Monday, August 21, 2017

Chapter 30: Walking Away


The the following is the next exciting next chapter of the ongoing eBook:
Juggernaught: A Moast Unusual Bible Study

The three held one tightly-bound Myron Seebeck as his personal elevator descended in the direction of the basement parking garage.  Having time to kill, they decided to take him hostage, kidnapping him from behind his very desk.

Normally the place would have been guarded up tight, but at the moment his soldiers were somewhere between awake and asleep mentally.  They didn't know who they wanted to fight, but had a vague sense of anger a having been wronged.  It made navigating the halls a bit of a gamble, and the cards were stacked against new faces like their own.

"What did you do with Howell?"  With a surprising amount of force for her size Misty slammed the man against the mahogany veneer lining the side of the elevator.

It must have hurt, but he only chuckled in response to her question.

"Tell me!  Or I'll..."

Seebeck spat the defiant reply, "You'll what, little girl?  Cry to your mommy?"

She ground her teeth.  She was capable of, and on the verge of, beating the man to a pulp.  Since half of every couple from their triple-date was now missing due to his handiwork, neither of the boys felt particularly compelled to stop her.

"Or maybe you want to call the police?" he offered the idea only to pull it back again.  "Oh, that's right.  I own the police."

The conversation was interrupted by a soft chime.  The door slid open.

The garage beyond seemed almost exactly the same as the day they had arrived.  Army trucks still stood in neat rows, though there seemed to be a few missing now.  The rolling steel exit door stood wide open, letting in blinding white light from the outside world.

"Cut him loose.", said jack.

Wendell did.

"What?  That's it?", said the leader in astonishment.  "You fools don't realize that my army is on its way to tear you apart.  "Or maybe you'll take a ride in my sacrificial chamber."

The teens were already walking towards the nearest truck and paid him no attention.

"ANSWER ME!", demanded the primadonna.

They didn't want to give him the satisfaction and only climbed inside.  Jack started the engine.

Wendell popped his head out the window.  "Sorry, but we sorta misled you.  We already know Howell was on your side, because we've already seen how your sacrificial chamber works.  We have all the evidence we need to put you away and as for your army... I would be running away, if I was you."

"That's right", agreed Jack, "if you listen close you can hear they're on their way now.  And with no troops, no voodoo, no drug, and no production plant, they'll tear you apart."

"That's impossible!", challenged the leader.

A shout echoed through the cavernous space.  From the far end of the parking garage a group of angry men in fatigues was making for Seebeck at double-time.  Every doorway or vehicle they passed seemed to add more to their number.

Seebeck produced a concealed sidearm and aimed it through the open window at the departing Bible Study.  His hand trembled in rage.

More shouting.

Realizing that every bullet must count, the man reluctantly swung it toward gathering mob.  There were too many to fight it out, and they were too well armed.  He'd done his job too well!

Seebeck broke for the open garage door.

He exited into the arid sun at the same instant the truck did.  One went North, the other went South.

Neither saw the other again.

THE END ...?


(just kidding) NEXT CHAPTER >>


The preceding has been a chapter from Juggernaught: A Moast Unusual Bible Study
(Copyright 2016, Edmund Lloyd Fletcher.)

For more on this story, please visit its main page.

Also, don't forget to subscribe to the email list so you never miss a thing!

Monday, August 14, 2017

Chapter 29: Crazy


The the following is the next exciting next chapter of the ongoing eBook:
Juggernaught: A Moast Unusual Bible Study

"You're crazy!", accused Misty.  "There's no way that psychopath is just going to let us walk away!"

Jack's eyebrows twisted and then, a moment later, untwisted.

"Yes", he said with a gleam in his eye, "that's exactly what he's going to do."

The three, sat, leaning on their rifles, and conversing idly amid the rubble that was once the protected maximum security level of Seebeck Tower.

Pools of potent-smelling green mind control liquid dotted the floor, dripping from the cracked and broken remains of their storage vats.

Misty and Jack nibbled away at fresh doughnuts they'd found on a series of rolling bakers' racks.  Wendell, however, turned the snack down.

"Well, now I know En must be real."  Misty joked, being lighter-hearted now than in several days since she'd thought Howell ended life as a human sacrifice.

"How's that?" asked Jack, surprised.

"It'd take quite a miracle to make Wendell lose his appetite!"

The two laughed, but Wendell only shook his head.

"You sure about that, Jack?  That deal about Seebeck letting us go?"  he said, changing the subject.

"Of course.  This goo is some powerful stuff, but it must wear off pretty quick.  They have to re-dose the army every morning, so they're only a couple of hours short of missing their medication.  I'm guessing a day, maybe two tops, and this place is gonna be filled with a couple thousand former slaves, angry and armed, and all after Seebeck and his goons."

He shot a glance at Misty and continued.  "Is he going to let us walk away?  Oh, yes.  The only question is, are we going to let him walk away?"



The preceding has been a chapter from Juggernaught: A Moast Unusual Bible Study
(Copyright 2016, Edmund Lloyd Fletcher.)

For more on this story, please visit its main page.

Also, don't forget to subscribe to the email list so you never miss a thing!

Sunday, August 6, 2017

Chapter 28: The Sea of Regrets


The the following is the next exciting next chapter of the ongoing eBook:
Juggernaught: A Moast Unusual Bible Study

Mac Crieche was an old man.  It was now many years since his visit to the lost Daradanian people.  He looked out over the Eastern sea that frosty morn, as he often did.  Fog hung over the land, as it often did, watering the pungeant turf, if not by rain, then by general sogginess.

"Thinkin' about th' old times?"  said his the voice of his wife with a lilt she'd picked up somewhere along the way.

Mac Crieche nodded without turning.  "Aye.  Lot of adventures."

She looked up at him and tried to get something more from his glistening eyes.  They spoke volumes, but in a language she couldn't read.

"Ye never made it to the Holy City.  Ever regret turnin' back?"

"Mmm."  came the non-committal answer.

That may or may not be true, she decided, but surin' there's something more.

She watched the wind crawl across the emerald sward and listened to the sea crash against the rocks below.  'Tis a fine land. she thought.

As the sea kept up its relentless pounding, another thing came to mind.  She said it before thinking the better of it.  "Ever regret turnin' back?"

It still could have been about Jerusalem, but they both knew it wasn't.

"The idol of En."  he replied.  This time a low heaviness in his voice told the wife that she was on the right track.

He turned to look at her, and she noticed a tear running down his opposite cheek.

"The angel - the one from th' vision - he was right,"  he continued, "I had a choice t' make, and because o' my decision, the heathen god is still out there somewhere.

"I shudder to think of if Sharon, but who knows what terrors tha' abomination still has in store for future generations?"

"God knows."  she said simply.

It was true, of course.  Mac Crieche knew it.  From the vision, there was to be another that would complete the task he'd started.  But he also had seen the flames and the untold devastation that would come of his decision.

He wept.

Mrs Mac Criechie reached out to his arm.

She had a question on her mind.  It was something that had been plaguing her from time to time ever since very night she and the other believers had left her people in the clutches of En.  Thirty long years she'd kept it bottled up.  She feared it.

Yet now, in the wake of her admonition that, 'God knows', what else could she do but say it aloud?  Could she really, in good conscience, ask her husband to rely on the providence of God to govern the universe, when she, herself, refused to let things happen for fear of the outcome?

"Mac Crieche?"  she asked, barely audible.

"Yes, m' dear."

"Do you ever regret your decision?  Do you ever regret... us?"

He looked away from her, back to the sea.

Silence crashed like the waves.

This was the moment she'd been dreading for decades.  Was she about to find out that his life with her was a choice he regretted?  Was she about to learn that her entire life and all she now held dear was nothing but a wrong decision he counted upon his ledger?

A lone gull made a shrill cry, making a lazy circle back out to sea.

Mac Crieche, for his part, knew her well enough by now to know exactly how she must be feeling.  He knew how the silence must be torture for her, but the truth would be worse.  Yet he would have to tell the truth, that, though he loved her more than ever, he still regretted leaving En standing.  If he had it to do all over again...?

But then a high-pitched squeal of delight knocked him free from his inner turmoil.

He spun to see his granddaughter running across the meadow toward him.  Her parents walked calmly hand-in-hand, but the four-year-old couldn't restrain herself that long and ran to him with outstretched arms.

Little Sharon, they called her.  Like the rose.  And what a rose, she was!  Sweeping her up in his arms, he spun her around like a man half his age.

When he finally placed her back on solid ground, he was weeping again.  This time not out of regret for what he had lost, but for joy of what he had gained.

Through tear-streaked eyes, he said, "Mrs Mac Criche, if I had it to do all over again..."

Her hand flew to her mouth to cover up a ghasp.

"...I'd choose you."



The preceding has been a chapter from Juggernaught: A Moast Unusual Bible Study
(Copyright 2016, Edmund Lloyd Fletcher.)

For more on this story, please visit its main page.

Also, don't forget to subscribe to the email list so you never miss a thing!

Friday, August 4, 2017

Review: Eats With Sinners


Eats With Sinners [FREE pdf - forward, intro, and chapter 1]
ISBN 9781631468322
Arron Chambers [website]
pastor at Journey Christian Church, Greely CO [website]


Cover Description: 

If you want to follow Jesus on the incredible journey of sharing Him while sharing life with others, it’s time to eat with sinners—people just like you . . . and me.

As long as people have been sharing their faith, there have been critics. Even Jesus dealt with naysayers as He spread His gospel: “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them” (Luke 15:2, NIV). Sometimes we worry about our reputation when we spend time with non-Christians. But more than that, we worry about the time we spend with non-Christians: Will we understand each other? Will I offend them? Will they offend me? How long will it take before this relationship falls apart?

Every meal Jesus ate, He ate with sinners. And over food and drink, through stories and insights and observations and conversations, people let their guards down, and sinners came to know the love of God and the hope of salvation. Now revised and updated, Eats with Sinners helps you to let your guard down so the love of God can get out across the table to your non-Christian friends.

Pros:

The author is light-hearted and witty, and the text is well thought out and full of great illustrations, for instance:
"A friend of mine was visiting his mentor, a retired preacher, in the hospital."  The author's friend was fumbling for words of comfort to say when the old preacher, "patted his knee, and said, 'It's okay.  I haven't been preaching fairy tales all these years.' "
There are also a number of 1-2 page personal stories from other people.  I like this because often in books like this the author relies entirely on his own encounters.  While that's fine logically, after an entire book of it, it can start to feel a little narcissistic.  I appreciate the variety.
Everything is extensively and solidly backed by scripture (mostly hovering around Luke chapter 14-ish).
This book originated as a sermon series which amounted to a mini-revival of sorts, including hundreds of baptisms.  Once, 52 people on the same day!  They have developed their success into an outreach program available at: www.eatswithsinners.com

I also learned that there is another version available, ISBN 0784723184, which contains "recipes".  Whatever that means.
On to the content...
The primary issue is that the author, while glad of the Church institution, realizes the flaw in expecting a stationary building to be able to reach people. 
"I want you to know that I don't hate church buildings, but I don't love them either -- because church buildings are just very attractive, functional, but expensive tools." 
 He gives the analogy,
"I like to fish.  I like to catch fish.  The best way to catch fish is on a boat, because a boat allows you to go wherever the fish are biting.  Another way to catch fish is to build a dock and hope the fish come to you.  Too many church buildings are immovable docks -- and the fish stopped biting years ago."
Clearly a bigger "come to church" billboard is not the answer, but real people, one-on-one, forming relationships with other people.  That was Christ's model of evangelism and it should be ours as well!
If I could summarize variety of the different themes going on, it would be, "Be intentional about doing life among 'sinners' and don't let other things stand in the way."  These 'other things' come in a wide variety.
For instance, the desire to hide behind a mask of perfection.  The author says, "Authenticity is what integrity wears when it goes out in public."  He says that, "Men and women with integrity are unstoppable" because they have nothing to hide and no fear of being exposed.

Or, as Luke 5:5 indicates, Just because you're having a "bad day" or you consider yours a "wasted life", doesn't mean the next thing you try won't work (if God is in it).  He talks about record-breaking swimmer Florence Chadwick who lost sight of land during her attempt from Catalina Island to California.  She gave up and was pulled into the boat only to realize when the fog cleared that she was less than a mile from shore.  DON'T give up!

Also, the author calls for a renewed sense of "tolerance" when it comes to dealing with outsiders.  However, he is careful to use the word in the correct way, rather than the typical modern way.  He wisely balances accepting sinners vs. condoning their sin.  "We are supposed to eat with the non-Christian sinners, not the un-repentant Christian ones." (1 Corinthians 5:9-11)

Finally, it was a minor point, but Chambers said something like, "It's not about winning the argument, but winning the person."  The goal is to love people, not get in arguments.  It's a good point, and I wish he would have expanded on it more, rather than including some other things (more on that later).
Therefore, I think we should take both the medium and the message from Jesus.  Meaning, we should preach:  Deliverance for the captives, love not condemnation, the power to overcome, and that "you matter to Jesus". 
[Aside, how ironic is that?  Christians are renown for two things: holding up John 3:16 signs, and pointing fingers to make people feel worthless.  Really?  Is that how that verse says God feels about the world?]
Here are some practical ideas to increase our interaction with sinners:
(some from the book, some mine)
  • Support global missions.  It doesn't have to start off big.  Just learn about a people group.
  • Shop local!  Become a regular! Eat at the local diner (bar stool is better), get your hair cut at local barber shop, etc
  • Join a gym
  • Coach a little-league sport or join an adult league
  • Volunteer or perform at a rest home
  • Attend town council or even run for office
  • Become Christian artist (films, music, etc)
  • Try out for a community theater play
  • Do airport pickup and other services for an international students ministry
  • Start a bar ministry (NOT if you have alcohol temptation, of course!)
  • Participate in, and/or start, community service projects
  • Volunteer at a homeless shelter
  • Attend or teach a class at a library or community center
  • Join or start a chess club or tabletop gaming club
  • Anything with the word "club" in it, really (Maybe not Fight Club.  That could be painful.)
  • Drive for Uber
  • Hospital ministry
  • Prison ministry
  • Church bus ministry
  • Get involved helping the handicapped / special needs
  • Inner city mission projects 
  • Have a neighbor over for dinner once a month
  • Attend/host neighborhood block parties


Cons:

Like any book there are always flaws.  Though this time they are very, very minor as opposed to the last couple of sponsored book reviews I've done. (Larger-Than-Life Lara, and You Can do This)

First, and this may be more of an editorial thing, but thing I found most annoying is that they did supporting third-party quotes AND book quotes in the same format boxes.  When I read a book I usually ignore the self-quotes because I find them redundant and annoying, but with the same format I didn't know whether it was going to be a repeat of what I just read, or something clever from John Wesley.

I will also say that about 3/4 of the way through it seemed like the author had already said everything that needed to be said, and was trying to stuff in more material.  Topics like "Joy" and "Humility", while great chapters, seemed only tangentially related to the subject of the book.  It almost felt like the publisher said, "We need more page count." so the author dived into his file cabinet of "greatest hits" sermons.  I'm not overly upset about this, since it wasn't fluff by any means (which is what usually happens).

Without it, we wouldn't have gotten zingers like:
"But I thought that if I gave my life to Jesus I was going to be healthy, wealthy, and wise.  I thought following Jesus meant first class seats, luxury cars, a gold watch, a spacious home in a gated community, perfect teeth, a silk suit, my 'best life now,' and the most important seats at the banquet.

"I hate to break it to you, but that's not the picture Jesus painted.  The picture Jesus painted looks an awful lot like a cross."
 BAM!

Summary:

Buy it.  Read it.  Live it!

There are very few times when I look at a book and cry, "Nailed it!"

There are even fewer books that, if lived out, would have the power to revolutionize society for the better.  This is one of those books!  (Though to be fair, this transformative power does not from Chambers' writing skill or original ideas, but from following the example of Christ.  AS IT SHOULD!)

Live your adventure!
-E.L. Fletcher