I Am The Vine

DAILY COMIC:  

VERSE OF THE DAY:

If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.

-John 15:7

INTRODUCTION:

John chapter 15 is the “Vine and Branches” analogy where Jesus compares Himself to a vine, The Father to a husbandman, and believers to branches. Every branch that beareth not fruit He taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit He purgeth, that it may bring forth more fruit.

LESSON:

There is the ultimate answer to the question: Why do bad things happen to good people? That spells out why trials come to both the active Christians and the dormant ones. Anyone else cannot be considered a, “good”, person because righteousness alone stinks in the nostril of God. But, we see why it has to be this way, God does not revel in our pain, He gives us just as much as He knows we can handle, so that we may come through the trial stronger and bearing more fruit than before.

How can we relate to what lost people are going through without experience trouble and heartache firsthand? How can we administer the cure of the gospel to a wounded soul when we don’t know what it feels like to be hurt, confused, or in doubt? I think most Christian live a fantasy called “Joy In Christ”; thinking that this world of Christianity is all play and no work is an illusion. Being happy in Christ is one thing, knowing what to do with that joy and happiness is another. We are not made glad for our own enjoyment and amusement. As the song says, He has made me glad, He has made me glad. I will rejoice for He has made me glad.

Why are we made glad? To rejoice, to lift up His name. Jesus said: If the Son of Man be lifted up, He will draw all men unto Himself. That’s our job, to lift up Jesus that others may see and be drawn by the Holy Spirit unto Him. We are the branches, we work for Christ, not just live in Him, we work together with Him and for His cause.

The vine and branches analogy is similar to the Body of Christ analogy in that both portray believers as the workman of God. We are in Christ, He is in us, and we live our lives for Him. As in the vine all the branches find purpose and meaning, in the body, each member finds a meaning and purpose.

Abide in me and my words in you…

Abide means stay with, be sheltered in, or remain. We are to hide ourselves in Christ, to abide in him and let His words abide in our hearts. To live a fruitful Christian life, we need to be so much like God that people can’t tell the difference. I want to live my life in a way that people wouldn’t see me because there is too much Jesus. I want the light of Christ to be so bright in my life that people can’t help but notice Him. The only way for any of this to happen, is for me to abide in Christ and allow His Word to abide in me.

CLOSING:

Are you abiding in Christ? Are you living your life for yourself? Are you so close to the master that people can’t tell you apart? If not, why? When the sole purpose of the human creation was to have fellowship with and give praise to the One True God, why do we not take this purpose and live it?

God wanted something that would praise Him of its own free will, so He created mankind. Live your purpose, abide in Christ, let His words abide in you, and you shall reap the fruit of everlasting joy and happiness having many crowns to lay at The Master’s feet.

As always, thanks for reading.

—the anonymous novelist

Immortal Writing- Concept and Conflict

DAILY COMIC:  

A vile imagination, once indulged, gets the key of our minds, and can get in again very easily, whether we will or no, and can so return as to bring seven other spirits with it more wicked than itself; and what may follow no one know.

-Charles H. Spurgeon

While I’m still in the mindset of brilliant minds of the past, I thought I’d employ some quotes of great philosophers and theologians to emphasize the point of this post.

VERSE OF THE DAY:

And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
-Genesis 6:5

Imagination is of the heart, now we’ve been through all of the rigamoral of the heart and its evil nature. I’ll not dive into it all over again, suffice it to say: the heart is decieteful above all things and desperately wicked who can know it? The heart is the throneroom of our soul. Jesus comes to live in our hearts because He wants to save our souls from spiritual siege.

LESSON: 

And we return with yet another episode of Imortal Writing, how to write good fantasy in a way that spans the pages of time. Fantasy is imagination, it exists inside of our minds and hearts, so how do we define imagination?

If the imagination is of the heart and not the mind, does that make it evil? Since the heart is evil, always seeking after its own, how can its imaginations, its imaginings be any different? In reference to the quote from Spurgeon in the opening of this post: Spurgeon was not a philosopher, he was a theologian; ology- meaning the study of, and theos- meaning God, Spurgeon was a student of theology and therefore a studier of God. And if studier is not a legitimate word, it should be, it is the most concise way to say what I mean.

I could preach several sermons on words and their faults, but not today. Today is a day for imagination: the institution by which all concepts are derived. 

CONCEPT:

Concept is the most basic starting point of an idea. A concept is a vague outline of a idea. Like the outline or skeleton of a story, a concept is the conjugation of many thoughts pulled together as if by magnet to form a singular idea. Every theory begins with a concept, every story begins with a concept, every character, every plot, every outline, every world, every sentence begins with a concept. And concept are generated and progressed faster than we can even imagine.

Wow, did I just make the statement that concepts are faster than imagination? Don’t we use our imagination to form fantasy concepts? True. But without a concept of what imagination even is, how can you work inside of it at all. Concept is the basest, most powerful item our mind possess in terms of thought and comprehension.

So, everything begins with concept, in life, in writing, everything begins with concept. 

CONFLICT:

Hand in hand with concept, conflict is essential to a story. In fact, I’d venture to say that there is no story without conflict of some kind. Conflict is the groundwork of the story, the apex, the thing from which everything else circles.

Think of a story as the solar system. Alright, now put conflict as the sun, in the direct center, then have the planets rotating around it on different orbits, at times we see some planets nearer to the conflict and at other times farther away, but they all orbit the conflict.

  
Something like that is what a story solar system should look like, and fantasy is not the only thing that can go in that outer circle, really, your genre should go in that circle. There is an added planet for romance should the solar system deem it necessary to the story.

But, you can see how even in this rough representation, storyline is the constistent closest planet to conflict. Almost always it is right beside conflict in its orbit, but when it is farther away, character planet comes right alongside conflict to compensate. Everything works out to keep the solar system, the fantasy universe in perfect balance.

CLOSING:
  

Imagination rules the world.

-Napoleon Bonaparte

But what you do with the world once you have it is what makes your story worth reading. Use your imagination, rule the world. Write your story, change someone’s perspective on life. Whether you eat or drink or whatsoever you do, do all to the glory of God.

As always, thanks for reading.

—the anonymous novelist

From The Mind’s Of Brilliant Men

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There have been many brilliant minds throughout the years, many men who rose above the mediocrity of others and became great theologians, scientist, inventors, and politicians. These men not only left the legacy of their deeds but also their wisdom. Wisdom I think that has been overlooked by most institutions in our current age. The most brilliant men to live shared their wisdom with the world and yet we don’t hear anything about who they were or what they said, all we know is what they did.

Sure, the effects that their lives had on the world is important, but what enabled them to have that impact on the world is the wisdom they had. This wisdom is the same wisdom that they have imparted to us, wisdom that may give us the capacity for greatness also… So where is it? Why don’t we hear about it? What could be so dangerous about educating the next generation?

Well, everything. The longer we live, the more we see the digression and decline of the intelligence of the upcoming generations. The more we decline, the farther down the education systems have to lower the bar to compensate for the growing ignorance and stupidity of the populace. But where did it all start? Well, if you are not improving your mind you are degrading it. If you are not moving forward you are moving backward.

When we stopped learning from the Father’s of Knowledge, improving our minds, we went into a decline. Contrary to the Theory of Evolution, (which by the way is not science, but rather a belief system and a faith), man is not getting better and better, we are getting worse and worse. How do we solve this? Well, to start, we can begin the renewing of our minds and start improving them through learning. Let’s start by taking a look at what some of these great thinkers had to say about Mankind.

Man is an animal, which alone among the animals refuses to be satisfied by the fulfillment of animal desires.

– Alexander Graham Bell

The man who invented the telephone says that man is simply an animal. That goes to show you how deeply Evolution appeals to the scientifically minded. Even though Bell had the capacity and capability to invent a machine that would carry a person’s voice through a wire and to someone else’s ear, he still calls man an animal. But, what hidden wisdom lies beneath this statement? Alexander Graham Bell was a brilliant man, certainly there is some other meaning to his quote. Could it be that in a world where the Theory of Evolution was becoming vogue, Bell was using the theory to compare the depravity of man to animal nature, and the dissatisfaction with animal desires to the longing for something more…a longing for God?

What a piece of work is man! How noble in reason! How infinite in faculties! In form and moving, how expressive and admirable! In action, how like an angel! In apprehension, how like a god!

– William Shakespeare

Well, that was quite a jump, we went from animals to angels, from longing for God to being gods. As we know, Shakespeare was a rather strange man, writing hundreds of plays in his lifetime and composing brilliance into each one. He almost seems an impossible figure, yet when you devote your time to writing fictional plays, you end up living a fictional life. His plays were his life, and his concept of man was glorified in his ability to portray characters, he idolized his work and became a slave to his imagination.

Animal nature, however perfect, is far from representing the human being in its completeness, and is in truth humanity’s humble handmaiden, made to serve and obey.

– Pope Leo XIII

It looks as if Pope Leo is playing the Jekyll and Hyde card here. We see him stating that man is not simply an animal, that he has animal nature, but can harness it. Leo points out the dual nature of man, to will and to do both good and evil, though not simultaneously. Man has a separate evil nature aside from his good nature and yet they are inseparable. Man can not lose his good nature, nor eradicate his evil nature until he is in the presence of God, glorified and sanctified throughout. So, is animal nature a part of us that we control, or are we simply humans, nothing more, nothing less? Here is what a former president of the United States had to say about the matter:

The political freedoms we know, the American concept of democracy, certainly include a faith, related to some religion, that man is more than an animal, that he possesses a soul. If we have not that faith, then why should any of us admit that any other is born with equal rights to himself?

– Dwight D. Eisenhower

Eisenhower was a brilliant man, you don’t become the president of one of the greatest nations on earth if you are not. He knew where he stood and was not afraid to speak it out. Like the Founding Fathers of this nation I call home, Eisenhower held fast to the beliefs that all men are created equal and that we are “One Nation Under God”. His wisdom in leading is a testament to his wisdom in matters of faith. When you know where you put your trust, you lead with authority and wisdom.

There is so much good in the worst of us, and so much bad in the best of us, that is behooves all of us to not talk about the rest of us.

– Robert Louis Stevenson

Here is a man who got it right. On our best days we are still so bad, and on our worst days we are still some good. Man is never wholly evil and never can he be mortal and yet wholly good. So, how do we improve ourselves?

The way of a superior man is three-fold: virtuous, he is free from anxieties; wise, he is free from perplexities; bold, he is free from fear.

– Confucius

 The way to superiority, or as it stands now, the way to where normal once was. We have fallen, now it is time to rise. Bring back brilliance once more! Let this generation be the one to shape the future! Rise up and think for ourselves, create solutions, invent new and helpful technology, and be virtuous, blind to power, immune to money, and in it for the good of the world and the Glory of God.

As always, thanks for reading.

—the anonymous novelist

Undercover Murder

DAILY COMIC:  
VERSE OF THE DAY:

Thou shalt not kill.

-Exodus 20:13 

Taking it down a level to hit the real grass roots problems and struggles people have with scripture. I’ve heard of many people who say that they believe the Bible and at the same time are speaking out for things very much against it.

Where do we draw the line? What does God have to say about issues like: divorce, abortion, pre-marital sex, drugs, smoking, and adultery?

Believe it or not, God is outspoken about all of these issues, it is never in doubt where God stands on anything. He is always absolute good, right, and truth. Today we are going to address what you might think is a fairly straightforward issue: murder.

LESSON:

God says, “Thou shalt not kill”, that’s about as straightforward as you can get; and yet hundreds of thousands of Christians are uncertain of where they stand on this matter.

What would you say if I told you that Christians who do not know where they stand on the issue of murder are partly responsible for the slaughter of 4,400 people daily?This murder, which we have since come to call abortion has taken the lives of 57 million people since it was legalized in 1973. I do say “taken”, because literally their lives were stolen from them. One abstract Christian theologian had this to say about abortion:

It is surely not a matter of women’s rights, but a helpless, defenseless infant’s. Is that life not worthy? Is it worthless? Tell me, what if you never had the chance to live- to change your world, is all you have ever done or ever will do meaningless? If you believe it is, then quit wasting my oxygen! If you do not, I will raise another question- what about the potential of that child? Whose right is it to take all that child will ever do and call it worthless? God formed you and gave you a purpose before you were even born. Who are you to decide that infant’s life is meaningless? 

–Wes Yarber

I believe the blame has to fall on Christians for a failure to act, for even if all the voices of all the Christians in the world did not change a thing, it would still be our duty to speak out against abortion. Here is what your Master has to say about this matter:

Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.

-Jeremiah 1:5

Here, God speaks to Jeremiah, telling him that He knew him and had a purpose for his life before he was born. Is that not the essence of pro-life? God Himself loves, knows, and had plans for people before they were even formed; before their parents were even born.

But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb, and called me by his grace,

-Galatians 1:15 

Here, we see Paul saying that God called him while he was in his mother’s womb. That means that the spirits and souls of children exist before actual birth. How can you still not condemn abortion as 1st degree murder?

Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.

-Psalm 139:16 

David says that when none of his members, his body parts were existent they were recorded in God’s book. God knew him before he was born and had a record of all his members.

Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward. As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth. Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.

-Psalm 127:3-5 

Here is what baffles me, how can those claiming to be Christians even be sympathetic to those who have abortions when children are the blessings of God? Having an abortion is not only mocking God, commiting murder, and stealing the future of many people which that child’s life might have changed, it is throwing the blessings and gifts of God away without care.

I don’t even care for the word abortion, it makes the baby sound like a robot or technical program that can simply be aborted with no harm done. Let me say this: a child is not a program, it is a human. And killing it at any stage in its existance is outright, cold-blooded murder. God said as much. Why can’t we see it?

CLOSING: 

I don’t see how any person can believe in the Bible as the Word of God and still be pro-abortion.

-Wes Yarber

If the Bible is truth, then abortion is wrong, end of discussion. If the Bible is not true, then abortion is still the most deplorable action committed in a so-called, “moral scociety”. It is bad enough to kill an adult or teen, but a baby that has no defenses. You might as well have shot God in the back, I tell you it hurts Him to see these little ones slaughtered.

If I had to envision God in one way, it would be with an endless stream of tears flowing from His eyes for the children that are killed everyday and the souls of those who murder them. He cares about the world and each and every person in it. Dr. Seuss couldn’t have said it any better when he said: a person is a person, no matter how small.

The idea for this post came from a quote by Wes Yarber. He’s a great, Godly man and has powerful, radical ideas to change the way we look at life. Go check him out on social media.

Twitter: @WesYarber

Instagram: @wesyarber

As always, thanks for reading.
—the anonymous novelist

Story Progression

 DAILY COMIC: 
VERSE OF THE DAY:

But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
–Philippians 4:19 

This verse is especially pertinate to my writing currently, as some very dear friends of mine recently purchased a computer for me as a gift. After my laptop was stolen in San Deigo, California two years ago I became extremely limited in what I was able to do in relation to writing, web coding, and graphic designing as well as several other important things that I did for the ministry. For those two years I had been getting by with using my phone or a shared laptop for what was needed, but had very little oprotunity to progress my future.

I could not write with the liberty and ease that I had been, and research for my other interests was non-existent. So, timely, and very much a need that God has provided for me through His servants is a laptop. I am grateful beyond words for their investment into my future and God’s purpose for my life, whatever it may be.

INTRODUCTION:

Well, I want to talk about story progression. Really, story progression simply means the moving foreward of a story. If you are a writer or have ever atempted to write a story, this is one of the trials you face. How to move it foreward, how to conceptualize it. A story progression is the envisioning, the skeletizing, (that is a word, I made it up), and the construction of the story.

LESSON:

Story progression, in my opinion is best done in a large group setting. Much like you would brainstorm for a school project, brainstorming a story is easier when many minds are set upon it. Like it says in the scriptures: there is wisdom in a multitude of counselors. The progression is more than just the moving of the story and creating the ideas for the next part, story progression is the process of bringing your story to life. It takes many mouths, many brains, and many hours to create a masterpiece, and that is what every writer should strive for.

More than just the stories we write, it is the stories of our lives that we progress. It takes many many mouths, many minds, and many hours to create a masterpiece, and that is what every Christian should strive for. To the stories of our lives we should devote our best ideas, best plans, and best abilities to create the best possible future we can. But, as in story progression, we need to seek the council and advice of others and ultimately God if we are to write the story of our life with the wisdom and skill to make it great.

The majority of my stories have undergone development and progression with a very special friend of mine, Stephen Dodd, who is in my opinion the most brilliant mind of our generation. Our families have known each other since before we both were born. We have in a way grown up together; as my family traveled, his would follow us, moving their own home base to states we visited frequently. Eventually both families came to rest within 30 miles of each other, his in Springfield, MO, and mine in Branson.

For years we have undergone story progression with one another, developing our skills, forging characters and stories, plots and ideas, but overall just having fun. When you make your work fun, it gets done more quickly and is a better product for it. However, it does help to not consider it work to begin with.

I never thought of my writing as work, though it may become that some day, it has always been a part of me. Something I just do, I don’t have to make myself do it, I don’t even have to conciously decide to on most days. It’s an instant reaction to information to want to write it down and record it.

All of these elements are key to good and painless story pro. To have a mind for the task, to have a friend to help in the task, and to absorb information with the the intent of imputing it to the task is what story pro is all about. Story progression, whether that of our lives or of writing takes concious decisions and choices on our part. It also requires more than just us to work properly.

For your writing projects and stories, blogs on writing are a good starting point in stimulating ideas for story pro. Also, it’s good to have a bounce point, a person or group that you can bounce ideas off of. I’d love to discuss ideas with you and answer any questions you may have about writing. We all need a little help every now and again with our stories.

CLOSING:

So, I guess my question is to you: what kind of story are you writing? What methods are you using in the making of the story of you? What do you want your life to be? Aim for it, plan for it, consult others, consult God, and if everything falls through and you screw it all up… Well, you can always start a blog.

As always, thanks for reading.

–the anonymous novelist

Sprinkles Aren’t So Great

DAILY COMIC:  Alright, so I said that the comic will have nothing to do with the post, but today’s was just too good to pass up.

VERSE OF THE DAY:

Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.

-Philippians 4:11 

Take a look at how the comic acts out this verse. Both Jon and Garfield have ice cream cones, but Garfield has the sprinkles. For all of the ice cream lovers out there, sprinkles are magical, they are something really special. So, Jon feels short changed, his ice cream no longer seems that special. So, what does he do? He tries the disinterested approach by saying, “Sprinkles aren’t so great”. Really though, they are so great; ice cream with sprinkles and ice cream without can hardly be compared. Sprinkles are something special.

INTRODUCTION: 

And having food and raiment let us be therewith content. 

-1 Timothy 6:8

Why are we never content with the things we have? We are never satisfied with the things we posses, the life we live, or the future for which we plan. 

I think that many times we are not content with what we have because we are defining contentment by what we can gain. I think that we are not satisfied with our possessions because they posses us. When things become more valuable to us than lives and moments we have lost our true purpose. How can we be content living a shell of the life we should, a shadow of what we were meant to be?

LESSON:

Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.

-Hebrews 13:5

In the comic, which shall henceforth and hereafter be called “Example A”, we see Jon discontent with his ice cream, which he was perfectly content with until Garfield walked in with his. What is the problem here? Is it that Jon’s ice cream suddenly did not taste as good? No, because nothing happened to his cone. Is it that Garfield had better ice cream? Not necessarily, it was the same ice cream; the difference was that Garfield had something more. 

Jon’s ice cream suddenly became not good enough when he realized that there was something more out there to be had. Jon was discontented with what he had because of greed, lust, jealousy. 

Yeah, I know that’s a lot to read into a comic. But isn’t that what we do as well? I mean, if it can apply to a comic strip, surely it applies to us also. When we see that someone has something better than us, has something extra, something more, we pull the fairness card. “That’s not fair! Why do you get to have that and I don’t?”, well, if everything was fair there would be no carnivals. 

Seriously though, life isn’t fair. Whenever someone cries out, “That’s not fair!”, I want to jump up and tell them what is and what isn’t fair. You know what’s not fair? I’ll tell you what’s not fair: God’s son died for your sins, that’s not fair. Jesus Christ came down from heaven to pay the penalty you earned and take the punishment for your crimes, that’s not fair. Praise God that life isn’t fair! If it was, you would be in Hell right now.

Jesus saved us when we didn’t deserve it, we should be too happy to become dissatisfied.

CLOSING:

Contentment is being satisfied with what Christ did for you on the cross. Contentment is needing nothing more to be happy, but rejoicing in every good gift God gives as a blessing. Looking for a reason to be content? You can stop looking now.

Considering what Christ did on the cross, the fact that we have eternal life through Him and are no longer condemned; and in light of the fact that our sin has been paid for and we can be with God in heaven for eternity; just knowing that He is with us as we make our journey home: it’s not so hard to be content with what we have. And, you know what… Sprinkles aren’t so great anyway.

As always, thanks for reading.

–the anonymous novelist

Scions And Signs

DAILY COMIC:  

VERSE OF THE DAY: 

And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers’ money, and overthrew the tables;

-John 2:15 

Nothing we read about that Jesus did in His life was done just because. Everything done by the Christ was done for a reason, a purpose, and was a scion of something to come.

INTRODUCTION:

In this passage we see a different side to Jesus. You hear of how He did miracles, was merciful and compassionate, and yet we see Him in the temple overturning tables and running livestock and vendors out with a whip, or scourge. This is the righteous anger, the justified fury of God. His house is sacred and the defiling of it with vendors and money changers was a sin and an affront to God’s laws.

More, the significance of selling sacrifices in the temple implied that atonement could be bought. Making the rich more righteous than the poor and creating segregation amongst the people based upon wealth. They found out quickly that atonement could not be bought, but wrath could and that is exactly what they received. I could make an entire sermon about this topic. When you realize that your body is a temple unto the Lord and how jealous He is of His temple, you begin to feel His anger at what you allow to enter His temple.

What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?

-1 Corinthians 6:19

Now I’ve used this verse before to prove a point, but it is relevant for this one also. “Ye are not your own”, that means you are not responsible to yourself, rather, you are accountable to God for your actions. What goes into His temple is either consecrated to Him, or is cast out, driven out with the scourge of God. And when something is driven out with a scourge, it leaves marks, lash marks. 

Yet, the Bible says that: With His stripes we are healed. When we realize that when we sin, we hurt Him, we realize that the price He paid, was paid for that sin; He was wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and with His stripes we are healed.

He was wounded and bruised for the sins we had not yet committed. When we sin, we know that that sin alone drove the nails into his hands. Our sins already hurt Him even as they hurt us, leaving marks like those Christ bore upon His back. But, by His stripes, His payment for sin, we are healed.

LESSON:

Now, the driving out of the sellers and money changers from the temple was not only a picture of Christ purifying our bodily temple, it was a scion of the coming judgement when He shall cast down all the nations in the end of times. Christ, the coming King to reign over all the earth will come down from His throne and cast down all the nations of earth and set His throne in Zion. 

Just as the merchants, the vendors in the temple were where they didn’t belong, setting themselves higher than other men and selling their version of God, the nations of earth have exalted themselves and forsaken the Lord. 

The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof. 

The earth belongs to God, the nations of earth who think themselves great, they are dwelling in a land that is not their own. They don’t belong here and they have comforted themselves in the false security that God does not exist. Well, one day He will return, and when He does these so called powers and principalities shall be driven out of the earth and Christ alone shall be king. 

The earth is as much a temple of God as our bodies. 

Temple: a place of worship; regarded as the dwelling place of a god.

Wherever God dwells is His temple. Whether it is a building, our bodies, Heaven, or the earth, wherever God dwells is His temple. And when He comes, finding money changers, vendors, selling atonement a for sins, He will take a fiery sword and cast them out of His temple. There is a coming judgement for the earth, those who think them self high above and great will be abased or destroyed by God Himself.

CLOSING:

Until then: your body is the temple of the Lord, keep it holy and pure until the day of His coming. Let us not have sellers and vendors in our temples bartering the price of our souls, but let the temple be presented to God a worthy vessel of honor.

As alway, thanks for reading.

—the anonymous novelist

A Lesson In Latin

  
I think it is about time I had some sort of standardized format for these posts. Up ’til this point, I have been haphazardly throwing posts together, not particularly having a set layout. I’m thinking that now is as good a time as any to change that, starting with an official daily comic.

This new feature will have absolutely no significance to the content of the post whatsoever, but will hopefully make you smile. Also, I’m incorporating a verse of the day, this will have everything to do with the content of the post. Living everyday with a theme and goal should involve scripture, and I hope this blog will begin to incorporate that goal more substantially.

VERSE OF THE DAY:

Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned: 

-1Timothy 1:5

Three words jump out of this passage right off the bat: charity, conscience, and unfeigned. These are big words with big meanings, which brings us to the reason for the name of this post: Latin.

INTRODUCTION:

Most people do not realize it, but nearly every major language spoken today can be traced back to Latin or Greek. Spanish, English, French, and Italian are well known for sharing the same roots and many of the same words with each other; that is because they all had a common ancestor: Latin. For this reason as well as many others, it is important for every learned person, especially those whose occupations involve words and phrases, to have at least a base knowledge of Latin.

A rudemintary knowledge of Latin can be of unmeasured help when trying to decide the meanings of words. For instance, the English word peruse is composed of two words, the Latin word per, meaning “many”, and the Latin word use, meaning “times used”. Now, in the world we are familiar with, the word peruse is becoming somewhat archaic and antiquated, so much so that it has lost its meaning. If you have heard or seen it used recently, doubtless it meant “to glance over or browse”. In a sentence: “the man perused his newspaper”, we would take that to mean that he scanned his newspaper briefly.

However, clearly the Latin roots spell the word out to mean many uses, or a detailed examination. Our words and their meanings have become blurred, yet, still we can trace many if not most of our words back to Latin. The words Audio, (to hear), and Video, (to see), are actual Latin words, we have done nothing to them, yet we use them frequently in our English language. 

LESSON: 

Now, with that rousing introduction let’s start our lesson in Latin. 

1. Every Latin word is made up of three key parts, the Antepenult, Penultima, and the Ultima.

2. Each of these three define different attributes of the word; for example: A-mar-e. 

The word amare means love, more precisely it means to love, a present active infinitive. The word, like all Latin words, is separated into three sections. The first section, the Ultima–Latin works from back to front– defines the person. The Penultima, or the second section, defines the tense. The third, the Atepenult, defines the aspect of quality of action. To understand part of a word you must first see a conjugation.

The most popular of all Latin conjugations, (meaning the connection between things, in this case, words), is the following conjugation of the root word: Amo.

Amo: I love

Amas: You love

Amat: He, She, or It loves

Amamus: We love 

Amaris: You, (plural), love

Amant: They love

As you can see, by changing the end of the word, the meaning changes also; and these endings are universal, they can be moved and placed on any root word and conform its meaning.

Understanding these endings and the conjugation helps build a retention and knowledge of Latin in your mind, however, it is not very applicable by itself unless you wish to study Latin outright.

What is important is roots. From the Latin roots you discern the meaning of any word we now use today that hasn’t been created for crass or flippant usage.

Click here to read an arrival on Greek and Latin root words that gives examples of the usage of these roots in everyday conversation. Though, Greek is as much a basis for our language as Latin, I believe that Latin is a closer translation and therefore easier to deduce the meanings of words based upon its reference.

CLOSING:

Well, I hope this has been educational if nothing else, I enjoyed writing it, I hope you enjoyed reading it.

As always, thanks for reading.

—the anonymous novelist

Transposed Thoughts

I was recently made aware of a conversation my sister had been having with an online classmate for an AP English and Composition class she is taking. She told me of how her and her fellow student had been discussing versions of the Bible–if you know my family, you know that is an important area for us– and she had referred this classmate to my blog post where I talked about versions of the Bible.

Apparently, I had said something of value in that post, which caused the person to think about what version of the Bible they were reading and the reasons behind it. I’m grateful for the impact, however small it might seem, that this blog is making in peoples’ lives. 

I truly dedicate the best of myself to the one post I write each day. However, my best is judged on an ill balanced scale and is often vastly different from day to day. So, you my dear readers, get the good, the bad, and the ugly of me every day. I hope you feel special. 🙂

I began this blog for two primary reasons. One: I was in a position where I felt a need to write; my ideas were in an excess and I had not the means of expressing myself any other way. So, I poured my soul into blogging on what is now a daily regimen. My second reason for starting this blog was that I wanted to make a difference in the world, no matter how small. I am an artist, I am a writer, my creativity is my greatest attribute, and the only way I know to express my emotions is through writing.

Though I labor writing a post every day, there is the pressure to post quality content, I do not begrudge it. I enjoy the task of finding a purpose for each post. But, even the most capable of men and women need a bit of encouragement every now and again. That conversation of my sister and her classmate was my encouragement this week. I challenge you to encourage someone even today. Say something nice, lift them up, a single word of encouragement can let them know you care and help them carry on. 

Paul often wrote to churches and brothers in Christ to encourage them, telling them to stay strong in the faith and be of good courage. With all the enemies Christianity has out to destroy it, brothers and sister in Christ need to be supporting and uplifting one another. If we’re not looking out for each other, watching each other’s backs, then no one is.

There is security and warmth in the encouragement of friends. To know that those you care about are on your side and with you come what may, is one of the greatest feelings in the world. But, there will always be those who want to stifle your joy, to douse your fire. And this can be accomplished by a variety of methods. 

Often for me it occurs when I am diverting myself in a mindless conversation, (also known as a mild argument), attempting to forget the busyness and complexity of life in a meaningless squabble about nothing; I find myself many a time engaging in such trifling quarrels of wit and then falling under the realization that I was disturbing or disrupting the same diverting calmness in another person. To simplify things, when I am arguing, it tends to upset others before I realize it.

The words that then ensue are contrary to my carefree and easy-going spirit. I break and my heart drops, the little things that I do, seemingly for simple diversion can cause the greatest conflict in my life when reactionaries respond to them. I apologize for making myself the victim in this case, I am more often wrong than right in these things. 

But, even from within we can be discouraged, our fires quelled and spirits dispelled. You see all the more the need for encouragement from Christian brothers and sisters. Go encourage someone today.

As always, thanks for reading.

—the anonymous novelist

The Wages Of Sin

For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

–Romans 6:23

Sin’s Wage:

The “wages of sin” literally means sin’s payment, or money earned by working for sin. When we commit sin we are working for ourselves, our selfishness earns us our payment. We earn the payment of sin, the wages of our work, and sin’s wage is not monetary, it is metaphysical. The wage of sin is death, not bodily death, for statistics prove that 1 out of 1 die without the help of sin anyway. But, the death that we earn for our sin is a spiritual and everlasting death, separated from Love in a place of eternal torment. Think about that. We earned Hell, we did something worthy of deserving it, we achieved it by working for ourselves in this life.

Sin is a hard task master, and it will lead you into a deep abyss the longer you work for it. But, look at the phraseology here: For the wages of sin is death. God did not say that the wages of sins, (plural), was death, but that the wages of sin, (singular), is death. Just one, solitary sin can condemn you forever. No man can claim a perfect life, except the Lord, Jesus Christ only. Even He had to endure the wages of sin. When Christ died on the cross, He descended into Hell and took from Satan the keys of death, Hell, and the grave. He bore our sins to Hell and felt the wages of them, he saw the torment sin would cause those who rejected Him. This place, this death was their reward.

God’s Gift:

I don’t know about you, but I’m glad that God didn’t stop there. He went on to say that even though the wages of sin is death: the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. God’s gift… In contrast to a wage, which is something that you earn, a gift is something that you did nothing to deserve. A gift is something given to you just for being you. 

God loves you just as you are, all the scars of sin, all the flaws and insecurities. He offers the gift of eternal life to you just as you are. I love that God saved us while we were yet sinners. He didn’t wait to save us until we had changed and began to do good, He loved us not for who we were, but for who we could be.

Note the phraseology used here as well, the Bible says: the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Now, wouldn’t the verse have accomplished the goal by excluding the words, “Our Lord”? Would it not have been enough just to say: eternal life through Jesus Christ? Well, to answer that, I have to ask one more question: is salvation for everyone? The answer is no. Salvation is not for everyone; what I mean by that is Jesus Christ died on the cross not so that whosoever shall not perish. He died so that whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish. 

The part where it says, through Jesus Christ our Lord, is vitally important. If Christ is not Lord, there is no salvation. He becomes Lord and then saves us, the Lord part is not optional. He is Lord first, then Savior. 

Application:

We earned death, for what we had done on this earth we deserved to die. But the gift of God: grace, was extended and mercy for our souls. We were forgiven and freed from sin and death. Christ broke the power of sin, death, Hell, and the grave. We no longer live in darkness, but in the light of love.

Knowing this, we should be the happiest, most joyful people on the planet. The Spirit living in us testifies of the greatness of God and we should let the world know. Grace, unbelievable, undeniable, amazing grace saved my soul. We have the promise that grace will always be greater than sin. The death that others are working for, the sin that they are slaves to, it can be destroyed by the grace of God; grace that is greater than all our sin.

This video is of a song that ministers to me when I think about how destitute in sin’s power I was. It simply says that grace will always be greater than sin.

And with that, I bid you good day and hope to hear from you soon. Like, comment, I’d love to chat with some of you anytime.

As always, thanks for reading.

–the anonymous novelist