Book Update

I just passed the 90,000 word mark in my newest book. I had been calling it Time Echoes, but now I'm playing with Interfinity as the title. What do you think of that title?

Anyway, the basic storyline is complete, but it's still just skin and bones. Over the next month, I will be adding details, developing characters, and including some important foreshadowing, as well as polishing, polishing, polishing.

But, at the same time, I have three trips to take, and I'm moving my family to Tennessee. This will be a challenging month indeed.

Dragons in our Midst on Audio!

Oasis Audio will create audiobooks for my Dragons in our Midst and Oracles of Fire series!

They will be unabridged with multiple actors doing the voices, and they will come out in MP3 format, perfect for your iPods and up-to-date CD players.

Raising Dragons will release in July, then the rest of the books will come out every two months thereafter until they catch up with what I've written.

I'm really pumped about this. I hear from kids who aren't allowed to read my books until their parents read them, but their parents don't have time. They said they would read them if they could get them on audio. I also know kids who are visually impaired, and this is a great way for them to enjoy my books.

If you're interested, here are links for Amazon and Christian Book Distributors:

Amazon - Buy Raising Dragons Audio on Amazon Online

CBD - Buy Raising Dragons Audio on CBD Online

Looking for a new church in Tennessee

At the end of May, I will be moving my family to Western Tennessee, near Middleton to be more precise, so we will be looking for a new church. I'm sure many of you in the area would graciously receive us with loving arms extended, but I'm hoping for a good fit. It's important to have strongly held beliefs affirmed.

Our beliefs our not exactly in the mainstream, so I will list some things I'm looking for. PLEASE don't reply to argue against my beliefs. That would be counter productive. I also realize that I might not find all of these in a church, but a reasonably close fit will help us be more comfortable. I am willing to make a significant drive in order to worship with like-minded brothers and sisters.

1. Teaches straight from the Bible - Not topic of the week
2. Not Calvinist
3. A holiness perspective-Close to John Wesley or Charles Finney teachings
4. Homeschool friendly
5. Teaches modest dress standards
6. Encourages courtship rather than dating

I thank you in advance for any help you can provide.

Attention Binghamton, NY, area

Just in case anyone's interested, I'm coming to the Binghamton, NY area for three events listed below. I hope some of you can come and introduce yourselves. I love meeting new people.

May 10 - 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm
Book Signing
Arrowhead Parable Christian Bookstore
One Harry L Drive
Johnson City, NY 13790

May 11 - 9:00 am to 11:00 am
Career Day
St. John the Evangelist School
9 Livingston St
Binghamton, NY 13903

May 12 - 1 pm to 3:00 pm
Book Signing
Barnes & Noble
Town Square Mall
2443 Vestal Parkway East
Vestal, NY 13850

Why Christian Writers Do What They Do

As a writer, it's great to get one of those notes that reminds me of what it's all about. Please allow me to quote from a letter I received today.

"I also need to thank you for saving my life. When I read those books, I was not a Christian, but the power I saw in these books made me want that close relationship with God that Bonnie and Sapphira had. I am happy to write that I am now a Christian, and my faith is stronger than ever. Someday, I hope to be as great a writer as you are and do the same for somebody else."

Wow! As I read the letter, my hand shook and chills covered my body. I must confess that tears filled my eyes.

This is truly what it's all about. There is no greater joy than feeling God's pleasure.

Another Pause

As you might have noticed, I haven't posted in a while. Life is way too busy. With another book to write, going through the editing process on the previous book, and moving in May, I don't foresee any change. I doubt you'll see many posts for quite a while.

I appreciate your patience.

Conference Blessings

I just returned from the Florida Christian Writers' Conference in Bradenton, FL. I taught the Teen Track, and the 16 students and I had a blast. In our "After Hours" session, we did a critique group session that lasted almost four hours. Some of the students were laughing so hard, they cried.

I was very impressed with the writing talent of several of these kids. Based on feedback from magazine editors, I think at least six of them will have articles published within the year. An 18-year-old young man is writing a fantasy novel. His imagination and descriptions are superb. Four young ladies who have become close friends because of the Internet are going to collaborate on an article about Internet friendships. Another young lady had an article on her hero, her little sister, and two editors indicated a strong interest in buying it. This girl also won the conference's poetry award for submitting the best poetry. Although she was only 17-years-old, her poetry demonstrated the insight of someone three times her age.

I pray that these young writers will take the inspiration they gained in our workshops and continue in the writing field. They are wonderfully talented.

The poet I mentioned wrote a note to me before we parted. I trust that she won't mind my sharing it with you. You will see why these young people were such a blessing to me.

I travel the path of faith
Searching for reason I often lose track
Of the footprints from those before me
And when I stumble upon hesitation
I search for a hand to guide me on
And he gives me wonders
Miracles, like you
Brilliant souls which he speaks through
His words are your thoughts
You are the light with his guidance
And with such faith I will not turn back
He reveals to me footprints
And he gives me wonders
Miracles, like you

Facing the Giants movie

I rented "Facing the Giants" and watched it with my wife and three of my daughters last night. I had heard that it was inspiring but was plagued by bad acting, so I tried to watch it without prejudice.

The acting isn't stellar. In fact, a couple of the actors were quite bad, and several of the story elements were predictable. But those flaws didn't harm my enjoyment of the movie. I found it inspiring and uplifting. I lost a few tears in a couple of scenes and felt a rush of joy at a several others. Overall, it was very satisfying. I would definitely watch it again.

I think the best aspect of the story was the positive message that you can succeed in obeying God and giving Him the glory. He has given us the ability to do all things through His strength, and that truth was powerfully presented. In these days when the church beats down Christians, telling them that they are sinners until they die, it is refreshing to see a movie dispute that lie and give us an uplifting message.

Enoch's Ghost Finished

I sent Enoch's Ghost to my publisher today. It's always a feeling of relief to finish a book, but there's also an emotional letdown to go with it.

Now, I will work on straightening my office, preparing for the Florida Christian Writers Conference, and doing my taxes, not necessarily in that order. After the conference, I will be back to "heads-down" writing for my next project, Time Echoes. That book is due on June 1, so I have three months to get it done. The fun begins again!

Killing Straw Men from the Authorial Pulpit

Have you ever written a straw man in a story? He's the opponent you set up for the purpose of easily defeating, usually in order to destroy a belief or opinion he holds that you as an author despise.

Let's say that you hate onions (as I do), so the bad guy in your story is an onion farmer who decides that a law must be passed that all people must eat onions at every meal. You write him as being ridiculously vile, even maniacal. Then, your hero comes along and destroys him and his onion farm.

As an onion-hating author, that would be a lot of fun, but it's not a great idea for a story. I would be preaching against onions by setting up a ridiculous person who gets thrashed by my hero. This would be a very preachy kind of writing. It's an onion-hating sermon, and most readers (except maybe other onion haters who applaud the farmer's demise) will see it as a thinly-veiled, sermonizing attack.

In author circles, much has been written about "preachy" stories, especially in Christian-themed novels. I'll save the details for another post, but I have seen just as much preachy writing in secular stories as I have seen in Christian stories, maybe more, so Christians aren't the only ones trying to get our morals, or lack thereof, into our books.

Is it wrong to "preach" in our stories? I think not. We just have to learn to allow our stories and our characters to live out the "sermons" rather than delivering our points in obvious pulpit-pounding scenarios. When our readers close our books, we want them to feel and desire to live out the value of the story. If there is no real value, then the book isn't worth the paper it's printed on.

I mention the straw man, because I have one in my new book Enoch's Ghost. It was fun and satisfying to put him in and then do away with him, but this week I'll be altering him into a more realistic character who isn't there just to be destroyed. Then, the book will be done and ready to send to the publisher.

Any thoughts on preachy writing or straw men?

A Vision of Hell

Perhaps the most frightening concept of the Christian faith is that God will condemn unbelievers to an eternity of horrible torture--a Lake of Fire that burns with brimstone. As a child I remember getting a minor burn and how badly it hurt, and I thought about how much worse the burning would be in Hell and that it would never, never end for those condemned.

It scared me. It made me wonder whether or not God was cruel for doing it. To this day, the thought troubles me, and I rely on faith in the God who has shown both justice and mercy throughout my life. He knows what He's doing.

In books for youth, is it important for readers to get a vision of the truth about eternal punishment? Should it be portrayed in fiction? Should an author give a glimpse in order to cause readers to think about the whys of such a judgment?

If we do this, we risk inciting fear. But is fear bad as long as it is qualified with understanding? I don't think fear is the best motivator for goading us toward loving God, but it is a great motivator to get us to evangelize. "Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade men." (2 Corinthians 5:11)

I wonder if a proper understanding of Hell might help young people to gain a greater desire to tell others about what can save them from such terrible wrath. Probably. The question is at what age does such a lesson become appropriate. When does the image of Hell go beyond just giving nightmares to the point of instilling a heart for souls?

Just some points to ponder.

Real Kids - Real Holiness

And whoever causes one of these little ones who believe to stumble, it would be better for him if, with a heavy millstone hung around his neck, he had been cast into the sea. (Mark 9:42)

This verse has been on my mind a lot recently. As an author of books for young people, I am constantly aware of my charge to create stories that uplift and encourage my readers. That's why, when I see forces pulling the opposite direction, that is, toward acceptance of sin, I lament and try to pull even harder toward righteousness.

These thoughts are likely in sharper focus for me now since I have lately participated in a couple of online exchanges with people who say that all kids sin or that it's normal for young people to sin. This was in context with debates about the characters in the Harry Potter books. Some say that the books depict "normal" kids and that all kids are like them--lying, cheating, stealing, etc--even kids who are raised in Christian homes and have professed faith.

Such thinking is a stumbling block for young people. When they are told over and over that sin is normal, that "real" kids are rebellious and mean, that they can never escape committing sin, those who tell them these lies are causing them to stumble. The lie-bearers will answer to God, and according to the verse I quoted, their judgment will be terrible to behold.

The truth is that real kids can be obedient to God in all things and at all times. If they surrender their lives to Jesus Christ, they will have to power to obey and follow God with all their hearts.

Here is the truth:

Little children, let no one deceive you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous; the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, that He might destroy the works of the devil. No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother. (1 John 3:7-10)

I hope that those who are preaching the opposite will repent before it's too late, and I hope that young people will be able to recognize the deceivers and reject their lies. I will continue to do my part to shine the light of truth, that God cleanses all true believers from all unrighteousness and gives them power to live holy lives. I will continue to write about young people who care about doing what's right and make heroes out of them, giving good kids role models and making them feel "normal" instead of out of touch with what many of J. K. Rowling's supporters falsely call "reality."

Enoch's Ghost Update

In case anyone is wondering, Enoch's Ghost is coming along well. The story is pretty much finished. I just have to add a few sequences to a couple of scenes.

Right now the manuscript stands at about 104,000 words, and I expect that it will top out at around 110,000, which is about the length of The Candlestone--longer than Raising Dragons and Tears of a Dragon, but shorter than Circles of Seven and much shorter than Eye of the Oracle.

I think I'll be completely finished with the story by the end of the week, then I'll have a couple of weeks to polish everything before sending it to the publisher.

Praise and Thanksgiving - Part Five

Shortly after my daughter's anointing for healing, the eye doctor called to suggest that she go to Shands Hospital in Gainesville for further testing and treatment, not knowing that she had experienced healing. We told the doctor about the experience, and he said he wanted to test her again, “just to be sure.”

The test was this morning. The doctor reports that her vision is now "within normal limits." In other words, she is healed! Unfortunately, this doctor played the skeptic, saying that the first tests had to be erroneous. He even discounted Amanda’s personal witness that she couldn’t see through most of that eye, the very reason we came to him in the first place. In not so many words, he called her a liar. Such unbelief is amazing!

Tell me, who is the blind one?

May God be praised!

Praise and Thanksgiving - Part Four

I am awestruck by God's continuing blessings on my career. Great is His faithfulness!

I signed a contract with Zondervan for a new series, a Young Adult fantasy trilogy tentatively called Time Prints. The first book is scheduled to come out in May of 2008, and its working title is Time Echoes. As these books become a reality, I'll post more about them.

Please join me in thanking God for this exciting opportunity!

Praise and Thanksgiving - Part Three

My new book, Eye of the Oracle, is number one on the January CBA Young Adult best-seller list!

I am so thankful! Although all the Dragons in our Midst books have sold well, this is my first number one novel.

Here is a link to the list.

Click Here

Praise the Lord once again!

Praise and Thanksgiving - Part Two

My daughter Amanda was suffering through a severe loss of vision. About two-thirds of the field in her left eye was completely black. After taking her to an optometrist, an ophthalmologist, and two specialists who did an MRI and sonogram, we had no answers. Nobody knew why she had lost her vision.

So, we took her to the altar at church. The pastor anointed her while dozens of church members gathered around and prayed. From that moment, her vision began to clear. The black field has faded to a blur, and she estimates that her vision is 70% better.

Praise the Lord! We are continuing to pray for complete healing!

Praise and Thanksgiving - Part One

It's time to move away from the public lamentations and post on more positive issues.

God has so blessed me and my life, I need to shout it from the rooftops as often as I can. God is great! He is full of love, grace, and mercy, and His faithfulness is everlasting.

Yesterday, while jogging, the remaining details for the Enoch's Ghost story came to mind. It thrilled me so much that I actually began to weep even while running. I think both the power of the story, and knowing that the loving hand of God reached down to help me with it, became overwhelming. It fills me with awe to know that our heavenly father is so intimately involved in our lives.

I want to publicly praise Him for that!

Lamentations - Part Four

The doctrine of the inevitability of sin in Christians is the cause of my deepest laments. It's clear to me that the church, almost universally, has abandoned God's plan for believers regarding obedience.

Every day I hear or read something about how the sinful nature is in us all, that we, as Christians, will always suffer this indwelling presence, when, in fact, there is no Scripture that says anything like that. There is no evidence for the existence of a sinful nature at all.

Readers of the NIV translation might wonder why I say that, as they read those words time again in their translations, but the NIV translates sarx (flesh) inaccurately, so they are being misled.

This flesh is simply our bodies, so the New Testament writers created a term for the control our natural desires had on us as unbelievers. There is no sinful essence within us, no anti-God spirit that sneaks into our minds at birth that causes us to stray from God. This has become a sad, "the devil made me do it" excuse for sinful behavior.

The flesh, the bodily desires' control, is crucified and removed when we become Christians (Romans 6:6, Galatians 5:24, Colossians 2:11), so even that concept is no longer effectual in a believer. There is absolutely nothing that can make us sin. Yet, most preachers teach as if sin is something that we can never escape in this life, even as believers. This is the most evil lie that has ever been spoken in church, yet it is also the most common and widely believed.

Jesus put the matter plainly, and the power and completeness of His words are almost always ignored.

"Truly, truly I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin ... If, therefore, the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed. (John 8:34, 36)

No Christian is a slave of sin, because we are free, yet anyone who sins is a slave of sin. The sinful nature doesn't exist, and all the passions and desires of the flesh are crucified (Galatians 5:24).

I see no shadows in the words of Christ. If we who profess Christ continue in sin, we prove that our profession is invalid. And those who profess Christ and continue in sin are dishonoring His name.

Lamentations - Part Three

In my first lamentation, I mentioned the epidemic of divorce, often brought about because of adultery, but there is another kind of adultery that is probably more common and committed more frequently by men, even men in the church.

His target, his secret affair lurks in the shadows, quiet and unseen, without consistent shape or physical substance, yet she is more alluring than the street harlot and just as destructive as the motel tryst. She seeks his company, often posing as a damsel in distress. Her poses beg for his attention; they seek to be rescued from loneliness. Although she wears no clothes, she bears a sword, ready to cut his heart in two, setting body in conflict with spirit. From the slick pages of a magazine or the colorful images of a computer screen, she awaits his peering eyes, ready to strike with her naked dagger. She is the harlot of pornography.

Why do the hearts of so many married men become divided? Although they have wives whom God designed to meet their physical needs, why are they tempted to seek the pleasures of another? For many men, physical adultery is a well-recognized taboo. Physically violating the wedding vows, even in our permissive society, is still considered by most Christians to be a sign of unfaithfulness to God, an act that proves an unsaved spiritual state. A divided heart that leads to spiritual adultery, however, has not gained such public condemnation. Millions of men dive into the cesspool of pornography, purposefully filling their eyes with forbidden fruit. Although they may never touch another woman’s body, their minds entertain the thoughts, their lusts traveling from woman to woman, gaining mental and even physical pleasure from the images these willing females produce.

What is the allure of these undressed and apparently sexually insatiable women? With pursed, come-hither lips, she curls her inviting finger, exposing and caressing her smooth, airbrushed flesh. She is the image of desire, a lonely woman begging for a man’s fulfilling touch, and not just any man. She wants you. She’s begging for you to take her and have your way with her. She’s there for your pleasure. “Come and take me,” she calls. “I need you!

And it’s all a lie.

The woman is a whore. She poses for money, nothing more, nothing less. She doesn’t care about any man who mentally rapes her with his eyes and mind. In fact, if you venture into her lair, she will likely disdain or even hate you, perhaps laughing at your weakness as she overpowers you so easily with a mere flash of flesh. How many men have allowed her to poison their minds, committing spiritual adultery with this harlot of hate who reveals her body while stealing a man’s soul?

For the lips of an adulteress drip honey,
And smoother than oil is her speech;
But in the end she is bitter as wormwood,
Sharp as a two-edged sword.
Her feet go down to death,
Her steps lay hold of Sheol.
She does not ponder the path of life;
Her ways are unstable, she does not know it (Proverbs 5:3-6)

Pornography is a simple formula, although the user allows himself to be unaware of its devices. It invites wandering eyes to drink from its lovely pool, promising a quenched thirst. Alas! The thirst is far from quenched! The harlot’s drink is a pill of salt; it makes a man beg for deeper draughts, more skin, younger girls, views of lesbian encounters, until images alone are unable to satisfy. Each sip whets the addiction as a man is entrapped by the harlot’s poison, and his mind is imprisoned in pornography’s deadly snare. Solomon wrote, “For on account of a harlot one is reduced to a loaf of bread, and an adulteress hunts for the precious life” (Proverbs 6:26).

Jesus said, “Everyone who looks on a woman to lust for her has committed adultery with her already in his heart” (Matthew 5:28). Can a man claim that he looks at images of nude women without lusting, that his reasons for seeking the harlot’s exposed skin are holy? Hardly! This lust is adultery, pure and simple, and a man who pursues this course has broken his vows. And with whom has he mated? He has pursued a mere phantom. He has thrown away his virtue for colored dots on a printed page. He has cast away his wife in pursuit of pixels on a computer screen.

The Internet has certainly helped pornography purveyors capture a whole host of men. An innocent engine search may yield a dozen lurid descriptions, inviting a simple click to reach images of women who beg for your attention. No magazines to hide. No trips to the video store. No evidence of evil. One mouse click and a dozen smiling beauties await your caressing eyes. Simple curiosity leads many into the snare, trapping the minds of those who don’t dash for the exit in disgust. First a sip, then a draught, and the harlot has captured another lover.

But where is thy wife, O man? For whom hast thou cast her aside?Drink water from your own cistern,
And fresh water from your own well.
Should your springs be dispersed abroad,
Streams of water in the streets?
Let them be yours alone,
And not for strangers with you.
Let your fountain be blessed,
And rejoice in the wife of your youth.
As a loving hind and a graceful doe,
Let her breasts satisfy you at all times;
Be exhilarated always with her love.
For why should you, my son, be exhilarated with an adulteress,
And embrace the bosom of a foreigner? (Proverbs 5:15-20).

Why do so many men seek strange flesh? The mystery of the unknown? The excitement of the forbidden? The desire to conquer? Any of these excuses is surely inadequate. There is simply no good reason, as Proverbs 6:32-33 reveals:

The one who commits adultery with a woman is lacking sense;
He who would destroy himself does it.
Wounds and disgrace he will find,
And his reproach will not be blotted out.

Let’s get real, guys. What’s this pornography stuff all about, anyway? Freak shows aside, more than 99 percent of the women in these pictures look pretty much alike, with body parts in the same places. Breasts are in front, buttocks are in back, there are two arms and two legs, and an epidermis holding it all together. There aren’t many surprise arrangements. There goes the mystery excuse. And we won’t conquer these women; they’re untouchable. In fact, if we lust after them, they’ve conquered us. We’ve fallen into their trap.

That leaves us with the excitement-of-the-forbidden excuse, the hormonal rush that accompanies the peek through the keyhole, the stolen view of what lies beneath the clothing, the places no one is allowed to see. “Come take a look, Mister, and I’ll show you something you’ll like … just for you.”

Get over it. These women aren’t giving you a private peak; they’re strutting their stuff for anyone with eyes. Forbidden? Yes. For your eyes only? Forget about it. These harlots put their bodies on show, inviting deeper draughts for paying customers. All they really want is your money. You can waste your endorphins on a lie, see hate masquerading as love, and the hormonal rush prompts the desire for more as each drink creates new thirst.

If you’re addicted to pornography, you need to meditate on reality—the truth of the hateful harlot. She’s a stalker, a seductress, a destroyer. She will poison your soul. She has nothing to offer that you haven’t seen before; even her body is just a fleeting image. She’s certainly not a damsel in distress, and it’s not your duty to rescue her, even in your mind.

Tell me, would you look at pornographic images with your wife? Would you sit down and say, “Honey, come take a look at this gal! Isn’t she hot?” May it never be! Such an act would be shameful. Yet this is a good test and a faithful standard to use in avoiding what is shameful. If you’re ever contemplating an act, ask yourself if you would do it in your wife’s presence. If the answer is no, don’t do it.

Say this along with me: “I will never do anything in private for which I would be ashamed in public.” Repeat this promise, and embed it in your mind.

Remember, too, that you’re never really in private. God always looks over your shoulder. Would you say to Him, “Get a load of this one, Lord! She’s a looker!” God forbid! Yet millions of men act as though God can’t see them. But He not only sees everything in your view, He reads everything in your mind. He is watching. Do we believe it? Do we care? Will we invite Him to inspect everything we view? Would we mind showing to Jesus Christ everything we bring up on our computer screens, every image our eyes rest upon in magazines, every television channel that makes us pause as we look for a decent program?

Isn’t this the test of faith? Isn’t how we act in private a true reflection of what we believe about God, that He is really who He says He is, the ever-present, omniscient Lord?

For those of you who feel trapped by this insidious evil, there is a cure. As we set our minds on the things above, where Christ is, memories of evil begin to vanish. As Paul taught:

If then you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God (Colossians 3:1-3).

Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, let your mind dwell on these things. The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things; and the God of peace shall be with you (Philippians 4:8-9).

Even if you have imbibed the poison of pornography for years, God can give you peace. Give your life to Christ, and He will shatter the unfruitful images as your mind learns to dwell on what is pure and honorable. Leave your adulterous ways behind, and God will help you walk in holiness, giving you the ability never to stray again in your mind.

Your wife is your one and only damsel. Never seek another. Let her breasts satisfy you at all times, and be exhilarated always with her love.