BOOK REVIEW: A JANE AUSTEN ENCOUNTER BY DONNA FLETCHER CROW

I have read all five of Donna Fletcher Crow's Elizabeth and Richard Literary Suspense series, this being the most recent one; I've also read all six of her Monastery Murders and three of her five Lord Danvers Investigates.

A Jane Austen Encounter and A Most Singular Venture both deal with Jane Austen in England, and both give a lot of information about the famous author of two centuries earlier. (Note - originally, this was book #3, but the original book 4 occurred before book 1, and when she re-released them, she placed them in chronological order of action, with these two novels now being #4 and #5.) 

I enjoyed the current second and third installments better (Shadow of Reality and A Midsummer Eve's Nightmare), partly because they focused more on the murder mystery plot than on the author of focus (respectively Dorothy Sayers and William Shakespeare) and partly because I had more interest in the other authors than I do Austen. (The Monastery Murders are similar in giving a lot of church history information in the novels, but again it falls into an area of interest. My hunch is that Jane Austen fans love it. Now, if she wrote "An Agatha Christie Encounter" or better yet "An Allistair MacLean Encounter"... Just a joke. I know enough to realize Austen's novels qualify as literature; I'm not so sure about the authors I just mentioned.

Even though I'm not into Austen, I found the aspect of Jane's faith being a driving force in her writing to be inspiring. I believe a person's true belief system will show up in their writing (or other forms of art). 

The characters and their relationships keep the story interesting. Some would consider the plot to be slow moving, but patience pays off. There are plenty of red herrings (though in this novel they probably all drink tea).

I am a fan of Crow's mysteries, and look forward to the next one in this series.

INTERVIEW WITH ANGIE LEYDA OF ALWAYS 1 MINISTRIES AND KINGDOM COME FESTIVAL

 

Photo courtesy of Jeanette Yoder photography, from Kingdom Come Festival 2014.

JR: Angie, when and how did Kingdom Come Festival (afterward abbreviated KCF) get its start? And do you ever get confused with a fried chicken chain?

AL: I’ll try to keep the origin story of KCF brief!  It starts with Chris Bousum.  He is my uncle, but acted as a big brother/father figure for myself and my brother, Jay.  Chris introduced us to Christian music when we were younger… Keith Green, Amy Grant, Daniel Amos, Phil Keaggy… just to name a few.  Several years later, Chris started writing music and wanted to form a band.  Jay became the drummer and I helped with back up vocals for a while.  The name of the band was Strange Reflection.  Chris and Jay had attended Cornerstone music festival in Illinois  a few times prior to starting the band, but after the band was formed, they were able to actually perform at Cornerstone on a few stages.  While they were there, they connected with a few bands and had a great experience.  

It was sometime after they got home that they were talking about the possibility of organizing a small festival.  Jay works in a security role at a high school.  He hears so many stories from the students. As bad as you think it is with the kids, it’s actually worse. These stories sparked a conversation between himself and Chris about doing something that could help the youth and the lost.  That was the birth of the first Kingdom Come Festival.  It was 2010. They reached out to the bands they connected with at Cornerstone and had 8 bands in 8 hours.  Jay would say it was a disaster, LOL, but the lead singer of one of the bands, Josh Randolph of News From Verona (later renamed Pioneer), would speak life over the festival and convince Jay that it was worth it to try again.  The next year I jumped on as coordinator and my husband as tech director.  We make the plans and give God the show.  This past year (2021) was our 12^th KCF!! 

And, YES, we don’t have folks say anything directly to us about KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken), but when someone shares a post about KCF, I have seen a TON of folks comment and laugh because they read KCF as KFC and wondered what the big deal was!!  I will have to admit that I, myself, went to KFC and accidentally ordered a KCF bowl in the drive thru!  Ha ha ha!!

JR: You serve as the Event Coordinator for Always One Ministries (aka A1M). When did this ministry start, and what other activities do you have besides KCF (I almost typed KFC 😃)

AL: A1M is the organization we created after the first couple of KCF’s because we decided we wanted to do more than just KCF.  We have Pit Fest and our Christmas Outreach, but we also do other things here and there.  The name Always One Ministries comes from something God laid on the heart of Jay, my brother and our co-founder.  No matter where you are or what you are doing, there’s always one.. one person to reach out to or help or minister to.  Jesus was about the one.  The one lost sheep.  If we can just reach one… imagine the domino or even snowball effect that could have.  I mean, Billy Graham was just one…

JR: This year's schedule alone is too long to list in the blog, let alone those from previous years. Are there any particular performances that you would consider especially memorable?

AL: Any time we have artists cross over into another artists set, it makes the experience memorable for the attendees and we love that.  For instance Matt Sassano was performing this past year and he had a song that he released that featured Zahna.  Well, she happened to be there and snuck up on the stage with him to sing her part in person.  Surprised him and thrilled the crowd!  However, the performances that I think are etched forever in my memory came from the same day.  I think it might have been KCF 2014?? 

It started with Trevor Heyd.  He was doing his beatboxing and ministering and the Holy Spirit took over the place.  I had to run into my camper, which acts as our office at KCF, and when I came out, nearly every person in the crowd were on their knees.  I had never seen anything like it.  Next band to perform after that was The Protest.  During their set, a young woman rushed up on the stage.  She said something to Josh, the lead singer, and the next thing we saw was Josh getting to his knees with this girl and praying with her.  The music stopped, the rest of the Protest members joined in laying hands on her, other members of other bands that were hanging out behind the stage joined in with them.  That young lady found Jesus right there on the stage.  Josh later told me that what she said to him was, “I’m so scared to die”.  While that was going on, Adam Jefferson from Nine Lashes got his Bible out, preached a little message and had an impromptu altar call. Several people came down to accept Jesus or rededicate their lives.  Jay refers to it as the Holy Spirit Tsunami that took over that day.  There will never be enough words to describe how incredible that was. 

JR: The Friday of this year's festival, I was home in Indianapolis - about 50 miles south - and we got hit with hail around an inch in diameter. I don't know if you dealt with it, but how do you prepare for things like hail and COVID and power failures and the like?

AL: We do a whole lot of trusting God!!  For the last several years, we have held the event at the Howard County Vietnam Veterans Organization grounds outside of Kokomo.  So, as things come up, we discuss options with them.  Although, I will say that God has really done an amazing job of protecting us.  Nearly every year the forecast calls for storms.  Some rain is pretty common, but every year we watch the radar and the nastiest stuff will come at us and either dissipate or go around us.  Every. Single. Time. We just don’t worry about it because we know he is faithful.  We are also a very “go with the flow” type of fest.  My guess would be that if the power went out, we’d just do acoustic stuff, but we typically have enough generators around to take care of most of the issues we might have.  COVID has been interesting, but the timing of KCF has been great.  Where so many other festivals have had to cancel, we have been blessed to be able to keep going. Being an outdoor festival helps.  We did put the typical precautions in place.  Masks if you want, social distance when possible, hand sanitizer EVERYWHERE. Etc. 

JR: This year’s festival took place June 18^th and 19^th. What do you do the rest of the year to prepare for next year’s festival?  

AL: Well, right after the fest is over, we ask our volunteers to give us a list of what worked and what didn’t, while it is fresh in our minds.  And then, surprisingly, we don’t think much about KCF until late fall when we try to line up headliners.  Our brains turn to our smaller festival, Pit Fest, that happens in September at the Jonesboro River Rally and then directly to our Christmas Outreach.  After the first of the year, we line up the rest of the bands and then start the rest of the KCF prep!

JR: How has KCF made disciples, both in evangelism and equipping the saints for the ministry?

AL: That’s an interesting question.  Our ministry isn’t really called to make disciples, it is more for seed planting and introducing folks to Jesus, so they can have the opportunity to accept Him. Having said that, though, we know how crucial discipleship is!  If someone were to make a decision for Christ at KCF, we don’t want people to accept Jesus at the stage front and then send them on their way and tell them we’ll pray for them!  We have a crew available to give them little booklets that explain what they should do from this point…starting with finding a church home!  We take their info, if they want to give it to us, and then try to keep in touch and follow up with them.

JR: How can we learn about next year's festival? Any particular prayer needs for this ministry? And anything else you want to share?

AL: Our Facebook page is where we post most of the info, but we are also on Instagram and Twitter (@A1Mkokomo for both of those).  Our biggest prayer is that we always put ministry first and that God have His way with anything we organize.  We pray that seeds will be planted and lives will be changed.  We would love prayers for the finances to always be there, as well.  Prayer that God lead us to the bands that He wants to be at KCF would be great, too!!! 

As for anything else we would like to share, that is a dangerous thing to ask me, LOL.  I’m referred to as “the mouth of the ministry” for a reason!  I seriously could share so much more… about the impact that I have seen from the people involved in this ministry.  How God has touched folks.  Not just for the attendees, but the bands, too.  We have heard so many of them share how they were feeling a certain way, but just being at KCF has given them a renewed spirit.  It is like a big family reunion and we make sure to take care of every kind of need the bands may have so that they are fulfilled and can do what they are called to do.  I just couldn’t love this ministry more and am so completely blessed to be a part of it! 

Musician Photos from Top to Bottom:  Josh Bramlett (The Protest), Disciple (headliner Saturday June 19th), The Letter Black (headliner Friday June 18th), Matt Sassano, Zahna, Trevor Heyd, The Protest, Theody, Bred 4 War. All photos courtesy of Jeanette Yoder Photography except Trevor Heyd's, which is courtesy of Skip Johnson Photography.

 

 

RANDY SINGER BOOK REVIEW TRILOGY PART 3 OF 3 - THE ADVOCATE

Previously, I posted reviews on Randy Singer's non-fiction book The Cross Examination of Jesus Christ and its companion release The Cross Examination of Oliver Finney. However, this novel has more in common with the non-fiction book published eight years earlier. Both The Advocate and The Cross Examination of Jesus Christ not onlydeal with Christ's trial by Pilate, but also mention the Pharisees and Herodians asking Jesus about the tax and the woman caught in adultery, and additionally mention the treason trials in Rome at that time.

Returning my focus to The Advocate, this book is unique among Randy Singer's novels on several levels:

1. It's his first historical novel; all his others are contemporary. (Thus, don't expect characters from his previous stories to pop up here as they frequently do -- none of them had been born at this point.)
2. I would consider this to be more of a political thriller than a legal thriller. Yes, the main character is a lawyer as Singer's main characters are (with the possible exception of "The Judge"), and yes, Singer does touch on politics and political issues, but 1st century politics has more of an emphasis than the legal side.
3. This is not a simple, typical story. Not only does it span years, but it's more of a pseudo-biography than a typical novel. There isn't a typical villain -- yes, Caligula and Nero could be called villains in this story as they were in history, but most stories have a main villain who's part of the story from the beginning; not so here. Likewise, it's more episodic, with some threads reaching through the story, but not the typical plot arc.

Another item different for Singer is a list of characters before the book. The characters have four designations: historical, fictitious, historical but little known about, and historical but no name given (the only one in the fourth category is the Centaurian at the Crucifixion). The main character, Theophilus, is in the third category. Thus, realize this is a novel, not history.

One thing that's not typical in novels but not new to Singer is the changing Points of View. This is his third novel told from the first person (though the first where that character is male), but as in his second first person story, there are sections where the first person character isn't present that is told from a third person. The final section (the 101 short chapters are divided into nine parts) is also third person, but indicates the previous eight were Theophilus' memoirs.

This is not an author's first novel. It's written by someone who knows what he's doing, enough to journey outside the norm and pull it off, which he does in this novel. The Advocate can fit in the genres of historical, suspense, and political thriller (it's not quite a legal thriller in my opinion), but I could make an argument of it fitting in the literary genre as well.

Again, this isn't typical Randy Singer -- you may love his previous work yet not get into this one as much. In my opinion, this is a well put together piece of literature. 

RANDY SINGER BOOK REVIEW TRILOGY PART 2 OF 3 - THE CROSS EXAMINATION OF OLIVER FINNEY

 

In 2006, Randy Singer released two books in connection with each other: one fiction and one non-fiction. Yesterday, I reviewed the non-fiction book, The Cross Examination of Jesus Christ. Both dealt with the issue of apologetics, but in different way. In the Non-fiction book, Singer focused on who Jesus is. This one deals more with comparative religions.  

The Cross Examination of Oliver Finney was Singer's sixth, and the next to the last to be published by Waterbrook Press. When he switched to Tyndale, his first seven were re-released with the new publisher. While six of them retained their original titles, this one was renamed The Judge.

This book was published before I started writing my novel (which is now finished and in the process of finding a publisher), but I have just read it. I found it interesting because there are some similarities: both this book and my novel are mysteries and both deal with the field of apologetics. Both also have a lot of speaking by the characters in the process of the story, with most of the speaking in both cases "edited out" by the author. That is where the similarities end -- we took completely different tracks on how we dealt with apologetics.

How did this novel fare on both accounts? I might subjectively say that Singer could have been stronger on apologetics but I think he accomplished his point -- please read this to make up your own mind. As far as being a mystery, this is superb, a story that will keep you guessing. I thought I had figured part of it out, and was wrong -- and Singer gave enough hints for me to feel one could figure it out.

As usual, Singer has memorable characters. Singer has hints of being a fan of reality TV (which is also hinted at in his fourth novel, "Self-Incrimination) and of solving ciphers.

I highly recommend this book. Since it's my favorite book by my favorite author ... you bet I recommend it!

RANDY SINGER BOOK REVIEW TRILOGY PART 1 OF 3 - THE CROSS EXAMINATION OF JESUS CHRIST

 

I will swear to tell the truth and the whole truth: Attorney, Minister, and Novelist Randy Singer is my favorite author. I have read all 14 of his novels (and craving #15 - he hasn't had a new release since 2017). He also has written some non-fiction.

I will be doing a three part series focusing on three of his books. The two fiction books don't have  a lot in common. In fact, one of them was one of his two novels where he doesn't bring back a character from a former story (not counting, of course, his debut). The non-fiction, on the other hand, ties in to the novels.

Maybe sometime I'll do a blog looking at Singer as an author. Or I might review some of his other books. Or both. But until then...

The Cross Examination of Jesus Christ is a rare non-fiction book by Christian attorney and legal suspense author Randy Singer. This book was released in 2006 at the same time he released his 6th novel, The Cross-Examination of Oliver Finney (later re-released as The Judge). There are similarities, but there may be more in Singer's 2014 release, The Advocate, Singer's venture into historical suspense (or, more accurately, historical legal suspense).

The Cross Examination of Jesus Christ's first and last chapter is a fictionalized account of Christ's trial by Pilate and Crucifixion, told in the second person so the reader identifies more with the main character. Singer revists that in the 1st person narrative in The Advocate.

The remaining eight chapters look at eight confrontations between Jesus and the Pharisees, pointing out that it's possible we're more like the Pharisees than we want to believer. It deals with issues like fasting, the Deity of Christ, the authority of Scripture, and politics, among other things. (He also gives a good defense for a public defender representing a party that obviously is guilty.)

If knowing Singer's a lawyer and a novelist isn't enough hints that he's a good story teller, then reading this book will convince you. Besides the two fictionalized chapters, Singer tells a variety of tales from the Bible, history, current events, the courtroom, personal experience and even some hypothetical situations.

I recommend this book.

INTERVIEW WITH MEGHAN WILLIAMS OF DYED4YOUART.COM

 

Wake Up, Dyed4YouArt

Great picture, isn't it? I discovered the work of Meghan Williams on Dyed4YouArt years ago, and I'm please to share the below interview.

JR: One bad habit I have is I include two or more questions as a single question, and I'm falling into that habit now. How did you become a Christian, how did you get into art, and when did you start your ministry of blending your art with your faith?

MW: Well I appreciate the clarity the extra questions add, so no worries! I first began digital imaging back in the early 1990s when I was in college and Photoshop was on version 1.2 and didn’t allow layers yet. For those who have never done any digital photo manipulation, basically what that means is if you cut something out from one picture to put into another picture you couldn’t move it or change it once it was placed. Basically get it right the first time, which is extremely challenging especially with how rudimentary the tools were then. This meant early efforts were nowhere near the incredibly photorealistic ones we get today, though we were excited by the technology at the time nonetheless.

My first job out of college was as a digital imager, so I spent many years pre-salvation creating digital art. (I got saved when I was 25.) I first began creating prophetic art though in 2009. At that time, my husband and I were part of monthly prayer meetings with James Nesbit, who is a powerful prophetic artist. He is a wonderful father in the faith and always has a mind to help those around him grow into their calling. At that time, I was about 2 years into Dyed4you, which is the ministry God birthed through me creating prophetic silks (both wearable and as worship flags). When James found out I used to do digital imaging for a living, he came and lay hands on me to pray for God to stir up that gifting to use for His glory.

Several months later I created my first piece called Stairway to Revelation
(https://dyed4youart.com/2009/11/stairway-to-revelation/). My early pieces always included an image of one of my silks, and the prophetic download that goes with the silk is typically connected to the download that goes with the art. This was how the prophetic art portion of the ministry became called Dyed4you Art.
 

Over the years the ministry has grown, and included in that is an amazing team of volunteers who support the ministry in prayer and also share prophetic downloads and insight as the Lord leads. Those pieces are then included with the silks and art pieces. The format for how we do that has evolved over the years, but at this point we have a rich collection of downloads much of which can be found at Dyed4youMinistries.com. (People are able to subscribe to receive the downloads via email.)

JR: I am blessed by your art, and my favorite is titled "Whisper His Name." What was that piece's inspiration? Have you received feedback from it?

MW: Ah yes, that piece is what I call a “crowd favorite.” I think it tends to resonate with people because many of us have had that feeling where we are just worn out, done in, and all we can do is just whisper His name and trust God’s got us. The inspiration for that piece came from the original picture of my friend (who also happens to be part of the Dyed4you Ministry Team) as she sat covered in a beaded veil.

Let me back up and say that I primarily use pictures of people I know and have photographed in the art I create. There’s a variety of reasons for that, including that this has helped me to align the anointing of the person in an image with the anointing of the art piece. For example my ministry partner, Larisa, carries a heavy warfare anointing. So many of the Dyed4you Art pieces I’ve created that use a picture of her have that fierce feel to them (e.g. “Empowered by Love” and “Thundering Vanquisher”).

So with “Whisper His Name,” I was conscious of the trials my friend was walking through and the expression was definitely captured in the original image and then highlighted in the final art piece, which again is why I feel like it’s resonated with so many people. 

As to which is my favorite, it shifts over the years. I enjoy the fact that I can appreciate Dyed4you Art on multiple levels - as an artist, as a contributor to the prophetic download that goes with each piece, and as a recipient. (And of course, I enjoy appreciating them in connection with all the testimonies too.) 

Several years back we began offering Prophetic “Portraits” (https://www.etsy.com/listing/515237228), which essentially means I create a new piece (without input from the recipient) based on whatever download God gives me and/or the Dyed4you Team. Prophetic “Portraits” are a great way for someone to receive a download without any of their personal biases or focuses.

Let me pause briefly to explain what I mean because I’m passionate about helping people understand the prophetic (i.e. hearing God) and understanding how they flow in it. People can receive a prophetic word from us at anytime simply by allowing God to highlight one of the Dyed4you Art pieces to them and then going to read the word or allowing Him to simply speak to them through it. As we like to say, we give a portion of a conversation with God, not a conversation in its entirety. So the hope is that each person will continue that conversation with God personally.  

However, often people don’t trust themselves to pick or find they’re drawn based on biased (e.g. favorite color, person in the image resonates with them for a specific reason or the opposite may be true), so the Prophetic “Portrait” is a great way to bypass all that since it doesn’t allow for the person ordering it to give input. So if they want to have art created connected to a specific scripture or vision, we can do that, but it’s considered commissioned art which is different.

The beauty of the Prophetic “Portrait” is the complete release of control. You have to trust the process completely and trust God to move through it. I actually share my experience of going through this process with another prophetic artist on my personal blog.

So back to the original question, often the Prophetic “Portraits” will end up being timely words for me too. So two of my current favorites are “Accepted and Loved"

(above, left) and the yet unreleased “Soaking in the Waters of Life” (below left), both of which I have framed and hanging on my wall and both of which began as Prophetic “Portraits.” Though in fairness I have just over 30 Dyed4you Art pieces hanging in my home I believe, not to mention quite a few from other artists. Suffice it to say I’ve had to get creative with how I hang things LOL!

JR: Any of your art memorable? Maybe by how it was inspired. Maybe by being a struggle to complete. Which are the ones that affected you the most?

MW: LOL well you have to remember these are my babies, so that’s like asking a parent if their child is memorable. To me each one has a story, and there’s no repeating pattern in how they’re made. Sometimes I’ll have a vision or see something that sparks an idea, sometimes one of the Dyed4you team members will get something that kicks one off, sometimes something that happens in a church service or prayer meeting can stir an idea - it literally could be anything.

That said, a few of the other crowd favorites stand out. The first two are Lion of Judah images and they also happen to be popular art flag styles.  As a side note, the art flags are what brought the Dyed4you Art portion of the ministry into the black. The first eight years I was creating prophetic art, I would spend hundreds of hours creating and images would get shared all over online, but I could probably count on my fingers how many prints I’d sell in a year. First and foremost my heart for Dyed4you Ministries is that it is in fact a ministry, so I had to choose to keep blessing the Body of Christ with what Papa put on my heart and trust that He’d cover me. And He has. But it also was a true joy to find a product that the community would find worth investing in. So the flagging community supports the creation of Dyed4you Art, and the top two favorite art flags are our Lion of Judah flag and our Jealous God flag.

Our Lion of Judah flag is based on our Dyed4you Art piece “Listen to the Sound,”  which was inspired by Misty Edwards’ song “People Get Ready.” There’s a line that says, “I can hear the rhythm of the Lion of the tribe of Judah,” and I started seeing a sound wave (which actually made it into the art piece). The other top favorite art flag is Jealous God, which is based on our Dyed4you Art piece “No Other Gods." That one is inspired by the name of God “El Qanna,” which means Jealous God. It comes out of Exodus 34 which is the scripture that is visible overlaying the lions face in the art piece. A customer just posted a breathtaking video using a pair of these on YouTube https://youtu.be/w09fLSqkNGg - it really gives the art a whole new layer of prophetic download and release when you see it in motion.

The final piece that really needs to be mentioned is Into the King’s Chambers. This piece pictures the bride ascending a flight of stairs with the Lion of Judah awaiting her at the top. The image was inspired by a conversation I had with a Dyed4you customer. She was planning a conference by the same name and shared the theme with me. The imagery came to me as she was speaking. As it turned out the conference wasn’t able to go forward, but the art piece inspired by it has born a lot of fruit. I feel like that whole experience is a beautiful example of how God’s plans aren’t always our plans, but they’re always good! I actually had the opportunity to catch up the the customer earlier this year and share about how many people have specifically been blessed by my visualization of the vision God had given her. She was deeply blessed - because I’m sure most of us know what it feels like to *think* God is taking us one way only to have Him redirect us and we’re like “what just happened there?!” LOL! So it’s nice to be able to bring that fruit back and share it.

JR: There's a book out called Facing Snarls and Scowls: Preaching Through Hostility, Apathy, and Affliction. I'm sure you face that from the church as well as attacks from the world as well. What strengthens you to continue to persevere?

MW: Happily, on the whole we haven’t dealt with a lot of attacks. The ones we’ve had have been exclusively from within the church though, which has definitely been disheartening. When those moments come I always try to step out of my personal feelings and remember God is sovereign. So I just ask why He’s allowing the situation to occur. This typically allows for a peaceful resolution, or at worst we simply choose to part ways.

JR: Thank you for your time. What projects are you currently working on? How can the readers keep up with your ministry?

MW: Thank you for inviting me to join you! At any given time I always have portions of downloads started or images partially worked on. Over the years I’ve learned to be patient. I’m intentional to not get out in front of God. So I work on something until I can feel resistance, which tells me there isn’t anointing there for it yet. So I back off and wait. Sometimes things will sit for years before being completed, sometimes things get birthed end-to-end in one day - but I just try to stay in step with where I feel the anointing - as I’m sure we all strive to do!

For people who enjoy the artwork, following Dyed4you Art on FB is a great way to keep up. You can also find any new art pieces in our gallery at Dyed4youArt.com (or if there’s a piece you enjoy and you’d like to see the download that goes with it, you can find them via the alphabetized list too [http://dyed4youart.com/art/]). The Dyed4youMinistries.com blog as well as my personal blog MeghanW.com both can be subscribed to via email as well.

Thank you again so much for this opportunity. It’s been wonderful even taking the time to pause and remember. Hopefully others will be blessed by the journey.

A NEEDED CALL TO PRAYER IN LIGHT OF THE CHAOS IN AFGHANISTAN

Refugees of Parga by Francesco Hayez

 

 "But the end of all things is at hand. Therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers." 1 Peter 4:7, NKJV.

Is what's going on in Afghanistan a sign of the end times? Maybe, maybe not. What has no maybe about it is that we need to take Peter's advice on being serious and watchful in our prayers.

Today, Becky received three calls to prayer for Afghanistan from different ministries on our e-mail, and she thought the three put together made an interesting picture.

1. Franklin Graham is calling for a day of prayer tomorrow (Aug. 22) for Afghanistan. Yes, there is a place for private prayer, but there is also a place for public petition for great needs. There were corporate prayer meetings called by great leaders like Samuel, Jehoshaphat, Hezekiah, Esther and Mordecai, and Nehemiah. After being threatened by the Sanhedrin, Peter and John met with the congregation and prayed for boldness. And we should be praying for those who are being kept from leaving Afghanistan.
2. Gregg Harris, THRU the BIBLE's President (the ministry founded by Dr. J. Vernon McGee), also asked for prayer for our fellow believers in Afghanistan. Harris said, "This is a young church, a dynamic church, one of the fastest growing in the world, that was already under great persecution and suffering. And now, unless God intervenes, they will be facing even greater persecution and possible and probably martyrdom for their faith in Jesus." He then adds their work in the Pashto language spoken by millions in Afghanistan. "The vision is that anyone in that region will be able to hear the clear, systematic teaching of the Bible through the ministry of THRU the BIBLE in the Pashto language."
3. Michael Youseff of Leading The Way mentions various ways to pray, including 1) for a hedge of protection around His people - especially women and children; 2) for the conversion those in power in the Taliban, and 3) that God can bring good in the midst of tragedy. Youseff then adds, "But remember this: if we don't remember them in their time of need, who will remember us in time of need?" He closes by urging us to pray and trust God to do the impossible.

One other thing that Youseff pointed out is that we shouldn't be pointing fingers. AMEN. In addition to praying for the people in Afghanistan, we should be on our knees interceding for President Biden. Right now, the question of whether he did the right thing is not the issue. We see him standing by his decision, but what is going on inside? Could it be that God is dealing with him? We need to pray for President Biden, not with a political mindset, but remembering he was made in the image of God just as we are.

Will you join me in praying for this need, individually and in groups, and praying that God uses it for His glory?

INTERVIEW WITH AUTHOR LAURA SCOTT

 

JR: Laura, I've read your contributions to a pair of Love Inspired Suspense K-9 series, and just a couple of weeks ago you released Tracking Stolen Secrets in this year's Alaskan K-9 Unit collection (part 4 of 8). You also have recently written Dogged by Death, a cozy mystery. You don't like dogs, do you? Do you have any dogs? Any favorite breeds?

LS: Hi Jeff, thanks so much for chatting with me. I LOVE dogs, ha ha. I dog-sit a chocolate lab, Moose and have Otis a red fox English lab retriever. If you follow my Facebook author page you’ll see Moose on Monday posts and Otis on Tuesday posts. I honestly can’t say I have a favorite breed, although currently labs are high on the list. We’ve had Westies, Beagles and a boxer lab mix. I will say that loving dogs makes it so much more fun to write K-9 stories, as well as my cozy mystery series.

 

JR: The first story I read by you was Blind Trust. My wife and I both loved how you dealt with a heroine who was going blind. What was the inspiration for that novel, and if you can without spoilers, what was it like writing that book, both with the research and with creating the character?

LS: Blind Trust was one of my favorites. I wore super dark sunglasses in a poorly lit room to get the feel for what Eva was going through in that story. It was incredibly difficult and gave me appreciation for how those who are suffering from partial or full blindness. I also felt certain Eva wouldn’t want to be a burden to Finn, so that was also a great conflict for the story.

JR: I've read some of the K-9 series, and enjoy how a group of different writers can collaborate with tales strong enough to stand by themselves, but also moving a story line or two through out the series. How do you authors work together? Is the big story structured, or is it more seat of the pants writing?

LS: This is a great question! These multi author continuity series take a lot of structure. We have a fifty page series overview that we’re given and from there, we as authors must be in constant communication because one change impacts all of our stories. We create an author loop where we chat, and sometimes commiserate, LOL. We also brainstorm ideas. It’s much harder to write these books because of the close collaboration, but that also makes the outcome so rewarding. I was super thrilled that my latest release Tracking Stolen Secrets hit the USA Today bestseller list. I’m so blessed to have wonderful fans like you!

JR: I mentioned Dogged by Death, released July 13th, and Tracking Stolen Secrets which came out July 27th. Neither are your most recent novel: that honor goes to Cooper’s Choice, book four of six in your Smoky Mountain Secrets series, hitting the stands on August 3. How do you manage on working on different stories at the time? Do you ever take a day off? Also, does it help when one is in a different genre (I believe Dogged by Death is a cozy mystery, while the other two are romantic suspense), or does it make keeping the stories apart more challenging?

LS: I’m a glutton for punishment, huh? Ha ha. I do take Sundays off, sometimes Saturdays too, if there are family things going on. I prefer writing one book at a time, but that isn’t always possible when writing for two different publishers and my own indie series. The publishers set the deadlines so I use those as my guide. I have never missed a deadline (thankfully) and I write my own indie books in between those publisher deadlines. Writing in different series also helps keep my creativity flowing, I think if I was stuck writing one type of story, I’d probably get bored. This way, I’m always excited to get to work each morning.

JR: You mentioned you’re working with two different publishers: Tracking Stolen Secrets is the most recent you’ve written under Harlequin’s Love Inspired Suspense, and Dogged by Death by Crooked Lane Publishers (distributed by Penguin Random House). You also are working on two independently published series (the previously mentioned Smoky Mountain Secrets series and the three part International thriller Security Specialists trilogy (unless the fourth in the series will be out tomorrow). How does it differ between working with a traditional publisher and self-publishing? Is self-publishing more relaxing, or are you harder on yourself than editors and publishers of an organized country?

LS: Okay, its kinda hilarious that I’m currently outlining a fourth book for my Security Specialist’s Inc series, Target for Treason. How did you know? Are you looking over my shoulder, or spying on my computer camera? You may not realize that suspense authors are somewhat paranoid. LOL Other than the cozy mystery, I’ve tried to stay in one genre to encourage my readers to cross over to all my books. Self publishing is a little more stressful, because I have to work on the story, and do my own cover art and do all the formatting and uploading to all venues. I hire out the editing for my indie books because I am terrible at grammar, and I have a great editor who seems to like my stories and helps me by picking up on details such as using the same name several times in the same series or other inconsistencies. In the traditional world the editors pick up on that stuff more often than not, so when I write my own books I tend to read over them several times before they get published.

JR: Hope you don't mind one more question. Your self-published books identify themselves as being for a Christian market. Harlequin's Love Inspired Suspense series fits that bill as well. Do you see any challenges ahead in our changing culture to produce faith based novels?

LS: It’s interesting but the two biggest selling markets are Christian and super sexy. Quite the dichotomy, isn’t it? I really enjoy writing for the Christian market and I really hope that we can encourage our younger readership to turn to more faith based stories. Or at least stories that focus less on the physical and more on the emotional journey. Could that change at some point? Maybe, but so far, these two markets have remained strong for at least the past ten years. I hope that trend continues.

JR: Thank you very much for your time. I know you have two more Smoky Mountain Secrets books coming out (Trent’s Trust and Jayme’s Journey) and you mentioned working on the fourth Security Specialists novel. Any other projects? How can we keep up with what you're writing?

LS: I really think you must be connected to my computer camera. I’m just in the early phases of writing Target for Treason and don’t really have a firm deadline yet. It’s been fun so far to meet up with the other characters while still writing an international thriller. I am hoping to have this book up for publication early next year, maybe February or March.

Thanks again for having me! It’s been wonderful chatting with you.

You can keep up with Laura on her Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/LauraScottBooks (which includes pictures of her dogs Moose and Otis) or on her author page https://www.laurascottbooks.com.

WHICH TABLET DOES THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT BELONG ON?

 

At Arlington Avenue Baptist Church, Indianapolis, IN

 It fits nice and neat. The first four of the Ten Commandments are on the left tablet, reflecting on the Great Commandment to "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength." The final six are on the right tablet, dealing with the second commandment like unto the first, "Love your neighbor as yourself."

Of course, this reflects the Protestant view of the Ten Commandments. To the Jew, the first commandment is "I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the house of bondage," and the second commandment is a combination of what Protestants consider the first two. The Catholic mindset also combines "Thou shalt have no other gods before me" as a single commandment with "Thou shalt not make any graven images," and divides the commandment not to covet into two separate commandments. But, as you'd expect, I'll stick with the Protestant numbering of the commandments.

Allow me to give an alternative reason for why the first four commandments are on the left and the remaining ones on the right. It's because the longest commandments are the second, the fourth, and the tenth, and thus the halfway point is after the fourth.

You might think it's practical, but not as catchy. If you're awake, you might wonder if there's another reason why I don't quickly affirm that one tablet represents loving God and the other loving one another. There is.

My question is about the fourth Commandment, to remember the Sabbath Day and keep it holy. If the command was about congregating for corporate worship, as both those who worship on Sunday and those who think the Biblical Sabbath has always been Saturday take it. However, I notice nothing about corporate worship or even personal worship in that commandment. It says to take it easy and rest.

Another related issue is why God focused in the law of observing one specific day of the week. Is it because there is something sacred about the Sabbath? Or is it more about making the Law enforceable? Breaking the other commandments (except possibly for coveting) are observable. How can we know for sure if a person is resting one day out of seven? Simple. Everybody else is resting on that day, so the one breaking the Sabbath stands out.

Related to that issue: I believe those who believe Saturday is the appointed Sabbath Day have a stronger case than those who believe Sunday is the new Sabbath. True, the tradition of Christians worshiping on Sunday goes back to the days of Acts (see Acts 20:7 and 1 Corinthians 16:2), but there is no commandment. But I do see a view I consider to have solid Biblical evidence as well, which is that in Romans 14:5, 6, which is esteeming every day alike. Every day is the Lord's day. The important thing is not the day on which you rest as long as you follow the principle of working six days and resting the seventh.

So is the fourth commandment about loving God? In the sense that resting one day is confidence in Him providing for you rather than trusting in your non-stop labor, I agree. But I think there are two other reasons to observe this commandment.

The first is that this is the one commandment that directly benefits us. The other commandments have an indirect benefit to us, that we are blessed not in the keeping of the commandment but as a result of obedience. This commandment is given for us to take care of ourselves.

The other would lead me to think that this commandment belongs with the following half dozen in being about loving one another. You see, the commandment doesn't stop with us resting. It extends to our servants, both the two legged and four legged varieties. We are to let them rest as well. We are to watch out for others.

Several years ago, my wife Becky wondered if we should eat out on Sundays. On one hand, I see that going to a restaurant allows her to rest instead of fixing lunch. But her concern was to the workers, and not thinking it was right for them to eat for us. It took a while for Mr. Thick Head to get that. 

Is remembering to rest one day a week something that is hard to do? What can you do to help others rest as well?

BOOK REVIEW: EXPLOSIVE SITUATION BY TERRI REED

In 2020, I got hooked on the True Blue K-9 Unit series published by Harlequin's Love-Inspired Suspense series (you can read my review of the series here). Evidently, the company has a series every year, and the following one published last year (I know, I'm a year behind) was the True Blue K-9 Unit Brooklyn (the first series was based in Queens).

I've missed the second part, but so far I've read the first, third, and fourth installments of this nine part series, and today I'm dealing with the latter, Explosive Situation by Terri Reed. I find it interesting that the fourth installments of both series deal with bomb sniffing pooches (a Beagle in this story, a Springer Spaniel and a Golden Retriever in Deep Undercover of the Queens series).

So far, this is my favorite of this series. In the previous series, it was the 5th book, Seeking The Truth by Terri Reed. If the author's name sounds familiar, it may be because you saw it in the title of this current review. At the moment, I've read only those two books by Terri, but I'm hooked.

One interesting thing about this book - it deals with a police officer suspected of excessive violence by an Internal Affairs investigator. Some of you may guess that the IA leader and the officer are of different genders and end up falling in love with each other. For those with that suspicion, what do you think this story is? Part of the Love-Inspired Suspense series? 

Sphinx Cat, vetstreet.brighspotcdn.com

A minor character that made this more enjoyable for Becky and I was Kitty.
Kitty is ... a cat. Not just any cat, but a Sphinx Cat. For those who haven't read the book or aren't familiar with cat breeds, Sphinx's are known as being hairless. Reed points out in the story that isn't true - they do have a peach fuzz. My wife would love a Sphinx Cat in the hopes that her cat allergies wouldn't act up. (I've read enough to know there's no guarantees - cat allergies are cause more by the cat's dander rather than their fur, and Sphinxes have dander.

Back to the book. It is an excellent story, with the surprises you expect in the story. I highly recommend it.

Any other Terri Reed fans? Any other guys like me who enjoy Love Inspired Suspense?