Reviews by Hubie Goode: Konig's Fire

Konig’s Fire


by Marc Schooley


They Called Me Nebuchadnezzar

The Nazis have established a torture center in a mine at the heart of a Romanian forest. Here they interrogate prisoners and, sometimes, throw them into the furnace at the heart of the mine.

Only now, the primeval forest is rising against them, unleashing a preternatural army to besiege the great iron gate of the mine. The fearsome guards become terrified prisoners and the furnace itself burns with hungry anger against them.

Sascha König, a man they called Nebuchadnezzar, is their only hope. He is master of the furnace. All along, he has been Hitler’s ardent servant. But now...König is wrestling with demons of his own, and the Master of all fires is calling him to Himself through the haunting eyes of a little gypsy girl König did not save.

Philosophical depth and Transcendent hope

Marc Schooley is one of those authors who reminds me of King Solomon, as he projects an ability and writer’s sense that transcends much of the rest of what is offered in the novelist world. He makes one think that perhaps the world itself misses out on truly great talent when it ignores something in the vein of this book, which is wholly Christian themed.

A rich, descriptive narrative that reveals a complex and talented imagination, Konig’s Fire can be a tough read. The reader may have a problem getting around reading a novel about Nazis also, and in the first half or so of the book, Mr. Schooley takes some rather long and intensive paragraphs to describe the surrounding environment and situational complexities of the characters involved. This happens to such an extent that it leads one to believe that perhaps there are dozens and dozens of conceptual drawings somewhere that helped the author to literally inject himself into the subject at hand, in an uncomfortably realistic way. I couldn’t help but wonder why there weren’t a few illustrations within the book, as I would have loved to see some of this creation, but I suppose that the author prefers to keep the incredible narrative descriptions within the readers imagination.   

There are fanciful and fantastic images and also “antagonists” in the vein of venue from the best of “Johnny Quest” style imaginings. The plant men, giant gorilla like creatures and glowing orbs that float through the air, will bring an impression of the “childlike fantastic” to bear.  The action sequences, with machine gun battles against giant sentient vines and scrappy giant roaches, are also in the best vein of “guy movie” literation, without ignoring the more human aspects of what is really, on its surface, a rather ridiculous situation that leads to important revelations that can impact the reader in a personal way.

However, the themes covered in the narrative are both deeply considered and realistically rendered. It is perhaps the desire of the author to write a book on these deeper themes of mankind without creating a dusty tome for the college library philosophy and religion department. And indeed his delivery of this desire is championed in an unabashed and principled way. Though the book may entertain with action and fanciful creatures from the surrounding forest, the deeper aspects of the narrative’s purpose are never sublimated for the benefit of mere energetic entertainment. 

The second half of the book begins to loosen up a bit with the description of the surrounding forest, the mine and the characters within the claustrophobic prison of their unintended captivity, and begins to move at a pace that keeps one turning pages. Mr. Schooley has a talent for this, as I have seen in another of his books, therefore, if one can “trudge through” the thicket of his narrative in the first half, you’ll be rewarded with the spry and quickened pace of the second half. 

This is, of course a Christian themed novel, and therefore promotes those concepts and ideas of Christianity established by the Bible.  The only difficult thing that you may have a problem with is reading the book in a public place. The chapters are emblemed with the iron cross of Germany circa World War II. The cover also has the “fittingly” Nazi look in keeping with the subject matter. If reading on the bus or in the library, you may not get the chance to explain to passers by that the story  is about redemption and the role of evil in the everyday mind of mankind, and not some type of “union manifesto”. But, of course, this is a personal thing for each reader to decide for himself.  Regardless, I recommend this novel for any one who can handle a mix of the fantastic and the transcendent that deals with God, Mankind and the results of evil. 

Marc Schooley is a Texan, which may be empirically verified if you ever hear him speak. He is a Christian philosopher, theologian, Bible teacher, speaker, musician, and nascent Christian fiction writer. 

http://www.marcschooley.com/about.php

Reviews by Hubie Goode: Heaven Is For Real

Heaven Is For Real

by Todd Burpo

“The angels sang to me to make me feel better. They sang, Jesus Loves Me and Joshua fought the battle of Jericho. I asked them to sing We Will Rock You, but they wouldn’t do that.”-Colton Burpo (paraphrase) from Heaven is for Real

 

Heaven and the subject of heaven, are certainly interesting and fascinating items of consideration. I’m one of those folks who believes we have all the information we need, and what we don’t know, at the moment, in this lifetime; we don’t need to know. I trust Jesus Christ like that. Still, stories like this one are hard to ignore. I am told they are making big waves on the “life after death” book circuit these days. But do we really need them?

The latest book, Heaven is for Real: A Little Boy’s Astounding Story of His Trip to Heaven and Back, is an interesting and, of course, involving trip into one of these experiences that has been put into paperback form.

Colton, the three year old son of Todd and Sonja Burpo, claims he has spent time in heaven and has lived to tell about it. Colton’s experience is a bit different than most near death experiences as he actually never died, though in the text he does concede that perhaps he did die, if only a little.

His father, Todd, a Weslian minister, renders the story of how his son was first believed to have had the flu but in reality his appendix burst and he was being slowly internally poisoned for five days before anyone got wise to the situation.

Colton survives his brush with certain death, as the nurses reveal later in the book; they were waiting to give the time of death. Colton however, bounces back, miraculously, and then for the next handful of years goes on to tell his parents in snips and snaps of his experience with heaven and Jesus.
 

Little things come out here and there as life goes on for the family, triggering memories in Colton that pop up, like old lines in a song would for an adult, when stimulated to appear. He sits in Jesus‘ lap. He meets his sister who was still born before he was born. He meets John the Baptist (who is really nice). There are thousands of colors we have never seen ( a private hypothesis of my own which I have conjectured is due to the limited range of the rods and cones in our eyes which cannot perceive certain bands of light beyond a certain range, in much the same way as our ears can’t pick up sounds that a dog’s ears can. But this is all fun conjecture, not necessarily revelation on my part.) He meets his great granddad who tells him things about his father that Pastor Burpo has never revealed to the 3 year old child. Everyone in heaven has wings and they fly everywhere, except Jesus who levitates, an interesting distinction. (I know I have always liked the idea of flying free in the open sky, ever since I was a kid, too. But I have included the imagining as one where a person can soar through space as well, I’m going to Alpha Centauri after May 21, 2011, when we are all raptured. Who’s with me?)

He also describes the face of Christ, which I found to be the most riveting part of the story. Jesus has blue-green eyes, a casual beard, wears a white gown and has a purple sash across his chest. Purple being the color of kings. (Angels have yellow.) Jesus also has a crown with a pink diamond in the middle. Hmmm.... (other people have said it, but I looked myself and chuckled at this too, Jesus looks like Kenny Loggins!)

Colton also saw the Holy Spirit, whom some of my most trusted scriptural teachers have indeed stated is a “person”. The third person in the tribunal of God. The Holy Spirit is kind of blue, according to Colton. This is very believable as I have always found that God has a thing for the color blue. When Moses and the elders see God the Father in the desert, he is standing on a pavement sort of thing that is described as being sapphire blue. Personally, I think God likes “thalo blue”, if you know what that is. ;-)

There is no sun in heaven because God and Jesus light up heaven (Keep in mind that the new Jerusalem in the sky described in Revelation states the same thing). There are animals everywhere, and no one is old. Colton was also able to witness events that happen over time all in the span of three minutes.

Fanciful as Colton’s experience seems to be, one needs to be careful as to how much weight, and of the books “revelations”, can be given. If we believe in a current and living God, one who is quite capable of watching over his Word so that mankind doesn’t condemn himself or others in his blind stupidity, then we can have full confidence that what we have in the Word is really all we need. Colton’s revelations are interesting and of course capture our imaginations, but if it had been you or me in the same situation, would there have been things about the experience that directly related to you, or even related back to Colton’s experience? Acceptance or rejection of these kinds of experiences has to be given a kind of “under consideration” position, in that one never really knows where God ends, and our own  sense of what we perceive to be true or what we perceive to have happened, begins.

There are those who have studied out of body experiences with many, many patients and tell of how the near death experience has an overwhelming consistency across the board of human experience, personal preferences and societal influences not withstanding. If Colton had been a Muslim boy, would he have seen Muhammad? (some say this is exactly what does happen) Such a revelation would probably be squelched in that society for fear of things like Sharia law. But according to those who say they have studied it, the experience is overwhelmingly consistent. Does everyone see Jesus? That’s debatable, even one book on the subject gives us an account of heaven without a Christ figure present.

I will say one thing that jumped out at me that no one else seems to want to mention. The rampant naturalism in Colton’s account. According to his father, Colton loves superheroes and action figures. He plays hero all the time and fights the bad guys dressed up in his superhero cape and play sword. Colton insists there are indeed swords in heaven, mostly to keep Satan out. But think about this: With all the super powers and the mechanical devices, like jet boots, rocket packs and light sabers and such that are available to a three year old via his mass marketing toys and videos and cartoons, wouldn’t some of that find its way into the experience of a child who was making it all up? I would want it to be fantastic in a way that would appeal to me if I were three years old. Jesus would have gravity cancelling boots for levitation, rocket packs for angels would be a natural part of things, and maybe even a few web shooters. Yet none of that man made fabrication and speculation makes its way into Colton’s descriptions. I find that interesting.    

Colton’s father, Todd Burpo, does his best to make scriptural evaluations of Colton’s revelations. Being a Weslyan minister, it would be important for him to do so if he were indeed putting out a book for the general public and was at all interested in maintaining a certain amount of scriptural integrity. He is, of course, dealing with a three year old, and by putting a book of this information out there for all to see, he is treading on thin ice as it were, in the public forum. Would he edit the revelations to provide a complete “correct” picture of things for the narrative? To say so would be conjecture on anyone’s part. You do have to trust that Todd Burpo realizes the position he puts himself in if he doesn’t stay true to form on scriptural truth, and if he really believes in a God who is all present, then he must not pretend that he can “get away” with any subterfuge. Burpo has a hard time himself knowing just how to filter the ideas that come from his son’s experience, and that could be a tribute to authenticity or, as some suggest, slick marketing that knows its audience.  

Kids from three to six share a kind of natural, knee jerk response, that can give parents a headache. One constantly has to watch what one says around them as they will blurt out things they have heard often at the most embarrassing times. That is a linchpin of their age group.

The point being here that if you speak in front of them, they are like sponges and will blurt out gossip or non-politically correct language with little or no reservation. 

His father and mother, according to the narrative, seem puzzled over his bizarre knowledge of things they have never discussed. Why would you discuss death or afterlife or anything pertaining to that with a child whose attention span and predilections are quick and fast and probably have more in common with a kitten that is fascinated with a shiny ball, than anything having to do with something so far removed from his narrow little word as a “war in heaven”.

Colton’s eyewitness account of Christ is rather interesting also, as it doesn’t seem to contain his own predilections. His parents showed him renderings of Christ for sometime after his experience, and instead of becoming exasperated at the exercise and giving in to one of those questions as to “Does Jesus look like this one?”, he holds out until he sees the revelatory painting of Akiane Kramarik. Akiane is a little girl who is a painting prodigy who claims to have had revelations herself and has painted the true face of Christ. Her paintings are amazing for her age, and wildly imaginative. Her painting of Christ, however, is very matter of fact and shows no desire to create design, but merely a representation. Colton’s response is that this is finally it! This is the face of Christ.

 

Although to his credit, Colton never tells us that Annikan Skywalker was in heaven, I have to wonder just where oh where he might have really been? He has no doubts that he was in heaven, but why would there be some many animals? And why no nudity? Creating Adam and Eve nude was quite the natural thing. Myself, I would expect it, since there is no shame in heaven. But according to Colton, everyone wears a white robe with a specially colored sash. I find that point to be an interesting consideration. Nudity shame comes from the fall, from Satan’s perspective and separation from God. Why would anyone need clothing?

Some have speculated that Colton is describing “New Earth", a place that has yet to exist. But the book is quite clear that time means very little and is recognized as a linear human concept, therefore,  New Earth it could very well be, especially if you throw in the idea of God and Jesus lighting up the world, this is why there was no sun.

If Colton and his family are lying, why would they lie? If they can’t stand before God and support this book, then they are on some mighty dangerous ground, and I find it hard to believe that a pastor could continue his life, without some sort of stress, if falsehood was indeed the case. God doesn’t stand in the gap and hide those who are hypocrites. The nation of Israel suffered for its hypocrisy and so have modern day pastors and such who were living “double lives”. If something is not correct here, you’ll know about it soon enough. In some fashion. But what if that never happens? What will you say then?

As I have said, Look upon this with interest, but not with an eye to conversion. Leave that to the scriptures. They are the only narrative that claims to be “alive” and “life changing”. Keep that as the foundation of your faith, as this is what God looks over, promising that not one dot will be changed in his word.

This is quite the book to read and makes one definitely consider those things we all wonder about as far as the future of ourselves, our loved ones and also of all mankind. But it can only be a consideration.

Reviews by Hubie Goode: Abducted to Kill

Abducted to Kill

by Pola Muzyka

A young man struggles to guard and sustain his love for God, his fiancée, and his family when faced with the brutality of Sharia law.

Abducted into the newly formed Hezbollah army, a young American Christian fights for his life, his freedom, and the woman he loves when he defies a brutal regime during one of the most difficult times in Middle East history.

Friends begin to go missing and rumors surface. Some of Joseph’s friends are never heard from again. How and why they disappear remains a mystery. Joseph becomes entrapped in the mystery of the disappearances when, one day after work, he and his friend are forcibly thrown into the backseat of a black Nissan.

He and his friend are forced to join a ruthless militia. This military, formed by the IRG to protect Lebanon from invasion by the Israelis, contradicts its credence. Joseph witnesses the most horrific sins that man can inflict upon another human being and he wants out. He thinks his Maker has abandoned him and he questions God’s very existence, ultimately doubting his own faith.

After grueling years of enduring this military life, escape and concealment, a way opens up for him to safely flee the country and eventually return to the U.S.

Recently, I sat in a room with quite a few hispanic-americans who had come from various countries and towns down below the border of the U.S. and Mexico. This is not surprising seeing as the proximity of Los Angeles to South America brings about these sorts of situations everyday for those who live here. Some of those folks are legal and some are not, and this is only a fact of little importance, but it does carry some weight in this current situation.

In this room was a rather large television which was showing an Hispanic news channel. The news report being broadcast was about some drug traffickers who had been stopped from crossing the border with a large amount of illegal drugs that they had purposed specifically for selling to those who have been captured by the addiction of such items as cocaine, heroine, et al.

These men had been in a gun battle with U.S. Narcotics officers and they were all lying around the street, sitting in their cars, and hanging out of the doors due to being shot multiple times. It was a grisly scene in my estimation. The sight of seeing human beings, even drug traffickers who mean to make money from other people’s suffering, being photographed and carded with evidence numbers, was a bit much to witness. And the casualness with which it was presented was not lost on me.

Of course, here in America, on our news channels, these sorts of scenes are given only a few seconds of coverage if they are reported on and shown to the public at all. The sad truth is that most of what goes on in the world comes to the American public with a dose of sugar coating. Those who come to America from war torn states often bring their experience and attitudes from those countries to America’s shores, and for them this is a natural way of life. Godless, yes, but seemingly just the way things are for them. Such scenes for those sitting in the TV room watching the news were common knowledge to those present.

In her book, Abducted to Kill, Pola Muzyka successfully displays common tragedy of something that does indeed happen in the world; the death, the destruction, especially of human lives, and also the assumed right that evil takes in performing atrocities upon mankind all in the name of fanaticism. What she also does is balance said condition with the heart of mankind that forges ever forward. It is curious isn’t it, that no matter who those “other people over there” are, they all have a mother and father. They all have sisters and brothers. They all have a heart that needs to be loved and a life that needs to be vilified. It never fails to amaze me how mankind can be both the most dangerous thing on the planet and yet the most beneficial.

What Ms. Muzyka has done here is taken a main character, one Joseph Rabbani, and given the reader his story in alternating scenes back and forth from his current condition and then into his back story, as she renders the common life of a young man suddenly turned hazardous, and yet sadly, as the world will tell you, not all that uncommon. The story itself is character oriented and brings out a great deal of minute details in giving the reader a realistic rendering of both the persons involved and also their sometimes frightening surroundings. Surroundings based on Ms. Muzyka’s research and some actual events.

It would be difficult to relay to you many of the points made in this story about what is happening in the middle east, especially as per the Hezbollah army, but let me just say that some of the points revealed, if they are to be taken literally, will make you think more about some of the social issues and public changes that are, and have been happening, right here in America, for some time.

In the rear of her book, Ms. Muzyka has a few references that will perhaps give you a better perspective of the issues covered in the story, and although the story is fictional, these items are cause for great concern in a world which is supposed to be claiming progress from anachronistic ideology.

Culture of Death - Islam’s focus on the afterlife is meant to encourage Muslims to live pious lives. But that isn’t what Muslims are learning. Thomas L. Friedman, Pulitzer Prize-winning author and New York Times columnist, recently wrote about a terrorist attack in Saudi Arabia in which gunmen ruthlessly attacked a housing complex and specifically sought out “infidels” and Westerners to kill. He asked where such intolerance was learned, and he answered: “The Saudi Public School system and religious curriculum.”

Adultery - Penalty Code Article 104 is specific about the type of stones that should be used when a woman is to be punished for adultery. They “should not be large enough to kill the woman by one or two strikes, nor should they be so small that they could not be defined as stones. She is to die a slow death.

There are quite few disturbing other points which she has gleaned from her research, but these two should at least give you the understanding of the kinds of subjects that are covered in a fictional story that will have you wondering just what is going on with the Earth these days. Truly such events as 9/11 are the results of culture wars as well as terrorism.

Joseph is taken from his protective, loving family, from which he has grown up Christian in America, while he is currently in a new living local in Iran where his father’s business takes him and his family. The cold hard realities of such an abduction are well laid out in the story as Joseph struggles to keep the humanity within himself which he has always known, which he grew up with and considers his very true person. In much the same way as the main character of the recent movie “Brothers”, Joseph is cornered into violating himself and his own deep convictions of what he knows to be the good and human thing to do. In the interim, his family too, is effected and also the love of his life is deemed brutally lost by those who oppose her Christian beliefs.

It’s a tightly written story that will keep you reading a you follow Joseph’s story of a life lost, namely his own, to the militant powers that surround him, as easily as they could surround you or me. For many people all around the world, that kind of life is indeed what they see all too often. Ms. Muzyka isn’t taking the core of the story easy on the reader, for she could have easily placed the meat of the story in a science fiction setting and given us aliens and far away planets as a buffer from stark realities that happen all around the world every day. But she hasn’t done that. Joseph and his family and friends are people just like anyone else, be they American, Chinese, Indian, or in this case Middle Eastern. If today you feel somewhat distanced from terror and the horrors it brings to the innocent, who of course are always the first victims in war, then perhaps you would take from this story a lesson about the encroachment of militant fanaticism, even in your own town.

A well written, and voluminous book that has been given painstaking detail, especially in the way it brings distant fleeting images of news footage from the other side of the world, which one may not give too much thought to, and injects them with the all too missed perception of tragic humanity that is involved.

Pola Muzyka is an accomplished award-winning TV, commercial and corporate writer. She has always had a flair for dramatic writing. In the 1980’S, She wrote part of a script for film director Federico Fellini. She researched and translated work for four-time Academy Award-winner Danilo Donati, who deemed her work “the most extensive research ever done on a film.” Abducted to Kill is her debut as a novelist and combines her talent as researcher and dramatic writer in this powerful and gripping story.
Pola is a multi-disciplinarian who began her career as a dramatic actress, having done both starring and feature roles in Hollywood-based motion pictures. She has showcased her visual art in many galleries and currently hosts a television series for baby boomers.
Although she has traveled and lived all over the world, Pola was raised on a sheep farm and continues to enjoy country living. Her passion lies in her relationship with Jesus Christ and her ministry connecting Christians in media. She is the founder of the internet based, Christian Media Alliance. Subsequently, she has toured India as a media missionary and produced documentary films helping pastors in various countries.

Reviews by Hubie Goode: The Dark Man

The Dark Man

by Marc Schooley

The Dark Man is a near-future thriller about a master of disguise working to eradicate Christianity in America. Charles Graves is haunted by his dead brother, his lost mother, and a phantom arising cryptically from a child’s puzzle. Charles goes undercover to infiltrate one of the last Christian cells in Southern North America, only to discover that someone else is attempting to infiltrate HIM. In a world turned over by oppressive government and a godless society, Charles strives to bring down the last Christian leaders.

But sometimes he who persecutes the Church is destined to serve her.

When I first began to read this novel, I found myself wondering just what kind of book it would be in comparison to the library of fiction that I am used to. After all, it’s not often you find a novel that implements many of the same devices that the general public is familiar with, things such as, making the reader feel great about the position of mankind, his supposed independence and power and even his social media programmed need for the visceral and, all too often, also for the puerile. It just goes to prove to an audience that it’s not necessary to always use the same triggers, despite their apparent money making draw, in order to create a work of fiction that is both engrossing and efficacious. And, indeed, The Dark Man is one of those books.

A famous writer once said, “The easier it is to read something the more work has been placed into its’ creation.” As a reviewer I get to use all those college words, as I have done already, but one thing Schooley does is make the reading experience seamless without pandering to verbosity and pedantry. You know, like I just did. So what the reader is in for is a beautifully written and intelligently formulated story that will entice you into its’ chapters without offense both plot wise and prose wise. I will say, however, that the audience is indeed Christian, and most obviously Bible Christian, not just religious or sect Christian. What this means is that there is quite a bit of originality to the plotting that one doesn’t usually see in most secular books, in that the good guys are the followers of Christ and they are NOT nut cases. In fact what they are, are real people with a real world problem on their hands working for a bigger cause.

This cause is not the same one you see in a lot of other novels who glorify mankind, some of them with the audacity to believe that a battle between a man and Satan can actually be won... just in the nick of time, and all by himself. You won’t find anything here, but real humanity, hoping and believing in the power of God working unseen in every circumstance as they struggle against those who would force a world to live without God. And let’s face it, that’s original!

The characterization propels the book at first as the personalities and situations are set up for the reader. There is a little bit of weird psychological magic also in revealing the Dark Man as a character whom only the protagonist is familiar with. This hero, Charles Graves, carries the Dark Man around with him in his head as an almost Shakespearean type commentator and antagonistic adviser during much of the action. The story itself is imbedded with elements in a worldly myriad of sources from The A-Team to James Bond, and this works on the level of familiarity needed to transfer the story to the reader.

In it’s Orwellian way the story brings the reader into a kind of New World Order organization that Charles Graves works for in a creative and entertaining spy type fashion. And this section of the story is entertaining and clever enough to bring about the set up for the rest of the book in a way that is both complex and yet easy to digest. Not an easy thing to do if you understand writing. Oh, but once you have gotten to the meat of this story, it turns into a grand rescue mission you will not soon forget.

Chapter after chapter of tense, well written plotting by a superior, literate writer turns what might have been a preachy, heavy handed tome into a brisk and involving thriller. Major plot lines and a few minor ones swirl around and into each other in an exciting and surprisingly understandable way, all dovetailing toward an end you may or may not see coming.

But just one word about this sort of thing. When I was a kid, I used to play a lot of flag football and I would love to create trick plays on the opposing team, in such a way as to orchestrate a series of plays from first down to fourth down that would get the other players to think in the way I wanted them to. So, say for instance, my team would run a double reverse on first down. Then on second down we would do a short cut back pass. The third down was crucial because we would run the double reverse again, but making it obvious, and the opposing team would think in their minds: “Aha! You’re not going to fool me with that again!” and they would, of course, over pursue. Little did they know that the double reverse was just a smokescreen for the real play we had in mind. Used to work like magic!

I was reminded of those days while reading through the book in that there is a pair of events just like this, and they are handled deftly I must say, in such a way as I was quite fooled by the level of delivery. You will be too, as the writer isn’t just out to entertain you but also to hoodwink you with some clever plotting. I was quite impressed, mostly due to the fact that I had underestimated the abilities of Marc Schooley to give me something I could brag about that was still not secularly written. It CAN be done! Hallelujah!

So what is it about? Well, its’ more action story than it is preachy tome but it still delivers on that promise to be true to its’ roots and its’ audience. In much the same way the book of Ester uses the trappings of the situation surrounding the main character without ever having God himself show up, but you know he is all over it. Agents and spies abound with a few space ship and sci fi ideas thrown in also.

They start out one way, rounding up the “resistors” but the main character has an epiphany of Paulian scope and suddenly finds himself at odds with his own organization and assisting the persecuted. In the meantime, we have real relationships of life, family and love we will all relate to, and there isn’t one angry word spoken throughout. I know.. amazing, huh?

I recommend this book for those who want to see more positive Christian portrayals of both man and his relationship to God, even in a fictional and somewhat hyper reality setting. And also to those who would like something original and different from the usual stuff you have seen in books, movies and TV and you don’t mind a presence of the Almighty on board. All in all a good, positive read and no doubt a ton of work for a talented writer.

Marc Schooley is a Texan, Christian Philosopher, theologian, Bible teacher, speaker, musician, and nascent Christian fiction writer. Join him at www.marcschooley.com

Reviews by Hubie Goode: Abducted to Kill

Abducted to Kill

by Pola Muzyka

A young man struggles to guard and sustain his love for God, his fiancée, and his family when faced with the brutality of Sharia law.

Abducted into the newly formed Hezbollah army, a young American Christian fights for his life, his freedom, and the woman he loves when he defies a brutal regime during one of the most difficult times in Middle East history.

Friends begin to go missing and rumors surface. Some of Joseph’s friends are never heard from again. How and why they disappear remains a mystery. Joseph becomes entrapped in the mystery of the disappearances when, one day after work, he and his friend are forcibly thrown into the backseat of a black Nissan.

He and his friend are forced to join a ruthless militia. This military, formed by the IRG to protect Lebanon from invasion by the Israelis, contradicts its credence. Joseph witnesses the most horrific sins that man can inflict upon another human being and he wants out. He thinks his Maker has abandoned him and he questions God’s very existence, ultimately doubting his own faith.

After grueling years of enduring this military life, escape and concealment, a way opens up for him to safely flee the country and eventually return to the U.S.



Recently, I sat in a room with quite a few hispanic-americans who had come from various countries and towns down below the border of the U.S. and Mexico. This is not surprising seeing as the proximity of Los Angeles to South America brings about these sorts of situations everyday for those who live here. Some of those folks are legal and some are not, and this is only a fact of little importance, but it does carry some weight in this current situation.

In this room was a rather large television which was showing an Hispanic news channel. The news report being broadcast was about some drug traffickers who had been stopped from crossing the border with a large amount of illegal drugs that they had purposed specifically for selling to those who have been captured by the addiction of such items as cocaine, heroine, et al.

These men had been in a gun battle with U.S. Narcotics officers and they were all lying around the street, sitting in their cars, and hanging out of the doors due to being shot multiple times. It was a grisly scene in my estimation. The sight of seeing human beings, even drug traffickers who mean to make money from other people’s suffering, being photographed and carded with evidence numbers, was a bit much to witness. And the casualness with which it was presented was not lost on me.

Of course, here in America, on our news channels, these sorts of scenes are given only a few seconds of coverage if they are reported on and shown to the public at all. The sad truth is that most of what goes on in the world comes to the American public with a dose of sugar coating. Those who come to America from war torn states often bring their experience and attitudes from those countries to America’s shores, and for them this is a natural way of life. Godless, yes, but seemingly just the way things are for them. Such scenes for those sitting in the TV room watching the news were common knowledge to those present.

In her book, Abducted to Kill, Pola Muzyka successfully displays common tragedy of something that does indeed happen in the world; the death, the destruction, especially of human lives, and also the assumed right that evil takes in performing atrocities upon mankind all in the name of fanaticism. What she also does is balance said condition with the heart of mankind that forges ever forward. It is curious isn’t it, that no matter who those “other people over there” are, they all have a mother and father. They all have sisters and brothers. They all have a heart that needs to be loved and a life that needs to be vilified. It never fails to amaze me how mankind can be both the most dangerous thing on the planet and yet the most beneficial.

What Ms. Muzyka has done here is taken a main character, one Joseph Rabbani, and given the reader his story in alternating scenes back and forth from his current condition and then into his back story, as she renders the common life of a young man suddenly turned hazardous, and yet sadly, as the world will tell you, not all that uncommon. The story itself is character oriented and brings out a great deal of minute details in giving the reader a realistic rendering of both the persons involved and also their sometimes frightening surroundings. Surroundings based on Ms. Muzyka’s research and some actual events.

It would be difficult to relay to you many of the points made in this story about what is happening in the middle east, especially as per the Hezbollah army, but let me just say that some of the points revealed, if they are to be taken literally, will make you think more about some of the social issues and public changes that are, and have been happening, right here in America, for some time.

In the rear of her book, Ms. Muzyka has a few references that will perhaps give you a better perspective of the issues covered in the story, and although the story is fictional, these items are cause for great concern in a world which is supposed to be claiming progress from anachronistic ideology.

Culture of Death - Islam’s focus on the afterlife is meant to encourage Muslims to live pious lives. But that isn’t what Muslims are learning. Thomas L. Friedman, Pulitzer Prize-winning author and New York Times columnist, recently wrote about a terrorist attack in Saudi Arabia in which gunmen ruthlessly attacked a housing complex and specifically sought out “infidels” and Westerners to kill. He asked where such intolerance was learned, and he answered: “The Saudi Public School system and religious curriculum.”

Adultery - Penalty Code Article 104 is specific about the type of stones that should be used when a woman is to be punished for adultery. They “should not be large enough to kill the woman by one or two strikes, nor should they be so small that they could not be defined as stones. She is to die a slow death.

There are quite few disturbing other points which she has gleaned from her research, but these two should at least give you the understanding of the kinds of subjects that are covered in a fictional story that will have you wondering just what is going on with the Earth these days. Truly such events as 9/11 are the results of culture wars as well as terrorism.

Joseph is taken from his protective, loving family, from which he has grown up Christian in America, while he is currently in a new living local in Iran where his father’s business takes him and his family. The cold hard realities of such an abduction are well laid out in the story as Joseph struggles to keep the humanity within himself which he has always known, which he grew up with and considers his very true person. In much the same way as the main character of the recent movie “Brothers”, Joseph is cornered into violating himself and his own deep convictions of what he knows to be the good and human thing to do. In the interim, his family too, is effected and also the love of his life is deemed brutally lost by those who oppose her Christian beliefs.

It’s a tightly written story that will keep you reading a you follow Joseph’s story of a life lost, namely his own, to the militant powers that surround him, as easily as they could surround you or me. For many people all around the world, that kind of life is indeed what they see all too often. Ms. Muzyka isn’t taking the core of the story easy on the reader, for she could have easily placed the meat of the story in a science fiction setting and given us aliens and far away planets as a buffer from stark realities that happen all around the world every day. But she hasn’t done that. Joseph and his family and friends are people just like anyone else, be they American, Chinese, Indian, or in this case Middle Eastern. If today you feel somewhat distanced from terror and the horrors it brings to the innocent, who of course are always the first victims in war, then perhaps you would take from this story a lesson about the encroachment of militant fanaticism, even in your own town.

A well written, and voluminous book that has been given painstaking detail, especially in the way it brings distant fleeting images of news footage from the other side of the world, which one may not give too much thought to, and injects them with the all too missed perception of tragic humanity that is involved.



Pola Muzyka is an accomplished award-winning TV, commercial and corporate writer. She has always had a flair for dramatic writing. In the 1980’S, She wrote part of a script for film director Federico Fellini. She researched and translated work for four-time Academy Award-winner Danilo Donati, who deemed her work “the most extensive research ever done on a film.” Escape the Hezbollah is her debut as a novelist and combines her talent as researcher and dramatic writer in this powerful and gripping story.

Pola is a multi-disciplinarian who began her career as a dramatic actress, having done both starring and feature roles in Hollywood-based motion pictures. She has showcased her visual art in many galleries and currently hosts a television series for baby boomers.

Although she has traveled and lived all over the world, Pola was raised on a sheep farm and continues to enjoy country living. Her passion lies in her relationship with Jesus Christ and her ministry connecting Christians in media. She is the founder of the internet based, Christian Media Alliance. Subsequently, she has toured India as a media missionary and produced documentary films helping pastors in various countries.

The title of this book has been changed.

http://www.escapethehezbollah.com/

Reviews by Hubie Goode: The Dark Man: A Christian Novel

The Dark Man

by Marc Schooley

The Dark Man is a near-future thriller about a master of disguise working to eradicate Christianity in America. Charles Graves is haunted by his dead brother, his lost mother, and a phantom arising cryptically from a child’s puzzle.

Charles goes undercover to infiltrate one of the last Christian cells in Southern North America, only to discover that someone else is attempting to infiltrate HIM. In a world turned over by oppressive government and a godless society, Charles strives to bring down the last Christian leaders.

But sometimes he who persecutes the Church is destined to serve her.

When I first began to read this novel, I found myself wondering just what kind of book it would be in comparison to the library of fiction that I am used to. After all, it’s not often you find a novel that implements many of the same devices that the general public is familiar with, things such as, making the reader feel great about the position of mankind, his supposed independence and power, and yet manages to subvert those things amicably.

It just goes to prove to an audience that it’s not necessary to always use the same triggers, despite their apparent money making draw, in order to create a work of fiction that is both engrossing and efficacious. And, indeed, The Dark Man is one of those books. A famous writer once said, “The easier it is to read something the more work has been placed into its’ creation.” As a reviewer I get to use college words, as I have done already, but one thing Schooley does is make the reading experience seamless without pandering to verbosity and pedantry. You, know, like I just did. So what the reader is in for is a beautifully written and intelligently formulated story that will entice you into its’ chapters without offense both plot wise and prose wise.

I will say, however, that the audience is indeed Christian, and most obviously Bible Christian, not just religious or sect Christian. What this means is that there is quite a bit of originality to the plotting that one doesn’t usually see in most secular books, in that the good guys are the followers of Christ and they are NOT nut cases. In fact what they are, are real people with a real world problem on their hands working for a bigger cause. This cause is not the same one you see in a lot of other novels who glorify mankind, some of them with the audacity to believe that a battle between a man and Satan can actually be won... just in the nick of time, and all by himself.

You won’t find anything here, but real humanity, hoping and believing in the power of God working unseen in every circumstance as they struggle against those who would force a world to live without God. And let’s face it, that’s original!

The characterization propels the book at first as the personalities and situations are set up for the reader. There is a little bit of weird psychological magic also in revealing the Dark Man as a character whom only the protagonist is familiar with. This hero, Charles Graves, carries the Dark Man around with him in his head as an almost Shakespearean type commentator and antagonistic adviser during much of the action.

The story itself is imbedded with elements in a worldly myriad of sources from The A-Team to James Bond, and this works on the level of familiarity needed to transfer the story to the reader. In its' Orwellian way the story brings the reader into a kind of New World Order organization that Charles Graves works for in a creative and entertaining spy type fashion. And this section of the story is entertaining and clever enough to bring about the set up for the rest of the book in a way that is both complex and yet easy to digest.

Not an easy thing to do if you understand writing.

Oh, but once you have gotten to the meat of this story, it turns into a grand rescue mission you will not soon forget. Chapter after chapter of tense, well written plotting by a superior, literate writer turns what might have been a preachy, heavy handed tome into a brisk and involving thriller. Major plot lines and a few minor ones swirl around and into each other in an exciting and surprisingly understandable way, all dovetailing toward an end you may or may not see coming.

But, just one word about this sort of thing. When I was a kid, I used to play a lot of flag football and I would love to create trick plays on the opposing team, in such a way as to orchestrate a series of plays from first down to fourth down that would get the other players to think in the way I wanted them to. So, say for instance, my team would run a double reverse on first down. Then on second down we would do a short cut back pass. The third down was crucial because we would run the double reverse again, but making it obvious, and the opposing team would think in their minds: “Aha! You’re not going to fool me with that again!” and they would, of course, over pursue. Little did they know that the double reverse was just a smokescreen for the real play we had in mind. Used to work like magic!

I was reminded of those days while reading through the book in that there is a pair of events just like this, and they are handled deftly I must say, in such a way as I was quite fooled by the level of delivery. You will be too, as the writer isn’t just out to entertain you but also to hoodwink you with some clever plotting. I was quite impressed, mostly due to the fact that I had underestimated the abilities of Marc Schooley to give me something I could brag about that was still not secularly written. It CAN be done! Hallelujah!

So what is it about? Well, its’ more action story than it is preachy tome but it still delivers on that promise to be true to its’ roots and its’ audience. In much the same way the book of Ester uses the trappings of the situation surrounding the main character without ever having God himself show up, but you know he is all over it. Agents and spies abound with a few space ship and sci fi ideas thrown in also. They start out one way, rounding up the “resistors” but the main character has an epiphany of Paulian scope and suddenly finds himself at odds with his own organization and assisting the persecuted. The spy versus spy game is afoot. In the meantime, we have real relationships of life, family and love we can all relate to, and there isn’t one angry word spoken throughout. I know.. amazing, huh?

I recommend this book for those who want to see more positive Christian portrayals of both man and his relationship to God, even in a fictional and somewhat hyper reality setting. And also to those who would like something original and different from the usual stuff you have seen in books, movies and TV and you don’t mind a presence of the Almighty on board. All in all a good, positive read and no doubt a ton of work for a talented writer.

Marc Schooley is a Texan, Christian Philosopher, theologian, Bible teacher, speaker, musician, and nascent Christian fiction writer. Join him at www.marcschooley.com

Reviews by Hubie Goode: The Dark Man

The Dark Man

by Marc Schooley

The Dark Man is a near-future thriller about a master of disguise working to eradicate Christianity in America. Charles Graves is haunted by his dead brother, his lost mother, and a phantom arising cryptically from a child’s puzzle.

Charles goes undercover to infiltrate one of the last Christian cells in Southern North America, only to discover that someone else is attempting to infiltrate HIM. In a world turned over by oppressive government and a godless society, Charles strives to bring down the last Christian leaders.

But sometimes he who persecutes the Church is destined to serve her.

When I first began to read this novel, I found myself wondering just what kind of book it would be in comparison to the library of fiction that I am used to. After all, it’s not often you find a novel that implements many of the same devices that the general public is familiar with, things such as, making the reader feel great about the position of mankind, his supposed independence and power, and yet manages to subvert those things amicably.

It just goes to prove to an audience that it’s not necessary to always use the same triggers, despite their apparent money making draw, in order to create a work of fiction that is both engrossing and efficacious. And, indeed, The Dark Man is one of those books. A famous writer once said, “The easier it is to read something the more work has been placed into its’ creation.” As a reviewer I get to use college words, as I have done already, but one thing Schooley does is make the reading experience seamless without pandering to verbosity and pedantry. You, know, like I just did. So what the reader is in for is a beautifully written and intelligently formulated story that will entice you into its’ chapters without offense both plot wise and prose wise.

I will say, however, that the audience is indeed Christian, and most obviously Bible Christian, not just religious or sect Christian. What this means is that there is quite a bit of originality to the plotting that one doesn’t usually see in most secular books, in that the good guys are the followers of Christ and they are NOT nut cases. In fact what they are, are real people with a real world problem on their hands working for a bigger cause. This cause is not the same one you see in a lot of other novels who glorify mankind, some of them with the audacity to believe that a battle between a man and Satan can actually be won... just in the nick of time, and all by himself.

You won’t find anything here, but real humanity, hoping and believing in the power of God working unseen in every circumstance as they struggle against those who would force a world to live without God. And let’s face it, that’s original!

The characterization propels the book at first as the personalities and situations are set up for the reader. There is a little bit of weird psychological magic also in revealing the Dark Man as a character whom only the protagonist is familiar with. This hero, Charles Graves, carries the Dark Man around with him in his head as an almost Shakespearean type commentator and antagonistic adviser during much of the action.

The story itself is imbedded with elements in a worldly myriad of sources from The A-Team to James Bond, and this works on the level of familiarity needed to transfer the story to the reader. In its' Orwellian way the story brings the reader into a kind of New World Order organization that Charles Graves works for in a creative and entertaining spy type fashion. And this section of the story is entertaining and clever enough to bring about the set up for the rest of the book in a way that is both complex and yet easy to digest.

Not an easy thing to do if you understand writing.

Oh, but once you have gotten to the meat of this story, it turns into a grand rescue mission you will not soon forget. Chapter after chapter of tense, well written plotting by a superior, literate writer turns what might have been a preachy, heavy handed tome into a brisk and involving thriller. Major plot lines and a few minor ones swirl around and into each other in an exciting and surprisingly understandable way, all dovetailing toward an end you may or may not see coming.

But, just one word about this sort of thing. When I was a kid, I used to play a lot of flag football and I would love to create trick plays on the opposing team, in such a way as to orchestrate a series of plays from first down to fourth down that would get the other players to think in the way I wanted them to. So, say for instance, my team would run a double reverse on first down. Then on second down we would do a short cut back pass. The third down was crucial because we would run the double reverse again, but making it obvious, and the opposing team would think in their minds: “Aha! You’re not going to fool me with that again!” and they would, of course, over pursue. Little did they know that the double reverse was just a smokescreen for the real play we had in mind. Used to work like magic!

I was reminded of those days while reading through the book in that there is a pair of events just like this, and they are handled deftly I must say, in such a way as I was quite fooled by the level of delivery. You will be too, as the writer isn’t just out to entertain you but also to hoodwink you with some clever plotting. I was quite impressed, mostly due to the fact that I had underestimated the abilities of Marc Schooley to give me something I could brag about that was still not secularly written. It CAN be done! Hallelujah!

So what is it about? Well, its’ more action story than it is preachy tome but it still delivers on that promise to be true to its’ roots and its’ audience. In much the same way the book of Ester uses the trappings of the situation surrounding the main character without ever having God himself show up, but you know he is all over it. Agents and spies abound with a few space ship and sci fi ideas thrown in also. They start out one way, rounding up the “resistors” but the main character has an epiphany of Paulian scope and suddenly finds himself at odds with his own organization and assisting the persecuted. The spy versus spy game is afoot. In the meantime, we have real relationships of life, family and love we can all relate to, and there isn’t one angry word spoken throughout. I know.. amazing, huh?

I recommend this book for those who want to see more positive Christian portrayals of both man and his relationship to God, even in a fictional and somewhat hyper reality setting. And also to those who would like something original and different from the usual stuff you have seen in books, movies and TV and you don’t mind a presence of the Almighty on board. All in all a good, positive read and no doubt a ton of work for a talented writer.

Marc Schooley is a Texan, Christian Philosopher, theologian, Bible teacher, speaker, musician, and nascent Christian fiction writer. Join him at www.marcschooley.com

Reviews by Hubie Goode: Learn To Study The Bible

Learn To Study The Bible
Forty Different Step by Step Methods to Help You Discover, Apply, and Enjoy God’s Word

Author: Andy Deane, Associate Pastor of Calvary Chapel Old Bridge, in Central New Jersey

It wasn’t all that long ago I viewed comedian and atheist Bill Maher’s movie entitled “Religulous”, and it’s one of the things that first came to mind when I saw this book and what it sets out to do as far as bringing Christians closer to God’s Word and receiving from God what he has to offer to all those who believe and love the Lord. In Maher’s movie it’s very plain to see that he appears to be setting out to disprove something about all religion, and in his attempts, he blindly tries to include God himself in the process. But what he really ends up doing is illustrating what is wrong with religion itself and how mankind goes horribly wrong when he is not being truly led by the Spirit of God. I think you can tell the difference between Biblical characters such as Jesus himself, or St. Stephen or Paul after his conversion, and those souls Maher rails against for injustices to mankind all in the name of God.

And what this guide book really does for me is ask the question, “Who are you?” When someone suggests a study guide for Biblical scripture, does that interest you... or does it make you hesitate? If God is really there for us, and is who he says he is... then it makes sense, knowing him as he is, that he would have a people somewhere. Do you find that you love and trust God but are skeptical of his people? If someone is lead to create a book of helpful study methods for you to go deeper into the very gift of God to mankind, namely, his Word, do you trust that? Do you look for better ways to study the bread of life? Or are you more like some of the folks who Bill Maher rails against and really would rather do things your own way, despite the consequences, which coincidentally, bring a secular person like Mahrer to spend huge amounts of money on a film where he can’t quite get anyone to prove it all to him the way he wants it, and then he turns on God himself in a public forum. Those are questions only you, yourself can answer.

In Pastor Deane’s book he writes in several sections, comfortable leading ones, that put several pieces of a larger puzzle together in a very succinct format. He begins by outlining benefits for Bible study by addressing the treasures that can be had by all who will receive them. Such things as, of course, salvation, cleansing from sin, receiving peace and joy, guidance in decisions of everyday life, and also timeless principles of success without added woes.

The world can’t tell you who you really are in the great universe we are a part of, and it won’t. It will only inform you that life is about those things which make you happy, and usually leaves out all the timeless messages that God himself has laid before us. This makes you the greatest victim of all, as since, you had the answers to life the whole time, here in God’s Word, but you listened to someone else and never benefitted as you could have if you had just taken the time to see for yourself what God has given us. I think that’s actually one of the main points of the Genesis story. God tells Adam and Eve one thing and someone, anyone else, tells them something else. Who are they going to listen to? Who are YOU going to listen to? I think this book can help you to listen to the right voices and also makes it fun and interesting to do so.

One thing you must understand first thing, is that these are study methods, 40 or so of them in fact, that are designed to assist you in different ways to gain as much as you can from the exercise. You can’t be lazy, people. This is for the diligent and purposed of heart. Just remember, the Bible was written over a 1,500 year span and it’s all the same connected story. Part A leads to Part B and so on, therefore; long term study is a necessity for discovering the eternal Truths God has laid out.

Pastor Deane begins by laying out the basis for structured study in how we Observe what is written; What does the scripture say?, Interpretation; What does it mean?, and Application; What does it ask of us to do in our lives?

There are some rather imaginative applications for the future chapters of the book outlined here as far as helping you to get the most from your study, and the outlining is quite comprehensive, there is a ton of work that has gone into putting together a rather small book that is packed with information both from individual sources and from sources you can no longer find for yourself. Just keep in mind that, as in playing a practiced sport, like say, billiards, if you practice sloppy, you will teach yourself to play sloppy. The same principle applies here.

When the book kicks off with the actual methods it starts with some simplified and yet creative ways of study, and some of these can also be used with any subject, I suppose, but they are all good ideas. As an example, Chapter 6, Daily Bread asks you to take a line of a passage and accentuate each word and the meaning that it relates to you as each one is emphasized. Simple, yes, but we’re just getting started here, as the book becomes more and more of a guide toward dissertation and college level study than you would at first have guessed. It isn’t long before we find ourselves in the library on a long table with ten books open and several legal pads for cross referencing and detailed comparisons. But don’t let that scare you, there is something here for everyone.

At the end of each chapter, there are painstakingly rendered, real world examples written in real handwriting just to illustrate what the study (briefly) outlined would look like when done correctly. What more can you ask for? I, myself, was quite grateful for this illustrative addition and have already applied a few of the techniques myself, with pleasing results, but the visuals were indeed a nice touch and a big help.


Let me just show you one of the early ones, a simpler one than those later in the book. I figure if you have read this far, you must have some level of interest that would like to see an example. In Chapter 8, Specs On, named after the practice of putting on the glasses for clearer insight, you are asked to map out the words “Specs On” and then answer questions accordingly after you have read a passage..

S - What is the sin I need to forsake?

P - What is God’s promise I need to claim?

E - What is the example I need to follow?

C - What is the command I need to obey?

S - What is the stumbling block I need to avoid?

O - What is the obedience needed on my own part?

N - What new information have I learned.

As you have answered these questions for yourself, you have done today’s study of a chapter or passage of scripture. Not bad, huh?

In another chapter it is suggested you take a more “reporter” type search and ask exhaustive questions concerning a chapter or passage. For instance, look everything up. Get maps, history books, dictionaries and do all the research for that particular section.

For instance, Psalm 126:

When Yahweh brought Zion’s captives home, at first it seemed like a dream; then our mouths filled with laughter and our lips with song. Even the pagans starting talking about the marvels Yahweh had done for us! What marvels indeed he did for us, and how overjoyed we were. Yahweh bring all our captives back again like torrents in the Negeb! Those who went sowing in tears now sing as they reap. They went away, went away weeping, carrying the seed; they come back, comeback singing, carrying their sheaves.

Now ask questions:

Define captivity. Locate Zion. Is this real or a dream? What nations? Why were they singing? What are the great things God did for them? Is “us” Israel or Judah or all believers? Locate the Negeb. What is a sheave?

Now after you have asked and answered all these questions, ask yourself how this applies to you. Since in reality, you are the final chapter of the book that the Bible begins in you. Being willing to expend energy, even for these relatively simple studies, will challenge your perception as to how important and vital the Word is to you.

Then there are major, more college level methods discussed, such as line by line charting. First you choose some verses, then you write them out, then paraphrase them. You then make a side by side chart of verse and paraphrase, and work to understand the ultimate application in your life. That is always the final step.

Book overviews can also be a lot of time consuming work, but then these are the advanced methods. Chapter 18’s description of this method looks particularly daunting considering it uses the book of Romans as a study. (Perhaps the toughest book in the whole Bible) But if you have the commitment to do such things as titling each section and then working on getting the main theme, followed by a charting of the theme as outlined on page 103, well you are indeed blessed brother. Some of these studies are not for those used to being spoon fed.

You may also find studying lives of individual characters and larger Biblical topics to be of great interest, as outlined in later chapters here. I can tell you, this is way beyond just reading a chapter a day for a year or some such thing. But I would hope you would allow pastor Andy’s ministry and work to reach out to you for deeper relationship with God. Because, you know, it will happen with these methods.

The methods I found to be most interesting were the suggestions of studying characters such as the individual Kings in books like Kings and Chronicles, and then stepping back and looking at them as a whole. Personally, I have found entire movies that could be made from the stories here, that have been completely ignored, and that’s a real shame. Even more so since over and over Kings refers to the lost book of the annals of the Jewish Kings, and yet we still have God’s word to refer to it. (But that’s a whole other blog)

Other suggestions here will lead you through studying “prayers”, proverbs, parables and even collecting a chart of all miracles. How about studying just the questions Jesus issued to those he spoke with? Or How about just the collected commands? But don’t get me wrong, the methods are varied and defined in short, succinct chapters. There is even a section toward the back for younger adults with charts that will illicit responses from them of the somewhat lesser intellectual side of the college study method level.

As an example, there is the heart monitor chart, which gauges your emotional response to readings on a 1-5 scale. Did you respond at all? Did you get choked up? Do you understand that the level of your heart response to a scripture is a nice measure of your spiritual life existence? Have you ever heard of someone having a Bible with tear stains on the pages? Seems a bit foreign to you. Maybe histrionic? Maybe not.... maybe you are just not open enough to hearing from God. A bit harsh, I know, but something to really consider between yourself and God.

Just keep in mind that folks like Bill Maher have no concept of what it is to hear from God, or be affected by his Holy Word. And that’s one of the reasons he goes about through life as he does, hearing but never understanding, frustrated to anger that he has somehow been left out. This book, Learn to Study the Bible, 40 Methods is tightly written and imaginatively displayed so that you, the real children of God can join the millions of those down through history, both great and small men and women, who knew nothing of each other, but all found the same Jesus.

I’d like to also thank Pastor Deane for requesting this review. He lives on the other side of America from me, New Jersey, and I live in Los Angeles. We’ve never met. When I started this blog I set out to be sort of a consumer advocate for the Christian community, reviewing subjects like education, politics and current events, or perhaps seeing some movies before your kids do, and reporting on them. I never expected to receive an invitation to review a book on Biblical study methods, and I just know Pastor Andy is not a man to randomly throw out those invitations to those he doesn’t feel will do at least an adequate job of doing so. I’m humbled to think that something I wrote somewhere in my blog caught the attention of the Jesus in him, so that I could respond in kind with the Jesus in me. It has been my extreme pleasure to be involved in his work in this capacity and I deeply thank him for his verification.

www.LearnToStudyTheBible.com