Book: A Cast of Stones by Patrick Carr

I have another book to point you to, and you can also see a review of this over at Ann Hibbard’s Blog. It’s a book that was provided by BethanyHouse Publishers in exchange for this review. Well, they didn’t ask for this exact review, but you know what I mean.

A Cast of Stones by Patrick W. Carr is a fantasy fiction novel that opens The Staff and the Sword Trilogy. Carr is a first-time novelist, which explains why you haven’t heard of him before this year. Unless you follow Christian Fiction, where he won a contest for A Cast of Stones a few years ago that is likely behind its recent publication.

Overall, A Cast of Stones introduces us to the Kingdom of Illustra. This kingdom is somewhat medieval in its general setting and is a place where, if not magic, at least some supernatural is considered a normal part of life. There are other kingdoms on the map outside of Illustra, but they are not primarily involved in A Cast of Stones.

The action begins in a remote village of Illustra and through the course of A Cast of Stones, moves through other cities and towns until the climax occurs in the capital city. Across the miles, the reader might be forgiven for not grasping all of the geography, for one thing that would benefit the reader would be a map of the kingdom. However, the description of the setting is well-done and leaves the reader feeling like they have at least seen a good film of Illustra, even if they cannot quite say they’ve been there.

Characters include two young men on seemingly different tracks in life, a priest or two, and a few more heroic types. Further, A Cast of Stones introduces us to a religious leader called a “reader” who holds certain responsibilities in the Kingdom. Rather than rip that from the middle area of the book, I will simply acknowledge that it does take a bit to figure it all out, but the mystery of understanding who does what, and who has what power, is part of the fun of A Cast of Stones.

The plotline is fairly straightforward in A Cast of Stones. There are lies, betrayals, secrets, and battles in advancing the story. Certainly some of these are predictable, but overall there is enough not-quite-obvious to keep the reader interested. Further, it serves well in introducing the reader to this new world. After all, if you both do not know what is happening and the universe in which it occurs, it’s harder to finish. The resolution is adequate to a book known to be part 1 of a trilogy: most of the simple loose ends are tied up while the bigger story obviously must continue.

In sorting out the plot, I found myself a little tripped up on the organization of the church in Illustra. A Cast of Stones features a unified church that has a hierarchal structure, and for a free/independent church tradition person such as myself, that took some sorting out. I will likely draw myself an org chart to go with my map to help me remember how it all works for the rest of the trilogy.

I found myself liking A Cast of Stones. Frequently, as a reviewer I find myself having to finish books, but this one took no extra push to finish. Carr has created a world that I am curious to see more of—more about Illustra, more about the neighboring kingdoms, and more of the stories Errol and the other characters introduced in A Cast of Stones.

If you need a good fiction series to get lost in, A Cast of Stones is a nice place to be lost. The sequel is due out this summer, and then we’ll have to wait until next February to get the resolution, but if that’s the worst thing about this series, it’s a good series.

note: I did receive a copy of A Cast of Stones in exchange for this review.

Sermon Wrap-Up from April 14

Here are the Sermon Links from April 14:

Morning Audio Link

Morning Video Embed:

Morning Outline:

April 14 Lord's Supper: Joshua 5:10-12

I. Before the Battle

II. After the Consecration

III. Before the Commands

IV. After the Provision

V. Before the Settling-In

Where are you?

1. There are battles ahead of us:

     A. Against sin within us

     B. With temptations outside of us

     C. For the souls of humanity--to present the Gospel clearly to all

2. Have you stood publicly for Christ?

     A. Do you think Baptism is harder than circumcision?

     B. When is a convenient time? RIGHT NOW.

3. Wondering what God is commanding you to do?

     A. The Word is the starting point

     B. Do what is clear: be in the Word, honor the Lord, remember His sacrifice

4. Has God provided?

     A. We remember more than manna

     B. We remember the blood

5. Are you ready to live in obedience in the God's grace?

     A. Then we move forward by remembering

     B. Then we commit and do

Evening Audio Link

Evening Video Embed:

Evening Outline:

April 14 PM: Salvation Summarized: Ephesians 2:8-10

I. Grace: undeserved goodwill

II. Faith: reliability

III. Not Ours

     A. Works

     B. Faith--saved by the reliability of God

IV. Saved?

     A. From what?

     B. From who?

V. Created to do!

     1. God has prepared opportunities for good works

     2. We would walk in them:

          A. Walk--not occasionally sprint into

          B. Walk--not have to hunt for

VI. His workmanship

     1. Not that He is ours--we do not have to make Jesus into anything

     2. He makes us into what we ought to be

Book: Angelguard by Ian Acheson

I’m going to start this book review with a disclaimer. Here it is: novels are for entertainment and thought-provocation. Bibles are for theology. Why the disclaimer? Because books like Angelguard are good reads and can provoke a few deep thoughts, but the answer to the theology questions raised need to come from the text of Scripture itself. I do not expect a novel to have a theology perfectly in line with mine, especially on sub-matters like angels and demons. So, don’t go all regulative principle on novels or elevate them above Holy Writ. Take it for what it is: reading material.

On to the book: Angelguard by Ian Acheson (name links to author’s webpage) is a foray into the Christian fiction subgenre of supernatural fiction. That means that the author is portraying not only human actions but suggesting spiritual forces at work behind those actions and portraying those as well. It is a subgenre that I have not read much in lately, but do remember reading some of the groundbreaking modern novels in it, ones which most reviews compare Angelguard to. I am inclined to do the same, but cannot honestly tell you if it’s because Acheson is similar to those authors or if that’s just the only frame of reference I have.

The plot line is fairly straightforward in Angelguard. There are bad guys who are up to bad things, and we see that behind these bad guys are the spiritual forces of evil. There are good guys who will be thwarting the evil plan, and to aid in their efforts are the spiritual forces of God.

Part of what makes Angelguard work is seeing the interplay between the two differing groups. As far as I can tell in my reading, the spiritual forces are not actually visible in the physical realm, though there are interactions. Further, it is clear that the demonic side is striving to push the humans under their influence to follow a plan, while the angelic side is protecting the the humans under their “guard” so that the humans can fulfill what God has for them.

I liked that. While it would appear that in Angelguard’s universe the spiritual can provide some influence on the actual behaviors of humanity, the people are still clearly responsible for their own actions. No one is on a puppet-string here. Do things occur beyond explanation? Certainly—but no one is dragged, kicking and screaming, into compliance with evil or obedience to good. Instead, the character of the characters is allowed to show through.

Angelguard’s plot is not particularly groundbreaking, but I think suspense plots at this point are more often about doing it better than concocting something completely unexpected. In truth, the last “completely unexpected” I read came more as a “well, that was out of left field, just beyond the foul pole” than a good plot. Acheson presents the classic world-in-danger, time-critical disaster plot with the added looks at the spiritual realm. It works well together. Naturally, parts of it stretch the imagination, but I want my fiction to have a happy ending. Life has enough times the bad guys win…let the good guys have the books.

Alongside the plotline, Angelguard does well in developing the characters. The opening chaos generates emotional needs for many of the characters, and seeing how and if those needs are fulfilled in relationships throughout the book moves the character development along. Again, is it as messy as real life? Not quite, but neither has Acheson presented us with cut-and-paste characters without problems. The most evil are clearly bad, but the good are not so good the reader never doubts them.

On the spiritual side, Angelguard presents angels and demons that have personalities. They also have long-running vendettas. What I found an interesting deviation from typical angel books is the apparent ability of angels and demons to kill each other. That’s frequently not a factor, because for the most part the Bible is not clear that any angelic beings are mortal. However, it works well with this book, and it is not clear from Scripture that this is impossible, so why not work it for the plot?

In all, Angelguard was surprisingly easy to get drawn in by. I did not have to force myself to finish it, and do consider it a worthwhile book for my time. Although I must admit to not liking the staring eyes on the cover art, but nothing’s perfect, is it?

Please Note: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for the review. I actually did like it—they do not require positive reviews. Just honest ones.

Who goes first? Romans 2

Carrying on into Romans, we find both comfort and consternation, peace and problems, doom and delight. The chapter is the transition between Paul explaining in Romans 1 why the Gentiles are in need of a savior and headed to the next chapter where he explains why the Jews need a savior. Romans 2 gives us some helpful ideas to work with as we look at the need for salvation and the way to be saved.

1. Salvation is not about human judgment. This one has probably been an issue since the first apostolic sermon: Christians proclaim that some people are going to Hell. It is not, however, that Christians are deciding who is going and who is not going. The Word of God says plainly that every person violates God’s Law and, on top of that, knows it (or at least ought to know it). Romans 2 points out that no person has the right to judge another, because all are sinners. Someone proclaiming the Gospel is not judging any more than those legal notices in the paper are foreclosing on mortgages: the facts at hand are being stated. Want to avoid the foreclosure in the paper? Don’t call the Daily Planet. You have to call the bank.

Want to avoid eternal judgment? Don’t fuss that you were told it’s coming. Go to the One who can bring salvation.

2. Salvation is not about human judgment. Guess what? No matter how anyone else feels about you, they cannot keep you from God. Likewise, no matter how anyone else feels about you, they cannot force you to God. Nor do you have the power to keep away those you dislike. This is not about how you judge. Your likes and dislikes do not empower eternity. Neither does your approval: you may find someone moral and upright, but you cannot get them into eternity.

3. Salvation is not about human judgment. You may judge one people better or worse than another, but God’s blessing and God’s judgment will pass through all people. Some will be saved from all the earth, others will be judged. Being an American is no guarantor of salvation, being an American is no guarantor of judgment. It falls, as Romans 2:16, through Christ Jesus.

4. Salvation is not about human judgment. You judge one sin worse than another, but all sin separates people from God. Perhaps there are degrees of punishment in eternity, certainly there are degrees of consequence in this life—just as jabbing yourself in the leg with a scalpel is different than jabbing your eye. However, all sin separates us from God. Beyond knowing that reality, why bother sorting it out? As Dr. Einstein points out to Jonathan Brewster in the theological classic Arsenic and Old Lace, one guy ends up just as dead as the other—why stress about how quickly they died? A tad more focus on the big picture, that every individual person needs Christ for salvation, and a tad less on whether it’s because of sex, drugs, rock n’ roll, or financial corruption would benefit the church of the Living God.

5. Salvation is not about human judgment. It is about divine grace and provision. About the kindness of God, intended to bring us to repentance. That’s the point. His kindness. His grace. Our repentance. There is nothing about God that needs to change, but all the ways in which we have turned from Him that we need to turn back.

So let’s turn our eyes from trying to judge. We will still be accused of being “judgmental” but that will likely never change. Herod didn’t care for John the Baptist’s judgmental attitude, either. Truth is what it is—declare it and go forward. And rather than stress about what order judgment or grace comes, because it is clear that Paul states that both came to the Jew first, recognize that Jesus coming first is all that matters.

Today’s Nerd Note: I am not going to take a firm eschatological viewpoint here, but the end of Romans 2 has a phrase or two that bears on the end-times. Or at least are thought to do so. Some hold that Paul’s references being a Jew is inward in Romans 2:28-29 mean that the end-times bear no distinction, that followers of Jesus are now who any end-times prophecies about “Jews” refer to.

I do not think that case can be made simply from this passage. Paul’s reference is clearly about the current issues of Law-following and salvation, not about end-times situations. If one wants to argue that the Church now fulfills all that Israel once did, then I think that has to come elsewhere. I think that Scripture holds up that the Church has a role and that Israel has a role, but that only through Jesus does salvation come.

That said, I don’t find a clear system I like for the end-of-the-world. Other than calmly knowing that no matter how bad it gets, eventually Jesus puts a stop to it all and His kingdom is forever. Do we need anything else?

Take a Year Off! Leviticus 25

At this present moment, according to my employee statement, I have exactly enough money saved in my retirement account to go four months without working. After that, I’ve got nothing. It’s all gone in less than half a year. So, you can imagine, I’m not particularly convinced that I could take off every seventh year for the rest of my life.

However, when you take a look in Leviticus 25, that is precisely the command of God for the people of Israel. They are to work for six years, then let the fields, cattle, and vines have a year off. Alongside this, of course, there would be a substantial amount of rest for the people, their servants, and those unfortunate to have been slaves in Israel at the time.

The people were not even to go out and glean what grew wild that year—it was to sit, be food for the cattle and wild animals. That was it: no agricultural work was to be done. (Now, keep in mind, the original economic pattern for Israel was agriculture-focused. Everybody farmed or supported farming. If someone was a support-worker, like a blacksmith, they would still be off this year: no implements to sharpen or tools to make. Generally speaking, though, there was not quite the specialization of economy in that culture. Yet.)

This was a command from God to be obeyed. What would they do with the year off? Well, Deuteronomy 31 informs us that the Sabbath years were when the whole Law was to be read to the people during the Feast of Booths (note: not the same as the Bones TV Marathon). It was intended to be a time of rest and reflection, of faith and fulfillment.

Then, every Sabbath of Sabbaths, the next year was the Year of Jubilee. What happened then? At the blast of a trumpet on the Day of Atonement, slaves were set free, debts were cancelled (the two were very related), and land reverted to its clan ownership. It was a “reset” button for the economy.

And that was a good thing.

Why?

1. Because slavery is bad, and this prevented a permanent development of slave-based economics in Israel. Slavery develops for power and convenience, but this kept slave-holding from entrenching in Israel. Imagine for a moment what would have been different in America if the US Constitution had established a system like this. 20 years prior to the Civil War, all the slaves would have been freed, and at that point, maybe some sense would have kicked in and slavery would have just been ended. Without a war.

2. Because debts accrue, oftentimes with a small bad decision, and become something monstrous. By 50 years, it’s time to release children and grandchildren from the cumulative effect of heritage mistakes.

2a. Because debts accrue and lenders become able to live without working, and the moral value of work is not to be denied. Too often the moral/ethical collapse of families and societies can be traced to too many people not having to work. Run the history, but you’ll see it in Rome, Athens, Sparta, and others.

3. Because the land was truly Yahweh’s, not Israel’s, and He told them what to do with it. The Year of Jubilee was a reminder that God’s grace was to all and not just to those whose parents had done well. This was not to negate the need for work—but it allowed for restoration if things went wrong. It also allowed for that most important of doctrinal concepts: grace. A new start.

The rest of the chapter addresses how to run the economy in light of the Jubilee years. Sell the land based on crop years remaining, treat slaves as temporary slaves, and plan to set them free—and don’t let anyone, even foreigners dwelling in the land, overlook that law.

Why?

Because it’s God’s land, and God’s people, and there is to be no nonsense about mistreating either.

How does this apply today?

We might do well to remember that it’s God’s land, God’s people by right of Creation, and some are also God’s people by right of redemption, and there is to be no nonsense about mistreating or misusing any of the above. Except, of course, we cannot seem to come to an agreement that this is actually true.

Which is to our shame and disaster. Consider this simple promise in Leviticus 25:18-22 that God will provide more than enough if His Law is followed. Not that bad times do not hit, but the bad does not hold on if we cling to Him. I commend that line of thinking to you.

Today’s Nerd Note: I lack the resources at hand to properly cite for you the history of agriculture and the introduction of leaving fields fallow and how that leads into crop rotation, which is necessary for longevity in location-attached farming. The basic idea is this: a farmer is wise to not always plant all the land. The nutrients leach out of the soil into the crops (no real fertilizers, remember?) and the soil is less productive. Letting a portion go unplanted allows it to rest, then plowing whatever grew back into it helps provide nutrients. That the Sabbath and Jubilee Years allowed domestic and wild animals to roam through normal agriculture lands to munch also helped (manure, anyone?) replenish the soil.

Now, there is evidence of various forms of using fallow fields in the Roman Empire and other evidences from Asia, but what’s in the middle of these? Israel, a culture that pre-dated the countries I can find mentioned. Eventually, fallow-fielding leads to crop rotation, where one plants rice this year and soybeans next year to replenish and use different fertilizers, but still there are times when the land just needs to rest.

Interesting, though, how Israel might just have been ahead of their time in agriculture development. Well, had they obeyed, that is.

Sermon Wrap-Up for April 7

I have two weeks of sermons for you. I need to do some video/audio editing on last night’s, so that’s not here but will be added later if I can get it smoothed out.

March 31 Early Morning Service:

Audio Link
Video Embed

 

Outline:

Luke 24:12

What are you waiting for? RUN!

I. Abandonment for Jesus

II. Public demonstration of abandonment for Jesus

III. Private growth of devotion and understanding

March 31 Morning Service

Audio Link

Video:

The freeze frame looks like a fish story: “It was THIS BIG!”

Outline:

Luke 24:1-11

A Blessed Nonsense

I. Remember His Words

     A. In the dark times

     B. In the confusing times

II. Do not seek life in the dead

     A. Dead world

     B. Dead traditions

     C. Dead pursuits

III. Pass it on

     A. To those you know

     B. To those who need to know

IV. Be prepared to be called....crazy.

April 7 AM

Audio Link

Video:

 

Why are we here?

I. Gathered together

II. Choosing who to honor

III. Missing the point

1. Politics

2. Economics

3. Social

4. Emotional

IV. Fulfilling Love's Great Commandment

1. The Royal Law

2. Encourage

3. Proclaim Truth

4. Call to Salvation

5. Proclaim Righteousness

Resource Review: The Singing Grammarian

Yikes. What a title: The Singing Grammarian. Here’s a quick look at the “cover art” even though this is a digital product:

 

This is produced by Kregel’s Academic and Ministry publishing group, and they provided me with a copy in exchange for the review. They did not insist that I say nice things, just that I say things. So: Things.

Good things:

1. Cost: this product is available through Christian Book Distributors (the picture is linked) and at the time of this review costs less than $20. For that, you get 19 videos that run through the grammar concepts for first year Greek. That is an excellent value.

2. Concepts: the concepts are titled rather than keyed to a specific grammar textbook. This is helpful: when you’re on Subjunctive, just take the track for it. This will work with you whether you’re learning Nouns first or Verbs first. It can even work if you’re going old school and doing 8-declension methods.

3. Correct: this should be stated: the Greek is right, based on the textbooks available to check it.

4. Coupled: video is coupled with audio, so there is a full-on learning experience. You may not understand the language after this, but you will be able to do the endings/paradigms. (Of course, you may have to sing through them constantly, but that’s a small price to pay.)

5. Complete: except vocabulary, I do not see anything missing here.

Medium things:

1. Availability: it appears to only be available from CBD or direct from Kregel. That’s not bad, just a minor annoyance because I would have to go out-of-the-way to buy it. I would, if I knew about it—but it’s still a trifle not positive.

2. Acoustics: it’s not meant to be a rock-and-roll album, and so the music production isn’t the best. The focus is lyrical, though, so you’ll cope, too. After all, getting lost in the rockin’ guitar riff during the second declension genitive, and you’ll miss a lot!

Bad things:

1. Restrictions: well, it’s a video product. You can only watch it on devices that play back MP4 video files. That’s not much of a bad, but you would be advised to double-check your system.

2. Resources: again, it’s a video. Total space needed is a little over 1.6 GB, so make sure you have the resources to store The Singing Grammarian. A nice dedicated thumb drive is perfect here: take it with you if you need to.

I hate to over-shill a free product, but this is one of those times when something is just plain useful. If you want to learn New Testament Greek, you will want to find the ways that help you memorize the crucial building blocks of the language, and you should try The Singing Grammarian to help you out. Here’s a sample video:

Again, I was given access to the videos by Kregel Academic & Ministry in exchange for the review.