Hunted II is Available

Hey Friends, I am so excited to announce that Hunted: Hunters and Hunted (Book Two of the New Age of Hunters Series) Is now available in Kindle and Paperback edition. 

If you buy the Paperback, first, you can get the Kindle Edition for FREE. 

Admission to the Ark...

I recently went to see the Ark Encounter in Williamstown, KY, and I enjoyed the experience. Truly, as I considered a visual reminder of the story of Noah, I was surprised at the emotions that the experience elicited.

As I look back, I would say that it was the tickets that really bothered me.

It wasn't that the tickets were bad... they simply contained a story that many who visit the site probably ignore.

Picture yourself standing near the Ark... Not this new one, but Noah's Ark. You had been warned that God's wrath was imminent, but you had chosen to ignore it. Now the Earth was roiling with massive earthquakes as the fountains of the great deep were opened, and just possibly, it had started to rain as well. You are looking at the Ark, you desperately want to board, but it is too late. God has shut the door, and you cannot enter.

There were people who would have given anything for a ticket that would have gained them admittance... Or admittance for the children that they had wrongly taught to ignore God and to ignore God's commands.

As I looked down at our tickets, I was not only thinking about that, but also of the last days— when tribulations come, and men look suddenly to the God they have ignored. "Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me..." (Proverbs 1:28)

In the book of Thessalonians, Paul wrote this: "...because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness." (II Thessalonians 5:10-12)

God's judgement will come, sooner or later. What you must ask yourself is where you will stand when that happens.

Will you have a ticket, or be wishing that you had one? 

What are the Nephilim?

“There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.” (Genesis 6:4)

The Hebrew term that is translated as giants in this verse is נפילים
The English translation of this word is Nephilim

There is much controversy over this verse, and what it implies. Granted, all of this is speculation: I have no special insight into this subject. There are no angels whispering the secrets of God into my ears, (and personally, I believe that anyone who tells me they do is in need of therapy.)

There are two main lines of thought to this. First, that this was the Godly line of Seth that had intermarried with the worldly line of Cain. Nothing spectacular, just two lines of people.

My problem with that explanation is that it does not account for the influx of the Nephilim, or Giants.

Genetics show is that if two groups of people intermingle, they have, for all intents and purposes, normalish human babies. Not a race of Giants, much less, (as we see later in the verse) also producing ‘mighty men.’

Let me throw out a thought. Historically we have seen that humans have a tendency to elaborate on truths. The embellish truths to the point of absurdity at times… but there is always a basis for the truth.

Think of the pantheon of Greek and Roman gods and their ‘offspring.’ Stories of ‘mighty men’ that were the spawn of the ‘gods’ who procreated with mankind. Ludicrous fables? Maybe… but possibly grounded in a truth that is as old as the Earth itself.

The second line of thought extends from the term ‘sons of God’ which happens to be the same term that is used in Job 1:6 to refer to the angels, including Satan.

Back to genetics, we know that two humans will produce, (mutation aside) a normal human. But to produce a ‘race’ of superhumans? This would only be explainable by the influx of alternative DNA.

So what are the Nephilim? Did they stop at giants? Were they wiped out in the flood? Are they among us today?

Simple answer… they appear in fact after Noah’s flood. (Remember that David killed one?) I believe that Genesis 6:4 correlates that they were also mighty men… like Hercules, Achilles, or Perseus to name a few from Mythology.

But what about today?

As we consider modern society, we see that we have the same type of beliefs in certain races of immortals… Vampires, Werewolves and others of paranormal origin that could be the current iteration of the Nephilim…

But you will need to decide that for yourself.

Coming August 2016- Hunters and Hunted

Coming August 2016

Hunted: Hunters and Hunted

It’s been five months since Sean’s mother was brutally murdered by the Nephilim, and he’s getting tired of looking over his shoulder. He is still focused on revenge, but integrating with a new group of Hunters has complications that he could have never foreseen. Is his new home a place of refuge, or a place of danger?

Christian Fiction, Secular Fiction, and Fiction for Christians

To set the pace for this post, let me start with a thesis statement: The purpose of Christian

Fiction is to tell a story that will honor and glorify God, point someone to God (either in the way of Salvation or a closer walk with Him,) as well as entertain. The purpose of Fiction for Christians is to entertain in a manner that is consistent with Christian values and beliefs.

So to begin, let us first focus on Christian Fiction. What does the phrase Christian Fiction mean? Is it just about having a religious theme?

I see Christian Fiction similar to the parables that Christ told. What is the difference between a parable and a regular story? A parable had an end result, an obvious lesson that the listener/reader was able to extrapolate that pointed to Christ. (Whether Salvation, Christian living, etc...) In Christian Fiction the core focus should be pointing someone to Christ, or pointing them to a lesson to help them become a better servant for Christ.

An important distinction between Christian Fiction and Secular Fiction is that there should be realism about sin, without the celebration of sin. We must always remember that people sin in the World, and they will sin in Christian Fiction if the characters are believable.

The difference is that the emphasis is on righteousness.

In other words; if a character sins, their behavior is not glorified. The damaging aspects of sin are shown, unlike in Secular Fiction, where sin is celebrated and the consequences of sin are glossed over.

The real focal point however is having that Christ centered theme; whether it is about someone that finds forgiveness in Christ, or a Christian learning a life lesson that moves them closer to Christ. This is what separates Christian Fiction from other Fiction... what the reader comes away from the book with. It is not just about entertainment.

‘So, what about Fiction for Christians? Is there something wrong with it?’

Absolutely not. As a matter of fact there are several similarities, especially in the area that sin is dealt with. As I stated earlier, people sin in the World, and they will sin in Fiction for Christians if the characters are believable. The difference is that the emphasis is on righteousness. As I stated earlier; if a character sins, their behavior is not glorified. The damaging aspects of sin are shown.

This sharp contrast is what divides Fiction for Christians from Secular Fiction, where sin is celebrated and the consequences of sin are glossed over. We should remember that a Christian’s entertainment should not be like that of the World.

‘Does that mean it must be boring?’

No. What it means is that in the process of entertaining, we should not be glorifying and encouraging sin. We shouldn’t be putting sin into our minds and hearts by our entertainment; whether that means images that we see or the words that we read.

There are things a Christian shouldn’t see, things we shouldn’t watch. Remember, a good writer will write in such a way as to allow the reader to “see” the story in their mind, hence reading it becomes the same thing.

That is why smut sells.

But it is not only about intimate scenes; overtly sensual descriptions, glorifying alcohol or drug use, Cursing, smoking, murder, assault, stealing… any behavior that does not glorify God shouldn’t be glorified in His place.

‘So all my characters should be moral and right or it is a bad book?’

Absolutely not. The difference is how their sin is portrayed, as well as how it is expressed.

To illustrate this point, let us consider cursing and using foul language.

‘But, in real life people cuss. If there is a bad guy, won’t he cuss?’

In the world, people curse and use all manner of foul language. However, in a book whose purpose is to entertain while honoring and glorifying God, putting something foul into the readers mind should be something the author should avoid. Mentioning that something happened is different than actually acting it out. Using euphemisms, or worse yet, actual foul language is not conducive to a maintaining a clean mind. You can have people engage in real behaviors without drawing attention to the sin and embedding it into their mind. A writer does not need to teach their readers curse words just because you have a character engaging in that behavior.

A similar premise is what should guide us on books dealing with immorality. Unfortunately, with the pervasiveness of immorality in the world, many authors have been trying to be more ‘edgy’ and appeal to the flesh to attract readers.

Personally, I believe that this detracts the Christian experience from the work, and their work would no longer be termed as for Christians. There are several authors that ten to fifteen years ago I would read, but now I would not, because of how that author presents sin.

‘So then, should I only read Christian Fiction? Can I read Secular Fiction or Fiction for Christians?’

In order to answer this, I would have you first ask yourself this question: Are you, as the reader, viewing sin as a learning experience, or are you learning sin from a viewing experience?

If sinful behavior is encouraged then it is not a book that I would read, much less encourage my children to read. While there are a few Secular Authors that I do read, I am cautious, since their writing stems from their worldview. (We will discuss more of that in a later post.)

‘So then, what about Fiction for Christians?’

Christian Fiction is to teach a lesson while glorifying God, Fiction for Christians is to entertain while glorifying God. I would suggest that, for the most part, if the author has followed this premise, then either of these would be fine.