Hello, Christian, it is the GOOD news!

Take a look at the following Bible verses. Something is a little off with each one. See if you can spot the errors.

Luke 2:10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid! Listen carefully, for I proclaim to you rather depressing news that brings great melancholy to all the people:"

Acts 8:12 But when they believed Philip as he was proclaiming the sour news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they began to be baptized, both men and women.

Luke 4:43 But Jesus said to them, “I must proclaim the overwhelmingly mellow news of the kingdom of God to the other towns too, for that is what I was sent to do.”

Mat 9:35 Then Jesus went throughout all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the guilt-inducing, ridiculously troubling news of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and sickness.

Have you spotted the errors? If not, maybe you're like me. Maybe you've been a Christian for quite a while, but you require something a little more extreme to get it through your thick skull that the Bible does indeed call it GOOD news! It's not grim news, dour news, sad news, bad news, so-so news, lousy news, heavy news, or "I can't bear to hear it" news. It's GOOD news.

Please be reminded that I said I needed something a little more extreme to make that ultimate connection. For me, a sledge hammer was necessary. SMACK! Note from God: how many times do I have to tell you, it is actually GOOD NEWS?

What's the big deal, you may ask. Well, of course, it's good news. Duh.

Really?

Then why are so many of the world's Christians walking around like they were baptized in vinegar and just lost their last friend? Why are more Christians like Eeyore than Pooh? Why do we schlep through life like we're wearing a harness of 10,000 bricks?   

Actually, there are dozens of reasons. A few are global enough that we'd best take a look at them. But before we do, let's go back to the good news. It really is good. And too few of us, myself-chief of sinners in this area, honestly understand or believe how good this news really is.

According to The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, the  Greek word used in the New Testament is euaggelion. When translated, you get "good news" or "gospel," ie: God's good news. The use of this word in the New Testament is not, ahem, rare. 76 times, we are told about the gospel or the good news. It is good news because you have been saved. You have been set free from the law of sin and death. Your eternity has been paid for. You are now called friend of Christ. You are now a new creation. You are heaven bound and endowed here with the Holy Spirit for one incredible adventure. You didn't do it. Jesus did it for you. He took our whole heap of sins on his broad shoulders, bore horrid torture and death on a cross, to wipe our bloody death sentence off the books forever. If you believe in Jesus for salvation, it is done. Finished. Jesus said so with his dying breath. Do you get the implications? You are free. FREE. No condemnation. No need for guilt. No need for further sacrifice. No need to walk around, ducking our heads as if someone might whack us with a stick.    

There's a worship song by the Newsboys that says, "I am free to run. I am free to dance. I am free to live for you. I am free." I feel hugely stoked whenever I hear it, but I don't know if even that song comes close to covering it. And I am certain that my feelings during that song don't come close to representing true acceptance of one massive reality. FREE. This is the GOOD news. Jesus saved us. Eternal life waits for us. Death can go sit in the corner and play solitaire because he has no business trifling with a Christian.

This is good news. This is HUGE good news. This is the best news anyone in the history of the universe ever heard. THIS IS PARTY YOUR BUTT OFF NEWS. If you go to the mailbox tomorrow and find out you hit the lottery for a billion dollars, that's CHUMP CHANGE compared to Jesus. If you were voted "High Celebrity Genius Sexy Pants of the World," that would be NOTHING compared to Jesus calling you "friend." Get it? I am serious. You need to get up right now, smile like a Cheshire Cat and do a happy dance. You need to wake up tomorrow morning and chuck off the covers as if they were chains, and go live like you mean it.

Disclaimer: No. I am not saying, go eat, drink, and be merry because tomorrow we die. I'm not saying go sin all you want or any such nonsense. If you're a Christian, that just won't work. You'll make a mess of things. Epicurius tried it, and all it got him was fat, drunk, diseased, and lonely.

Okay, back to the topic. It is GOOD news. And yet...so many of us don't live that way. We ought to bring a sparkle wherever we go, but often, we bring dark clouds. We slouch. We sigh. We hem and haw. We glare. We grimace. We shake our heads. If the Apostle Paul was here today, he would likely say to us the same thing that he said to the Galatians.

You foolish Christians, who has bewitched you?

What the heck is wrong with us? As I said up there, there are a myriad of reasons, but three are so universal that we had best be aware of what they are so that we can regularly flush them down the toilet. The three villains are: Satan, the World, and our own Dang Selves.

Satan: the enemy took a 3rd of the heavenly host with him when he defied God and was drop-kicked out of heaven. He is the roaring lion, seeking all of us to devour. He's got thousands of years of human history to reflect on, so he and his minions really do know how to get at us. I'm convinced one of Satan's biggest weapons is guilt. Whenever we look in the mirror, Satan wants us to see the words "YOU SUCK" painted across our faces. Remember that sin? Remember that thought? Remember how awful you were to so-and-so??? You are a loser. Blah, blah, yaddah, yaddah. The enemy does not want us EVER to know the extent of the good news. He wants us to believe there are strings attached: yeah, you might have been saved, but...  He wants us to hit the never-ending hamster wheel of "Am I saved? Or Not? If Not, then..." Been on that? No fun at all. We walk around second guessing ourselves. Dude, get this. Jesus did it. He paid it in full. You didn't have jack in your account to pay the debt, but Jesus had more than enough. And no, you aren't some weird exception. No, your sin isn't special. No, Jesus didn't say, "I have died to save all of you--wait, scratch that. Uhm, all of you, uh...except that guy. Whoo. That guy's a real pip. There ain't no saving him." That is not, what Jesus said. Read what He did say, "I came to save the lost." And "Come to me, you who are weary and heavily burdened, for I will give you rest for your souls."

The World: the world gets us Christians feeling all down, depressed, and lonely because the world wants to call good things evil and evil things good. And that gets us feeling cruddy. We are salmon swimming upstream against a tide of cosmic stupidity and rampant erosion of morality. The world is curse, folks. At the fall of man, the world got nailed also. It is still God's creation, and it still has more beauty than we will ever consider, but it's corrupted and frail and changing. There's bad news every day on every channel. And we Christians feel powerless to stop it. Here's the thing: God has not left the building. Sure, Satan has the keys to the world right now, but his time is coming. And WHOA, when it comes, {submit cataclysmic butt-kicking image here} 

Self: we are truly our own worst enemies. If you spend any time in counseling, you'll learn that so many mental/emotional problems begin with negative self talk. We put ourselves down. It can become like a macabre addiction where we try to get attention by beating ourselves up. Seriously folks, you are not half the things you think you are--the bad stuff, that is. Jesus died for you. Are you kidding me? You are more precious than all the gold and jewels in all the mines of the world. One little drop of Jesus blood spilled would have been enough to prove you are worth loving to God. But he didn't just get a pricked finger. He put it all up on the cross. Do you see now? Not only did God die for you, but He loved you enough to want to spend eternity with you. Seriously? I have some great friends, but I don't know that I'd want to live with them. Jesus is right now, building a place for you. A place that will last forever, and Jesus will welcome you one day. And then, those days won't ever, ever end.

Those three villains--they are all bullies. And for too long, we Christians have been the victims too timid to fight back. No more. It is GOOD news. And God's word trumps those villains and every other masked nightmare you can name. Read HIS word. See what HE says. Believe it. Then, go forth and be FREE to share the GOOD news.

Remember when Peter says, "Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have." ??   Who will ever ask you...if you don't look like you have hope?

 



 

Berinfell 3-The Tide of Unmaking: Update

Go ahead. Throw the flag. 
We've earned it. 

Christopher Hopper and I have been furiously working on Berinfell Book 3: The Tide of Unmaking, but unable to work furiously enough. We wanted the release date to be end of May. Then we wanted end of June. Trust me on this: we are dying to get the book into your hands.

But part of being an author is knowing when a book is ready for readers. Part of being a Christian author is knowing when the book is of a high enough quality to honor the Lord. Tide of Unmaking just isn't there yet. It's good. It's very good. But it's not ready for you yet. It can be better. It can be much better. Shoot, it can make the word Epic run home crying to its momma. But CH and I must have more time to invest in it. 

It's my sincere hope to have The Tide of Unmaking in your hands before the end of the summer. CH and I will try. But more than anything else, we're going to pour ourselves into making the book the best it can be. You've honored us by reading our stories and by being patient. Let us honor you by taking the time to craft something spectacular.  

--Wayne & Christopher

Book Taglines: When You Need To Hook Readers FAST

Heading to Orlando for the one of the largest conferences I've ever been a part of. SPEARHEAD Books makes its debut at the FPEA (The Florida Parent-Educators Association) Convention where 20-30 thousand folks are scheduled to attend. Christopher Hopper, Chris and Allan Miller, and I will be there swordfighting, reading, signing, and chatting. We'll also be selling books.

With that many people. We need to have ready an arsenal of 2-3 sentence hooks to tell people what our books are about. Not so easy summarizing a novel in 2-3 sentences. Here are my hooks so far. What do you think?

If you've read one of these books, can you write a better hook? Post it!

Here are mine so far:

These are the 2-3 Sentence HIGH interest teaser summaries for each book:

The Door Within:
A secret hidden in his Grandfather’s basement sends teenager Aidan Thomas on the adventure of a lifetime. *Dragons Included.

Rise of the Wyrm Lord:
Antoinette Lynn Reed is headstrong, bright, and ridiculously good at martial arts. But will it be enough to overcome a legendary, shapeshifting creature? *Knights Assembly Required.

The Final Storm:
Aidan, Antoinette, and Robby discover that there are some enemies that even the stone walls of Alleble cannot protect against. If anyone will survive the final storm, the cost will be great.
*Believe Only As Directed.


Isle of Swords:
Three clues: a sparkling green jewel, a rusty iron cross, and a lock of red hair lead a young man and a feared pirate’s daughter on a quest for his identity, as well as, a legendary treasure.
*For Piratical Use Only.

Isle of Fire:
What happens when bloodthirsty pirates and flame-throwing Vikings join forces? Declan Ross, his fiery daughter Anne, and her friend Griffin “Cat” Thorne will find out in this high seas adventure.
*May Explode If Read Improperly.

Curse of the Spider King:
Tommy, Kat, and a cast of five other teenagers have two things in common: 1) they all seem to be developing superhuman powers and 2) they are all being stalked by dark, trenchcoated figures with fiery eyes. One wrong move and any of the teens could be caught in the web of The Spider King.
*Drefids May Be Closer Than They Appear.


Venom and Song:
The Seven Elven teens are whisked away to Whitehall Castle where they’ll be trained as elite Vexbane soldiers. But without learning the secret of the Rainsong, they have no hope against the Spider King. *Elven Personnel Only.

Sword in the Stars:
The wise and powerful Shepherds of Myriad are hearing dangerous voices on the wind. A washed up former assassin and the legend he believes may not be enough to stop a jealous king from unleashing a world-ending war.
*Sword Where Prohibited.

The Errant King:
Ariana wants nothing more than to escape the nightmares of her past. High King Lochlan wants nothing more than to escape the dreary prospects of his future. But when ancient, legendary creatures attack from east and west, trapping Ariana and Lochlan in the middle, the past and future are in jeopardy for all. *Side Effects Include: Insomnia, Bouts of Dread, and Spontaneous Dueling.

Book Events this Spring!

Hey, everyone! This is going to be a busy and extremely exciting spring. Lots of book events coming up. These are not your standard YAWNER book events. We're talking swordplay, epic battles, prizes, dramatic readings, etc. I would love to see you and love to sign a book (or three) for you. Here's the where and when:

Tuesday, May 22nd, 6:30--8:30

Barnes and Noble, Long Gate Shopping Center, Ellicott City, Maryland

(Book Fair for Folly Quarter Middle School)

Thursday, May 24th thru Saturday, May 26th

Florida Parent Educators Association Convention

Gaylord Palms Resort in Kissimmee, Florida

Tuesday, June 5th, 6:30--8:00

Author's Face to Face at Oklahoma Road Middle School

Eldersburg, Maryland

Hope to meet you there!

Are You Ready?

Coming soon.

Knowing God: Part 3

K nowing God Part 3: How well do you know God? In the beginning of this series, I confessed that (in spite of the fact that I've been a Christian for over 20 years) I still don't feel like I know God very well. It troubles me. I'd like to know Him as I do my family members or best friends. But He's different, so I guess I'd like to know Him as well as a person can know Him...if that makes any sense. So, I'm setting out to know God better. I'm starting with the book of Matthew. I have no idea where I'll stop.

Official Disclaimer: I don't claim to be a theological guru. I haven't graduated seminary. I'm not a pastor. I'm doing this series of posts just because I want to know God better. I'm sharing it online, not to teach others--though I'd be pretty happy if God used this to help others get to know Him better also. I'm not doing this to argue--though, if people have related ideas to share, I'm all ears. I'm simply posting this to explore and maybe encourage others to explore. If you are a young reader, run everything by your parents. They are your spiritual authority. See what they think. And, as the Bible tells us: If on some point, we disagree, pray about it, and may God give us clarity.

Matthew 2:1-12*

2:1 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem ¹  in Judea, in the time ²  of King Herod, ³  wise men ⁴  from the East came to Jerusalem ⁵  2:2 saying, “Where is the one who is born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose ⁶  and have come to worship him.” 2:3 When King Herod ⁷  heard this he was alarmed, and all Jerusalem with him. 2:4 After assembling all the chief priests and experts in the law, ⁸  he asked them where the Christ ⁹  was to be born. 2:5 “In Bethlehem of Judea,” they said, “for it is written this way by the prophet:

2:6 ‘And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,

are in no way least among the rulers of Judah,

for out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’

” ¹⁰ 

2:7 Then Herod ¹¹  privately summoned the wise men and determined from them when the star had appeared. 2:8 He ¹²  sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and look carefully for the child. When you find him, inform me so that I can go and worship him as well.” 2:9 After listening to the king they left, and once again ¹³  the star they saw when it rose ¹⁴  led them until it stopped above the place where the child was. 2:10 When they saw the star they shouted joyfully. ¹⁵  2:11 As they came into the house and saw the child with Mary his mother, they bowed down ¹⁶  and worshiped him. They opened their treasure boxes and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, ¹⁷  and myrrh. ¹⁸  2:12 After being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, ¹⁹  they went back by another route to their own country.

Initial Take: This is just my knee-jerk reaction to the text. Whatever pops into my mind. Heaven help me.  

More than anything else, the thing that sticks out the most about Jesus in this passage is that his arrival shook the world. Herod could have snapped his fingers and had whole cities put to death. He had major power, but the moment he hears of this "King of the Jews," he becomes alarmed. But notice it's not just Herod, but all Jerusalem with him. I'm guessing that means the people in power since the Israelites we hoping the Christ (ie: the Messiah) would come. So Herod and the power establishment in Jerusalem are shaking in their collective booties over the Christ's arrival. Jesus shook the world.

But not only were folks freaking out, but there were some who were willing to travel huge distances to find Jesus. Why? Because they wanted to worship and adore Him. The wise men from the east came, and they brought gifts. The good stuff too. Not that cheap stuff from Walmart. These wise men were rich (another form of power), but when they found Jesus, they went down on their knees and worshiped him.

Knowing God Take-Away: What do I learn about God from Matt 2:1-12? 1) God is a threat to those who want to rule independently from God. When King Herod heard that the foretold King of the Jews, the Messiah, had been born, he became alarmed. Why? He didn't want anyone ANYONE to have authority over him. He wanted to rule his way, with his power, and his goals. But he knew that Jesus would create instant problems. The Jews would have their promised leader. And anyone who could make a star move around could probably knock a lard-butt king off his corrupted throne. 


It's the same today. There are a lot of people out there who refuse to recognize God because they don't want anyone to have authority over them. If I believe God, then I'll have to live differently. All these evil things that I like to do will have to go away. And I don't want that. So, God can't be real. And lest we point hasty fingers at atheists and naturalists, we'd better check ourselves. Christians need to be very careful. We need to make sure that we aren't making God in our image, sanctioning our lifestyles because we like them, not because God said it was okay. The Christian church does not need any more hypocrites...and that begins with me.

2) The next thing I notice about God is that He is worthy of worship. A lot of times around Christmas, when we think about the wise men, we focus on the gifts they gave to Jesus: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. I know those three gifts are very symbolic. But what gets me with this fresh read is not that they gave expensive gifts, but that they worshiped a child. Many adults today basically scrape children off the bottom of their shoes. But these guys bowed down before Jesus. And their worship didn't start when they arrived. It began long before...when they were researching the Messiah. Where would he be born? What would the signs be? Their worship continued when they left their homes and went on a LONG journey to go find Jesus. That must have been a serious HIKE. And on camels no less. But Jesus is worth it. He's worth the time. He's worth the trouble. He's worth our possessions too. The next time I'm feeling burned out from writing and writing and writing; the next time I feel frustrated that I'm spending so much of "my" time writing, I hope I'll remember just how worth it Jesus is.

Til next time.

Never alone.

*All Scriptures from the NET Bible: http://net.bible.org/#!bible/Matthew+1

Death is Dead.

Consider the specter of death that lingers over all our shoulders, whispering that it's not a question of if, but of when. Rich or poor, popular or unknown, busy or idle--death waits for us all. This is why Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday are so important to mankind. When Jesus died and then rose again, He destroyed the dominion and power of death once and for all. He trounced sin and death, b...lasted the enemy's plans, and cured the curse we all were born under. And all He asks in return is that we come to Him and believe. 

Think of it like this: there has been a terrifying outbreak. A disease has infected us all. It is absolutely deadly, and there's nothing we can do on our own to cure it. But one man, one amazing doctor, has discovered the cure. And this crazy dude, when he could make billions by selling it, he's just offering to give the cure away. How unfortunate would it be if some people just refused the cure? That is what happens too often today. Jesus offers you life...real life...everlasting life. Jesus said, "Come to me you who are weary and heavily burdened, and I will give you rest for your soul."

Knowing God: Part 2

K nowing God Part 2: How well do you know God? In part one of this series, I confessed that (in spite of the fact that I've been a Christian for over 20 years) I still don't feel like I know God very well. It troubles me. I'd like to know Him as I do my family members or best friends. But He's different, so I guess I'd like to know Him as well as a person can know Him...if that makes any sense. So, I'm setting out to know God better. I'm starting with the book of Matthew. I have no idea where I'll stop.

Official Disclaimer: I don't claim to be a theological guru. I haven't graduated seminary. I'm not a pastor. I'm doing this series of posts just because I want to know God better. I'm sharing it online, not to teach others--though I'd be pretty happy if God used this to help others get to know Him better also. I'm not doing this to argue--though, if people have related ideas to share, I'm all ears. I'm simply posting this to explore and maybe encourage others to explore. If you are a young reader, run everything by your parents. They are your spiritual authority. See what they think. And, as the Bible tells us: If on some point, we disagree, pray about it, and may God give us clarity.

Matthew 1:18-25*

1:18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ happened this way. While his mother Mary was engaged to Joseph, but before they came together, ¹²  she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. 1:19 Because Joseph, her husband to be, ¹³  was a righteous man, and because he did not want to disgrace her, he intended to divorce her ¹⁴  privately. 1:20 When he had contemplated this, an ¹⁵  angel of the Lord ¹⁶  appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 1:21 She will give birth to a son and you will name him ¹⁷  Jesus, ¹⁸  because he will save his people from their sins.” 1:22 This all happened so that what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet would be fulfilled: 1:23 “Look! The virgin will conceive and bear a son, and they will call him ¹⁹  Emmanuel,” ²⁰  which means ²¹  “God with us.” ²²  1:24 When Joseph awoke from sleep he did what the angel of the Lord ²³  told him. He took his wife, 1:25 but did not have marital relations ²⁴  with her until she gave birth to a son, whom he named ²⁵  Jesus.

Initial Take: This is just my knee-jerk reaction to the text. Whatever pops into my mind. Heaven help me.  

I like how God took this guy Joseph, who is in the Davidic line, and drops him into a man's "worst case scenario. "Hey, Mary-baby, I'm so glad we're engaged."
 "Uh, honey, uhm, funny you should mention 'baby.' I'm pregnant, and the baby's not yours."
Train wreck. Bridge collapse. Pick any disaster image you want. This is the end of the world for a man. But Joseph is a prince among men, so even though by cultural rights, he could have done much worse to Mary, he decides to give her a quiet divorce.

I can only imagine Joseph's anguish over this situation. But when the dream comes, the world is turned upside down, and the stakes are beyond reckoning. God drops the bomb: you, Joseph get to be Daddy to the Savior, the Messiah, to God with us. Can you imagine the pressure? I feel it with my own kids. When I see a bad habit of mine that the kids have adopted, it hurts. I can't imagine trying to raise THE SAVIOR.

It seems odd to me that there's less focus on Mary in this section of text and more about Joseph. Mary did the heavy lifting by carrying Jesus for nine months. And given that she was so young, I can't imagine what she must have felt through the process.

Knowing God Take-Away: What do I learn about God from Matt 1:18-25? 1) God is supernatural. In our lives, in this world, there are natural laws. A man and a woman can get together and have a baby, but for that to occur, certain "things" need to happen first. God doesn't have to abide by our restrictions. For us, a physical body has limits. We can only do so much. Not so with God. There are no limits. Thus, Mary, a virgin, becomes pregnant by the Holy Spirit. God's supernatural traits are hugely present in this short text. Next, we have Joseph napping, and an angel of the Lord appears to him in a dream. Have you ever "tried" to have a certain dream? You know, you try to program your mind to think on certain things, so that the dream goes where you want it? Doesn't usually work. It's also impossible for one of us to make ourselves show up in someone else's dream. But God can do that. He is supernatural. That is both comforting to me and scary. I like that God can do supernatural things, that He can do a trillion times better than I can. But, His supernatural-ness also makes me wonder how I can ever really know Him.

2) The next thing I notice about God is that He likes to get others involved in what He's doing. When I was growing up, my parents didn't really let me help with stuff that much. Especially when I was little. I was a bit clumsy and very curious. So if my dad went to work rebuilding the fence in the back yard, I wanted to help. But, more often than not, I screwed up. I guess after a while, my parents figured it was better for everyone's health and blood pressure if I didn't "help" so much. But God, He doesn't seem to be like that. In this one section of text, we see God get an angel to deliver messages. We see God choose a guy and a gal to, get this: be the parents of the Savior of the world. Pretty sure neither Joseph nor Mary had ever done that before. But God said, "You two. I choose you." He doesn't seem to care much about our experience or our clumsiness. And that…is an encouraging thought.

Til next time.

Never alone.

*All Scriptures from the NET Bible: http://net.bible.org/#!bible/Matthew+1

Knowing God: Is Such a Thing Possible?

I'm a Christian. Have been for over 20 years. But I've come to a strange and rather uncomfortable conclusion: I don't know God very well. Readers might wonder what I mean by the word "know." But really, it's not a secretive theological concept. I just mean "know" in the way that you might know anyone, a family member, a friend, a coworker. God's different, sure. I get that. The Bible itself reports that there are some aspects of God we cannot know or, even if we did, we wouldn't understand. But still, Christians are supposed to get to know God as much as possible. How else can we make Him known?

The reason I don't feel like I know God all that well is that I regularly find myself believing all kinds of weird things about Him. In any given day, I can question His goodness, His intentions, His power, even His love. So, I'm setting out to know God better. I'm starting with the book of Matthew. I have no idea where I'll stop.

Official Disclaimer: I don't claim to be a theological guru. I haven't graduated seminary. I'm not a pastor. I'm doing this series of posts just because I want to know God better. I'm sharing it online, not to teach others--though I'd be pretty happy if God used this to help others get to know Him better also. I'm not doing this to argue--though, if people have related ideas to share, I'm all ears. I'm simply posting this to explore and maybe encourage others to explore. If you are a young reader, run everything by your parents. They are your spiritual authority. See what they think. And, as the Bible tells us: If on some point, we disagree, pray about it, and may God give us clarity.

Matthew 1:1-17*

1:1 This is the record of the genealogy ¹  of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.

1:2 Abraham was the father ²  of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, 1:3 Judah the father of Perez and Zerah (by Tamar), Perez the father of Hezron, Hezron the father of Ram, 1:4 Ram the father of Amminadab, Amminadab the father of Nahshon, Nahshon the father of Salmon, 1:5 Salmon the father of Boaz (by Rahab), Boaz the father of Obed (by Ruth), Obed the father of Jesse, 1:6 and Jesse the father of David the king.

David was the father of Solomon (by the wife of Uriah ³ ), 1:7 Solomon the father of Rehoboam, Rehoboam the father of Abijah, Abijah the father of Asa, ⁴  1:8 Asa the father of Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, Joram the father of Uzziah, 1:9 Uzziah the father of Jotham, Jotham the father of Ahaz, Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, 1:10 Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, Manasseh the father of Amon, ⁵  Amon the father of Josiah, 1:11 and Josiah ⁶  the father of Jeconiah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon.

1:12 After ⁷  the deportation to Babylon, Jeconiah became the father of Shealtiel, ⁸  Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel, 1:13 Zerubbabel the father of Abiud, Abiud the father of Eliakim, Eliakim the father of Azor, 1:14 Azor the father of Zadok, Zadok the father of Achim, Achim the father of Eliud, 1:15 Eliud the father of Eleazar, Eleazar the father of Matthan, Matthan the father of Jacob, 1:16 and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, by whom ⁹  Jesus was born, who is called Christ. ¹⁰ 

1:17 So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations, and from David to the deportation to Babylon, fourteen generations, and from the deportation to Babylon to Christ, ¹¹  fourteen generations.

Initial Take: This is just my knee-jerk reaction to the text. Whatever pops into my mind. Heaven help me.  

Ok, I absolutely hate genealogies. Seriously, that's why my efforts to read the whole Bible in a year always seem to get derailed just a few books into the OT. But one thing I notice is that God seems to take family history pretty seriously. They are all over the Bible. And I guess, for the first century Jew, it would have been pretty critical to establish Jesus was from the Abrahamic/Davidic line due to prophecies that claim Jesus will come from that line. Gotta love these names: Hezron (sounds like a gas station) Amminadab (sounds like an ointment), Salmon (well, you know). And Zerubbabel (Really? Bet he had fun in middle school). 

The other thing that always strikes me about genealogies is that, to me at least, their presence is a kind of proof of the authenticity of the Word of God. As a fiction writer, I know quite well, to put something like this in a book is the kiss of death. I mean YAWN. There's no fiction value here. You only put something like this in if you are writing a history. And you only put stuff like this in if you aren't worried about contradiction. After all, it's RIGHT there. You can check it fairly easily. 

Knowing God Take-Away: What do I learn about God from Matt 1:1-17? A couple of things stand out. 1) God isn't embarrassed by His family. Look at that list. There are some tough cases there. Abraham did some things that would make the tabloids today. David might not make the tabloids, but he sure would inspire a provocative miniseries. Solomon; shoot, he decided to experiment with everything under the sun before he finally figured out it was all dust in the wind without God. But God still lists their names here and many places elsewhere. And these are places of honor too. Some of us, if we had a family member who did some of the stuff these folks did, well…we probably wouldn't mention that we're related to someone at a party. 

2) The next thing I notice about God is that He has a set timing for things. Look at verse 17. Notice the beautiful symmetry of 14 years between Abraham and David, David to Deportation to Babylon, and Deportation to Christ? That's just astounding to me. How often do things just "work out" that way? Jesus is extraordinary, and so the timing of His birth needed to be extraordinary. God has a timing for everything, and it's perfect timing...every time. Maybe next time I'm wondering why God didn't come through with this or that when I thought He should have, I'll remember the number 14. 

Til next time.

Never alone.

*All Scriptures from the NET Bible: http://net.bible.org/#!bible/Matthew+1

Cue Dramatic Music and Fanfare: Announcing the Title of Berinfell Prophecies, Book 3

Greetings and a very fond hello from Tannersville, PA, the new location of Christopher Hopper and my Writer's Bootcamp. We are ensconced in a hotel that is literally built into the side of a mountain, and madly chewing away the hours of Saturday with a frenetic display of head-to-head typing. Seriously, we are hitting the keys so fast and for such a prolonged stretch that our fingers are beginning to tingle. :-D

{Hey, Wayne, shut up about the writing already and get to the title!}

Oh, oh, right! The title. The title for Berinfell Prophecies Book 3…that title? {YES! THAT TITLE!}

Right. Now to it! The title for Berinfell Prophecies book 3 is:

The Tide of Unmaking

{Um, Wayne, I don't see anything there. Where's the title???}

You have to work for it. Just click in the open space above and highlight the invisible text. Or, you can just look in the fine print on the photo below!

Mark your calendar. Berinfell Book 3 will release in all formats May 15th. Info for the Collector's Edition Hardback will be forthcoming soon.

Are You Married? If so, read this!

Maybe my wife Mary Lu and I have been watching WAY too much Grey's Anatomy, where there are rampant relationship issues, betrayals, affairs, etc, BUT it continues to caution and sober me that our marriages are critically important and, in many ways, so fragile.



I suspect that a lot of us married folk may have gotten to a place we never thought we'd be, a place where something's not quite right. Many of us are dealing with conflict between husband and wife, daily. Many of us are hurting from broken hearts, furious that our expectations haven't been met, or vexed that all our efforts to help have gone virtually unnoticed. Some of us have "walled-off" our spouses or are building up our defenses, stiffening so that "this time" we won't get hurt again. Many of us have kids / teenagers / jobs / careers that cause enough conflict to exhaust a superhuman, and we feel we have little left for our spouse.

Unfortunately, this is life in a sin sick world. It's life, but it is not REAL life. We are Christians, and we are called, commanded even, to something better.

Husbands, are you loving your wives as Jesus loves the church? Are you sacrificing your time, needs, and pride to meet her needs? Are you helping her to see how beautiful she is, inside and out? Are you doling out back scratches and back rubs? ;-)

Wives, are you respecting your husbands, empowering them to lead? Are you showing him through words and physical contact that you think he is a great man? Are you giving him the freedom to work, to decide, and even to fail in an honest effort?

Husbands and Wives...are you?

Here's my challenge to us all: Read 1 Corinthians 13 (below). Then, break the "love list" down into parts. Find THREE ways from that list that you can love your spouse TODAY.

¹ If I speak in the tongues^[a] of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. ² If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. ³ If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast,^[b] but do not have love, I gain nothing.

 ⁴ Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵ It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶ Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

 ⁸ Love never fails.


If you succeed today, then do it tomorrow too.

The Door Within Movie: Prayer is THE thing!

In the last WEEK, I've had a dozen or more emails, IM's, posted comments, etc. asking about the possibility of The Door Within (my first book) being made into a movie. Maybe God is on the move because, just this past WEEK, I've had some VERY preliminary discussions on that very possibility. But here's the thing: a Door Within movie is still a million miles away from happening. These are just the very first, tentative, eency weency steps. So, my prayer warriors out there: Pray. Tell your friends: Pray. eMail your Prayer Chains to: Pray. Seriously, this isn't the time to go crazy with movie thoughts. But DO go crazy with prayer. Much love and thanks to you!

Time is money. NOT.

It's the New Year. Resolutions aside, how do you plan to spend the New Year? Whoever said Time = Money was quite wrong. Time is far more valuable. You can spend time and money, of course. But you can't save time. It cannot be stored or banked away.

We all live on a fixed income of moments that, like it or not, WILL be spent. Compounding the issue is that we don't know what the sum total of our "time income" will be. God knows how long we will live, but we don't. Most of us have a kind of vague notion of living for a while. Barring illness or tragedy, we figure about 70-90 years. Maybe longer if science whips up some long life concoction someday. But there's no guarantee. We cannot count on time like we might check our bank balance. We cannot purchase more time. Time is literally priceless.

The good news is that, like money, time can be invested. You can take "right now" and invest it in something. Trouble is, too many of us will invest in something that pays temporary returns. A bit of pleasure here, a warm fuzzy there. A tickle of the taste buds, a cheap thrill, a new gadget--fill in the blank with any number of self-centered endeavors.

This is short-sighted investment at its worst. Why not invest your "right now" moments in something that will last. And not just last a lifetime. I'm talking FOREVER. The best investments are those that have a lot of time to earn returns. That's why someone who starts putting a hundred bucks a month into a savings account at age 20 will have so much more money at age 60 than someone who doesn't begin investing until age 40. And what if we knew exactly what to invest in? What if we had the world's greatest financial adviser to give us a serious trader tip? Sure fire, can't miss HUGE windfall investment tip? That would pretty much ROCK, right?

More good news: God is omniscient. He knows everything. And He gave us the greatest investment advice in the history of mankind. He told us just how to spend our time so that we would reap the greatest return. He said, "Love God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. And love your neighbor" Matthew 22: 36-40 (*BPV, 2012)

Love God. Love others. That means spend your time for the benefit of God and mankind. If you do, you begin laying treasures up for yourself in heaven. Rewards, crowns, the coolest jobs, etc. etc. Sound good? Yeah, I think so. But it might sound a bit mercenary or materialistic to some. But why should it? God Himself tells us to lay up treasures for ourselves in heaven. God Himself promises the rewards.

In his book of essays, The Weight of Glory, C.S. Lewis addresses this issue. "Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires, not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased."

I could write on this topic so much more, but I can't afford the time. I've got some investing to do. How about you?

* BPV = Bat Paraphrase Version

Amazon Blitz EPILOGUE

Hi, all! Well, the Amazon Blitz went great! From my combined resources of NovelRank and Amazon Associates, it looks like 24-29 copies of The Errant King were sold during the Blitz. The best sales ranking appears to be: 6,195th, a 19,000 rank improvement. And that's very, very cool. 


Sword in the Stars sold approximately 15-17 copies during the Blitz. The best sales ranking appears to be: 13,911th, a 16,000 rank improvement.


And better yet, both books continue to be ranked in the teens. So thank you to everyone who bought during the Blitz or spread the word! You rock!


If you haven't already joined the Starseeker Contest, please consider the adventure! Lots of prizes: Amazon Kindle, Books-4-Life, Namesake in Book, even your very own Star!

 Buy Sword in the Stars or The Errant King from Amazon.com on TONIGHT, December 9th between the hours of 6pm--10pm Eastern Time.

ATTENTION STARSEEKERS:

If you're in the Starseeker Contest, we'll be AMPING the points for those who purchase Sword in the Stars or Errant King during the Blitz. Here's the chart:

Buy one book during the Blitz = 5,000pts.

Every additional book you buy during the Blitz = Double the Points--every book

Example: 1 book = 5K, 2 books = 10k, 3 books = 20K, 4 books = 40K, and so on...

Bonus Multiplier: If Sword in the Stars OR The Errant King breaks 500th on the Bestseller List, double any points you've earned from book buying. If Sword in the Stars OR The Errant King breaks 100th on the Bestseller List, triple any points you've earned from book buying. If Sword in the Stars OR The Errant King breaks 10th on the Bestseller List, quadruple any points you've earned from book buying. If Sword in the Stars hits #1 on the Bestseller List, multiply any points you've earned from book buying by TEN.

Once again, here are the links to use to purchase books for the Amazon Blitz. Just click below:

The Sword in the Stars

The Errant King

To Arms! To Arms! The Amazon Blitz for Errant King is Upon Us!!

FRIDAY, December 9th between the hours of 6pm--10pm Eastern Time.  Can you say EPIC? Greetings, faithful readers! Wayne Thomas Batson here. With Christmas not far away now, I wanted to let you know I've got a new series of fantasy books out. The Dark Sea Annals, an Epic 7-book Fantasy Series with AMG Publishing. Book 1: The Sword in the Stars came out in 2010, and Book 2: The Errant King just came out last week. So if you loved The Door Within Trilogy or any of my other books, please check out my new series. If you think you might get The Errant King, please consider, joining our Amazon Blitz! See below!  Buy Sword in the Stars or The Errant King from Amazon.com on FRIDAY, December 9th between the hours of 6pm--10pm Eastern Time. I'd like to announce the official Errant King Amazon Blitz! If you've never done a blitz, the concept is to slam Amazon with book orders during a concentrated period of time. This accomplishes two very important things:   1) Tons of orders in a concentrated time will make The Errant King jump up high on Amazon's bestseller's list. This creates high visibility, more sales, and so on.   2) Also, getting tons of orders right around a new book's release date influences the publisher to pump up the marketing and even increase print runs.   Buy Sword in the Stars or The Errant King from Amazon.com on FRIDAY, December 9th between the hours of 6pm--10pm Eastern Time. Here's the purchase link: Errant King Amazon Blitz Link I'd like to thank everyone who participates, so if you purchase a copy of Sword in the Stars OR The Errant King during the blitz, and then email me your snail mail address, I'll personalize a special Sword in the Stars/ Errant King bookplate sticker and send it to you. I doesn't matter if you buy one book or fifteen. I'll send as many stickers as you need. Thanks so much for reading my stories and being so faithful! Never alone.    WayneThomasBatson Bestselling Author of The Door Within Trilogy, Isle of Swords, Isle of Fire, The Berinfell Prophecies, Sword in the Stars,  and The Errant King  www.enterthedoorwithin.blogspot.com www.heedtheprophecies.com www.swordinthestars.com