Christians: How should we then vote?

With the Presidential Election just a few days away, I'm finding it increasingly frustrating to read/hear that there are some "self proclaimed" Christian citizens still considering a vote for Obama. Hey, free country, do what you want, but please think before you do this.

Think about who you are in Christ. Your job on earth is to reflect God's glory, ie: show His attributes, stand for what He stands for, love what He loves; hate what He hates (sin). Obama supports abortion and gay marriage. Don't believe the hype. Those are not minor issues, esp. abortion. Jesus said "Suffer the little children to come," not "kill them whenever it's convenient."

Gay marriage is an oxymoron, at least for the Christian. It's an impossibility. Marriage as God defined it was man and woman. After all, it was Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve. Not to be overly simplistic, but that's pretty clearly God establishing the order of operations. There is absolutely no mention of homosexuality prior to the first sin. And every mention of gay lust/sex from that point on makes the behavior a sin. Not to say a worse sin than adultery or sex outside of marriage, but still sin. So we don't celebrate the sin by endorsing it as a marriage.

  Those should be deal breaker issues. You vote for Obama, you sneer at God's holiness.

Next, I've heard excuses of "we can't vote for a Mormon." That's just inane. Mormons happen to share a TON of Christian beliefs. But regardless, you want the guy who will do the best job to get our country rolling. If you use Romney's Mormon faith to rule out voting for him, you just confirm the hypocrisy nonChristians accuse Christians of.

Finally, just for the sake of effectiveness, you almost certainly have to vote Romney. Obama was overmatched by the office of President. He talked a good game and failed to follow thru. By his own standard, he needs to go. "One term proposition." He's right about that. If a sitting president does not make marked improvements in 4 years, he does NOT deserve FOUR more. Same for Romney should he get elected.


In sum, consider the issues here: Obama is for big government, more and more people relying on government, muddying moral waters, allowing America to promote sin, gigantic increases in what America owes in debt, and no substantial plan for improvement.







Consider also who promotes Obama, who speaks for him, and the one Obama counts on to "bring in the votes"--Bill Clinton. The man who was disbarred, impeached, and disgraced--and he is the Dem's big hitter? Really? Why would anyone believe a thing Bill Clinton says?

Romney is for reducing government's interference and our dependence on government, making right and wrong clear again, cleansing America of the blight of abortion, keeping marriage as a holy institution, and an actual plan for improvement.  Please vote intelligently and by faith. Mitt Romney is not a perfect candidate. I'm not convinced he'll even be great, but he will almost certainly be better than Obama. And he will almost certainly make our nation more Christian friendly than it has been in years.

Okay, NaNoWriMo, I'm in! This, Dark Sea 3 News, and New Blog Look!!

I've been a published author since 2005. My first book took me 13 years to write. Yes, years. That was because I had no idea what I was doing back then. I didn't realize it at the time, but I am not a Seat-of-the-pants writer. That's how I tried to write The Door Within, and it was an epic fail...initially. Since that time, I've learned that outlining is my best friend. I've been blessed with outstanding editors who have taught me tons about process and form. So my speed has increased exponentially. But the fastest I ever wrote a book is 3 months.

Enter NaNoWriMo.

I've heard about it tons. I know dozens of people who have tried it. But I never have. This year is different. I don't have to finish a book in one month. But I want to. So here goes nothing. In the month of November, I am attempting to finish Dark Sea Book 3. In all fairness to other NaNo writers, I have already begun the novel. But I have well over 50,000 words to go. If I finish, it will be a modern miracle. If I get even close, I will be eternally grateful. Writing is a labor of love, but make no mistake it is a labor. It is an art, a spontaneous, creative "when-the-muse-strikes" endeavor, but it requires discipline. So, come November 1st, here…we…go!

Next up: The Dark Sea Book 3

Sword in the Stars (2010) and The Errant King (2012) are out now, the first two installments of an Epic Seven Book Series called The Dark Sea Annals. I've begun work on book 3, working title: Across the Dark Sea. Here is a sneak peek of chapter one:

Chapter 1: Bay of Carrion


The mournful sound of the Bone Ministers’ horn awoke what was left of the Wetlands Village. The fishermen and hunters had been stirring in their hovels for hours, but they knew better than to set foot out of doors before the horn.

“Now, Grandi?” little Suri asked, her pigtails bouncing.

Justinian waited until the last haunting trace of the horn had faded…before answering, “Yes, yes. Now I think it is safe.”

“Yay, fishing!” Suri cried.

She tried to bounce past Justinian, but he stopped her with a light hand on her fuzzy brown head. “I’m sorry,” he said. “Did that hurt?”

“Nope, nope-itty, nope,” Suri replied. “All healed.”

“Good, good,” he said. She was right about the physical healing. The burns on her scalp had scarred over, and her hair was even trying to grow back. First One only knew how long it might take for the emotional healing to take place…if ever.

“Can we go, Grandi?” she asked again, her eyes crossing as she tried to look up at his hand, still resting on her head.

“I would like very much to go now too,” he said. “But you remember what I taught you? We go straight to the compost field for bait. We don’t wander. If we run into soldiers or worse—Bone Ministers—you say nothing to them. Not a word, is that understood?”

“Yes, Grandi,” she said. “I remember. Not a peep. And if the soldiers demand our catch, I thank them and say nothing else.”

“Good lass,” Justinian said. “That’s exactly right. Now, let’s go see what the Bay of Taranaar delivers up for the most skillful fishermen in Myriad.”

“Grandi?”

“Yes?”

“Shouldn’t you say, ‘fisherfolk’ instead?” She made an earnest attempt at a frown. “On account ahm not a boy!”

“Right you are, my sweet granddaughter,” he said, lightly patting her head again.

[Insert Hiatus Marks]

Justinian kept his granddaughter tight to his side as they navigated the wreckage of the village. There was little left. The cottages and shops had all been burned or leveled during the invasion six months earlier. The Elders’ Fortress seemed as if it had never been at all, so thoroughly had it been obliterated.

Elder. Justinian sneered at himself inwardly. What an undeserved title. Just as well that I no longer wear it. I failed my village.

Agatha Dawnington limped by on her one good leg.

The poor, tired soul, Justinian thought with a pang of remorse. He’d found her that night, bloodied from head-to-toe, attacked and left for dead by a wraith-like apparition called a Lich. The creature had touched Agatha’s leg and her back, leaving her gasping and unable to move. She’d asked Justinian to kill her.

But he hadn’t. He’d saved her life.

And Agatha had hated him ever since. 

“Smile, Grandi,” little Suri said. “We’s going fishing.”

He tried…tried hard. It was a brave smile at best, but it seemed to satisfy her. She continued to bob along beside him as if Wetlands Village was a bustling community full of kind neighbors, merry music, and gardens full of flowers.

Let her think that, Justinian decided, wishing he could as well. The toll in lives from that night was by far the worst of it.
He’d seen war…battlefields strewn with the dead. Horrible beyond words, but still nothing compared to the carnage of that night. Fires burned everywhere, and it seemed each was a private cremation for some poor soul.

The fiends that Morlan had brought back from across the Dark Sea were as merciless as they were terrifying. Man, woman, child, elderly—it made no difference. They hacked them all down as if slaughtering cattle. The week before the invasion had been dry, leaving the village dusty. But that night the soil had been so drenched in blood that it turned to a viscous crimson mud.

“Keep up, Grandi!” Suri called. “You’re fallin’ behind.”

“I am sorry, child,” he said, hoisting the fishing gear higher onto his shoulder. “This walk always makes me thoughtful.”

“Always makes me hungry,” she said. “Hungry for fish!”

What a dear she is, Justinian thought. He looked up and saw the quay just ahead. And, by the First One’s grace, there seemed to be no one else in the area. Justinian released a long-held sigh of relief. The Shrike, Morlan’s occupying soldiers, would most likely stay in their barracks unless one of the black ships had docked recently. The morning mist lay heavy over the Bay of Taranaar ahead. Hard to tell for certain if any tall ships were in port, but not likely. They’d already had their weekly supply shipments.

Perhaps, Justinian thought, we can fish together without hindrance.

The thought had barely registered in his mind when Suri let out a startled squeak. Justinian’s breath caught in his throat.

He felt as if a blade of ice had been plunged into his chest.

“Does this refuse belong to you, old man?” The voice was deep and rigid, enveloped by an eerie whispering as if the speaker had been joined by a chorus of ghost voices.

A Bone Minister.

Suri stood in a tall, menacing shadow and rubbed her forehead.   

Justinian dropped swiftly to his knees. “I am so sorry, Minister,” he said, letting the fishing gear fall to the ground. “The girl meant no inconvenience—certainly no disrespect. I distracted her, she didn’t see you, and—”

“She is a blight, even among your kind,” the Bone Minister said. His fingers, encased in segmented armor, rippled at his side. “Shall I rid this place of her?”

“No, no, please!” Justinian pleaded. “She has been through so much and yet she lives and even smiles. She is dear to me. Please.”

The Bone Minister made no initial response. He stood, impassively towering over Suri. Justinian knew better than to say any more. Either the Bone Minister would kill her, or he would not. There was nothing more Justinian could do.

A pair of grizzled fishermen approached but diverted immediately to give the Bone Minister a wide berth. With good reason. He and all of his kind were a study in grotesquery. Seven feet tall, broad shouldered, and thick-legged—formidable warriors by any measure. But the Bone Ministers were more than soldiers, more than mere men and yet…somehow less than human.

From what Justinian had learned from loose-lipped villagers—mostly from old Gatlin the tavern keeper who lent his ear even to the Shrike—King Morlan and his chief assassin Cythraul coveted the Bone Ministers above all who had been brought back from the Forsaken Continent.

For in that dark realm, if the rumors were true, these beings were born and bred to a desperate dual purpose: to endure and inflict pain. From childhood, they submitted themselves to tortures, experiments, and unconscionable rituals.

Through agonies beyond imagination, their flesh and bone had been fused to nigh unbreakable armor.

Justinian might have thought such a thing impossible…if he wasn’t staring right at it. The Bone Minister wore a black cloak, lined with gray wolf’s fur. His heavy, black boots were studded and punctured with jagged shards of metal. Similar black iron talons protruded from his armored legs. Looking at those wicked hooks, Justinian winced. It was a kind wonder that Suri hadn’t split her forehead when she walked into the Bone Minister.

Still he made no move and said nothing. Suri looked up at the Bone Minister. Finally she blinked and said, “Don’t you worry, Grandi. He won’t hurt me. He’s a nice one.”

A nice one. Justinian smiled at her naivety. There were no “nice” Bone Ministers. No soul could be as tortured as these and still maintain even a splinter of kindness. Justinian looked at the tools of torture—curving, crooked, serrated implements of pain—hanging from the Bone Minister’s heavy belt. Not nice. Not very nice at all.

At last, the Bone Minister gave some sign. His deep chest—half leathery gray flesh, half molded ridges of ashen black metal—inflated and fell as he released the breath in an otherworldly whistling sigh.

Justinian tensed.

“So fragile,” the Bone Minister said, the ghost whispers present with every word. He lifted his arms out to his side. His fingers clicked and crackled like a basket full of teeming crabs.

Suri whimpered and began to shake. Her arms suddenly slammed against her body as if a gigantic invisible demon had taken her in its fist.

“No, please!” Justinian whispered.

Suri struggled, her eyes bulged, and her feet left the ground.

The Bone Minister lifted his hands slightly and smiled. His teeth were long and sharp like those of a feral beast. They protruded at odd angles from the blackened gum tissue. The jaws parted. A shadowy tongue slithered between the teeth. And a rustling, rattling breath escaped.

Suri rose into the air. She squirmed and wrestled but couldn’t escape. Up she went: a foot off of the ground. Two. Three. Now, she was almost at the Bone Minister’s eye level.

“So very fragile,” the Bone Minister said. “One constricting thought…and she will burst like an overripe grape.”

“Mmmph!” Suri cried. “It hurts, Grandi!”

“Will you raise a fist against me, old man?” the Bone Minister hissed.

Justinian hadn’t even realized that he’d clenched his fists. He could feel the white-knuckling tension in them and found the urge to strike out against his enemy almost overwhelming. But when Justinian looked up at the Bone Minister’s face, he lost all resolve.

The grey flesh of that face was threadbare, shot through with dark metal, especially at the chin, jaw, and cheekbones. Worst were the eyes, whether one could see them or not. A crown of metal protruded from the bottom of the Bone Minister’s forehead to the bridge of his nose and wrapped around his face just above his ears. A shallow chevron eye slit cut deep into the armor. And the sickly, moonlight yellow eyes stared out with malice from within.

Suri cried softly. “Please, Grandi…”

“No, Minister,” Justinian whispered, letting his fists uncurl. “I would not dare to oppose you. Do what you will.”

The rustling rattle swirled out from the Bone Minister’s mouth. And slowly by some dark power that Justinian couldn’t fathom, Suri began to descend to the ground.

The moment her bare toes touched the leaf-strewn soil, Suri raced to Justinian and clutched him.

“See that she minds her path,” the Bone Minister said. He strode away without another word.

“Come, Suri,” Justinian said. He took Suri’s hand and got back to his feet. “The First One smiled upon us today. We should head back home. Fishing can wait another day.”

“Oh, Grandi, no!” Suri, sadness etching long lines into her sweet face.

Every rational thought urged Justinian to take Suri back to the relative safety of their shack. But Suri looked so sad, so utterly pathetic that his rational thoughts fled. “Ah, Suri,” he said. “I relent. We’ll still go to the bay and fish.”

“Yay!”

“But we must be doubly cautious,” he said. “We might not survive another run in with a Bone Minister.”

“That one’s different,” Suri said. “I don’t think he would’a kilt me.”

“He may be different,” Justinian replied, hoisting the fishing gear back to his shoulder. “But make no mistake…he has killed many before. And he would kill again.”

They hurried the rest of the way to the Bay of Taranaar without incident.

“Tide’s coming in,” Justinian said.

“Good for fishin’, right Grandi?” Suri asked.

“Yes, indeed,” he said, staring off into the obscure distance. “But this fog is thicker than I’d imagined. It’ll take all afternoon for the sun to burn this off.”

He bent low and took a trenchworm out of their can of bait. It squirmed vitally, and then Justinian plunged it onto the hook. A disturbing image of the Bone Minister impaling little Suri on some sharp thing raced through his mind. He shook the thought away and handed the fishing pole to Suri. First One knew, the girl was ready to fish.

She raced away up the pier, stopped at one spot, then raced back ten feet to select the perfect spot. Then, with a practiced flip of the wrists, Suri slung the baited line admirably far out into the water.

Justinian watched her affectionately for a few minutes. No bites, not even a nibble, and yet she gave no sign of boredom. She held on to the end of that fishing pole and grinned as if it were the end of a rainbow.

Justinian heard muted footsteps behind him. He spun on his heel, but it was only another fisherman.

“Mornin, Elder,” Shipley Moor said with a friendly nod.

“Glad it’s you,” Justinian said. “Run in with a Minister a few minutes back.”

“I saw ‘im,” Shipley said. “That’ll rattle ya right outta yer boots, it will. But fishin’ cures all, so they say.”

“I hope so,” Justinian said.

Shipley nodded again. He stopped next to Justinian and stared out over the misty bay. “Weather’s changed,” Shipley said. “Not much wind, but what there is is comin’ out’a the east. Current’s coming in different too.”

“Odd smell to it,” Justinian said.

“Yep,” Shipley said. “Probably just some dead thing out on a sandbar. Big mule crab, I’ll wager. Those things stink to high Allhaven.”

Shipley gave a wink and went on his way up the pier, far past Suri’s perfect spot. Justinian watched Shipley disappear into the fog. Hope he’s right about the smell, Justinian thought. It was getting stronger now. Definitely something dead and rotting.

“Grandi, look!” Suri called.

Justinian hurried over to see his niece pointing into the water.

“It’s a dead fish,” Suri said. “Not fair. I wanted to catch’im.”

Justinian looked and was surprised to see a moonfish floating along with the current.

“There’s another one, Grandi,” Suri said. “Someone’s takin’ up all my fish!”

“HOO!” A cry came from the mist where Shipley had gone. Then there came pounding footsteps on the pier. In a few seconds, Shipley raced right by them his mouth gaping like the dead fish.

“Shipley!” Justinian called after him. “What’s going on? What did you see?”

But Shipley was already off the pier. He never answered.

Suri screamed.

Justinian flew to her side. She wouldn’t speak at first, but just pointed. There were more and more dead fish. But there was something else. A pale form floated to the surface. A body.

“Look away, Suri!” he said, pulling her to himself.

“He’s a fish man,” she said before burying her head in his jacket.

She was right. The body had wing-like fins beneath each arm. And the flesh coloring, while distorted in death, was a light purplish blue with splotches of livid red.

“Marinaens,” Justinian whispered. Another body surfaced next to the first. Still farther out in the water, there were many more pale shapes floating. The smell became unbearable.

“Come, child,” he said. They left the fishing gear where it lay, and he ushered her down the pier toward the village. But Justinian couldn’t help himself. Every few steps he gaped at the floating dead. Now there were so many they covered the visible surface.

Suri suddenly peeked out of his coat. “Oh, Grandi!” she cried. “Who would kill the fish people. They was nice. It wasn’t the Ministers, was it?”

“I don’t know, child,” Justinian said. “Not for certain. But I think this might be the answer to a question many of us have been asking since the invasion. Come, let’s get back to the cottage. I’ll fix you a hot vanilla.”

He hoped the sweet treat would take her mind on the horrors of this day. But nothing would help Justinian’s thoughts. How often he and others had wondered about that fateful evening, the night of the invasion. He hadn’t told Suri the question, but it loomed in his mind: where were the Marinaens when we needed them?

Now, Justinian thought he knew, but there was no one to tell. No one with any power to oppose King Morlan…or any power at all, for that matter.


The New Look of Enter the Door Within. 

I started fiddling with the blog, and I must confess, quite accidentally, I changed the format. Then, after a lengthy freak out, I meddled with the controls and found a format that seemed doable. Not sure I like it. Please feel free to comment about the new look. Things like font, font color, size--anything you do or do not like--helps a ton. 

Sir Brock of Eastman's Newest Books!

Looking for some high energy, high interest, YA Fiction? Consider my friend and associate Brock Eastman's latest work!

The Quest for Truth – New Release

Noted Adventure Writer has released his latest book in The Quest for Truth, Risk. Brock Eastman who works at Focus on the Family has written and published a series with P&R Publishing and Focus on the Family. The latest book Risk hit bookshelves this summer.

Here is what I said in my endorsement for the series:

 “A race across the galaxy in a stellar ship, the Phoenix, you won’t be able to put these books down. Be careful not to rip the pages as you tear through the text and devour the adventure. Thrilling scenes, cool gadgets, and memorable characters are all part of what make The Quest for Truth a must read series.”

Risk, Book 2 in The Quest for Truth:

SPOILERS if you have not read Taken Book 1 in The Quest for Truth:

 Austin’s emotions boil over and he lashes out at his older siblings. Unable to deal with the loss of his parents and not ready to accept Oliver and Tiffany’s authority over him, he rebels.

When the kids land on Evad they find that the Übel and their parents have yet to arrive. In hope of finding clues to the next destination, the kids head into and abandoned city tucked in the center of a large crater. Waterfalls flow down the surrounding cliffs and through large stone ziggurats that sit at the ends of a cross shaped pool. The city has been consumed by the lush jungle. A breakthrough occurs when Mason remembers something Tiffany had read in their mom’s journal. This clue drives them to split into groups of two and search for the highest point in the city.

While exploring, the Übel arrive. Tiffany and Austin find themselves trapped in an Astronomy tower and Oliver and Mason must go to the rescue while evading the soldiers that will soon be pouring into the city. They also receive a mysterious message from Mr. O’Farrell, one that sounds more like a threat than anything.

Get it on Kindle Here

Taken, Book 1 in The Quest for Truth:

'Five Four Three Two One!' 
'We're out of here!' 

Suit up! Jump into hyper flight with the four Wikk kids! Forced into a high stakes hunt for their missing parents by the sinister Cpt. Vedrik, the siblings' only hope is their parents' Archeos e-journal. Can Tiffany decipher the clues within it? As time runs out, it's all up to Oliver and his Federation training to fly the Phoenix and protect his crew. But twins Mason and Austin endanger the mission when they unexpectedly meet . . . the blue boy! 

The Quest for Truth series unfolds as the four Wikk kids are thrust into a desperate race to find the mysterious planet Ursprung and stop the Uœbel renegades from misusing its long-lost secrets. Ancient cities, treacherous villains, high-tech gadgets, the Phoenix encounter all of these and more on this futuristic, interplanetary adventure!

 “One part Swiss Family Robinson, one part Indiana Jones, Taken is a riveting tale of just how far mankind is willing to go…for the ultimate prize.”

—Wayne Thomas Batson, Best-selling Author of The Door Within Trilogy, The Berinfell Prophe­cies, and Sword in the Stars.

Get it on Kindle Here

Unleash, Book 3 in The Quest for Truth

Releasing Spring 2013

Join the Wikks as they hunt down more clues in search for the Truth, but this time face genetically engineered dinosaurs, space pirates, and deal with betrayal of the highest order.

Pre-Order on Amazon Here

Get signed copies this Christmas at BrockEastman.com and follow his blog while you are there too to get chances at monthly free book giveaways from your favorite authors!

You can also like Brock on facebook and follow his tweets on @Bdeastman.

Two New Books You Might Like

If you haven't heard of author LB Graham or read any of his work, you're missing out. Seriously, his early fantasy work, The Binding of the Blade Series, has some of the best world-building since, well since Tolkien. Really, it's that good. Rich, lush, imaginative places you'll want to visit and tromp around in.

So times, they are a' changin' and LB Graham is bravely venturing into new forms of publishing. He has TWO new books out now, and I'm certain they will be cool on an epic scale. Take a look:

“The Raft, The River, and The Robot”

 
GENRE – Futuristic (so scifi I guess), also dystopic
AUDIENCE – I think a publisher would call it YA, though I think older readers, especially fans of Huck Finn will like it too.
AVAILABILITY – Right now it is KDP select, which means as an ebook, it is only available from Amazon for the Kindle; it is also available as a paperback from Amazon
COST - $2.99 for the book, $11.99 for the paperback

Links: 

The Raft, The River, and The Robot  for KINDLE 

The Raft, The River, and The Robot  PAPERBACK 


"Avalon Falls"

Synopsis: Jimmy Wyatt has come to Avalon Falls to find refuge. He has secrets and a past he’d like to forget. But, when a brutal murder shatters the tranquility of the town, his aren’t the only secrets that come to light.

 

Links: 

Avalon Falls  for KINDLE 

Avalon Falls  PAPERBACK
 

A Question of Leadership...

Two subjects that stir up angst in "polite conversation" are religion and politics. 

One can hope, anyway. 

Did you watch the debate? Was it what you expected? It sure wasn't what I expected, but I'm pleasantly surprised. Here's my .02 for what it's worth.

The debate demonstrates the choice ahead. Obama is a nice guy, a talented guy, a role model for many, a feel-good story, eloquent, and charismatic. But he's not qualified to lead a nation like the U.S. He can look good, sound good, feel good, but in the end he's overmatched by the job. His first 4 years show that ultimately he was too much style and not enough substance. That was how it went last night in the debate. Romney came with a plan, he articulated it clearly, supported it repeatedly, and responded on-topic to his opponent. Obama clearly hadn't prepared enough. He spoke with emotional euphemisms. He rarely offered any kind of support besides more emotional pleas. And he really didn't respond to Romney's arguments. It was kind of surreal to behold. These are supposed to be MASTERS of debate. But in any high school debate club, kids could recognize the numerous flaws in Obama's approach.

Pundits from both parties can pull statistics out of their ears and make them sound like they mean pretty much whatever they want. But, if people HONESTLY look at the last four years and ask, "Are we better off today than we were four years ago?" The answer is absolutely not. And it's not close. If you vote for Obama this year, you are likely voting out of devotion to a side. You are a lifelong Democrat or Liberal or just a fan of Obama, and no matter what the policies are, you're voting Obama's way.

If you are voting on policies and potential, there's no way you can't vote for Romney. He's not perfect. No, and he's not even stellar. But Romney is clearly more prepared to perform the duties of President. He is much more likely to enact policies that will actually help the U.S. Obama offers nothing new, and the old axiom holds true: insanity is doing the same thing over again but expecting a different result.

IMHO no sitting President should be voted into a second term UNLESS he/she has made marked improvements in most major areas of government: economy, defense, education, health, law, etc. Acting like we need to "give the guy a little more time" is ridiculous. Either the candidate arrives in office, prepared and purposeful, and over 4 years makes major improvements or OUT HE/SHE GOES.

Vote for Romney this year. He'll be a better president. And maybe in four years, we'll actually have two GREAT candidates to debate.

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

You know, this time of year is starting to feel like Christmas to me. No, not because Walmart and Kohls put out their Christmas decorations in the middle of SEPTEMBER! I mean, really?

But for an author, anytime a new book comes out, it's Christmas all over again. So this Fall, I am absolutely going crazy with fun and gratitude. Why? Well because so many of my books and stories are coming out all at once!

Check out the new stuff, and Happy Reading!

1) Berinfell Prophecies Book 3: The Tide of Unmaking
Christopher Hopper and I, at long last, release our final Berinfell book. It was such a joy to write together and create this series.  It's a shame we had to blow up half the world, but hey, the story gets what the story wants.



2) Imagination Station Book 8: The Battle for Cannibal Isle
This is my first book with Focus on the Family. And I must confess that it was kind of a "training wheels" experiment for me. Focus Author, Marianne Herring, was awesome helping me learn the ropes of writing for this markedly different age group. She wrote most of the book, but I kept a busy hand involved. I have another book in the series coming soon. If you have 1st thru 4th graders, maybe give this one a try!



3) Skeleton Project: Fright Pack #1
The first four Skeleton Project stories are out, so I wanted to publish them all together and give you a break on the price. You get all four stories for $2.99, saving you about $2.00. Plus, there's a super secret sneak preview included. A future novel that my students promised to hunt me down and kill me if I didn't write it. It's called "Unnatural."  Enjoy!


As always, thank you for being faithful readers. I know I've still much to learn about the craft. And I know there are ten thousand writers out there with ten times my talent, but have not yet had a chance to publish. I am everlastingly grateful…honored, and humbled by the gift. God is good. My readers are too. 

Please keep those Amazon reviews coming! And spread the word to any fiction readers you know! Thank you!

Never alone.
-Wayne Thomas Batson

Christianity Investigation Files #1: Holy Spirit Confirmation--What is it?

Christianity Investigation Files #1: Romans 8:16 "The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God..."

What exactly does this mean? What exactly is the "our spirit" spoken of here? Is it our thinking-consciousness? Is it a physical feeling? And in what sense does the Holy Spirit "bear witness" ...that we can sense with our spirit?

This has been one of the most vexing things about living as a Christian and sometimes wrestling mightily wondering if I really am a Christian. I've often thought that it would have been nice if all people came equipped with one of those oven-stuffer-roaster pop up things, so that when we become a Christian, -*POP*- the little thing pops up, and we know.

Alas, no pop up widget for us. But the Bible definitely seems to declare that the Holy Spirit will confirm our adoption into the family of God, ie: Getting Saved. What does this feel like? I mean really, all cliches aside. What are the specifics that we can tic off as to Holy Spirit confirmation?

Berinfell Prophecies 3: The Tide of Unmaking IS HERE!!!

Berinfell Prophecies Book 3: 

The Tide of Unmaking

is HERE!!

Click the Pic to order Berinfell 3

For Kindle Version, Click Here!

For Print Version, Click HERE!

Epidemic Part 1: The Spreading Contagion

When the Black Plague swept through Europe between 1348 and 1350, it gouged out 30-60% of Europe's population and reduced the world's population by an estimated 100 million souls. With all due respect to the Black Death, there is a far worse contagion spreading in the world today. I suspect it has claimed more lives than the plague, cancer, and all other horrifying diseases put together.

Its symptoms include the following:

• persistent, gnawing pain radiating from the abdomen
• severe, agonizing heart constriction
• erosion of the mind, dementia, anxiety, and depression
• slow necrotizing (rotting) of the flesh
• perpetual death-like episodes
• almost 100% fatality rate  

Lest you hurt yourself sprinting to the nearest pharmacy for face masks and rubber gloves, this contagion cannot be prevented by any of the so-called Universal Precautions. No amount of antibacterial gel will protect you from this. It enters through the eyes or ears. Often, it spontaneously generates within the brain tissue or in the lining of the heart itself. You cannot run from it; you cannot keep it out; you cannot retreat to some secluded spot and hope to avoid it. For in the very act of isolating yourself, you will cause the contagion to spawn within you.

The worst aspect of this disease, indeed the facet that makes this contagion the greatest tragedy in history is…that there is a cure for it, but the cure is almost universally shunned.

The name of this contagion is Selfishness, and it is spreading.

The Bible has much to say on selfishness. This verse from Philippians 3 is particularly expressive:

¹⁸ For, as I have often told you before and now tell you again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. ¹⁹ Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is set on earthly things. (Phil 3: 18-19, NIV, BibleGateway.com)

Did you catch that phrase? "Their god is their stomach." In other words, their lives are all about their wants, lusts, and appetites. That is a scathing rebuke. But Christians, lest we sit back and think, "Yeah, those hell-bound heathens really are selfish, aren't they?" Perhaps we ought to consider our own selfishness. I won't speak authoritatively about all Christians, but I suspect that many of us are infected with the most virulent forms of selfishness. And I contend that we are, in fact, worse than the lost because we know the cure and yet we still shun it. And our selfishness does more damage than any nonChristian's selfishness ever could.

More to come on the Nature of this Contagion, Causes, and Cure in future posts...

The Perfect Footwarmer…and Maintaining an Attitude of Gratitude.

My cat Rusty is the perfect footwarmer. And often, Rusty will enter my room while I'm writing, meow once or twice (to announce his coming, I suspect), and then curl up right on my feet under my desk. For this simple thing, I thank God.

It brings to mind the simple pleasures of life that God gives us, often in abundance. I'm not talking about the healing of a loved one, or a 10K bonus at work, or a friend believing in Christ--those are ultra blessings. I'm thinking more of the cool breeze in the middle of the day, the smile of a young daughter, the motes dancing in a sunbeam, the perfect coffee, a hug, a cool wisp of cloud, a comfortable chair...you get the idea. Trouble is how often we allow these everyday, simple pleasures to go unappreciated. We take them for granted or allow the pace of life to crowd out any thought of thanks.

Consider the Scriptures*:

Luke 17:11-19

Jesus Heals Ten Men With Leprosy

¹¹ Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. ¹² As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance ¹³ and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!”

¹⁴ When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed.

¹⁵ One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. ¹⁶ He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan.

¹⁷ Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? ¹⁸ Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?” ¹⁹ Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.” 

It's cool that this event was important enough to be recorded in the scriptures, and it underscores the importance of thanking God. But getting healed from lifelong leprosy is a pretty HUGE deal. What about the everyday blessings?

1 Thessalonians 5:17-18

"...pray continually, ¹⁸ give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus."

Seems like thanking God is important for all things. Even the tough times. So take the time today to crowd out the world and thank God for the small things. And if you feel comfortable doing so, leave a comment telling us what small things you thank God for.

*New International Version (NIV) courtesy of BibleGateway.com

Freebie Friday, August 10th! All Bat Short Fiction...FREE!

You a Kindle reader? If so, come back this Friday for FREE BAT FICTION. Skeleton Project, Episodes 1&2, plus Forget Me Not will be absolutely free from Amazon...all day long. Please spread the word!

The NEW Cover: Berinfell Book 3--The Tide of Unmaking

Okay, folks, here it is, the new cover design by NewLifeMedia. Berinfell Prophecies Book 3: The Tide of Unmaking!!

Woo hoo! So, whaddaya think? Oh, and Elves, if you're visiting and feel the need to EXPLODE, please be sure to clean up. Thank you.

New Cover for Berinfell 3

This Wednesday, August 1st, author Christopher Hopper and I will reveal the new cover for Berinfell Prophecies 3; The Tide of Unmaking. Tune in at 9:00 a.m. EST to check it out!

Skeleton Project, Episode TWO is available NOW on Kindle!

Happy Sunday, all! I apologize for the delay, but Skeleton Project Episode TWO is now LIVE on Kindle!

Skeleton Project Agents Pershing and Minnis are once again thrown into the clutches of the supernatural. Scares and laughs abound as Pershing comes face-to-face with his darkest fear. And even Minnis, with her powerful arsenal of weaponry, may not be able to bail him out.

Skeleton Project 2 "A Bug Going Around," Only $1.29: http://is.gd/9qWrXE

If you haven't read Skeleton Project, Episode ONE yet, you're in luck. It's FREE today on Amazon: http://is.gd/o5dJk7


Or, you can just click the links in the sidebar. 

Forget Me Not is FREE today! And VAULTS up the Amazon Rankings!

Great Halibut, Patrick! Wayne Thomas Batson's 2nd Kindle Short Story "Forget Me Not" is now FREE on Kindle! One day only!

Click for details: http://is.gd/mJ1klD Thank you!

Already read it? If you did and you liked the story, would you consider writing a review on Amazon? Or sharing it on FB and Twitter? Thank you muchly!

And, this just in! Thanks to readers like you, "Forget Me Not" has leaped up to #7 on Amazon's Kindle Ranking for Epic Fantasy! Incredible. I am so grateful for your readership. 

 

Cheap Grace is Dead Wrong, but NOT for the reason you might think. (Repost)

I ran into someone the other day who pointed out that within this post, I became a little too pointed and a lot too personal. I thought a lot about it, and reread what I had written. It was true. I didn't mention any names, but I attacked with way too much specificity and zeal. I had no call to say some of the things I said. I apologize. That said, I firmly believe in the truth of this article as it stands now. I've made changes that better reflect the argument and reasoning...rather than the anger I was feeling when I originally wrote. So, if you're a Christian, and you're stuck on the not-so-merry-go-round, read on and discover just how amazing God's grace really is. --WtB

Cheap Grace

I am an angry man right now. It's not the simple anger of a bad call in a football game. It's not the reactive anger of stubbing my toe or stepping on a kids' toy left in the wrong place. No, this is the kind of anger that comes from years of mistreatment at the hands of the unjust. This is waking up after years in the Matrix, realizing for the first time that you've been a slave.

That's how angry I am.

You see, my Pastor (Joe Duke, Lifepoint Church) is preaching out of Romans (my favorite book of the Bible). And his sermon this weekend, "A Matter of Life and Death," finally rang some much needed bells in my head. And I woke up. You can listen to the sermon here by the way: A Matter of Life and Death, Joe Duke, Lifepoint Church.

And when I woke up, I became angry. I'm not just angry for myself. I'm angry for generations (maybe centuries) of Christians who have been mistreated or misstaught or misled on two key areas of Christianity:

The Grace of God

and the Nature of Justification

So what's the problem? What has imprisoned me and so many Christians for generations? What is it about some teachings related to Grace or Justification?

The problem is that there are those who consciously or unconsciously teach that people can only be saved from hell by Grace plus something. It's the plus something that murders humanity.

The problem is that there are those who consciously or unconsciously teach that Justification can be proved or disproved by a person's behavior, implying that the only people who are really justified (who are really Christians) are the ones who live a virtually sinless or actually sinless lives. This imprisons humanity behind bars of ice. 

And when someone like me comes along and says: "Wait a second! The Bible tells us that salvation is FREE. The only thing that must be true of us is that we believe that Jesus died for our sins and confess Him as Lord. And by God's amazing Grace, we are saved! We are justified which means declared ultimately righteous. And it's a free gift." When someone like me says something like that, there are those who would accuse us of me of teaching, "Cheap Grace."

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a German theologian who spoke out against Nazi aggression during World War II. Bonhoeffer was arrested and eventually hung for his faith and his relentless criticism of Nazi evil. He was a great man, a brilliant man, a man who no-doubt inspired thousands, if not millions to become Christians or follow after Jesus. I have no right to speak against him, but I do believe some of his teachings are either somewhat errant or have been horrendously misunderstood. In his treatise "The Cost of Discipleship," Bonhoeffer wrote this:

"Cheap grace is the deadly enemy of our Church. We are fighting today for costly grace."

"The only man who has the right to say that he is justified by grace alone is the man who has left all to follow Christ."

-Dietrich Bonhoeffer

We read those now out of context, of course, and that's why I think, perhaps Bonhoeffer didn't mean what it sounds like he means. When you read this, part of you wants to raise a fist and yell, "ROCK ON!" But there's this nagging suspicion that something's a little off. In the first quote, do you see the pair of oxymorons? "Cheap Grace" and "Costly Grace." Neither of these things are possible. Not if we understand the Biblical definition of Grace.

In the second quotation, do you see the issue? If you are justified by grace alone, how can leaving everything behind be a PRErequisite? How can there be any other condition if you are saved by grace ALONE. There cannot be. Not if we understand the Biblical definition of Grace.

Ephesians 2:8-9

^{8 9}"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast."

Romans 3: 21-23

 ²¹ But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, ²² even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction; ²³ for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, ²⁴ being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus;

Romans 4: 1-6

 ¹ What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, has found? ² For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. ³ For what does the Scripture say? “ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS CREDITED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS.” ⁴ Now to the one who works, his wage is not credited as a favor, but as what is due. ⁵ But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness, ⁶ just as David also speaks of the blessing on the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works..."

Romans 5:1

 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ..."

Romans 5:15-17

  ¹⁵ But the free gift is not like the transgression. For if by the transgression of the one the many died, much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many. ¹⁶ The gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned; for on the one hand the judgment arose from one transgression resulting in condemnation, but on the other hand the free gift arose from many transgressions resulting in justification. ¹⁷ For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ. 

Galatians 3: 1-11

 ¹ You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. ² I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by believing what you heard? ³ Are you so foolish? After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh? ⁴ Have you experienced so much in vain—if it really was in vain? ⁵ So again I ask, does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you by the works of the law, or by your believing what you heard? ⁶ So also Abraham “believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”

 ⁷ Understand, then, that those who have faith are children of Abraham. ⁸ Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: “All nations will be blessed through you.” ⁹ So those who rely on faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.

 ¹⁰ For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse, as it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.” ¹¹ Clearly no one who relies on the law is justified before God, because “the righteous will live by faith.”

Romans 6:23

²³ For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. 

God gave His life up for us. He ransomed us, paid our debt, and saved us. He GAVE us forgiveness. He gave us salvation. He gave us life. And He gave us eternity in Heaven. 

Grace is defined as unmerited favor. We didn't deserve it. We didn't earn it. We have nothing to boast about. We have no byline, and our names are not in the credits of Grace. It is God's gift. Do you see how many times the scriptures declare it is a gift? A pure gift, uncorrupted by any puny deeds we might manifest? You just can't have "cheap" or "costly" grace. It cannot be costly and costless at the same time. It's free. Do you hear me? IT IS FREE.

Now, there are some who distinguish the cost of Grace to God from our own cost. Yep. I get that. Jesus had to leave heaven and put on mortal flesh. That cost Him. Jesus has to muddle through human existence for 33 years. That cost Him. Jesus had to endure the taunts, the spit, the torture, the humiliation, and death on the cross. That cost Him...dearly. Perhaps even more than all of that: Jesus had to experience a span of time where He was completely cut off from God the father. I often wonder if that wasn't the moment where Jesus experienced the blow from the bearing the sin of the whole world--that in those moments, Jesus took the sum total of all humanity's sin and separation, the sum total of all humanity's eternity stay in hell--upon Himself. Grace cost God more than we could ever tally or imagine. Frankly, we're just too limited to go there. But for us, the recipients of Grace, it is free.

Believe: It really is that simple

What is the one word used the most in the New Testament to explain how a person gets saved? You guessed it. Believe. BELIEVE and you will be saved. For God so loved the world that He gave His only son that any who would BELIEVE. John wrote his whole gospel to encourage folks to BELIEVE.

Now, you might be thinking that the word "believe" in the Bible has some double-secret probationary meaning. Maybe in the Greek, Hebrew, or Aramaic there's some extra complication to the word "believe" that Western readers wouldn't understand today. Nope. It meant then just what it does today. It means to be persuaded, to understand and agree with, to trust as true, or to pledge faith in as reliable. How can it be that simple?

I think that's the real problem. We stubborn humans just can't accept something as free. There's got to be a string attached somewhere, right? Maybe we think we'll be more spiritual if we do something to get it. Maybe we think we're helping God out. Maybe we rightly know how screwed up we are, how big a debt we owe, and then wrongly assume that, therefore, we owe some kind of penance before we can be truly saved. Maybe we were raised to be independent, can-do people.

But sorry...what do the scriptures tell us? Jesus did it all. And He gives it to us for FREE.

And the cool thing is that God knew all along how screwed up we are. He knew all along that there was NO WAY we could save ourselves. He knew our natures and knew we needed an utterly complete, simple gift--or we'd all be toast. Literally.

"For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. (For rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person perhaps someone might possibly dare to die.) But God demonstrates his own love for us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, because we have now been declared righteous by his blood, we will be saved through him from God’s wrath. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, how much more, since we have been reconciled, will we be saved by his life?" Romans 5: 6-10


See there, God's absolute brilliant generosity. God wasn't about "Go clean up your act, and then come see me about salvation." God wasn't about "Go do more and more sacrifices, and then come see me about salvation." God wasn't about "leave everything behind, and then I'll save you." No, God said, "Let me make this easy for you. Believe." 


John expressed what kind of simple belief was necessary when he compared Jesus to something Moses did back in the OT:


"Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.”

This hearkens back to Numbers 21 where God sent poisonous snakes to bite some sinful folks who just wouldn't listen. Then, in their misery, they cried out for help. Moses held up a bronze serpent (the symbol of the AMA) and all who looked at it were saved. Jesus, John says, is just like that. He was lifted up so that all of us miserable folk could look to Jesus for salvation...and be saved. It's just that simple. Look on Him. Believe He can save you. Boom, it's done. 

Modern Pharisees

So who's trying to sell Grace with a string attached? I won't name names, but you've probably heard of many of them. You've read their books, heard their sermons, etc. They will use all kinds of interesting phrases for it: full surrender, Lordship, absolute repentance, sinless perfection, instant sanctification, and so forth. And each one of these tells you to believe in Jesus for salvation, BUT...  There's something else: some level of repentance, some activity, some attitude--some something necessary to really be saved.

According to many of these groups, especially the sinless perfection folk, a person who calls himself a Christian, who then sins often (or even at all, in some extreme teachings), must not be a Christian at all. Never was one. Or maybe was--but lost salvation. (Don't get me started on "losing salvation." Hello, it's called ETERNAL life for a reason!) These folks clearly have x-ray soul vision and can see an unregenerate heart. They will say in one breath, Grace alone, but in the next--so long as you don't sin, believed in this certain way, or add this to belief. And they would then accuse me of teaching "cheap grace." 

These folks are like modern Pharisees, trying to add to God's work on the cross. Remember the Pharisees? Of all the folks Jesus met on earth, the Pharisees earn the prize for being ripped up one side and down the other by the Son of God. He called them serpents, hypocrites, white-washed tombs, and more! Why? Jesus didn't like that these mere men were adding rules, adding restrictions, adding ANYTHING to God's way.

I'm sick of it too. Seriously. SICK OF IT. My problem started way back when I first became a Christian. The dude who led me to the Lord was one GLOW IN THE DARK believer. Based on the person I assumed this guy to be, I assumed that as soon as I believed, WHOOSH, there goes all my issues with sin.

Well, there were some neat changes initially. I stopped cursing. I quit drinking. I dumped tons of things that might have been temptations. It was kind of a cleansing. Was I completely sin-free during that time? I don't think so. It was 20+ years ago, so I can't really recall. But I don't think I was ever sin-free. At the very least, I remember getting really angry playing a video game and throwing the controller so hard against the wall that is put a hole in the drywall. So, yeah, I probably sinned still during that time. And yet, it was a change.

But it didn't last forever. Even though, I was in the word more than ever, praying more than ever, and active in church more than ever, sin crouched at my door and I stepped in it like is was a pasture full of manure. Decades went by. Some days, months, years were more pure than others. But, if I am honest, there were periods where I sinned more as a believer than I did during certain periods as an unbeliever. So what happened? Did I lose my salvation? Was I never a Christian to begin with? And for those who might teach such things: just how much sin is necessary to show I never was a Christian? One sin a day? Twelve? 17.5? 

As you might have guessed, I noticed the discrepancy between my status as a Christian and my behaviors. And honestly, the first fifteen years of my Christian life were characterized by frequent terrors of hell, by questioning my salvation, by repeated altar calls and sinners prayers, etc. etc. Eventually, I came to a kind of stasis. I just kind of said to God that I don't know how to be more sincere. I don't know how to have more genuine faith. And I need help.

I led Bible studies week after week. And I could argue apologetics with atheists, mormons, Jehovah's witnesses, evolutionary biologists, etc. But the sins didn't always stop. Neither did the fears. I became a bit of an insecure Christian. I clung to Jesus and felt a desperate need for His touch, but I also couldn't seem to let go of the fears. And those fears made almost EVERY single act of Christian service feel hollow and insincere. I could witness to people, but like CS Lewis said, it felt like I was handing out brochures to a place I had never visited.
 

Holy Facepalm, Batman!
But, over time, and with the help of some pretty amazing apologetics-meisters, and especially with God's grace, I came through and utterly dismissed that errant belief system. So when my pastor began preaching out of Romans, it just connected. It was like a Holy Facepalm! How could I fall for that utter nonsense? How could I listen to this false teaching and remotely entertain the thought that I might be cheapening grace.

You know who "cheapens" Grace? It's these folks, these false teachers. As if God's grace can't cover all sins. As if God's grace can't save you unless you...blah, blah. As if God's grace just isn't powerful enough...unless we help.

You who try to add clean living or baptism or full sacrifice or total repentance or anything else to grace: STOP IT. Who can supplement the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross? Does Jesus' suffering, death, and resurrection NEED anything to supplement it? Is it not enough? Was Jesus kidding on the cross when he cried out, "It is finished"?

To those who see other Christians who sin, and in your minds judge them as people "who can't possibly be saved," is it not you who, in judgment, are serving the devil? Do you know that person's soul? Are you finding a label for these people out of a desire to comfort your own discomfort? Are you troubled by the incongruence between the name Christian and obvious sin? And since you can't make heads or tails of that, do you then comfort yourself by a wholesale declaration that sinning Christians aren't really Christians at all?

Matthew 23: 13 and 15

“But woe to you, experts in the law and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You keep locking people out of the kingdom of heaven! For you neither enter nor permit those trying to enter to go in. 

“Woe to you, experts in the law and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You cross land and sea to make one convert, and when you get one, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves!" 

What you do is drive away the lowly, broken Christians who have blown it, making them think they never were Christians to begin with. And since they never were, they despair that they never can become Christians because they simply don't know how to muster more sincerity with which to believe. 

What you do is frighten whole generations of new believers into keeping a desperate, tragic secret. By your falseness, your legalism, and superficial holiness, you have made these new believer think that as soon as they become Christians, POOF, all troubles, all sin issues are instantly resolved. So now, these new believers, confronted with the reality of their own sin, inwardly cringe. Who can they tell and not be worried about rejection? And everyone else at church looks so great, like they've got the world on a string and the tiger by its tail. How can I possibly admit...that I mess up?

What you do is chase away the nervous unbeliever who comes to church one day, hoping against hope that maybe someone knows what they are going through. But instead, he finds a sanctuary filled with plastic people, perfect smiles and glad-handing glee-meisters…and if he digs deep enough, he finds hypocrites. 

I can't possibly know the motivations of teachers of such doctrines. I imagine that for a great many of them, they have the best of intentions. They want to steer people toward holiness, and that's not a bad thing at all, is it? No, not in essence. And I know for a fact that at least some who teach these troubling doctrines do a LOT of good, helping believers through many of life's difficulties and so on. They steer a great many people to Jesus...and that is fantastic. But, once a believer begins to mature and explore the theology, he/she will discover a troubling and often crippling set of disclaimers like: 1) You have faith, but need ___ as well  OR  2) You believe, great, but you must be sinless now or you weren't really a Christian  OR  3) You believe, but have you left all behind? Etc. etc.  

How dare we sell grace short by attempting to a) add something of human effort to it OR b) by claiming that Grace covers only a finite amount of sins (just the sins committed prior to conversion).

Priceless Grace

But, you may say, what about those people who claim to be Christians but sin...or even sin a lot? Well, maybe they are Christians and maybe they aren't. Maybe they are just walking out of fellowship with God. Maybe they have never been discipled properly or never had a good church...or even a friend good enough to teach and sharpen them. Isn't God's grace powerful enough to save them? Of course it is.

What if they sin a little? How do you define "a little?" What if they sin a lot? How do you define "a lot?" Do you see the problem? It's a problem of YOU, finite man, trying to define something that only the infinite mind of God has any right to define.

And I ask again, isn't grace powerful enough to cover those sins? Of course it is. You cannot out-sin Grace. Don't take my word for it. God has a lot to say on the matter. Check out Romans.

"The law was brought in so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more,  so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Romans 6: 20-21

Grace always trumps sin. ALWAYS.

God took a magnificent risk in dying for sinful people. He risked that once we believe in Him and receive the gift of eternal life, we might at some point, just walk away. You've seen it, and I've seen it. We might as well stop denying it or trying the old "never was a Christian dodge." My first pastor was as godly and wise a man as you're ever likely going to meet. On fire for the Lord for thirty plus years. Smart as a whip. Taught at an accredited Bible College, led hundreds maybe thousands to Jesus. The man's faith was no doubt Grade A bonafide true. Ten years later, gone. Left his wife. Left the church. Struggling. Let every man be a liar and God be true. God has saved this man. Yes, even him. Or even me. I still sin too. And I say, there but for the Grace of God go I. See, I look at the picture below and see a sacrifice so great and so comprehensive--an ocean of agony to rescue broken mankind. Grace trumps sin.

Please understand, I am not advocating any kind of universalism thing here. Jesus' sacrifice is powerful enough to save mankind, but it did not save everyone. Some will reject the gift of Eternal Life. Some will reject the Grace of God. It's a free gift, but people still have to accept it.

Sinning Free for All?

At this point, you might be wondering: does that mean that I can become a Christian and just go sin all I want? Paul addressed that question in Romans too.

"What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?" Romans 6: 1-2

Here, God is saying, you no longer have to live that way. Sinning hurts nonChristians. There are nasty natural consequences to sin. But for the believer, I think it's tenfold. You get the natural consequences plus some. You may lose the assurance of your salvation--the feeling that you are saved. You may be driven practically mad by the disconnect between your inner man who is alive with Christ and the outer man sinning madly. You might even just die. The wages of sin is death. And one thing that's definite is that you'll lose reward in heaven. That's another topic for study. Seriously, there will be glorious rewards in heaven, but not everyone will earn them.

Salvation--Justification--the Grace of God is FREE. Discipleship is costly. Sanctification is costly. Growing to be more like Jesus will refine you through Holy Fire. Christians have lots of work to do. Jesus Himself prepares good works for us to do. That's kind of a cool thought. But please get the point: all this is once you are IN THE FAMILY. Once you are saved, then the works come. But not automatically. You need the power of God each and every day to follow after Him.

Get off the not-so-Merry-go-round

Do you believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross to pay for your sins (past sins, present sins, and future sins)? Do you believe He is the Son of God who rose again to defeat death once and for all? Do you believe Jesus loved you enough to give his life for you? You do? Great. You're saved. God saved you.

But the thing is, you really have to SETTLE IT. You can't go back and forth on this. Trust me. It is a never ending cycle of futility. Am I saved? Yes, but I sinned. Maybe I wasn't saved. Lord, save me. Oh, I must be saved now. Crud, I sinned again. Maybe it didn't take. Lord, save me.

See where that leads? I'm convinced that the "Am I saved or not technique" is one of satan's greatest ploys to keep Christians from doing God's work. If you're not convinced you're saved, all you'll do is pine over that. You won't be much good to the cause of Christ. SETTLE IT.

Jesus paid your price. You are saved. If you sin again, confess it, move on! Ask God to give you the power to turn from sins. Look for the way of escape God provides us for every temptation. It'll be there. Seriously. Get a friend to hold you accountable. Pray for each other.

One more thing: be real. Stop trying to act more put-together than you are. Remember the broken sinners, Christian and nonChristian alike. Maybe they need an ear and an arm rather than an eye of judgment.