Author Spotlights

Two Authors that I highly recommend.

 

“Raising Hell: Christianity’s Most Controversial Doctrine Put Under Fire” by Julie Ferwerda

And “The Calling – A voice in the Dead Woods” by Jacob Israel.

Once these are done Ill post them here. And I hope they will be something that everyone can can get something out of.

I know Jacob’s book is amazing. It’s bursting with truth and insight. It’s a great read that keeps you on the edge of  your seat from page one. Jacob is an amazing author with great talent and powerful insights. He gives you straight answers with uncompromising conviction and humor. Jacob is unashamed of what he believes as well as what he has endured in life. He shares openly all that he has learned and the calling is a journey that takes you deep into that well of  knowledge and experience. I’m gonna read it one more time ( which makes it “4” times now)!

Julie is an amazing talent from what I have read of her articles and blog. She has a heart of gold that she lays open for all to see in hopes that she will help someone else along way. I can not wait to read her book.

For now I’ll leave you with links to both their blogs. You can spend hours learning and gain great truths at both these great author’s sites.

http://jacobisrael71.wordpress.com/

http://www.julieferwerda.com/

The Calming of the Storm

I sat in silence just thinking over all that I had seen. All that I heard and experienced echoed in my soul. I felt as if a burden had been lifted from my shoulders. I looked around and still saw the storm clouds above me. I looked over the darkened and barren wasteland around me. I turned to the lord, but this time I felt a peace in my heart.

“I expected this all to simply go away instantly, but now I know the storms serve a purpose. And when this storm departs another will eventually arrive.” I sighed as I looked over the barren wasteland.  The lord nodded and started to walk down a small narrow path that I hadn’t seen till he had started to walk down it. I followed and I could feel a warm moist breeze slowly start to gently blow across the path. We turned a corner and walked out upon a crystalline beach. The storm clouds above parted and the setting sun shimmered across the still waters. We stood in silence side by side watching the setting sun as it dipped below the distant mountains.

“Look behind you.”  His voice was soothing and comforting. I knew what was behind me but I felt no fear this time.

“I don’t want to… nothing back there is worth looking back for” I gazed at the still waters in front of me and noticed the green pasture just off in the distance on the beach’s edge.

“I want you to see”  He turned and motioned for me to look back.

I looked back and saw the darkness gathered up on the rocky ledge. The jackal was pacing back and forth frothing at the mouth but unable to proceed any further. The murder of crows swarmed in and out of the dark clouds above the ledge. Their cry’s and mocking were silent as was the thundering boom of the thunder and lighting cascading across the distant storm’s edge. I turned back to the still water and then slowly headed toward the green pasture ahead. I looked to the Lord walking next to me, a smile crossed his face but he said nothing.

“They will always be behind me hiding in the storms.” My heart was calm and it was at peace for the first time. It wasnt a question as much as it was a statement.

“Yes, you cannot change the fact that they exist, nor can you deny the fact that it is your choice to choose what you listen to. You can either listen to my voice and seek after me or listen to them. Either way I am always present within you. You can react with either fear and hatred or react in love and patience. Every storm serves a purpose, it refines you and molds your character. Some storms are actually created by you and your actions others are merely trials sent to direct you when you have lost your way.” The lord motioned for me to sit as we entered into the green pasture. I sat down and closed my eyes and let the warm breeze was over me.

“Rest now my child, and remember that the next storm may come at any moment, but rest in the peace I have given you that you will be able to weather the next storm with much more ease then before.” The lord’s voice faded as I drifted off  into a child like sleep.

Broken places

 

“Broken hearts and broken souls, lost in pain and drowning in sorrow. He hears your cry’s and feels your pain. His arms reach out to you, yet your head is downcast and your gaze is looking backwards. Leave the pain and look forward. See the very arms that are reaching out to you are his.  You ask God why as the tears stream down your cheeks. Your tear-stained mind is clouded and you fail to see the answers already before you.”

 I heard these words echoing in my mind as I slowly opened my eyes. I was still on the ledge overlooking the dark and desolate wasteland that I had finally come to realize was my own home. I looked and saw the wasted and gaunt version of myself staring back at me with hatred. His arms wrapped about himself trembling as if he was barely able to contain his fear and anger.

“You’re a fool…look around you nothing has changed and nothing will”  The words hissed in my ears as I looked at the wretched and distorted version of myself.

“You can talk?” It sounded foolish, the moment I spoke the words.

“Of course I can you fool.. I’m you. Why do you think we are here? This is the world we created and it will stay this way. You don’t deserve to see this rebuilt and restored. You never did and you never will. I know it and you know it. Deep inside you can feel it. You are not worth it, no one can ever find anything of worth in you and they never will.”  He looked at me and simply gazed at me as if willing me into acceptance of his words.

“You lie” My voice was weak and the words seemed hollow at best. I knew he was lying but inside I felt the pain as much as I ever did. I couldn’t see any reason why my world should be restored and rebuilt. If I couldn’t see it, why would anyone else. I felt a deep sense of panic and lose seep inside me at that moment.

“Why would I lie to myself. Think hard and remember. We had our chance. Hell we had several chances and now they are taken from us for good.”  The words cut deep reawakening a long felt sense of  worthlessness. I started to remember my past and all the things I had said or done and I soon realized that it wasnt a lie.

I heard a crow cawing in the distance and I turned to find where the Lord had gone to. He was still standing there next to me. He was silent as if waiting for me. I lowered my head and let my hands cover over my face for a minute as I tried to clear my mind. I was hurting and I knew I was confused. To many voices to many thoughts and feelings all assaulting my mind at once.

“The broken places” The Lord’s words whispered into my mind. I didn’t understand and I looked up from my self-imposed prison.

“I don’t understand. Everything you have shown me and told me seems to slip from my fingers… I still feel just as lost and broken as before” I was frustrated and I regretted the angry tone that I knew the Lord could hear in my answer.

“Forgive me father…. I don’t know how to break free.” I simply let go and resigned myself to the feelings and pain that ravaged through my heart and mind.

His hand reached out and rested on my shoulder. I looked up and saw the look in his eyes. I couldn’t understand how he could continue to reach out to me without any frustration or anger. I kept expecting him to tell me it was too late or that I was a failure.

“You live in the broken places still. Those places in your soul that are wounded and bleeding. The words I have told you and the things I have shown you are all true all promises for you. Trust in me and move forward. Leave the broken places behind. Forget them don’t hold on to them anymore. The heavy shadow you feel that hangs over you is the memory of those broken places. Leave them behind, the past is gone there is no reason to revisit it or anticipate its return.”

He was kind and patient with me, I could hear the pain in his voice. He wanted to heal me and help me but he knew I had to believe in what he was saying.

Am I an Author or a Storyteller ?

 

The question always begs for a long and drawn out answer.  In short, the answer is I am a storyteller. I would rather tell you a story over trying to convince you on the merits of one form of theology over another. I would rather tell you a story instead of writing an essay on politics. As a storyteller I can simply tell you how I see the world and leave it at that. I see stories everywhere I look. The bird singing in the tree outside my window, the congested thruway or in the majestic setting of the sun. I see stories and tales, parables, lessons and journeys. The things I see around us remind me of the things I have forgotten or lessons I have learned. I transform them into stories because stories can teach us and show us things in ways that our mind and soul can understand more then our intellect ever could. Stories speak to the heart they comfort the mind and they touch our souls. This is why I prefer to call myself a storyteller, this is the realm I live in.

We close our eyes to the world around us in so many ways. We narrow our focus and wonder why we are taken by surprise when the winds of change come howling through our little valley of life. We always look to others before we look at ourselves. Our pride and ego stand in the way of showing us that our battles are not against those around us. We fail to see that they are within us in the form of our fears and struggles. The outside battles are merely reflections of the struggle and lose inside of us. I try to at least always keep this in mind when I’m writing or telling a tale as I see it. You may not find hidden treasure or vast storehouses of knowledge in what you hear in my tales, but I do promise you will see the world a bit differently when its all said and done.  As I have always stated in many other articles my goal is to get you thinking.

With that in mind I want to tell you what the story behind the story is in my Novel Wintersbane  Chronicles – Ancient Darkness.

Ancient Darkness is about demons, angels, dragons and self proclaimed gods bent on dominating and ruling the lesser mortal races in the form of gods. A holy war  has emerged that has enshrouded the entire world in darkness and fear. A small group of characters has been called forward to represent the one true god and bring light back to the world. While this small band of heroes struggle against the darkness they themselves have to first conquer their own inner demons as well.  The holy wars have given power to ancient forces that now  use and manipulate religion to enslave.

Lets start at the beginning with the onset of creation. The time of formless void when the creator walked across the deeps of the world….

 

There was a time, well before the earliest histories when all was as it should be. Shadora itself   was a paradise untainted and pure. The firstborn lived in harmony with the lesser races as caretakers and guardians. The Creator himself was pleased and took pleasure in all that he saw. However the destroyer came and soon set forth to rule over all.

The Shamari long held as the most favored of all the caretakers and guardians were the first to fall. The dragons that had allied themselves with the Shamari also followed in their wake. Both races were shattered by corruption and sought to rule over all of Shadora instead of care for and guide it. Their corruption and zealous lust for power led them to bow on bended knee before the destroyer himself. They rested all their hopes in the promise of becoming gods.

The creator and his army of loyal Shamari went to war against the corrupted. The war was short lived and the dragons and corrupted Shamari defeated. Those that had given themselves over to corruption and false promise of godhood by the destroyer were banished and cursed.

The once favored of all was now shunned and cast forever into a land of darkness. The Shamari and the dragons would never enter again into the paradise they had lost.

Soon a dark time settled across Shadora and its people suffered greatly. The lesser races waged war amongst themselves as the struggled for dominance over each other. The darkness and the suffering increased even further as those still faithful mourn for a new hope..

The Shamari forever cursed and bound in the land of their failure still cast an ominous shadow. The wastes of a once glorious past forever shadow the future of Shadora. The very things that had caused them to fall still live and thrive in the world. They are not flesh and blood that can be conquered, but instead an ideal, a way of thought that breeds forever in the darkest reaches of mortal souls.