Authors, Non-fiction, Religion

The Friday Fight: Good Friday

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(Isaiah 53) Who has believed what he has heard from us?

And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?

For he grew up before him like a young plant,

and like a root out of dry ground;

he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,

and no beauty that we should desire him.

He was despised and rejected by men;

a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief;

and as one from whom men hide their faces

he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

Surely he has borne our griefs

and carried our sorrows;

yet we esteemed him stricken,

smitten by God, and afflicted.

But he was wounded for our transgressions;

he was crushed for our iniquities;

upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,

and with his stripes we are healed.

All we like sheep have gone astray;

we have turned—every one—to his own way;

and the LORD has laid on him

the iniquity of us all.

He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,

yet he opened not his mouth;

like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,

and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,

so he opened not his mouth.

By oppression and judgment he was taken away;

and as for his generation, who considered

that he was cut off out of the land of the living,

stricken for the transgression of my people?

And they made his grave with the wicked

and with a rich man in his death,

although he had done no violence,

and there was no deceit in his mouth.

Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him;

he has put him to grief;

when his soul makes an offering for guilt,

he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days;

the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.

Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied;

by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant,

make many to be accounted righteous,

and he shall bear their iniquities.

Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many,

and he shall divide the spoil with the strong,

because he poured out his soul to death

and was numbered with the transgressors;

yet he bore the sin of many,

and makes intercession for the transgressors.

Non-fiction, Reviews

My Life Without God, by William J. Murray

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I picked up William J. Murray’s autobiography, My Life Without God, largely because I figured he’d be a kindred soul. Both of us were raised in dysfunctional families dominated by abusive mothers. I did find much to identify with, but all in all I don’t think I’d have traded places with him.

Bill Murray holds a permanent place in American history as the boy whose mother, Madalyn Murray (later O’Hair), sued the city of Baltimore on his behalf, to spare him the emotional suffering of being forced to pray in school. The case ended up in the Supreme Court, and a novel and paradigm-shifting precedent resulted.

She was, apparently, less concerned about his emotional suffering in other areas of life. Continue reading My Life Without God, by William J. Murray →

Religion

Interview with Michael Horowitz

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“In so many ways, Christians had become the Jews of our time—the scapegoats of choice for the thug regimes around the world,” Michael Horowitz says in this interesting interview with World.

Q: How can Christians involved in politics make the world a better place?

Take a look at what William Wilberforce did. His lessons: Be very attentive to defining yourself and not letting others define you. Understand that politics is seductive and corruptive. Understand that “us against them” and demonization of the other side is not very Christian—and won’t succeed. And don’t simply say, “I care about these issues” and sign letters, because that doesn’t count.

Uncategorized

Thursday fight (real life edition)

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This is a truly bizarre story:

INDIANAPOLIS – Police have charged an Indianapolis man in the death of his 77-year-old grandmother, who died after trying to break up a sword fight between him and her 69-year-old brother-in-law.

Not funny in the least. Just very, very strange.

Publishing

Publication update

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I copied a map out of a book and made some marks on it last night, then scanned it and sent it to the house artist. From those lowly elements he plans to construct a handsome original chart, for the benefit of those who remain unsure which hemisphere Greenland is located in. So that’s done, from my end.

I also got a chance to look at some prospective covers, a part of the project also still “in process.” I think I’m going to get a picture of a Viking ship on the cover, which is the main thing for me. In my opinion there is nothing on earth cooler than a Viking ship. Ninjas? Ha! We laugh at ninjas.

It looks as if this is going to be the most expensive book I’ve ever written. It appears that it will be what’s called a “trade paperback.” That’s one of those big paperbacks they sell you (the small, old-fashioned kind are called “mass market paperbacks”). The price looks to be about $25.00. I have a hard time imagining anyone paying twenty-five bucks for anything written by me, but Nordskog thinks that’s the way to go, and I assume they know their business. Sometimes people want a thing more when you ask more for it, so I’ll wait and see. Also, I know there are reasons, having to do with the bookselling business, why trade paperbacks are more cost effective for publishers.

Someday, hardcover!

Book Reviews, Creative Culture