive mind to want to ask questions of the text.

[17:36] I'm. I'm not afraid to ask questions of the text, you know, what do you mean, Lord? What are you trying to say? You know, why did this happen? Why did you allow that to happen?

[17:47] And I really learned that deeply in the book of Lamentations and the book of Psalms. I've learned that God gives us permission to grieve. And lamentations, he gives us permission to ask those questions, to grieve, to tell them about our doubts and our fears.

[18:08] And He's a good father and he's a good listener.

[18:11] And I just love how David does that in the Psalms. And it always comes back. He'll tell his doubts. He'll tell on himself. Right? He'll tell. He'll say, you know, I'm.

[18:22] I'm mad about this. I'm angry. I don't understand why this is happening. How could you allow this to happen, Lord? But he always comes back to the sovereignty of God and that God is the creator of heaven and earth and the universe and everything in it.

[18:39] And he knows all things.

[18:42] Jan Johnson: Yeah.

[18:42] Lisa Dorsey: And then you go to Paul, where we know all things work together for good to those who love the Lord and according to his purpose we have.

[18:49] Jan Johnson: To come back to God is way bigger than I am.

[18:53] Lisa Dorsey: Yes. Yes.

[18:54] Jan Johnson: More than I do in my little, you know, tunnel vision of things. And that's where trust comes in the cab. Yeah. I've gotten through some stuff.

[19:05] Lisa Dorsey: Dates.

[19:06] Jan Johnson: Last few years, too. It's just like. Okay, I'm just going to keep trusting you, Lord, because you know the end of the story. And then it's happened yet, so I'm just gonna.

[19:15] Lisa Dorsey: Right? Yeah.

[19:17] Jan Johnson: Yeah.

[19:18] Lisa Dorsey: And the process, that story, all the grief and the walls that we hit sometime and the disappointments that we have, that's all a part of that story. And we. We can't leave that out of the story because it's a part of.

[19:35] It's a part of the redemption story, and it's a part of God's love and a part of God's grace and how he wants to grow our capacity for his glory.

[19:46] And his glory is something. We're God's glory carriers, and we can only hold a portion, a small piece of God's glory, but he wants to grow our capacity for it.

[19:59] And so these trials and these tribulations come, but they don't come to break us, they come to for our capacity to carry his glory.

[20:08] Jan Johnson: Well, and if we don't go through, you know, we're just going every day and everything's all hunky dory and just fine and whatever, we're not as apt to be talking to God as much.

[20:19] Lisa Dorsey: You know, Very much so.

[20:21] Jan Johnson: Be trying to understand his nature more or to come close or to feel his comfort.

[20:28] Lisa Dorsey: That's true. That's true. We would become self-sufficient, and we would even as much as try and think that we're gods.

[20:38] Jan Johnson: Yeah.

[20:38] Lisa Dorsey: You know a lot of what we're seeing in, in, in our new age material that we see nowadays.

[20:45] Jan Johnson: Yeah.

[20:46] Lisa Dorsey: Very much so. Pointing to our own self-sufficiency. And I thank God as a little child that I always knew, I always knew that there was something bigger than myself.

[20:55] Jan Johnson: Yeah. Yeah. Same here. The same. Yeah. And it's just so neat that we get to experience that.

[21:02] Lisa Dorsey: Yes, yes.

[21:04] Jan Johnson: And because of that we want to keep sharing it.

[21:06] Lisa Dorsey: Right, right.

[21:08] Jan Johnson: Yeah. So important to do that. Yeah. Where can people find your book?

[21:13] Lisa Dorsey: So the book has a website and it's WW Petra and Unbroken Legacy dot com.

[21:21] Jan Johnson: Okay, I will put links to that. And do you have a website too or.

[21:25] Lisa Dorsey: Yes, and that's drlisadorsey.com and Dr. Is spelled Dr. So it's not completely spelled out. So. Okay, Dr. And then Lisa Dorsey. Great.

[21:37] Jan Johnson: I'll put links to that as well in the show notes. And what would you like to leave the listeners with?

[21:45] Lisa Dorsey: I want to leave the listeners with this.

[21:48] That you, you are just a beloved of God. You are the apple of his eye.

[21:57] And as children of God we have taken on his righteousness.

[22:02] And don't allow this world. Don't allow the enemy of your soul. Don't allow your haters to make you believe that you're anything less than what God has said you are.

[22:16] And he will give you the strength through his spirit. His spirit will come to guide you and lead you into all truth. And he's an encourager. And he will encourage and guide you into all truth and righteousness.

[22:29] And you can do all things through Jesus Christ who strengthens you.

[22:33] Jan Johnson: Absolutely. I don't, I couldn't have said that better myself. That is wonderful. Thank you so much, Lisa.

[22:41] Lisa Dorsey: Thank you. Thank you for having me. I really appreciate it.

Winner of the American Fiction Awards

https://www.drlisadorsey.com/petra-book

https://www.drlisadorsey.com/

My expertise includes writing, consulting, speaking, educating, mentoring, and strategic planning. I was born and raised in New York City and now reside in Southern California with my husband Charles. My family consists of four children, one daughter-in-law, and four adorable grandchildren. My faith in God was established at an early age, and I continue to passionately serve the Lord today.

Growing up, I developed a passion for reading, writing, theatre, and the arts. Together, these forces sparked in me a compassion for people, and a desire to pursue higher education. I went on to become a registered nurse, and I earned a doctorate in Public Administration, and a PhD in Theology. I currently serve in ministry as a pastor alongside my husband and I have done so for over twenty years. For twenty-eight years, I owned and operated a business in the healthcare industry, and I continue to consult in this field.

I have recently returned to my passion as an author and entrepreneur, helping people to connect to hope in Jesus Christ. It is my desire to share with you my years of business and ministry experience, and to share my heart. My focus is to help women in ministry. I will help you find your identity, step into your purpose, and own your voice using high-level training, mentorship, community, and story.

I pave the way for new and emerging women leaders. I work with seasoned women leaders to help repurpose vision. I want you to experience the regenerating and transforming power of the Holy Spirit to regain the joy of ministry. I want to invest in you. I want to be a resource for you. I want to encourage and equip you to be a Formidable Woman of God.

I am currently working on two books due to release in 2024. The first is a biblical fiction novel, Petra: An Unbroken Legacy. The second is a bible study, The Making of a Deborah.

Hi, I am Lisa. For me, your development is personal!

After struggling for years to feel comfortable in my own skin, fearing rejection, overcoming feelings of inadequacy, and feeling all alone, I finally decided to do something about it! What started as a quest to conquer my own insecurities, has turned into a system that helps women step into who they are in Jesus, and confidently show up in their personal, and professional lives like never before.

1 on 1 mentoring

Leading with Grace online course

Speaker

I use my life experiences
 to write compelling stories…

that reveal the saving grace of Jesus Christ and offer solutions to problems that women face in ministry, and in their personal, and professional lives. I love writing Biblical Fiction because I believe it speaks to the deepest parts of the human soul and offers hope in God.

- Dr. Lisa Dorsey

I take Christian women on a journey to rise from the ashes of life's disappointments. I will walk alongside you to affirm your identity in Jesus Christ, help you discover your God-given purpose, and find your God-given voice. You will accomplish this through training, mentorship, story, and community. I provide practical strategies for personal and professional growth so you can thrive in ministry and leadership roles. I will connect you to hope in Christ, growth in faith, and a safe space in a faith community that cultivates soul prosperity. I want to help you confidently show up and show out for Jesus.