Monday 23 January 2023

Series Review and Spirit-filled Fiction Award: The Saga of Christopher Barrett series by Jocolby Phillips.

Christopher, the leader of an elite U.S. special operations unit undertakes one of the most important missions of his military career, attempting to rescue a French journalist kidnapped by ISIS, while distracted with trusting God over himself. He is confused and angry with God and ineffective in his leadership, however, Jackson, the team-deputy and long-time mentor and friend provides much-needed stability for Christopher and the team.

The operation reinforces in Christopher that God was not to be trusted when needed most and Jackson leaves the mission searching for God and meaning to his life, as the men prepare to return to Washington D.C for debriefing. As Christopher and his team redeploy from the rescue mission back to Washington D.C., they find themselves out of work as the National Security Advisor deactivates the Christopher-led unit pending an investigation into the failed journalist rescue.

Things go from bad to worse for Christopher and Jackson as the two disgraced soldiers are thrust, unbeknownst to them, into the midst of the Rapture. They attempt to keep the chaos of a post-rapture world at bay, in a series of globetrotting missions, from rural Virginia to Brazil, ancient Babylon to remote Alaska. The actions of the president and others leave the world on the brink of World War. Christopher continues throughout each mission to trust himself above God. He refuses to listen to the Holy Spirit-inspired advice that those around him provide and the question lingers will he reconcile and surrender his pain to God.

Rise Of The Beast: The Tribulation Begins (Rapture: The Saga of Christopher Barrett, Book 2)

In Rise of The Beast, the action-packed sequel to Rapture Advent of The Last Days, the seven-year tribulation has begun with Christopher Barrett and Jackson Williams fighting for survival.

In the wake of World War III, Gabriella Costa finds herself working as the intelligence director for arguably the most powerful world leader in history, Draven Cross. She will face tests of loyalty to Omega while trying to survive the wrath of her new employer. Meanwhile, the world suffers at Draven’s whims when he unleashes a merciless biological weapon that leaves millions dead...Two mysterious men, labeled the Witnesses, draw lines between those believing in God and the One-World government, with casualties on all sides.

Who will pay the ultimate price for their beliefs? Who will survive the second year after the Rapture? Can Omega slow Draven down? Whether you’re a fan from the first book or new to the series, the Rise of The Beast is a globe-trotting thrill ride full of surprising revelations and provoking questions on the future of humanity.
THE WORLD LIES IN RUIN
THE OMEGA TEAM HAS BECOME THE HUNTED
THE EXISTENCE OF GOD IS NO LONGER
A QUESTION, AND THE TRIBULATION NOW HAS TWO GROUPS:

THOSE WHO BELIEVE IN GOD AND THOSE FACING THE WRATH OF THE LAMB.

Wrath of the Lamb is the third book in the Rapture series. It captures the drama and suffering of a former U.S. Special Operations Team and their pursuit to survive the judgments of God and the evil of a global leader. Start this action-packed faith-based thrill ride today.

Shadows of Eternity: The Great Tribulation (Rapture: The Saga of Christopher Barrett Book 4).

Shadows of Eternity is the fourth book in the Rapture series. It captures the drama and suffering of a former U.S. Special Operations Team and their pursuit to survive the judgments of God and the evil of a Satan-indwelt global leader, Draven Cross.

Christopher Barrett faces the pressure of leading an Omega team struggling for an identity in the wake of losing several members and being hunted across the globe. Jackson Williams, a core member of Omega and the spiritual leader, seeks to protect Christians caught in the wake of the U.E. global government’s path, no matter the cost.

The former Omega intelligence chief, Gabriella Costa, remains scarred from her imprisonment by Draven Cross, the evil one-world government leader. Gabriella’s anger and pursuit of finding God’s promised destiny will challenge the Omega team. Gemma Sutherland, an aide to Draven Cross and spy for the Omega team, is caught in a dangerous game where the stakes are the lives of millions. What will Gemma’s allegiance to Omega and the God of the Bible cost her and the Omega team?

As the Great Tribulation begins, the Omega team will forge new alliances to survive against the forces of darkness. Terrifying judgments will spur choices that further divide believers from non-believers, costing countless people their lives. In Shadows of Eternity, living until tomorrow is uncertain, and hope remains the only ally of the Omega team.

To be released on March 31st, 2023. Can be pre-ordered from the link in the novel title or in the link at the end of this post.

Perspective by Peter:

I contacted this author a few years ago to feature him on my previous blog. I was interested in this novel but was unable to review it at that time. Since then the entire series has developed and is about to conclude with Shadows of Eternity, Book 4 to be released on March 31st this year.

This is another novel series in the end-times genre or eschatology. I have repeated some of the same notes from my previous blog post of the review of that series,
The Time of Jacob's Trouble series by James R. Dale. 

I highly recommend this series to anyone Christian or non-Christian who has an interest in eschatology (end times). However, every Christian should be interested in what the Bible says about eschatology as we are about to enter the end times where the events leading up to Jesus' Second Coming are very close. I am in my 60s and I believe I will witness His Coming. 

Now there are a few different views on the Tribulation. Some have the Rapture occurring before the Tribulation, others mid-Tribulation, and others Post-Tribulation, yet one where the Rapture does not happen at all. It depends on how the authors of these views interpret and understand what the Bible says about it. This is such a controversial topic amongst Christians no matter whether they are Bible Scholars or just Christians with an eschatological interest. 

I have added the diagram below to show these views. Phillips takes the view of the Pre-Tribulation in this series, that the Rapture of Christians and the Church occurs before the Tribulation. The first three novels deals with all the Biblical events of the first 3.5 years of the 7 year Tribulation period, while Book 4 deals with the remaining 3.5 years until the Glorious Appearing or Second Coming of Jesus and the 1000 year Millennium.



I speak more about this in the video review below: 



Highly Recommended.

The three ratings below are based on my discernment:

World Building 5/5

Characters 5/5

Story 5/5

The two classifications below are based on the booklet, A Spiritual System for Rating Books by David Bergsland:


Spiritual Level 5: Spirit-filled Fiction

Enemy Spiritual Level  4: Demons and Level 5: the battle for the spirit and mind.



Overall Rating: 5/5

————————————————————————————

Spiritually, based on my review and on the following reference booklet, A Spiritual System for Rating Books by David Bergsland, and the The Saga of Christopher Barrett series contains elements of the criteria of what constitutes Christian Spirit-filled Fiction outlined in this booklet, (click on the title below to see what this is based on), I bestow unto Jocolby Phillips, the


Reality Calling Christian Spirit-filled Fiction Award



Congratulations, Jocolby!


If you would like to investigate this series further, click on the link below:




Readers and reviews are an author’s best asset, so I encourage any reader, to consider reading The Saga of Christopher Barrett series and submit a review on Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest (or any other social media you subscribe to).

Reviews help promote an author’s novel to potential readers and encourage the author to keep writing. Reviews also help get the author’s message (and God’s message) to the reader, whether Christian or not, who may need encouragement and support in their lives while being entertained by the story.

Please note: As an Amazon Associate, I am required to disclose that book cover images or titles of novels in this post are paid links if they are linked to Amazon and result in a sale.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Thank you for your comment. It is awaiting moderation.