JengaJam: The Aftermath

So I just got done with the Late Nite JengaJam and I think it went pretty well. There were some technical difficulties in the show but it's all good.

To be honest, I know I'm not as fascinating as some of the Jengaship's past and previous guests, but that's okay. We had a great conversation that ranged over a number of topics. And, as promised, here are the links to a bunch of the stuff we talked about:

Grey Dog Software (with an "E," not an "A!" Great) - The home of Total Extreme Wrestling 2007, a great wrestling promotion simulator

SWF - This Means War! & MWA - This Means War! - The dynasties I write in connection with the aforementioned game

The Leading Edge Magazine - The first magazine to publish one of my short stories. And if their website wasn't currently broken, I'd post a link to the actual issue, but there you go.

Irruption in Dragons, Knights & Angels - My second published short story in all its glory.

Marcher Lord Press - The print-on-demand publishing company I mentioned and my only hope for getting my science fiction series published!

The Sparrow & Children of God by Mary Doria Russell - I mentioned these in the podcast and they're well worth the read. You can see my reviews here and here.

The various writings of Dr. Paul Maier - All of it good stuff

Books written by Sharon Hinck - Also very good stuff

The World's Last Night - Contains the essay "Religion and Rocketry," Lewis's musings on how Christianity and alien life forms would intersect

Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis - Fantastic book, very complex, very worth the read.

The Jolly Green Giant statue in Blue Earth, Minnesota - Just to prove it's real. I miss you, big guy!

A Few Good G-Men

Seriously, I need to stay off YouTube. This is just awesome. One of my favorite movie scenes, rendered as Half Life 2 machinima. Really cool.

Late Nite JengaJam

So what could inspire me to post a record fourth time in one day? It would have to be something truly special. Something truly epic. Something motivated by an Internet phenomenon that is sweeping this great land. I'm speaking, of course, of...

The Late Nite JengaJam!

Jengaship, the host, is a very cool guy that I met at the Rooster Teeth website. He started a podcast about a year ago, one that I listen to faithfully every week. I used to call in to it regularly, but haven't had the chance as of late.

But that will change tomorrow night. For his guest is none other than... me.

I know. I'm scared to death.

So what will we talk about? Religion, writing, we'll just have to see. Jengaship is a skilled host and the conversations he has with his guests are always fun and insightful. So if you're free tomorrow night (Thursday, February 21st) at 10:30 EST (9:30 for those of us in CST), do the following:

1) Call 1-724-444-7444

2) Enter show ID: 6478

3) You're in!

Or, if you don't want to do that, go over to Jengaship's Talkshoe page. You can sign in and listen over the Internet.

And please. Be kind.

Indy!

I think posting three times in a day is a new record for me, but I just found this. I know, I know, I'm a little late, but I thought I'd share anyway...

All I have to say is, did anyone notice that the crate the black haired woman leaned over is labeled "Roswell?" As if Indy hasn't had enough stuff on his plate without crash-landed aliens as well!

Children of God

Sipaj, readers! Someone almost started crying in a Tires Plus this morning. That's how good this book is.

Children of God is Mary Doria Russell's sequel to The Sparrow (which I loved) and she continues the stories started in that first book expertly.

Father Emilio Sandoz is still trying to come to grips with what happened to him on the planet Rakhat. He's broken physically, emotionally, and especially spiritually. This Jesuit priest has given up on his faith, much to the consternation of his superiors. They can only come to one conclusion: Sandoz must return to Rakhat. Of course, given what happened to Sandoz, that's not exaclty an easy sell (and no, I won't say what happened to him. Read The Sparrow and find out for yourself!).

In the meantime, life on Rakhat is undergoing a number of radical changes thanks to the Jesuit mission. Without realizing it, Sandoz and his compatriots set off a massive shift in VaRakhati society, tipping the balance between the Runa and the Jana'ata forever.

You know that Sandoz will eventually go back to Rakhat. But what and who will be waiting for him when he returns?

Once again, Russell employs a time-jumping narrative structure. One minute, we're in Naples in 2060. The next, we're back on Rakhat in 2042, shortly after the first Jesuit mission fell apart. Then we're at a point beyond the ending of the book, catching glimpses of what's about to come yet never truly seeing what Russell has up her sleeve. It takes a bit of getting used to, but Russell employs the scheme masterfully.

Once again, my only gripe is with Russell's take on certain matters of faith. I seem to recall reading that Russell was an atheist who converted to Judaism mostly so her children would have a moral up-bringing. It's this background that maddened me when I read The Sparrow, since the Jesuits sounded more like Jewish rabbis than Catholic priests. She does a bit better in Children of God but not by much.

As a result, I'm not certain I'm happy with the conclusions she draws at the end of the books. She seems to be asking the question, "Does God find us in the ashes?" And her answer would appear to be, "Who knows if He's even there out of the ashes?" Naturally I'm not too taken with that.

But what almost redeems her effort is what almost got me crying in a Tires Plus, a statement that Father John Candotti makes at the very end of the book regarding Exodus 33:17-23. I won't go into details about it. I'd rather you discover it for yourself. But I will say this: regardless of Russell's faith (or lack thereof), that thought alone gave me much to mull over.

CSFF Blog Tour: The Shadow and Night Day Three

And so our look at The Shadow and Night by Chris Walley comes to an end.

One of the nice things about this blog tour is when your ideas are challenged a bit. Several people have commented on my confusion regarding the first sin that emerges with the arrival of evil. I have to say, though, that Steve Rice's post yesterday really got me thinking. This is what he said:

"Do you know what the book's first unimaginable act of wickedness is? It's a lie--a silly, trivial untruth that most of us would forget immediately. But here, it is an unthinkable breach of God's peace. It's followed closely by another departure that most of us wouldn't think wrong at all, though Walley's case against it is sound. Is it any wonder that in losing our horror of the small sins, it takes more and more sensational ones to stir us?"

After reading that, I realized that I had tripped over my own theological feet and should have seen that point for what it is.

That said, there's a fine line to be danced upon by writers of Christian fiction, because when you come right down to it, we have an odd, love-hate, symbiotic relationship with sin. Let's face it: you can't write good fiction without conflict of some kind. And where does conflict come from? That's right. Sin. Pure and simple.

But Rice made the good point, as did Walley. We should be just as horrified by the "small" sins as the "large" ones. Mea culpa, mea maxima culpa, I understand it now.

So go and see what other people are saying. I know I'll be going out to educate myself as well.

Brandon Barr
Jim Black
Justin Boyer
Grace Bridges
Jackie Castle
Carol Bruce Collett
Valerie Comer
CSFF Blog Tour
Gene Curtis
D. G. D. Davidson
Chris Deanne
Janey DeMeo
Jeff Draper
April Erwin
Marcus Goodyear
Rebecca Grabill
Jill Hart
Katie Hart
Michael Heald
Timothy Hicks
Christopher Hopper
Heather R. Hunt
Jason Joyner
Kait
Carol Keen
Mike Lynch
Margaret
Rachel Marks
Shannon McNear
Melissa Meeks
Rebecca LuElla Miller
Mirtika or Mir's Here
Pamela Morrisson
Eve Nielsen
John Ottinger
Deena Peterson
Rachelle
Steve Rice
Ashley Rutherford
Chawna Schroeder
James Somers
Rachelle Sperling
Donna Swanson
Steve Trower
Speculative Faith
Robert Treskillard
Jason Waguespac
Laura Williams
Timothy Wise

CSFF Blog Tour: The Shadow and Night Day Two

So here we are, day two of our look at The Shadow and Night by Chris Walley. And, as promised, here's my review:

This is the first time I've ever read Christian fiction and rooted for evil.

That may sound a little odd, especially coming from a poor parson such as myself. But I'll explain what I mean in a little bit.

Like I said yesterday, I was excited to read this book because it's science fiction. I'm still having a hard time identifying any "fantasy" elements in it (unless you count the heavenly messenger who shows up in the second book. Then maybe). That, along with what I said yesterday about the different eschatology, made this a fun read.

Walley has a gift for prose and it really helped him out throughout the books. As we follow Merral D'Avanos and Sentinel Vero as they try to discover the source of evil's new outbreak and combat it on the distant world of Farholme, Walley carries us along with his superb verbal crafting.

It was interesting to watch how almost completely sanctified humans would deal with evil's return, how some of them embraced it whole heartedly, how others tried to fight it only to be corrupted anyway, and how some were repulsed by it yet still found it in themselves. While I wonder if "Satan's little season" would really start as a trickle, as Walley portrayed it, I thought that the snowball effect was well thought out and well portrayed.

However...

Like I said, I was rooting for evil, especially in the first book. It wasn't that I wanted the forces of evil to win the conflict. I just wanted them to show up. Perhaps it's indicative of my fallen nature, both saint and sinner simultaneously, but I was getting a little antsy while I read the first hundred or so pages of The Shadow at Evening. I don't want to say it was boring while Merral investigated what was happening in Herrandown, but there were times when I had to force myself to keep reading and I would mutter, "Would evil just show up soon, please? I want some conflict!" It was only Walley's superb writing that kept me going.

Pacing seems to be an issue for Walley throughout the book. He takes a very slow approach to things. Even in the second book, The Power of the Night, things proceeded rather slowly. When I saw how long it was, I expected a number of confrontations with evil. Instead, we got just one at the end.

Maybe it's a personal preference. Maybe Walley was going for a more cerebral journey. But it's just my opinion.

I also took issue with some of the things that Walley considered "evil." For example, the first clear indication that evil returned seemed incredibly trivial to me. When I read what the sin was, I think I actually said, "That's it? Really?" Some of the sociological mores of the Assembly also seemed a bit odd as well. The courtship rituals, for example, didn't seem quite right to me. Much of what Merral went through in terms of romance seemed more intellectual than passionate. It just didn't ring true.

Now maybe that's just my own personal opinions tripping me up. But there you go. It's a good read if you don't mind a slow pace. And it certainly is thought provoking, if for no other reason than you get to play in another man's theological garden.

The last thing I'll say is this: a good indication for me as to whether or not I liked a book or to what degree is really whether or not I'll go after a book's sequels. If I loved a book, I'll go out and purchase them right away. If I hated a book, I'll avoid it like the plague.

So what about this book? Well, I'm certainly keeping my eye out for The Dark Foundations, but I'm not in a rush to find them.

Go off and see what everyone else has to say about this book:

Brandon Barr
Jim Black
Justin Boyer
Grace Bridges
Jackie Castle
Carol Bruce Collett
Valerie Comer
CSFF Blog Tour
Gene Curtis
D. G. D. Davidson
Chris Deanne
Janey DeMeo
Jeff Draper
April Erwin
Marcus Goodyear
Rebecca Grabill
Jill Hart
Katie Hart
Michael Heald
Timothy Hicks
Christopher Hopper
Heather R. Hunt
Jason Joyner
Kait
Carol Keen
Mike Lynch
Margaret
Rachel Marks
Shannon McNear
Melissa Meeks
Rebecca LuElla Miller
Mirtika or Mir's Here
Pamela Morrisson
Eve Nielsen
John Ottinger
Deena Peterson
Rachelle
Steve Rice
Ashley Rutherford
Chawna Schroeder
James Somers
Rachelle Sperling
Donna Swanson
Steve Trower
Speculative Faith
Robert Treskillard
Jason Waguespac
Laura Williams
Timothy Wise

CSFF Blog Tour: The Shadow and Night Day One

A Millennial Primer

This month we're looking at The Shadow and Night by Chris Walley. I have to admit, this one excited me for the simple fact that it's clearly a science fiction book. I'm not sure why people classify it as "fantasy." I mean, you've got terraforming, genetic engineering, and faster-than-light travel. I saw nothing that could even remotely be construed as an elf or other fantasy-based races.

But before we go into the stories themselves, we should talk about their foundation, part of which is post-millennialism. This is a form of eschatology that doesn't get talked about all that often.

For that very reason, I thought I'd do my civic duty by offering this, a millennial primer.

For starters, we'd better define our terminology. The "millennium" is the technical term for what's referred to in Revelation 20:

"And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key to the Abyss and holding in his hand a great chain. He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. He threw him into the Abyss, and locked and sealed it over him, to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore until the thousand years were ended. After that, he must be set free for a short time.

"I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony for Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or his image and had not received his mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years." (Revelation 20:1-4, NIV)

I'm sure most of my readers are aware that there are about half a dozen different ways to interpret any passage out of Revelation, and that's certainly true of this passage as well. There are four basic "flavors" to millennialism, as illustrated by this chart:

The first category is called post-tribulation premillennialism or is also known as "historic premillennialism." As you can see from the chart, those who hold this view believe that Christ's reign will be a literal thousand year reign that kicks off immediately after the tribulation.

The second category is, by far, the loudest. It's dispensational premillennialism. If you go to any Christian bookstore and grab a book on the end times, there's a very good chance that you'll have found a book written from this viewpoint. Truth be told, I've never seen a book that didn't hold this viewpoint in a Christian bookstore.

For that reason I won't go into too much detail here. Suffice it to say, dispensational premillennialists believe that before the tribulation, the Christian Church will be raptured into heaven. The tribulation will kick off, overtaking unbelievers, the Jewish people, and anyone who converts to Christianity afterwards (including the aforementioned Jews). After seven years, Jesus will return a second time (or would it be a third time?) to set up his literal millennial kingdom.

But then, if you've read Left Behind and the subsequent books, you're familiar with this already.

That brings us to postmillennialism. Unlike both strains of premillennialists, the postmillennialists believe that Christ's return will occur after the millennium. From what I understand, most postmillennialists believe that Christ's reign will be brought about by increasing Christian influence in society. Basically things will get better and better until humanity enters into a Christian utopia.

This is the eschatology that's at the foundation of The Lamb Among the Stars, of which The Shadow and Night is the first two books. In this case, Walley obviously doesn't see the millennium as a literal thousand year reign, seeing as the Assembly has lasted a dozen times longer than that.

And finally, there's amillennialism. I once saw an assertion by Tim LaHaye (obviously tripped up by the prefix a-) that amillennialists don't believe in a millennium at all. That's simply not true. Amillennialists do believe in the millennium. It's just that they believe that the millennium has already been ushered in at Christ's death and resurrection. The "thousand years" mentioned in Revelation 20 is taken to be symbolic, not literal.

In the interest of fairness, I'll confess here and now that I'm an ardent (some might even say militant) amillennialist. I don't buy into either version of premillennialism and I think postmillenialism is too optimstic. But this isn't a critique of Walley using postmillennialism in his book.

Instead, I'm glad he did. Exploring a different theological viewpoint is always healthy. While I didn't agree with Walley on his eschatology, I certainly appreciated it and reading his stories helped me refine and hone my position a bit more.

So there you go. Millennialism. I don't know if anyone else will discuss that today. I won't bring it up tomorrow either. Well, probably not. Instead, I'll submit some reviews on the stories themselves. In the meantime, be sure to check out what other people are saying:

Brandon Barr
Jim Black
Justin Boyer
Grace Bridges
Jackie Castle
Carol Bruce Collett
Valerie Comer
CSFF Blog Tour
Gene Curtis
D. G. D. Davidson
Chris Deanne
Janey DeMeo
Jeff Draper
April Erwin
Marcus Goodyear
Rebecca Grabill
Jill Hart
Katie Hart
Michael Heald
Timothy Hicks
Christopher Hopper
Heather R. Hunt
Jason Joyner
Kait
Carol Keen
Mike Lynch
Margaret
Rachel Marks
Shannon McNear
Melissa Meeks
Rebecca LuElla Miller
Mirtika or Mir's Here
Pamela Morrisson
Eve Nielsen
John Ottinger
Deena Peterson
Rachelle
Steve Rice
Ashley Rutherford
Chawna Schroeder
James Somers
Rachelle Sperling
Donna Swanson
Steve Trower
Speculative Faith
Robert Treskillard
Jason Waguespac
Laura Williams
Timothy Wise

Oh, if you are interested in more information about eschatology, here's a helpful paper: The "End Times" -- A Study on Eschatology and Millennialism. This was put together by The Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod's Commission on Theology and Church Relations. Very good stuff, if a bit academic.

How Evil Are You?

Not entirely appropriate for Valentine's Day, but then, I've never understood what was so romantic about a beheaded Christian martyr.

You Are 30% Evil

A bit of evil lurks in your heart, but you hide it well. In some ways, you are the most dangerous kind of evil.

How Evil Are You?

What did you think would happen?

I mean, really!

The Restorer's Son

I would have posted this review earlier, but as you can see, I had to fight to get my hands on the book.

I recently finished The Restorer's Son by Sharon Hinck. I've been interested in reading it ever since I got a sneak preview of the cover art when I interviewed Sharon.

The story started in The Restorer continues in this book. Kieran, a reluctant hero, has become the Restorer, a role he desperately wants to relinquish, especially as his life falls apart. And Susan and Mark return to the land of Lyric through the portal in a desperate search for their oldest son, Jake, who has disappeared. What will happen as Kieran discovers the One's intentions for him? Will he submit to the One's will? And where has Jake disappeared to?

Once again, Hinck delivers a rollicking good read. Lots of tension, lots of mystery, and the one nice thing is that Hinck has absolutely no problem depicting heroes as being flawed. Kieran, the new Restorer, is a perfect example. He starts out basically a functional atheist, only interested in his own survival and hostile to the One's plans. He has to be dragged, kicking and screaming, into a relationship with the One.

That's the nice thing about books like this. It's good for Christians to see that there's only one perfect hero, and that's God. Everyone else that we hold up to the light has a lot of warts. For example, this week, I'm preaching on the call of Abraham to follow God to the Promised Land. Normally I wouldn't give a sneak preview of my sermons, but it dovetails so nicely with what's going through my head right now, I have to share.

Normally when we learn about Father Abraham (has many sons, many sons has Father Abraham and I am one of them, and so are you, so let's all praise the Lord... Sorry, had to be done), we only hear three stories: the call of Abraham in Genesis 12, the story of the three visitors in Genesis 18, and finally, the almost-sacrifice of Isaac in Genesis 22. Those stories paint Abraham as a hero of the faith, someone who trusted in God to the point where he almost murders his own son. And then Abraham is held up as some sort of example we should emulate, often with the admonition to have the same faith.

But hold the phone! If you read the rest of the stories about Abraham, a much different picture emerges. Abraham has trust issues. He doesn't believe that God can take care of him when the going gets tough. On two separate occasions, he tries to help God out of what seems like an impossible situation. He also almost gives away the Promised Land to his nephew! When we see the complete picture of Abraham, we realize that the almost-sacrifice was the exception to the rule.

That's the thing about the folks we find in the Bible. They are not perfect saints. Not by a long shot. Noah was a sloppy drunk. Samson was a ladies man. Moses had anger issues. Peter had perpetual foot-in-mouth disease. And David? Don't even get me started on him!

What makes these men and women heroes isn't anything in them. Instead, it is God who makes them heroes and He can do the same for us through His grace, poured out for us in Christ's death and resurrection.

That's the good thing about the character's in all Hinck's novels. She presents us with people who aren't perfect but who are still heroes because of God's love for them.

So go get this book and take a look-see. It's well worth the time and effort.