Brendan Shea's Blog, page 6
June 16, 2025
For your listening enjoyment
And for your extreme edification, please check out these two items:
I struggle with visualizing the appearance of the Tabernacle of Moses’ when I read or listen to its history, and this video is a great help to promote understanding:
Watch “3D Tabernacle of Moses” on YouTube
Courtesy of Messages of Christ
Bible AudioHere is a link to the best Bible Dramatic Audio App; you can pay for it, but I use the free version at this point; it is outstanding, and helps lend to my Bible immersion despite my short span of attention and somewhat busy weekday schedule.
(Exodus 40 is the key chapter for the Tabernacle section I was listening to)
Courtesy of HarperCollins Christian Publishing
June 15, 2025
Word to the Father(s)
Really a word to the children…and adults
I grew up without a dad, but I got a stepdad when I was eight years old. I missed something when I was younger, and my stepdad was a true and good father to me, but I’ve still got a bit of a missing piece.
I got married 27 years ago, and my first wife’s dad had already passed away. Her stepdad was not really a father figure to me, though he did me no wrong.
My wife moved on from me 24 years ago, and I thought I’d never remarry, but 15 years ago I tied the knot again, and we’re still hitched today.
I now have a stepfather in law and a father in law, as both my second wife’s divorced parents remarried. They are different, but both are good role models in various ways.
I have had some surrogate fathers as well, more recently, an older friend from church, who passed a few years back.
If you have a father who loves you, you are blessed. If you have steps you love, that is good also. If you have surrogate fathers or fathers in law, you might be blessed as well.
If you have family that are not the best, you still have God. If you know God, you have a Heavenly father, who never leaves you and never forsakes you.
He even forsook His own Son for a brief and painful moment, to have eternal fellowship with me and you.
All you have to do to enjoy His endless peace, is to surrender your life to him and receive His free gift of salvation.
You’ll be eternally grateful if you do.
This is my prayer for you.
He completes my missing pieces.
He wants to do the same for you…
Word to the Father (dc Talk song)
June 14, 2025
Book Review
The Shepherd: Experiencing Psalm 23
James Collins has written an extraordinary book in The Shepherd: Experiencing Psalm 23.
When I received my copy in the mail, I opened it with anticipation; the book’s cover was velvety like the nicer of the bristol or vellum sketch pads that I used to draw on as a young artist, and the cover had a photo of a lamb on it. The physical book seemed rather exquisite, and I wondered if the writing could really compare to the quality of the packaging.
But I was not disappointed. I am not a big fan of nonfiction. I like to write it, and I like to read memoir, but there have only been a few nonfiction volumes that I have really enjoyed, particularly ones that were theological in nature. I love the gospel, but find God more in fiction than in explanation.
Here, however, in The Shepherd, I was reintroduced to The Lord. And the writer really brought me face to face with God. I felt in reading the book that I was communing with God in prayer. It was a very peaceful feeling, and I’d read the book again to know God’s truth afresh and share time with him.
If you are a Christian wanting encouragement, or if you know someone who wants and needs a message to help them to know Jesus, I highly recommend this outstanding book.
One never knows what one will find in the pages of a new book: entertainment, suspense, romance, humor, pathos or enlightenment. The Bible is the Word of God, and not as a substitute, but to complement it, The Shepherd helps show how to reach out to the One True God, and it is a clear path beside still waters, a path to Heavenly peace.
June 13, 2025
Song of the Week
One day more
Another day, another destiny
This never-ending road to Calvary
These men who seem to know my crime will surely come a second time
One day more
I did not live until today
How can I live when we are parted?
One day more
Tomorrow you’ll be worlds away
And yet with you my world has started
One more day all on my own
Will we ever meet again?
One more day with him not caring
I was born to be with you
What a life I might have known
And I swear I will be true
But he never saw me there
One more day before the storm
Do I follow where she goes?
At the barricades of freedom
Shall I join my brothers there?
When our ranks begin to form
Do I stay or do I dare?
Will you take your place with me?
The time is now
The day is here
One day more
One day more to revolution
We will nip it in the bud
We’ll be ready for these schoolboys
They will wet themselves with the blood (one day more)
Watch ’em run amok
Catch ’em as they fall
Never know your luck when there’s a free for all
Here a little dip
There a little touch
Most of them are goners, so they won’t miss much
One day to a new beginning
Raise the flag of freedom high
Every man will be a king
Every man will be a king (every day)
There’s a new world for the winning
(There’s a new world to be won)
Do you hear the people sing?
My place is here
I fight with you
One day more
We will join these people’s heroes
We will follow where they go
We will learn their little secrets
We will know the things they know (one day more)
Watch ’em run amok, Catch ’em as they fall
Never know you luck, when there’s a free for all
We’ll be ready for the schoolboys (tomorrow we’ll be far away)
Tomorrow is the judgment day
Tomorrow we’ll discover what our God in Heaven has in store
One more dawn
One more day
One day more
Source: Musixmatch
Songwriters: Herbert Kretzmer / Alain Albert Boublil / Jean-marc Natel / Claude-michel Schonberg
One Day More lyrics © Alain Boublil Music Ltd., Productions Bagad, Boublil Alain Editions Musicales Sarl
June 10, 2025
A Special Song
June 8, 2025
Bonus Song
Petra – 1997 – Ancient of Days
Blessing and honor, glory and power
Be unto the Ancient of Days
From every nation, all of creation
Bow before the Ancient of Days
Every tongue in heaven and earth shall declare Your glory
Every knee will bow at Your throne in worship
You will be exalted, oh God
And Your kingdom will not pass away
Oh, Ancient of Days
Oh, Ancient of Days
Blessing and honor, glory and power
Be unto the Ancient of Days
From every nation, all of creation
Bow before the Ancient of Days
Every tongue in heaven and earth shall declare Your glory
Every knee will bow at Your throne in worship
You will be exalted, oh God
And Your kingdom will not pass away
Oh, Ancient of Days
Every tongue in heaven and earth shall declare Your glory
Every knee will bow at Your throne in worship
You will be exalted, oh God
And Your kingdom will not pass away
Every tongue in heaven and earth shall declare Your glory
Every knee will bow at Your throne in worship
You will be exalted, oh God
And Your kingdom will not pass away
Oh, Ancient of Days
Ancient of Days
Ancient of Days
Ancient of Days
Blessing and honor, glory and power
Be unto the Ancient of Days
Blessing and honor, glory and power
Be unto the Ancient of Days
Blessing and honor, glory and power
Be unto the Ancient of Days
Blessing and honor, glory and power
Be unto the Ancient of Days
Source: LyricFind
Ancient of Days lyrics © Integrity Music
June 7, 2025
It’s good from the get go
I don’t buy new mysteries most of the time. They cost around $30 for a paperback, and surprisingly, only around $15 for a hardcover. The last book I got new was Michael Connelly’s The Waiting, but that went with a ticket to see the author speak at a bookstore in Marin County.
That event was outstanding, because, Michael Connelly is an upstanding gentleman. He represents his beloved characters well, is intelligent, considerate and brilliant.
His new book Nightshade was somewhat of a mystery to me in itself; a cipher. What would the new series look like? Would Sergeant Stilwell be unique? Would he be interesting? What would be the feel of the books? What was the island setting of Catalina like?
I put the book on hold with my local library. I buy most books used, and read them once they’ve been established, or check them out of the library; this keeps my costs down, as my writing is not the most lucrative enterprise. But for authors like Connelly, I’d be willing to plunk down some serious cash if I was flush.
I’d just finished the atmospheric period piece, Strangers in Time by David Baldacci, a satisfying departure for him, and Her Deadly Game, a near flawless book of mystery, by Robert Dugoni (he’s great, check him out!), and the Connelly entry was not yet available at the library for me.
So I went to my local branch for a book sale, and by chance, spotted Nightshade on the new releases shelf; I’ve come to realize that while the library keeps some reserves of hot new titles aside for holds, they must also have some regular circulating copies, and I’d hit the lottery on that one, and not for the first time.
I immediately checked the book out, and only then did I head to their book sale. A bagful of books for $6 was offered, but I am finicky, and only purchased one: A copy of the Mickey Haller book, The Brass Verdict, also by Connelly. The worn but sturdy paperback was only a dollar, and that was a bargain too good to pass up.
Later in the day, I settled down to dinner with the new Stilwell novel. My wife was having me fend for myself with a meal, something she occasionally does, so I was free to eat and read, but I did so carefully, not wanting to damage the pristine hardcover.
To my delight but not surprise, Connelly has created a very unique and vivid world, in Stilwell’s Catalina, replete with interesting characters, and intriguing episodes, and I am looking forward to reading more and seeing where the story takes me. Connelly is one of the masters of fiction.
HOLLYWOOD, CA – FEBRUARY 21, 2019 Author Michael Connelly in Los Angeles…
June 6, 2025
Song of the Week
Lord the light of your love is shining.
In the midst of the darkness shining.
Jesus light of the world, shine upon us.
Set us free by the truth you now bring us.
Shine on me. Shine on me.
CHORUS
Shine Jesus shine,
Fill this land with the Fathers Glory
Blaze Spirit blaze, set our hearts on fire.
Flow river flow
Flood the nation with grace and mercy.
Send forth your word.
Lord and let there be light.
Lord I come to your awesome presence
From the shadows into your radiance,
By your blood I may enter your brightness,
Search me, try me, consume all my darkness.
Shine on me. Shine on me.
As we gaze on Your Kingly brightness
So our faces display your likeness,
Ever changing from Glory to Glory,
Nearer here may our lives tell Your story.
Shine on me. Shine on me
The Postage Stamp Home
I saw an empty lot in a mobile home park today. The resident had moved, and the old home carted away. I saw the small footprint of the empty living space, and wondered how so much life was lived in such a small space.
I thought of two to three bedrooms, with people sleeping, a bathroom for its’ use and the livingroom and of cooking in the kitchen.
Peering at the concrete space where the home had been for decades, and realized my own home is small, but contains thousands of stories, lives being lived, joy and pathos, and the every day grind.
When you look at a house, you might notice its beauty or a blemish, the cars parked there, the look of the paint, and see people in the windows or outside, but there is so much life, in every little box, every huge mansion, and we will never know them all.
June 5, 2025
Her Deadly Game
Her Deadly Game is one of those books that requires the ratings system to award more than five stars.
It features a great story about a family of lawyers, who gripe and compete, all with different talents, and the attorney in that family, who represents a man accused of murdering his disabled wife. The tale is suspenseful, exciting, well written, and expertly plotted.
I don’t know if Dugoni pantsed this or mapped it out (I would suspect the latter but don’t really know), but I read usually in short snatches of text, with my busy schedule, but this one was so good that I gobbled it up in a very short time.
Dugoni is a great writer, and in Her Deadly Game, his skills have coalesced to the point where the writing is gritty enough, entertaining, and basically seamless.
