Morgan L. Busse's Blog, page 20

God, Zombies, and Star Wars

What do God, zombies, and Star Wars have in common? Check out my guest blog over at Speculative Faith and find out

http://www.speculativefaith.com/2013/04/12/god-zombies-and-star-wars/

 

 

 

 

Daughter of Light is on Sale

Hey everyone! Daughter of Light, the first novel in my Follower of the Word series, is on sale for $0.99 now until Monday. So if you are looking for a new series to read, check this one out Click on the preferred ebook link below:

Marcher Lord Press

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

 

 

 

Can Suicide Separate Us From God?

This week brought shocking news: the son of Rick and Kay Warren (author of the Purpose Driven Life) committed suicide. Within days, this news has spread, raising a lot of questions and discussion about suicide and Christians. I want to share with you two years ago I went through a very dark time in my life, a dark night of the soul. And unless you have experienced this, you have no idea what it is like to be suicidal.

My life was already full of cracks by the time my husband was fired from the church we were serving at. I was like a piece of glass with multiple fractures. We had been laid off from one church, lived on unemployment for almost a year, experienced loss of health and almost the life of our son, burned out by ministry, forced to move every few years, and now this. I remember the shock to this day: walking around in a numb state until my insides shattered into a thousand pieces. I was broken beyond repair and I entered the Valley of the Shadow of Death.

Those months after my husband lost his job were the darkest in my life. Even though I was still around people, I felt such intense loneliness it hurt physically. Depression hung on me like a black shroud. At one point, I remember visualizing myself curled up in a ball, naked, laying on a rock in the middle of a raging storm out in the ocean, with the wind and the harsh rain pounding down on me. All alone.

I couldn’t hear God anymore. Up to that point, I could always hear God, feel Him near me. But not anymore. I would look up to see only black raging clouds. I knew God was around somewhere up above those clouds, but I couldn’t see Him like I used to. And my spiritual hearing was gone, like being hit by a blast wave that leaves you deaf.

The depression went on for months. I felt like I was drowning. I was still fighting to stay afloat, but there was part of me that wanted to give up and sink down into the waters and be done.

This empty, deathly feeling scared me. I’ve been depressed before, but usually the thought of my husband and kids drew me back. But this time it was not enough. I was afraid that I was going to give in to the desire and kill myself. It’s like standing on an edge, looking down, and having that wild feeling to throw oneself off.

There was only one thing that stopped me: I did not want to meet God that way. I did not want to take my life and stand before God and see the disappointment on His face. I could not take my life… because my life was not mine to take. It belonged to God.

That was the anchor I clung to during that wild tempest in my life. Eventually I dove into God’s word, especially the Psalms, finding comfort in the fact that I was not the only one who had ever felt that way. Psalm 42:5 says, “Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise Him again—my Savior and my God!”

And even Paul writes about his discouragement: 2 Corinthians 1:8-9a “For we do not want you to be unaware, brethren, of our affliction which came to us in Asia, that we were burdened excessively, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life; indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves…”

The sentence of death. That is exactly what it feels like. But Paul goes on to say this: “…so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead; who delivered us from so great a peril of death, and will deliver us, He on who we have set our hope…” (2 Corinthians 1:9b-10)

I made a choice that day, a choice that I have stuck with ever since: my life is God’s and God’s alone, for Him to use, and for Him to bring me home when it is time. I still could not see God, could not hear Him when I made this choice. But I chose to trust that He would deliver me someday. And He did, through the prayers and friendship of my husband and two close friends. This is how God delivered Paul as well: “And He will yet deliver us, you also joining in helping us through your prayers…”

I am blessed to have come through a time like that alive. But what happens to a person who chooses to end it all? Is that person damned? Is his or her salvation no longer valid since the person took his or her own life?

I believe God’s answer is no.

“And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow— not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love.” Romans 8:38

Not even suicide.

But I believe that person will miss out on all that God could have done in his or her life: all the people that person might have touched, all the people that person might have helped or comforted; the view of the rainbow after the storm.

And yet there are many living that are already missing out. A lot of people today are missing out on what God can do in their lives because they are too busy chasing their own dreams. It doesn’t take death to stop God’s work in our lives, just our selfish ambition and belief that our lives are our own to use and pursue what we want to.

I encourage you to love and pray for others. You never know if there is death lurking behind a smiling face. And pray for the Warren family, that they experience grace and peace. Our heart goes out to them with love.

 

 

Son of Truth is Now Available

The sequel to Daughter of Light is now available!

I am cold. Ruthless. I always get the job done.

I am the left hand of the Lord of Temanin. I have murdered countless, doing away with those who would obstruct the Empire. I live in the shadows, and I am never found.

Until now.

I heard of the Eldarans, words spoken on my mother’s deathbed. A race of beings left in the Lands to protect mankind. Her words I dismissed as the ramblings of a dying woman. There were no such beings. Only myth, or distant legend.

Yet now I stand before one.

The woman’s hand glows as if she were holding a sliver of sunlight. I see the light, and I fear it. My mother’s words haunt me. I know the moment the woman touches me, I will be undone.

I cannot run, I cannot move. Her hand touches my cheek and fire sears my soul.

Everything I have done plays before my eyes: the women I have used, the lies I have spoken, the way I abused others, my disdain and arrogance.

And the deaths. All those deaths.

I feel her horror as she watches every act of murder. I try to hide what I have done, pull my past back into the shadows. But I cannot. It is now laid bare in the light.

The woman disappears. All is silent. I look at my hands. They are covered in blood. I try to wipe away the evidence of my darkness, but the blood remains.

A shadow appears before me and I look up.

A deformed and scarred man stands there. He looks upon me with dark, fathomless eyes. This is no ordinary man. He is more. And he is here to deal with the blood on my hands.

He is my judge.

I bow, my heart full of fear. The time of my reckoning has come.

And I know it will cost me my life.

***

The war in the north is over, but the war for all the Lands has just begun. As the Shadonae solidify their hold on the city of Thyra, Rowen Mar, the last Eldaran and savior of the White City, awakens to find herself hunted by those she has saved.

Meanwhile, the assassin Caleb Tala finds himself in the presence of the Word. The time of reckoning has come, and he must pay the price for all the lives he has taken. But in his moment of judgment, Caleb is given a second chance to change his life.

These two hold the power to save the Lands from the Shadonae. One must escape slavery, and one must choose to forsake everything before the world is consumed in darkness.

Son of Truth.

 

 

Book Review: The Ryn (Eyes of E’veria, Book 1)

The Ryn is a cross between a fantasy and a fairytale retelling. It centers on a young woman who grows up not knowing who her real family is, only to discover she is the Ryn, the long thought dead daughter of the king.

As Rose discovers who she is, she also learns she possesses telepathic-like powers, the power to hear the thoughts of others. But there are those who do not want the Ryn (Rose) to live, who tried to kill her as a baby and are now hunting her down. For she is the one from the prophecy who will finally defeat them and bring peace to the lands.

I enjoyed The Ryn. I love fantasy and especially anything like a fairytale retelling. The story and writing style reminded me of Jill Williamson‘s Blood of King Trilogy and Melanie Dickerson’s fairytale novels. You have the usual young person learning she is more than she thought, that she is the only one who can stop the encroaching evil, and possesses an amazing power. But what makes The Ryn unique is the world and the magic system.

There are storytellers who don’t just tell stories, but have a magical ability to bring the stories alive (imagine smoke and white sand forming characters in the story, coming forth from the storyteller’s hands). Great forests, a magical island, books that when you read them, you are drawn into the words and actually meet the writer (this is one of Rose’s unique abilities). Chivalrous knights, pirates, and a group of people with telepathic abilities.

The one thing I did notice is there are not a lot of battles or fight scenes. This first book seems to center more around Rose discovering who she is and growing in her power. But I suspect there will be more action in the following books.

Overall, if you enjoy fantasy, then I recommend this book

To find out more, check out these links:

AMAZON the ryn (purchase) http://www.amazon.com/The-Ryn-Eyes-Everia-ebook/dp/B00BZF1S28/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1364237341&sr=8-4&keywords=Serena+Chase

GOODREADS the ryn (listing)  http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17669229-the-ryn

FACEBOOK official author page  http://www.facebook.com/pages/Serena-Chase/484250238321951

TWITTER @Serena_Chase

*I was given a free ARC for an honest review of this book.

 

Son of Truth Cover Reveal

Here it is, the cover for Son of Truth, which releases next week (April 1st, 2013).

The war in the north is over, but the war for all the Lands has just begun. As the Shadonae solidify their hold on the city of Thyra, Rowen Mar, the last Eldaran and savior of the White City, awakens to find herself hunted by those she has saved.

Meanwhile, the assassin Caleb Tala finds himself in the presence of the Word. The time of reckoning has come and he must pay the price for all the lives he has taken. But in his moment of judgment, Caleb is given a second chance to change his life.

These two hold the power to save the Lands from the Shadonae. One must escape slavery, and one must choose to forsake everything before the world is consumed in darkness.

What I Learned My First Year as a Published Writer

It’s hard to believe I’m approaching my first year as a published writer. The journey has felt like a roller coaster, with a lot of ups and downs, moments of panic, and wondering if the world will stop spinning. It was a crazy year! Looking back, here are three things I learned during the ride:

1)   Not everyone is going to like your book. Ouch. I knew that, but it is different when you experience it. It took some time to get over the fact that not everyone would enjoy my work, whether because of style differences, genre differences, etc. But I learned to move on. After all, I don’t enjoy everything I read either, and I should allow people their differences.

2)   Don’t read your reviews. That was a hard one for me to learn. I could have 12 positive reviews and one negative one and guess which one I would focus on? Yep. It’s like having a stain on your favorite shirt. No matter how much you try to ignore it and not let it get under your skin, your eyes keep coming back to it. Finally after a couple months, I decided not to look at my reviews at all. I figured reviews were there for the readers anyway, not for me. I had written the book to the best of my ability. That’s about all a person can do. Once I stopped looking at my reviews, I found peace.

3)   It’s not so much about developing tough skin as it is about guarding your heart. I never liked the idea of developing tough skin. It felt like I was hardening my heart as well. And since I write from my heart, I couldn’t let that grow hard or the soul of my writing would suffer. But in letting my heart remain soft, I allowed it to be hurt.

After months of hurting, I finally asked my husband how he dealt with all the negativity in his life. As a pastor he receives a lot of criticism and yet I hardly ever saw it affect him. So he shared with me how he guarded his heart. He imagines his heart is a castle. He only allows 2 voices into that castle: God and me (since I am his wife). Then there is a wall, and within the courtyard he allows the voices of his most trusted friends. Then there is a moat and there he allows friends and acquaintances.

When he shared this with me, I realized how many voices I was allowing into the very heart of me, voices that really had no business being there. And by listening to all those voices, I wasn’t hearing the ones I needed to hear.

So I put his idea into action. One day I had someone tell me I wasn’t good at grammar. I’m not. It is one of the weakest areas in my writing. But then I imagined my heart. Her voice had no business inside my castle. Yes, she was right, but I already knew that. What I didn’t need is her voice echoing around inside my heart, reminding me over and over again of that fact. Instead, I needed to acknowledge the truth of her words, but not let her over the moat.

My heart remained soft, but not damaged.

Being a writer is the hardest thing I have ever done (apart from being a parent). I confess: if I knew it would be this hard, I would have probably given up a long time ago. But I would have also missed the joy of being creative, of sharing my heart with people, and seeing a dream come true.

How about you? What have you learned, either from a new job, a new relationship, or a new way of life? What were the struggles? How did you overcome them?

 

 

The Problem with Death

A few weeks ago, I read one Christian’s point of view on how the world began. This person laid out the different views out there, ranging from evolution to creation, to God using evolution in His creation, young earth, old Earth, and everything in between. This person concluded that there was not enough evidence to support anything; but what was important was the Maker, not how everything came to be.

I have heard this case before. I have strong Christian friends who believe God used evolution in His creation of the world. And lately, I have been rethinking my views. After all, there is a lot of debate on this issue, each with a valid point. But one thing keeps pulling me back from embracing the view that God used evolution: the problem of death.

My understanding of evolution is that through countless changes in both the world and species, what we see now came to be. And through that process there was a lot of death. Slowly, the genetics of the species changed, evolving to survive. What couldn’t live, died. What did live changed again, then died out so the new level of genetics could survive.

However, the Bible states death came through one man: Adam (Romans 5:12). Before Adam sinned, there was no death. Nothing died. And if there was no death, then there would be many species running around, each of them in a different state of evolution. The world would be filled with half-baked critters that were not done changing yet.

And where did they all go when Adam sinned and death finally entered creation? Did the imperfect die away? Yet that would contradict what God said when He finished creating: that everything was good (Genesis 1:31).

Ultimately though, the problem of death and the creation of the world has to do with our salvation. Through one man’s sin death entered the world, and through one man life came as well. We are all connected to Adam, and therefore we will die. But through Jesus we can have life. But if we are not connected to Adam, then can we be saved?

Imagine Adam and Jesus as doors on either side of a room. All who came through one door may go through the other door. But if you are not even in the same room, can you go through the other door? If mankind really did evolve, then are we all connected? What about those who did not fully evolve into humans, who were not Adam? Are any of us related to those pre-evolved humans? If so, can we be saved?

See the problem?

In the end, both faith and logical thinking are required for any belief about the origins of life. Yes, the Maker is important (if you believe in a Maker). But so is how He created the world. Life and death hinge on that.

 

We Were Once Zombies

I watched an episode of The Walking Dead the other night. The story was absolutely intriguing: what would the world be like if a disease turned almost everyone into zombies? The problem was, I couldn’t stomach the headshots or the body parts trailing behind the corpses. So I only ended up watching one and a half episodes. But it made me start thinking: all of us are zombies.

Huh?

I work with junior high boys and we always end up talking about interesting things (surprising, right?). One night we talked about this verse: “And you were dead in your trespasses and sins…” Ephesians 2:1 NASB (emphasis mine). And it hit me: we are all zombies. We are walking around, talking, eating, breathing, living. And yet we are dead. Corpses. Living and dead and the same time.

Our physical bodies are alive, but our souls are dead. The moment Adam sinned, the entire human race was condemned to a zombie existence: shuffling around, searching for life, with no clue how destitute we are. We can no more cure ourselves than those poor wretches on The Walking Dead.

But there was someone who could. “But God is so rich in mercy, and He loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, He gave us life when He raised Christ from the dead… ” Ephesians 2:4 NLT (emphasis mine)

The dead cannot save themselves. They cannot bring life back into their bodies. But God could, and He did. Can you imagine the scene? God walking up to a zombie, touching him or her, and restoring life back into the body and healing away the decay? The way the person would look afterward, with wonder and with thankfulness.

Right now I am picturing all those zombies on The Walking Dead and what that episode would look like if someone finally found a cure (maybe there is a cure on the show, I don’t know). What a happy day that would be, when they could finally become human again.

Speculative Interview

Today I am featured over at Jen Eifrig‘s blog about my new upcoming book Son of Truth, what it’s like to be a writer, and what is my next big idea.

www.jennifereifrigauthor.com