Ancient Jerusalem Part 1
Imagine if you could walk the streets of ancient Jerusalem at the time of Christ. What would you see? What would you experience?
Go back in time with me and experience the last days of the life of Jesus Christ. Below is a map of ancient Jerusalem. In the coming days, I will share facts about that city. My latest novel, “The 9th Demon: Time of the Cross” is now available for order as a print book or ebook on amazon. Go to my author’s page and you can find both versions of the book. Link
Fact: The city of Jerusalem was divided into three sections. The “old” city or City of David occupied the lower southeastern corner of the city. At its northern extent towered the great Temple built by Herod.
The western city was divided into the “Lower City” and the “Upper City”. The lower city along the southern extent of Jerusalem is where the lower class citizens lived and where the marketplace could be found.
The Upper City was for the elite and the well off who preferred to live as modern Romans lived. In the Upper City were large homes, Herod’s palace, a huge Theater and the Hippodrome, sight of chariot races. As you read through my new book, you may want to reference this illustration courtesy of Bible History Online.
Tomorrow, I will talk more about the Temple. Enjoy.
The Homecoming Tree
The cover for this book is now finished and within about 10 days it will be ready for purchase. Here is a description of the book:
Roy Anderson is about to make the worst decision of his life and leave his family for selfish reasons on Thanksgiving day, 2001. But, thanks to the prayers of his son, an angel sends Roy back in time to 1941 with no memories. There, he will experience the true meaning of family, sacrifice, love, and commitment when he is taken in at the Collinsworth boarding house. For a U. S. Army Corps pilot, Frank Collinsworth, has not been heard from since the attack on Pearl Harbor and the family waits anxiously to see if he will return home by Christmas. Daniel, the younger Collinsworth, must decide if he will have to become the man of the house while everyone prays around the Homecoming Christmas Tree for his father’s return. Will Roy revert to the ruthless businessman he has become, or will his time spent with the Collinsworth family give him a second chance?
The novel is based on a play I wrote and directed back in 2005.
The 9th Demon Cover Arrives!
The final cover for “The 9th Demon: Time of the Cross” is here. Luke Lee of Fusiform Design has done a fantastic job. All manuscripts and covers have been uploaded and will soon be available for purchase on Kindle or in print. I will update you when the book is officially available. So, for now, here is the cover:
Imprints
When I formed my self publishing company, 613media,LLC I also decided to create two “imprints”. Imprints are divisions of publishing output that fit a certain genre. For my Jonathan Steel Chronicles and “Death By Darwin”, I created Area 613. Here is a description of this imprint:
A darkness lies upon the land. Evil forces gather to thwart the forces of good. Unnoticed by most humans, these spiritual forces vie for human souls. All is not lost. Hope is alive. God’s warriors are called forth to fight for the good; to fight for God; to Stand against the Enemy. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Welcome to Area 613.
“Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.” Eph. 6:13 ESV
When I was 13 years old, disillusionment and disappointment drove me to climb the tallest, standing tree on our property. There, I reached out to the sky and touched the face of God. This has inspired me to form another imprint: Standing Tree Books
In our culture dominated by cynicism, hopelessness, and despair, God touched the lives of many and uses their failures and frailties to illustrate his power and majesty. Climb the standing tree and reach out and touch God and find hope again. Welcome to Standing Tree Books.
“Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.” Eph. 6:11 ESV.
The newest Jonathan Steel Chronicles, “The 9th Demon: Time of the Cross” will be published under Area 613. My other new book, “The Homecoming Tree” will be published under Standing Tree Books.
It won’t be long now!!!
The Homecoming Tree
In 2005 Brookwood hosted the play, “The Homecoming Tree”. The story of a 13 year old boy faced with the tragedy of his father not returning from the attack on Pearl Harbor set the stage for a powerful drama. The story centered around the Collinsworth boarding house between Thanksgiving and Christmas 1941. Since that time, I have been working hard to complete a novelization of that story. I finished the final draft of the novel today! I hope it will be available for purchase by mid November. Here is an excerpt from Chapter 2 when the ruthless businessman, Roy Anderson, finds himself catapulted back in time to 1941 and his memory erased. In this scene, Daniel Collinsworth has found his father’s hidden book safe containing the medal his father won and a surprise.:
Frank picked up the wax paper. He studied the dark shreds of tobacco and then lifted them to his nose. He inhaled, and a contented look came over his face. “I wouldn’t mind taking a bite or two myself. But, I promised you, mother, I would quit. That’s why I put it here in my hidden treasure box.”
Daniel’s eyes widened in surprise. “But, if you quit, why didn’t you just throw it away?”
Frank lowered the tobacco and reluctantly closed the wax paper around it. “Let’s just say I was hoping one day she might change her mind.”
“Why did she make you quit?”
Frank put the tobacco back into the book and put the papers on top of it. “Ever kiss someone who’s beenchewing tobacco?” Read the rest of this entry
The 9th Demon Final Edit is Done!
Tonight, I completed the final edit on the next book in the Jonathan Steel Chronicles, “The 9th Demon: Time of the Cross”. Yes, I changed the name. This novel is as long as the last one and now I am entering into the final phases of book cover design and line editing (grammar check, oh fun!)
Today, I met with Luke Lee who designed my last book cover and we decided on a basic design. So, hang in there. It will be just a few more weeks and the book will be available.
Oh, for fun, here is a part of what will appear on the cover:
Oh, and for fun, here is my first stab at the “blurb” on the back of the book:
Jonathan Steel’s partner, Theo, had been kidnapped. The trail leads Steel to a mysterious island where the media mogul, David Boone, claims to have built a machine capable of taking his movie making team into the past to film the last days of the life of Jesus of Nazareth. Steel must follow the team through the machine’s Portal to rescue his partner from certain death at the hands of the Ninth Demon. Where will Steel end up, in the past, or in an alternate world created by a madman?
Jonathan Steel is Returning!
I have just finished the rough draft for the next book in the Jonathan Steel Chronicles. Tentatively it is entitled “The Ninth Demon: Cross Time”. It will still be a couple of months before I hope to get it into press but for those of you who have been waiting patiently these past two years, here is the Prologue to give you some idea of what’s going on. (Or, not!)
PROLOGUE
It was time to die. The man standing at the window did not want to die. But, neither did he want his two girls to die. The window looked out over a vast cavern filled with sunlight streaming in through the far opening. A transport airplane appeared in the distance, touched down on a dirt runway and pulled into the huge cavern. Workers converged on the plane like ants to honey.
“Are you ready to die?” Someone said behind him. He had not heard the man enter the room.
Hope Comes With the Dawn
Sunrise over Napier, New Zealand March, 2014
Sometimes I stand in the darkness and feel its power. It is smothering; dampening; oppressive; crushing all hope. Today near dawn, I stood in the darkness and felt the power of that hopelessness. This is not the world I anticipated. Gone are the tenets of unselfish love; of benevolence; of respect for others — religious beliefs included; of manners and kindness; of true love. Gone is my God, seemingly erased and eradicated by a new god that looks back at me each morning from my own mirror and from the countless perfect snapshots of a billion selfies. Gone is kindness and empathy and warmth. Gone is dialogue in the face of endless monologuing.
I am not worthy.
I work in the darkness. I am a radiologist and in order to view the diagnostic images on my monitors, I must keep the room dark. I am surrounded continually by shadows. It is my world.
For the past few months, those shadows have slowly, inexorably moved into my world outside of work. They have slowly and quietly slipped along the floor and the walls and the ceiling with cold tendrils of blackness. The shadows have embraced me.
When I am strong; when I am attentive to the moving of God in my life, my mind, and my soul; when I pay attention to that still, small Voice; when I am seated at the foot of the cross the Light presses back the shadows. But, when I am weak; when I am troubled; when my attention is captured by the immediate and the urgent instead of the important I am distracted. I fail to look over my shoulder at the creeping darkness. I take my eyes off the Source of Life for my every breath.
Update
2018 was supposed to be a better year.
So far, I am struggling with some serious health issues. But, God is in control and all will work out.
I’ve been busy lately with teaching “Everyday Questions” with Mark Riser at Brookwood Baptist Church. It is a small group session on how to have meaningful conversations with anyone questioning the truthfulness of the Christian faith. Also, I am presenting “What Does It Mean to Be a Human Being” this Wednesday night at 6 PM for James Patterson’s class at First Methodist Church. This exploration of the question is very important. Are we just here by chance? Or, are we made in the image of God? And, why should that be important. I will also be giving this same talk in May at our RTB Chapter meeting the third Tuesday at 630 PM.
I am working on three books to hopefully release later this year:
The 9th Demon: Crosstime
The Homecoming Tree — A novelization of my 2005 play about Shreveport at the beginning of World War II.
The Tall Tree — A semi autobiographical story based on the year of 1968 and the events that changed America.
Also, Mark Sutton and I are tentatively working on a new book.
Bruce Hennigan 
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