M.L.S. Weech's Blog, page 48

Story Review: After the Crash by Jason J. McCuiston from Alien Days Anthology

[image error]Cover image taken from the book’s Amazon buy page for review purposes under Fair Use doctrine.

Spoiler Free Summary:  After the Crash by Jason J. McCuiston is the fifth story in the Alien Days Anthology. Resnick was too busy looking at all the zeroes on his check from his client to pay any attention to who that client is or what that client is after. This historical fiction noir story checks all the boxes of its predecessors as Resnick strives to protect an alien artifact from falling into the wrong hands.

Character:  Given how long it’s been since I read this particular story, it’s only natural for some information to fade. However, it took me a long minute and some reading to remember anything about this story. Now, there is a genre bias. Noir isn’t my bag, so that’s a factor. After taking some time to refamiliarize myself with the story, I could only vaguely recall some of the aspect. The good news is that while I read it, I found Resnick to be decent. He took action; he’s sympathetic, but he’s just not memorable. Again, if you like noir, you’ll love this and think I’m an idiot, and from your point of view, you’d be right.  That’s still how I’d define this character and story. Not bad while reading, but not memorable at all.  

Exposition: I know this had to be good because I don’t remember much about the story. How can I say this? If the exposition was clunky or wordy, I’d have lost it. I’d have remembered this story for the wrong reason. The fact that I don’t remember much about it at all speaks to how clan and efficient the writing was. 

[image error]Image of McCuiston taken from his Amazon Author Page for review purposes under Fair Use doctrine. 

Worldbuilding: As a noir historical fiction (set, I’m assuming somewhere in the time of World War II (there are mentions of Nazis), I think it holds up, but the trouble with historical fiction is that fans of the genre are super motivated about time period preservation. For me, it was enough to know the time period, but those who know if zippers or snaps were invented yet or those who know what construction and city design were like in those periods might not agree. While I thought the worldbuilding was fine, you’d need a true fan of the genre to tell you if it worked. 

Dialogue: Again, this checked all the boxes for the genre. It wasn’t wooden or dry, but neither was it interesting or snappy. 

Description:  Once more fans of the genre might feel differently, and I would defer to their opinion, but I got what I wanted out of the story. I had enough adjectives to activate my senses and move on. 

Overall: It’s pretty harsh, but it was just plain hard for this story to hang in my memory. It didn’t do anything wrong. I didn’t get angry while reading it for any reason. It was just OK. Fans of the genre will probably love this story. I didn’t though because that’s all it did (check the old school noir fiction boxes). That shouldn’t be taken as a condemnation of the story though because those stories aren’t ones I normally look for. So I’d prefer people see this as a positive in that I got a story I wouldn’t have normally looked for and read it all the way through and even enjoyed it while I read it. That, to me, is a compliment. 

Thanks for reading

Matt

Musings on Christianity 3

Doesn’t God Want Me  to be Happy?

Our great nation was founded on the belief that man has an inalienable right to pursue happiness. People come from other countries to pursue the vague concept of “The American Dream.” What is that dream?

For some it’s financial wealth. For others, The American Dream is a single family home with a white picket fence. Others think The American Dream is to become a successful business owner.

I don’t proclaim that any of these inherently wrong (though some make it Biblically challenging to truly seek salvation). However, all of those measurements of happiness are faulty in one specific way. They define happiness as something measured by things others pursue, and those resources are limited.

Bear with me as I attempt do articulate the fundamental flaw in the adea that “everyone has the right to be happy.”

If happiness is money, there is only so much money in the world. For you to have more, would require someone else to have less. This is because money is a resource. Our national debt skyrockets more and more every year because we continue to confuse credit and money, and they’re not. (Tangentially, credit is also a limited resource.) One may say with perhaps even an earnest heart that if we all just shared our money, we’d all have enough. I’m not economically wise enough to state if that’s possible, but here’s where that idea of everyone being “happy” starts to fall apart.  You see, I’m absolutely content in what I have. I have a home (through a mortgage).  Our family has two cars. My wife and I each have employment. So we must be happy right? Well, we are, but we’re still striving to obtain more. We’re looking for ways to reduce our expenses and increase our earnings. This is wise financial discipline really. But if one could ever have the vague idea of “enough,” they’d still seek more. That’s where the flaw becomes known. Happiness is a concept that belies the idea that one could have more or less. It’s definition is simply a state of being. Therefore, you either are, or you are not.   

It’s this simple argument that I make to assert that money can’t make you happy because the fact that we have any should then be enough, but we pursue more. This same logic applies to a business. Economics is pretty simple. I you want a business to be successful, some other business will eventually fail. If you sell breaks and become the best break business ever, every customer you earn is another customer a different break company loses.

That’s usually when someone says something to the effect of, “well of course money isn’t happiness.”  Ok. We’ll leave that topic and move to another.

Happiness is a person’s right to do and be who they want to be.

Let’s be blunt. If we as a society were required to let anyone pursue whatever they wanted, we’d have to let murderers kill whoever they wanted. Before you just shrug and say, “That’s not what I mean,” think. We either live in a society that demands those living in that society follow a set of rules or we don’t. And if we agree that rules (such as those against murder) are necessary, we then have to acknowledge that there are things that are wrong and things that are right. 

I hope that can put aside any argument that “People should be able to do whatever makes them happy.”

But what about those areas deemed more “gray” in the eyes of society. The Bible has quite a few lists of things that are wrong. There are things that are abominable in the eyes of God. (Proverbs 6:16-19)

We’ve already discussed the ten commandments, some of which clearly state things that should never be done.

1 Corinthians Chapter 6 gives a very plain list of sinful traits that ensure a person will never see the kingdom of God (unless that person repents and turns from said sins). 

The simple truth is there are things one shouldn’t do. What religion one follows and what nation they live in may alter the agreed-to  standards of right and wrong, but anyone who just takes a minute to think about what the meaning of the words “People should be able to do whatever makes them happy” really mean, they’d have to acknowledge that’s simply not true.

That’s when the prepositional phrase “as long as it doesn’t hurt anyone” usually pops up. What is hurt?  Because there’s no way anyone could honestly mean “offend.” The way our nation is today, we demand quite a lot of people deny their offenses for the sake of letting people “pursue happiness.”  In fact, a person offended at another person’s “pursuit of happiness” is seen as the villain. Yet that same person is only pursuing happiness, and doesn’t it hurt to be unhappy?

This reveals that some consider happiness as the ability to do what he or she wants without anyone being bothered or bothering him about it. But that’s circular thinking. It lead right back to the top of this very post.

I’m not even going to try and articulate wright or wrong. If you’re Christian, read the above passages and see for yourself what God’s word declares as wrong. If you’re not Christian, surely you have an idea on what is wrong and what isn’t. I’m not going to convince you otherwise. The goal up to this point has been to show how impossible it is to have happiness if doing relies on others (or those others not mocking you) or resources. 

If you can at least agree that happiness can’t be attained by accumulating things or doing things (based on the information above), the next logical question has to be, “Where does happiness come from?”

Call it what you want: Joy, Pleasure, Happiness. I’m not going to get semantic in this. Whatever you want to call it, how do you get it?

The Christian answer is Jesus Christ. “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” (Revelation 21:4)

If we can’t articulate what happiness is, I submit to you an alternative. How would you like a life free of death, mourning, crying or pain? Even if I’d want more stuff, a guaranteed life free of that particular list of stuff sounds pretty good to me. Sign me up!

Does that mean a Christian doesn’t suffer those things? Of course we do! Those promises aren’t for the “current things” (this life), but only when those become the “former things” (the next life).

This reveals two things. 1) Nothing of this world is truly worth anything. Does that mean I’m going to stop saving money? No! But it does mean I won’t put the accumulation of wealth above following Christ.

The trouble arrises when the pleasures of the flesh blind us to the real source of happiness that is God. But anything of this world is finite. Money comes and go. Jobs come and go. Lovers come and go. Health comes and goes. Your body is born and then it decomposes. It’s all temporary.

So here’s where you have to make a decision. If you don’t believe in a God, live it up! I mean that. If the only happiness you’re ever going to attain is limited to what this world can offer during your lifetime, “Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die.” (1 Corinthians 15:32)

But if you don’t believe in God, my heart breaks for you. If all you can have is what’s in this world, then I weep for you because there is absolutely no promise you’ll get anything. You have no real hope. Even in this great nation the only thing you’re offered is the right to pursue it.

I’d be devastated on behalf of anyone who pursues happiness his whole life never to obtain it, but I assert that’s exactly what will happen if one continues to measure happiness by wealth, lovers, job status, or a home. Because if these things gave happiness (a state of being happy) why wouldn’t you ever eventually find the need to stop pursuing? After all, if I want to find my keys and then I find them, I don’t keep looking for my keys do I? No, I have that which I sought.

So does God want you to be happy?

Consider the above source of happiness. If happiness is eternal life without death, mourning, crying or pain, then does God want everyone to be saved?

Yes. There are plenty of verses that say this.  1 Timothy 2:4 says it plainly.  God desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

Now, we aren’t going off on that tangent! You know the one. “Well, if God wants us to do it, he can just make us!”  I’ll discuss free will in a future chapter. For now, we have to stay on topic.

Yes, God wants you to be happy, but that happiness is found only in accepting Christ as your savior.

In the next chapter, we’ll discuss what happiness we can have on this earth, but if you agree that everything of this earth will eventually fade, we must then agree that we should seek eternal happiness, which only comes in the next life.

For our panel: Why doesn’t God want people to have things? How can one truly know that happiness comes from a life dedicated to pleasing God? What are the consequences for refusing to turn from sin because that sin “makes you happy”?

A 5-Star Review for Power of Words on Audible

Greetings all,

[image error]I really love having reviews to share, especially when they’re good ones. This particular 5-star review for The Power of Words on Audible is from M.K. Williams, author of at least five novels of which I am aware. I always have a special appreciation when other authors appreciate and recommend one of my books. It really means a lot.

As always, I continue to ask if you’ve read my work, please be so kind as to leave a review on Amazon, Goodreads or both. It really does help out a lot.

Thanks for reading,

Matt

Story Review: Dead Reckoning by Anthony Regolino from Alien Days Anthology

[image error]Cover image taken from the book’s Amazon buy page for review purposes under Fair Use doctrine.

Spoiler Free Summary:  Dead Reckoning by Anthony Regolino is the fourth story in the Alien Days Anthology. Bennett is dead, but that won’t stop him from having one last mission. Bennett’s death is the result of an alien weapon that imitates life, but forces the victim to drift into a vegetative state.  When offered a chance at a literal suicide mission, he takes it.

Character:  Bennett was sympathetic and proactive, which is why this story moved for me. I understood his motivation and wondered how the story might go. Given how the first part of the story works, that mystery sort of died for me (yeah, I took that pun).  My struggle is that I didn’t have a “what was gonna happen” feel for me. Now, I personally hate prequels for the same reason. If I already know what’s happening, I’m just not invested. I think if a writer does enough to make the characters matter, the story might be successful, but I’ve never seen it. 

Exposition: This was fantastic. This story moved. Sure, we get a lot of dialogue exposition (This is how you are dead but still walking), but it still came in a natural, conversational tone. So while I may not have been on the edge of my seat wondering how things would go down, I didn’t feel like I was slugging through a muddy plot to get there. 

[image error]Image of Regolino taken from his author page for review purposes under Fair Use doctrine.

Worldbuilding: In this case the reader has to take more on faith than I think a typical SCIFI fan would like. The exposition mentioned above feels a bit like a, “just go with it, OK?” vibe. Given that I’m not the most persnickety SCIFI reader, I didn’t mind so much. My mental answer was, “OK.” This is a more character-driven story, so I don’t think the author wanted to get too caught up in the hows and whys. It didn’t bother me much, but fans of Herbert and Zahn aren’t going to want to suspend their disbelief as much as I could. 

Dialogue: There isn’t a ton of dialogue in this story, and I’d say at least forty percent of it is explaining how a story like this is possible. Still, it felt conversational, and the speakers still had a unique voice. 

Description:  I liked this aspect of the story. I say this pretty much every time, but I have no way of know who’s reading what review I do. I don’t need a ton of description. Just get my imagination going, and let said imagination take over. This story did that. I saw what I needed to see. Can I give you one character quality or descriptor for Bennett? Nope. So yeah, we probably could have had more, but I rank plot over description and character over everything. I got what I wanted from this story.

Overall: If it weren’t for the beginning of this story, I’d have put this tale at in my top three. I already mentioned why above. It’s still got some clever scenes and an interesting premise. If you’re not over invested in worldbuilding, you can give this story a chance if you want some interesting philosophical fiction with a touch of action. 

Thanks for reading

Matt

Musings on Christianity 2

What Does It Mean To Be A Christian

Growing up, I was exposed to people who would block my path on the street.  “Do you know you’re going to hell?” the representative would ask.

“But I’m saved? I believe that Christ died for me,” I replied.

“So what church do you go to?” he asked.

“I don’t go to a church,” I replied. The last church I went to told my mom to forgive her child-molesting husband and maintain the marriage.  Their exact words were, “Get over it and keep your marriage.”  So I had some issues with church.  That memory played in my mind as I answered the representative.

“If you don’t go to church, you’re not saved.”

What?

I’ve seen pictures of protesters at a Soldier’s funeral. The protesters held signs that read something like, “God killed your son because he was a … ” they used a derogatory f-word implying the Soldier was homosexual. There was no evidence available regarding the Soldier’s actual sexual orientation.

What?

Is that what Christianity is? Is that how Christians should act?

I’ve seen protests, and honestly believe peaceable protest is a critical freedom for our country. But listening to the comments and reading the signs caused me to wonder, “is that what Christianity is about?”

This was a huge stumbling block for me to my faith. Regrettably, that was a very common thing in my home town. That was the norm. So, from my point of view, that was what Christianity was.  But is it really? What does the Bible say about how Christians should work?

For my part, I want to start with the obvious. The name Christian is derived from the name Christ. So a Christian is most simply put one who acts like Christ and/or believes in Christ. The book of Acts called early Christians followers of The Way. What way? The book of John has that answer: “I am the way and the truth and the life.” (John 14:6).

So again, the simplest answer is those who follow Christ. So what does it mean to follow Christ.  How should Christians act? A further look into scripture provides a few (what I call) checklists. One who claims to be a Christian should be one who tries to embody these traits.

From Matthew, the Beatitudes: 

Be poor in spirit.

Be mournful of your sin.

Be meek.

Hunger and thirst for righteousness (in yourself).

Be merciful (that’s not the same as tolerant).

Be pure in heart.

Be a peacemaker (the best peace you can make is through evangelism. Make peace between God and his children).

Be encouraged when you are persecuted and reviled for Christ’s sake.

Now that last one sometimes encourages people to do the things like I spoke about above, but this section isn’t about evangelism or spiritual warfare (both are interesting topics, but not the one we’re discussing today).

The idea here though is you should strive to embody all of these traits. But there are more we can see.

Romans 12 offers more guidance:

Don’t be transformed by the world. Be transformed by the renewal of your mind.

Think with sober judgment.

Let love be genuine.

Abhor what is evil.

Hold fast to what is good. (Jesus summed these last two up well above by the phrase pure of heart.)

Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.

Be fervent in spirit.

Be patient in tribulation.

Be constant in prayer.

Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.

Paul continues to support Christ’s Beatitudes with some phrases:

Bless those who persecute you. Do not curse them.

Rejoice with those who rejoice.

Weep with those who weep.

Live in harmony with one another (in this context, Paul is talking to other Christians. I’m not stating we should be at animosity with others, but the hermeneutics demand I explain that point.)

More traits from Romans 12:

Do not be haughty.

Do not be wise in your own sight.

Repay no one evil for evil.

Never avenge yourselves.

This wonderful segment concludes with one of my favorite verses. “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”

We must also look at the very commandments God gave to Moses. Some people will honestly argue, “That’s the Old Testament.”  There is an honest belief to some who think the New Testament overrules the old. We’re certainly under a new covenant. We’re not judged by the law. That’s a good thing too because we’d all be doomed. However, the New Testament doesn’t in any way negate the old. Jesus taught us this. “Do you think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” (Matthew 5:17)

We therefore must acknowledge that a Christian must strive to obey these commandments, first given to us in Exodus chapter 20:

You shall have no other gods before me.

You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.  You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me. 

You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.

Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.

Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

You shall not murder.

You shall not commit adultery.

You shall not steal.

You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.

In Matthew 5, Jesus even goes on to expand those commandments. Once more, he doesn’t dissolve them. Instead, he revealed how deeply those commandments apply.  He expands on adultery and murder. 

Anyone who angry with a brother or sister is guilty of murder in the eyes of the LORD. (Matthew 5:22)

Anyone who looks lustfully at another woman is guilty of adultery. (Matthew 5: 28)

If you’re like me, you may be wondering, “How on earth could ANYONE do, or avoid doing, all of these things?” In point of fact, I got angry today (as I typed this).

No one is perfect. Remember that new covenant we are under? We are saved not by the law,  indeed all the law does is condemn us. We are saved by grace. (Romans 3:24)

Now, if you’re like me, you probably then think, “Oh, so I can sin all I want because Christ died on the cross for my sins.” Nope again! Paul asks that question and then answers it in his own beautiful debate-style of writing. “By no means!” (Romans 6:2)

So, looking at this scripture as a whole, we learn that Christians follow Christ. They believe he died on the cross and was raised. They then turn from their sin (repent) and follow him (sanctification).  God knows our sinful flesh is incapable of following that law perfectly, so his grace, and the blood of his only son Jesus Christ, saves us (grace). 

So we are left to hold true to the faith that saves us and strive to bear fruit and be sanctified. Our salvation grants us the Holy Spirit, who instructs us so we are better able to follow the commands above and reflect those traits above.

For our panel: How can we apply these concepts to our daily lives? Would you care to expand on any of these concepts? What aspects of being a Christian did I leave out? How can one best pursue a life that reflects these things?

Thanks for reading,

V/R

Matt

An Update on Hazel and Other News!

Greetings all,

[image error]I’m happy to announce that Hazel is scheduled for shipping in February (I don’t have an exact day yet)!

To maximize exposure and get the product out there as quickly as possible, we’ve teamed up with another creative team. That means both of our stories are going to be split up over more issues. We’re still going to print each issue as a solo product, but that will come later.

We’re keeping the name of the flip book out for a while longer, but I’ll be sure to announce that when we’re given the green light as a whole. Issues 1 and 2 of Hazel are done, and Collin is a few pages into Issue 3.

So splitting these stories up allows us to get the story out more quickly while allowing Collin the time he needs to do all the insane work he’s doing.

We’re proud of Hazel and what her story is. I’m personally hopeful this endeavor is successful enough that they are willing to advance Collin for the other Hazel story Collin and I worked on. Whatever comes of it, I’m glad to see another project hitting the tables.

Want to help? The best thing to do would be (if you’re a fan of comics) to contact your local comic stores (when we release the title of the project). Tell them you’re interested in the comic. Tell them to bring copies in. The more stores who order copies of the book, the more successful the book will be.

I’ll naturally have copies available at any conventions too.

I hope you’re all looking forward to seeing it as much as I am.

[image error]I’m also happy to announce that Stealing Freedom is officially available on Audible!

This is just Lisa and J.M.’s narration from The Power of Words, but it’s only about two and a half hours. So if you have a drive that long, I think it’s a perfect audiobook for the trip!

Last but not least in any manner is that in honor of the Halloween season, Caught is on sale for 99 cents! If you haven’t given it a try yet, this is a pretty good chance to read a great book for less than a dollar.

On a final note, I made a commercial! This is a commercial I made for Bob Drifter. It’s just another tool I want to sharpen to see if I can’t spread my name out there in another way.  Give it a look and offer me your thoughts. If you’re an author, and you’d like me to make one for you, I’m willing to do so for $30 (It does take a few hours to put these together, and that price is just a bit under minimum wage).

Thanks for reading,

Matt

Story Review: Am I Alone? by J.R. Handley and Corey D. Truax from Alien Days Anthology

[image error]Cover image taken from the book’s Amazon buy page for review purposes under Fair Use doctrine.

Spoiler Free Summary:  Am I Alone by J.R. Handley and Corey D. Truax is the third story in the Alien Days Anthology. Alexis is a security guard in Area 51 until boredom and curiosity cause her to stop roving outside and move inside. What she finds inside will change her life forever.

Character:  Alexis is an OK character. She’s proactive. I think my beef on her is that her proactivity is the only factor to her character that I find memorable. She does a few likable things, but as the sole character in this story (more or less), she doesn’t have any opportunity to demonstrate her character traits very much. As an Odera Chronicles short story, one can imagine we’ll see more of her in future books or anthologies, but we see more happen than we see her do things. 

Exposition: This story flowed well. I felt like it had a good mix of events and backstory. The fact that there are so few characters contributes way more to the slower parts of the story than the exposition, but some will feel the story drag here and there. I just don’t think exposition is to blame.  

[image error]Image of Mr. Truax was taken from his blog post for review purposes under Fair Use doctrine.

Worldbuilding: As an origin story, this worked well. The story is a great teaser opening to a larger series of adventures. No, we don’t get a lot of world building, but we do get promises that invoke a desire to read in seek of fulfillment, which is the goal of a story like this in my opinion.  

Dialogue: I have to give this an N/A. There are indeed a few spoken lines in this story, but there just isn’t enough dialogue to evaluate fairly. 

Description:  This was probably one of the stronger aspects of the story. It’s a very visceral, cerebral story. We experience a lot of events that aren’t necessarily character driven. That also contributes to the slower parts of the story, but the description gives it a life that a one-character story can’t bring to itself. Honestly, I think a single person story with very few interactions is a bold writing exercise. I felt that the authors knew that, and made sure to give readers detailed, sensory-evoking scenes to offset the limited character issues. I’m not personally a fan of description, but I can recognize the wisdom in the decision making process. 

[image error]Representative image of Mr. Handley was taken from his blog for review purposes under Fair Use doctrine.  

Overall: I’m still not positive where I would rank my top three stories in this anthology, but I can say with certainty that this is one of them. I would have loved it as a prologue to a space-fairing adventure story. It’s enough to make me curious, where if I had time or an Audible credit I didn’t know what to do with, I’d give her a chance. However, I’m not actively refreshing my Amazon and Audible accounts to see when this book comes out. It’s a solid story that at least promises better to come. 

Thanks for reading

Matt

Musings on Christianity 1

Musings on Christianity

Introduction

In this project, we seek to better understand Christianity. We also seek to apply Biblical principles to life issues. In this blog series, the goal is for this to be an online panel in which I pose questions and offer an introduction. These introductions will be my interpretation and application of scripture. As I’ve mentioned before, I haven’t even attended seminary. I’m not a pastor. I’m just a man studying the word of God and working to apply it to his life. My sincere hope is that the elders of my church, Hope Bible Church in Columbia, Maryland, will contribute to the discussion. I also hope that other pastors around the world will join in intelligent, loving discussion of these topics.

We seek to operate in truth and love, which is an essential combination. If any should feel compelled to comment, I humbly request that you support your opinion with scripturally based supporting comments. You are more than willing to add personal application, but we seek a historical, grammatical hermeneutics based discussion which will help Christians, or people who are curious about the faith, gain wisdom on how to approach topics of faith and life. For consistency, please use the ESV. I’m not claiming it to be better than other versions of the Bible. It’s just the version that I as moderator am currently using, and I believe strongly that consistency is essential in any academic discussion. You are more than welcome to then include other translations of the Bible to add further clarification, but I’d appreciate it if we begin with on version and then branch out.

Please be advised that your comments are subject to being included in this book. By placing a comment you consent and permit me to include your comment in the final version which will be sold.

I will be the editor and compiler of this book. As such, I retain the right to include or omit any comments. My hope is the elders of Hope Bible Church will review and edit the project for hermeneutical accuracy.

The inspiration for this blog series is a combination of the concept from the book Right Thinking In a World Gone Wrong by John MacAurthur and several thoughts, discussions, and questions I hope to understand better as I grow in the faith.

The end goal is to produce a published book which will provide readers with answers to questions and scripturally-grounded mindsets to apply to life’s issues and situations.

We sincerely hope this series of 52 weekly discussions (or at least I hope there will be discussions) will provide comfort and wisdom through the only source equipped to help man face the world in which we live.

 

 

 

Why Do Bad Things Happen to Good People

If we’re going to confront questions about faith or Christianity, let’s just start right off the bat with one of the biggest, if not the biggest, questions.

Why do bad things happen to good people?

This questions has a major fallacy that must be addressed:

There are no good people.

“And Jesus said to him, ‘Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.” (Luke 18:19)

“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9)

“For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, adultery coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.” (Mark 7:21-23)

“The Lord looks down from haven on the children of man, to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God. They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one.” (Psalm 14:2-3)

A point of pride for man is the desire to proclaim himself good, when that’s just not the truth of it. I’m not good, and neither are you. If we declare ourselves good, we do so only in comparison with man. We can certainly look upon man and pridefully declare ourselves better than one and less than another, but then we make man that standard by which we measure ourselves, and this is the improper standard. We can surely look to one another on our journey, but the foremost standard by which we should always evaluate ourselves is God himself, and compared to a perfect, holy God, we fall so very short. (The last part is paraphrased from Romans 3:23.)

Some read scripture like this and feel compelled to turn away. Who wants to be called a bad person? Who wants to be condemned? But this is less an accusation or inherent condemnation than it is a simple fact of our own, broken, human condition. I am not good, and neither are you. I’m not claiming to be the worst human, I’m just not pretending to be anywhere near the same level as God. Neither am I declaring you, reader, the worst human ever. However, if we are human, we are not good.

So what is this question really asking? It’s asking why bad things happen to people regardless of their level of evil. You may add to this question the sub topic of why do evil people thrive while the good suffer?

This isn’t always true. Personally, I’ve had some wonderful things happen in my life. I’ve also seen my share of tragedy. But isn’t it hard to see people we love suffer? Isn’t it infuriating to see someone who’s wronged you receive rewards you seek? I know it bothers me, but should it?

First, let’s not forget that humanity suffers. The richest man alive with the most children has suffered in some way. The most wretched person, homeless and starving, is still alive or was still given life. If we focus on our suffering, we forget or even cast aside any blessings we’ve received. We’re like children who are well-fed, housed, and genuinely loved by our Father who forget it all and declare our parents horrible because we didn’t receive our most recent desire, or we’ve just come upon some misfortune.

“For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.” (Matthew 5:45)

What do we do when someone who’s transgressed against us receives rewards and we don’t? Sure, it stinks to feel passed over, but this world isn’t the reward. The greatest reward is to be in the presence of God in His kingdom. Does this mean I don’t want a promotion or to sell more books? Of course not, but  I hope to be very careful before I start looking to others who have worldly things.

“be not envious of wrongdoers! For they will soon fade like the grass and wither like the green herb.” (Psalm 37:2)

A parable I seek when I need comfort as I suffer and others who I arrogantly declare are more evil than I am receive wealth and happiness, is the parable of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31).

People will receive on this earth, and people will lose things on this earth. However, I’m a bit wary of hoarding worldly things. This doesn’t mean I didn’t work to be debt free or I’m not working to ensure I have a three-month emergency fund. However, if God appeared to you and gave you a choice: All the money and joy you desire on Earth at the cost of eternity afterward, or all the pain and misery you fear at the reward of joy and glory for eternity afterward, which would you choose?

Then consider this: As bad as things have gotten, have you never had one moment of joy or pleasure? If not, then I offer my genuine prayer for comfort and peace to you. Yes, bad things happen, but they happen to all people. No person is good. If we focus on the rewards of eternity, we can find comfort.

“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” (Romans 8:18)

For our panel: Must people suffer? What about children? What does suffering do for us? How does suffering help us if it does? What scripture can we seek to find comfort or gain understanding?

Thank you for reading,

Matt

Stealing Freedom Gets Its First Review!

[image error]Greetings all,

I just love it when reviews come in! So I’m happy to share this 4-star review for Stealing Freedom.

This (click the link) review was only a sentence, but it’s a moment the reviewer took to offer a rating and a few words, and those words were particularly encouraging because he took that moment to say he liked the end. He even went the extra mile and left the same review on Goodreads, which is just an amazing help.

If you’ve had a chance to read the story (or any of my work), I’d appreciate it if you also took a moment to drop a rating and/or review.

Thanks for reading,

Matt

Story Review: A Series of Anomalous Phenomena by D.B. Crelia from Alien Days Anthology

[image error]Cover image taken from the book’s Amazon buy page for review purposes under Fair Use doctrine.

Spoiler Free Summary:  A Series of Anomalous Phenomena by D.B. Crelia is the second story in the Alien Days Anthology. Humm is a shape shifter serving as first officer aboard his ship. He’s been tasked with a mission to obtain some DNA, but when things start to go wrong, they seem to pile up until they reveal just how bad Humm’s day is about to get.

Character:  Humm is likable if not proactive. He’s not competent either, but that’s be designed. The light-hearted approach to the story really worked for Humm. If you can’t have a memorable character (and I don’t  think Humm was) the next best thing is to have a character who was memorable for something. Humm was memorable to me because of his earnestness, which makes his humorous shortcomings endearing rather than frustrating.

Exposition: Honestly I thought this was spectacular, especially for short fiction. I don’t remember a moment where the story didn’t move forward and keep me either laughing or wondering what would happen next. That’s a big credit to the author. 

Worldbuilding: This story also takes place on Earth. We could do with a bit more establishing the alien races. For the story, it wasn’t so bad. But I would have liked a bit more rounding out of the universe at large. However, if someone were to argue that wasn’t necessary and might obstruct the story, I’d probably have to admit that’s true.  

Dialogue: This was solid. It wasn’t bad at all, but it didn’t stand out either. I think it was the biggest, surest way to improve the story. If the dialogue were a bit more snappy and clever, this story might have gone from not bad to great or even better than that. 

[image error]Image of Mr. Crelia taken from his Amazon author page for review under Fair Use doctrine. 

Description:  I got what I wanted from the story in regard to description. As usual, someone could argue they want more, and I wouldn’t shout about it, but I saw what I needed, and my imagination did the rest.  

Overall: This was a clever little story that had a good amount of humor. If you have 30-minutes, and you wanted something fun to read or listen to on Audible, this would be something to reach for. 

Thanks for reading

Matt