My Dad

I received a phone call from my uncle this last Sunday saying that my dad was in the hospital. Not the best of news, especially since 1. I don't know him very well, and 2. he doesn't yet know God.

My parents were divorced when I was six years old. My mother is happily remarried and I love my stepdad, but I still always longed for things to be made right in my relationship with my biological father. It's like the story is unfinished, there has been no conclusion. I knew a little bit about him, but not like a son should. My brothers and I grew up seeing him every three or four years, maybe. He wasn't there, and it seemed that he just wasn't into the "raising kid's thing". So, we learned to live like that, and life moved on. Well, I knew that I harbored resentment and was still angry at him, but I guess I realized this week that I just don't have time to hold grudges. He is not the healthiest 56 year old. I may not have too many more years to get to know him.

My brothers and I were able to take some time off work to make a trip to see him (12 hours on the road!), and we had a good time together. Thankfully, he did show a genuine desire to know us. He is doing better, and what we thought was kidney failure, probably isn't. I didn't know him as a child, but that is all he knew me as. This trip to see him has begun a new relationship, one where he knows me as a man, and I pray, a man of God.

Shhh…

I know I don't post much….try not at all, but maybe that'll change since I now have a laptop and actually feel like the writer I aspire to be.

So….I went to this website (faithwriters.com) to check out their weekly writing challenge and possibly enter. I saw the topic was "Shhh" and I thought that I had something that would work. After finishing it, I went to enter and found out that you now have to be a paying member to submit entries. Makes sense, but I'm just a bit bummed. Maybe I'll end up paying, but at least for now I can post my entry here on my blog (where sadly I know, only a handful of eyes will ever see).

Oh and just so ya know, they give you a topic and you can do ANYTHING with it. You can write a poem, a story, from any angle as long as it somehow has something somewhere to do with "Shhh". Creativity and uniqueness score high points in the judging as well as whether or not is a good read. Here it is:

 

Toby wished he didn't have to do this. There was a sense of pride in having to step up and provide for his momma, but it was times like this especially, and when he lay down at night, that Toby wished Dad were here.

The poor animal wailed and moaned as its blood pumped out of the wound in its neck. He hadn't meant for it to be painful. They just needed to eat. He put the bow away as he made his way towards the deer. It was a foal, a child like him. Where was its pa?

"Shhh…", he cried, "I'm so sorry." Toby spoke to the deer tenderly. It was with near hysteria that he repeated the refrain "sorry. I'm so sorry" until his heart burned within him and he was overcome.

"Why?!" he demanded, yelling into the empty woods until his throat burned raw. It had finally hit him… that he was alone. Mom was still here, but he had to be strong for her. Toby had no one in the world to be strong for him now. Why did things have to be this way? Why was this deer out alone? Why had they both been abandoned, easy prey for this world, Toby's tortured mind demanded to know, as he wept over this dying creature. He and momma had to eat, and he knew it would be hard, but not like this. Why couldn't it have been an easy kill, noiseless?

He saw no hope of comfort for himself, but offered to the deer as much as he could muster, drawing his knife from his belt to put an end to its suffering.

"Shhh. It'll be over soon. Shhh…", putting his tiny hands over its eyes, just like dad had done, Toby made the cut that brought relief to one and stole the innocence of another. The deer was the one who had lost its life today, but Toby knew that something in him had died as well.

This was a world gone mad, and Toby didn't know why.

My Son

I wrote this poem 3 years ago, came across it recently and after trying to tune it up I published it on Faithwriters.com. Here is a link to that poem.

http://faithwriters.com/article-details.php?id=101941

Blog Neglect

It is painfulyy obvious to me that my Blog has been neglected. Part of this is because I have been busy, but another substantial contributing factor would be the fact that I have neither a computer or the Internet.

In order to rectify this dilema I have purchased a computer and am getting the internet. As for the time problem, I'll just have to make some.

Will Post more.

Romans 8:1-3

Last night I turned in my Bible to Romans 8:1 and read to verse 3. God spoke to me as I read them.

Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set us free from the law of sin and death. For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did, sending His Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, as an offering of sin, He condemned sin in the flesh.

I was rejoicing in the knowledge that I am “covered” in Christ, and will never be condemned. But the Bible teaches that those who are not “in Christ Jesus” do await a condemnation. In Acts chapter seventeen, Paul warns of a day when God will judge the world according to His righteous standard. And in Ecclesiastes, we are told that everything we’ve done will be brought to light on the Day of Judgment. As humans “not in Christ”, we have the wrath of God abiding on us (John 3:36); a scary thought, but sobering and true.

As a child of God (John 1:12), however, I can rejoice because this condemnation will not befall me. The wrath that I have incurred, and the just punishment that I deserve, will not be meted out to me. Jesus died in my place (2Corinthians 5:21) and His righteousness was transferred to me. I took His place and He took mine. Then with my sin in His body, along with yours and all of humanities’, He died to defeat it and put an end to its hold on us. Three days later, He rose from the dead, conquering death, proving His Divinity and confirming the credibility of the message He had taught the past few years of His life on earth.

John 17:3- This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.

The law of sin and death is the law that says, “Because you have sinned, you must die.” This is a law that brings death to us. The Law condemns us, because we can’t live up to its perfect standards. We need the Spirit of life, a new law that God introduces, one that says, “If you repent and trust in Christ Jesus, I will look at you and see the righteousness of Jesus and not your filthy sinful self.” What we couldn’t do God did for us. His strength is a strength that stoops to conquer.

2,000 years ago, God did the unthinkable, and became one of us. The Creator of the Universe lowered Himself to become a human, with the sole intention of dying for us in order for our hell-bound souls to be redeemed. This wasn’t a “Plan B” either. He knew before He created us which direction we would take, and from the beginning, set in motion His plan to redeem us. We live on the finished side of that plan. Jesus has already come and paid our debt. He has conquered Death, Sin, and Hell, and now we have a choice before us. We all must make our own choice because, as humans, God made us all free moral agents. We have free will and will not be forced to make a choice for God.

Deuteronomy 30:15- See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil.

Joshua 24:15- Now therefore, fear the LORD, serve Him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the River and in Egypt. Serve the LORD! And if it seems evil to you to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.

There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus!

A testimony writen by Dr. Bob Moorehead

In 1980 a young man from Rwanda was forced by his tribe to either renounce Christ or face certain death. He refused to renounce Christ, and he was killed on the spot. The night before he had written the following commitment which was found in his room:

“I’m part of the fellowship of the unashamed, the die has been cast, I have stepped over the line, the decision has been made- I’m a disciple of Jesus Christ. I won’t look back, let up, slow down, back away or be still. My past is redeemed, my present makes sense, my future is secure. I’m finished and done with low living, sight walking, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tamed vision, worldly talking, cheap giving & dwarfed goals.

My face is set, my gait is fast, my goal is heaven, my road is narrow, my way is rough, my companions are few, my guide is reliable, my mission is clear. I won’t give up, shut up, let up until I have stayed up, stored up, prayed up for the cause of Jesus Christ.

I must go till He comes, give till I drop, preach till everyone knows, work till He stops me & when He comes for His own, He will have no trouble recognizing me because my banner will have been clear.”

I want this to be true of me too. This isn't usually preached in American pulpits. In America, pastors are more concerned about your finances than your soul, more concerned about preaching on the less offensive things of God, like "He loves you, and has a wonderful plan for your life!", without mentioning the reality of Hell, sin, and Judgement Day. Whats up with "Christian Careers"? Whatever happened to "sell all you have and come follow Me"? We have a window of opportunity now, as christians, to get the gospel out to save lost souls, and to live a life pleasing to God. The world too, has a window, and like ours, it is slowly closing. Theirs is a window to get saved, and ours a window to save and to "walk in a manner worthy of [our] calling".

Hebrews 12:1-2 says:

Thefore since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith, who for the joy set before Him, endured the cross, despising the shame and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

To run the race, fixing my eyes on Jesus, letting the cares of this world fade away as I contend for the faith, and press on towards the upward calling of God; this is what I want. It is so easy to lose sight of living for God, and in light of eternity, knowing that the only things that will last are the things of God. But this reality is open to us when we submerge oursleves in the Word of God.

What drove a man like Paul to consider all he had ever had in comparision to Christ, dung? The writers of the New testament wrote with a passion, they were sold out to advancing the cause of Christ: Evangelising the world, and making disciples. They vehemently opposed herectics who came in damaging the flock of God. Like shepherds, they were out to protect their flock while leading them to Pasture. We too can live the pages of the Bible in our lives now, just selling ourselves out as "bond-slaves" of God, as pilgrims and sojourners in this world; Ambassadors of another Kingdom on a rescue mission. Lets not let the illusion of our "modern" world fool us any longer. They dont have the answers, God does. They don't have hope, we do, and only in God.

Pray, and ask God how you can make this passion a reality in your life. Don't be afraid to be "radical" or thorough in your examination of what is and isn't a worthy investment of your time and energy. Jesus asked radicals things of His followers, and every time a large crowd began to follow Him, He would turn around and say something "radical" to seperate the "sheep" from the "goats". He would say, "If you don't hate your mother and father, you can't be My disciple." No one will get to Heaven and wish they had invested more of their time, energy, and resources into the world. In reality, it will be the opposite. We will wish we would have invested more into God's kingdom. We will be absent many crowns that we would have had to cast before His feet in gratitude for His sacrifice.

"I must go till He comes, give till I drop, preach till everyone knows, work till He stops me and when He comes for His own, He will have no trouble recognizing me because my banner will have been clear.” Amen!

Well, this is my second post. I’m trying to get the word out about my Blog. I feel a bit ridiculous though, like “Who cares to read what I have to say anyway?” but I have things that I feel need to be said. I have things on my heart that I need to express. And I have a hope that God will touch people’s lives through things written and discussed on this Blog.

I finished the first scene of Chapter One in my Fantasy Fiction book today. I know that it isn’t a lot, but it is definitely a milestone for me. I only started writing, like really writing, about a month ago. I had toyed with the idea for this book for a few years since it first came to me. But I got serious about it a couple months ago and have been “world building” and outlining a lot since. What I want to do is complete chapter one and send it in for a critique at The Christian Writers Guild (President- Jerry Jenkins, Coauthor of Left Behind). I plan on joining their guild and becoming an “apprentice” so that I can enter my novel in their 10,000-dollar contest. I know, I know, like I’m going to really win. But, hey, it would be awesome if I did. Plus it would be a guarantee that I get published. It’s all in God’s hands though. I fully believe that God put this book on my heart to write. If that is really true, then He will do with it what He sent it out to do. If all that means, is that my faith was built up in writing it, and it touched the lives of the people who read it out of print, then so be it. Naturally, I don’t feel that that will be the extent of it, but I can’t really know for sure, and as a mature follower of Christ, I need to be ready to accept that and see fruit where no other but the eyes of God can see.

I don’t think that I’ve really explained yet what my book is about. Let me see if I can sum it up without sounding too “korny”. In a Fantasy world of my own imagination (named Alorin-subject to change), where Elves are the chosen people of Elyon (God), and Dwarves are the result of the population of Alorin being divided, thousands of years ago, by God and given a different appearance (shortness of stature, etc…), mankind are people in appearance like you and me, and where Dragons are the equivalent of Angels an Demons in our own world, Mortimir (equivalent of Satan) has somehow found a way to eradicate from the memory of Humanity (In my novel, and I don’t think you will find it ANYWHERE else, “humans” and “humanity” refer to the people of Alorin as a whole. Besides appearance, there are no distinctions that make an Elve or Dwarve not human. All Dwarves, Elves, and Men are “human”), the existence of the One True God, and Eynon’s (equivalent of Jesus) sacrificial death and atonement for sin. The Elves (equivalent of the Jews), having been given a specific revelation of God as a people, unlike both Dwarves and Men (gentiles), have not forgotten of Elyon’s existence, but any memory for good or bad, of Eynon, the fulfillment of the prophecies promising a “Messiah”, that they had rejected as a people for the thousands of years since His ascension to Heaven, has been erased.

Both Dwarves and Men have forgotten of both entirely, but the equivalent of “Christians” have forgotten neither. It is a separation of the wheat and the tares for the believers, where the people who were never really “saved” forget of the existence of God altogether, and the ones who were truly “saved” are left in a world where no one has any remembrance of the God they worship- the God that gave them life.

The urgency to restore somehow this knowledge of God to bring people to a saving faith burns within the hearts of Gods people (referring now to the “Christians”). Alorin is torn by war, the “barrier” that separates the realm where Dragons dwell (Angels/Demons) and the people of Alorin, is failing, and the “antichrist” has now stepped on the scene at a time when Mortimir has erased from the memory of humanity the existence of the One True God and Eynon, His Son, who is the Savior of the world.

The story follows Ahaziah (prophet of Elyon), Sharon (Elven woman with unique abilities given by God- very vague, I know, but I don’t know how else to explain it just yet without taking forever), Rayn (an Elve/Man trying to obtain righteousness by the “Law”), Cathan (a Dwarve who teaches martial arts and philosophy at an orphanage in Aliel- a major trading city in Alorin), and Caius (a student under Cathan), as God brings them together to undo what has been done and to head the movement of what will become the underground “church”.

I’m fine with people not liking the premise of my book because they think that it is too much of an obvious allegory, but I would ask that they reserve their judgment until after they’ve read t. I believe that if handled properly, this could be done very well, and be used to open the eyes of many people to the things of God. Four years ago, I became a Christian through reading Christian fiction. Jerry Jenkins and Tim Lahaye have been criticized plenty for their work The Left Behind Series, but it had the power to forever change my life and bring me to the Cross where my sins were washed away. Four years from now, it is my hope that the same testimony will be given about these books, that their hearts were touched, lives changed, and eternal destinies secured in Heaven through reading my Novel.

I’m sorry if I got a bit carried away here in writing all this. As I am saving this now onto my computer, it is 1:23am. I am very tired. If anything is confusing about what I wrote, feel free to comment on it and I will do my best to explain.

Until Next Time…. God bless!

Arthur's Perspective

This will be my first Blog, and will be semi-short. I will be going by the name Arthur, and I live in Southern Nevada. Right now it is about 120 degrees outside. We had a little bit of rain this morning, but it couldn't last long.

I am a Christian, and have been one for 4yrs and 6 days now. When I was 15, I read the Left behind series by Jerry Jenkins. The Gospel was clearly presented in those books and when the characters all prayed to receive the Lord, I was touched. I knew that this was more than just some fictional book that I was reading; God was speaking to my heart. On July 14th, 2004 in South Elgin, Illinois (I was on vacation visiting my Grandma), in my Grandma's driveway, at about 6pm, I prayed to recieve the Lord. I had recognized my sinful condition before God, that He had every right to throw me away from Him, even a duty to do so because of His Holy character. I knew that by my sins I had made myself an enemy of God, but it was the kindness of God that led me to repentance. When I learned that God wanted nothing more than to pick me up and make me His son, to love me and have me love Him, I turned. I prayed to recieve Jesus as my Savior because He had provided the way for me to be saved (took my sins- and everyone else's too- on Himself, while on the cross). My life has never been the same since.

On later Blogs, I will write what God puts on my heart, including: Stories of God working in my life and other's lives around me and the world, tools on Evangelism and my desire to see "Interdenominational Evangelism Teams" spring up: uniting the Body of Christ to work together in love to fulfill the Great Commission, what God is doing in our start-up church in Laughlin Nevada named Living Water Outreach Ministry, etc...

Also, I hope to have alot of information on the Fantasy Fiction book that I am writing. The best way to classify the "genre" that I feel led to write in is "Biblical Speculative Fiction". I don't know where that term was coined, but having read its definition, I knew that it was what I was trying to do.

I love the idea of networking with christians of like-mind. Please, feel free to tell me what you think, Godbless you.

Unitil next time....