What's on the blog over the next few weeks?

Here is a list of posts that are scheduled to be published over the next few weeks. 

Guest Post: 

Melinda Inman: Her New Novel, No Longer Alone. Melinda talks about this novel and it is based on her grandparents in WWI, a unique love story and the faithfulness of God. Release date: 26/07/17

Description: 

Manhood arrived prematurely. At the tender age of fifteen, Prentis lost both his father and his confidence that God loved him. He grew up fast after that day, abandoning his education to take on the responsibility and hardship of supporting his mother and siblings.

Now, in Prentis’s twenties, Avery reenters his life. A Sunday School teacher with a passion for learning and theology, she is intelligent with a captivating spirit. Prentis finds her irresistible. The audacity of attempting to court such a woman in no way weakens his resolve. He’s determined to win her heart. But male competition, vicious gossip, Avery’s unspoken fears, and the ruin of his livelihood hinder his efforts. How can Prentis win her? And if he does, how will they overcome their differences, the hard life on the Oklahoma plains, and a world at war?

Book Review: 

I was approached by the author to review this novel and the sequel is released 30/07/17

An Ember in Time by Anna Aquino.

In a time where Pastor Jon Stevens feels like he has lost his hope . . .
One Divine Encounter will change his life.
One mistake that started with A simple flower, will begin to unravel history.
And one spark will illuminate the way home.

Group Interview with Award-winning author, Jane Woodlee Hedrick regarding her novels, The Omega Watchers and The Third Strand. 

The members of the Facebook group, The Omega Watchers, have banded together and submitted questions to Jane about these two novels and the eschatological issues they contain. 

A mysterious Dead Sea Scroll revealed prophecies of the return of the fallen angels and the timing of their release from the abyss where they have been imprisoned awaiting their final judgment. But, there is a missing piece to the prophetic puzzle!

Gabriella’s cave exploration leads her team on an ominous journey to discover a lost prophecy from the days of Noah and find her own spiritual truth. In her search, she opens her mind to a “Watcher” that captures her with his mystical powers of universal knowledge as they travel between time and untime. 

This deceiving spirit proclaims the coming of the Ascended Master who will usher in a new age of peace for all mankind. Gabriella feels totally alone as her friends believe Yahweh as the one true God and they struggle to convince her she is falling deeper and deeper into a pit of destruction and is about to cross the point of no return.

‘The Third Strand’, sequel to ‘The Omega Watchers’, is a high-suspense Christian novel based on Biblical prophetic events of the end days.

The Psalms 83 war has just occurred and Israel’s stunning victory has triggered the beginning of the end days, ushering in the worst years that will ever be upon the face of the earth.

After days of being in what appeared to be a coma, Gabriella awakens to her new reality: strange surroundings, everyone she loves has vanished, and she is entombed in a hidden bunker with a man she barely knows - Chris, the officer assigned to protect her research team.

Quickly, a spiritual bond forms between Gabriella and Chris. Together they secretly witness the False Prophet’s preparations to introduce the Satanic One World Leader and the demonic plan to initiate the mark of the beast. Gabriella knows she is ‘chosen’ to expose the powers of darkness, but how does she begin?

During the day, Gabriella lives end time prophecies coming to fruition. At night in vivid dreams, she continues to struggle with reality returning to the days before the rapture. Time and untime will continue to haunt her until... 

Author/Novel Spotlight: Steven J. Wilson, his special ops and military fiction novels and the Award he has won. 

Author/Novel Spotlight: Nathan Allen Olsen 

John Doe

John Doe is a killer. Fourteen children in the last twenty-six years. Teddy tells him to and he listens. He has to listen. He is parked across the street from the elementary school in Payne, North Dakota, waiting for Teddy to tell him the name of the next child. He hasn’t yet, but he will… 

Matthew Mills 

God is good. It's the only truth Matthew Mills needs. But, pain is still pain. It has only been a week since his wife had her second miscarriage in the last three years. She has become a shell of who she was. Only his daughter Marcy is a light in his life.

What would happen if she was taken away?


Author/Novel Spotlight: Joanna Emerson

The MapMakers Daughter. 

Less than a decade after millions flee or die from starvation and persecution in Ireland, a strange refugee arrives on this Emerald Isle.

She falls, this refugee, practically into the arms of Paddy O'Brien...

the day after Paddy's mum dies in mysterious circumstances and he's left to care for his two younger brothers.

He doesn't know that Akemi, this refugee, is the mapmaker's daughter, and the shogun of Japan has commissioned ruthless pirates to bring her back alive.

But Jun, a lowly transgender slave aboard one of these pirate ships, who has lived in so many places she has nowhere to call home, may ruin everyone's plans. Except her own, if she can help it.

The Kinsman's Tree by Timothy Michael Hurst

The Kinsman's Tree

Introducing the first novel in an epic new adventure series from Timothy Michael Hurst, The Kinsman’s Tree.

Enter a magical world where unlikely heroes battle strange and powerful enemies. The world has fallen under the dominion of the evil Empire of Chōl and its mysterious and threatening wraith army, the Nihúkolem. Hidden away in the village of Endego, a race of tiny creatures, the Etom, struggle to survive.

Join two Etom, Nat and Nida, on an intriguing journey to discover the origins of the Empire’s power and its undoing. Supernatural events guide them as they seek to solve the mystery and locate the world’s only remaining hope, the Kinsman.

Bravery, peril, romance, and meaningful truth abound throughout, artfully interwoven to maintain the excitement and interest of any reader. 

The Guru's Review: 

Every new author hopes that their debut novel will be well accepted. They also hope that most readers will respond with positive reviews and affirmation. 

After reading The Kinsman's Tree, Hurst deserves this affirmation and a positive review. 

This is a very good debut novel. Hurst has all the basics here that establish this and ones that he can build on to become an even better author. 

The first thing that impressed me was his writing. He has a very competent command of the English language. I found that this lent itself well in his depiction of the world of Endego where the Etom lived. This is further shown in the relationships between the characters and especially those of Nida and Nat. This style allowed me to picture an old fashioned type of world and one that I felt very comfortable in. 

The second thing that impressed me was his charactersation. I became very much endeared to Nida and Nat, Shoym, Dempsey, Rae, and others. Hurst has developed them to be relational. This is one element that keeps you coming back for more. I loved the motherly figure of Nida and her inventiveness and practicality. I loved the cuteness, strength, and respectfulness of Nat. The girl-next-door attributes of Rae and the honest and pure friendship between these two. The grandfather-like figure of Shoym and respected leader, the uncle type figure of Demsey and suitor for Nida. 

The third thing that impressed me was the world building. In any novel, this is an important foundation if the reader is going to be transported to this world, believe in it, and want to stay in it for the duration of the novel. Hurst is very good at this. I was able to imagine this world, as mentioned previously, an old-fashioned world. I can picture the life, the customs, the culture. Hurst has names for the gender of the Etom, even for the more chivalrous and noble Etom. He has described the Etom well in their various characteristics. Undergirding all this is the allegory from the Bible of Genesis, the Fall of Man and the Etom's Old Testament type faith and the associated spiritual themes that tie it all together.

My only concern was the novel's pace during the first half. This suffers from some disjointedness. Several chapters establish the environment, characters and plot concerning the Etom. This engages you and you become part of the plot and enjoy it. Then it launches into the world of the human conflict between the armies of Muk-Mudon and Parac. I found this section too long and too detailed. It does make for a great story on its own though. The length disengaged me from the plot of the Etom and I felt like I was reading another novel inside this one. However, this section does show the strength of Hurst's writing and the detail he can include. He has mastered one aspect that most novelists struggle with and that is how to write effective fight scenes. This human war seemed too long to show how the armies of Parac and Muk-Mudon became enslaved as demonic entities known as Nihúkolem in the Empire of Chōl. Despite the spiritual allegory of Genesis, the fall of man and Satan's rebellion being interwoven into the plot of the Etom and this human war, I did wonder how Hurst was going to tie this plot line with the Etom plot line. Again, this lengthy depiction of the human war obstructed me here. 

However, it is at the halfway mark that Hurst establishes this connection. The above spiritual themes become stronger and more explanation given through the ministry of The Eben'kayah. This Etom group are believers of Lord Elyon and exist as a resistance movement of sorts (or underground church) whose quest is to find the Kinsman who is prophesied to be sent by Lord Elyon to save them from the Stain (a physical sign of sin?) and the Empire of Chōl. Here the plot takes off and everything Hurst has established in this first half comes into its own. This second half sets the scene for the cliffhanger ending and what is to take place in the subsequent novels. 

Spiritually, this novel reflects Hurst's reason for writing that he displays at the end of the novel, 

I am a writer who believes that the life lived best is lived in service to God and that only under the guidance and power of the Holy Spirit one might produce a worthwhile work. I see to craft entertaining, enriching, and inspiring tales that glorify the Lord in confidence that the Holy Spirit will use them to change lives and draw people closer to Jesus Christ. 

In simply offering myself in surrender to the Spirit, I have discovered the satisfaction of worshipping the Lord as an instrument of the writing process. I believe my experience be confirmation of God's calling on my life, and pray that each and every person is as deeply transformed in reading these stories as I was in writing them. To Him alone be the glory, for I am author or naught. 

The faith that the Etom live out reminds me of the Old Testament believers who knew in their hearts that there was a one and only God and who are waiting for their Messiah as prophesied in the Bible. Just like the Old Testament, Hurst has angelic visitations. In the world of the Etom, these only appear to Nat from the angel known as Asteri. I am pleased that Hurst has adhered to the Biblical depiction of angels as Messengers and who offer assistance where necessary and only from instruction from God. At first, I wondered why Hurst only portrayed these angelic visitations to one character, but then remembered that the premise of this series is that Nat and Nida are the ones that seek to destroy the power of the Empire of Chol and seek the Kinsman to do this. I did wonder why Hurst depicted Nat keeping these visitations to himself as he was not the only believer or character in this quest. I was expecting him to at least tell his mother, Nida, or at the most Shoym, or The Eben'kayah. 

I appreciated the instances where dire circumstances did not force the Etom to pray as a last resort but as their foremost action. In some other novels, I have read, it frustrates me that the character(s) who have faith in God do everything in their own strength first, and when this either does not work or has very limited effect, they then resort to praying. This sends the wrong message to the reader no matter whether a relationship with God exists or not. Showing the Etom seek God first in situations like this is biblical to a point, not only should Christians do this, but in all things, not just when circumstances become dire. However, this is a good move on Hurst's part to portray this. Not only is he adhering to a Biblical principle and practice, but it also adds some great tension and action in the plot while showing the power of prayer, and the Sovereignty of God (Elyon). Dare I say that this reflects how he lives his life? Authors are encouraged to write what they know where it is appropriate, so I pray this is an example of such. 

I also appreciated the work of the Spirit in the members of the Eben'kaya, notably, Shoym. This was especially evident in Nat, Rae and Rosco being new members to this underground church. When Nat and Rae, their parents, Kehren and Tram became members of this "underground church" it was noted by Nida, and others, how they have changed for the better. One such example is how Nat and Rae approached Rosco with acceptance and forgiveness of Rosco's bullying behaviour towards them. This culminated in them risking their lives for him while attempting to have him join them in their exodus from Endego to escape the coming destruction of the Nihúkolem. And even Rosco showed a positive change after being with the members of The Eben'kayah and hearing its teachings. It seems the demonic influence of Rosco's parents did not affect the change in him once he came under the spiritual covering of Lord Elyon through being influenced by the ministry of The Eben'kayah.

I do look forward to the expanding of this spiritual side in the sequels. especially with the introduction of the Kinsman. I can see great scope here for this series. Should give Hurst a great opportunity to shine as a novelist and develop his talent further. 

I loved the cliffhanger ending so full of spiritual imagery that suggests the next instalment will be one where the reader hits the ground running. 

Strongly Recommended.

World Building 5/5

Characterisation 5/5

Story 5/5

Spiritual Level 2/5

Enemy Spiritual Level 2/5

Overall Rating 4/5 Stars

To buy or preview this novel, click on the BUY/PREVIEW icons on the image below:

Author/Novel Spotlight: Melinda Viergever Inman

Today, I am spotlighting novelist, Melinda Viergever Inman. When I first read the description of Fallen, I was hooked and knew that this would be one novel of blessing and honour God and His Word. I felt the same when I read her biography. The reviews of this first novel in this series only confirmed this. Then did the description and reviews of its sequel, Refuge. 

When I discovered that on a personal level, Melinda suffers from Lupus, I felt even more of a connection as my wife suffers from this same disease. I definitely understand and empathise with Melinda and her husband concerning what this debilitating disease can do. But like my wife, Melinda has not let this define her and has let the light of Christ shine through this condition and in her novels. She has an amazing testimony.

From this point of view, it is my pleasure to spotlight this author. I have yet to read both novels, but from everything I have read about them and Melinda, I am in for a real treat and blessing.

So without further ado, let's investigate Melinda Inman as a successful author, her writing and her passion for a God honouring story.

First, let us view her bio:

Melinda Viergever Inman was raised in a storytelling family. There her roots were sunk. During years of relocation, tragedy struck. Wounded and heartbroken, she forsook her roots and ran from herself and from God. A journey of trial and heartache brought her home again. A prodigal now returned, she writes with passion, illustrating God's love for wounded people as He makes beauty from ashes. Fallen is her second novel; Refuge, the sequel, is her first. No Longer Alone, a story set in the time of WWI, will be released on  July 26, 2017. Until recently, she shepherded women in prison ministry and wrote inspirational material at http://melindainman.com/blog/. With her family, she was also involved with Mission India/RIMI, rescuing orphans and providing theological and job training for impoverished students. However, a chronic illness has forced her to greatly curtail these activities. For now, her professional focus is on her fiction writing.

I have often said in my reviews that an author leaves part of themselves in their novels and these show their heart towards God. Listen to this video about Melinda's life that is reflected in her novels. It plays for 10:24 mins and is well worth listening to it in its entirety.

Based on this video, Melinda explains why she writes her stories: 

God has restored me from heartache and deep personal wounds made beauty from the ashes of my life and invited me to sink my roots deeply into Him. In coming home to Him and learning to depend on Him, I have found the mission for my life. Whether it’s in prison ministry, in faraway lands, in my own church Bible studies, or from my home where I’m now largely confined because of Lupus, the message is the same. I broadcast the Gospel and the message of God’s saving grace toward broken people like me. I follow in Jesus’ footsteps by using His favorite format for conveying truth—the story. He used parables with expert precision, and I attempt to weave His truth into my stories in like manner. My fiction wrestles with our human story, our brokenness, and the storms that wreak havoc on our lives. A story reaches into the heart and impacts the emotions, thus personalizing the message. Fiction is the modern-day parable. This is why I write it.

Now, let's have a look at Melinda's novels Fallen and Refuge: Novels of Biblical Good and Evil, and the third but final novel, Proclaim:

Adam's naive bite of the forbidden fruit shatters his blissful marriage to Eve and damages the core of his very self. Stunned when God banishes them from the Garden, Adam yearns for what they've lost, but now God seems absent and Eve won't speak to him. Why does he keep hurting her? How can he control his new impulses and emotions? Can they ever recover? Has God abandoned them?

Fallen recreates the story of the beginning. In the Garden of Eden, we all came into being. This is the story of life, death, and the beginning, a novel of our family, the human story.

Fallen, its sequel Refuge and the upcoming and final story Proclaim were inspired by the earliest events recorded in the Bible and the ancient tales that swirl around those events. The series has been thoroughly researched from Biblical and theological reference sources, yet each book is crafted as a story, pure fiction, bringing these intriguing stories to life to illustrate God's passionate love and mercy toward humanity.

Of the decade it will take for all three books to have been written and published, I spent one entire year researching demonology and angelology. Since I wanted to write the angels and demons in the series as close as possible to Biblical norms, I needed to discover everything the Bible says about these supernatural creatures. Then I conveyed all I had learned into my fictional characters with thoughts and dialogue.

Reviews of Fallen are either in 4 or 5 Star ratings:

All Verified Customer Reviews can be found here.

Some Amazon Editorial Reviews:

"Lush and sensual, deftly capturing the newness and wonder of creation through the eyes of the first human beings" - Barb Best

"A poignant love story of the first two humans" - Liz Muller

"The author's sparkling description gives us insight into the beauty of our unsullied world at the dawn of Creation." - Kim Fisch, Writer

"This book is a triumph both of scholarship and in its demonstration of God's grace" - Jo Ann Pevoto

"Inman has managed to take a too familiar story and make it fresh." - Katie Andraski

Amazon Best Sellers Rank:

 #184,097 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

#1053 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction >
Religious & Inspirational Fiction > Christian > Mystery & Suspense

#1124 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Historical Fiction > Religious

#1148 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction >
Religious & Inspirational Fiction > Christian > Historical

Description of Refuge:

Intent on total destruction, Satan notices Cain’s obsessive lust for Lilith and dark roots of jealousy toward his do-gooding brother Abel. Satan goads Cain to the point of madness, barraging his mind with thoughts of hatred, lust, and futility. In a blinding rage, Cain wrecks everything. Wracked with shame, he flees into the vast wilderness, unable to possess the one thing he truly desires—Lilith. His life is destroyed. Will he ever find his way home again? He longs for refuge and wonders if he’ll ever find God again?

Reviews of Refuge are either in 4 or 5 Star ratings:

All Verified Customer Reviews can be found here.

Editorial Review: 

Refuge has been named a 2014 Official Finalist For The PARANORMAL AWARDS for Supernatural Fiction. The Paranormal Awards writing competition recognizes emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of Supernatural Fiction and Legends & Lore. The PARANORMAL Awards is a division of the Chanticleer Awards International Writing Competitions.



Amazon Best Sellers Rank: 

#176,922 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

#1094 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Historical Fiction > Religious

#1116 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction >
Religious & Inspirational Fiction > Christian > Historical

#1568 in Books > Christian Books & Bibles > Literature & Fiction > Historical 

Melinda has even created photos/images of the characters and the environment she envisioned for her stories in both Fallen and Refuge. Check them out on her Pinterest boards:

https://www.pinterest.com/melindavinman/boards/  

Melinda's new novel, No Longer Alone, will be released in kindle and print formats on July 26, 2017. Let's take a look:

Manhood arrived prematurely. At the tender age of fifteen, Prentis lost both his father and his confidence that God loved him. He grew up fast after that day, abandoning his education to take on the responsibility and hardship of supporting his mother and siblings.

Now, in Prentis’s twenties, Avery reenters his life. A Sunday School teacher with a passion for learning and theology, she is intelligent with a captivating spirit. Prentis finds her irresistible. The audacity of attempting to court such a woman in no way weakens his resolve. He’s determined to win her heart. But male competition, vicious gossip, Avery’s unspoken fears, and the ruin of his livelihood hinder his efforts. How can Prentis win her? And if he does, how will they overcome their differences, the hard life on the Oklahoma plains, and a world at war? 

Click here, to pre-order Melinda's new novel, to be released on 26/06/17.

If you would like to find out more about Melinda as an author and her novels, you can find her at the following social media connections (titles below are links):

    

Author website   Twitter  Facebook Author Page   Pinterest  Instagram  Google+  LinkedIn 

If all of the above has whetted your appetite to read an excerpt or buy one or both of Fallen and Refuge novels, please click on the BUY or PREVIEW icons below:

Readers and reviews are an author's best asset, so I encourage any reader who likes reading in the genres of Christian inspirational, biblical history, fantasy, to consider reading Fallen and Refuge and submit a review on Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes and Noble and on Google+, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest (or any other social media you subscribe to).

Guest Post: Jason Dahl, the Seberian Novel Series and Kickstarter Campaign.

I read, reviewed and interviewed Jason Dahl's  SEBERIAN: The Hidden Battle Revealed in August 2016 and loved it. This novel and the author's interview showed a love of Christ, His Word and a passion for creating a riveting story that honours God and what God has achieved in his life. This novel was well received as evidenced by its positive reviews and I am glad to have been able to be part of giving credit where credit is due.

Now, Jason needs to take this novel and the series to the next level. When I heard that he was creating a Kickstarter program to do this, I offered him space on this blog to promote this program. I have already jumped in and pledged to help him financially with this new endeavour.

So without further ado, I will hand you over to Jason as he relates the backstory to the novel and the Kickstarter program for the continuation of this series and its progression to the movie. 

Over to you, Jason!

Thanks, Peter! Just wanted to give this audience my perspective and the background to my novel and to further this series. 

Does God still act in this world?

With all the crazy things going on in the world it could be really easy to say, “No.” Acts of terror happening all over the world, people committing murder live on Facebook and countless other evil events. I hate to say it but I really don’t think that we as people have improved much. So what do we do? What can any man or women do against so much evil? Let me tell you a true life story about how I came to grips with this problem.

Several years ago I was going through a really hard time. I was struggling with three big things in my life. The first was that my wife and I had been going through five years of unexplained infertility. After several doctors and finally a surgery for my wife they offered us no hope. The doctors said, “Forget it, you will not conceive.” Five years of that struggle was painful.

The second thing was the fact that my youngest brother went to Afghanistan with the US Marine Corp. So I was concerned about all the things going on in the world that resulted in him being sent. And, of course, I was concerned for his safety. 

The third thing was a near death experience. I fell from a roof. I fell 12 feet headfirst onto concrete. I flipped over completely and landed flat on my back without any injuries. It was a miracle and I was freaking out for weeks knowing that I could have been killed or paralysed. 

So all three of these things were going on at the same time and I needed a way to process. I needed a way to get things out of my head so I started writing. I started with a movie script which I then got into the hands of a professional writer, director, producer and he loved it. He said, “Jason this is epic. You need to produce this.” He encouraged me to produce it independently. So many changes in technology have made that very possible in today’s world. 

I converted the first script to a novel in order to start creating an audience for the film. I’m in the process of publishing the 2nd book in the series. I have a Kickstarter campaign going on now that runs until July 30th. It’s designed to raise funds to 

• publish the 2nd book, 
• produce both books as audio books, 
• do a professional rebuild of the website 
• and produce our live action trailer. 

This is the next big step on the journey of producing the film.

The story is a Sci-Fi / supernatural-thriller. Essentially angels and demons in space. The message is that God is for us and not against us and that he still acts in this world but at the

same time we have an enemy who is out to destroy us. The main character struggles with much of what we struggle with today. Why is the world (or galaxy) full of so much pain, suffering, death and destruction? If there is a good God why does he allow this evil to continue? 

When I fell from the roof I was so thankful to be alive and uninjured. I believed that God had rescued me from death but I thought, “God, how did you do that? How do you do something like that in the physical world?” My first thought was, “What about angels?” My very next thought was, “No! That’s cheesy.” That really caught my attention. I thought, “Wait! Why do I think that’s cheesy? Angels are completely Biblical.” I started doing some research and found scholars who have studied the topic and also found it strange that within Protestant Christianity we largely ignore the idea of angelic activity. In fact, we are more inclined to talk about demonic activity than angelic. What makes this even stranger is the fact scripture has more references to angels than to demons.

The result of all this was not some infatuation with angels. I didn’t become some sort of an angel nut. What it did do was remind me of the fact that God can and still does work in our physical world. The story that I wrote is about the angelic and demonic battles happening in the hidden spirit whelm. (Hidden Battle Revealed) But the angels and demons are not the focus. The true focus is on the humans and the actions they have to take to work with God and his warriors to protect this world from the enemy and those men who are under his control. (By that I don’t mean by possession. There is none of that in the story.) 

What does all this mean for us? I hope that this will encourage people to remember that God does still work in this world. And that he calls us to action. He calls us to fight for the weak and helpless. That’s why Jesus told us to take care of orphans and widows because they’re the most vulnerable people in society. 

We are called to be soldiers of hope. The title of my series is SEBERIAN which is a word that I made up based on an old Hebrew word that means hope. (Seber = hope) So the Seberians are soldiers of hope. That’s what the story is about. We are all called to take action and by serving and loving others we can bring hope to the hopeless. We must. What does the world have to offer? Nothing good. We have the hope in Christ and his victory over Satan. When we unite with Christ we share in his victory. That’s the only hope that this world has. That’s the hope that I want to communicate in my story. And I want to do that through a cool science-fiction vehicle. I want us to be able to take non-Christian friends to see the movie, without kicking and screaming, and I hope that the story will open up good discussions and questions.

One of those three big things going on in my life had an amazing resolution. The five years of infertility resulted in the miracle of adoption. My wife and I are honored to be adoptive parents and we would NEVER change the way that all played out. God knew that our daughter was going to need forever parents. And we are so happy that he brought us all together. It is amazing how something so painful could be changed to such an incredible blessing.

So the conclusion to all this is that God is good and he still acts in this world. Sometimes through unseen warriors and other times through us, his Seberians, his soldiers of hope. If you guys would like to know more about the project you can check out my website, SEBERIAN.COM. You can email me through the site. Please feel free to ask me any questions, I would love to hear from you. Through the website, you can also find out more about the Kickstarter campaign. We have some really cool exclusive rewards for our backers. 

Click on this link to go to the Kickstarter campaign: 

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/417002701/seberian

Let me leave you with a couple questions. How do you think that God still works in this world? Does he still use angels? Shoot me an email and let’s talk.

I want to thank Peter for letting me write this guest post. You rock man! I have really appreciated your support and prayers. 

I hope to hear from the rest of you soon.

Blessings,

Jason Dahl.

Thanks, Jason, my pleasure to offer you this space to promote your Kickstarter program and the advancement of the Seberian Series and the progression to the movie. I am very much looking forward to Book 2 and of course the movie!

To my readers and followers of this blog, I encourage you to consider supporting Jason in this endeavour. Any money you pledge is not debited from your account unless the final amount of the program is reached. If not reached, then no debit from your account.

Here is the link to the Kickstarter again:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/417002701/seberian

Click on the BUY or PREVIEW buttons below to buy or preview this novel from Amazon: 

Pay For My Sin: The Revelation Diary by Iryna K Combs

Pay For My Sin: The Revelation Diary

Maria is a Christian woman with one purpose – save her corrupt family from eternal death. As the apocalypse rages around her, she makes an unlikely friendship with one lost soul and the two women flee into the southern wilderness. Forced to take shelter in a long-forgotten church, they fight to survive as all hell breaks loose outside.

The Guru's Review: 

I was asked to review this novel by the author at the recommendation of a previous author whom I reviewed recently (Brett Armstrong).

I take this as a compliment. This novel is not the author's debut novel, it is her second. Her first novel, Black Wings, became an Amazon bestseller and a finalist in 2 different book awards. Quite a good start and introduction to my reading of her new novel. I was also drawn to the genre and the plot of this novel, eschatological fiction (end times), the supernatural and spiritual warfare.

This novel draws you in from the start. There is a quick introduction to Maria and her family which provides enough information and description to establish them as the characters that Mara ends up fighting for. Once this happens, Combs wastes not time in plunging the reader into the Rapture of the Church. Then the pace revs up and you hit the road running.

I was enjoying this novel up to that point. I was concerned at the plot twist of this Rapture description. I must warn the reader now that there is a major spoiler alert ahead, but I add this for one very specific reason. I don't believe it will totally spoil it for any reader but hopefully be a launching pad to continue with renewed enthusiasm. I must confess, I was aghast with surprise that biblical theology and I guess, “Rapture Theology” (my terminology, I think!) could be stretched to the limit that the author has.

Before I continue, I did contact the author and expressed my concern at what constituted this stretch and asked her to explain her rationale. I am reluctant to being “critical” in a review when I am unable to contact the author for an explanation. In this modern age, access to authors is easily accessible than previously and they are willing to be transparent to explain their work. Their credibility I guess is at stake, especially in today's publishing world. Their explanation helps me understand their mindset and enables me to review it honestly and fairly. I do state in the “Why Christian Fiction” tab on this blog about contacting the author for issues that I am concerned about or where the Bible is silent.

My concern was as follows. Here is the spoiler alert. Combs depicts the Rapture with Jesus appearing to Maria to take her to heaven. She is about to accept Jesus's hand when she falters, realizing that she cannot bear to see her family be left behind because they have not accepted Jesus as Saviour. She then decides to sacrifice herself by pleading with Jesus to take them to heaven in her stead and her to remain on Earth for the duration of the Tribulation until He comes again. Jesus grants her request. Her unsaved family goes to Heaven and Maria remains on Earth for the Tribulation.

I halted reading for a while as this plot twist threw me. It discouraged from reading further but then I decided to see how the rest of the novel would pan out. I got to half way before I contacted the author. I was anxious about what her rationale would be but was pleased that Combs had expected some flack from her poetic license. This to me, meant that she had weighed up the consequences of such a move and therefore would be open to discuss any concerns from readers.

She replied to me as follows, 

Hi Peter,

Thanks so much for writing and letting me clear out this part of the book. Yes, any Christian knows and should know that there are NO exchanging fates when the times comes...In fact, I do not think we will even have time to react, it would just happen. However, please, accept this book that I wrote as a Fictional book. And even though most of it is really close to the Biblical prophecies, the exchange part is what makes it speculative and twisted. Otherwise, how would someone left on the earth to pay for sins?

I feel like it makes the plot unique. I know this theme has been written about many times but I wanted to come up with something a little different....

The other thing I want to share with you is this.. the idea or an innocent woman staying in the earth to pay for her family sins came from my own thoughts. I strongly believe my family is saved but there for a while I was wondering what would I do for my loved ones. And that came to mind.... Thank God I would not have to do that, but I think many people, after reading the book, will realize how unfair it was for Maria and might want to think twice and hopefully work on their non-Christian families. I hope that makes sense.

As for criticism..... I am expecting to get a lot of that from non-believers that will stumble across my book and read it (if they finish, LOL) and as far as believers, that's fine too. I know this is NOT a book for everyone on this earth and people will critique no matter what I write. So far, the Christians that have read it, are fine with it and gave me good reviews and feedback.

I was satisfied with this explanation. It does show the author's mindset and that her stretch of Biblical theology relating to eschatology was not a defiant or an alternative stance from what the Bible states on this issue. As she states, it is purely within the confines of the nature of speculative fiction.

I was able to continue reading with assurance. The rest of the novel was sheer joy to read, despite depictions of horror and demonic activity. Combs has created a character-driven novel written in the first person narrative. Maria is one character that is very relational and three dimensional.

There are some novels where the first person narrative does not work, but in this novel, it works very well. Through Maria, we experience what it is like to live in the post-raptured world under the rule of the Antichrist with all the events of Revelation unfolding. In other novels of eschatology, it seems to be plot driven with the characters being part of the unfolding of Revelation so that the reader can see what happens to Christians and non-Christians alike. In this novel, I found it a breath of fresh air. The events of Revelation unfold in the background with the main focus on how this affects a Christian's faith. In other novels of this genre, we have Christian characters who are left behind because of their unrighteous relationship with Christ. Then there are those who become Christians during the Tribulation.

In this novel, we have a unique situation. We have Maria, a pre-raptured Christian who enters the Tribulation with her faith intact and being in a righteous relationship with Christ. From this perspective, the author uses this to show how it stands up against the attacks of Satan who now rules the earth. With every event from Revelation, every demonic and satanic attack through various means and events has Maria praying, seeking God's wisdom and strength. Her prayers at the end of the chapter that concern its events are very honest, genuine, uplifting and from the heart. They show her asking for forgiveness of her shortcomings and sin during this time, even when her faith is faltering as she is affected by the horrific, demonic and desperate times as Revelation unfolds. You feel her pain, despair, desperation, you experience her joy of knowing the Lord, the love, and security, reassurance she experiences from her faith, from prayer, from the many angelic visitations that occur that show God's faithfulness and protection and physical healing. Maria always looked toward Christ throughout every event of the seven-year tribulation. Even when she experienced those negative emotions mentioned previously, she took them to God and offered them to Him with praise and thanksgiving for who He is, and what He has done for her.

From this perspective, Combs is sending Christians a message of hope in this novel. The Great Tribulation is the worst attack and affront to a Christian's faith and relationship with Christ. Many of us won't experience this as we will be raptured, but through Maria, Combs shows what spiritual attitude and behaviour is needed to overcome the adversity of this fallen world. It is such an encouragement and spiritually uplifting experience to read through this novel. Through Maria, we see how her relationship with Christ can overcome the very worst of what life can deal. So based on this, we can also overcome what is going on in our lives in the pre-raptured world. What is the constant here? Jesus. The Word (Hebrews 13: 8) says that He is the same, yesterday, today and forever. He is the key for the now of our lives and for those who will endure to the end during the Tribulation.

I really appreciated the Revelation timeline of verses and events that set the pace and plot of this novel. This aspect will aim to show Christians and non-Christians the events of Revelation and the associated Judgements and how they will affect every level of life during this Tribulation period. I found it interesting that despite the many supernatural events of the various Judgements having such a horrific and devastating effect on the environment and the human race, including Zara, her healing from some of the effects of these Judgements and the explanation from Maria of what these mean, she still did not see this to look toward Christ. So strong was the deception from Satan and the stubbornness of her will that she chose Satan's temptation over the liberating and saving grace of God. Even when an angel explained the specifics of Zara's deception, it shows how easily someone who does not believe can be lured away to eternal and spiritual destruction. I pray that this example will lead any reader who does not know Christ to see the folly of this and to be encouraged to see what the Bible has to say about it. I also pray that it reinforces in the Christian this principle as well and to use this to witness to their unsaved family and friends.

When the relationship between Maria and Zara deteriorated, it still did not deter Maria from upholding her to the Lord and asking Him to show her what to do to continue to be an example to her of His love. Again, I found this to be such an encouragement to not give up on people despite their circumstances or attitude that are leading them astray, even if they do not respond to God's call. It is like the act of forgiveness, our responsibility is to forgive whether we are forgiven back or not. For Maria and every Christian, our responsibility is to witness, pray and be there for those who are struggling or being rebellious despite the choice they make.

I really appreciated the spiritual side of this novel and the challenge in the message of this novel, to never give up but continually look toward Jesus in everything that occurs in our lives and to be submissive and obedient to him. More of Him in our lives and less of ourselves.

Well done, Iryna. I am definitely looking forward to more from this author. 

Highly Recommended. 

World Building 5/5

Characterisation 5/5

Story 5/5

Spiritual Level 5/5

Enemy Spiritual Level 5/5

Overall Rating 5/5 Stars

                             ------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Spiritually, based on this review and on the following reference booklet,
 

A Spiritual System for Rating Books by David Bergsland, and that Pay For My Sin contains elements of the criteria of what constitutes Christian Spirit-Filled Fiction outlined in this booklet, I award Iryna K Combs with

The Reality Calling Spirit-filled Fiction Award

Congratulations, Iryna!

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