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The War of Gog and Magog! Armageddon! Different? The same?

Temple mount in Jerusalem

We hear and read that a lot of influential believers are convinced we’re in the End Times. I agree. Many wait for a rapture and seven years of tribulation for the Jewish nation. Personally, I disagree. I don’t find any scriptural support for the removal of the church, and we’ve been in the time of tribulation for centuries. Even the Apostle John in Rev 1:9 calls himself a partner in the tribulation.

Those same folks waiting to be taken away consider these two wars as different battles. This is largely due to their reading Revelation as showing a linear timetable with a 1,000-year reign of Christ prior to Armageddon and the final judgment. Again, I don’t see that.

In this post, let’s look first at just who will be involved in these wars. So, let’s look at the War of Gog and Magog first. While mentioned in Revelation 20, that battle is described in Ezekiel 38, with a recapitulation of it in chapter 39.

“Son of man, set your face toward Gog, of the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him and say, Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I am against you, O Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. And I will turn you about and put hooks into your jaws, and I will bring you out, and all your army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed in full armor, a great host, all of them with buckler and shield, wielding swords. Persia, Cush, and Put are with them, all of them with shield and helmet; Gomer and all his hordes; Beth-togarmah from the uttermost parts of the north with all his hordes–many peoples are with you. “Be ready and keep ready, you and all your hosts that are assembled about you, and be a guard for them. After many days you will be mustered. In the latter years you will go against the land that is restored from war, the land whose people were gathered from many peoples upon the mountains of Israel, which had been a continual waste. Its people were brought out from the peoples and now dwell securely, all of them. [Eze 38:2-8 ESV]

What nations are mentioned? Meshech, Tubal, Persia, Cush, Put, Gomer, and Beth-togarmah. A couple of these are easy ones to identify today. Persia is today’s Iran, while Cush was located in what is today’s Sudan and Ethiopia. What about the others? Smith’s Bible Dictionary equates the land of Gomer (eldest son of Japheth) with the Cimbri of the north and west of Europe during the Roman Empire (Denmark, between the Elbe and the Rhine, and Belgium), the whole of the British Isles at one period, and now the Gael of Ireland and Scotland, and the Cymry of Wales. However, other sources show Gomer covering most of modern Turkey. Beth-togarmah is usually identified as the Southern Caucasus region around Armenia (eastern Turkey, Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan and northern Iran). Put’s identity is a bit problematic. Many associate it with today’s Libya, but a Babylonian tablet fragment from Nebuchadnezzar’s time identifies it as what today would be Somalia and Yemen, on both sides of the Red Sea.

Who is Gog? Even the Septuagint and Masoretic texts don’t agree on the identity of Gog. There is, however, a possible link to the Watchers of 1 Enoch. From reading Ezekiel 38, Gog—described as the “chief prince”—could be a spiritual being just as the angel Michael is called the chief prince of Israel. Yet, in Ezekiel 39, we learn that he is given a burial place in Israel, in the Valley of Hamon-gog. This would seem to point to Gog being human, until we remember that God promised that the fallen angels would die like men (Psalm 82:7). While his identity remains unclear to us today, I would vote for Gog being one of the fallen angels.

And the land of Magog, Meshech, and Tubal? All three were sons of Japheth, although the land is named after Magog. Maps of the early 19th century show the lands of Meshech and Tubal as the lower Caucasus, including all of Turkey (Cappadocia). Josephus identified Meshech with the Cappadocian “Mosocheni”, also known as the Mushki and their capital Mazaca. Ancient Assyrian tablets also identify Meshech with the Muska. These were associated with the Phrygians.  Hippolytus of Rome’s chronicle (234 AD) listed the Illyrians as Meshech’s offspring. The Phrygians existed in what is Turkey today, while the Illyrians existed in what are now the Balkan lands of Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, Bulgaria, Kosovo, and Albania.

But what about Russia? Aren’t they involved, too? Well, I’ll admit that’s not clear. Some translations use Rosh instead of Meshech, and that leads some to identify Russia. However, any link to ro’sh being Russia isn’t supported exegetically or by Hebrew grammar. Plus, it wasn’t until the 16th century that Moscovites were considered descendants of Meshech. While that again leads many to identify Russia with Magog, that association was rather late in history and ignores the more ancient texts.

With an understanding of which territories are actually mentioned in antiquity, it appears that Ezekiel’s war will be comprised of Muslim nations moving against Israel. When we look at the order in which they’re listed and the emphasis on Meshech and Tubal, we might also conclude that Turkey will lead the way, not Iran, which comes second. Following them will be Sudan, Yemen, Somalia, nations around the Southern Caucasus (Syria, Iraq, Armenia, etc.), and Muslim nations of the Balkans. When we look at that region today, this all fits. Iran is falling apart and Turkey is propping up that regime as well as that of Syria. Of all the Islamic nations of the Middle East, Turkey has the largest army.

So, what about Armageddon? Revelation 16:16 is the only biblical usage of the word Armageddon, and John specifically points out that it is a Hebrew name. The name comes from Har Magedon, which has been linked to Megiddo in northern Israel. You will find many teachers translate har as a hill. So, to them, Tell Megiddo, the ancient ruins of a palace and fortress, fits the bill. However, a tell is an artificial hill created by successive layers of building and occupation. It’s an archaeological term, not a natural topographic feature. Plus, according to scholars of ancient Hebrew, such as Michael Heiser and Meredith Kline, har actually means mount, or mountain, and was transliterated into hill in the Greek. In that broad Jezreel Valley there is no mountain, so Megiddo is unlikely to be the location of this battle.

So, if Megiddo isn’t the place, where is it? Again, we need to focus on this being a Hebrew place. Meredith Kline, in his 1996 article “Har Magedon: The End of the Millennium” (the Journal for the Evangelical Theological Society, Vol 39), wondered about the Hebrew spelling—M-G-D (recall there are no vowels in Hebrew; they’re assumed). There are two letters with a G sound—gimel and ‘ayin, which has a back of the throat G sound as in Gomorrah (spelled with ‘ayin). Using gimel for the G could lead a translator to Megiddo. Using ‘ayin, however, leads to mem ‘ayin daleth, which translates to har mō ‘ ed, the mount of assembly (Isaiah 14:13), and that’s Jerusalem or Zion, where God reigns. It would seem that this final battle is for Jerusalem itself.

The final question is, are these the same or different battles? If you believe that Ezekiel’s War ushers in a 1,000-year reign of Christ and that Armageddon is the final battle to wipe out all of Christ’s enemies before the final judgement, then you’ll accept these as separate battles. However, that goes against the totality of scripture. In the Old Testament, Joel and other prophets foretell the coming Day of the Lord and a great battle at that time. These prophecies mean just that, a day. Christ won’t need a week to clean up the mess. I’ve already mentioned that many New Testament scriptures describe a present age and an age to come. Nothing in between. Several mention enduring until the end. What’s to “endure” if Christ will reign for 1,000 years before the end? Plus, logically, if we’re to live and reign with Christ for eternity, what’s the point of a separate 1,000-year period? Some will state that there are seven thousand-year periods in history, modeled after the seven days of the week with a day being like 1,000 years to the Lord. They forget that God rested on the seventh day. How is reigning over believers and non-believers, with enemies still existing, restful?  Earlier, I also mentioned Revelation 20 in which Gog and Magog are mentioned after that mention of 1,000 years, not before. So even John links Gog and Magog to the final battle or Armageddon.

With that, I believe, and propose to you, that these battles are one and the same. Is that war getting close to occurring. Let’s look at that in my next post.

The Real Christmas

The Real Christmas?

 

There are many out there trying to justify December 25th as the day when Jesus was truly born millennia ago. Just the fact that shepherds were out in the fields goes against any December date. Plus, God has consistently used His ordained festivals and feasts as markers for major events. There are no such ordained events in December, including Hannukah, which is a manmade Jewish holiday. History pretty much shows that the December 25th date was chosen to blend in with the Roman holiday of Saturnalia.

 

So, does history and/or the Bible give us clues as to when Jesus was born? Let’s look at history first. Caesar Augustus is mentioned, having ordered the census that brought Joseph and Mary to Bethlehem. His reign lasted from 27 B.C. to 14 A.D., so he was around during that whole period. What about Herod the Great, who ordered the slaughter of all males two years and under? Historians seem settled on his death being in 4 B.C., but this is based on a single historical mention by Josephus of his death occurring in a year when there was a lunar eclipse prior to Passover. Since he ordered the deaths of two-year-old males, that would mean Jesus was born in 6 B.C. or earlier. No one seems to think this is the case. More on this later.

 

Now, what does the Bible say? Some scholars believe that John’s title as a seer points to his practice of watching the stars, the signs in the heavens. In fact, “astral theology” was a prominent aspect of the religious life of the Jews and early Christians. This is the belief that what was going on in the heavens were signs of God’s will or His intent to do something. This had nothing to do with determining an individual’s fate, as in astrology as we know it today.

 

In Revelation v12:1-5 we find the woman clothed with the sun, the moon under her feet, and a wearing a crown with twelve stars. The heavens also showed the dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, standing before the woman ready to devour her child upon her giving birth. In astral terms, the woman is the constellation Virgo, based upon Isaiah 7:14. John describes the dragon as red and says its tail swept away a third of the stars. The dragon is also said to be coming out of the abyss. Both the red color and the abyss (another constellation) point to the southern constellation Hydra. It sits in the southern sky, closer to Virgo than Draco (a northern “dragon”constellation), near the abyss, and there’s a void of stars near its tail. The constellations Corvus and Crater sit above Hydra, and one has seven stars and the other ten. The virgin’s crown would be Leo, which with its nine bright stars, plus the planets Mercury, Venus, and Mars, would appear to have 12 stars.

 

Astronomically, what does this mean? Virgo is a broad constellation that rises above the horizon in spring, traverses the heavens, and begins its descent to the horizon in late summer. The sun follows an imaginary path called the ecliptic, which holds its course 24/7. The ecliptic runs through the night sky as well, showing the sun’s position on the other side of the earth. The ecliptic runs through every zodiacal constellation on a yearly schedule, which takes it through Virgo roughly from September 16 to October 30. However, to say she is clothed with the sun would imply its being in her midst, which only occurs for roughly 20 days during this time span. Because the moon travels its ecliptic once every month, it passes to the east of Virgo (sits at her feet) more than once during those six weeks. However, for the moon to sit at her feet while the sun is in her midst takes us to a roughly 90-minute time window during that 20-day period. Taken as is, this combination isn’t that unique and has occurred four times in the past 1,000 years, the most recent being September 23, 2017.

 

However, the scripture gives us more information, and if we were Magi watching the skies for signs of the Messiah, we would be aware of other celestial pointers. The Magi were, after all, trained by Daniel who was chief of the Magi in his day. The Magi would no doubt associate Leo, the lion, with the tribe of Judah from which the Messiah would come. (Genesis 49:9-10). Leo is dominated by the star Regulus, known by astronomers as the “King star.” Also, astronomers call Jupiter the “King planet.”

 

At one unique point in history, the stars lined up and Jupiter went into conjunction with Regulus. That conjunction began on September 11th, 3 B.C. and continued through September 14th. Jupiter continued along its path until December 1, 3 B.C. when it appeared to stop for a while before beginning its retrograde path. On February 17, 2 B.C., it again joined in conjunction with Regulus. That conjunction on September 11th could account for the “star” of Bethlehem. The Magi would have seen this and ascertained that something wonderful had happened, particularly if they were aware of Isaiah’s prophesies about the Messiah. Yet, they would require time to prepare and to get to Jerusalem, thus Herod’s decision to kill every male child two years old and under, based on when the Magi had seen these signs.

 

If Herod was still alive in 3 B.C., then when might he have died? Revelation 12 goes on to say that the woman fled to the wilderness prepared for her and her child for 3.5 years. Could this point to Joseph taking his family to Egypt until he learned that Herod was dead? If Jesus was roughly two years old when they fled to Egypt, that takes us to roughly 1 B.C. Since there is no year zero, three and a half years bring us to the end of 4 A.D. (I know, that doesn’t seem right but that’s how historians date things.) In 4 A.D. there was a lunar eclipse on March 23rd and Passover started on April 10th. Even if we consider a year zero, that takes us to 3 A.D. and there was a lunar eclipse on March 13th with Passover starting March 29th that year. Either way, this works to fit both the historical and biblical accounts.

 

September 11th, 3 B.C. works as Jesus’s birth date for other reasons. The timing well fits with the birth of John the Baptist, calculated using his father’s time of service in the temple. We know that John the Baptist’s father, Zechariah, was of the order of Abijah. The order of Abijah was the eighth order of service as determined by David. In 1 Chr 24:1-19, we find those priestly orders and Jehoiarib was first. In the Ta’anit 29a verse 12 we find a reference to the 9th of Av and the order of Jehoiarib. From that we can calculate when each order served in the temple and in 4 B.C., the order of Abijah would have served in early July. Considering that Elizabeth was six months along and Mary had nine more months to go, Jesus’ birth 15 months later, in September of 3 B.C., fits.

 

 

More importantly, God uses His feasts for important events and September 11th began the Feast of Trumpets that year. Also, Tishri 1, aka Rosh Hashanah today, was the beginning of the Jewish new year and the traditional day of Judean kings’ inaugurations, as shown in the account of Solomon, as well as in Jeremiah and Ezra. And per Jewish tradition, this celebrates the day on which the creation began, the first day of the human calendar. Finally, from the flood account, we find Noah opening the ark to discover the earth had dried. Jewish tradition also discerns from that account that Noah’s birthday was Tishri 1, a belief celebrated by Jews. John likely included this celestial pointer to Christ’s birthday because many Jews would believe that the Messiah would share a birthday with Noah. All of these facts come together to support a September 3 B.C. date, not a December date.

 

So, if Jesus was born on September 11th, 3 B.C., does that hold any importance to today? Many scholars believe He’ll return on Yom Teruah (Rosh Hashanah). I agree. It’s the Feast of Trumpets, a day of celebration (with no sacrifices made in ancient days). It’s also known as the feast for which the day and hour were not known. Now, I’m not a date setter, but guess when Yom Teruah/Rosh Hashanah starts next year – September 11th. Gives me goose bumps thinking about it.

Is God Love?

Is God love?

Is God love? Well, if you ask most people, yes. And for the short answer, yes.

But the reality is much more complex. By that I mean, what does the phrase ‘God is love’ truly mean?

I bring this up because there is great misunderstanding about this in the church. Some teach that because God is love everyone will go to heaven. Makes no difference whether or not you’ve accepted Christ as your Savior, you’re good to go because God is love, and a loving God won’t condemn anyone to hell. In fact, recent results of the 2022 American Worldview Survey from Arizona Christian University show that 30% of evangelical pastors don’t believe that accepting Christ and confessing one’s sins is necessary. Pastors aren’t the only ones on this bandwagon. Well over a dozen Christian musicians have released songs titled, “God is Love.” A search online will reveal an abundance of teachings and books about God’s love, but when did you last hear someone teach on God’s wrath? In reality, the Bible talks about His wrath more than twice as much as His love.

Paul faced a similar issue in the early church, one in which God’s grace was considered the only thing one needed to gain eternal life. He wrote in detail about this in Romans 5 and 6. The crux of the issue is stated in Romans 6:1, “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?” Those early Christians continued living in sin, sacrificing to idols, and more, expecting God’s grace alone to save them. The issue goes by a five-dollar theological term, antinomianism—the belief that Christians, by virtue of divine grace, are freed not only from biblical law and church-prescribed behavioral norms, but also from all moral law. However, today, the word ‘grace’ has largely been replaced by ‘love.’ Still, the lyrics of one popular contemporary Christian song comes to mind and implies that the grace issue is still alive . . . “grace is all you need.” Well, yes . . . and no.

So, again, what is meant by saying that God is love?

First, we need to know what love is. Is it a warm, tingly-all-over, can’t-live-without-you emotion? Is it simply a form of lust, as Hollywood portrays it? Many, many years ago, our pastor at the time taught on this, and his answer was that biblically, love is not an emotion, but an action. To say that Christians will be known by their love for one another reflects our actions toward each other. To love your neighbor as yourself means to act as God would want you to act toward them.

Therein lies the rub. Do we show others respect? Sure. Do we act with kindness toward others? Yep. Do we try to show them a better way, God’s way, through our own lives and actions? You bet. Do we accept their alternative lifestyles or actions that go against God’s Word and His prescribed way of living? Nope. When someone tells you that as a Christian, you are expected to love unconditionally, they usually mean ‘accept me and my lifestyle’ or you’re being hateful. Sadly, their version of loving will lead them to an eternity of torment.

So, yes, God is love, but He’s also holy and sovereign. He’s prescribed a way of living that He expects His people to follow. He knows we’re not perfect, but He expects us to try and to emulate His Son, Jesus, as best we can. Only through Jesus Christ can we expect God’s grace to redeem us from that eternity of torment. Those who’ve not accepted Christ cannot expect His grace, or love, to save them. Even many who claim to be Christian, but who openly continue to sin and live outside God’s ways, run the risk of Jesus telling them, “I never knew you.” The result, His wrath, is clearly presented in the Bible. Don’t believe me? Take a look at Romans 1:22-32 and 2 Timothy 3:2-5 as but two examples.

Perhaps we should consider one more thing. How does God Himself define love? Those who teach on God’s love typically head to 1 John 4:7 and read on from there. Twice in the next several verses, the text explicitly states that “God is love.” Indeed, He is the epitome of love. As you read that chapter, note that God so loved us that He sent us His Son—an action. In fact, those verses are full of actions—testifying, confessing, abiding, perfecting, and more. No gushy emotions mentioned. God’s love is shown through actions.

While most teachers will stop at the end of the chapter, read on. Specifically, in 1 John 5:3, we read, “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.”(emphasis mine) Indeed, another action: keeping His commandments. God defines love—”this is love”—as  being obedient and keeping His commandments. That’s certainly different than the common concept of God being love. This is found again in John 14: 15, 23-24: “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. … Jesus answered him, ‘If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me.’ “ It’s significant that this is mentioned three times in the Bible.

So, yes, God is love, but He’s also holy and sovereign and wants us to be obedient and keep His commandments. Sin has no place in His presence, and only through Christ is our sin erased by His grace. How does that fit with your understanding and lifestyle?

Do you think Christ to be a myth? Do you see the Bible as a bunch of millennia-old letters written by long-dead men? (They weren’t white men, by the way.) Do the descriptions in Romans 1 or 2 Timothy 3 fit you? Do you follow a religion outside of Christianity? If you answered yes to any of those, you might want to investigate the teachings of Christ for yourself instead of relying upon the hearsay of others. Your eternity depends on your actions now. Being a “good” person doesn’t cut it.

Perhaps you claim to be a Christian. Sexual sin is rampant among self-proclaimed Christians. And it’s not just homosexuality. Pornography, sexual relationships outside of marriage, adultery, and more are common. Living together in a loving, caring, monogamous relationship is still sin if it’s outside of marriage. And sin among “Christians” is not just sexual. Do you cheat on your taxes? Have you “robbed” a business partner by hiding funds or taking an unfair share? Have you ever given false witness against another? Do you lie routinely? Repentance from such is also critical to your eternity.

Sadly, antinomianism is alive and well today. Again, as Christians, we should be striving to eliminate such things from our lives and to live as God wants us to live. We’re not perfect, but the grace of Christ is there for those who are repentant and seek to follow Him. I, for one, do not want to risk hearing the Lord tell me He never knew me.

Worldviews, Part 3

Well, if you’re still with me on this topic, I guess I didn’t totally alienate you with the last post. I can only assume that Worldviews, Part 2, set off some serious cognitive dissonance for some people.

Here in Part 3, I’d like to detail some of the results of that recent American Worldview Inventory 2022. However, in some cases, I’ll be wording the results a bit differently. They seemed to use a lot a double negatives which made things confusing. Also, the similarity of the self-identified Christian parents to the overall group is partly because 67% of the parents identified as Christians. This majority helps skew the overall results. Personally, I’d like to see how the Christian parents compared to the non-Christian parents, but that data hasn’t been presented.

So, with that in mind, let’s look at some of their results. They divided their questions/results into six groups:  1)Bible, Truth, and Morals, 2)Lifestyle Choices, 3)The Trinity, 4) Family, Marriage, Children, 5)Reality and Existence, and 6)Sin and Salvation. Again, this survey went to parents of pre-teens (under 13). Here’s a sampling of the results:

Bible, Truth, and Morals

Belief/Behavior

All Parents

Self-identified Christian Parents

The Bible is your primary source of moral guidance

24%

33%

Moral absolutes do exist

26%

24%

God is the basis of truth, as revealed through the Bible

29%

38%

The Bible holds the accurate words of God

42%

55%

Accept that there is objective moral truth, but it is always personal and subjective

35%

38%

 

Lifestyle Choices

Belief/Behavior

All Parents

Self-identified Christian Parents

Accumulated wealth is entrusted to us by God to manage for His purposes

10%

14%

Success is consistent obedience to God

15%

21%

Believe that karma affects your life

81%

81%

Willing to try anything once

73%

72%

Accept that having any faith matters more than which faith

73%

77%

Purpose of life is to know, love, and serve God with all your heart, mind, strength, and soul

28%

37%

Intentionally declaring tax deductions you know you’re not eligible for is morally unacceptable

49%

52%

 

The Trinity

Belief/Behavior

All Parents

Self-identified Christian Parents

Agree that the Holy Spirit is a living entity, and not just a symbol of God’s power, presence, and purity

27%

24%

Believe that when Jesus lived on earth, He committed sins just like other people

65%

67%

God is the all-knowing, all-powerful, perfect, and just Creator of the universe who rules that universe today

40%

51%

 

Family, Marriage, Children

Belief/Behavior

All Parents

Self-identified Christian Parents

Unmarried couple having sexual relations with each other because they love each other and expect to get married is morally unacceptable

26%

29%

Marriage of one man to one woman is God’s plan for humanity, across all cultures

33%

42%

The Bible is ambiguous about abortion

35%

35%

Having an abortion to avoid the personal hardships of raising the child is morally unacceptable

46%

51%

 

Reality and Existence

Belief/Behavior

All Parents

Self-identified Christian Parents

Human life is sacred

26%

31%

Believe in evolution rather than God’s creation

33%

39%

The universe and everything in it has been designed, created, and sustained by God

44%

57%

Believe the universe came into existence with divine assistance

45%

53%

 

Sin and Salvation

Belief/Behavior

All Parents

Self-identified Christian Parents

People are born into sin and can only be saved from its consequences by Jesus Christ

20%

28%

When you die, you will go to Heaven but only because you have confessed your sins and have accepted Jesus Christ as your savior

24%

33%

Believe that someone who is generally good or does enough good things for others will earn a place in heaven

71%

73%

Believe that reincarnation is a real possibility

66%

64%

 

Based upon these results, a lot of self-identifying “Christians” will be in for a rude awakening come Judgment Day. In fact, while I previously mentioned that only 2% of preteen parents hold a Biblical worldview, additional data collected by the CRC show that only 6% of ALL U.S. adults hold such a worldview.

So, I’ll ask again. Where do you stand? How would you respond to these questions? If it’s been a while since you dusted off that Bible and read it, maybe now would be a good time to do so. The return of Christ is not far off.

Worldviews, Part 2

In Worldviews, Part 1, I gave a brief overview of the results of the Center for Cultural Research’s American Worldview Inventory 2022. The results of that study revealed that only 2% of American parents of preteens hold a Biblical worldview and that most hold a syncretic worldview—bits and pieces from some of the seven common worldviews. Within that study, 67% self-identified as Christian, and within that subgroup, only 4% held a true Biblical worldview. Most commonly, these parents of pre-teens mixed ideas from Eastern Mysticism/New Age, Moralistic Therapeutic Deism, and Biblical Theism.

While most people have an idea what New Age thinking (ex., reincarnation, crystal power, Hindu mantras, past-life recall, etc.) and Biblical Theism (the Biblical worldview) are, the term Moralistic Therapeutic Deism is probably new to you. Here are the five core tenets of that belief system:  

1. A god exists who created and ordered the world and watches over human life on earth.

2. God wants people to be good, nice, and fair to each other, as taught in the Bible and by most world religions.

3. The central goal of life is to be happy and to feel good about oneself.

4. God does not need to be particularly involved in one’s life except when God is needed to resolve a problem.

5. Good people go to heaven when they die.

Sounds good, right? Maybe, but it’s not all Biblical. Yes, THE God of the Bible, not a god, created and ordered everything and watches over us. And true, the Golden Rule says we are to treat our neighbors as we wish to be treated. Certainly good, nice, and fair fall into that. Being good is also central to point #5. But what defines “good?” Under this worldview, good is a relative term defined by your culture, not defined by the absolute moral imperatives of the Bible. When the culture accepts certain sexual behaviors as good because they’re pleasurable, that flies in the face of Biblical teachings that call it sin. “If it feels good, do it” is not found anyplace within the Bible. In today’s culture, what the Bible teaches is considered by most as intolerant and hateful.

What about one’s goal in life? Does the Bible teach that the central goal of life is to be happy and feel good about yourself? No, the Bible teaches that our goal is to honor God and to glorify Him. How? We honor God when we follow His ways and live our lives as He has directed us to. We glorify Him when we credit Him for all that we accomplish (among other ways). We also glorify and honor Him by allowing Him to be part of every aspect of our lives. He wants to be involved in all that we do, not just some “cosmic genie” to be called upon when everything else we try fails.

Do good people go to heaven when they die? According to the Bible, no one—again, no one—is good enough to go to heaven. We are all born as sinners and only through the grace of God will any of us go to heaven. His Grace gave us Jesus, who died on the cross to pay for our sins. Jesus is the only avenue to the kingdom of God. He alone is the way, the truth, and the life. So no, lots of “good” people are going to stand before Christ on Judgment Day and discover they’re being cast into the “outer darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth” . . . for eternity.

BTW, before you argue that Jesus wouldn’t do that because He loves us all, please understand that Jesus discusses and describes “hell” more than any others in the Bible. What? There is no hell? Hmmm, tell Him that. Sadly, lots of people don’t believe there is a hell, but they believe there’s a heaven. That’s like saying there’s good but no bad, or sweet but no sour. In Romans 6:1-2, Paul addresses an idea that became widespread within the early church. Today, we call it antinomianism (the 50-cent word of the day). The belief was that God’s grace covered all our sins, so folks could just keep on sinning, doing as they pleased, and His grace would cover that. In today’s society, replace the word ‘grace’ with ‘love.’ God loves us all. We can do what we want, and we’ll still go to heaven because He loves us. We can follow Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, etc. and all paths lead to heaven . . . because he loves us all. This is NOT what the Bible teaches. Again, Christ alone is the way, the truth, and the life.

So, I’ll ask again . . . where do you stand?

In part 3, coming April 27th, we’ll look at some of the specific topics/questions from the American Worldview Inventory 2022.

For more info:

https://links.arizonachristian.edu/CRC_AWVI2022_Release01_22

https://www.gotquestions.org/Moralistic-Therapeutic-Deism.html

Worldviews, Part 1

Everybody has a worldview, whether it’s Biblical or one of the six alternative worldviews: Secular Humanism, Moralistic Therapeutic Deism, Nihilism, Marxism/Critical Theory, Postmodernism, or Eastern Mysticism/New Age. Researchers at the Cultural Research Center of Arizona Christian University have looked extensively at the worldviews of American adults, and their results are both interesting and concerning. They’ve also shown that most people develop their worldview by the time they are teenagers.

In their recent study of American parents of preteens, they report that the results show that these parents “are in a state of spiritual distress. While the warning signs are identifiable and unmistakable, it appears that parents, as well as their support system (i.e., churches, extended family, and parachurch ministries), are too distracted or disinterested to acknowledge and address the parenting crisis. It seems that a tragic crash is in store.” While 67% of these parents self-identify as Christians, only 2% actually hold a Biblical worldview. Of interest, less than 1% hold some other commonly held worldview such as those listed above. For these parents, it’s a smorgasbord of beliefs—a little bit of this and a pinch of that. This is called Syncretism.

Sadly, a syncretic worldview is likely to lead to Christ saying, “I never knew you.”

Why? A basic tenet of Biblical Christianity is that the God of the Bible is the omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent, perfect, and just creator of the universe who still rules our world today. Of these syncretic parents, fewer than half believe that. Another fundamental belief is that Christ is the sole means to eternal salvation. Only one in three believe that. Only a third rely upon the Bible as their source of moral guidance. And three-quarters deny the existence of the Holy Spirit—the only sin the Bible calls unforgiveable. Did I use the word ‘sin’? Yes, nobody likes that word, and many in this group discount ‘sin’ as a relative moral term, not as an absolute moral term found in the Bible. Curiously, these questions also reveal contradictions in beliefs. Of those parents who claim there is no absolute morality and that moral truth is up to each individual, 50% go on to disagree that moral truth is personal and subjective. Huh? That’s what a syncretic worldview often produces—confusion.

Be objective. Would you expect Christ to welcome with open arms those who don’t accept what He teaches?

So, where do you stand?

In the next part, we’ll look at some of those worldview issues.

Source:https://www.arizonachristian.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/AWVI2022_Release_03_DigitalVersion.pdf

Doubt or fith, opposite signs

Having Doubts?

 

Have You Had Doubts? No doubt.

Have you ever been doubtful about something? Perhaps you doubted the guy you fancied would ever ask you out. Maybe you applied for a job, doubting all along that you’d get it. After a large holiday meal, I doubt my clothes will fit right.

But what about God? Have you ever doubted His love for you? Have you ever doubted that He hears your prayers? Have you ever doubted what He was doing and why some things were allowed to happen? Do you have doubts about His very existence?

Doubt has been part of the human condition since the beginning. Job, in what’s believed to be the oldest of all of the books in the Bible, was a man blessed by God with the things that made his life joyful—a loving family, prosperity, integrity, respect, and a place of honor in his community . . . until Satan, the accuser, asked God to test Job. Calamity falls, and Job’s lamentations are a testimony to his losing not just hope, but his faith. On an earthly level, his three friends doubted Job’s innocence, convinced that hidden sin in his life had brought all of his hardship upon him. But Job grew doubtful about God. While he never doubted God’s very existence, his doubts about God’s love are clear in his statements. At one point, he asks God, “Why do you hide your face and count me as your enemy?” [Job 13:24]

Likewise, King David, in many of his psalms, asks “Why . . .?” “Why, O Lord, do you stand far away? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?” [Psalm 10: 1-2] “O Lord, rebuke me not in your anger, nor discipline me in your wrath. Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am languishing; heal me, O Lord, for my bones are troubled. My soul is also greatly troubled. But you, O Lord—how long?” [Psalm 6: 1-3]

It’s safe to say that all of the Old Testament prophets had times of doubt, and yet they all heard the voice of God and some had personally seen His glory. Did Elijah doubt God when he fled Jezebel’s wrath into the wilderness and prepared to die there? Sounds like it. Jeremiah wrote, “Righteous are you, O Lord, when I complain to you; yet I would plead my case before you. Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all who are treacherous thrive?” [Jeremiah 12:1] To me, those sound like questions asked in doubt, not just curiosity about the wicked. Habakkuk, too, in doubt complains to God, saying, “O Lord, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not hear? Or cry to you ‘Violence!’ and you will not save?” [Habakkuk 1:1]

In the New Testament, doubt is evident even in those closest to Jesus. John the Baptist, Jesus’ own cousin, had witnessed the Holy Spirit descending and remaining upon Jesus and had heard God’s voice announce the Jesus was God’s own son, in whom He was well pleased: “And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.” [John 1:34] And yet, later, John questioned Jesus’ being the Christ. From prison, he sent his followers to Jesus, asking, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” [Matthew 11:3]

By the time of John’s imprisonment, Jesus’ disciples had witnessed numerous miracles—water turned into wine, the blind given sight, the sick healed, withered limbs restored, and hearts turned to God in repentance. Shortly after John’s death by beheading, they helped Jesus feed 5,000 men (plus the women and children with them) with a handful of loaves of bread and two fish. That very night, as they rowed north on the Sea of Galilee, they witnessed Jesus walking on the water. Peter, beckoned by the Lord to join Him, begins to sink and cries for help. As Jesus grabs him, He says, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” [Matthew 14:31]  These men walked with Jesus, benefited from his teaching personally, saw his miracles firsthand, and witnessed his crucifixion and resurrection. And yet one of them refused to believe in the resurrection unless he personally saw the marks of the nails in Jesus’ hands and placed his hand in Jesus’ side. He had that opportunity eight days later and became known as Doubting Thomas for posterity.

Doubt is defined as a lack of faith. Jesus addressed our lack of faith on numerous occasions, besides his question to Peter. When He first appeared to His disciples after His resurrection, they thought they were seeing a ghost. To Thomas, He said, “Do not disbelieve, but believe.” [John 20:27] After His transfiguration on Mount Hermon, He returned to the crowd below and a man came up to Him, asking that He heal his epileptic son because the disciples could not. Jesus calls them a “faithless and twisted generation” and heals the boy. When asked by the disciples why they couldn’t heal him, He says it was because of their “little faith.” [Matthew 17:17-20] In Mark’s account of that event, Jesus tells the father, “All things are possible for one who believes.” The father, in response, cries out, “I believe, help my unbelief.” [Mark 9:23-24] Isn’t this another way of saying that anything is possible for those who do not doubt.

 To His disciples as a group, after witnessing the withered fig tree that Jesus had cursed, He said to them “Truly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ it will happen.” [Matthew 21:21] In that episode with the epileptic son, Jesus further tells His disciples, “For truly I say to you, if you faith like the grain of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.” [Matthew 17:20-21]

 Notice that Jesus doesn’t continue to harangue the people about their doubt but instead encourages them in their faith. He twice gives them a mighty example of what faith is capable of—moving mountains. In the latter example, the mountain He’s referring to is Mount Hermon, the largest mountain in Israel at over 9,000 feet. Many will recognize the verse in Matthew 17 as saying faith the size of a mustard seed. In fact, the adverb ὡς (hōs) is appropriately translated to “like” or “in the same manner as.” It’s not so much a comparison of size as the fact that this tiniest of seeds grows into a plant that not only can be ten feet tall but also spreads quickly. I think the Lord is telling us that it’s faith that’s rapidly growing that gains the power to move mountains, not that even a tiny bit of faith can do so.

Doubt is one of the biggest obstacles in a Christian’s life. How many of us have moved a mountain lately? I know I haven’t. How many of us have laid hands on the blind and watched them gain their sight? How many of us have multiplied bread . . . or raised the dead? Not me. We hear of such accounts, but they are not common, despite Christ’s assurance that we would perform such miracles in His name. Should we blame doubt, a lack of faith, for our inability to do these things?

We often do. In fact, in the 1970s a number of prominent preachers arose in what is called the Word of Faith Movement. Familiar names such as E.W. Kenyon, Kenneth Hagin, Kenneth Copeland, Benny Hinn, Joyce Meyer, T.D. Jakes, Creflo Dollar, and more became proponents of this “name it and claim it” teaching. Also known as “the prosperity gospel” and the “health and wealth gospel,” the teachings of these people likened faith to little more than a positive confession. If you weren’t healthy, you lacked faith. If you didn’t get that fancy new car, you held too much doubt.

Yet, the Bible doesn’t teach that. If we look at Peter’s walking on water, he didn’t step out of the boat until Jesus called him. Jesus, Himself, told us that He only did those things He saw the Father doing. Following Christ doesn’t bestow “magical” powers upon us to enable us to heal the sick, raise the dead, or move mountains on our own accord. Like Christ’s following the lead of the Father, we can only do those things the Holy Spirit empowers us to do . . . at the time when He wants us to do them.  

One of Christianity’s distinct differences from other religions is its ability to see reality from the viewpoint of the downtrodden. Shortly before his arrest in 1943, Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote that our suffering teaches us “to see the great events of world history from below, from the perspective of the outcast, the suspects, the maltreated, (and) the powerless. . .” He also wrote, “We have to learn that personal suffering is a more effective key, a more rewarding principle for exploring the world in thought and action than personal good fortune.” [Letters, 17] So, why do we doubt God when things don’t go our way? He told us we would be those outcasts and maltreated because we carry His name.

Stuart McAllister, director of training for Ravi Zacharias International Ministries, worked for Operation Mobilization in Austria for 20 years. As an eager 21-year-old he worked to smuggle Bibles, hymnals, and Christian literature into Eastern Europe before the breakdown of the Soviet Union. On a trip into Czechoslovakia, he and his partner were arrested at the border, interrogated, taken to prison, separated, and placed in cells where the lights were on 24/7 and his cellmate spoke no English. He was only allowed to use the bunk when told and their rations were meager. He thought for sure they would be quickly released and expelled from the country. Yet, the days dragged on to the point where he no longer knew if it was night or day and questioned how long he might be held there. His mind became plagued with doubt, and those doubts focused on uncertainty about what God was doing. In his paper, “The Role of Doubt and Persecution in Spiritual Transformation,” he writes, “I can well remember a point of surrender. . . . I might not get out for a long time, so I had to make the best of what was and to rest in God. . . . I think I came to relinquish my sense and need for control (I had none anyway) and simply accept that God would be there as promised, and therefore, to rest in Him.” They were ultimately released and expelled, but he had learned a valuable lesson about doubt and resting in God.

As I write this, we’re a nation split over a presidential election. Dozens of “prophecies” by nationally known “prophets,” church leaders, and even Jewish rabbis had promised another term for Donald Trump. Now, they all have egg on their faces and their roles in prophetic ministry tarnished. Those who looked to these prophets for guidance are now mired in doubt. Even those who never heard of these teachers now have doubts about the future. Will they question God if life as we know it deteriorates and persecution of Christians increases? Will you? Are you prepared to find rest in God no matter what?

I’m going to take this opportunity to go on record and risk having egg on my own face. God has only used me in a prophetic way a handful of times. The first few times were personal prophecies for individuals I knew. All came to pass. Then, in December 2017, God gave me dream about the great falling away that He spoke of in His Olivet Discourse. In part of that dream, we—there were several of us at the feet of Christ—were told to expect a financial crisis, pestilence, and famine. Then 2020 came along. We can all recognize the financial crises and pestilence—COVID-19—aspects of this. In the West, we didn’t face much of a famine, but Africa, the Middle East, India, and China have been hit particularly hard.

More recently, at the end of May 2020, while in a time of praise and worship, the Lord’s voice came through the music loud and clear: “By this time next year, a great earthquake will occur.” At the time, I was focused on singing and following the words, so I knew without doubt that it was God’s voice. Without a doubt? Yeah, right. Of course I had doubts, mostly about my ability to hear God, not in Him. Over the course of the next two weeks, I sought Him in prayer, asking for clarity and discernment. Like Gideon, what I really wanted was a sign. His response was to show me that the physical earthquake would be preceded by a political earthquake and a financial earthquake. The sign I was to look for was that Joe Biden would steal the election from Donald Trump. Not win the election, the Lord said steal it. And that’s what we’re seeing this week.

So, what’s coming? My wife says I’m too much of a pessimist. I prefer to think I’m a realist and that the reality we’re facing is that of the tribulation foretold by the prophets and Christ Himself. I don’t say these things to bring fear, but to encourage you to be prepared. Just as God took Noah through the flood, He promises to be our refuge during these times as well. When this time in history hits us full force, will you let doubt take control and bring turmoil into your life? Or will you find rest in Him?

One of my church’s elders taught on Habakkuk this past Sunday. In his teaching, he made a point about verses 1:5-6. “Look among the nations, and see; wonder and be astounded. For I am doing a work in your days that you would not believe if told.” We often hear this verse used to introduce something positive and wonderful. But in continuing to verse 6, it says, “For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation who march through the breadth of the earth, to seize dwellings not their own.” The prophecy was about tribulation that was coming. Sounds like a prophecy for today, as well.

2021 is about to begin. Keep your eyes on Christ. He is our refuge in times of trouble, and I believe it will be a time when we will indeed move mountains.

mask image

One Doctor’s Take on Masks and COVID testing

I’ve been asked on more than one occasion what I thought about masks and the mandates for such. At first, I simply replied with what I knew from my training and experience after 33 years in Emergency Medicine. Yet, as I thought about it, I realized there might be new studies on the topic of which I was unaware. That led me to do a deep dive into the research regarding masks and respiratory illnesses–to find the evidence behind evidence-based medicine. That is, after all, what the CDC, WHO, and Dr. Faucies of the world tout, isn’t it? Evidence-based medicine? If only they practiced what they preached. I’ve read/reviewed over 150 studies, papers, and articles on the topic and came up with a 50+page paper for your review, should you be interested. That page count is likely to grow as new studies come out. It’s a bit long to put on a web page, so the pdf is available for you here:

One Doctor’s Take on Masks and COVID testing

(rev 21 Nov 2020)

(rev 11 Dec 2020 – with additional info on COVID testing)

(rev 28 Dec 2020 – now at 63 pages)

(rev 10 March 2021)

9rev 12 April 2021 – now at 65 pages)

Update: 5 Dec 2022 — For anyone interested at this point, the following study: https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/M22-1966 performed at 29 health centers across the globe simply confirms what I wrote in this article over two years ago.

Open-minded?

For the open-minded . . .

Most people see themselves as open-minded. They also see themselves as being correct in their beliefs. So, what happens when those beliefs are confronted by differing facts—not opinion, but facts? Just how open does that mind remain?

You need only observe a Facebook comment thread to see that truly open minds are as rare as common sense these days. The CDC and mainstream media say that vaccines are safe and effective—critical for public health—and no number of scientific studies refuting that will sway your belief. You hear that such-and-such politician is a liar, racist, and morally corrupt, and the lack of factual proof of those claims makes no difference.  Or the reverse—a person you revere remains a “saint” despite evidence of his or her corruption. When faced with reality—again, facts, not hearsay—what does such a person do? Give it critical thought? Seek out unbiased information? Search out other opinions? In the multiple-choice answer, it’s “None of the above.”

In the 1950s, a name was given to this psychological tension caused by conflicting ideas and beliefs: “Cognitive dissonance, the mental conflict that occurs when beliefs or assumptions are contradicted by new information. The unease or tension that the conflict arouses in people is relieved by one of several defensive maneuvers: they reject, explain away, or avoid the new information; persuade themselves that no conflict really exists; reconcile the differences; or resort to any other defensive means of preserving stability or order in their conceptions of the world and of themselves. The concept was developed in the 1950s by American psychologist Leon Festinger and became a major point of discussion and research.”[Britannica.com]

Lawyers deal with this repeatedly in the courtroom. In medicine, we see it daily when someone insists on being prescribed an antibiotic for a viral illness. On social media, the most common reaction seems to be lashing out at the source of such new information with name calling, insults, libel, and other verbal attacks. On many university campuses today, the reaction is disruptive protest or even violence. Forget free speech and civil discourse. Forget being open-minded.

Although the condition now has a “name,” it’s nothing new. Mankind hasn’t changed. In the Bible, we read of this condition in many places in both the Old and New Testaments. Isaiah speaks of men’s idolatrous folly, saying, “They know not, nor do they discern, for he has shut their eyes, so that they cannot see, and their hearts, so that they cannot understand.” [Isaiah 44:18] Ezekiel also spoke to this condition, “Son of man, you dwell in the midst of a rebellious house, who has eyes to see, but see not, who have ears to hear, but hear not, for they are a rebellious house.” [Ezekiel 12:2] Moses in Deuteronomy 29:4, Jeremiah 5:21, David in the Psalms, Matthew, Mark, Luke, Paul, and others all speak of having eyes that do not see, ears that do not hear, and hearts that do not understand. Human nature is just that, human.

In each of the situations presented in these scriptures, the people fought to preserve their concept of an orderly world as well as their self images. However, to do so was then described as rebellion because they did not seek God’s answer to the problem. Why? Because God is the answer.

And therein lays perhaps the greatest cause of cognitive dissonance, being confronted by God’s truth, which is absolute, or maybe by the very idea of God’s existence. Evolution? It’s diametrically opposed to God and His creation. You cannot reconcile the two, despite many attempts to do so over the past 160 years. The LGBTQI lifestyle? To live it, you must reject God’s truth. Abortion? Try explaining away the murder of innocent life to God when His judgment comes. Religion? God says there is only one way into His kingdom, not the ecumenical teaching that all paths lead to God. That same way is the solution to the psychological turmoil of cognitive dissonance.

What one way is the answer? Christ. Through God’s grace He not only gives us access to Him through Christ, He offers us eyes to see, ears to hear, and hearts to understand. In Matthew, Jesus tells us, “This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. Indeed, in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says: ‘You will indeed hear but never understand, and you will indeed see but never perceive. For this people\’s heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.\’ But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear.” [Matthew 13:13-16] Who is it with eyes that see and ears that hear? Followers of Christ.

So, where do you stand?

If you’re one of those followers, you’re probably saying “Amen” after reading this. If you’re not a follower, you’re likely feeling some agitation and trying to reason away what I’ve written. The good news is that God’s eyes are always seeing and His ears always hear. Maybe you should ask Him for help in finding the truth. I speak from experience. He led me away from agnosticism and opened my eyes and unstopped my ears. Isn’t it time for you to join the truly open-minded?

Why thrillers?

So, I’m asked, why do you write suspense and thrillers? The simple answer is that I write what I like to read. I’ve always enjoyed an edge-of-the-seat reading experience. You know, the kind of book where it’s one in the morning and you have go to work at eight, but want to read one more chapter first. Then, three chapters later you finally give in to your need for sleep. Which genre of books gives you that? For me, it’s suspense and thrillers. But a good thriller isn’t just a string of action scenes. There has to be strong characters with real-life relationships. And there has to be a message of some kind for me to close the book and feel fulfilled. A good book moves you along with the plot while rooting for the characters. A great book has depth and gets you thinking about more than the story line and whether or not the guy gets the girl.

Have I succeeded in writing the kind of book I like to read? I can only say, I hope so. I realize that not everyone enjoys all genres. Those that do are “rare birds.” But I hope that I’m delivering a message that can get every reader thinking, while also giving her a story that keeps her involved, and maybe keeps her up ‘til the wee hours of the morning. I write a mix of thrillers, from medical to political to general police. Most of my stories revolve around issues of social injustice – human trafficking, medical kidnapping, and property rights – or, more recently, looking into Biblical prophecies and how they’re being fulfilled today. (Do you know who sits on David’s throne today?)

As a Christian, I write from my Christian worldview. That doesn’t mean I’m writing my books “for the choir.” My desire is to reach everyone with the message I believe God wants me to impart. After all, these are issues that affect us all, whether directly or indirectly. Still, I honor my beliefs by writing “clean” fiction. You won’t find explicit sex, profanity, or the Lord’s Name taken in vain in my books. Yes, the characters might find themselves in very worldly situations, but that’s the world we live in, the same world Jesus walked in despite our technological advances. As Solomon said, “There’s nothing new under the sun.”

Again, why do I write suspense and thrillers? Maybe my simple answer isn’t so straightforward after all, because the books I like to read are not typically “simple” books. A moving plot. Real-life characters caught up in true-to-life situations. A theme or message that makes you think beyond the story. Not to mention, a story presented from a Godly point-of-view. That’s the kind of book I like to read. I hope I’ve succeeded in writing such books as well.

What if?

What if … that’s the beginning of every story. What? No, I’m sorry. It’s not “Once upon a time, in a land far, far away.” It’s really “what if.” What if … a troll lived under a bridge and liked to eat goats. What if … loving parents on a dying planet shot their baby to Earth, where he had super powers and grew up to represent the American way.

Or, what if … you lost the most important thing in your life. The Bible’s Parable of the Lost Coin tells of the great lengths to which one woman goes to find one lost coin, one out of ten. Yet, what if that “thing” wasn’t an item, but a person? What would you do to find him?

Every story begins with a premise, a “what if.” From there you add the characters and, around the characters, you build a plot and give it a locale. Sometimes those characters are like your children, and head in directions you don’t necessarily want them to go. It’s true. Even though the author creates them, and places them in a world of the author’s creation, they go off on tangents, throw tantrums, or get stuck in old habits. I’m often surprised when one of my characters does or says something I never planned for her to do or say. They do take on a “life” of their own. Sometimes they wander down a path they shouldn’t be on and need an obstacle thrown in their way to “ease” them in the right direction. At other times, it might require a hard kick in the seat. Sound familiar? Is your back side as sore as mine?

So, how does this apply to my story, Indebted? Without giving away spoilers, the story is one of loss, and ultimately, hope and redemption. Young Alice Cummings lost her mother to cancer when Alice was ten, and she was raised in rural, western North Carolina by her alcoholic father. Her search for love and family leads her to get pregnant out-of-wedlock, in an era when that was not socially acceptable, the late 1960s. Upon returning home, her father makes good his earlier threat and takes the baby one night–and “sells” him. That’s where the tale begins.

But every story needs a middle and an ending, too. What does Alice do? How can she find her son when she’s a young, unemployed runaway? What problems will she encounter? While the heart of the story is her search for love and a family, it’s her encounters along the way, and the obstacles she overcomes, that add the flesh, bone, and sinew to a narrative that keeps you reading, wanting to know what comes next.

Still, I wasn’t fully settled with the idea of a single, straight-line narrative. Oh no, I had to make it hard on myself, give myself a challenge, and add a second plot line. In this one, current day, best-selling author, Myra Mitchell has a life-changing complication thrown into her path. She’s the “Diva of Disaster” who now faces a calamity like one she might throw at one of her own characters. Will she have enough time to write one final book to leave as her legacy? She finds … oh wait, I promised no spoilers. So, how will her story intertwine with that of Alice Cummings?

The idea for this yarn came to me in that quiet, half-sleep period just before waking for the day. My wife is continually amazed when I wake up and tell her I just had an idea for a book, or that I figured out how to solve a plot hole. She doesn’t, however, buy it when I tell her I have writer’s block and use that as an excuse to take an afternoon nap. Hmmm… Seriously, a few years back I wanted to enter a short story in Writer’s Digest’s annual contest and couldn’t come up with an idea. Then, voilà, I woke up with one. Yet, as I wrote the short story, I kept feeling like I could never do the idea justice in fewer than 4,000 words. I needed to add the flesh and bones. Since I still practiced Emergency Medicine at the time, it took me a year and half to finish the novel, and another six months to polish and prepare it for market.

I guess after throwing in that reference to Emergency Medicine, I should tell you a bit more about myself. Yes, I am a doctor, but no, after 30 years in the E.R. (with some brief time off in a Family Practice for good behavior), I have not seen it all. Still, my life’s experiences have been varied and in many ways profound. I grew up in the Midwest, where my seventh grade English teacher told my mother I’d grow up to be a writer. However, rebellious teen that I was, I promptly took a path in science that led to majoring in Bio-Medical Engineering at Duke University, followed by medical school at the University of Cincinnati. The U.S. Army, in its finite wisdom, gave me a scholarship for medical school, so I completed my advanced training at Madigan Army Medical Center in Tacoma, WA, and graduated to a world of major trauma, as well as head colds and the injuries of weekend warriors. After running a Level 2 trauma center, I became a research Flight Surgeon where I learned to fly a helicopter and re-designed body armor. (Yes, my engineering did come in handy once upon a time, in a lab far, far away.) As I said, my experiences have been diverse.

My ER tales range from hilarious to those provoking tears. I can still see the nurses rushing to assist me as a 200-pound woman beat me about the neck and shoulders as she insisted she was shrinking and would soon disappear. No, wait. I didn’t see those nurses because they were rolling on the floor behind the nurses’ station, laughing their heads off. Seems I recall they also disappeared from the room when a nineteen-year-old newlywed private asked why he and his bride couldn’t conceive. After all, they’d been sleeping together since the wedding six months earlier. That’s all, sleeping. No explicit, implicit, or even imaginary sex scene there. Goes back to an old ER axiom, “You can’t cure stupid.”

But on the flip side, there have been the cases that sent me home numb. I had a 45-year old man who arrived in ventricular fibrillation, back in the day before ambulances carried defibrillators. He proved the Biblical truth that we all have our appointed time. All seven defibrillators in the ER failed to work on him. Not one would deliver a shock. Yet, they all tested normally the next day. And nothing will ruin your day faster than a father running into the ER with his dead child in his arms. Why, Lord? Why this little one?

So, why do I bring up these examples? It’s all “fodder” for the word processor. These incidents all provoke that “what if” response in me. One quote from Indebted is “nothing in life is wasted on a writer.” Although none of the stories I just mentioned have yet made it into one of my books, they might. My experiences in becoming a Flight Surgeon included learning how to abandon a helicopter that just crashed into water. That became the inspiration for one scene in my book Looks that Deceive.

I should add at this point that Indebted is a bit different from my other books. A bit different? My wife rolls her eyes. I mean, after all, with all of my general science, engineering, military, and emergency medicine training and experience, would I ever envision myself becoming another Nicholas Sparks? My main genre is medical thrillers, with a Christian bent. That said, Indebted remains my wife’s favorite (so far).

Fringe …

On the Fringe of Medicine ...

Have you ever watched a TV show or movie, or finished a novel, and found yourself scratching your head at the end, wondering how that writer came up with such a lame idea? If the story was a medically or technology based one, there’s a good chance the writer was flirting with the edge of good science – not cutting-edge or state-of-the-art, but pseudo-science, fringe medicine, or, as some call it, deviant science – and fell off.

Now, I’m not talking about badly portrayed medicine. Television is full of that. I don’t think a week goes by without some character getting an injection into the neck or just above the elbow, neither of which is medically valid. Or what about those lead characters who get shot in the chest, just below the shoulder, and are back at work, busting the bad guys in a week, or less? Trust me, if you’re a writer, don’t use TV, or the movies, as your source of research. I’m sure you already know that.

I am talking about the actual science or medicine behind a story. Is it reality or something on the fringe of science? In medicine, that fringe is often called “alternative” medicine. Such practices as homeopathy and radionics (psionics or dowsing) fall into the “alternative” category, as does aromatherapy, the use of oils, much of herbal medicine, psychic healing, iridology, reflexology, cupping, and more. To date, these forms of therapy have not been scientifically proven and rely on anecdotal accounts of their benefits alone. Each subjective testimony is fraught with potential bias and error, and double-blind testing of such claims has typically failed to show any advantage. You never hear of the treatment failures, just the stories of those claiming positive results.

Please note that, in this post, I’m excluding “neo-traditional,” or ethno-medicine, which consists of traditional, culturally-based forms of treatment such as acupuncture. While these therapies cannot be explained scientifically, some of them have been shown to work and studies into why they work are on-going.

If you decide to include some form of “alternative” medicine in your story, don’t be surprised to find them explained in technical, scientific terms when you research them. Herbal medicine has renamed itself “naturopathy.” Radionics has its mysterious “black box” that looks like a scientific instrument. One of the trends in “alternative” medicine is to take on scientific trappings to make the modality seem legit and of proven benefit.

Mentioning a character’s use of one of these therapies as simply one more layer of her personality is unlikely to cause you problems. However, the risks of using “alternative” medicine in any significant way in a story are many. You must present it accurately, not just in scientific terms, but as its proponents present it. Even when you do so, you run the risk of alienating readers on both sides of that fence. Disbelieving readers might be turned off by its use, while advocates might get angry if it’s used negatively or presented as fraudulent.

And that gets to the crux of using fringe medicine, or science in general, in our writing. If it’s to be a major part of the story, you must make the idea believable. You, the writer, must get the reader to suspend his or her beliefs long enough to accept the premise. The further out on the fringe that therapy is, the harder that task becomes.

Mammas …

Mammas, Don’t Let Your Babies Grow up to be Writers …

With apologies to Ed Bruce, Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson, I’d have to say that writers are the cowboys of the creative arts. For (some) writers, it’s a lonely life – immersed in a world of their own creation – and hard on those who love them. We’d rather write you a book than give you diamonds or gold, but maybe that’s because few writers actually make a living by following their passion.  And every night starts a new day … as we often toil long into the wee hours of the morning, in our faded blue jeans.

Yet, have you ever asked a cowboy to give up his lifestyle? The handful I’ve personally met over my lifetime would say “no.” There’s something about working hard in the wide, open ranges of a ranch that permeates their very being and becomes part of them. They’d no sooner give up that sense of freedom and gratification of a job well done than to give up an arm … or their favorite horse.

Writers can be like that, too. Give up that freedom of creating a world full of intriguing characters, wondering what kind of trouble they’ll get into next? Never. Abandon that sense of fulfillment in completing a story that entertains and touches others, perhaps keeping those readers reading well into those same wee hours the author works crafting his next tale? Not only no, but … well, you know. They’d rather give up that arm, as long as it’s not the one they use to write.

I know firsthand how writing can become a passion that seeps into your soul. I can’t say I always wanted to be a writer, but I always wrote. I wrote technical papers, journal articles, and manuals. I even tried my hand at magazine articles. However, the craft of creative writing was never something I had aspired to. I’m not sure why, but I think it had more to do with not having been exposed to it in school than anything else. 

And that’s where my “Mamma” came in. You see, she let me grow up to be a doctor and such. And yet, she kept at me, urging me to write. I guess my seventh grade English teacher first saw that spark of creativity in me and convinced my mother that I could be a great writer. However, I kept rebuffing her suggestions that I write a book. You see, there was med school, military service, getting married and starting a family, starting a civilian career, and all of those “real life” time demands that we all face that limited my view of a horizon that she seemed to see clearly. She eased up on me for a bit, but began to hammer away again when our children went off to college and the nest emptied. After yet one more of her “reminders,” I happened upon a writing contest and decided to give it a go. Placing in the top five was enough to ignite something inside. Seventeen years and multiple novels later, I can honestly call myself an author and not only has that passion for writing soaked in, it now oozes out.

So, Mammas (and  Papas) remember that you can and will influence your children’s lives not just in those “formative” years, but well beyond. There will be times when you can see a hidden talent in your child that you know beyond doubt could change his life. As parents, we’re a lot like God in this way. He sees in us the talents He gave us and He gently pushes us to utilize those gifts. It seems that most of the time, though, that His timing does not correlate to our timing, and sometimes He has to give us a swift kick to get us back on course. So, if your child doesn’t see it right away, maybe the timing isn’t right. Stick with it, just as God perseveres with us. Oh, and it’s okay to let your babies grow up to be writers.

Hunting Your Audience

(This is the second part of Braxton’s post. Read “Audience? What audience? here.)


For many, finding their audience is like a novice out duck hunting. Imagine, up at the crack of dawn, sitting in a blind on a gray autumn day. You’ve thrown out some decoys, hoping they attract the right ducks, and sit—and wait. An hour later, nothing. Two hours, four hours. You rub your hands for warmth and say a quick prayer. Suddenly, you hear them. You look up and there are thousands of ducks heading your way. But then, the flock passes by overhead. They aren’t landing with your decoys. In desperation, you raise your shotgun and shoot into the middle of the flock. Two ducks fall into the water nearby . . . while the rest fly on.

Yep, as an Indie author, finding the right audience has been like that. I started out blind to all things marketing. Branding my book covers? Took three tries. The decoys? Ads aimed at people I thought would like my books. Rubbing my hands for warmth was actually wringing my hands wondering what to do next. And my attempts at advertising? Pretty much a shotgun blast that brought in a fraction of a fraction of the readers the ads went to.

I’ve learned much by doing and a lot more by failing. If only the failed attempts weren’t so expensive . . .

Not all of the failures were my fault. The market keeps changing. What worked last year isn’t working now. When I wrote this, we—I and nine other authors—were about to release a box set of brand new novellas: Kill Zone: Ten Deadly Thrillers. Our goal was simple. Sell enough (at $0.99 on pre-order) to make the USA Today bestsellers list. Jan Thompson spearheaded the effort after a box set she developed last year made the list. Despite the efforts of ten authors, we’re a week away from release and have only 20% of the numbers we need.

A year ago, advertising on Amazon held a good chance of turning a $200/month author to a $10K/month author. Then everyone and his cousin flocked to Amazon ads. Now, you’re fortunate to get your ads to show. Facebook was the same way a year before that. Bookbub, the holy grail of book advertising, accepts fewer than 20% of submissions. They’ve turned me down 15 times. Other promotional venues have shown moderate success, as long as I gave my book away for free. 

So, the bottom line is that you really do need to understand your audience because it will require thinking outside the box to be someplace where they can find you . . . as well as faith and prayer. How do you stand out from the ever-growing crowd? First and foremost, write a quality book. Then, with that knowledge of your audience, find a venue that directly targets them. Don’t go with a certain promo just because everyone else says how great it is. That might be old news. For me, I’ve got a new place to try—now that I have a fresh perspective on my audience. And with faith and maybe more than a little prayer, that effort should pay off.
 

Have you discovered other ways to “stand out from the crowd” to get your book into the hands of your audience?

Audience? What audiance?

We all know what an audience is. A big challenge for many is finding that audience. That’s certainly true for Indie authors, and becoming truer for trad pub authors, whose publishers expect more and more marketing from them.

If you Google the phrase “finding an audience as an author,” you’ll come up with dozens of blog posts and articles on the topic. They all pretty much say the same thing. You might read the first one and your eyes glaze over as you think, Duh! That’s obvious. But had you truly considered it before and acted on it?

A lot of it is just common sense. Geographic: Where do my readers live? Are they urban or rural? Does their climate have them hibernating over long, dreary winters with a pile of your books by their reading chair to brighten the day? Demographic: Age, gender, race, native language, social status, and more. Some bloggers tell you to know your target before writing your book. True, to a point. You don’t want to write for action-oriented males, ages 18-25, if your real audience should be women, ages 25-50, seeking a romantic escape . . . because their own action-oriented male is asleep on the couch. <Ahem>

A branch of demographics has been labeled psychographics. That might include things like readers’ backgrounds/upbringing; their health; their goals, beliefs, and values; and their lifestyles. Then there’s their behavioral traits. Do they prefer paperback or eBook? Are they already loyal to your genre? Do they tend to buy on impulse and throw money at books, or are they Amazonians who struggle to pay $0.99 for a good book? (Yes, that’s a dig at Amazon, the epitome of love/hate relationships for authors.)
 
The answers to some of these questions really are apparent. The USA is the #1 market for books and the native language is English, obviously. But some answers don’t become clear until you’ve established yourself as an author. If you’re just starting out, your demographics are likely to look like . . . you. Makes sense. You’re writing what you like, so it stands to reason that others like you might as well. By the release of book two, you’ll likely have discovered other traits that help broaden your perspective about your readers. Things like Facebook pages and Google Analytics (to track your website) can be a tremendous help.

Having said all this, there is one thing all these blogs and articles don’t mention—our faith. As Christians, we can’t ignore our beliefs when discussing audiences. Are you writing to the choir? Maybe you want to pull fence-sitters back to earth. Perhaps you’re called to reach the fallen, heathen world. Maybe it’s not a task of you finding your audience, but of God’s targeted audience finding you . . . and Christ through you. Knowing this, understanding God’s goal for your writing, is what really counts before writing your book.

So, you’re thinking, Okay. I’m getting a sense of who sits in my audience. What next? Well, stay tuned for Part 2.
 
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