Been Awhile...

Hi Everyone, I realize that has been quite awhile since I have posted. I decided that I need to share with you, my readers, a bit of what has been happening in my life.

 In July of this year, I attended the Lamplighter Guild for Creative Disciplines. You can read about it here. Basically, I received instruction from Mark Hamby (founder of Lamplighter Ministries), John Fornof, Tod Busteed, and John Campbell (from Adventures in Odyssey), Philip Glassborow, and several other teachers. I studied Christian theology, script writing, music composition, sound design, voice acting, and entrepreneurial studies! The experience was life-changing in so many ways!!!

 When I got back from the Guild, I started an internship with Lamplighter ministries. This has grown into an almost full-time internship: I am helping to write study guides, I am writing devotionals, I am helping Mr. Hamby do dissertation research, and I am working on a non-fiction book on storytelling! In addition, I have been blessed with the opportunity to write the next Lamplighter audio drama with several other students as an apprentice under the guidance of John Fornof! As you can imagine, my life is very jam-packed! In addition, I am almost positive that, unless God leads me in a different direction, I will be working with Lamplighter ministries (my internship is leading into a paid position at some point down the road) for the rest of my life!!!

 All that to say, I have decided that I will be leaving this blog for a time; in other words, the blog will remain inactive for the time being. However, I will be writing on The Great Faith Debate (here is the link! As much as I loved doing this blog, I do not have the time to put into two blogs at this point! However, I hope to revisit this blog in the future!! Thanks for joining me on this writing adventure!! I hope to see you over at Great Faith Debate! :)

Love Letters (a poem my Pastor wrote)

God said to His people, 'I love you'.
But how do His people know that it's true?
'Look to Calvary', it has been said
There you will find it written in red.
He left us a token so we wouldn't forget,
And that simple reminder is here with us yet.
The wine that we drink has got to be red,
For what else could picture the blood that He shed?

"I love Jesus", that's easy to say.
But to live it out day after day?
Our love letter is probably not writte in red,
But maybe will sweat and some tears instead.
For if love is real-it's bound to hurt some,
And there will be times when those tears will come.

But Jesus has promised to stand by our side,
And gently reminds us that 'for those tears I died'.
So be not ashamed of the gospel of Christ,
For there you will find the light of your life.
So waok in it daily without and dread,
And remember the letter that was written in Red.

-Rev. J.L. Wilkins

Sands of Time (original)

The sands of time pass me by,
washed away by omnipotent hands.
Before my birth and after I die,
the legacy of time expands.

Is life so short is death so near,
tis but a blink of an eye.
Is hope far gone is peace so dear,
tis days with wings that fly.

Precious is the passing hour,
vast the sea of regret.
The sad song of a fading flower,
Faded visions of a final sunset.

The sands of time rush by
out of reach-out of sight
To live a life and not a lie,
keep walking in the Light.

Immanuel's Veins (Book Review)

Immanuel's Veins by Ded Dekker

So as always...I love books with fresh perspectives. And Immanuel's Veins does have a unique perspective on a lot of things. But does this book meet my 'good book' criteria? Well...maybe...yes...no...it's complicated.

The story itself is clever enough-it engages the reader pretty fast. Dekker jumps on the vampire bloodwagon with an 18th century novel set in the Carpathian Mountains. When two warriors are charged by Catherine the Great of Russia to guard two young women at risk of harm, Toma, the narrator and protagonist, must choose between his duty and honor and the passion he feels for one of the two, the beautiful Lucine. When she falls into the hands of a group of descendants of Nephilim—offspring of the angels who bred with humans, as mentioned in Genesis—Toma must rescue her by means of blood and a love he's never known but must come to understand first himself: the blood of Immanuel's veins. Dekker takes Christian fiction to the edge of darkness in a way that makes redemption and the ancient practices of the church—holy communion, confession of belief in Christ, baptism—bright and believable by contrast. This is classic Dekker clothed in Eastern European garb, passionate and shocking. Pacing is fast as a hummingbird, villains induce cardiac arrhythmias, and the novel must be read with blood pressure pills. (Sept.)
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved. (from Amazon.com)

So yea...we have to ask ourselves 'has Dekker gone to far'? Hmmmm...I would have to say no! In my mind, this book is a great addition to my favorites! Now some of you may ask: why do I support a book that's main topic is connected to vampire lore? The reason is simple. The rite of drinking blood is a perversion that has been practiced throughout history. Dekker does not paint a Twilight saga like picture of 'good vampires' but rather shows the demonic connections (i.e. the nephilim, etc.) related to this evil practice. So in the end, Dekker (in a stroke of brillance) takes vampire lore and puts a Christian/Historical view to it while illustrating the redemption of man made possible by the blood of Christ! Thus while this book is fairly violent (often in a disturbing way...blood drinking is a disturbing thing) and while seduction and sensuality are implied (which is then directly contrasted with a more Biblical picture of love,) I find that the book had a refreshing perspective. Obviously this book won't appeal to everyone but, nonetheless, I cannot condemn this book as being heretical (because it's not!)

With all of this being said-I must say some more! There are some negative things about this book which tend to detract from the overall value. The book is violent...not as violent as some of Dekker, but violent nonetheless. And while the violence isn't just 'thrown in for the sake of having violence', I still feel as if the story was bogged down with violence at parts. Also, the sensuality would have to be listed among the negative elements even though it was implicit as opposed to explicit. It's a tell and not show idea that is demonstrated well in this book. It tells you what is happening without describing it. Another negative element is the fact that love is elevated to a higher platform then duty ("The queen forbids me to become emotionally entangled but I'm going to do it anyway because love is higher than duty") Umm....that seems a bit off.

In conclusion...if you haven't read Dekker before, don't start with this book. If you have read (and liked) his books before...then go read this one: it will stretch your mind!

Soul Surfer

The movie soul surfer (based on a true story) is the compelling story of Bethany Hamilton, a teen surfer who lost an arm to a shark yet continued to surf. It shows the role that her Christian faith played in her life (along with the support of her family and friends). All in all, it is a great film and very inspiring! WARNING it is PG for some violence (the shark attack). Also the surfers all were two-piece bathing suits (nothing terrible but not modest). Here is the trailer!

Video that I created with my own original soundtrack

Light (Photos that I took)