This story is the second installment featuring a brother – a former police officer and investigator – and a sister – who is a law school student – getting involved with investigating crimes and finding… More
Let the Light Shine
I have a few dozens of Christian fiction novels on my [virtual] shelf and I acquire new books regularly, but there are many Christian fiction authors in this world.
If you know of authors whose work inspired you in some way to get closer to God – or are an author yourself – I want to hear from you!
Romance, mystery, thriller, suspense, historical, fantasy, paranormal, speculative fiction… All genres will be considered.
Christian fiction book reviews. Welcome to all book suggestions, all genres included. #bookreview #Christianfiction #spreadthelight #penforchristianfiction https://bit.ly/2NrF5Vg
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Solid Ground – Danny and Wanda Pelfrey
I will start by saying the mystery genre is not one I read often; I have read more suspense novels than mysteries. However, I found myself quite taken by this novel. I have watched many television shows featuring investigations, and this book brought me back to that same frame of mind, looking for clues and determining the culprit’s identity.
You will find the authors’ synopsis on Goodreads.
The book focuses mainly on Kirby, a former baseball athlete, recently promoted from policeman to investigator. The book opens on a scene featuring two people getting rid of a body, which is the event that leads Kirby on his journey. He and his sister, Riley, inherit a sizable fortune and have to go to Adairsville to deal with the estate. However, nothing is quite simple, and some events throughout the book thicken the plot.
I have to say; I did not solve the mystery before Kirby did. The story blindsided both him and me.
The “God” Element
Little communities are often tightly knit, and the church is one of those community hubs. Kirby’s father was a pastor, his uncle had a strong faith and lived his life accordingly, so Kirby and Riley are no stranger to God, but hardship drove a wedge in his relationship with God. However, he finds himself with strong church-going Christians who bring God back to his mind and heart, and these reminders lead him on solid ground with God again. I almost wrote “spoiler alert” here, but I decided the authors had given it away way before I did.
Many characters play out sinful behaviors, like gossiping, judging (without knowing or based on prejudice), or even idols (money, power, and such), allowing the characters to speak of the godly behaviors.
Overall, “Solid Ground” is an excellent reminder that faith in God is displayed by doing good to others, by forgiving, and by helping those in need.
My likes:
Solid Ground leads the reader to self-examine at times. Reading some passages brings to mind that “Oh, I do that too” conviction, not as condemnation but as awareness.
Kirby goes through some events that bring him growth and bring him closer to God.
This book is for detail lovers; they will be well served and satiated with background details. It is also a feast for the reader’s inner Sherlock Holmes. I felt I was investigating alongside Kirby.
My dislikes:
Many characters live in this novel: a roster of prominent community people and another roster of possible villains. Personally, when there are too many people to keep track of, I stick to the main character and the people close to him or her unless secondary characters stand out. I understand it was necessary; it is difficult to write a mystery novel with only five characters. I am only saying I did not pay attention to everyone.
Kirby’s character arc is well developed, but I keep wondering about Riley. I would have liked a greater arc for her character.
At times, dialogues are used to give the readers background information that would not be given in an ordinary (natural) conversation.
TAKEAWAYS
I enjoyed the story, I enjoyed the investigation it got me on, and I appreciate that godly behaviors – and reminders – are at works throughout the story. Heeding God’s words protects us from the lies we live in because Christ is king.
Well worth the read!
A Warrior’s Redemption – Guy Stanton III
This indie and self-published author has been busy with his craft from 2013 to 2019 while he wrote and published 26 speculative fiction novels. I cannot help but wonder how many drafts of stories have been set aside and are waiting to be picked up when the time comes for them to be brought to completion. I have read most of his works, nearly 80% of them. Of them all, one story – the first one I read – stands out because it had the most effect on me.
My likes
For a first novel, I was impressed. Guy is a skilled storyteller. This review of his book (Goodreads) tells you why. I don’t think I need to say more, the reviewer nails what makes this first book give a long-lasting impression.
My dislikes
The books could use professional proofreading, but if you don’t mind typos, you will thoroughly enjoy the stories Guy tells. This is a professional bias on my part; I have done a lot of proofreading in my daily job and grammar and typos fling themselves at me. Regardless of this, his strength is the story, without a doubt.
Blizzard in the Bluegrass – Hallee Bridgeman
This novella is part of a Crossroad Collection and it is not Hallee’s first contribution to it. Out of six different collections, she has published stories in four of them.
In Blizzard in the Bluegrass, Gloria is a veterinarian and mother of Noah, a wonderful child with autism. Abandoned by her husband on the day the diagnosis came in and later divorced, she raises her son as a single mother with the support of her dad.
Jeff is a doctor of medicine who just moved to Charula, Kentucky to move on and heal from the loss of his wife and child a few years ago.
They meet and start seeing each other, talk about God’s work in both their lives. In a night of blizzard, God will manifest himself in their lives in a stronger way than usual.
There is much more to the story but I do not want to give it away. You will have to read it to see what happens.
The “God” Element
Both main characters speak of their faith to each other, how their difficult times strengthened their faith in God, but the story evolves mostly around Noah. He triggers the plot twists and the spurts of growth of faith. Noah is not, however, the story, and neither is autism.
Overall, Blizzard in the Bluegrass surprised me, and thrilled me. I will get to it in a minute.
My likes:
Hallee usually does not venture into the paranormal zone, but this time she brushes with it. I was utterly thrilled. I read about 10 stories from her and only once in another novel – that I recall – does she mention the Holy Spirit and a manifestation of it. This time, she succeeds in sticking to “reality” and brushing with divine manifestation.
I like hearing stories where God’s might is on display, not just someone the characters pray to and it is what Hallee does.
My dislikes:
I have a fondness for stories with depth, for what is beneath the surface, for the type of quandaries Christians go through, and there is not a lot that in this novella. It is a steady positive arc for the characters, no serious doubts, no existential questions, and no “blow-up-in-your-face” moments.
There is nothing wrong with Blizzard in the Bluegrass; it is a good story, well told, playing out the way it should. I understand the limited word count does not allow much space for depth. It is a novella, not a philosophical essay… light, entertaining, speaking of God, portraying Christ and Christian values, and morally sound and righteous.
A New Adventure: Book Reviews
In every group I am part of, just about every author I follow on different social media channels claim reviews, word of mouth (or sharing), is what helps them spread the word about their newly released books. Not everyone can benefit from a marketing department composed of three different teams adeptly cooking up the best marketing campaign plan in contemporary history (social media campaign, a trailer, a release party or a similar event, air time (radio, television), etc.) supported by a six-figure budget.
Although this is a very modest effort in helping these authors spread the word about their literary works or new release, it is still another drop in the ocean, and the more drops there are, the bigger the impact. I leave this part of the job to God; he is far more capable than I am when it comes to carrying this drop to those who need it.
Let’s start this new adventure with one of my favorite authors, Hallee Bridgeman. She has a story coming out in an upcoming Crossroad Collection scheduled to be released in November). If not this story, I will choose another novel of hers I read in the past.
I will start with one of Hallee’s stories in November and I will publish one review a month after that.
Stay tuned.
For a sneak peek of the list of author you will be reading about, see this page: Christian Fiction Authors
Here’s Hallee’s gift (Yes! A free ebook!) to those who subscribe to her newsletter.
Sowing and Reaping ; Repent and Seek God
Hosea 10:12-15
12 Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy, break up your fallow ground; for it is time to seek the Lord, till He come and rain righteousness upon you.
13 Ye have plowed wickedness, ye have reaped iniquity, ye have eaten the fruit of lies, because thou didst trust in thy way, in the multitude of thy mighty men.
14 Therefore shall a tumult arise among thy people, and all thy fortresses shall be despoiled, as Shalman despoiled Betharbel in the day of battle: the mother was dashed in pieces upon her children.
15 So shall Bethel do unto you because of your great wickedness; in a morning shall the king of Israel be utterly cut off.
We reap what we sow is an immutable law. In a psalm, David sings his gratefulness to God for never punishing us to the extent that we deserve. Our God is merciful.
How to Break Free From the Pain of Your Past
Most of us have quite a trail of heart-wrenching moments, hardship, rough spots, downright painful experiences in our wake. Inviting Christ has our Lord and Savior does not erase our past. His blood covers our sins and we are forgiven, but the chains of our lives before Him usually tie us until we do something about it.
We carry our (emotional) baggage (our wounds, our guilt, our pain) around and doing so slows down our walk with Christ.
So can we leave behind the unnecessary baggage we haul around? YES
How?
Confess out loud what happened to you.
This is about voicing the truth. You cannot get rid of something you don’t know you have or something you deny. You need to face the truth and say it aloud. Words have power and hearing yourself speaking the truth of your past is like standing up to your enemy
You have been abused? Say it.
You have been cursed, mistreated, belittled, ignored, neglected, and/or degraded? Say it.
Confess out loud where the blame belongs
You are not to blame for what they did to you. You did not ask or beg for it, you did not deserve to suffer contrarily to what they want you to believe.
Lay the responsibility of each party where it belongs:
- They are responsible for what they did to you. Hurting you has been their choice. Their behaviors, their hatred, the injustice you suffered at their hands belong to them.
- You are responsible for believing their lies, for letting it linger long enough to damage you. The lies you believe (you are not enough, you are good for nothing, you are stupid, you are worthless, you deserved it, you are faulty, you are evil, etc.) come between God and you and there is no room for lies in your relationship with God.
Confess the truth of who you are in Christ.
You are God Almighty’s beloved child. You are precious. You are chosen; He chose you. You are holy. You are made in his image and his Spirit is in you. He made you the way He wanted you for His plan. He loves you, He wants to give you the best and He wants you to receive it as the gift it is … something for good, something for his glory, something perfect in design.
God is love. There is no darkness in God; He is all light and all love and all truth: 100%.
Pray God:
- for the forgiveness of your sins. You have hauled around your pain perhaps because you have known nothing else, because suffering is familiar, because you believed “them” rather than God. Choosing anything else but God is a sin in His eyes. Ask him to forgive you.
[God’s compassion is great, He wants you in a right standing with Him and the way to do it is to repent and ask for His forgiveness.] - for his help to forgive those who hurt you and for the forgiveness of their sins. Bless them. By refusing to forgive them, you only tighten the chains of your suffering. God commanded you to love your enemy. Forgiving them releases the hold they have on you and the hold your pain has on your life.
- so He sets you free from the chains you are in, be it your pain, the lies, the curses, the soul ties or anything else.
When you stand in the truth in front of God, when you choose to trust His words to you and to obey Him (behave according to His will), miracles happen.
My vision for Christian fiction: why it matters by David Bergsland
In his post, David Bergsland says something important about Christian fiction.
It’s all about relationships
As we know, in the everyday world, discipleship is a result of relationship. That’s how it works between Jesus and each one of us individually. We develop an intimacy with the Lord which enables Him to purify us and make us fruitful. This is the only way discipleship comes to fruition—between two people who know and trust each other. This is why marriage is such a powerful tool for discipleship from the Lord. He can use your intimacy to confront each other about areas which need to be fixed, to encourage one another in missions of great difficulty, and to raise and mentor children.
That type of thing is what the Lord wants to do in your life. AND, that is what the Lord hopes you will do with the worlds, characters, events, and relationships you create in your novel. Whether you write romances, thrillers, fantasy, action/adventure, or any other genre of fiction, He is calling you to bring reality into your books.
4 Reasons to Read Christian Fiction
Why do readers of any genres read?
Ask them and you will typically get these answers:
- I read to escape my boredom, to be entertained.
- I read to be distracted.
- I read to feel, to change my mood, to make me forget my mood.
- I read because I like to believe life is more than what I see in my waking life. It is where I meet honorable people (characters).
Why do people read Christian fiction?
- Because they crave the Light. The common, all-too-human ugliness and darkness are what they see in their every day life. They want to believe there is still light (good people) in this world.
- Because they look for God, consciously or not. It is hard to find something you don’t know how to look for. You cannot find evidence if you don’t know what you are looking for. How do you recognize God? How do you see his footprint? People need to learn how to look for God’s work and figure out where God begins and where they end. The line is blurry for too many people.
- Because they seek a way to get to God. Too often, God is viewed as this deity perched up on the highest shelf, thus unattainable by humans. Christian fiction is their hope to find a way to get to him. It gives a tangible manifestation of their quest and if they read the right story for them, they will hear God’s whispers and find their way to him.
- Because they crave hearing from God. Of course, the Bible is God’s Word, but it is still cryptic. They are epic stories that relate very little to our humdrum lives. Christian fiction is a bridge. It can take epic lessons and apply them to our lives and it can take our lives and turn it into an epic story that has God’s name written all over it.
There are only a few ways to write stories that resonates deep within the reader:
- Dig deep, get to the root of most human painful experience (abandonment, abuse, negligence, etc.), and you will create a story to which many readers can relate.
- Look beyond appearances and let God’s works shine through. Show your readers how God works when He says “let there be light”.
- God is not linear in his works, He is universal… He controls the chain of events, the ripple effect, and the consequences. One act, his word, doesn’t go back to Him without doing everything it was meant to do. Nothing – absolutely nothing – gets lost. For lack of better words, his work is holistic, multi-purpose, complete, and perfect.
- God works where and when we can’t. Look for God in the impossibilities, in behaviors unnatural to human nature.
God can use anything – did he not use a donkey to speak to a prophet? – to ‘speak’ to anyone. A story is as good as anything to spark a real desire to know God or hint toward a way to find him.
Related links:
Be Imitators of Christ
What does it possibly mean? What does “walking in love” entail?
Which part of ‘be imitators of Christ’ relates to destroying the sinner? Why are we, human beings, tempted to take upon ourselves to get justice? Why are we comfortable with being judge, jury, and executioner?
Sinners
I do not recall Jesus ever rejecting a sinner. I do not recall Jesus debasing the Samaritan woman at the well, I do not recall Jesus punishing the adulteress who would have been stoned to death if he had not told the people ‘let he who is without sin cast the first stone’, and I do not recall the thief – a criminal and sinner according to the laws and the Law – who was crucified beside him being told off and rejected when he asked Jesus to remember him. He did not send away the centurion – surely he had killed people – who went to him to ask him to heal his servant.
Jesus did not seek to destroy the woman even though she had sinned; Jesus did not show disgust toward the thief, and Jesus did not display contempt toward the centurion. He showed compassion to the woman, he welcomed the thief, and he healed the servant because of the centurion’s faith.
Does this means Jesus chose to love these people if he forgave them on the spot and treated them well?
Jesus gave his life to reconcile the sinner with his Father, would he render his sacrifice null and void by punishing those who seek him and the Father?
God is love, he so loved the world he sent his own son to die so we could have a relationship with him… God never destroys those who seek him, God blesses them.
Advice on Behaviors
22Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart. 23But foolish and unlearned questions avoid, knowing that they do gender strifes. 24And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, 25In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; 26And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.
2 Timothy 2:22-26 (KJV)
I think reading what the amplified Bible says is worth it.
22 Run away from youthful lusts—pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace with those [believers] who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. 23 But have nothing to do with foolish and ignorant speculations [useless disputes over unedifying, stupid controversies], since you know that they produce strife and give birth to quarrels. 24 The servant of the Lord must not participate in quarrels, but must be kind to everyone [even-tempered, preserving peace, and he must be], skilled in teaching, patient and tolerant when wronged. 25 He must correct those who are in opposition with courtesy and gentleness in the hope that God may grant that they will repent and be led to the knowledge of the truth [accurately understanding and welcoming it], 26 and that they may come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will.
2 Timothy 2:22-26 (AMP)
Beating righteousness into people is not being an imitator of Christ. Love does not coerce, love does not destroy, love from God does not debase. The Holy Spirit convicts, man doesn’t; God knows all, no man on Earth does.
8 Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous: 9 Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing; knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing. 10 For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile: 11 Let him eschew evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and ensue it. 12 For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil. 13 And who is he that will harm you, if ye be followers of that which is good?
1 Peter 3:8-13 (KJV)
And last but not least…
23 who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously;
1 Peter 2:23 (NKJV)
Let God take care of those who have hurt or wronged you, let God show you justice, and let God judge righteously. He knows everything, no man on Earth does.
In a nutshell, be loving, compassionate, forgiving, and kind. Keep your mouth shut when someone hurts you or wrongs you… Jesus did. Forgive, Jesus did it too.
34 Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.” And they divided His garments and cast lots.”
Luke 23:34 (NKJV)
Would he have asked God to forgive them if he had not done it himself first?
Jesus would not have been God’s son if he had only forgiven those who actually hurt him and made the rest of mankind pay for the pain he felt. God’s love is not partial, it is whole. Vengeance and justice belong to God, no one else. Partial forgiveness is not forgiveness, it is misplaced anger… but that’s a topic for another blog post.
Cross Bearing
Being a good imitator of Christ is not always painless. As he was hated, criticized, met with opposition, ridiculed, and mistreated, so will we.
14 But and if ye suffer for righteousness’ sake, happy are ye: and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled; 15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear: 16 Having a good conscience; that, whereas they speak evil of you, as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ. 17 For it is better, if the will of God be so, that ye suffer for well doing, than for evil doing.
18 For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: 19 By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison; 20 Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.
1 Peter 3:14-2
It takes God’s grace to be an imitator of Christ. Without his grace, human nature gets in the way, our ego gets in the way, anger, violence, and wickedness get in the way.
It takes yielding to the Holy Spirit to be an imitator of Christ.
Character of the New Man
12 Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; 13 bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. 14 But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection. 15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. 17 And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.
Colossians 3:12-17 (NKJV)
A Pen for Christian Fiction 