Gender Spectrum Diversity Training
            If you were to read conservative Christian sources such as Focus On The Family or The Moral Majority you might become alarmed by the trend in the more liberal public school systems to include "gender neutral" or "gender diverse" curricula. Such trends begin with a noble purpose, such as prejudice-based violence prevention, but lose focus when special interest groups climb aboard and convert the movement into an expression of their own paranoia.
            Taken at face value, such terms as "Gender Spectrum Diversity" hardly seem threatening. After all, boys and girls do express their masculinity and femininity in a fast array of degrees and styles. Not only do boys and girls differ markedly, but boys differ from other boys and girls differ from other girls. In that sense there is indeed a "diverse spectrum" of sex identity. If encouraging acceptance of such diversity among children were as far as these curricula went, they could be a distinctly positive thing. But they don't stop there.
            Curricula such as Gender Spectrum Diversity Training proactively teach children that traditional sex roles are "intolerant" and wrong. In attempting to create a "values neutral" secular educational environment, educators actually create a moral void where children are taught to reject the traditional "moral compass," and are largely left to their own devices to establish behavior standards. And the self-blinded authorities puzzle over increased bullying and corruption among young people.
            Arbitrary intolerance is indeed wrong. The Christ of the Bible, however, practiced violent intolerance of religious hypocrisy and social discrimination. Why, then, does the educational establishment not hold Him up as the example of progressive social and spiritual reformation? Heaven forbid they should make the atheists angry.

This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is introducing Lion of Babylon Bethany House (July 1, 2011) by Davis Bunn

BUT FIRST, A WORD FROM OUR BLOGGER:

        Now, to break my long silence on this blog, here is my passionate review(that is my intention at any rate) of Davis Bunn's latest novel. I wish everyone who blames Islam for all the world's evil would read Lion of Babylon. Davis Bunn speaks in this novel from first-hand experience with the various players in the Middle East. Through the eyes and voice of Syrian Christian Sameh el-Jacobi, Bunn offers refreshing insights into the dynamics of both Sunni and Shia terrorists, conservatives and progressives.

        Far from simply a treatise illuminating Islamic religious and political insights, Lion of Babylon lays out a fictional scenario that could have easily sprung from the pages of international news outlets. Insiders' perspectives provide the suspension of disbelief that separates great fiction from all other storytelling.

        Speaking of storytelling, in Lion of Babylon Bunn spins a yarn entangling Washington's halls of government with Iranian mullahs and Iraqi imams. This novel has everything from foreign intrigue to the deepest levels of human trauma and sacrifice.

        Reward yourself with a slow, luxurious reading of Lion of Babylon. Yes, read it slowly, because you'll hate to see it end.


ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Born and raised in North Carolina, Davis left for Europe at age twenty. There he first completed graduate studies in economics and finance, then began a business career that took him to over forty countries in Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia.

        Davis came to faith at age 28, while living in Germany and running an international business advisory group. He started writing two weeks later. Since that moment, writing has remained both a passion and a calling.

        Davis wrote for nine years and completed seven books before his first was accepted for publication. During that time, he continued to work full-time in his business career, travelling to two and sometimes three countries every week. His first published book, The Presence, was released in 1990 and became a national bestseller.

        Honored with three Christy Awards for excellence in historical and suspense fiction, his bestsellers include The Great Divide, Winner Take All, The Meeting Place, The Warning, The Book of Hours, and The Quilt.

        A sought-after speaker in the art of writing, Davis serves as Writer In Residence at Regent’s Park College, Oxford University.
ABOUT THE BOOK

Marc Royce works for the State Department on special assignments, most of them rather routine, until two CIA operatives go missing in Iraq--kidnapped by Taliban forces bent on generating chaos in the region. Two others also drop out of sight--a high-placed Iraqi civilian and an American woman providing humanitarian aid. Are the disappearances linked? Rumors circulate in a whirl of misinformation.

        Marc must unravel the truth in a covert operation requiring utmost secrecy--from both the Americans and the insurgents. But even more secret than the undercover operation is the underground dialogue taking place between sworn enemies. Will the ultimate Reconciler between ancient enemies, current foes, and fanatical religious factions be heard?

        If you would like to read the first chapter of Lion of Babylon, go HERE.

Dear Woman

              I happened upon a web site called 5thworld.com and discovered a video titled Dear Woman; Men Apologize for the Collective Injustice Done to Women over the Years. As a respecter of women, I anticipated a statement with which I could agree without qualification. Watching the video, however, forced me to change my assessment.
              Had it frankly confessed the historically rotten male attitudes toward women and begged their forgiveness, I would have completely agreed. Instead, it showed a bunch of men reading a statement saturated with new-age ideas and affirming the "Divine Woman," while attacking maleness as the source of all greed and violence.
              As in all great lies, a grain of truth lent this cultic statement credibility. The unregenerate human male is indeed a savage, routinely molesting, victimizing and exploiting women as if that were his noble purpose for existing.
              My issue with this video is its suggestion that women, in particular, are worthy of veneration, even worship. That idea ignores the fact that women are, like men, fallen beings who are devoted to self-gratification and devoid of pure, selfless motivation. Granted, male corruption often resides closer to the surface than that of women, but when God said in His word, "all have sinned," He included women in that sweeping indictment.
              Both men and women need the redemption Jesus freely offers to everyone.

Consolation

      I've begun praying again for God to use me in advancing His kingdom and purpose. Such prayers usually involve pleas to make me more useful, assuming my current condition precludes such usefulness. Yet, in view of His eternal power and the indomitability of His will, my character faults, regardless how gross they seem to me, cannot interfere with His plan .


      Thus, I keep asking Him why He won't use me more powerfully—though not necessarily publicly—to influence my world for Him. The interrogative "why," however, is a futile appeal when addressed to the self-existent One; His infinite mind and eternal motives being completely outside my temporal frame of reference.

      So I reckon I'll satisfy myself with the knowledge that He loves me more than I can ever imagine, and as the Bible says, works all things for my good.
 
      Praise God for His faithfulness!.

An Eye For Glory by Karl A Bacon--a review

            For this blog tour I'll depart from my custom of posting a review largely borrowed from Bonnie Calhoun's CFBA blog. Instead, I began my personal response immediately upon finishing Karl A. Bacon's remarkable work, hoping to capture my passion for An Eye For Glory undiminished by passage of time.

            I have a hard time imagining that An Eye For Glory is Mr. Bacon's first novel. Indeed, I had to continually remind myself throughout the book that it was a work of fiction, so authentic and transparent was Bacon's voice. As I read the last two chapters aloud to my wife Nancy, I struggled to get the words out between sobs as their eternal truth impacted me again and again. But the struggle was well worth the reward of beholding anew God's glorious grace toward me.

            The novel's story line may have originated in Mr. Bacon's mind rather than as a fact of history, but its truth transcends any recounting of factual events. Without actually interviewing Mr. Bacon about his experience in writing this work, I know he shed many a tear throughout his research of correspondence and eye witness accounts of the Civil War's awful carnage.
            As a child of the entertainment age, one would think my exposure to realistic, dramatic depictions of the Civil War would have desensitized me to one more telling, but I was entirely unprepared for An Eye For Glory. I recommend most strongly that everyone read this story of one soldier's journey from unchallenged belief in a Sunday school gospel to a deep, abiding faith tested by fire and flying lead, lost friends and disillusionment. I feel that An Eye For Glory changed my life, and it just might do the same for you.
            If you would like to read the first chapter of An Eye For Glory, go HERE.
Watch book video trailer:

Spiritual Springboard

This Our Daily Bread says nothing about springboards, diving, or anything aquatic. But it did serve as a springboard for my own thought process.

Through all the preaching I've heard--the informative, the convicting, and the comical preaching--the best and most productive is that which launches me into God's word on my own ... like a springboard, if you will. Any preacher worth listening to preaches with no intention of filling his audience's brains with all they need to live as Christ to their world. Instead, he or she preaches as God's mouthpiece, allowing His Holy Spirit to convince and convict those with ears to hear, of voids, needs, and sin in their lives.

Therein enters the Spiritual Springboard, launching seekers into God's word on a holy quest for His customized, tailor-made Truth. There we will find the true filet mignon of God's word, fork-tender and palatable to our yearning heart.

The same truth, however, delivered with the subtlety of a sledgehammer on cold steel, can harden the listeners' hearts against conviction. This should alert preachers to their need for intensive prayer right along with their in-depth study, because a good word delivered out of turn can do great damage.

This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is introducing Operation Bonnet David C. Cook; New edition (February 1, 2011) by Kimberly Stuart

BUT FIRST, A WORD FROM OUR BLOGGER:
        Okay, I tried. I really tried. But I couldn't get excited about Operation Bonnet.
        Don't get me wrong; it delivered everything the blurb says, was well-written, and introduced some great characters who, regrettably, didn't have the energy to vault off the page and into my imagination after being given 25% of the book to do so. The best books grab readers in the first paragraph. Great books might do it in the first page or two. A good book needs to hook the reader in the first chapter. Beyond that—well—they have about as much merit as this review.
        If the blurb grabs you, Operation Bonnet may be your cup-of-tea. Otherwise, as the author stated in her bio, you "should move on to another author."

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
     Kimberly says:

I am a writer of comedic fiction, and would like to suggest that you laugh regularly when reading my books. Let’s also try for one to two teary moments. If you are crying more than that, you don’t understand my sense of humor and should move on to another author.
        I grew up in a book-loving home. Actually, that’s not entirely accurate. My mom loves books. My dad loves to read the first chapters of books and then make us all listen as he recites his favorite passages. I, however, enjoy reading books in their entirety and came into writing as a result of book-love. After earning two fancy degrees in education and Spanish, I promptly let the thinking part of my brain take a breather and instead became pregnant. (I’m sure a lot of other things happened between early literacy and pregnancy but I don’t really remember any of that. If you also have shared your uterus with another human, you understand.)
        In an effort to author a book that would entertain my sassy, irreverent, breast-feeding/drooping friends, I wrote my first novel, Balancing Act. People were so nice to me after that, I decided to continue with writing. Also, I can’t craft, knit, or scrapbook, so what else was a nice, Christian girl to do?
        In addition to writing books to make my friends laugh and cry, I observe the chaos at the home I share with my unfailingly supportive husband and three offspring. We’re doing our best and so far, no one’s been to prison.
ABOUT THE BOOK

Twenty-year-old Nellie Monroe has a restless brilliance that makes her a bit of an odd duck. She wants to be a private investigator, even though her tiny hometown offers no hope of clients. Until she meets Amos Shetler, an Amish dropout carrying a torch for the girl he left behind.
        So Nellie straps on her bonnet and goes undercover to get the dish. But though she’s brainy, Nellie is clueless when it comes to real life and real relationships. Soon she’s alienated her best friend, angered her college professor, and botched her case.
        Operation Bonnet is a comedy of errors, a surprising take on love, and a story of grace.


If you would like to read the first chapter of Operation Bonnet, go HERE.
Watch the book video trailer:

Unnatural Acts

       We've come to think of an unnatural act as something perverted. But what if we call it, "Supernatural?" It's still not natural, but the new word somehow redeems the act. Of course, lots of people view supernatural stuff as pure fiction, or plain stupid.
       Look at the way the world works: Love is a quality so rare that some folks spend their lives searching for it, as for hidden treasure. Yet, as much as we hear about love, one would think it is quite common. Adolescent girls huddle together, quietly discussing this boy or that, and wondering if what they are feeling is "true love." If the love bug bites hard enough, a kid might wander home after school and, with a distant gaze, declare to his or her mother, "I think I'm In Love." Then comes the question all parents dread, "How can I know I'm In Love?" As if Mom or Dad is an authority on matters of the heart. Truth be known, most parents are as confused about love as their kids.
       As often as "love" cools and sours, we may as well use it to begin a list of qualities so rare as to be considered unnatural acts. In fact, such a list already exists. And while it's not titled, "List of Unnatural Acts," that's exactly what it is.
       Here is the full listing:

Love
Joy
Peace
Patience
Kindness
Goodness
Faithfulness
Gentleness
Self-control

       Properly defined, each of these qualities will be found rare enough in this world to be called unnatural acts. And what does the list's Author call it?
       "The Fruit Of The Spirit."
       Anyone curious enough about what makes these spiritual qualities different from their worldly counterparts will discover their defintions, or exemples, in God's New Testament.
       And their natural counterparts — or counterfeits? That could be a long list indeed, and the subject of many more blog posts. As with most spiritual topics, many will find this unnatural/supernatural/plain-natural discussion counterintuitive(bass-ackward), but in this mixed up world, that's natural.

They Are Watching Us

            Dial into YouTube and view all sorts of compelling evidence that Aliens are around us, watching us—if not from mysterious spacecraft, then from next door. True Believers expose shadowy government conspiracies and cover-ups whose objective is to ensure the unwashed masses see nothing that will upset the status quo, and threaten the power elite.
            Doesn't that seem like a real conspiracy nut's rant? At least a very small part of such. Reasonable people, among whom we no doubt number ourselves, view such rants as the ignorant assertions of those who really need to get a life.
            Aren't we so very sure of ourselves. As unimaginably broad as is our universe, we readily presume our supremacy over any possible life forms that may have evolved independently from us. For our entertainment, Science Fiction presents a vast array of humanoid, alien life forms based on their assumption that Evolution, as it did for humanity guides all organism's development from the simple to the complex, from activated amino acids floating in the primordial ooze to the ascended beings we have become. And the more innovative Sci-Fi even abandons the traditional, anthropocentric model of possible alien evolution by positing transdimentional, formless, energy-beings occupying their own corner of the vast cosmos.
            Were such beings to exist, why would they even want to communicate with this universe of reactionary, material, temporal organisms? Perhaps, existing beyond our physical constraints, they have adopted values infinitely beyond our petty, materialistic power lust, and believe humanity has potential for rising above our current, thieving aspirations.
            Evolutionary science has progressed beyond the Big Bang Theory, into the burgeoning realm of Quantum Mechanics where literally anything is possible. Given the established possibility of parallel universes and dimensions, what is to prevent us from accepting the possibility of a Master Dimension, by which all subordinate dimensions are ruled, invisible to those of us constricted by a physical existence.
            The ancient Hebrews saw evidence of a transcendent order of being from another, unseen dimension. The Elohim, after perfectly creating the first human beings, chose to reveal Himself to a few, select humans by the name translated to English as the "I Am," or "The Existing One." And why did He choose to do that? The Elohim, having created humankind with certain attributes unique to Himself, proceeded to guide His creation through its inevitable rebellion, ultimately into a right relation with Himself.
            Many narrow-minded individuals reject any such possibilities out-of-hat, unwilling—or unable—to as much as entertain the idea of an order of being superior to exalted humanity and outside our own imaginings. Those who do maintain an open mind may perceive obvious evidences that the arbitrarily skeptical choose to ignore or are unable to see. And such evidences, objectively interpreted, lead them to an awe-inspired respect, even reverence, toward the Elohim. They are less likely than closed-minded skeptics to perpetuate the myth of autonomy, adopted by those who fear the possibility of a Higher Authority than themselves.
            We must open our humanistic eyes and see that all the wrong perpetrated in this world stems from the "One-God-Self" delusion that has ruled humanity from its creation. This includes even those religious fanatics who feel chosen as The Hand of God, to wreak vengeance on the Infidels who happen to disagree with them.
            The great question is, "How can we know who are chosen of Elohim and who are pretending?" The answer is both easy and hard. Elohim's word states simply:

Luke 6:43-44 ESV For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit, (44)for each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thornbushes, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush.

            And what is that good fruit alluded to in the Scriptures?

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
Galatians 5:22-23 (English Standard Version)

            The five words beginning that passage hold the key to its correct interpretation: Its title, The fruit of the Spirit, qualifies this unique fruit and sets it apart from any other "good," even similar behaviors.
            So, who is watching us, hidden, invisible, and even estrainged from us? No one we need to fear … if we maintain a mind open to Him.

Going To Pot—Our Highest Calling

            Generations ago, when food prepared in the kitchen was reduced to scraps, the cook simply dumped them into the stew-pot, or the pig-pot, depending on how plentiful the raw materials were. So when someone observed you had gone to pot, it wasn't a complement. Thus, the term's modern use.
            When the Eternal God of Israel wanted to slap His people into shape, He called His prophet Jeremiah to observe a potter at work. (Jeremiah 18:1-6) Jeremiah witnessed a potter terminate his current, ambitious project when he uncovered a fault in the clay. Rather than throw out the whole lump of clay and start over, the potter realized there was still plenty of good clay left on the wheel for a vessel of lesser purpose. God's point? His people Israel had failed repeatedly to conform to the shape for which He chose them. But they were still as clay in His hands, not quite as glorious as they had been, perhaps, but God was determined to work them into a vessel suited for His purpose.
            Okay, good lesson for those old-timey guys, but now it's time we got back to our own lives. Well, hold your horses, cowboy. Don't go ridin' off the potter's wheel into the sunset. You're still raw clay, and God isn't finished with you yet. The decision as to when you're a finished vessel is not yours to make. Have you ever heard of a half-baked pot turning into anything good? Certainly not in God's pottery shop.
            If you're one of those rare Christians who still feels stresses in their lives there's a very good reason for it. Part of the Potter's work is to apply stresses to the whirling clay lump, and if we continue thinking of ourselves as lumps, we won't get all inflated with pride.
            The rest of the process is kind of interesting ... if you're a generic info-geek like me. Once all the pots are in their final shape, dried into bisque, and coated with raw glaze, the potter moves them into the kiln, stacking them carefully and densely for uniform firing. Inside the kiln, heating elements or gas jets slowly bring up the temperature until all the pots glow just the right shade of red.
            But there's a little-known hazard always present in the firing process. If one of the pots contains an air cavity as small as a pinhead, the air will expand in the heat until its pressure explosively fractures the clay surrounding it. A significant air cavity can explode with enough violence to shatter part or all of the potter's batch of vessels.
            Under the heat of final firing, a single pot's fault can ruin not only that pot, but all the potter's hard work. And it's all because of an air bubble. How crucial it is that we not become inflated with our own importance, so that under the heat of firing we won't blow it.