There’s an interesting discussion about the emerging church going on over at Rebecca Luella Miller’s blog A Christian Worldview of Fiction. Of course I had to chime in. And of course, I made someone mad. Check it out.

So you can spare me the evangelistic pep talk, and you can spare me your asides about my “lack of discernment” and you can spare me the scripture verses you’ve hand-selected to justify your position and your approach. The sheer vastness of expressions of Christianity (to which I am not hostile; it is a rich and robust tradition) is a sad commentary on the supposed clarity of God’s revelation. If clarity were the goal, you’d think God could have hired a better stable of writers.

So, since politely demurring from making grandiose claims is seen as weak and wishy-washy, there it is. There’s how I see things. And trust me, I’m as certain and confident in my views as you are in yours.

Geesh. All I said was something about how this generation lacks the ability to discern between good an evil yada yada yada.

If you’re in the mood for some intense, nuanced theological discussion, start here.

(I get creamed in comment #174, if you want to check it out. And let me know if my statements sounded rude.)

What happened to the sun? I haven’t seen it in weeks. The forecast indicates it might peek through in the next 10 days, but I’m not counting on it. I’m not being cynical, just realistic. It was supposed to be partly sunny yesterday afternoon. I think I saw a silver or whitish glowing cloud. Maybe that means the sun still exists?

But. No excuses.

I’ve embarked upon a fairly significant reorganization of The Exception thanks to feedback I’ve received from kind readers and not so kind. Ironically, it was the scathing review I received from a Marcher Lord Select voter that prompted the reorganization. After I got over the somewhat *a hem* insensitive tone, I realized the reviewer was echoing some criticism I’d heard from kind readers. If more than three people say the beginning of my novel is slow . . . it’s time to rethink some things.

If I were an established author, I might say, “Get over it.” But, I’m a nobody in the publishing world. This is no time for snobbery.

In the spirit of Project Runway: make it work. (The new season just started, didja know?)

There aren’t any good youtube renditions of this song. The link below is the best I could do. Lyrics are worth reading regardless. (You = God, except in the third line…at least, that’s the way I read it.)

Click here to listen to song clip.

Don’t Leave Just Yet

by Needtobreathe

We’ve lost our love somehow
It’s proof without a doubt
You give up everything you have to get what you want
And I know I don’t separate
But my sins are in the way
And I know you don’t let me get away too far

I’ve begged for one more chance
About a million times and I
Come back and ask you for forgiveness again
It’s easy to forget
The glory in the way we met
But you always remind me of the love we had

Let’s give this one more chance before we say goodbye
Don’t leave just yet
I was mistaken
My hands are tied and my time is wasting
I just want you to know that I need you now
Don’t leave just yet

Cause we’re all just the same
We all take the back door
We might be to blame
But I’ll be the one to change
I don’t wanna come back to see you get away

Let’s give this one more chance before we say goodbye
Don’t leave just yet
I was mistaken
My hands are tied and my time is wasting
I just want you to know that I need you now
Don’t leave just yet

I have a bone to pick. This blog series may offend some. Heck, it makes me squirm, but I feel compelled to share my thoughts anyway.

There’s often talk in Christian circles about divorce and how it negatively affects children. This talk is valid, but I’m beginning to think it’s unbalanced.

I’m ready to hear a different sermon. One on loveless marriages. ‘Christian’ loveless marriages specifically, and how these marriages affect children. Not just a sermon, a scientific analysis perhaps. Maybe even a self help book.

We have books for children of alcoholics. What about a book called ‘Adult Children of Dead Hearts’?  One specifically written for children whose parents:

• wore ‘happy’ masks to hide bitterness and resentment
• never exhibited any true passion but merely tolerated each other
• were determined to stay together ’till death no matter what, even if it killed them spiritually and emotionally (ironically)
• stayed married because Paul’s escape clause (adultery) never gave them an out, and/or because they couldn’t bear to commit the sin of divorce in front of God and community (well, mostly community)

If asked to define a successful marriage, how many of us might say ‘It is one where both parties fulfill their marriage vow to stay together until death.’

Translation: the couple never gets divorced.

I’ve even defined successful marriage in the above terms, but lately, I’m realizing this definition is severely inadequate.  I’ll begin to explain why in my next blog post.

Click the image to create an account and vote!

Voting for the second round of Marcher Lord Select is upon us. Oh, by the way, mine didn’t make the cut . . . did I forget to mention that? Regardless it is a unique opportunity to positively affect a writer’s future, so I encourage everyone to vote for their favorite(s).

My top two at the moment are:

Neil Before God
The Polaris Deception

My ’second’ list is:

The Last Apostle
Primary Source
Vinnie’s Diner
Zinovy’s Journey

Of the above, four did not grab me based on the blurb and synopsis, but something in the writing caught my attention and made me want to continue reading. Which goes to show, for me it is not ‘plot’ so much as ‘approach’. A good writer can make even mundane events seem interesting . . .

Click the image to create an account and view the entries.

Calling all voters! Round One voting for Marcher Lord Select begins tomorrow. You are the editorial board and you get to decide what Christian speculative novel gets published by Marcher Lord Press.

It’s simple. Click on the image above, create an account and vote! Of course, I invite you to vote for my novel ‘The Exception’, which is in the Main contest.

Three (3) is the minimum you may vote for. The maximum is twenty (20). I’ve chosen eleven from the mix and look forward to casting my votes.

Don’t forget to check out the Premise competition too. There you can vote for a minimum of three (3) and a maximum of twenty-five (25).

I hope you join the fun. No matter the outcome, I am honored to have been invited to participate in the competition.

I like the lyrics to this song, particularly the bridge. (Let my ruins become the ground you build upon…)

I’ve got some ruins. Prime real estate. Do you think He’s in the mood to build?

Ruins

by Bebo Norman

Laying flat upon my back
All the world in motion
Everything goes by so fast
I feel like I’m frozen
After all is said and done
Did I fail to mention
Everything I haven’t done
All my good intentions

This is my holy hour, This is my world on fire
This is my desperate play, This is where I am saved

I’ve no fear of height or depth
I’ve no fear of crashing
The single thing I fear the most
Simply feeling nothing

This is my holy hour, This is my world on fire
This is my desperate play, This is where I am made
This is my kingdom come, This is my freedom song
This is my helpless state, This is where I am saved

Let my ruins become the ground you build upon
Let my ruins become the start
Let my ruins become the ground you build it on
From what’s left of my broken heart

This is my holy hour, This is my world on fire
This is my desperate play, This is where I am made
This is my kingdom come, This is my freedom song
This is my helpless state, This is where I am saved

Click the image to create an account and view the entries.

“One of the novels . . . will be the next Marcher Lord Press novel. I think that’s pretty cool, personally. Thank you, my editorial board member, for reading these with seriousness and prayerfulness. Your primary guideline as you consider these is to ask yourself this question: does this make me want to read this book? Voting will occur over a 3-day period beginning on November 13. Friday the 13th. Mwahahaha.” Jeff Gerke, Marcher Lord Press

Will my novel be the next Marcher Lord Press novel? Only if you go vote!!! (Okay, okay, vote for your three favorites and if mine happens to be one of them, p.s. Don’t forget to vote in the Premise contest!)

The following topic is provided by Faith ‘n Fiction Saturdays @ My Friend Amy’s Blog.

Today’s Discussion

Anne Rice became quite famous for her books about vampires but when she converted back to her Christian faith, she left her vampire stories behind much to the dismay of her fans. She felt there were no redemptive stories to tell about vampires. Meanwhile, Christian fiction has been releasing a few more books about vampires.

So my question for you today is…what do you think about these kinds of stories? Do you enjoy the fictional vampire stories or the fictional stories about angels? Are you more likely to read a story about an angel than a vampire? What do you think is the appeal of these books?

My Answer

Beginning with the last question “What’s the appeal?” I don’t know! What IS appealing about vampires? They drink blood and live forever separate from God. Umm . . . depressing! I don’t get it. (I suppose there are probably breeds of vampires . . . maybe not all of them are immortal, but there’s still the drinking blood thing.)

I don’t understand the appeal of angels in fiction either. While not depressing, they are far too mysterious and complicated for my feeble mind to comprehend, or anyone’s for that matter (in my opinion). To be honest, I think if God wanted/needed me to have an in depth understanding of angels, he would have written more about them in his book.

Obviously I don’t read books about vampires or angels, but if asked to choose between the two . . . Hmmm . . . I’d probably choose . . . neither. (Or, I’d start one of them and never finish it, since that seems to be a habit of mine.)

Some more good news! My poem ‘Surfing’ is published in the Houston Literary Review this month.

To check it out, click the link below and select ‘Poetry Issue’. My poem appears on page 10 (under the name Allison Thomas…but I promise, it’s me…I just notified them of the misprint).

Surfing, by Jessica Thomas