Into the Fire

Passionate thoughts about the world of writing and the Power of God

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Passionate: right or wrong. Writes love stories with a passion. Raw Romantic Redemptive

  • ****Political Update****

     

    Excerpts from the (ACLJ):

     

    Today [May 19, 2011], President Obama delivered an unprecedented rebuke of the Israeli people by an American president. In words that were designed to reach more Muslim citizens than United States citizens, Obama called Israel's legitimate West Bank settlements an "occupation"; and by calling for a return to the 1967 borders, he is calling for a divided Jerusalem. He continued to press Israel to negotiate with the Palestinian Authority (PA) and, subsequently, with the "Unity Government" the PA has formed with the terrorist group, Hamas.

    If there was ever any question about the intent of those whom President Obama expects Israel to negotiate with, this week's news report gives a clear answer: "A member of the Palestinian Authority parliament spelled out his organization's vision for the genocidal annihilation of the Jewish people … [giving] Arabs 'the honor' of annihilating 'the evil of this gang.'"

    While President Obama may not recognize the threat a terrorist-run Palestinian government poses to Israel, we do and we're taking action. The ACLJ is stepping up its efforts to defend Israel in the diplomatic and legal war being waged by Hamas.

    I am now en route to Washington, D.C., to personally lead our legislative team's work with Congress to prevent U.S. tax dollars from going to the terrorist-run government and to coordinate our work at the United Nations (U.N.) to prevent the U.N. from recognizing the Palestinian Authority as an independent nation. I have also assembled a special senior legal team that will be in Israel to work in conjunction with Israeli officials on our legal efforts.

    President Obama's disconnect from the facts on the ground in the Middle East is obvious. News reports show that the Hamas terrorist group has "not given Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas permission to negotiate with Israel," and now he all but abandons Israel in favor of giving in to the demands of terrorists.

    Even members of President Obama's own party have recognized that we cannot support the Palestinian Authority now that the terrorist organization, Hamas, has joined the "Unity Government." Twenty-seven Democratic Senators have sent a letter urging President Obama to defund the new terrorist-run government.

    Hamas continues to refuse to recognize Israel's right to exist, emphatically stating that it will stick with its "plan of resistance and not negotiations." How can President Obama demand that Israel negotiate with an organization that continues to utilize terrorism against it? It's absurd.

    If President Obama will not defend Israel and continues to tell them to negotiate with terrorists, we must take a stand.

     It is abundantly clear that as long as Hamas is a part of the Palestinian government, there can be no peaceful solution in the Middle East. We must not allow American funds to be used to support this terrorist-run government, nor can we allow Israel to be pressured into negotiating with terrorists.

    Jay Sekulow
    ACLJ Chief Counsel

     

     

     

    Woe to those who call evil good and good evil. Lord, help us to keep our loyalties where they belong: to you and your desires. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

  • Sex and Romance = Acceptance and Indignation

     

    For the vastly different responses to these touchy (pun intended) topics, go here:

     

    http://noveljourney.blogspot.com/

     

    and here:

     

    http://www.russellmoore.com/2011/05/18/can-romance-novels-hurt-your-heart/

     

     

    Father, how do you put up with all of us? Your patience is overwhelming. Please keep me level and loving, Lord. Please. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

     

  • The Bully, the Underdog, and the In-Betweener

     

    How would you classify yourself in your school days? Some people never grow out of what they were. The ones who do usually remember in embarrassment how they acted in those days when almost everything mattered in some consequential way and how so many times we tried to prove something about ourselves that didn’t exist.

     

    I struggled with inferiority, and do to this day, although back then it of course magnified every flaw I perceived in myself. So bullying was not an option for me as far as thinking I might be or even could be superior enough in some capacity to lord it over someone else. Not that I ever wanted to do this. In fact I was a champion of the underdog because somehow some way I had become an in-betweener. If I go back in memory to elementary school, I felt the favor of many of my teachers and classmates. In 6th grade I could say I was one of “the popular crowd” at my school. Scoot ahead to 7th grade, and I shrunk to miniscule. That transition and that entire year remains the worst year of my life. However, I was never bullied or focused upon as being different, weird, small, or bully-able apparently—even though I felt like all of those things.

     

    The closest I came to being “bullied” occurred in my sophomore year of high school at an assembly. Funny how you remember those things. I have naturally curly hair. I used huge rollers (curlers) to straighten some of that curl, but in the end the curls won out. Seated midway up on the bleachers, two girls behind me (Muggs Jacobsen and Bobbi McConnell—if I spelled your names wrong, consider it my feeble attempt at getting even) started discussing my hair, picking up a strand of it. It wasn’t horribly cruel, but all I knew about them was that they were in “the popular crowd” and they were making me feel inferior. I didn’t turn around or say anything to them. But I remember how I felt. Later on in high school we knew each other well enough to greet one another, and we had mutual friends. Nothing earth shattering, but as old as I am, I can still place that moment in time.

     

    It’s amazing how a bully can enjoy exercising power over someone else. Sometimes it’s because outside of this particular environment, they feel powerless. Or out of control and victimized. And sometimes they just enjoy seeing others squirm. Inferiority can weigh in for bullies too. They have to prove they’re capable of something even if that something requires their meanness to perceive success.

     

    Underdogs often demonstrate either fear or confidence. I would guess a lot depends on their support from home-life. They either shrink from what’s required of them because they sense they can’t do it well or at least as well as others, or they give it their best and often don’t perform well or fail. Their resilience to continue depends upon who encourages them and how they’ve come to feel about themselves.

     

    The in-betweeners might feel awkward in certain crowds but not intimidated. They float in and out of groupings but have their own set structures of friends. Generally accepted, they adjust to different environs and get through the hard things with the support of their friends and hopefully their families.

     

    Do you recognize yourself in any of these classifications? Are you still that person today?

     

    I’m still the champion of the underdog—or I tend to be. I’m definitely comfortable in my own “inferior” skin. I can relate to all the emotions of each position, although bullying has never appealed to me, and to a degree it’s exaggerated now along with everything else as sin amps up its last crusade. How ‘bout you?

     

     

    God, your heart is tender to all, but those who are persecuted are the ones you champion. Help us to demonstrate your kindness but not to enable sin. We’re all desperate for you, whether we recognize it or not. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

  • Word

     

    Favorite e words:

    Elucidate

    Effervescent

    Embrace

    Embarrass

    Eccentric

    Echo

    Elegance

    Eclectic

    Embellish

    Emulsify

    Enfold

    Endure

    Engage

    Entourage

    Ellipse

    Envision

    Essence

    Evade

    Exhaustion

    Extravagant

     

    To name a few in no particular order . . .

     

    Thank you, Lord, for the beauty of language and your Word above all. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

  • That thing called ROMANCE!

     

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    Not insignificant is the fact that only two women responded to my inquiry in yesterday’s post. Men do not want to deal with romance.

     

    Also significant is that both women mentioned romance pertaining to novels.

     

    Insert bodice rippers for the secular offerings and sweet little ditties for the Christian fiction offerings and we present two stellar opposites in fiction writing.

     

    So in life what different individuals perceive as romantic can also range from tawdry to tantalizing and nearly everything in between.

     

    In spite of my inspiration for romance I seldom read them in CBA anymore as I’ve noted here previously. And I don’t read general market fare because I have no appetite for graphics or dirtying up what was meant to be appealing, attractive, and spiritual. Yes, spiritual. Taking away the spiritual from romance is like excluding it from anything else. All you have left is the animal magnetism which the world glorifies as sexy and sought after.

     

    And, I assume, most men might agree: romance leads to sexual satisfaction. Or should eventually lead there. However, in the sense of building a relationship between believers, that satisfaction must wait on mutual commitment and making a covenant with God. So in the interim of reaching that place in a relationship, what happens after the initial attraction? How is the romance conducted?

     

    Many men don’t focus on romantic notions. Some women are all about romantic notions, some are definitely not, but women need to know that something sets them apart to the men with whom they share their time and energies. The establishment of those “somethings” can often compute to romance for a woman. Certain looks, affection, words, and attention can all translate to romance.

     

    Married men might forget the efforts engaged in to win their wives. After all, most relationships take time to build and inevitably implement special effects to keep the other party interested. Whether unholy or holy, generally speaking, romance appears and sustains the attraction to one another. In the unholy, sex rules. In the holy, sex is the ultimate expression of and conclusion to romantic feelings and actions.

     

    At its heart, romance is from God. Not the human perversions or pressures or perceptions. It’s the indefinable attraction that draws people to God and man to woman and woman to man. It’s not flowers and candy, holidays with hearts, dinner out, or sappy novels. Not excluding those elements if those seem attractive to you. Romance is about the “wooing”, the pursuit of something desirable. That unique ring of truth the Holy Spirit used to cause you to see the Love of Jesus. That something special when you realized how much you wanted to see the love of your life again. And again.

     

    Romance must remain to sustain love. God never stops filling us with His Love if we allow Him to have that freedom. The one with whom we share our lives should receive that same attention so we never lose our desire to please and be pleased. God is at the root of it all. He sets the example and gives us the freedom to express our physical love with His blessing. Fully. Completely. Romantically . . . however that is for us.

     

     

    Thank you, Lord, for the way you love us. We can’t truly love without you. Fill us with more of yourself daily. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

  • Tell me . . .

     

    Okay, your turn. Tell me what comes to mind when you hear the word ROMANCE. Please: tell me.

     

                                                             Thumbnail 

     

    Father, you know the real meaning of all things the way they were intended to be. The heart of romance belongs to you. Help us to never forget you are Love. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

  • Sunday’s Offerings

     

    "Once again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was let down into the lake and caught all kinds of fish. When it was full, the fishermen pulled it up on the shore. Then they sat down and collected the good fish in baskets, but threw the bad away. This is how it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."

    Matthew 13:47-50 (NIV)

  • ****Political Update****

     

    Excerpts from the ACLJ:

     

    News reports now say that in addition to sending over $500 million in United States tax dollars to the new terrorist-run "Unity Government" of Palestine, our American military – the best trained military force the world has ever known – will provide training to the army that the terrorist group, Hamas, will now control.

    What will Hamas do with these valuable U.S. resources? The terrorist group's Foreign Minister announced, "We believe in armed struggle, in addition to responsible governing, as well as making the government's resources available to the resistance." In other words, Hamas admits they will use our military training and our tax dollars for terrorism against Israel.

    The ACLJ is taking action to prevent Hamas – a terrorist organization that wants to eliminate Israel – from receiving U.S. military training and taxpayer funds for terrorism, and to defend America's strongest ally, Israel. In addition to sending a senior team of ACLJ attorneys to Israel, we have mobilized our legal and legislative teams on Capitol Hill and at the United Nations (U.N.).

     U.S. law already prohibits government aid from going to a terrorist-controlled government. Our team of lawyers is already preparing legal arguments as we urge President Obama to follow the law and suspend American funds for the new Palestinian Authority government now that Hamas, a terrorist organization, is on board.

    The idea that Hamas would have control over an army trained by the U.S. military – the same military that trained the U.S. Navy Seals who took down 9/11 mastermind Osama bin Laden – is outrageous and must be stopped.

    We cannot rest in the War on Terror; and the leaders of Hamas, who publicly mourned the death of Osama bin Laden by calling him a "holy warrior," must not be allowed to control the Palestinian government and use our financial and military resources against Israel.

    As I reported to you earlier this week, the Obama State Department severely chastised the Israeli government for withholding its tax revenues from the Palestinian Authority. The Obama spokesman said we need to "wait and see" what kind of policies Hamas and the Palestinian Authority government put in place. Even if there was any doubt, the Hamas Foreign Minister has now made it clear that their policy is "armed struggle" against Israel and that they will use the funds and our military training against the Israeli people.

    Our attorneys are working with members of Congress and at the United Nations to prevent the terrorist-run government from not only receiving U.S. foreign aid, but also being recognized as the official government of Palestine.

    Thank you for standing against terrorist organizations like Hamas, who would use government aid that was intended to provide education and health care for Palestinian children to attack innocent civilians in Israel.

    Jay Sekulow

    ACLJ Chief Counsel

     

    Father, help us to pray for Israel and please forgive us as a nation for ever offering support to those who wish for its destruction. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

     

  • The satisfaction of . . . Targets Down

     

    Nothing better than a retired FBI agent turning to writing fiction for his next career. Bob Hamer’s Targets Down is published by Broadman & Holman’s imprint Fidelis Books and delivers the authenticity a reader expects from a former undercover agent.

     

    The cocky but accomplished Matt Hogan works undercover for the FBI, and when the wife of a fellow agent has car trouble on a quiet road and is beaten, shot, and left for dead but survives, Matt’s instructed to find out who and why. This assignment takes him to a Russian-owned and operated strip club where the young performers service men in various ways. Determined to discover how the Russian gangster-capitalist Boris operates, Matt gains his favor through the cousin of a meth-head who happens to be one of Boris’ henchmen.

     

    More than once Matt’s cover is almost blown and the operation seems always to be hampered by the woman he dubs the “Queen Mother”, the Special Agent in Charge of the Terrorism Division of the Los Angeles Field Office of the FBI. Woefully inexperienced in the perils of undercover work, she constantly makes everything more difficult and treacherous than it already is. 

     

    The ruthless Boris and his equally sadistic inner circle who favor neo-Nazism dispose of anyone who causes Boris problems or dissatisfaction while Boris exploits the needs of those who will pay a lot of money for what they want, including terrorists. Matt’s quick thinking keeps him safe when his cover is threatened, and because Boris can use him, he seems willing to accept Matt’s explanations.

     

    Bob connects the seemingly loose threads in this novel concerning Caitlin, Matt’s wife who is an elementary teacher and a woman of faith, and a Russian illegal immigrant, making his way through the dangerous Sonora desert to Los Angeles to find Boris, in a satisfying manner.

     

    Bob’s use of dialogue and Matt’s asides work well to establish both the character and intensity of Matt’s work, portraying the undercover agent as fully aware of the challenge involved in not slipping too deep into the cover personality while trying to shake it off to be the loving husband he is at home. If there’s a weakness, it might be a couple of extraneous predictable and improbable plot elements but none that really disengage the reader from the overall story.

     

    This novel illustrates the complexities and constant dangers involved in undercover work at this level. More of a suspense novel than a thriller Targets Down works for readers who enjoy procedural FBI stories with a solid but flawed hero who’s a bit of a rebel when it comes to ridiculous rules: my kinda guy! I think Bob Hamer will improve with every new book he writes.

     

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    If you’d like to win an ARC of Bob Hamer’s Target’s Down, please go here: http://www.tegeorge.com/unveiled/.

     

    Father, you've given Bob an amazing life, and I pray he would continue to use it for your glory. Bless him as he creates stories to share the danger faced by honorable men in these agencies and the challenges they face while serving you. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

     

  • Parables and Novels . . .

     

    Messages, agendas. These words define the basis for criticism of some Christian Fiction. Conversions, evangelism—these characteristics assumed to be included in every Christian novel that comes from the printers. And these four words aptly describe a good chunk of the general genre but not all of it.

     

    Somehow from the early writings of Frank Peretti, Christian Fiction evolved—or devolved depending on how you look at it—to Bonnet Books and the types of stories from the Love Inspired imprint as their predominant offerings. Add Historicals (some would insist Historical Romances and probably be correct) to that group and you have the bulk of Christian fiction. Those of us who read Thrillers, Suspense, Mysteries, and the darker fare publishers refuse to call Horror, can find a fair portion of novels to read. Legal, Medical, and Procedural novels occupy a small place in the mix. Fantasy and Science Fiction barely exist in a tiny niche, a lot of the Fantasy supposedly geared to Young Adults. Usually the Supernatural Suspense slides in and out of the horror category and might be the most prominent of the speculative genres.

     

    During this dour economy it appears from multiple comments by professionals in the industry the safe, which translates to the guaranteed saleable, now preside, those who lead the industry content to stick with their perceived audience and not expand.

     

    So what do parables and novels have to do with these assertions? Well, I explained here why I think the similarities between parables and novels are more like comparing grapes to watermelons, but apparently many writers disagree and frequently use the fact that Jesus told these mini illustrative stories as the basis for their reasoning why faith issues in novels can be oblique.  ??? First of all, I don’t think it’s arguable that Jesus’ parables most certainly contained both message and agenda. Nothing he said or did was without the purpose of conveying the reality of His arrival to demonstrate the Kingdom of God and to point toward the coming redemption. The parables used common examples to make His analogies practical.

     

    Spiritual issues in fiction get handled subtly, overtly, or not at all. If you can find anything in the first three Bug Man novels by Tim Downs to remotely “illustrate” any Christian faith examples, you’re far more observant than I. Examples of subtlety exist in the Patrick Bowers Series by Steven James, an outspoken “opponent” of the Christian Fiction label. In fact, Patrick Bowers is not only an unbeliever, he’s a resentful unbeliever. The infrequent references to his dead wife imply her faith, but both Patrick and his step-daughter struggle with spiritual issues in the background of the main story.

     

    Jesus focused on conversions-slash-evangelism because God is unwilling that any should perish but that all should come to repentance and forgiveness. I mean, come on, it’s why He came. So to insinuate that Jesus had no agenda in His parables is to suggest He was merely shootin’ the breeze and sharing His imagination. No way.

     

    Agenda-driven, message laden novels from any venue demonstrate heavy-handed propagandist literature. Whether it’s done with soft-strokes or angry rants, few readers get through the reading experience without noticing the point. Some approve but probably more disapprove.

     

    As novelists, we can write however we choose. If we write “Christian Fiction”, we select the genre and place the emphasis of our stories wherever and however we want. If we choose to minimize or maximize the faith issues, we risk accusations of having an agenda by the unbelieving crowd and by some of our own. The concern isn’t really the message of the story, the come-to-Jesus moments, or any other spiritual element. It’s the writing. How well do we communicate the story? Novels aren’t spiritually-laced short-form illustrations of the Kingdom of God. They’re long form tales of life in the here and now, the then and before, the totally fabricated in make-believe, the future, the scary, the hilarious, the romantic, the you-name-it. Maybe they’ll enlighten us about spiritual things and maybe they won’t. Writers choice.

     

     

    God, I want to write what you want me to write. Nothing else matters to me. I want to give my best to you even though my best is putrid without you. With you I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength. And inspiration. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.