Category Archives: Steel Chronicles
You’re Just Being Paranoid!
I watched the sword impact with the woman’s neck and, thankfully, the news channel cut off the feed before it got too grisly. The newsfeed had originated from a soccer stadium on the other side of the world. I couldn’t breath and glanced over at my wife sleeping soundly in our hotel room bed for an afternoon nap. I quietly eased through the curtains and out onto the balcony. In stark contrast to the images of a real execution in Afghanistan I had just witnessed, the magical world of Disney’s California Adventure stretched out below me in the fading evening sun. My cell phone rang and I settled into a chair. My pastor was calling to see how our trip to California was going.
“Not too well, Mark.” I said. “It just seems that everyone I meet is so narcissistic, so self centered. It’s all about me, me, me. And, on live television I just witnessed a fanatic faction executing women in an arena for being caught in public with their ankles exposed. What kind of a world is this? I’m sitting here overlooking a Disney theme park in a state that is known for its self absorption and on the other side of the world crazy, fanatics are killing women because of a little exposed ankle flesh!”
“Well, I’m having a good day, too.” He answered sarcastically.
I went on to apologize for being so negative. And, I shared with him my growing sense of evil all around me. For weeks now, I had become increasingly enveloped by a cloud of oppression and despair the likes of which I had not felt since I went through my horrific depression years earlier. It was as if some great, unbound evil was coming preparing to pounce upon the world. I’ll never forget what I said next. “Mark, I think Satan is about to perpetrate a horrible evil on America unlike anything we have seen in decades and we are totally unprepared for the spiritual repercussions. God is trying to get our attention. And, the sad thing is, if something horrible happens the very person we will blame is God! And yet, we have escorted God right out of our daily lives and we will wonder how God let this thing happen.”
Something Evil This Way Comes!
I am an apologist. I don’t apologize for being a Christian. I defend the truthfulness of the Christian faith. The word “apologist” comes from the Greek word apologos. This word appears in the scriptures, 1 Peter 3:15-16. “But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.” That word “reason” is apologos and it means to give evidence as if you were defending yourself in court.
When we talk about the topic of evil, we have to consider the different types of evil. Fuz Rana from Reasons to Believe states: “Philosophers and theologians recognize two kinds of evil: moral and natural. Moral evil stems from human action (or inaction in some cases). Natural evil occurs as a consequence of nature—earthquakes, tornadoes, floods, diseases, and the like.”
Jonathan Steel — His origins
Very few people have heard of Doc Savage. Back in the 1930’s with the Great Depression covering the land with a dusty veil of hopelessness, magazines with serial stories provided an escape from reality. Long before Adolf Hitler procured the concept for his strategy of producing his master race, the idea that humanity could improve itself through eugenics promised a glowing future. Eugene Sandow considered the father of bodybuilding was a popular figure around the turn of the century. And, the hopes that through heredity, the human condition could be improved to the level of this astounding physical specimen lay behind the formation of many heroic figures in fiction at the time. This idea would later be called the “trans-human” effort to produce a superior human being.
History tells us how well that effort turned out! The pursuit of the eugenically perfect “super man” led to the Nazi holocausts and the horrors of World War II. But, long before the descent into darkness, the ability to perfect the human body fascinated the public. In response to Eugene Sandow’s popularity as the father of bodybuilding and this idea that perhaps the perfect human being could pull the world out of the Great Depression, a new fictional hero was born.
Publisher Henry W. Ralston and editor John L. Nanovic at Street and Smith Publications introduced the world to Doc Savage in March 1933. The series main writer, Lester Dent (under the pseudonym, Kenneth Robeson), wrote most of the 181 stories. Doc Savage’s real name was Clark Savage, Jr. and he was a physician, surgeon, scientist, adventurer, inventor, explorer, researcher, and a musician.
Can Fiction be Christian?
This past week the Christian publishing world was shaken by the announcement from Broadman & Holman (B&H) Publishing regarding their new Christian fiction strategy. Steve Laube, a major voice in the Christian publishing industry, commented on these changes at this link. This may seem like some mundane industry-babble but it has grave implications for the reader of Christian fiction. The bottom line is this: a major Christian publisher has decided to back off of fiction unless it ties in with some other media initiative (such as a movie). In fact, all contracts for future fiction that would have been released beyond April 2014 are now null and void. Kaput! Gone! And, I know that feeling!
Why? In September 2012 just a few weeks before the release of my second book, “The 12th Demon: The Mark of the Wolf Dragon” by Charisma, I received a notification that I was being released from my five book contract after the second book. This didn’t catch me totally by surprise. I had already heard from a couple of my fellow authors at the Realms imprint (an imprint is a division of a publishing “house” focused on a particular “genre”) who had suffered the same fate. As of September there were two of us left, myself and Mike Dellosso easily Realms bestselling author. Mike has now moved on also. At least I was in good company! I know this was a business decision made because of the downturn in the economy but it had a lasting impact on my personally as well as many Christian authors.
What does all of this mean for you, the reader of Christian fiction?
It will mean a much smaller selection of books and a much narrower range of genres. Major publishers will not be taking as many chances with new authors and will not be looking to branch out into “strange waters” such as Christian speculative fiction. Frankly, this frightens me. I am already a victim of the troubled economic times coupled with the sea change in traditional publishing trying to adapt to newer digital technology. However, I followed the advice of Michael Hyatt, once CEO of Thomas Nelson (which has been swallowed up by the larger HarperCollins publishing behemoth along with Zondervan). He suggested I self publish. The good news for authors like myself is there are many reputable self publishing ventures available. The bad news is I have to fund the book and all of the prep work myself. Let’s just say it makes for a tremendous tax right off! But, I am hoping the momentum of two previous books will help “The 11th Demon: The Ark of Chaos” sell enough copies to keep the series going.
Why Do I Write About Demons?
Because I have stared the enemy in the its face and I will not back down again!
When was this? My first encounter with pure evil took place shortly after I finished medical school during my interniship. I was an intern just seven months after my graduation from medical school rotating through the emergency room. It was a cold February night and a raging icestorm had transformed Shreveport, Louisiana into a crystalline wonderland. Unless you were driving in the stuff or if you were homeless. Dozens of people were crowded into the emergency room waiting room trying to stay warm. The ER was divided into the surgical side and the medical side. If you were a victim of the “knife and gun club” you came to the surgical side. If you could walk through the door under your own power, you came to the “Walk In Clinic”. This is where I found myself on that cold, frigid morning.
“Groundhog, it’s your turn to see the next psych patient.” One of my team members informed me. I never figured out why my nickname was Groundhog, but it was appropriate given it was Groundhog day, albeit only 2 A.M. I reluctantly got out of my chair and headed to the far hallway where we kept the crazies. My job was simple. Evaluate the patient to make sure the “psychotic” behavior wasn’t induced by a medical condition and if not, then call the psychiatry resident to come and admit the patient to the psych ward.
Final Thoughts on Kiwis
Our tour guide at Hobbiton, Sean, offers me some apple cider. Incredibly friendly the Kiwis are!
It has been a week since we returned from New Zealand. Getting back into our normal time zone has been challenging. I find myself wide awake until 3 in the morning! When you have to get up at 6 for work, that isn’t a good thing! But, gradually, I’ve been able to find that other part of me that seems to be hovering in the corner ala out of body experience style and like Peter Pan and his shadow, I’m finally getting the two of us back together. I discovered I do have at least one broken rib from my fall and my elbow is so painful I am sure there is a tear of my triceps tendon which is not a good thing!
Now that is a cup of coffee! Witness the awesomeness of a flat white!
I am slowly and painfully withdrawing from my daily dose of flat whites, that most remarkable coffee confection that is not found in the states. I miss my daily cup of flat white and my chicken and cheese pie. Thursday at physical therapy, I decided to get on the treadmill since my broken rib had finally become tolerable. Normally, I can only walk about 3 MPH because of my back. But, I found myself loping along at 4 MPH. All that walking in New Zealand uphill, both ways seemed to have paid off. I also lost 10 pounds while there. As I mentioned in my earlier posts, I saw nary an obese native New Zelander during my visit.
It has also taken me a week to sift through my over 2500 photographs and I have yet to sort through all the videos. The photos help keep all of the stops and sites straight in my head. When I pause and reflect on our trip, we covered the entire country of New Zealand and saw probably 80% of the sites in less than three weeks! It’s no wonder I keep getting Queenstown and Wellington confused! That’s like confusing San Diego and Panama City!
Our new friends AND family, Alex and Grant!
I am also trying to wrap my brain around the best way to tell my friends and family what it was like in New Zealand. Their questions are legion. And, to try and summarize our experience in a short period of time is impossible. Yesterday, I spent a few hours with my friend Raymond who is building the website for www.steelchronicles.com and our upcoming depression rewrite www.conqueringdepression.com. He is the pastor of a mission church and I shared with him my experience with my Christian brothers and sisters in Christ in New Zealand. I told him it was uncanny how easily we dwelt in each other’s company as if we had known each other for years! Even though our language was different (WE have an accent, can you believe it?) in some of its conventions, we could easily communicate not only on a superficial level but also on a spiritual level.
Kiwis LOVE to laugh! Kiwis LOVE life!
In my posts I have commented on what New Zealand still has that we as a nation have lost. I am still proud to be an American. But, I am not always proud of how our country has changed in the past century. The growing hostility toward Christianity, and for that matter, any public display of religious conviction is alarming. You do not see this in New Zealand. I see in our culture an intolerance to spiritual matters and a growing movement that says only science can give us real, true answers to our problems. The new series Cosmos even took a swing at Christianity in its opening show once again pouring gasoline (that is petrol for my Kiwi friends) on the battle between faith and science.
I think it is time to pour water on this fiery debate. As a Christian, I can no longer look at my atheistic or agnostic scientific colleagues and truly say they are without moral conviction or a humane way of life. Also, it is time for my colleagues to back off and allow those of us who have religious convictions to keep them and to RESPECT our choices! The key here is respect.
1 Peter 3:16 says that Christians should “always be prepared to give a reason for the hope that is within us but to do so with gentleness and respect”. The vast majority of Christians have no intellectual or academic foundation for why the Christian worldview reflects ultimate truth. We have only a thimble full of knowledge and it is time for us to truly become “prepared” to give a reason for what we believe. But, more importantly, it is time for us to act with gentleness and respect towards those we disagree with. This is called tolerance and it was a concept invented by the early church to reflect this very verse in scripture.
One thing I found in abundance in New Zealand was gentleness and respect. As troubled as America is and as contentious as our reputation can be throughout the world, I NEVER felt criticized or looked down upon by my Kiwi friends. They were always gentle and respectful. A lesson we can learn on both sides of the issue of faith versus science. So, let us put our gauntlets away and let us instead shake hands over this issue and agree to disagree with cordial respect. If you are a Christian, I plead with you to take 1 Peter 3:16 literally. Delve into the foundation of truth that underlies our faith. Learn some “apologetics” that is defense of the Christian faith. There are thousands of websites. Just look under my “Apologetics” tab to find some good resources.
But, most importantly, take the lesson I have learned from my Kiwi friends, and yes, now family to heart. Treat everyone with gentleness and respect.
A very friendly guide in Shantytown!
Don’t forget to check out my book sales for all three Jonathan Steel books at www.steelchronicles.com and get the current edition of “Conquering Depression” at www.conqueringdepression.com before it goes out of print. I’ll share with you in the coming months of a new book about depression I and Mark Sutton have written that will be available in the fall.
Next week, it’s back on the airplane to Orlando. Mark Sutton and I will be tweaking our website for our new book release in the fall. So, come back in the near future to hear about “Hope Again: A 30 Day Plan for Conquering Depression”!
South Island Highlights
One more day to go here in New Zealand. We are winding down and catching our breath before coming back to America. Yesterday, we spent some time shopping and played a family card game last night called “Presidents and Scum”. I’m still not completely clear on what happened but it was a lot of fun. I was Scum three times in a row. Properly speaking, that is not a good thing!
Recapping our tour of the south island, we took the ferry from Wellington across the Cook Strait to Picton. Immediately, we boarded a smaller boat for the famous “mail run” and spent 4 hours touring Queen Charlotte Sound.
On the ferry crossing the strait.
Making the “mail run”.
Ship’s Cove
That night we made a harrowing journey through dark, winding roads in rain and fog over 13 one lane brides to Hamner Springs. The next morning we got up and headed for the outskirts of Christchurch but did not visit the city as it was recovering from a huge storm. Instead, we drove through the gorgeous countryside to Akaroa.
That night we arrived at the farm in Geraldine and spent the evening riding on ATV’s, chasing deer, and eating over an open fire.
The next morning we set off for Alexandra and our final destination, Queenstown. Along the way we passed by some interesting sites along the side of the road such as “Salmon World”. I finally got that fish that Gollum wouldn’t relinquish!
In Queenstown, we had a wonderful visit in the city underneath the grandeur of the Remarkable mountain range. And, of course, we took the trip to Milford Sound. Along the way we encountered a huge open grass field surrounded by mountains and this is where I fell off the infamous boulder.
From atop the Syline we watched paragliders.
Leaving Queenstown, we headed north and west for Hasst. Along the way, we found more interesting sites.
We arrived in Haast and had “tea” at the Hard Antler Restaurant and then headed up the west coast toward Greymouth, pausing at the glaciers and the pancake rocks.
The next day, we left Greymouth and visited Shantytown on our way back to Blenheim and the ferry from Picton back to the north island.
Overhanging rock over our road.
Now, we are here in Napier resting after crossing the strait to the north island. Tomorrow, my summary of what this trip has meant to Sherry and to me.
At Home With the Stitchbury’s
We slept well in Blenheim and arose at a leisurely pace. We shared a two bedroom suite and had a lovely time visiting before we packed up Lucy for the final run up the coast. We stopped in Blenheim to visit Grant’s uncle in a rest home. We had a nice visit and I must say New Zealand takes excellent care of its elderly.
We then headed for Picton to catch the 2 PM ferry across the strait back to the north island. We checked in at the pier and had two mile “stroll” from the ferry checkin station toward downtown Picton to find lunch. After lunch, we drove onto the ferry and we were told to park right next to a cattle truck. The smell was, shall we say, atrocious!
The trip across the ferry took almost 4 hours and the strait was a bit rougher than our earlier trip. By now, I was familiar with the continuous parade of turquoise water and towering mountain peaks and rolling mountainous hills. I didn’t take a single picture the entire day. Our goal was to get home to Napier.
We arrived in Wellington without incident and set out along the west coast in a fine, misty rain. Eventually, we headed inland toward Palmerston North and arrived around 9 PM. We made a quick stop at the New World market (a grocery store) to see Sam and then Alex took the wheel with a promise to get us home by 1130 PM. The night was clear with a full moon and a sky full of foreign constellations. I sat in the back seat with the moon roof open to the sky and marveled again at the wondrous sites of the past two and a half weeks.
I began to dream of starting my own New Zealand themed coffee/“pie” shop called Pukeko’s (Poooooh-keck-ohs) and introduce America to “flat white” coffee and “savory” pies and lovely pastries. Then, the clouds, like reality moved back in on my fantasies and I realized with a heavy heart that our time in New Zealand was drawing to a close. The clouds thickens and hid the full moon and the sky became gray and dull.
We arrived at 1130 PM just as Alex promised and the boys were waiting for our arrival. After greeting their parents, the boys dispersed to their rooms and I fell into our bed.
It is now late morning and there is nothing pressing on our agenda other than a “leisurely” walk to the top of the hill across the road from the Sitchbury home. I’ve looked up at the tiny matchstick figures of other walkers on this hill with some dread, but as long as my cracked ribs will let me, I will soldier on. I have discovered there are very few obese people in New Zealand. Everyone walks everywhere constantly and this had given this country a very healthy lifestyle. America could learn from the dietary and daily walking habits of the Kiwis.
I am looking out the dining room window at the brown grass covered hill we are about to attack. Two and a half weeks ago, I would have fainted at the prospect of tackling such a hill. Now, it has become a “leisurely stroll”. I will continue when I return!
Well! That was far more than a leisurely stroll. Across from the house a brown, grassy hill rises into the overcast morning sky. In the far distance, I can see two people passing over the apex of the hill. They are very small and this one face made me realize this was a very large hill. My chest was hurting more than the day before and I was even more convinced I had a least two broken ribs. Each breath was an agony but I was determined to press on.
We started across the green grass toward a path leading up the hill. It was slow going as parts of the path were very rocky with rolling stones. I did not want to fall again! in some places, the path was little more than a shallow rut where the sheep had worn out the grass on the own wanderings up the hill. In other places, the path was very steep. But, we made it to the top with much complaining and huffing and puffing.
At one point Sherry paused to give Alex a hard time and two fascinated sheep looked on. We ended up at a bench placed in memory of Alex’s sister who passed away in 1996 from ovarian cancer. Later on after recovering from the walk, we went to downtown Taradale, a suburb of Napier where we found some more sheep much more sedate and immobile. All in all, the day was restful and the pain in my ribs improved as the day passed on. We ended up around the dinner table at “tea” cooked by Sherry. Not sure how that will be received, but we shall see. Here are some photos from our trek up the hill.
Now for some more rest as we contemplate the return to America.
New Zealand South Island — Final 2 Days
Our last two days on the south island began Sunday morning as we set off from Hasst to travel up the west coast of the south island. Our destination was Greymouth for the night. I wasn’t feeling well either day with worsening chest wall pain but improving elbow pain. I had a persistent cough that made the pain in my chest worse. Also, the pain kept me from having a deep cough so I was coughing more often!
We drove down the coast and paused to walk out to the beach. The Tasman sea is that part of the Pacific between New Zealand and Australia. And, a cyclone had come through New Zealand recently. The seas were very rough. It was obvious from the driftwood thrown up on the beach it was NOT safe to go swimming! Here are some photos of the beach just north of Haast.
We spent most of the day driving northward and stopped to view two glaciers in the area, Fox Glacier and Franz Josef Glacier. The walk up to the glaciers was long and uphill and the pain in my chest prevented me from making the entire journey. But, here are some photos of the Fox Glacier. Look carefully and you will see a tiny line of red and blue dots mid way up the glacier. Those are a separate party of brave individuals hiking across this massive glacier.
As we traveled on toward the north we encountered the snow covered peaks of the Southern Alps.
That night we arrived at Greymouth, a city at the mouth of the Grey River. The next morning (today— Monday, St. Patrick’s day) we arose and headed for Shantytown. Shantytown is a recreation of an old gold mining and lumbering town that flourished from the late 1800’s to the mid 1900’s. Here are some photos from our visit. Some are serious. Others, well I’ll let you be the judge!
Waiting on the train to take us out into the bush.
A public toilet.
Once we left Shantytown, we headed up the coast to Punikaiki to the pancake rocks and blowholes. This very unusual arrangement of rocks along the coast was fascinating.
We drew closer to our final destination on the south island, Blenheim but saw a sign for “the longest swing bridge in New Zealand”. How can anyone resist?
Our final two hours of driving took us across the north of the south island from west coast to east coast through winery country. Once again, I was stunned by the awesome beauty of this country. At every turn, there are sights that defy description.
North Island Highlights
We are now heading up the west coast of the south island back toward Napier. I have many pictures I did not share because of wifi access and time pressure. Today, I want to show a map of each area of our journey and a few pictures I haven’t shared before.
We started out spending two days in the largest city in New Zealand, Auckland high up on the northern tip of the north island.
Here we are in the Skytower.
My new friend, Grant.
With Alex and Grant on the ferry from Auckland to Devonport.
On Day 3 we traveled to the Waitamo Caves where we were not allowed to take any pictures. Then on to Alex and Grant’s friends house — Russell and Linda. We spent the night there just out of Hamilton/Cambridge area in the midst of farmland and then set off the next morning for my most anticipated destination, Hobbiton.
In the real garden at Hobbiton.
The bridge to the Green Dragon pub.
Our guide, Shawn handing out cider at the Green Dragon Pub.
We left the Hobbiton area and headed for the thermal playground of Rotorua.
Here we spent two days in the area seeing the sights and sounds while I got sick from the virus that had shut down Sherry for the past two days.
In our “shared” condo in Rotorua.
Riding the gondola in Rotorua and then riding back down on the Luge.
After two days, we headed out of Rotorua toward “home” to the Sitchbury household in Napier. Along the way, we stopped at several thermal “playgrounds” with hot bubbling mud pits, volcanic steam vents, and colorful chemical pools.
We arrived for our first weekend in Napier and settled in for two nights at home. Here we traveled up to Te Mata, the high peak overlooking Hawke’s Bay and Napier.
Sunday evening, we headed out for Palmerston North to meet with the Stitchbury’s oldest son, Sam. We spent the night there and got up on Monday morning and headed on into Wellington.
Here we visited the WETA workshop and rode the cable car up the side of the mountain overlooking Wellington and its harbor. On Tuesday, we boarded the ferry to cross the strait to the south island.
And there I will stop for today and continue our review of the south island later. For now, my feet feel as tired as Bilbo’s feet.
Bruce Hennigan 
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