Snitch by Rene Gutteridge

This week, the

Christian Fiction Blog Alliance

is introducing

SNITCH
(The Occupational Hazards)

(WaterBrook Press May 15, 2007)

by

Rene Gutteridge

MY PERSONAL REACTION:

How was I to know that a woman--Rene Gutteridge--would write a police thriller so gripping, so smoothly flowing, so funny, so poignant, that I would hate to put it down? Yes, that is every author's hope, but Gutteridge met and vastly exceeded that universal goal. If that sounds gender-centric, I'm sorry. But reading novels by women has led me to expect some integral romance, some intuitive sensitivity into the deep, emotional underpinnings of male-female relationships. Snitch blows that prejudice(yes, prejudice) completely out of the water. This is truly a book worth reading, filled with vivid, quirky characters, plot-twists to satisfy a Hitchcock buff, and spiritual insights to justify even the Holiness brethren's time.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Rene Gutteridge is the author of several novels, including Ghost Writer (Bethany House Publishers) The Boo Series (WaterBrook Press) and the Storm Series, (Tyndale House Publishers. She will release three novels in 2006: Storm Surge (Tyndale) My Life as a Doormat (WestBow Press, Women of Faith)Occupational Hazards Book #1: Scoop (WaterBrook Press).

She has also been published over thirty times as a playwright, best known for her Christian comedy sketches. She studied screenwriting under a Mass Communications degree, graduating Magna Cum Laude from Oklahoma City University, and earned the "Excellence in Mass Communication" award. She served as the full-time Director of Drama for First United Methodist Church for five years before leaving to stay home and write. She enjoys instructing at writer's conferences and in college classrooms. She lives with her husband, Sean, a musician, and their children in Oklahoma City.

ABOUT THE BOOK:

Old School meets New School meets Homeschool

Just shy of retirement and a well-earned pension, Las Vegas Police Department Sergeant Ron Yeager's definition of "active duty" involves shifting his bad leg into a more comfortable position. But when he's requested from his mind-numbing desk job to head an undercover auto theft task force, the former narcotics officer determines to prove he's still got the right stuff.

That is...until he meets his unlikely team of officers.

As Yeager soon finds out, not all the crazies are on the street. An undercover rookie, the audaciously honest Mackenzie "Mack" Hazard sends Yeager's blood pressure skyrocketing by wearing her faith like an ever-present badge. Then there's Jesse Lunden, a maverick undercover officer who refuses to learn anything from an old guy with a cane. Can this tangle of egos and eccentrics be trained into a lean, mean, crime-fighting machine...even while they are being drawn into something much bigger and more dangerous than anyone imagined?

In her trademark style, Rene Gutteridge blends zany, original characters, sincere faith, and surprising plot twists into one hilariously addictive read.

"Snitch is an engaging crime novel, balanced between sheer whimsy and genuine human drama."
....CHRIS WELL, author of Tribulation House

"A wonderful, fully developed ensemble cast makes Snitch an entertaining, engaging read. Rene's flair for a comedic, well-turned phrase shines here. Snitch is worth snatching."

...SUSAN MEISSNER, author of Widows and Orphans

Orchard of Hope by Ann Gabhart

This week, the

Christian Fiction Blog Alliance

is introducing

ORCHARD OF HOPE

(Revell March 1, 2007)

by

Ann Gabhart

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:


Ann H. Gabhart has published a number of adult and young adult novels with several different publishers. The author of The Scent of Lilacs, Ann and her husband live a mile from where she was born in the Bluegrass region of Kentucky. She is active in her country church, and her husband sings bass in a southern gospel quartet.

ABOUT THE BOOK:

Nothing will be the same after the summer of 1964.

Drought has gripped the quiet Kentucky town of Hollyhill, and the town seems as if it is holding its breath--waiting. Jocie Brooke is nervous about starting high school. Her sister Tabitha is experiencing the weariness of waiting for a new baby. Her father David is feeling the timidity of those first steps toward true love. All of these pivotal steps in life are awaiting the Brooke family.

Into this cloud of tense anticipation, a black family from Chicago, the Hearndons move here to plant an orchard outside of town. Fresh off the Freedom Train, Myra Hearndon is sensitive to what the color of her skin may mean in a Southern town. Her family will have to contend with more than the dry ground and blazing sun as they try to create their ORCHARD OF HOPE.

Jocie finds herself befrending a boy that some townspeople shun. Due to unspoken racial lines in this southern town, the presence of these newcomers sparks a smoldering fire of unrest that will change Hollyhill..and Jocie...forever.

In this close-knit community, everything is about to change.

Let this riveting novel take you along to experience unexpected love, new life, and renewed faith amid life's trials.

To Be-lieve, Or Not To Be-lieve: what a question!

          If you were to ask ten people to give their reasons for believing or not believing any proposition, chances are you'd get a few versions of two basic arguments. If, however, you were to restrict the discussion to non-jargonic language, you would force those ten pundits to pry open the dusty trap door guarding their deepest convictions and root around in the cognitive cobwebs and irrational clutter for thoughts that were once fresh, but long since forgotten.
          One issue attracts tremendous attention, as well it should. It determines the world views of millions. Now, the observant reader might wonder why the author limits this to millions in a world populated by billions. In answer, he would ask, "Do more than one-in-a-thousand people in this world bother to define their world view?" Oh, but wouldn't that be an interesting poll?
          But enough beating about the thorny bush, which issue happens to be the existence or non-existence of a personal, Supreme Being outside the material universe to whom all persons within said universe must answer. Those who believe in such a Supreme Being, hereinafter referred to arbitrarily as "God," generally base their belief on the solid, objective substance known as faith. Dis believers, however, might counter that argument with a statement such as, "Fill one bucket with faith, and another with hot-air, and see which weighs more."
          Point well taken. But dismissing all the simplistic, "Bravo Sierra" from both sides, used to cloud the issue for centuries, it all boils down to one coin with two sides: Naturalists, often called Atheists, Agnostics or Materialists, think it's unscientific(stupid) to believe in anything that can't be observed, measured, quantified, and defined systematically. Supernaturalists, despite seeming from the title to be more natural than naturalists, believe the opposite; that the science of the material universe can't explain everything that exists. Another way of expressing their difference is: Naturalists try to prove God's nonexistence through pointing out the lack of scientific evidence for his existence, while Supernaturalists try to prove God's existence empirically, based on subjective experiences and elaborate apologia.
          Objectively, both sides' "proofs" are completely lame, proving nothing but the preconceptions of both sides. Objectively, the question of God's existence/non-existence boils down to one observation and one question.
          First, the observation: The technology of scientific observation changes constantly. What was theoretical last year might just be proven by observation next year. And what "scientists" considered devilish mumbo-jumbo a hundred years ago is now the stuff of high school science class. All the geographic authorities of the fourteenth century taught with absolute certainty that Earth was flat. What presumption asserts that the "supernatural" of today will never, under any circumstances, become the "natural" of the future, based simply on advanced observational technology unknown today? Not too long ago, electricity was as intangible as invisible spirits. Is it impossible that someone might eventually invent a camera or other instrument that will observe spirit beings? Who can say for sure?
          Now, the question(okay, the observation posed a few questions, so sue me): The best "science" of today points to a Big Bang as the material universe's origin. Oversimplified, the Big Bang was the result of near-infinite mass being concentrated in a near-infinitesimal point. Once it reached critical mass, it simply went B-A-N-G, Big Time. So, where did all that mass come from? Perhaps from another universe that went Bang, expanded to its limit and collapsed into the famous point of near-infinite mass. But where did that come from? Etcetera, etcetera. Fact is, no one knows. And that's enough uncertainty to keep billions of people believing in the possibility of God's existence.

Trick Question

      Students today get upset when their teachers ask trick questions. But their beef is not new. A couple of thousand years ago an itinerent teacher and preacher sprung such a question on his students. And coming into the parts of Caesarea of Philip, Jesus questioned His disciples, saying, Whom do men say Me the Son of Man to be? And they said, Some say John the Baptist, and others Elijah, and others Jeremiah, or one of the prophets. (Matthew 16:13,14 LITV) Then, to demonstrate to us the difference between worldly insight and spiritual insight, he asked the question again. He said to them, But you, whom do you say Me to be? And answering, Simon Peter said, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. (Matthew 16:15-16 LITV) With wisdom not their own, they answered his question exactly as he had asked it.
      Wouldn't you think people today would get that question right, with two thousand years advance notice? Yet, even many of those who claim to follow the Christ can't grasp the full import of Peter's inspired answer.
      Peter's confession, typical of God's word, bore infinite depth with just a few words. You are the Christ ... Though the word christ means annointed, and there have been many annointed prophets, preachers and teachers throughout history, qualifying it with the, identifies Jesus the Son of Man as the only man ever uniquely annointed by God for his specific work. Standing before all the Jewish leaders, with his life on the line, Peter reiterated Jesus' words, This One is the Stone counted worthless by you the builders, the One who has come to be into the Head of the Corner; Psa. 118:22 and there is salvation in no other One, for neither is there any other name under Heaven having been given among men by which we must be saved. (Acts 4:11-12 LITV)
      The second half of Peter's confession says even more about Jesus' essential nature: ... the Son of the living God. Again, though the Bible refers to others as sons of God, only Jesus bears the distinction of being declared the Son of God. That uniqueness speaks of Jesus' exclusive claim--confirmed by his signs--of being the Divine Son of the infinite, self-existent One.
      That is where so many would-be followers of Jesus stumble and fall. The fact that Jesus was a man blinds them to his share in the divinity of his Father. The Hebrew word for God, Elohim, is the plural form of a word(eloah) used to refer to man-made idols and the leaders of men. Then concerning the eating of things sacrificed to idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is no other God except one. For even if some are called gods, either in the heavens or on the earth; (even as there are many gods, and many lords); but to us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we for Him, and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and we by Him. (1 Corinthians 8:4-6 LITV) That Jesus shares the Father's divinity is no more remarkable than a man who shares his father's humanity. The difference is, while mankind numbers over 6,451,058,790, Elohim numbers only three. Yet, even though the logic is impeccable, most people are blind to the revealed facts of God's nature.
      Though Jesus asked Peter a trick question, the Teacher knew he would give the right answer, as the Holy Spirit gave him the words. We too can receive God's eternal truth in the same way Peter did. Everyone believing that Jesus is the Christ has been generated from God. And everyone who loves Him who begets also loves the one who has been born of Him. (1 John 5:1 LITV)

Cutting Edge

      A popular approach to problems is if the purported solution isn't cutting edge, it can't be good. For example, the Egyptians wanted to build astrologically correct tombs for their elite. But they faced many daunting engineering challenges. Today's engineers and scientists study their finished structures thousands of years after they were built and scratch their heads over the ingenuity the Egyptians used to solve their engineering problems. By today's technological standards their engineering was hardly cutting edge, but it worked.
      I read an article on Suite101.com that dealt briefly with the thorny issue of depression. Though it was brief, it made a powerful start.
      Just a comment on situational depression and the examples the author provided. Three of the four examples share a common foundational cause: rash or unrealistic expectations.
      Of course, many higher functioning animals respond to dashed expectations with some sort of disappointment, but humans take it a leap further. We allow disappointment to germinate, sending its persistent roots deep into our self-concept, fracturing what is sound, and pulverizing what is not.
      Unlike conceptual structures such as opinion and belief, self-concept has no elaborate, cognitive bulwarks, but it attempts to defend itself with futile, psychological mechanisms. When forces without or within press their attack to the inner self, it reels, throwing up such defenses as rationalization, anger, aggression, regression, blame, bitterness, and a host of others that deal only with the wound, and not its cause. When those defenses fail, which they must, the self folds, collapses and self-destructs.
      Enter the bleak world of hopelessness, despair and depression. Organic mental illness can exacerbate such emotional self-destruction, but it can also cause it. When chemical imbalances send the emotions over the edge, we naturally seek situational causes for it. And where everything is objectively peachy, the sick cerebrum invents causes for depression. And it can be amazingly creative at it.
      All that is to say the human soul is the most infinitely complex creation this side of eternity. To propose one treatment modality, or even a set of them, without considering the Creator's role in maintaining humanity is counter-productive. Unlike many "fundamentalist" Christians, I recognize that there may indeed be truth in psychology and holistic therapies. Tragically, proponents of each modality either ignore or combat those with which they disagree. The true spirit of Holism demands exploration of every aspect of the human soul without engaging in ideological discrimination. The truly open mind will never patently dismiss unfamiliar or foreign ideas, but will carefully investigate, weigh and respect them, even if it ultimately disagrees with them.
      Psychology, holistic therapies and New-Age approaches seem cutting edge to today's "inquisitive" minds. But what really works is older than old. "Eternal," one might say.

The Blame Game

      Join, The Blame Game! It's fun, exciting, and oh, so unproductive. The oldest game in the world, TBG enables players to assuage their personal responsibility by pointing the Bony Finger of Condemnation at ... well, anyone and everyone but themselves. The rules are simple: 1; Know your preconceptions. 2; Deny your preconceptions while emotionally defending your objectivity. 3; Bitterly personalize all condemnation to verbally assassinate your opponents. 4; Liberally employ generalities such as "Woulda," "Shoulda," and "Coulda."
      Of course the game's overriding principle is "Hindsight is 20-20." And the unique beauty of this game is all players can claim to be winners, while in fact, no one wins.
      As an example of TBG's expert play, notice the countless ideologues of every stripe who are currently spinning thirty-two senseless deaths to advance their own agendas. Of course I notice these things; I have my own ideological agenda to counter-balance any objective reason that may pass my way. But I'm not playing the game right, am I. Matter of fact, I hope I never get it right.

In High Places by Tom Morrisey

      Nancy and I have rarely read a book with such personal impact as Tom Morrisey's In High Places. Its central theme(When nothing else remains, Hope is enough.) was obvious enough for even me to catch, but not so blatant as to seem didactic. Certainly not the least of this book's strong points was the way it sucked me in to its well-developed characters' heads and filled me with empathy for their pain.

      This book has it all: It's suspenseful without the sadism of a stalker. It's romantic without the mush of a romance. It's technical without having to consult a climbers' manual. That said, I did resort to my trusty desk dictionary on occasion for clarification.
      Yes, rock climbing is central to the story, but after the first couple of chapters I was so caught up with the characters and the dangers they faced that even this strictly level-ground-walker was fascinated by the story's twists.
      What more can I say than "Buy It." You won't regret it.

Reclaiming Nick

This week, the

Christian Fiction Blog Alliance

is introducing

RECLAIMING NICK

( Tyndale Fiction, 2007)

by

Susan May Warren

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Award winning author SUSAN MAY WARREN recently returned home to her native Minnesota after serving for eight years with her husband and four children as missionaries with SEND International in Far East Russia. She now writes full time from Minnesota's north woods. Visit her Web site at www.susanmaywarren.com.

ABOUT THE BOOK:

RECLAIMING NICK is the first of The Noble Legacy series. Book Two, Taming Rafe, will be available January 2008.

A Modern Day Prodigal Comes Home...

NICK NOBLE HADN'T PLANNED ON BEING THE PRODIGAL SON.

But when his father dies and leaves half of Silver Buckle--the Noble family ranch--to Nick’s former best friend, he must return home to face his mistakes, and guarantee that the Silver Buckle stays in the Noble family.

Award-winning journalist Piper Sullivan believes Nick framed her brother for murder, and she’s determined to find justice. But following Nick to the Silver Buckle and posing as a ranch cook proves more challenging than she thinks. So does resisting his charming smile.

As Nick seeks to overturn his father’s will--and Piper digs for answers--family secrets surface that send Nick’s life into a tailspin. But there’s someone who’s out to take the Silver Buckle from the Noble family, and he’ll stop at nothing--even murder--to make it happen.

Endorsement:

“Susan May Warren once again delivers that perfect combination of heart-pumping suspense and heart-warming romance.”--Tracey Bateman, author of the Claire Everett series

If you would like to hear more about Nick, he has his own blog. Also, the first chapter is there...

The Hand Is Wiser Than The Brain

      Our Daily Bread gave a strong affirmation of mutual love and respect in marriage. Though I've seen and heard many messages on the subject, going back to Ephesians 5 brought it home with fresh vigor.
      Since the Bible plainly teaches it, should we expect our own spouses to conform to that standard? Here's where it gets a little dicey. Christians are unique in having the only perfect Standard by which to live. But our carnality usually turns that holy Standard into expectations that we heap on others, instead of accepting it as God's commission upon our own lives.
      If I hold my hand in front of me, extend my index finger straight out and curl the other three back, I feel an unnatural tension in my hand. Is it possible the human hand wasn't designed to point? But if I pose my hand in a similar, yet more relaxed position, I find I can curl my index finger in a beckoning gesture with little effort. This illustrates how leading(the beckoning gesture) is more natural than directing(the pointing gesture). Now, if only our brains would learn from our hands, wouldn't our relationships function far better?

Spiritual Leprosy

      Our Daily Bread today referred to one symptom of leprosy that causes more damage than the virus itself. It seems the bacillus Mycobacterium leprae attacks the pain receptors and nerves that transmit pain signals to the brain.
      I don't know about others, but a pain-free life sounds like Paradise--until I consider my instant reaction to pain-causing injuries. Neither the heat of fire nor the raking friction of abrasion cause us to defend ourselves from injury. Instead, it is the pain of such circumstances that motivates us to take evasive action. Without the pain-warning, we would aggravate injuries by ignoring them.
      Conscience provides the same function for our spiritual and social behavior. It warns us when we're considering an action or thought that crosses our moral code. Without it, no action would be too depraved, no injury to another would be too grievous. Instead of a Hitler or a Bundy being an aberration, their crimes would be the norm and safety would be an unknown concept.
      Nothing as concrete as a virus, however, causes the conscience-numbing that I call spiritual leprosy. Conscience is a respectful being, who will never assert her advice where it's not wanted. All we must do to keep it from bothering us is to ignore it. Before long it becomes jaded and ceases functioning, allowing us to pass into reprobation. To those whose consciences are numbed, reprobation is preferable to having moral rules cramp their style.
      Why do people do bad things? Because they want to, and they've managed to silence their consciences. Moral reprobation--what I call spiritual leprosy--is terminal, but unlike physical leprosy, the death it brings is final and eternal.