Janet Sketchley's Blog: Tenacity, page 85
February 25, 2015
Time Sensitive Invitation
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones God’s messengers! How often I have wanted to gather your children together as a hen protects her chicks beneath her wings, but you wouldn’t let me.
Luke 13:34, NLT*
“You wouldn’t let Me.”
Those are some of the saddest words in the Bible. Jesus makes the invitation, but it’s up to us to accept Him.
I’ve been reading the Gospel of Luke, seeing again Jesus’ miracles and teaching, watching the stages of revelation and responsibility...
February 23, 2015
Review: Cloak, by Timothy Zahn
Cloak, by Timothy Zahn (Silence in the Library Publishing, 2014)
In a secret room, two men make a choice: Will they kill one man to save a nation? Well, one man plus enough bystanders that nobody knows he was the original target. Turning him into a martyr would only give him more power.
So begins the best thriller I’ve read in a long, long time. A nuclear weapon is stolen in India and transported toward an unknown target, amid as many red herrings as the planners can spread. In the US, a techno...
February 20, 2015
After Heaven’s Prey
Did you ever have a question for a fictional character? I do, sometimes, and I enjoy reading character interviews. Paula Vince, of The Vince Review, sent me a question for Tony Warner ofHeaven’s Prey. (Thank you, Paula!)
This is an “after the novel’s ending” question, so if you haven’t readHeaven’s Prey and you’re thinking about it, you might want to skip this post. Spoilers…
Paula’s question:
Tony, I can hardly imagine what it must have been like, when a sporting hero of yours committed such a...
February 18, 2015
Hypocrisy vs. Holiness
Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees—their hypocrisy. The time is coming when everything that is covered up will be revealed, and all that is secret will be made known to all.
Luke 12:1a-2, NLT*
This is Jesus’ warning to His disciples. He’s just been todinner at a Pharisee’s house and confronted the religious leaders about their hypocrisy (Luke 11:37-54). Perhaps some of the disciples were there too.
Jesus often called out the Pharisees for their showy ways and love of public admiration, and for...
February 16, 2015
Review: A Cast of Stones, by Patrick W. Carr
A Cast of Stones, by Patrick W. Carr (Bethany House, 2013)
The kingdom of Illustra has a mediaeval feel to it, with horses, knights and magic. The story opens with Errol, a homeless youth, seizing the opportunity to deliver a message to a reclusive priest. The money will buy him more ale, which will push back the memories he can’t face.
Errol is the most unlikely of heroes: scrawny, hopeless and addicted to drink. Yet as he’s dragged unwillingly along with the others on a desperate journey, he...
February 13, 2015
Running and Writing
When you set a personal best, do you call it a one-time success, or try to make it your new normal? Last week I did my best run ever at the gym, but it took everything I had. I wouldn’t have made it without some well-chosen music on my mp3 player.
Running this Monday, I wondered. Could I do it again? Maybe. But did I want to?
Truth: I didn’t want to do it. ButI didn’t want to settle for less. I wanted to have done it, and that meant powering through.
Running is a bit like writing:
small steps add...
February 11, 2015
Terrified and Amazed. In a Good Way.
The disciples were terrified and amazed. “Who is this man?” they asked each other. “When he gives a command, even the wind and waves obey him!”
Luke 8:25b, NLT*
When was the last time you were terrified and amazed by God?
Not fearing He would nail you with a lightning bolt. Overwhelmed by awareness of how much power is His. Of what He does. How much He loves us.
Paul tells us to “come boldly” into His presence because God is so much more than we can conceive. This is the same God who thundered on...
February 9, 2015
Review: Secretly Yours, by Valerie Comer
Secretly Yours, by Valerie Comer (GreenWords Media, 2014)
Who doesn’t love a secret admirer story? When chef Lindsey Solberg returns to the small town of Riverbend, BC, she’s shocked to recognize the youth pastor of her sister’s church. The way Nick Harrison behaved in high school, church was the last place she’d expect to see him.
No way will Lindsey risk Nick hurting her again. What’s a guy to do but send anonymous gifts and try to win her trust?
Secretly Yours is a Valentine’s Day novella, an...
February 6, 2015
Secrets and Lies Photo Album
Most of the settings inSecrets and Lies are fictional: Carol’s café, the Linden House art gallery, the apartments, Paul’sschool. Two sites are real: the Roy Thomson Hall where Carol and Patrick attend the symphony, and the Toronto Island parks.
I wrote the island scenes with some help from Google Maps, but in 2013 my husband and I were inToronto and visited the island parks. Like Carol and Joey, we took a water taxi to the islands and rode back on the regular ferry. I took hundreds of pictures...
February 4, 2015
A Teaching Moment
The disciples went and woke him up, shouting, “Master, Master, we’re going to drown!”
When Jesus woke up, he rebuked the wind and the raging waves. Suddenly the storm stopped and all was calm.
Luke 8:24, NLT*
We know from the Gospels that Jesus rose early to pray and sometimes stayed up late praying. We can assume preaching, teaching and healing was exhausting. Yet this is His only recorded nap. I think He did it intentionally during this storm, as part of the day’s lesson for His disciples.
Not...
