Dennis Bailey's Blog, page 2

Ark Launch Team

Are you a fan of historical Biblical fiction, or more specifically, the story of Noah’s Ark as told in the book of Genesis? If so, then I would like to offer you the opportunity to be a part of something special—the launch of a new novel pertaining to this legendary tale.

My first book, Army of God—a story about how the animals of Noah’s Ark rose up to defend it against an invading army—releases in October 2017. I’m looking for a group of committed individuals to join a special Ark Team dedicated to the promotion of the book. Readers who would be excited to share the news about my story.

I’m also looking for people who would like to know more about the ark account. If you’re like me, you’re not only curious about the eight human souls God chose for salvation, but also about the thousands of animals who joined them on their voyage to the new world. For instance, I bet you didn’t know that according to Jewish tradition, there was a confrontation between a group of people who tried to break into the ark and the animals that surrounded it.

This will only require a six-week commitment. It would involve visiting a private Facebook group once a week to discuss interesting behind-the-scenes info I discovered while researching and writing the book. It would also involve helping to spread the word about my book through social media updates, reviews, visits to local books stores, etc.

Want to help launch an exiting new book? Join the Ark Launch Team.

Click To Tweet

Would you prayerfully consider being a part of this unique group?

What’s in it for you?

An opportunity to impact the release of a new book
A free ebook copy of my book, Army of God
Special drawings and giveaways exclusively for this Ark Team

For now, all I need is for you to contact me here on my blog (leave a comment below) or through email at dennis (at) dennisbaileyauthor (dot) com.

Don’t worry, I won’t stuff your inbox with e-mails or ask you to clog your social media feed with advertising. Unless something exciting happens, this will only require hearing from me once a week.

With thanks & blessings,

Dennis Bailey

PS. If you have a friend who you feel would be a good fit for the team, please feel free to share this invitation with them.

Climate Cycle, Not Climate Change

While the earth remains,

Seedtime and harvest,

Cold and heat,

Winter and summer,

And day and night

Shall not cease.  Genesis 8:22

My apologizes to all you summer sun worshipers, but I love fall. And even though we haven’t reached the official start of autumn (astronomical fall doesn’t arrive until September 21st), meteorological fall began on September 1st, catapulting me into an exceptionally good mood. It was an unusually hot and dry summer here in central Virginia, but with the latest monthly turn of the calendar our temperatures have dropped to a very comfortable 70s/50s daily transition. Yep, we are experiencing a true period of climate change.

Speaking of which, don’t be surprised if the recent visits of Hurricanes Harvey and Erma to the continental U.S. results in the commencement of drum beating from the “climate change” crowd. There’s nothing like back to back natural disasters to stoke the fires of paranoia from those to whom Chicken Little is a seminal icon.

But Dennis, don’t you believe in man-made climate change? My answer is always the same. “No, I believe in God.” Nine times out of ten, I receive a look of incredulity from the questioner, which invariably invokes from me the following response. In His infinite wisdom, God provided oil and coal deposits within the earth for us to find, and to use those deposits to the betterment of mankind. Too many people overlook the gift of freedom of mobility that God gave to us through the use of oil and the development of the combustible gasoline engine. Without them, we’d all be riding horses or bicycles and having to live close to big cities. And there certainly wouldn’t be anything as advanced as air travel.

Fall: A Naturally Occurring Change in Climate

Click To Tweet

Yes, I think this verse from Genesis provides all the guidance we need regarding the change of seasons and the climate. Those who put their faith in climate change theory would do well to remember this: God gave us the 10 Commandments, and one of them is not, “Thou shalt not use fossil fuels.”

Blessings,

Dennis

13 Days in August

Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good. Romans 12:9

What a difference thirteen days makes. In that brief time, the world has witnessed a striking example of the difference between good and evil. Three weeks ago, white supremacists clashed with Antifa counterdemonstrators in Charlottesville, Virginia in one of the most violent and highly publicized riots in recent memory. Hatred was front and center as the race hustlers came crawling out of the woodwork to promulgate their special brand of poison. One woman lost her life to the violence.

Fast forward to this past week and the arrival of Hurricane Harvey on the Texas Gulf Coast, one of the most damaging storms to ever hit the U.S. mainland. In stark contrast to the events in Charlottesville, something else was on display in the Lone Star state: Love. Neighbor reached out to help neighbor escape the rising floodwaters, provide food and shelter, or just offer an arm around a shoulder. Millions of private dollars were raised to help fund the recovery efforts. And in all this, nary a word about race. Instead of looking for an excuse for division, the nation came together in a grand partnership to help in a time of crisis.

Two events occurring in close proximity to one another, one evil, one good. How fitting to have the love being displayed in Houston be the thing to take the hate of Charlottesville off the front page. Gives us all something to cling to, doesn’t it?

Blessings,

Dennis

I Dare You

“Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, That there may be food in My house, And try Me now in this,” Says the Lord of hosts, “If I will not open for you the windows of heaven And pour out for you such blessing That there will not be room enough to receive it.” Malachi 3:10

Two events transpired this week that served as the inspiration for this post. The first was a separate post I’d put up on Facebook from the Gospel of Mark about the widow’s two mites. The second was a mysterious and unexpected sum of money my wife received in the mail. The common thread between the two: the privilege of tithing.

Like so many others, this passage from Malachi is one of my favorites, but maybe not for the reason you might think. I love it because it’s one of the few places in all of Scripture where the Lord challenges us to trust him. More than that, if you read the passage carefully, it actually amounts to a dare. It’s like God is saying “I dare you to try and out give Me.”

Have you received an unexpected gift lately that you feel may have resulted from something you gave? And I don’t necessarily mean a gift of money. The gift could take the form of good health, peace in your marriage, freedom from anxiety or worry, any number of things. In our case, my wife and I have been tithing long enough to know not to take any blessing as coincidence. If you have been so blessed, don’t discount the possibility that God had a window in heaven open just for you. My old pastor used to say, “God can do more with 90% than you can do with 100%”

And remember, God really does love a cheerful giver.

Care to take God’s Dare?

Click To Tweet

Pearl of Great Price

Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it. Matthew 13:45-46

As bad as television is (and getting worse all the time), occasionally a verse or two of Scripture gets quoted during a broadcast. I first heard the one above on an episode of the original Star Trek series entitled “The Empath.” In it, Captain Kirk, Mr. Spock, and Dr. McCoy arrive at a doomed planet to find a beautiful, mute woman with remarkable empathic healing powers who they name “Gem.” To make a long story short, Gem saves Kirk and McCoy from the sadistic torturing of the planet’s alien occupants, and in the process wins salvation for her own planet. The Scripture reference comes at the very end of the episode when, upon the trio’s return to the Enterprise, Mr. Scott cites this passage from the Gospel of Matthew in referring to Gem.

Do you have a “pearl of great price,” something that is of such value to you that you’d be willing to give up almost anything to attain it? Not necessarily something materialistic, but an ideal, a hope, a dream? If so, and as long as it doesn’t become an obsession, I strongly encourage you to pursue it. After all, this Scripture is as much a metaphor for following your dream as anything else.

Of course, for we Christians, our pearl of greatest price is Jesus.

Blessings,

Dennis

Greater Love Has No One Than This . . .

Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. John 15:13

By now, most of you have probably heard of the violence associated with a rally this weekend by a group of white nationalist demonstrators protesting the removal of a Confederate statue in Charlottesville, Virginia. One woman was killed and another nineteen injured when a speeding car intentionally slammed into a group of counter-protestors.

As outrageous as this behavior was, there was another less publicized aspect to this story. While these two groups were busy displaying their unbridled hatred for one another, above them, in the skies, two Virginia State Police aviation officers patrolled the area to provide an extra level of security to those very people who were at each other’s throats.

For reasons that remain unclear, the helicopter carrying these two officers crashed, killing them both.

Jesus’ words from the Gospel of John cited above describes the extent of one’s love who makes the ultimate sacrifice in defense of their friends. How much more do you think this applies to these officers, who laid down their lives not for friends, but strangers, or worse, antagonists to their call to duty on this day?

Please take a moment to remember your police, fire department, and military personnel. Their job is to face the prospect of fulfilling Jesus’ challenge every single day.

Blessings,

Dennis

Through a Different Lens

Welcome to a new category of posts for this site, entitled “Ark Building for Today’s Believer,” a series of regularly recurring devotionals. I hope it will give you another reason to stop by and visit.

Eye has not seen, nor ear heard,

Nor have entered into the heart of man

The things which God has prepared for those who love Him. 1 Corinthians 2:9

Most of you have probably heard of this well-known verse of Scripture. Not so coincidentally, it just happens to be my all-time favorite. Basically, it’s a promise, one of anywhere between 3,000-5,500 (depending on who’s doing the counting) contained in the Bible. My purpose today is get you to look at it as something much more.

A year ago last Sunday (July 30th), I lost the second of my two closest friends to a tragic and unexpected death. Even though we’d only known each other for two years, I felt as close to this man as to any brother. I was devastated. Nine months prior, another close friend had died of complications related to heart failure. Not as tragic a death to be certain, but just as heartbreaking. All in all, it was a very bad year. I’m sure there are some of you who can relate.

So what do the unexpected deaths of two friends have to do with the passage of Scripture cited above. Well, as noted, 1 Corinthians 2:9 is a promise, one that I’d selfishly guarded most of my life for how it relates to me, personally. Basically, it says there is nothing in man’s imagination that can compare with what God has in store for us as believers. So, in addition to being a promise, it’s also a mystery, one that we’ll not have answered until we get to heaven.

Now that a year is past, and the pain of losing my two friends isn’t quite as acute as it was back then, I’ve been able to view this Scripture through a different lens. It’s a bifocal lens, envy on the top, elation on the bottom. Envy because as a retired police detective, I spent a career in the pursuit of solving mysteries, and here my two friends have received the solution to the one of my favorite Scripture ahead of me. Elation at the knowledge that they have received the due reward of the promise of that same Scripture: eternity with Jesus Christ.

If you’ve lost a loved one recently, or even if considerable time has passed, I invite you to spend some time with this verse. I can pretty much guarantee you it will lift your spirits. It might even make you a little jealous.

How about you? Do you have a favorite passage of Scripture that speaks to you in a different way than it used to? If so, I would be delighted to have you share it here.

Blessings,

Dennis

Gifted – An Old Formula That Works

By Dennis Bailey @dbaileyauthor

Because of a dearth of new faith-based movies, I am expanding the scope of these reviews to include both spiritual and non-spiritual titles. But fear not, anything reviewed on this blog will always remain family-friendly. Today’s feature, FilmNation Entertainment’s Gifted.

Chris Evans plays Frank Adler, a former college professor turned boat mechanic living in a small town near Tampa, Florida with his seven-year-old niece, Mary (Mckenna Grace), a mathematics prodigy. Following her first day of school, where it becomes obvious she doesn’t belong there, Mary is offered a scholarship at a prestigious private institution. But, when Frank turns down the scholarship so that Mary can experience something of a “normal” childhood, his mother, played by Lindsay Duncan, initiates a custody battle that ignites the film’s primary conflict. What follows is a dynamic, and often contentious, tug-of-war between mother and son as each vies for the girl’s soul.

Miss Grace is quite engaging as Mary, displaying a combination of charm and an acerbic wit that keeps her character from becoming overly sympathetic. Ms. Duncan plays Frank’s stuffy English mother, Evelyn, a Cruella de Vil imitation the audience begins rooting against almost immediately. Finally, it was good to see a bearded Chris Evans take on a different role, playing against type from some of his more famous superhero parts (Captain America, The Fantastic Four). His performance as Mary’s de facto father is inspiring and touching. In a fitting twist of irony, I believe he ends up being a bigger hero here than in any of his big budget characterizations. Saving the whole world may win him bigger applause, but saving the future of one little girl will win him more hearts.

The film is rated PG-13 for some salty language and a brief implied sexual situation, but other than that the movie is a better than average family film which my wife and I both enjoyed.

For its ability to reach the audience on an emotional level, the movie earns four out of five projectors. 

Defending Noah

@dbaileyauthor  I doubt most people, least of all believers, would think of the character of Noah from the book of Genesis as a sympathetic figure in need of defense. I know I never did. But when, as a writer, you choose to write about someone like him, as I did in my forthcoming novel, you tend to become hypersensitive to criticism about that character. It’s kind of like when you buy a new car. You never really notice how many of your particular model are on the road until after you’ve purchased one. Then they seem to be everywhere.

The Usual Suspects

And so it was with my story. No sooner had I started writing than I began to take notice of every criticism, misrepresentation, and slight lodged against my protagonist. The first of these came from a most likely source—Hollywood—through the making of a movie that should have served to glorify the character. Instead, it was executed in such a way that it only served to defame him.

Let’s face it, when it comes to telling Biblical stories, Hollywood isn’t renowned for its strict adherence to the Scriptural record. They’re about making money, and in today’s movie-making culture that usually means lots of sex, violence, and high-octane special effects. Such was the case with the release of 2014’s ‘Noah.’ Darren Aronofsky, the movie’s director and an avowed atheist, famously bragged about it being the “least Biblical Biblical movie” ever made. His Noah character, played by Russell Crowe, is a crazed environmentalist who in the end threatens to murder his own grandchildren, an anti-hero who exhibits none of the godliness or obedient traits of the Genesis patriarch. Consequently, the movie was panned by many Christians.

Then there was the collateral damage that accompanied the movie’s premiere. Two weeks prior to its release, a certain liberal HBO personality went on an anti-Christian rant on his nighttime TV show where he ridiculed the 60 percent of adult Americans who believe in the literal interpretation of the ark story, calling them “stupid.”

Friendly Fire

Of course, characterizations from non-believers like those cited above are to be expected. But what I found more disturbing was the attitude I’d witnessed from my fellow Christians, some of which date back decades. Like so many kids in my neighborhood, I grew up in a Baptist church learning all about Noah’s Ark and Jonah in Sunday school. Later, in my twenties, when I made the choice to convert to Catholicism, I fully expected these Biblical teachings to transfer with me. Imagine, then, my surprise to hear my first priest tell me that Noah and Jonah aren’t to be taken literally, that their stories are only allegorical. Such is the belief of many Catholics today. One popular host appearing on Fox News, an admitted practicing Catholic, preaches this doctrine on his evening cable news television program, often ridiculing the views of born again believers. It was just this sort of disparaging of Biblical truths that sent me screaming from the Catholic Church and back to the safety and security of Evangelical Protestantism.

It’s regrettable many of our Catholic brothers and sisters seem to forget the testimony of a certain Jewish carpenter who vouched for the literal interpretation of the ark account in the Gospel of Matthew. “But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.” (Matt 24: 37-39). Similarly, this admonition by Jesus is paraphrased in the Gospel of Luke (17: 26-27).

Are our heroes of the #Bible like #Noah treated fairly by the media today? @dbaileyauthor takes a look. https://ctt.ec/6R7By+

Click To Tweet

Such snubs are not limited to a questioning of the literalness of Scripture, but also manifest themselves as personal attacks against Noah’s character.

Two years ago, I was pitching my book to an editor from a Christian publishing house at a writer’s conference. Near the end of my presentation, I could see she was searching for a way to politely tell me she wasn’t interested when all of a sudden she smugly dropped this declarative bomb about my main character. “He was kind of a bad guy.” I looked at her stone-faced, as I had given her no reason during my proposal for her to have drawn such a conclusion. This was obviously a person who didn’t know her Bible, or worse, had bought into the Hollywood portrayal cited above.

The Scriptures are clear that “Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations,” and that he “walked with God” (Gen 6:9). The apostle Peter referred to him as a “preacher of righteousness” (2 Peter 2:5). Furthermore, Noah was a man who remained obedient to this one commandment—the construction of the ark—for over one hundred years. In fact, the only thing found in the Biblical record that could remotely be considered critical of his behavior is that after the flood he planted a vineyard and got drunk. Hardly enough, in my view, to be seen as a “bad guy.”

So what do you think? Do our heroes of the Bible get a fair shake from the media today? And when they do make it into a novel or onto the big screen, are they portrayed in a manner that reflects accurately their contributions to our Christian history? As for Noah, believers and non-believers would do well to remember one thing: If it weren’t for his 100-plus years of obedience, none of us might be here right now.

Wait a minute . . . there goes another Honda CRV!

10 Classic Love Stories for Valentine’s Day

@dbaileyauthor

Who doesn’t love a good love story? And with Valentine’s Day on the horizon, it’s a safe bet the Hallmark Channel will be running a collection of their most sugary-sweet televised love sonnets around the clock.

Well, with all due respect to Hallmark and their commercial sponsors, why not switch the input on your remote to your DVD player and put in one of these classic, full-length feature films? They’re guaranteed to put a lump in your throat and a tear in your eye. I’ve compiled a list of 10 of my favorite family-friendly love stories that I’m going to share with you for free. No blog updates or newsletter sign-ups required. Just click the link below and the list is yours.

10 Favorite Family-friendly Love Stories

Hankies are optional.