M.L.S. Weech's Blog, page 34

Musings On Christianity 49

How Does One Love God With All His Heart, Soul, and Strength?

“And He said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:37-39).’”

In the last chapter, we discussed the most important commandments. There are more, and a Christian should always seek to grow and improve. However, if we’re not focused on the most important things, the little things probably don’t hold much weight. 

In fact, we need to understand that following all the other commandments is meaningless if we don’t love God. It is our hearts that God judges. Our actions should reflect our hearts (1 Samuel 16:7). 

I was sitting with a friend discussing this command. I’m an absolutist, which isn’t a point I care to debate. This is relevant because I know these commandments very well. I casually lifted up a glass of water that was on the coffee table and said, “When I drink this water, I’m drinking because I’m thirsty. How the heck does one honor or love God while drinking water?”

Way back then I was on to something, but I didn’t understand what my problem was. I do now. I was using self-centered thinking. 

When we normally accuse someone of being self-centered, we think of someone completely selfish. This is someone who’d leave all the work (including and especially their own) for others to do because they want to go home.

My own growth demands I be less selfish. Does that statement mean I’m completely without generosity? Actually I’d hope most people who know me would be quick to say how generous I am. That’s because I’m selfish with my time. I’m selfish with my goals. I’m working to grow in this, but the realization of my problem is what led me to the solution.

I need to think not of myself, but of God, in all things, at all times. Back when I made my declaration of why I drink, I didn’t understand I was pointing out a critical mindset that helps one determine what their heart is set on.

Back then, my thoughts were focused on my thirst and my desire for water. Don’t misunderstand; of course, we have needs. We get hungry and thirsty. But rather than think, “I am thirsty. I want a drink of water,” I should instead think, “Thank you, God, for caring for my needs and providing me with water.

To love God with all your heart, soul, and strength doesn’t mean you don’t do anything but pray and read the Bible all the time. God didn’t demand that of anyone. He chose David and Solomon to rule. He gave Job animals and land to care for. What needs to change is your heart. 

Sometimes that heart change will mean you step away from things that have no place in God’s eyes. It’s just the nature of it. If you imagined a world where your biological father could always see everything you said and did, you’d probably stop doing a thing or two. Your Father in Heaven can see everything you do. When we keep this in our minds, we do a better job of avoiding the other things. 

This is why keeping that commandment first in your mind is critical. If you truly are able to spend more and more of your day thinking about God and how what you’re doing does or doesn’t honor Him, you’re moving in the right direction. 

I’m not pretending or even claiming I’m doing this. As self-centered as I’ve always been, I constantly catch my thoughts focused on the wrong things. I’m human. We’re all human. That doesn’t change what we should do. 

So that’s what I’m trying. When I play cards with my grandparents, I thank God for the time he gives me with them. When I eat, I thank God for the food he provides. 

We can use this to weigh what we’re doing in our own conscience as well. If you’re not wiling to thank God and praise him for what you’re doing, it might not be something you should be doing. 

The goal is to always align what you’re doing and what you’re thinking to God. The more you do that, the more you’re setting your thoughts and heart on Him. 

Does that mean we can’t have any fun? Not at all. God allows us time for work and a time for rest. God allows us time for leisure. Just check what you’re doing for fun against his law. One also should avoid letting the gifts God gives become more important than the giver. I’m not aware of any commandment that demands constant prayer and reading of scripture. However, if you’re never doing anything to serve God, which is a pretty impressive list, how can you, then, truly assert you’re seeking Him?

This heart condition is the most important, and maybe it’s the least considered. People can do all kinds of nice things. They can feed the homeless and volunteer at church. They can do any number of things to look good, but if those works are done for the praise of other humans or done simply to check a box, I’d challenge you to check your heart because that is what Good looks at. 

Some may feel accused by this. I don’t know your heart, and I’m not pretending to. If God is at the front of your thoughts, then you are serving Him to His glory and your reward. Looking at yourself and ensuring that’s what you’re doing isn’t going to change it. However, think about how you respond. If you’re like me, you might use a lot of “I” statements. I give this much every paycheck. I volunteer this many hours at church. I did all these things. 

If your justification is yourself, you fall short. Even as I type this, I feel convicted. Again, I already know I have to improve here. That’s one of the reasons I’m writing this. If I can help myself grow, maybe I can share that journey with others and help them grow. 

I never want anyone to feel like i’m writing this from the perspective of an expert. I’ve always affirmed I’m growing. However, in my growth, I sometimes feel discouraged or overwhelmed by people who are experts. They’re so far ahead of me (at least as far as my mortal eyes can see), I feel like I have no hope of catching up. Even that is measuring to a standard that might not be fair. 

We seek to imitate people in our lives. In business, I try to imitate people who are successful in business. At work, I try to take ideas from other teachers I respect. However, I’ve found through my life, there is also a lot of wonderful help to be found from those who are where you are in your journey. We can encourage one another. 

If I’m training, I might want a trainer to give me wisdom, but I certainly don’t want to work out with him. Rather, I’d like my trainer (if I had one) to provide guidance while I work out with someone similar to my current state. 

The other hard truth, however, is I probably don’t want to spend too much time with people who are not interested in (metaphorically) getting fit. If I’m trying to diet and live better, spending time with a person I know is going to eat out for every meal and spend hours in front of a screen isn’t going to help me move in the right direction. 

Did I just say you can’t ever hang out with people who aren’t of the faith? No. I don’t really think it’s possible to be apart from the world. But the metaphor holds up over the long haul. Good influences lead you to the places you want to go. Bad influences might seem fun to hang out with in the moment, but what happens months or years later when you realize you haven’t achieved anything you were after? So am I telling you to never hang out with anyone who isn’t Christian? Absolutely not! But if you claim to be Christian, but you never hang out with Christians or spend time serving the body, are you really Christian? 

Again, I expect some will find this very stand offish, and I’m not trying to be. In this case, I’m used to it. As a writer, I’ve had several people talk to me about writing. I’ve been in some writing groups and even formed one or two. The thing is, they weren’t writing. So after a while we just sort of fell apart. I don’t think less of them. it was just clear that they weren’t interested in being writers, and I am. I want to talk about writing. I want to brainstorm. I want to ponder great works of fiction and analyze them. Some people are into that for a month or two, but only people truly committed to the craft are willing to stick with it.

The same is true of the faith. I’m very comfortable around non-writers. I have several dear friends who aren’t interested in writing and aren’t even that invested in where I am at with my writing, but we’ve never gotten in a fight or felt our relationships were threatened because I’m a writer and they’re not. 

Part of that is because I have writer friends. I have fellowship professionally with them. I can always reach out to them and communicate with them. They recharge my writer instincts and hone them. 

If writing is something I love this much, how much more so should it be with Christianity?

I will acknowledge that there is some scripture that might (at least at my level) indicate how Christians may or may not associate with non-Christians. 2 Corinthians 6:14 comes to mind here. However, I haven’t studied this as carefully as I’d want. People do this too often. They read a single verse and run with hit. They also read one verse without reading others that might give it more context. Consider, for instance comparing and studying that verse with 1 Corinthians 5:10. There’s a lot to consider there that I don’t feel confident in making proclamations about. Consider also that we are commissioned to go forth and make disciples (Matthew 28:19). It would be impossible if we only associated with non-Christians. So please do not misconstrue what I’m saying. We need fellowship. We are commanded to love and honor God in all that we do. We receive grace when we stumble because our hearts truly seek for God even as our flesh tempts us. 

What I am saying is that we should strive to invest in our faith just as we invest in anything we care about. Consider again my writing. I’ve told several people honestly that I don’t think they really want to be writers. “Why not!” they’d ask, indignant that I’d dare challenge their love for writing. “Because you never make time to write.”

Of course, then all the reasonable justifications come out. “I work a full time job. I have a wife and kids. I have to keep up with my housework. I have school.” 

Of course you have things you need to do! However, how many video games have you played today? How much television have you watched? 

“Don’t I deserve free time?”

That’s exactly my point!

We spend our perceived free time doing exactly what we want. I don’t know about you, but I’ve gotten pretty rude when I think my free time is being threatened. 

However, our time is not ours from a Biblical perspective. It’s all God’s, and He gave us this time on Earth to honor and glorify Him. He graciously allows us secular actives and tenderly cares for our rest even from the seventh day (Genesis 2:2). 

But if we see life as an obstruction to life, we’re contradicting ourselves. If we see being a parent and doing our work as obstructions, then we’re not appreciating the children we’re given or the jobs we have. Some may even challenge me on the statement that these things are seen as obstructions, but they’re not the words I use; they’re the words people use when justifying why they’re not doing what they want. They do this to hide the other things. They use the things of their lives that are easily more important than any hobby or career ambition, and they do it to cover up the other things they do that they already know they could stop doing to make time to write. Those are the precious few hours where we truly have no Earthly responsibility. 

I challenge people who claim they want to be writers to see how much actual time they spend not writing. I equally challenge people who claim to be Christian to see how much time they spend not growing in the faith. It is your time from a certain (humanly-centered) point of view. How are you spending it? To be anything requires commitment. As we’ve previously discussed, you’ve either chosen to follow Christ or you haven’t. That means you’re spending time doing what He wants you to do. 

A Christian understand this is the first commandment and contemplates that commandment. It’s the center-point of a Christian’s thoughts and actions. Am I perfect? No, and I never claimed to be. There are moments in every day where I feel so ashamed because I was half way through a fantastic temper tantrum, during which I never once thought about how God would actually want me to handle that situation. 

Then God mercifully helps me see what I’m doing. I realize I’ve been angry because I’ve seen some of my time taken away, and I’m angry because I saw it as mine. Then I pray, and ask God to help me remember that I want to follow His plan and walk in His path, and so the time I have is not for me, but Him.  

This is what I hope you take from this chapter. To truly love God as he should be loved, we must fix on Him as the center of our thoughts and actions. This should honestly make even the most devout Christian feel a degree of conviction. I don’t know a single person I go to church with who wouldn’t confess their thoughts don’t drift. This doesn’t mean they’re not saved, by the way. It simply means all of us could do more, and we should seek to do more. 

Because if we do just this, it would be worth more than any other offering or sacrifice (Mark 12:33). 

For our panel: What are ways we can ensure our thinking is God-centered even when we’re at work or at home? Is there some Biblical guidance on how much time we should spend studying? Colossians 4:2 tells us to continue steadfastly in prayer, how do we do that? Does the slightest deviation from our hearts and thoughts condemn us? Is there a point at which a self-proclaimed Christian should challenge him-or-her self if they realize they’re not spending a lot of time thinking about God?

A 5-Star Review for Caught

Greetings all,

I’m thrilled that this is the third week in a row where I have (at least) one review to share with you! We’ll see how this all progresses, but I’m just so happy that people are trying my work and enjoying it.

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This five-star review comes from Kayla Krantz, who is an author. She has several books and collections available.

She reviewed this book everywhere, and that’s just so wonderful and kind.

Please see her review for Caught here.

This review is special because Krantz isn’t just an author; she’s an author in this genre. I love when readers like my work, but when my peers acknowledge it, I feel a special appreciation. To me it’s like getting a vote for the Top 100 in the NFL because the players also vote on that list.

If you like my work, there’s a chance you’ll like hers too. I haven’t tried her work yet, so if you do, and you like it, please let me know in the comments. My TBR has somewhere around 13 books on it (before the new Stormlight drops), so I’m just trying to get caught up before I add to that pile more than I already plan to.

Once more, I’m so grateful for the review, and I hope it encourages people to try my work. As always, if you’ve read some of my work, please consider leaving a review on Amazon, Goodreads, Audible, or all three.

Thanks for reading,

Matt

Story Review: The Thrill by Brandon Sanderson from Unfettered II

The Thrill is honestly nothing more than the flashback sequence from Oathbringer by Sanderson. You can read my review on the full book here.

I was a bit bummed seeing this. It’s not new content. It’s not an alternate universe. It doesn’t provide new information. Sanderson is my favorite author in the game these days, and I’m always excited for new material. I don’t even mind re-reading it. I’m currently re-reading The Way of Kings as a way to get ready for the new Stormlight book. For people who haven’t tried any of his work (if they exist), this is a nice introduction. I’m a huge Dalinar fan, and this arc is wonderful. I just wish I had new Sanderson rather than stuff I’ve already paid for and enjoyed.

Thanks for reading

Matt

Musings on Christianity 48

Are All Commandments Equal?

Some ten years ago, I wrote a short story called Entrance to the Light. The story was about a group of people on a bus that crashes. After they die (not a Biblically sound premise by the way), they see God and understand their sin, repenting and receiving salvation. Again, you actually have to repent before you die, but my message was more about the last person in the story. He was a liar. The killer and the adulterer had been admitted because of their repentance, but the liar was denied because he never repented. The point was that unrepentant sinners go to Hell. 

This is true. Whatever your sin, no matter how bad or how small, if you do not repent of your sins and (according to my faith) turn to Christ, you will go to Hell. There is no sin you can commit that is so “minor” that a perfect and holy God will simply let it pass. Christ died so that whoever believed in Him and followed Him would have salvation. He did not die so that we could go on living our sinful lives however we wanted because He picked up the bill (a very broad paraphrase of Romans 6:2). 

However, while every unrepentant sin results in damnation, not every sin is equal in God’s eyes. The first five books of the Bible have several names. The Pentateuch simply identifies them as the first five books of the Bible. They are sometimes called the Laws of Moses or even (since Moses was God’s chosen spokesman) called “The Law.” 

Exodus, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy have the most extensive list in terms of the Old Testament. The sermon on the mount in Matthew 5-7 expands on a number of those laws. Galatians has more information.  

First, not all of those laws from the Pentateuch are in effect. Christ declared all foods clean, so humans can really eat pretty much any animal they want (Mark 7:19-23). Christ declared that the sabbath was for man, not man for the sabbath (Mark 2:27). There is no Christian requirement for a day of rest. With each representative (even Adam) there was a covenant, a promise made by God to His chosen representative. Christ brings a new (and the best) covenant, and through him we have an updated list of commands. Jesus said, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments (John 14:15).”  

So again, Christ did not die on the cross to allow us humans to live however we want and still go to Heaven. Instead, we show our love for Him by keeping His commandments. 

But if we analyze the history of each covenant, we see God responding differently to some sins than others while people are on the earth. Some sins He is (or even has been) far more patient with than others. Some sins required physical punishment or even the death penalty. 

We know we should strive to be perfect because God is perfect (Matthew 5:48), but we can not attain that perfection while we are still in the cursed flesh we inherited all the way from Adam. Ultimately, the combination of salvation and eternal life is a free gift of God in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 6:23).  

What all of this brings us to is the realization that there are some sins that are far more egregious than others. And here is where my limited knowledge becomes a source of frustration. From the day I wrote that short story to today, I’ve been far more concerned with the most important concept of Christianity. I was aware of the sin in my life, and horrified that my sin would lead to damnation. I wasn’t worried about the severity of that sin. I hated its presence in my life, and so I tried and tried to eradicate it, afraid that any sin, no matter how small, still led to Hell. 

That mindset would be true if we were still bound by The Law, but we aren’t. The Law brings death, Christ and grace bring life (2 Corinthians 3:6). 

So my mindset has shifted, as any who walk the path eventually see. We are unfinished works. 

In Salvation, we became new (2 Corinthians 5:17).

But while we are new creations of Grace, we are not yet complete and perfect works. God is working in us (Philippians 2:13). 

When confronting sin, the temptation is to respond to all sin in the same manner. If Christians respond to all sin the same, we’re missing some critical points. 

First, with the exception of repentance vs refusal to repent, God Himself did not treat all sin the same. If God responded to all sin with immediate and permanent death, we’d all already be damned. God did not kill Adam and Eve and then start over. Do you realize he could have? I do. It boggles my mind trying to figure it out. God had the power. There certainly wasn’t a lack of dirt to form a new man. But rather than destroy what he had already made and made well (Genesis 1:31), he redeemed man through Christ. When God gave Moses the Law, it came with various punishments for various crimes. Some theft required monetary replacement while some other crimes required stoning. 

Second, if we treat every sin the same way and lash out at it in the same way, that anger (even if it’s Biblically righteous) will just come off as noise. Think about the guy at work who’s always mad about his company. After a while, don’t or wouldn’t you eventually get to a point where you see him or her and think, “Oh, here he comes again. What’s he pissed about this time?”  When we elevate all sin to an extreme, we leave ourselves shouting and lamenting, and we just become noise. 

Third, treating all sin the same requires either elevating one sin to a status God didn’t give it, or degrading another sin below how abominable it is in God’s eyes.

This means we must seek out and work on all the sin in our own lives, paying close attention to those which might be bigger problems than others. This is a blessing. God is more patient with some sins than others. This allows me to focus on the issues in my growth that are more important first. Then, I can begin to work on the smaller issues.

I’m still not permitted to continue in my smaller sin just because it is smaller. Neither am I permitted to covet or practice one sin just because I’ve turned away from a more egregious sin. It simply gives precedent to the issues that are more important.

This means we have to be more diligent to the bigger things. This means we have to focus far more on some issues. If we allow lesser issues to overtake larger ones, we’ll inevitably fall into those issues and be lost. My pastor at church says, “If you make the little things big, you inevitably make the big things small.” The big things must always be the big things. We don’t ignore the little things. We just don’t let the little things become more important than they should be.

So what are the big things?  This is my failure. I am, regrettably, among those who looked at all sin the same. So I frankly don’t know the answer with confidence. However, the word of God (as always) provides some insight. 

The most important: Christ Himself gave us the two most important laws. These are the commandments we must ensure we’re following every day, all day, not matter what. If we’re not doing these two things, we’re already lost. But these laws are not simple tasks. It’s not like, “Mow the lawn, and make your bed.”

Indeed, these laws are about our hearts, and what we seek with them. 

“And He said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:37-39).’”

There we have, straight from our Savior, the two things we must never fail to do. I’m of the opinion that if anyone can simply follow those two commandments, all would be well. God, our loving, merciful heavenly Father, knows our hearts. He is patient with us. His discipline is done in patience and love, to make us more like His son. 

Next chapter we will look at those two commandments more closely, but I first wanted to provide an overview on what I found in the Bible as the more important commandments and more egregious sins. 

Since we’ve already looked at the most important commandments, let’s look at egregious sins. Did you know that God expressed seven sins He hates in particular? As people continue to protest, debate, argue, and philosophize what things are worse than others, God kindly gave us a list. 

See Proverbs 6:16-19:

“There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to Him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, a false witness who breaths out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers.”

We will study those in particular in future chapters as well. 

You see, I don’t have an exact count on all the commandments from God. Sure, there are the ten commandments, which we will look at as well. But if you just read Leviticus and Deuteronomy, you’ll see just how extensive The Law really is. Read the rest of the Bible and study Matthew 5-7 and Galatians, and you’ll see the Law is hopelessly extensive. We can’t follow it perfectly. Even if we were in some way able to start following every law perfectly from the moment we read it, we can’t go back and erase what we did in ignorance. This is, again, why the grace offered us through Jesus Christ is ultimately the only rational method of salvation. No human I’ve ever knowns has earnestly said, “I’m perfect. I’ve never done anything wrong in my whole life.” I’ve never even met someone who’s said, “Well I wasn’t born perfect, but since I’ve ready the Bible, I’ve never done a single thing wrong.” 

So if we’re all ready to acknowledge our imperfection, what way is there to be reconciled to a perfect and Holy God? The only possible reconciliation we can have is if someone who was able to be perfect and did live a perfect life paid the price required so that His righteousness could be credited to us (Romans 4:5). 

How can I proclaim to be perfect if I can’t even offer to you the extensive list of commandments that must be followed? I can’t even provide you the number. 

It’s horrifying. I’m supposed to honor a perfect God by following His commands, and I don’t even know what they are! Wait. Be patient. Remember, some things are far more important. God has revealed to us the things that matter most. As we grow, we will see more and more how we might honor God in what we do.

Does that mean anything outside of the nineteen (seven abominations, two great commandments and ten commandments) things I articulated here are simply “fair game?” No! Just because theft isn’t inherently listed there doesn’t mean theft isn’t wrong. In fact, I urge you to remember that one of the abominable sins is feet that make haste to run to evil. That one abomination accounts for any who rush off to a sin just because it’s not one of these listed. 

Also, if you’re using this book to structure your life, I’ve failed and even sinned against God. This isn’t the book you’re supposed to use to base your life on. The Bible is. This book is nothing more than one Christian pondering the only book that really matters. If more people just read and studied the Bible more every day, working to apply it in their lives, the world would be well.

How can I make such a blanket statement? I’ve already gone through the logic diagram. If you don’t actually believe in a God, nothing I say really has any importance to you anyway. 

The more valuable question is, “Why do I believe that statement above is true?” 

Well just go look at those nineteen things. Are they really so bad? I challenge you to think about a world where everyone treats each other as themselves. Where would police brutality go if every police officer treated a suspect the way they would be treated? Where would racism go if every white person treated every black person like, you guessed it, themselves, people? Where would we be if no one ever wanted to shed innocent blood or make haste to do evil? 

I dare say even if you didn’t believe in God and simply avoided those seven abominations, the nature of your salvation may still be a point of dispute for some (not for those who are Christian), but the condition of this planet would still be much better.  To rephrase, the world would be a better place regardless of who goes to Heaven or Hell. Here I must digress and point out that no matter how great this world could be, it would pale in comparison to Heaven. No matter how bad this wold could be, it would pale in comparison to Hell.

Yes, the first commandment still demands a whole-hearted love to God, the God of Abraham, Jacob, and Isaac .Remember I’ve already acknowledged you either agree with that, or you don’t. This is a Christian belief. But God is patient. He’s shown His willingness to let humanity go where it truly wants to go (a paraphrase of Romans 1:24-25). This means though that we can turn away, but we can turn toward Him as well. On this world, we can hold fast to these principles and enjoy a more peaceful earthly existence.

This is a wold that could be. We could live in a world where everyone follows these commands regardless of where their hearts lie, and the world would be a better place. We wouldn’t look upon one another with haughty eyes and judgement. We’d simply live, and God would judge. We would judge ourselves and others according to the same standards, which is so much better than any system we have now. 

In future chapters, we’ll study this list more carefully. 

For our panel: What is the actual, comprehensive list of commandments a Post Pentecostal Christian should seek to follow? Are there other, more important commands or more egregious sins I failed to mention? How does one apply these commands in one’s own life? Does the committing of any of those sins immediately condemn a person? Are there truly any unforgivable sins?

And The Reviews Keep Coming!

Greetings all,

I’m still receiving reviews, so I’m going to keep sharing them. I’m still not ready to make an official reviews appreciation day. That depends on if this very wonderful marketing effort has follow-on results. Still, it’s nice to have reviews to share with you. So let’s get to them!

Here’s a four-star review for Stealing Freedom from Megan Dann:

“The Worth of Words”



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“I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.”

“This book contained such an original concept about censorship and, quite literally, the worth of words. Not so much character-driven, but heavily plot-driven with tension and action packed for such a quick listen. Really cool idea; can’t wait to see what else the author comes up with.”

“Narration was okay, didn’t add to or detract from the story.”

Here’s a five-star review for Stealing Freedom from Catrina P:

“Freedom of speech”

“For a short story, this tale sure packs a punch. Such an intriguing concept… it’s against the law to communicate. The unauthorized use of words is punishable by pain (shock collars) or if blatant enough, death. A small group of individuals plan to take back their freedoms, or die trying.”

“This was my first exposure to M.L.S. Weech’s writing. I really enjoyed it. I’m looking forward to seeing what else is available.”

“For such a short story, a dual narration seemed a little much. However, both Lisa Negron and J.M. Needham both did a nice job.”

“I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request, and I have voluntarily left this review.”

Here’s another five-star review for Stealing Freedom from Loki (probably not related to the Avengers):

“A probable disturbing look into the future”



[image error]If you prefer reading, the e-book is available on Amazon!

“A nice shot story with a possible future where they can take away our words, and a small group of people who will put there life’s at risk to change it! only real complaint about the book is I wish it was longer and build the world a little more.”

“I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.”

Here’s yet another five-star review for Stealing Freedom from Shanna Tidwell:

“Great short story”

“This was a great story. I could see this being made in to a movie or maybe an episode of black mirror or something like that. I liked how everyone thinks they are smarter than everyone else but still one outwitted them all.”

“Very interesting concept and it definitely held my attention the entire time I was listening to it!”

“Lisa & J.M. did an excellent job with narration. I will be looking for more by this author and this narrator.”

“I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.”

Here’s a five-star review for Stealing Freedom from Jeff M:

“Interesting premise, delivers on it”

“I’m always down for a good short story and was intrigued by the premise of this one. Glad I gave it a try. Well written, properly paced, this was perfect as a short story. Thought the narration was good too, though some of the character voice choices were a little wonky. Overall, I’d highly recommend this to fans of sci-fi and good writing.”

“I received this as a review copy at no cost other than an honest review.”

Here’s a four-star review for Stealing Freedom from D M Reynolds:

“Disturbing”

“This story is soooo plausible given our current reality. A true dystopian tale for our times. It explores – lightly – the extremes of censorship and expression.”

“At the same time, it’s an action-packed cheer-for-the-robbers kind of adventure. Much of the world is essentially the same as ours (which adds to the plausibility). The cops are hot on the trail of our heroes… and yet nothing is quite as it first appears (just like a good heist movie!)”

“Enjoyed this story. The length and narration both suited it very well.”

“I received this audiobook for free in exchange for a fair review.”

Not to be outdone, The Journals of Bob Drifter received a five-star review from Ronja:

“Well written, Suspenseful and Touching. Loved it!”



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“This is a slow burn paranormal/ urban fantasy thriller with a hint of romance and mystery. This is not a book for people who are in a hurry to get to the scary part. (or people who want to know exactly what is going on after the first few chapters).”

“I really enjoyed this Story!
It pleasantly surprised me by being so well written, thought out and touching.”

“Every character was well developed and felt real (not just the Main Character), and I felt interested in each of their stories.
Bob is a great main character. Smart, compassionate, funny and easy to love and relate to.”

“The book is well balanced. It’s serious but also has some humorous dialog.
Some things go the way you want, others not. This keeps the story believable and suspenseful/ exciting. The ending was very strong. It completes and elevates the whole book, and I love reading such endings.”

“About half the book is written from the first person perspective of Bob Drifter, narrated by Gary. The other half consists of chapters with various other characters in the story (also written in first person). The male characters are narrated by Gary too, and the female characters are narrated by Angel.”

“Because Gary narrates a much bigger part of the Audio Book than Angel, her parts felt a bit out of place in the beginning. But after a few chapters narrated by her I got used to her narration as well.
I think both Gary and Angel did a very good job.”

“I got this Audio Book for free (thanks!). I’m voluntarily leaving this review.
Opinions and ratings are my own and not influenced by how I got the Audio Book.”

I just want to take a moment to thank all of these people for listening to these audio books and offering reviews. I’m a busy guy. I have three sons. I work full time. I try to write or edit a chapter a day. I know what sort of effort it takes to even listen to an audiobook these days. I’m so thankful.

Please, if you’ve read or listened to my work, please consider leaving a review on Audible, Amazon, Goodreads, or all three. These reviews really do help.

Thanks for reading (or in this case listening)!

Matt

Story Review: Little Wren and the Big Forest by Michael J. Sullivan from Unfettered II

[image error]Cover for Unfettered II taken from its Amazon buy page for review purposes under Fair Use doctrine.

Spoiler Free Summary:  Little Wren and the Big Forest by Michael J. Sullivan is the eighteenth story in the Unfettered II Anthology.  Everyone knows not to go into the forest. Everyone. But Wren’s lost a sheep, and her brother needs to find it. When he doesn’t come back, her parents leave. When they don’t come back, she goes looking. What she finds is a terrifying situation that forces her to pit her wits against an ancient creature bent of bringing something terrible to life.

Character:  Wren was one of the more memorable characters in this anthology. There was a good amount of fear and bravery. Being young, she couldn’t be that competent (unless she was a prodigy, which she wasn’t), but she makes up for that with sympathy and proactivity.  

Exposition: This was also fantastic. The story flowed seamlessly and was very hard to stop listening to (I listened to the Audible version). I don’t remember any point at which this story slowed down at all for me.

Worldbuilding: This is probably where the story fell short a bit for me. The reader honestly gets everything he needs, but this world seems so fascinating, and we don’t get much information on how this world operates. This might be from a larger story or series, which would mean fans already familiar with the world already know what’s happening. Even though I did get what I needed, I wish I had a bit more of this world to enjoy.

[image error]This image of Mr. Sullivan was taken from his about page on his website for review purposes under Fair Use doctrine.

Dialogue: I can’t put my finger on what this story reminds me of, but a significant portion of the story is Wren’s battle of wits with the creature she meets in the woods. That conversation was very well done and is probably why I enjoyed this so much.  

Description: I was satisfied with the description in this story if not impressed. Perhaps one of the reasons I didn’t put this story in my top three from the anthology was because I would have liked a bit more sensory data here. Levels of description in order of desired outcome: 1) The reader knows what’s going on. 2) The reader can imagine some of the scene or characters. 3) The reader can imagine all of the scene and characters. 4) The reader has vivid imagery and imagination of the story. However, the highest level is this: The reader FEELS like HE is the character in the story and FEELS like he is in the story. I have the description for this story somewhere around 3, which is good, but not great. A story this fantastic deserved a bit more.

Overall: This was a rather disturbing fairy tale. It’s compelling in its conflict and imagination. While I wouldn’t call it one of the greatest stories ever, it’s certainly deserving of being read or listened too. If you like your youth fairy tales a bit on the darker side (I.G. Witches or The Watcher in the Woods), this is probably right up your alley.

Thanks for reading

Matt

Musings on Christianity 47

It’s As Simple As A Choice

The purpose of this chapter is to remind readers of the choice they made. It’s the same, ultimately-simple choice we discussed a few chapters ago. You can choose to be Christian, or you can choose to not be a Christian. If you choose to be a Christian, you have chosen to live a Christian life by Christian values. 

What happens is people get angry at those Christian values or rules. That’s always confused me. If you’re not Christian, you don’t have to follow the Christian rules. 

One possible explanation though is that some Christians strive to ensure all humanity follows those values. Christians believe certain things, and they vote in accordance to those beliefs. They support causes according to those beliefs. Some of those beliefs are in direct contrast to the way of the world. 

A major source of conflict is when people support their beliefs and others don’t. I was playing a video game one night. I didn’t do very well. This particular game requires teamwork. One of the people I was playing with didn’t feel as though I did a particularly good job. He sent me a message using language I won’t repeat. I don’t honestly remember all the details, but he eventually asked what my deal was. You see, he kept trying to get me to lash out in anger. On another night, I might have, but that night, by the grace of God, I didn’t fall for that temptation. In some mocking way he asked why I wasn’t shooting insults back his way. I told him, “I’m a Christian.”

His next message declared all kinds of things. I received things like “I’m a terrorist” or “666” (I remember that last one clearly). It dawned of me.

“This guy is just doing all he can to make me mad for the sake of making me mad.”

That’s when I realized that people sometimes get angry just for the existence of a different opinion.

I won’t pretend Christians don’t fall for this temptation. I see plenty of things that I fervently disagree with, and sometimes my anger gets the best of me. But this is where things come to a head.

I can tell you what I know (and I’ve never pretended to be more than just some guy working to understand the truth). You can choose to accept what I say, or you can choose to reject it. It’s ultimately that simple. Neither of us needs to loose our heads about it. When I say, “I believe this is wrong.” You have every right to say, “I believe that it’s right!” 

For Christians, we don’t judge the situation by our own reckoning. We believe humans are flawed creatures to begin with. What can my mortal mind reason out that the Almighty doesn’t already know? This, in my mind, should eliminate much of the debate. 

If you’ve rejected Christianity, you’re going to live the life you’ve chosen to live. I’m not able to stop you. I can, and will, continue to proclaim Christ, His life, His death, His resurrection, and His commission. You can choose to listen or not. 

But if you are a Christian, we have a standard to turn to, to test and judge rightly (John 7:24). Christian debates, in my mind, should always end with the disputing parties looking to scripture. 

If someone shows me in scripture that what I am doing is expressly forbidden by God, then I need to stop. The person pointing out the scripture to me isn’t making me stop; God’s commandment is ordering me to stop. 

Yes, some people are out there twisting the word of God to make you do things or not do things you have every right to do or every right to refuse to do. I can’t stop them from speaking, and neither can you. But we don’t listen to men, at least not just any man. I’m a member of a church. I give deference and submit to their leadership by choice. I chose to submit to their leadership because I believe that they understand God’s word better than I. If there’s ever a question or a doubt, I can bring the matter up to them, and we discuss it with love and respect. We look to God’s word for clarity. 

What happens though is pride gets in the way. I see it all the time in all sorts of situations. Maybe I’m a work and someone says, “You’re supposed to document this interaction with a student.” Someone get’s called out, and rather than just accept the information and move forward, they get defensive. I’ve done it. 

Why? 

I believe the desire is to elevate myself (when I do it). Ask yourself how often you’ve said something like, “Everybody does it” or “Nobody else does it.” 

That’s lowering the standard from God’s commands to that of the other mere mortals around you. Ultimately, who cares how you look in comparison to those around you? 

If you combine all the religions and philosophies of the world, you still only come to a possible three situations when you die.

You go to Heaven, where there is only joy, love, and peace. Who cares how many people are in paradise with you? I’d be a bit more concerned with who isn’t in paradise if I’m concerned about anything at that point. 

2) You go to Hell, where there is eternal pain and torment. We’ve talked about this situation already, but if you’re suffering unimaginable pain and torment, I’d imagine you’d be more angry about those who influenced you than those who tried to convince you to resist temptation. Why do I believe this? I’ve been in trouble before. I’m sure you have too. That’s when I hear, “They did it too!” I’ve even said it myself. I’ve been so mad at people who showed me the wrong example. I’ve been angry that I never saw the right example. But even in times when I wasn’t punished alone, I wasn’t comforted. If all my brothers and sisters were right there with me while I was being punished, I wanted my punishment to end. I’d even turn in someone else just to end my punishment. We see it in court. We see it at work. We see it everywhere. Readers, if you’re suffering in Hell, the chances are, your biggest concern will be the fact that you’re suffering in Hell. No amount of others around you will ease your pain. 

3) Nothing happens. 

Those are really the only three things that could happen when we die. You ultimately believe in a Heaven, Hell, or both, or you don’t. But how you compare to other mortal people around you is meaningless in all three of those situations. If you’re in Heaven, it doesn’t matter what those who were with you on Earth did because you’re in Heaven. If you’re in Hell, it doesn’t matter what those around you did because you’re still in Hell. And if nothing happens, no one cares about anything because you’re dead.

So there’s no scenario when comparing yourself to another person really does anything for you. Whatever religion you follow, you should submit to the rules of that religion. Then, when we all die, the correct religion will be proven one way or another. Just remember it was you who chose that religion. If you don’t have a religion, then live as the Israelites in the time of Judges lived, doing what is right in your own eyes (Judges 21:25). Then, when we all die, we’ll find out. Just remember, you choose to live that way.

Why am I spending so much time on this topic? Because people want to argue, debate, or fight over beliefs, and it’s just not profitable in any respect. Sure, if someone asks why I believe a certain thing, I tell them. Every now and then, I see a meme that honestly hurts my heart. I might send a message to the person privately and ask, “May I explain why that hurt me?” or “Would you like to understand how a Christian sees that?” If the post is just there to anger Christians, I don’t bother. People who do that are seeking anger and argument, and I don’t have time for that in my life.

But we’re about to talk about Christian law, and I need you to remember something.

Do you want to be a Christian or not?

If you don’t want to obey Christian law, then don’t be a Christian. It’s that simple. You don’t need to fight about it. You don’t need to argue. You just choose.

However, if you choose to be a Christian, you then must learn how a Christian should live and behave. These rules shouldn’t burden you; they should set you free. You just can’t have it both ways. 

You can’t say, “Well, I’m a Christian, but I’m going to go ahead and lie to my father.” You can’t say, “Well, I’m a Christian, but I really feel I should spend my life with this person instead of the one I’m married to, so I’m going to divorce my spouse so I can spend my life with this other person.” 

But here’s the beauty of being Christians. For those who truly repent and seek forgiveness, we are already forgiven! The price is already paid! 

I’m indeed Christian, but I’m as far from perfect as I could ever imagine. I have sinned. I will sin again. I won’t do so blatantly and without remorse, but I’m going to mess up so long as I’m in this cursed flesh. But I won’t do so habitually. I won’t pick “that sin I’m going to do because no one is perfect.” I’m going to do my best to live as Christ wants me to live, appreciating the forgiveness and Grace He gives when I stumble. 

So when I talk about Christian law, I’m absolutely saying these are things Christians should strive to do (or not do) at all times. I don’t present them to accuse you. I don’t present them to condemn you. They’re simply the ways a Christian should live. They’re not presented as I think they should be. They’re presented from the Bible as the standard and word of God Himself. It’s not my opinion, God never asked for my vote or input. They’re just the rules I’ve chosen to live by, and you can choose to live by them too. If you choose not to live by them, well, I can’t make you. We don’t need to argue or debate. 

Some may want to. I can imagine someone asking me, “Who are you to tell me how to live?” Nobody! Again, I’m not the one who made the rules. God made these rules, and He’s the creator of the Heavens and the Earth and all the host of them (Genesis 2:1). How do I know what God wants? I study the Bible, to learn what He wants.

Again, I’ve answered the debate about the mortal authors of the Bible. I’ve answered the debate about those Christ chose to lead the early church. I’ve addressed all the conditions that apply when one ultimately chooses to obey Christ or not. That is the choice. If a person can actually choose to turn from God (and they can and do), then I’m certainly not going to make you listen to my mortal mouth. 

But it isn’t my goal to get you to listen to me. It never has been. My goal is ultimately to get you to listen to God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The God who created the world. The God who loved us so much, He sent His only Son to die for us so that those who come to believe in Him can have eternal life (John 3:16). If you’ve already rejected that message, then go on about your life. But if you’ve chosen to believe in Christ, I urge you then to look at the things He’s told us, He’s telling us, to do. 

For our panel: Do Christians have the right to tell others how to live? How should a Christian respond to one who’s rejected Christ’s commandments?  What do we do when a conflict presents itself because of our faith? Why is it people react so passionately to Christian values (both believers and unbelievers)? How can one best present their viewpoints for mutual upbringing without turning it into an argument?

A Few More Audible Reviews

Greetings all,

I’m still gathering data on the marketing site I’m using to gain these reviews, but the results are still so encouraging. Why? Because I have two new reviews to share with you this week!

Here is a 4.5-star review for Stealing Freedom from Madeline:

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“Good”

“I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.”

“This book represents everything we as a people value. When that freedom is taken from us what else it left to do. Do we stay in submission and obey or do we find a way to stand for what’s right. Many times we misunderstand what people are saying. If we try to understand and keep open minds many problems can be solved without violence. I did enjoy this book and how much it reminded me that freedom isn’t free. I’m grateful for those that risks theirs lives everyday so I can have the life I want.”

The original inspiration for this story came from violence that happened during a protest. I don’t always like or support the things people protest about, but we must allow protest because people must be able to speak, and they must be able to redress grievances. I’m glad this reviewer saw that in the theme. I also appreciate that the goal is to allow problems to be resolved without violence. This review actually makes me very happy because it shows that, to this reader at least, I accomplished what I set out to represent in this story.

Next is a 4.25-star review for The Journals of Bob Drifter from Cindy:

“New Beginnings”

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“One of the many reasons I request to review audio’s is discovering new talent to add to my favorites list. This is one. You’ll be glad that you made this choice. This audio was given to me in exchange for an unbiased review.”

It’s my opinion that each thing I publish is sort of like a promise. Every book I write says, “If you like this book, you’ll like the other books I’ve written.” I don’t know about the rest of the world, but if I read something from an author, and I really love it (the most recent example would be Michael G. Manning), I’m probably going to rip through the author’s entire library. I hope this reader does try more of my work, and I hope each book both fulfills and reaffirms the promise this one made.

In a crazy dream-world, I would have to shift these reviews to their own day so I can do other “author news” on Saturdays, but I think I’m a ways away from that. Still, it’s nice to dream now and then. For now, I’ll keep tracking this marketing effort and post my findings probably in the next few weeks.

I just want to offer my thanks to those who reviewed my work and humbly ask that anyone else who’s tried one of my books do the same, even if they didn’t like it. Thank you all again.

Thanks for reading,

Matt

Story Review: The Gunnie by Charlaine Harris from Unfettered II

 

 

 

[image error]Cover for Unfettered II taken from its Amazon buy page for review purposes under Fair Use doctrine.

Spoiler Free Summary:  The Gunnie by Charlaine Harris is the seventeenth story in the Unfettered II Anthology.  Lizbeth has to help a group of people travel across the post apocalyptic landscape her country has become. When her team is hit, can she find a way to even get back home safely? Let alone find the people she promised to see safely to their destination.

Character:  Lizbeth is the type of character I really like. She’s skilled and driven. She has good motivation. The secondary characters fall way short though. Her connection to other characters wasn’t really investigated, so we miss out on the emotion we’d normally want to see. 

Exposition: Even with first person, this is good. Again, Lizbeth isn’t the problem. It’s her lack of connection to other characters that holds this story back. Lizbeth has everything you could ask of a first-person narrator. She’s clever. She’s skilled. We learn about the world as she talks about it, and that keeps the pace moving even as we’re learning about things.

Worldbuilding: It’s not poorly written by any stretch of the imagination, but it’s a post apocalyptic journey, and it doesn’t really stand out in my mind from any other “the world has been obliterated, and we have to survive” story.  To really stand out, I need a post apocalypse that is unique in some way, and this just isn’t.

[image error]Image of Ms. Harris was taken from her website for review purposes under Fair Use doctrine. 

Dialogue: The dialogue in this story isn’t bad. It doesn’t stand out, but the characters have unique voices, and the plot moves with the conversations rather than dragging.  

Description: As is typical of this genre, the description is good if graphic. I wouldn’t say it was more graphic than I could stand, and that’s nice. It wasn’t as cinematic as I’d like, but I could definitely imagine the scenes as I read. The character descriptions could probably have been a bit more consistent.  

Overall: If you like post-apocalyptic fiction, you’ll probably enjoy this story. It’s good, but it’s not unique in any way. It’s still a fun read or listen if you’re on a short drive.  

Thanks for reading

Matt

 

 

Musings on Christianity 46

If We Shouldn’t Do Something, We Shouldn’t Risk Doing Anything Close To It, Should We?

For the last few chapters, we’ve been trying to take away the the gray areas people pretend are there. We established that a person can either believe in Christ or not. After that, professed believers must submit to Christ’s rule. If we must submit to His rule, we must also submit to the teachings of those He chose to lead the church after His ascension.

For these previous questions, there are no gray areas, but that does not mean that there are not gray areas in a Christian life. The pharisees, whom Christ condemned as hypocrites are important to study. What was it they did that was so bad?

As I read the Bible and I read about Christ’s life, the things He most often rebuked weren’t violations of commandments. That doesn’t mean they weren’t wrong, for the record. However, why debate right and wrong? If a thing is wrong, it is wrong per se, and there is no need to invest time on discussing its wrongness.  But the two rebukes I recall seeing most from Christ were, “Oh ye of little faith!” and “You hypocrites!”

The pharisees took the Holy law of God and tried to add to it, placing a burden on the backs of believers that was more then they even tried to bear and more than anyone could. The pastor at my church said something like, “You can’t be more holy than God!”

Before we try to truly understand what is wrong in the eyes of God, before we try to understand what we should and shouldn’t do, we should make sure to understand that there are indeed judgements to be made in our lives.

As an example, Ephesians 5:18-29 plainly says “do don’t get drunk with wine.” There are some who seek to add to that command and turn it into saying, “do not drink.” That’s not the same thing. A man drinking a beer with his dinner isn’t sinning. Even in the Christian faith the celebration of the Lord’s Supper may include a small cup of wine.  The hard and fast line is. “don’t get drunk.”

So what about getting a solid buzz? What about drinking here or there?  I imagine if we ask 100 self-identified Christians, we’ll get a pretty diverse range of answers.

First, we fall back to the greatest commandment. “And he said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind (Matthew 23:37).’” 

Readers, when in doubt, refer to rule number one. If everything you do is done to honor and love God, then it is well. We say this because we already understand we can’t sin and love God any more than a boy can say he honors his father and then steal from his father. So if you’re drinking for you, there may be a problem there. If you’re drinking because God blessed you with fermented drink, and you’re enjoying the gift he gave you, you might be OK, so long as you don’t get drunk. Remember, that’s the hard and fast line.

Why am I using this? Because I use to drink. I’d maybe go out on the town for a special occasion here and there, but I didn’t just get drunk. I got hammered. On a human level, I always made sure I wasn’t driving. I told friends where I was going, and I always had someone around to make sure I didn’t do anything too stupid. I won’t go into a tangent about how unkind and irresponsible any of that was. It’s not the point. What happened is I eventually came to realize two things. First, I got hammered so that I could dampen my judgment enough to do things I knew God didn’t want me to do. I wanted to drown the Holy Spirit. Second, even if I began innocently (which didn’t happen very often), I realized I lacked control. I’m an impulsive person.

So after too many days realizing I was humiliated and ashamed by whatever I’d done the night before, I realized that I, as an individual person, don’t have any business drinking. Since then, I’ve maybe had a beer here or a beer there. By this I mean I’ve probably consumed a total of five alcoholic beverages in the last, oh, three years, maybe four. I steer clear of it in most situations.

But this extra restriction I placed on myself was an effort of discipline to ensure I never drifted into that particular sin. I made this choice to control myself, and no one else.

The problem comes when people place themselves on God’s throne, adding restrictions because they could, maybe, at some point, lead one to an actual sin.

Assertion: Placing an extra restriction on yourself to avoid temptation is just fine, but that does not allow one to then mentally assign those restrictions to others.

That assertion, I think, is supported by Paul’s letter in Romans 14:1-8. 

  There are certain areas where my faith is weak, and so I work harder to avoid temptation. There are other areas where my faith is strong, so I can confidently steer clear of violating expressed commandments. Our journeys are unique in that regard.

What happens though is sometimes people become misguided. The transfer their own weaknesses of faith to others and then judge according to that weakness of faith rather than the expressed command of God.

No one of us is God.

Just as I put so much effort into explaining that one can not follow Christ and sin, so too will I speak against the idea that one can follow Christ and then judge others wrongly, thus placing themselves on Christ’s throne. Note the critical adverb in the previous sentence. There is wrong judgment, and there is good judgement. My church is doing a study on that as I type this. Most of this chapter summarizes the critical points of those sermons. If a member of my church commits adultery, and I find out about it, I’m Biblically directed to rebuke him in person (in person, not in public).

If I drift into sin because I’m blinded by my flesh, I would want someone to tell me just as I’d want someone to tell me if I break a rule in a game or do something at work I shouldn’t do. We make mistakes, and when were are lovingly corrected, we have the opportunity to grow.

So when we correct someone, even this we do to glorify God. We shouldn’t call someone out on their sin so we feel better about ourselves. That’s not the function of a rebuke. Instead, we seek to inform a person of their sin, hoping they will realize they’ve committed the sin and stop doing it. The goal isn’t to elevate yourself above anyone; it’s to ensure all eyes are fixed on God.

There are indeed areas in the Bible, wisdoms and proverbs, that are great and useful, but they are not actually commands. The work is studying to ensure you know the difference. Even in violations of commands, there are some which are far more severe and were punished much more firmly than others. So we can look at God’s example and know which sins we might be more patient with and which should be punished severely by those with the authority to exact that punishment. This doesn’t mean that those sins God is more patient with aren’t bad and won’t absolutely lead to eternity in Hell if the person never stops. For instance, I might be able to wait awhile before I change the oil in my car, but if I never do it, my car is doomed. The same is true for these lesser sins.

Even in my own walk of faith, I know I have far more sin in me than I want. The very existence of any sin in me is enough to drive me mad sometimes, but among those sins are things I think are far more concerning to me than others. I’m far more concerned with the pride in my heart than I am about most of the other things I do at the moment. I’m far more concerned with adopting a humble approach than I am fixing other things. I absolutely want to exercise all the sin from my life, but my pride is the one I currently have the most concern with.

As we work to sanctify ourselves, we may need to take measures to avoid temptation. That would be wise. However, we should be careful no to elevate precautions to commandments.

For our panel: What are some common precautions you’ve seen elevated to commandments? Is there ever a point where one might reduce his personal restrictions?  How does one distinguish the difference between personal restriction and God’s commandments? What should one do if he’s rebuked for something that isn’t actually sinful? Why does Paul call some weak of faith and others strong of faith?