Saturday, November 08, 2008

LEAPS OF FAITH, by Rob and Karina Fabian is an anthology of faith in action, and in science fiction. It is an interesting work, much like INFINITE SPACE, INFINITE GOD, which they also compiled. Written by different writers of varying degrees of public exposure, I'm sure you'll find something in here that you'll like. If you're like me, you'll probably find this a bit "too Catholic". Don't get me wrong. I truly believe that if a Catholic has called upon the Lord then they are saved, or born again, whichever term you'd like to use. I did find the exclusion of other denominations a bit disturbing, and some of the traditions of the elders that have displaced the teachings of the Catholic Church have also bothered me. However, having said all of that, at least 75% of these stories show, not only great story writing, but good, solid Christian teachings.

My favorite is, well, I had a couple running neck and neck. I'll only give you one of them though. "God's Gift", by Greg Beatty, who incidentally has 2 stories in this work, both of which I found great merit, is the story I'm going with for my favorite. Here is a man working on FTL transportation (that's faster than light), and he's come up against a wall. When he experiments with it he gets up to a certain point and then there are all kinds of terrible results. Given the ultimatum of success or being the next person to travel in his FTL machine, the scientist works feverishly at overcoming the problem. What happens next is beautiful. A failure turns into a victory. To tell you more would be to take the story away from you, and I don't wish to do that. This story is so good that you've just got to get this book if only to read this one story. It's that powerful, wonderful and marvelously written.

Funny thing is, this story reflects true life more than we'd like to admit. I've heard preachers say, "We raise our hands because it's a sign of surrender. And that's what we must do, surrender to the Lord." I've found in my own life that it's when we come to the end of ourselves that we frequently find ourselves nose-to-nose with God. He's been there all the time, but our pride has hidden our ability to see Him. There's a song where the writer suddenly realizes why God has taken so much away from them, "Because You cannot fill hands that are already full." So do a spiritual check of your life. Are there things in there that are keeping you from enjoying the fullness of God? I'll be the first to say "Yes". So what are we going to do about it? Do we dare go on like this, carrying our burdens as if we were meant to do penance of some sort, or do we drop them at the Cross and let Jesus take them. The choice is ours. It may not be the difference between salvation and damnation, but it very well may be the difference between enjoying the full blessings of coming into God's presence as His child, and being cut off from His fellowship...sort of like a "time out". You see, God disciplines the children He loves. So if you aren't getting disciplined then there's a good chance that you aren't His child. In fact Scripture says you aren't.

David Brollier

Don't forget to visit Rob and Karina's site at:

FabianSpace

Purchase Leaps of Faith at
The Writer's Cafe Press.

and at Amazon

Check out the YouTubeVideo.
And the Leaps of Faith website

Check out these other member blogs this week for more
info.
By the way, I know of at least one of these sites that will be having multiple posts, including a live interview with the compilers of this anthology. I'm not going to tell you who it is. You're going to have to find that out for yourself. After all, this is a game of Tag.


Tangerine

Tangerine by Marilynn Griffith



This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is posting about Tangerine (Revell, January 2007) by Marilynn Griffith (fellow CFBA member, blogger, writer, and mother of *GULP* seven!)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Marilynn Griffith is wife to a deacon, mom to a tribe and proof that God gives second chances. Her novels include Made of Honor (Steeple Hill, Jan. 2006), Pink (Revell, Feb. 2006), Jade (Revell, June 2006), and If the Shoe Fits (Revell, 2007). Her other credits include Chicken Soup for the Christian Woman’s Soul, Cup of Comfort Devotionals and her Shades of Style series (Revell, 2006). She lives in Florida with her husband and children. To book speaking engagements or just say hello, email: marilynngriffith@gmail.com.

ABOUT THE BOOK:

Tangerine is the third book in the Shades of Style Novels.

Fans of Pink and Jade will eat up Tangerine, the third book in the cutting-edge Shades of Style series. Jean Guerra, a designer at Garments of Praise design firm, doesn't like surprises. These days though, the unexpected meets her everywhere. Since Jean's return to the church a year ago, her God-encounters occur with increasing frequency, along with thoughts of her husband-the one she vowed to divorce and gave up on long ago. The one nobody at work knows about, not even her best friend, Lily, or her boss, Chenille. But when the designer assigned to work with Jean on a line of men's suits shows up, her heart flips. It's her husband, Nigel Salvador. Jean is finally rendered speechless. Can her bruised heart become whole enough to love again? Or will she remain in the trenches of loneliness forever?



The book link: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0800730429


Marilynn's website link: http://marilynngriffith.typepad.com/rhythmsofgrace/

THE 3RD COVENANT - a Comparison

The following table shows where THE 3RD COVENANT stands against 7 top authors and 14 other books.

Title

Author

Times out

times per month

Judge and Jury

Cold Moon

Death Dance

Promise Me

The 3rd Covenant

The Camel Club

Violet Dawn

3rd Degree

The Collectors

Web of Lies

The 12th Card

Words of Silk

Above and Beyond

Entombed

No Second Chance

James Patterson

Jeffery Deaver

Linda Fairstein

Harlan Coben

David Brollier

David Baldacci

Brandilyn Collins

James Patterson

David Baldacci

Brandilyn Collins

Jeffery Deaver

Sandra Brown

Sandra Brown

Linda Fairstein

Harlan Coben

CHO 9

CHO 17

CHO 17

CHO 16

CHO 11

CHO 21

CHO 4

CHO 34

CHO 2

CHO 2

CHO 17

CHO 29

CHO 30

CHO 19

CHO 31

2.25

2.43

2.43

2.28

1.83

1.71

1.3

1.08

1.00

1.00

.94

.94

.91

.82

.72