Category Archives: Apologetics
Is Santa Dead?
The little boy could not have been over 4, maybe 5 years old. He was wearing a sweatshirt meant for a kid around 7 and it swallowed him. He sat on the examining table playing with a straw, bending and flexing the jointed part of the straw. His mother sat in a chair, silent, sullen and withdrawn. I had already decided I was not going to become a pediatrician, but that didn’t keep me from seeing children in the Comprehensive Care Clinic. I was halfway through my senior year in medical school and proudly called myself “Student Doctor Hennigan”. As student doctors, we began to see our own patients in the CCC beginning our junior year. The care of these patients was overseen by family practice physicians with years of training. Any decision we made as students was directed by our “attending” physicians.
I had on my short white coat longing for the day I could move into the long, white coat — the “uniform” of a real doctor. On my breast pocket, I had pinned a flashing Santa Claus face that winked and blinked. I pointed to the pin. “What is Santa bringing you this year?”
The little boy flipped the straw and shrugged. “Santa Claus is dead.”
My mouth fell open and I glanced at the mother. A fiery defiance filled her eyes and she raised an eyebrow. “That’s right. Santa’s dead. In fact, you pronounced him dead, didn’t you Doctor?”
I stuttered. I opened and closed my mouth and she stood up and stepped very close. Her gazed bored into mine. “Now, you listen here. You brought up Santa to my son and I done told him Santa ain’t coming. I had to tell him Santa died cause I ain’t got no money this year for Christmas. You understand? And, unless you gonna cough up some dough, I suggest you tell my son that Santa is dead as a door knob and you personally pushed his body down to the morgue.”
I turned quickly and left the room, slamming the door behind me and stood there in the hall gasping for breath. This is not what I was prepared for in medical school. Santa was dead and I had pronounced him? Tears stung my eyes and I leaned against the wall with the sudden realization that as much as I wanted to, I couldn’t help everyone anymore than I could heal everyone. I had no money myself. I lived off of borrowed student loans or I would march back in and press a wad of twenties into that mother’s hands so that kid could have Christmas that year. But, instead, I limped away to my attending and begged for direction. He just laughed and told me to go back in and take care of the child’s physical needs.
“It’s not our place to promote magical thinking.” He sneered at me. “Go back and examine that child and don’t you say another word about Santa. And, take that stupid pin off your coat.”
I avoided the mother’s gaze while I took care of the child. I never mentioned Santa or Christmas again. I gave her a prescription for antibiotics and stiffly walked out of the room. I had no prescription for her bitterness.
Two thoughts come to mind when I recall this incident.
1 — Our culture wants to kill Santa and any and all “magical” thinking. Richard Dawkins, the famous atheist, has published a book telling children they should appreciate the universe for what it is and to encourage parents to avoid discussions of God as “magical” thinking. No matter where you stand on the issue of the existence of God, such thinking robs our children of the most important tool their minds possess — imagination. It is imagination that led to the discovery of every great scientific development through the history of mankind. It is imagination that has given us music, art, the spoken word, film, the written word, and, yes, Santa Claus. If we discourage our children to think outside the box, we condemn the future of mankind to a cold, sterile death. We indeed kill Santa Claus and every positive thought; every positive development that is to come. We become automatons; biological robots slave to our DNA. This is the ultimate end results of naturalism, the philosophy based on evolution. Just take a look at the one society in the last century that perfected a culture based on naturalism — survival of the fittest — Nazi Germany.
I personally don’t want to go there as a society. So, we need to endure the results of magical, imaginative thinking — in fact, encourage it. For, there is truth here. Santa Claus came from the story of a real man; a real human being who saw the suffering of children and reached out to them in secret and that man’s legacy lives on in Santa Claus. If we kill Santa Clause, we kill kindness and mercy and generosity. As a society we can ill afford that right now!
2 — This is the season of light; the season of giving; the season of sacrifice. No matter where you stand on the issue of Christ’s birth, there is no denial that Jesus was born in extreme poverty. His birth was quiet and unnoticed save for the angels’ announcement to the lowest of workers — shepherds. And yet, the proclamation of joy and hope by the angels was undeniable. And, in time, the Christ child would be visited by the highest of the high, three kings; three magi — wise men bearing gifts of great worth. This season as you travel about in the hustle and bustle of buying gifts and going to parties and cooking and enjoying the closeness of friends and family, pause to remember a tiny boy seated on a cold examining table playing with a straw under the impression that the spirit of giving has died. Reach out and give to those who do not have. Spread joy and happiness to those who are living in perpetual sadness. Be a Santa to those who are in need and you will prove that Santa is not dead and neither is the spirit of giving so fittingly exemplified by God’s Gift to mankind — His only Son.
On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”“What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”
He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”
“You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”
But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Luke 10:25-29
In the coming days, I will share with you how one day, not long after the events in this story, I actually KILLED Santa Claus!
One Solitary Life . . .
This past week, I had the unprecedented opportunity to once again enjoy Walt Disney World’s Candlelight Processional. In the mid-90’s I had the privilege of meeting Derick Johnson, the man who created the Voices of Liberty and was known as Disney’s “show formula” creator. He composed all of the music used in EPCOT’s annual Candlelight Processional. Mr. Johnson is a devout Christian and he viewed the Candlelight Processional as an opportunity to tell the story of our Savior to millions of visitors to Walt Disney World. The Candlelight Processional has been performed for almost twenty years three times a night between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day and always features a guest celebrity narrator. I have seen many celebrities over the years: Brian Dehenny, Cindy Williams, Joe Montagna, Jim Caveizel, and many others. Twice I’ve watched Marlee Matlin sign language the entire Christmas story and it was amazingly powerful. But, this year, Edward James Olmos blew them all away. I’ve watched this man as Admiral Adama on the new Battlestar Galactica and remember him from Blade Runner and Miami Vice. He opened the performance with a thank you to the Disney family for continuing the tradition of the Candlelight Processional and then dedicated the night’s performance to the men and women of our armed forces.
If you have never seen this performance, you simply must plan a trip to Disney World during the holidays, make a dinner reservation at one of the EPCOT restaurants with the Candlelight Processional and get a reserved seat. I will warn you. People wait two to three hours in the stand by line for a performance (it is free) and it is worth it. It is powerful. Worshipful. Praiseworthy. Now, I may violate copyright laws. This video below may be pulled. I hope not. Here is the pivotal moment in the performance when Edward James Olmos reads one of my favorite poems, “One Solitary Life” after reading the entire Christmas story throughout the musical presentation. Watch as he is so visibly moved by the story of the life of our Savior. Below the video, check out the text of “One Solitary Life” and reflect on the impact Jesus had on all of human history. Think, for just a second, what impact He can have on YOUR life in this Christmas season. For, we all have but one solitary life on this Earth and it is what we do with the life that counts in the eyes of God!
One Solitary Life
By Dr. James Allan Francis
Here is a man who was born in an obscure village, the child of a peasant woman. He grew up in another village.
He worked in a carpenter shop until He was thirty.
Then for three years He was an itinerant preacher.
He never owned a home.
He never wrote a book.
He never held an office.
He never had a family.
He never went to college.
He never put His foot inside a big city.
He never traveled two hundred miles from the place He was born.
He never did one of the things that usually accompany greatness.
He had no credentials but Himself…
While still a young man, the tide of popular opinion turned against him. His friends ran away. One of them denied Him. He was turned over to His enemies. He went through the mockery of a trial. He was nailed upon a cross between two thieves.
While He was dying His executioners gambled for the only piece of property He had on earth – His coat. When He was dead, He was laid in a borrowed grave through the pity of a friend.
Nineteen long centuries have come and gone, and today He is a centerpiece of the human race and leader of the column of progress.
I am far within the mark when I say that all the armies that ever marched, all the navies that were ever built; all the parliaments that ever sat and all the kings that ever reigned, put together, have not affected the life of man upon this earth as powerfully as has that one solitary life.
This essay was adapted from a sermon by Dr James Allan Francis in “The Real Jesus and Other Sermons” © 1926 by the Judson Press of Philadelphia (pp 123-124 titled “Arise Sir Knight!”).
A Visit With Mary
I was asked to write a monologue from Mary’s memories for Brookwood Baptist Church’s event, “Joy”. Now that it has been performed, I want to share it with you on this first day of December as we count down the days until we celebrate the birth of our Savior.
A Visit With Mary
Mary is sitting on a stool that looks hand made. She is sitting beside a table that appears hand carved or hand made. She picks up a hand carved animal and seems to study it.
No parent should ever have to bury their child. Ever. When you hold your newborn baby, you never imagine the end. You only think of the beginning. All is fresh and new and tomorrow is forever.
She puts the animal back on the table.
I heard about my new baby from an angel. Really! You don’t believe me, but that is just fine. An angel told me I was going to have a baby boy and even told me what to name him. I couldn’t tell just anybody. They would think I was crazy. After all, I was so young, so innocent and already engaged to be married. Yeah, engaged.
My husband was a good man. Hard working. Dedicated. Loved the Lord. He didn’t tell me about his angel until he was dying. Told me an angel visited him and told him to marry me no matter what. He listened to the angel and he listened to his heart. He loved me. And, I loved him. He was such a good father.
She picks up the animal again and paces as she talks.
There was that time we lost my son. We were traveling and you know how you always have this fear that your child will wander away and get lost. I mean he was 12! And granted a 12 year old should be responsible but for days we thought he was playing with the other guys only to discover we had left him behind in the city! I should have known he would be different. What kind of child comes with the birth announcement of an angel? He wasn’t hanging out with the other guys or hitting on the girls. He was in the church talking to the heavy thinkers; you know, the philosophers, the historians, the theologians and here I’m going to have to be a little proud and not so angry when I tell you that he was more than carrying his own weight. Some of these very intelligent men were astonished at what my son knew.
Mary goes back to the stool and sits down. She places the animal on the table and becomes very thoughtful.
Of course, his brothers and sisters never really liked him that well. They all knew he was different. That’s why that time at the feast I tried to stop them. They thought he was crazy. I tried to explain that their brother was not crazy; he was not delusional; he was special. God had His hand on my son but they insisted on going and the words they spoke about their brother! I can’t tell you how many times since then they wished they could take those words back. When you’ve said something so hurtful to someone you love and then they die . . . well, you can never find peace again.
Mary suddenly grows very proud of her son and motions to the table.
I have this table, right here, see? It is small and not exactly perfect but my son built this for me right after he turned thirteen. And, this stool I’m sitting on he made when he turned twenty. But, all of his glorious skill with working with wood ended when he turned thirty. He stopped shaping the hearts of trees and began to shape the hearts of men.
My husband once told me that a man should be happy if he has raised someone smarter than himself or more successful than himself. He never had the opportunity to here our son speak. Such words! I once watched him carving a limb — an old, gnarled piece of driftwood from the sea of Galilee.
He started out just looking at it and studying it. And then, he began to cut away the dead twigs and strip away the rotten flesh. And, then he exposed the beautiful swirling pattern of the heart of the wood. He polished it and sanded it and coated it with oil and wax until the limb became a beautiful walking stick for my father. 
How did he see what was inside that broken, gnarled and discarded piece of wood? Only the Lord could show him the potential of what lay inside. He is that way with words. He sees into the hearts and minds of men and women and the words that cut to the quick; that expose the hurt; that sooth the pain; that heal the wound; or that prick the recalcitrant heart and those words are sharper than a two edged sword. He is the word. Yes, the very word of God.
And, yes, it would be His words that brought about his downfall. The wrong words were spoken by his brothers and they hurt him. But, the right words were spoken by my son and they killed him.
Mary looks up as if looking at Christ on the cross and hugs herself in pain.
I was there when he hung on the tree — irony of ironies he should die on the very wood he spent his life shaping. My heart was broken and I remembered the first night I held him; cold, wet; crying and hungry as angels filled the night and shepherds bowed at our feet and the skies sang with a thousand hosannas.
She unfolds her arms and gestures to the “cross”.
But, where were they now? Where were the angels as he bled on the cross? Where were the lowly shepherds who fell at his feet? Where were the songs of praise and triumph?
They were gone. The angels, like his heavenly Father, turned their backs to him in his hour of greatest need. The shepherds did not bow at his feet but hurled insults and bitter hatred and cried “Crucify Him.” And the songs of praise were replaced with a silence so profound, so deep it covered the earth with its sorrow.
Mary stumbles back in pain and sorrow and sits roughly on the stool. She mimes the action of them placing Chris in her lap. As she talks, she touches the wounds on his head, touches the wound in his side, touches the wounds on his hands.
I held him in my lap just as I had as a baby. He was cold; wet; but he no longer cried and he no longer hungered. His lifeless body sucked the very life out of the universe; the creator born of my womb; drinking from my body now limp and helpless in my arms. God had been born. God had died. And, I had been the bookends of His life.
Mary relaxes and turns back to the table. She picks up the carved animal again.
I am waiting now. Waiting for a great and glorious reunion. I was at the empty tomb! I saw my Son reborn; in new flesh still marred with the scars of his atonement. He walked among us for days and then bid us goodbye to become one with his Father. I miss him greatly whenever I touch this table or hear this stool scrape across the stones.
She closes her eyes, holds the toy animal to her face and inhales as if remembering. She opens her eyes and begins to talk.
Every now and then, I catch a glimpse of Him out of the corner of my eye or smell his fragrance on a chance breeze for His is the breath of life; His is the everlasting water; His is the Life eternal to give to us all. I have had a good life. I have had a life no mother could ever have imagined. It all started with an angel visit and it will end with my Son coming for me. He will welcome me into His arms only I will not embrace Him.
Mary falls to her knees and kneels as if at the feet of Christ, looking up in wonder.
No, I will fall at His feet in worship and praise for my son who was born to die, died so that we might liver forever!
God is in Control
There is a haunting appeal to contemplating the unknown. Since the dawn of mankind, we have turned our faces towards the heavens and searched the brilliant stars and the shining moon for answers. Who are we? Where did we come from? What is our purpose? What will happen to us after death? Is this all there is to life?
My daughter insists she has seen an angel. When we drive into our gated community, go up the slight hill and around the curve beside the large pond, she always points to a certain tree growing at the edge of the water.
“He was right there, Dad. Really, he was.” She describes a lanky, thin man with a beard and long hair wearing jeans and a simple tee shirt. She saw him as we passed but in looking back, he was gone. There and gone. A brief encounter with the unknown. At that time in her life, she needed this encounter. Struggling with her epilepsy and the terrible toll it had taken on her life as a high school student, she needed to know that God was still in control.
I did not see the angel. But then, the visitation was not for me. It was for her. A quiet message of reassurance that God is watching. We may not understand why life happens as it does, but we must cling to the assurance that God is in control. All I have to do is look up at the universe wheeling and spinning around our little oasis of life and know that God is in control. He is holding it all together and directing the path of each star, each galaxy, yes, each atom.
The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him.
He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. Colossians 1:15-20
I received a lovely email from a reader of “The 13th Demon”. I know the book seems to be a frightening and potentially horrific tale, but it is only in our terror that we see the power of God and His incredibly redemptive acts. In my book, I give a major character an affliction. I don’t want to say more than that for fear of spoiling a reader’s experience. The author of the email loved the book, particularly the story of the caterpillar. But, she didn’t like the fact I had used her affliction as that of one of the characters.
I saw in her email a hint of the pain and struggle of anyone who wakes up each day with a chronic illness. I see it in my daughter, who at 24 has just now begun to awaken to the possibility she can have her own life. She has started back to community college and is actually looking forward to holding a job and having an independent life. My wife and I marvel at the sudden change and not a day passes that I don’t look over my shoulder for the oncoming train. To my email fan, I sent commendation for her bravery and her honesty. I am all too aware of the toll such disease takes on a life. But, God is in control.
In the days to come, I will share more information about the nature of God’s messengers, angels. The power and presence of these creations of God are at the center of my books and to grow in understanding of these creatures is to get a glimpse of the unknown; a passing glimmer of God’s grace; a tall figure of reassurance standing by the road of life.
God and the Twilight Zone
This coming weekend, I will be in Lexington, Kentucky for the “God in the Dock” Apologetics Conference featuring Frank Turek. I am blessed to have been invited to this conference to display my book, “The 13th Demon: Altar of the Spiral Eye”. My book, as I have said in previous blog posts, centers around apologetic truth, or the truth of the science and evidence behind Christianity. One of the terms I use in the book, is “extra-dimensional” in describing God and the angels. I didn’t make this up. This aspect of God is well discussed in such sites as Reasons to Believe and Reasonable Faith. But, before I go into more detail on this issue, let’s look at some Bible verses:
Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the whole world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God. Psalms 90:2
God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. 1 Timothy 15b-16a
The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. Colossians 1:15-17
He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, 2 Timothy 1:9
God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” Exodus 3:14
- “You ARE God” — Notice how this verse says that “before the mountains were born” with that past tense word “were” is followed by a present tense description of God. This implies God cannot be called a “was” but always is called an “is”. In other words, our conception of time does not fit God. We exist in a single dimension of forward moving time. For us there is always yesterday, today, and tomorrow. But, for God, time is something different from our concept. God moves through time like we move through air. He cannot be confined to yesterday. He exists. Period.
- “Lives in unapproachable light” — Einstein established that if anything in our three dimensional universe ever achieves the speed of light, it will be simultaneously at all points in the universe at all times in the universe at once! And, Einstein established, despite recent scientific experiments claim, that nothing can ever travel faster than the speed of light. The speed of light is “unapproachable”. I find that very interesting considering how many times God is associate with light throughout the Bible!
- “He is before all things” — Pretty clear. Jesus, as the incarnate being of God, is before all things. Notice the present tense again. God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit as our Triune God exists before and outside of everything in our universe. God is transcendent. God exists outside of our three dimensions of space and one dimension of time. Which He would HAVE to do if He created our universe and its four dimensions of space time.
- “Before the Beginning of time” — interesting that Stephen Hawking way back in the 1970’s won the Nobel Peace Prize for Science for establishing as a fact that when our universe came into existence, all of space and time began. Before that creation event, time did not exist. This verse describes that time had a beginning thousands of years before Hawking confirmed it!
- “I AM” is probably the best description of God in the Bible. God can’t say “I was” or “I will be” because for God, there is no confinement to time as we understand it. If man had made up God, how in the world would he have conceived of these extra-dimensional descriptions of God when those concepts were as foreign to ancient man as moon travel dynamics.
You see, science has established that the universe had a beginning and the entity that brought the universe into existence had to have existed outside and before the universe. In other words, had to be outside our dimensions, or extra-dimensional. Another word to describe that entity is “transcendent”. This is a term that only the God of the Bible can claim as true. God is truly the transcendent Creator of this entire Universe.
Jonathan Steel is an Angry Man!
By now some of you may have picked up a copy of “The 13th Demon: Altar of the Spiral Eye”. If not, why not? If you like exciting, fast paced thrillers you’ll like this book! If you want a touch of romance, you’ll like this book! If you want to see a tough guy fighting against the forces of evil, you’ll like this book! And, if you’re a teenager tired of sparkly vampires and doe eyed lovers, you’ll like this book!
Right off the bat, you’ll learn that my main character, Jonathan Steel is an angry man. His fuse is very short. And, his fury comes quickly and full blown. Why would I create a character with so much anger?
Because all of YOU are full of anger! And, of course, me, too! Our society is on the simmering verge of violent anger all the time. Just try and drive down a crowded highway and see if someone doesn’t blare their horn at you because you were a microsecond too slow in coming off the brake. Or listen to the person at the next register scream their way through a botched sale. Better yet, try and convince your customer that you did all you could to please them. Anger is all around us. Why are we such an angry society?
In our postmodern society, relativism is the rule. What is good for you is not necessarily what is good for me. This frame of reference puts an awful lot of stress on an individual. You see, when there are no external absolutes, then it is up to us to decide what is right and wrong. Now, I don’t know about you, but accessing each and every tiny little interaction with the world around to decide if it is “right” or “wrong” can get very tiring. Not only that, but when I decide something is “wrong” you might decide the same action is “right”. And, instantly we are at each other’s throat.
Not only that, but our naturalistic society claims that human beings are NOT special. Just look at that shark billboard not too long ago put out by PETA. I mean, they actually felt sorry for the shark (not the human whose leg was bitten off) because it would be thrown on dry land and smother to death. Come on! You’re telling me that if your significant other falls into the ocean and is about to be eaten by a shark and all you have at your disposal is a rifle, you would let the shark chow down? That is INSANE! Human beings are SPECIAL because we are made, wait for it, in God’s image. We are not animals. We are not equal to sharks. We are at the top of the food chain. And, while God has given us specific instructions to care for the planet and its inhabitants, (which we have ignored!) we are still omnivores. And that means that somewhere along the line, something has to die for us to survive, even if it is a banana!
This lack of respect for humans as special and made in the image of God, reduces our value in the eyes of society and in the eyes of other humans. Suddenly, my rights are more important than anyone else’s rights. I’m not sure how that plays out given that each individual is NOT special, but we are, after all, wonderful at rationalization even when the rationalization is decidedly NOT postmodern. And so, when everyone else’s value falls to zero, my value rockets to new heights. It is I who deserve special treatment. My needs are paramount. Forget my fellow man. Let them go feed the sharks! Hey, idiot in the green car? Forgot how to signal? Well, take this!
This weekend, I am traveling to Lexington, Kentucky for the “God in the Dock” apologetic conference. I am sure that somewhere between my home and the final destination at the airport, I will get angry. But, in spite of that inevitability, what I have just talked about is an “apologetic” issue. The issue of human value and human worth is part of a person’s worldview, how you view reality. Apologetics is the defense of the truthfulness of the Christian faith based on sound, rational evidence. And, so, losing one’s temper is really a matter of applying an apologetic issue. Is every person equal in the eyes of God? Is every person deserving of respect? Is every person of value? Important questions for our times. For, if we answer ‘no’ to any of these questions, we ultimately doom ourselves to a fate worse than death. We head down the path toward Nazi Germany or Stalin’s Russia or Pol Pot’s Cambodia. As our anger spirals more and more out of control, the day will come when a car horn will be replaced by a gun; when an organization will no longer put up billboards but start dumping sharks into swimming pools; when anger is the dominating emotion. To conquer anger, you must begin with respect for others. Tough? You bet you. Hard? No doubt. In fact our country fought a bitter civil war over this issue.
Want help understanding anger? Pick up a copy of my book, “The 13th Demon: Altar of the Spiral Eye” and join me on a journey with Jonathan Steel as he tries to understand the source of his anger and ultimately, how to control it instead of letting it control him!
What do you think about the value of human life? Do you struggle with anger? Or, is it just the other guy? Let me hear from you!
Book Launch Countdown — Self Publishing? Really!?
My debut novel, “The 13th Demon: Altar of the Spiral Eye” is available this week and my launch party is Friday night, October 7th, 2011 from 6 to 8 P.M. at Brookwood Baptist Church (corner of I49 and Bert Kouns) in the Well, the coffee shop. I will be introducing the ink*well, a regional Christian artists’ community and speaking briefly on “One Book’s Journey: How to Get Published”. Those who purchase a book are entered into a drawing for one of the following: an Ipad2, a nook touch, and a Kindle WiFi. Coffee and snacks are complementary. You can take a look at the flyer by clicking on: bruce-flyer
So, six years passed between finishing “The 13th Demon” and seeing it arrive in book form. During that time, I had two different agents and that will be a story for tomorrow. Rejection after rejection after rejection. I’m used to rejection. It is my way of life. I am a radiologist and we are at the bottom of the food chain in medicine. Even though we are the doctors who tell your doctor what is wrong with you based on your CAT scan, MRI, Ultrasound, Xray, Mammogram, etc. we “don’t get no respect”. I remember a vascular surgeon once told me, “Listen here, boy. You are nothing more than a [expletive deleted] photographer and don’t you forget it!”
My first rejection came during high school and I have the letter signed by Ben Bova editor of Analog Science Fiction magazine. But, I believed in “The 13th Demon”. I would continue to fight on. After battling with my two agents, I went commando for a while, so to speak. I decided maybe it was time to self publish. In 2006, self publishing was a growing business but still lacked respect. The Kindle was out but no one had accomplished any success with self publishing on a Kindle.
I did my research and had to choose between iUniverse and Xlibris. iUniverse had this package that guaranteed my book would be on a shelf in every Barnes & Noble in the United States! I should have read between the lines!
I pulled the trigger in July, 2006 and sent in my finished manuscript. I hired my good friend, Jeremy Johnson to illustrate the cover. Jeremy had been drawing and illustrating since he was a boy and we had developed not only a great professional relationship but a lasting friendship. Jeremy’s works were outstanding. I wanted my cover to stand out on that front shelf at Barnes & Noble!
I should have known something was up when I got back the editorial evaluation. It was several pages long and had this concluding statement: “Your manuscript does not qualify for the Editor’s Choice award.” What did that mean? No shelf at Barnes & Noble! That was in the fine print I neglected to read. Not only that, I could guarantee the Editor’s Choice Award by hiring a book doctor for something like $6500! If I needed a book doctor, I needed to forget being an author!
I was so discouraged and upset. But, then something clicked looking at the editorial comments. When putting together a book proposal for a traditional publisher, you want them to have the best six chapters in the world! So, I realized I had shuffled my story around to put the best six chapters at the front, when in reality they belonged in the middle. I redid the story as if it were occurring in real time and added sixteen chapters. The book was completely rewritten in six weeks and I sent in the manuscript. We went through four more editorial “corrections” mainly for spelling and grammar and I authorized the final galley proof. In November, 2006 my first copy of the book arrived. I was ecstatic! The cover was awesome. But, as I read the book, I realized that somehow one of the earlier manuscripts with 25 errors in it was the one sent to the printer instead of the final edit! I was livid. But, I couldn’t prove it. They had a sheet paper saying I had approved the final edit.
With my first book, “Conquering Depression” Mark Sutton and I realized the biggest problem with publishing a book was seeing to it that everyone heard about it. We squandered our advance on advertising because our publisher was doing NOTHING to market the book! I was determined NOT to make the same mistake with this book. I did some research and hired Phenix & Phenix to be my publicity agent. They accepted me but there were some buzz words I picked up on in our conversation that troubled me. Things like, “You won’t do well in bookstores, so let’s focus on the Internet.” And, “We don’t ordinarily take a POD, but in your case the book is too good to pass up.”
This is what I learned that iUniverse neglected to tell me. Self publishers produce POD books, print on demand. You order the book. It’s printed and shipped within 24 hours. But, bookstores don’t carry PODs. Why? They can’t return them! There is no warehouse holding already printed books! You buy PODs and you’re stuck with them. Therefore, bookstores will NEVER carry a POD on their shelves. My dream began to fade and I panicked. I had made a huge mistake. But, Phenix & Phenix reassured me and we launched a two-month campaign and I sold a lot of copies for a POD. I entered my book in every contest that took independent books. I won third place! I garnered surprisingly good reviews. I was so impressed with Phenix & Phenix that I decided to use their publishing company for my second book.
BookPros was the self publishing arm of Phenix & Phenix. But, it was like night and day from iUniverse. First, they guaranteed conventional distribution. A bookstore could return your product. Why? Because the author was the publisher. This meant spending lots of money but the author had total and complete control over the product. How much money? Oh, I’d say I spent close to $30,000 on the second book. That included all the up front cost of producing the book, the print run for 2500 books, the publicity campaign and the warehousing, and a trip to Los Angeles for BEA. It gave me a whole new perspective on what a publisher invests in a book.
My second book, “The 12th Demon: Vampyre Majick” did very well. It won first place in religious fiction in the USA Book News contest. It got better reviews than the first book. And I actually recovered about half of my investment. The vice president of BookPros was very honest. He said the model he sees at his institution consisted of authors who wanted to produce their book, get a track record, and then find an agent. He said you lose money on the first book, break even on the second, and make money on the third. He was right about that first statement. As part of their service, I attended the BEA, Book Expo America, in 2008 in Los Angeles and signed over 65 books. I met other authors, including one of my favorites, Robert Crais. I met my idol Ray Bradbury. I met Leonard Nimoy and William Shatner. My favorite story is meeting Alec Baldwin and I can’t share the specifics just yet. It involves several choice curse words! And, because of my “track record” and my attendance at BEA, I asked a fellow author friend of mine for a referral to a reputable agency. The third agent I contacted, Jeff Jernigan agreed to be my agent. And, here I am three years later with a re-release of my first book and a five book contract with a major publisher.
By the way, BookPros went bankrupt in the spring of 2011. God took care of me and I was with them when I needed to be. They accomplished for me what I needed accomplished. I really miss the kind people and wonderful workers at BookPros. It was a class act operation and the writing world is poorer for its passing!
So, that is how self-publishing worked for me. It started out as a disaster, but it turned into a boon! Tomorrow – the Agents!!!!!
The Book Of Job is about so Much More than Suffering — There is Wonder!!!!
The book of Job is the oldest book in the Bible. Some experts say it was written as much as 500 years before Moses penned Genesis. We think of Job as the book of suffering, pain, and ultimately, patience. But, when you stop and consider that the words of Job were written 500 years before Genesis, then if Job talks about the creation of the universe and the creation of the world, it has some significant information we are ignoring. In fact, what if Job contained descriptions of nature that matched what we have subsequently discovered through science? When we look at the words of God in Job, what if God’s proclamations match the record of nature? Wouldn’t that be something? Creation accounts that predate the account in Genesis. God’s words describing how He constructed nature matching what we have since found out about the universe. Amazing, if true.
Well, it is!
In Dr. Hugh Ross’ latest book releasing on October 1, 2011, Job is dissected and reveals some amazing truths about the world around us. The title says it all, “Hidden Treasures in the Book of Job”. As Dr. Ross says in the title to one of the chapters in this book and from the book of Job we find “Answers to Timeless Questions”. Let me just list a few of the amazing conclusions Dr. Ross draws from this in depth study of Job.
- The Creation-Day Controversies: One of the hottest topics among apologists (defenders of the truth of the Christian worldview) revolves around the length of the creation day in Genesis 1 and 2. Dr. Ross makes the point that the reason Moses gives us a rather spare description of the creation of the universe and the earth in Genesis 1, particularly between verse one and two is because “Moses made no mention of God’s activity during that era because Job had already done so.” He then discusses the details of God’s words to Job about His creation in Job 36 and 38. His conclusion, and this is rather convincing, is that “Moses uses the literary device of creation ‘days’ as tableaus, snapshots of divine creative activity.” In fact, Dr. Ross lists a table of twelve creation miracles described in Job 37-39. In summary, no matter where you fall on the controversy of the length of the creation days in Genesis 1 and 2, Dr. Ross has made a compelling case that Job can help clear up this issue with a careful analysis of the book of Job. I suggest you read the book for yourself.
- Two more Genesis controversies are tackled and Dr. Ross does not retreat from the problems of a global versus a local flood and death before the fall of man. Again, he makes a very sensible and logical argument that passages in Job indicate the flood was a local flood that killed all of humanity living in one geographical region as opposed to a global flood that covered the entire planet. Also, he makes a compelling case that there was physical death before the fall of Adam and that the “death” referred to Genesis is spiritual death. In Job chapter 38, Ross points out the reference to predatory activity, deemed good by God, takes place on the fifth creation day and therefore, physical death had to have occurred before sin entered the world. Again, these are two controversial interpretations of Genesis and I suggest the readers study the compelling evidence offered by Dr. Ross and draw their own conclusions.
- Less controversial for Christians is Dr. Ross’ contention that Job describes humanity as special and made in the image of God. In today’s postmodern, naturalistic culture the value of human life as something special and unique is denied. Ross points to key scriptures in Job that illustrate “Humans alone, among all Earth’s creatures, carry a certain reverence for the divine, an awareness of God and the sacred.”
- Ross has a very nice discussion on the origin of life and the underlying random processes of evolution. He draws the conclusion: “Without access to propositional revelation, or sacred writings, they [Job and his friends] deduced from nature that God, not nature itself, must be the causal agent behind all three origins of life: physical, soulish, and spiritual.”
- So what is soulish? Dr. Ross has dedicated several chapters to the nephesh, creatures created by God that have the capacity for a relationship with humanity. These creatures are discussed in great detail in these chapters and Ross shows how these creatures “can teach us innumerable, invaluable lessons about life and the Creator of all life. Animals show us how richly the Creator has provided not only for our basic survival but also for our pleasure, joy, and quality of life. Animals allow us to see, by comparison, the unique glories of humanity and what it means to bear the image of God . . .” A powerful rebuttal to the current trend to make humans equal to or less than animals!
- Many other topics are covered such as global warming and, of course, the issue of pain and suffering, an area Job is well known for.
In all, “Hidden Treasures in the Book of Job” is one of the most through provoking and insightful books to come out in recent years on the growing controversies, not only among apologists, but between Christians and scientists and skeptics. Dr. Ross has done a monumental job of using the words of the oldest book in the Bible to illuminate the truths of the rest of the Bible. His words and conclusions are very convincing and non-believing skeptics and those apologists disagreeing with his “testable creation model” should read this book and consider the words very carefully. We tend to read through Job for the Biblical truths about suffering. But, there are indeed many “hidden treasures” to be mined in Job that will illuminate the truth of God as the Creator and Maintainer of our universe. I highly recommend this book.s
What is your God like?
I can’t help but wonder . . . perhaps no new C. S. Lewis has surfaced in the past fifty years for the very reason that so few writers are starting with the known and speculating from there.
Rebecca LuElla Miller
In the past few days, I have been following two posts: one at www.mikeduran.com about “glorifying God” in our writing. And, then at www.speculativefaith.com a post about how we portray God in our writing. Both of these posts are pale mirror images of each other for they reflect our imperfect human concept of Truth and God.
As a Christian, I believe my job is to do all to further the kingdom of God. If that is glorifying God, then sobeit. Several of the comments in both posts were disturbing to me. One commenter said the God of the Old Testament commanded us to bash babies heads in. I was appalled. Did I get this wrong? Have I read the Bible and missed that portrayal of God? I don’t think so.
So, this brings up a really good point. We all see God through the lens of our experiences of God. God reveals himself in two ways. He reveals himself through his creation as Paul talked about in Romans 1. But, God has also revealed himself through the scriptures and ultimately, through the incarnation. If our experience of God is more “natural” we may be in danger of worshipping the creation; of making the earth and nature into a demigod. If our experience of God is only from the Old Testament, we may draw the conclusion, right or wrong that God is a hideous monster filled only with jealousy and wrath.
If we experience God only through Jesus, we miss out on the mystery and majesty of the trinity. We must synthesize and merge all concepts of God into our experience.
In our postmodern culture, truth is relative and as a Christian writer, I might find myself asking the question “Can truth be known?” This question implies there may not be such a thing as absolute truth. However, in light of the revealed God in scripture and in nature, truth exists. Jesus said “I am the way, the truth, and the life. And, no one comes to the Father except through me.” That statement is pretty absolute. There doesn’t seem to be any wiggle room. So, if we have truly experienced the God of the Bible, then as writers and Christians we do not ask a question. We make a statement with our writing and our lives. “Truth can be known.”
I was reading these comments in both of these posts because I wanted to be encouraged. Instead I was greatly distressed and depressed. A standard of communication and writing was established. The standard raised here is one I don’t believe anyone writing today can ever meet. Perhaps it is because we are so steeped in postmodernism that we cannot connect with that foundation of reality that drove Lewis and Tolkien and the other excellent authors of the past century mentioned in these comments.
But, we must TRY. Our culture is increasingly post-Christian and we as Christian authors have the onerous duty of trying to reveal truth to a godless, truthless society. It is hard enough to try and meet the standards of these authors. We will fail. But, we must try. We must strive for excellence and quality. And, we must know the God of the scriptures. We will never agree on our knowledge of God for each of us experiences God in unique ways. But, we can respect the Word of God as the revealed Truth as best as any man or woman could have written it.
I just finished Paul Copan’s book “Is God a Moral Monster?” and listened to an excellent podcast, “Straight Thinking” over on reasons.org featuring an interview with Copans. He made the point that much of the depiction of the God of the Old Testament (who commands us to bash in babies’ heads????) is linked to the literary style of writing at the time. Ah, the literary style?
So, even our Old Testament is subject to the same problems we are talking about in these comments. It is written by man, inspired by God, and we must filter the “knowledge” of the authors through their cultural and geopolitical situation at the time of the writing and take the “monstrous” God of the Old Testament with a grain of salt.
I would rather remember the passage where Moses pleaded with God to show Himself. Here, in Walter Wangerin, Jr.’s “The Book of God” is one human’s interpretation of that scripture:
Now, Moses closed his mouth and lowered his hands and turned his face aside. His hair was like smoke. His brow concealed a difficult thought.
Finally, he whispered, “I pray you, O Lord, show me your glory.”
Straightway the wind died. The yellow air stood still. The mountain hushed, as between the heaves of storm.
All at once the Lord God lifted his prophet bodily and set him down in the cleft of the rock. He covered Moses with his hand — that he might not, by the direct sight of the Holy God, die. Then the glory of the Lord began to pass that crack in the mountain, crying, “The Lord! The Lord!”
Only when he was going away did God remove his hand, and Moses saw the back of him.
But while it went, his glory proclaimed: The Lord, merciful, gracious, slow to anger — a God abounding in love. Forgiving iniquity, blotting out sin, but by no means clearing the guilty —
And Moses, as soon as he saw such majesty, bowed his head and worshiped.
Moses started from the “known”, he saw the back of our God and he wrote about his experience. This is the God I know. This is the God I worship. This is the God I write about!
Bruce Hennigan 
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