Another Great Lesson From Andy Woods

I always appreciate when someone knowledgeable explains how our words were formed. My father always did that. When I was a child he explained the ending of "itis" to a word meant inflamed or infected. "Therefore, Jannie, tonsilitis means your tonsils are infected and must come out." Can't say that I miss them now.

Dr. Andy Woods explains how certain words come into being from the ancient texts. He brought another excellent lesson to Bayside Community Church on Sunday, 10-11-09. The Bible warns us to be watchful of false teachers, wolves in sheep's clothing as it were, who would invade the churches and bring in apostasy.

Apostasy, Andy explained, comes from two Greek words: Apos is a preposition meaning away from. Histome (or is it histomi? Can't read my own writing.) means to stand. Apostasy means to stand away from, or departure from known (or previously embraced) truth.

Ten characteristics of apostasy are:

Characteristic #1: A Sign of the Last Days of the Church - Perilous times (Matt. 13:3). The Second Law of Thermodynamics is true for moral issues, too. Jesus outlines a course of the new age to come in eight parables. Parabolic teaching conceals the message from those who refuse to be taught, yet reveals truth to those who hungar for the Word.

• Parable #1: The Sower - Preaching the Gospel with various results.
• Parable #2: Wheat & Tares - Difficult to distinguish saved from unsaved within professing Christendom.
• Parable #3: Mustard Seed - Christendom will experience great numerical and geographic expansion from humble beginnings.
• Parable #4: Yeast in Dough - Christendom will experience internal corruption throughout the age with increasing apostasy.
• Parable #5: Hidden Treasure - Israel will remain in unbelief only to be converted in the end.
• Parable #6: Pearl of Great Price - Co-existence of righteous and wicked to be separated at the age's conclusion.
• Parable #7: The Dragnet - Good fish kept, and bad fish cast away.
• Parable #8: Householder - Old treasures to new treasures. New truth must be considered with Old Testament revelation to comprehend the totality of God's kingdom agenda.

Characteristic #2: A Massive New Testament Subject - Matt 13:33, Acts 20:29-31, all the Pauline letters, the general letters of the New Testament (Jude, Hebrews, Peter, 1 John), and Revelation all warn against lapsing back into apostasy.

Characteristic #3: It Impacts Every Major Doctrine - The faith (1 Tim 4:1), God (Jude 4), Christ & His death (2 Peter 2:1), Christ's return (2 Peter 3:3-4), Sound Doctrine (2 Tim 4:3-4), Resurrection (2 Tim 2:16-18), and God as creator (2 Peter 3:5) will all be challenged, or are now being challenged, by the predorists.

Characteristic #4: Apostasy is Internal - Acts 20:29-31. It will come from within the church, along with "savage wolves." Paul warned about this night and day with tears. Jude 4 says they "crept in unnoticed." Look for them in pulpits, Christian schools, Christian books, and magazines. They won't wear signs on their backs that read: I'M A FALSE TEACHER - FOLLOW ME.

Characteristic #5: It Knows No Limits - Exodus 32:1-10 (Aaron), Judg. 18:30 (Jonathan). Even those we least expect will become useful tools for the enemy's apostasy. We can see this in the Rules of Harvard, Est. 1636. Christian belief was once a rule for admittance to this university. Now it's a deterrent. Rev. 2:45 says Christ will take away the lamp stand. In other words, He'll remove His light from among them.

Characteristic #6: It Can Happen Quickly - The ice can melt beneath our feet. In Gal. 1:6, Paul was amazed at how soon the Galatians abandoned the doctrine of free grace. In Exodus 32:8, the Israelites turned away from God within forty days. When Rev. 2:4-5 was written only thirty-five years had passed before the Ephesus defected on their relationship with Christ.

Characteristic #7: It is Satanically Energized - Paul reminds us in 2 Cor. 11:3 how easily the serpent led Eve away from the simplicity of God's truth. In 1 Tim 4:1: "Some will depart from the faith, heeding deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons..." Satan's agenda is to cause the fall of the Christian church. He knows the three functions of the church are to 1) Glorify God, 2) Edify the saints, and 3) Evangelize the lost. He's satisfied to hinder even one of those functions.

Characteristic #8: It is Destructive - Acts 20:29 offers a graphic imagery to describe how destructive apostasy is to our church.

Characteristic #9: It Makes Life Difficult for the Man of God - The genuine article, the true man of God will be discredited by the "savage wolves." We must be cautious of the strategy of the mega churches popping up about us. Does the church lose its spirit for God to bring in the spirit of the world? 2 Tim 3:2-4, 12-13.

Characteristic #10: It Impacts Those Who Have Not Taken Preventative Measures - The pooling of ignorance just feels better than the hard truth. The strong current of apostasy pulls us in the wrong direction. If we take a passive stance, then we allow ourselves to be drawn away from the truth. Riding the current of apostasy is not like shooting the rapids. It's never that obvious. Even the true man of God can slip into that easy flow. When we're pulled away from the truth, we must call for help, aggressively move to the shoreline, use tools God gave us to thwart the river's torrent. Our tools are commands of the New Testament:

• Study God's word (2 Tim. 2:15, 3:17).
• Test all things using discernment (1 Thess. 5:21).
• Renew the mind (Rom. 12:2). Don't conform to the easy flowing trend, but transform through the intake of divine truth.
• Put on the full armor of God (Eph.6).
• Contend earnestly for the faith--and truth (Jude 3). Know what you believe and why you believe it.

In summary, we can stand against the onslaught of apostasy in our churches today if we obey the New Testament Commands.

Thanks, Andy, for another challenging message! We all look forward to your next visit from Texas.

IT'S OFFICIAL!!

Yesterday I received the check from Chicken Soup for the Soul! It's official!! I can now legally call myself a freelance writer!

• How exciting to know that friends across the U.S. are reading my story! Former co-worker Tina Castillo put this photo on her Facebook page and sent it to me, with a notation, "Look what I just picked up!" She's now in Dayton, OH attending law school. She gave me a coffee mug covered with images of cats. And how timely...she presented it to me the same day I received the e-mail from Chicken Soup stating they were considering my story. What a blessing to know others share in my joy.

• The book signing idea seems to be dwindling. With Tom working on home renovations, it's doubtful I'll be able to have a signing at my house. I'd hoped to have something on September 28th, since my office was closed that day, but instead spent twelve hours working on the White Rose Publishing novella. On the evening if 26th, I discovered the story was five thousand words short of the contest rules and had little time to fix it. My real estate renewal exam was also due on September 30th--the same deadline as Hearts Crossing. Yikes! I felt a wee bit under pressure that week. I submitted the novella on September 29th, passed my real estate exam on September 30th, and still had to go to work on October 1st. Tired, but relieved that all my obligations were completed.
• I'm sure I can come up with more stories about Sammy, Mandi, Sebastian, Squeakette, Pixie, and Feathers. How many cat-lover books are there, anyway? Or maybe I'll write about my wonderful husband, who has been so supportive of my writing endeavors. And, of course, being paid gives me more credibility with Tom. B-)
• Or maybe I'll get back to Obedient Heart. Jack McGowan and Jennifer Ryaan have been waiting patiently inside my computer for me to come back to them. The acquisitions editor at Tyndale House said she liked the story, but it didn't have a strong enough hook to sell it to her marketing personnel. Would she have appreciated it if I'd sent her a fishing hook with a gummy worm on it? Hmmm....maybe not.
• Until next posting....May God richly bless you!

At last, the day has come!

I'm bubbling over with excitement! UPS delivered the box of my ten copies of Chicken Soup for the Soul What I Learned from the Cat yesterday evening. It's now available in book stores everywhere. Look for my story, Romeow and JuliCat, on page 301. The cat on the cover bears a strong resemblance to my Feathers. I wonder if she's been modeling on the side? Instead of spending yesterday evening writing, I labored over making a T-shirt with the book cover, the title of my story, and a photograph of Sebastian (Mr. Romeow himself) on the front. I'm wearing it today, with a blouse over it. (Can't be in a law office wearing a white iron-on T-shirt!) I found the Avery iron-on kit at Office Depot on my way home from the FWA meeting on Saturday. Then stopped at Walgreen's where they have T-shirts 5/$10. I didn't know my HP printer has a mirror image selection to print everything backward so it comes out frontward when you iron it onto the shirt (or hat, or tote bag, or...). Cool...but a bit scary. Two people at my office have read my story so far. I hope it prompts them to buy a copy for themselves. One co-worker said he'll buy several for Christmas gifts. Great idea! I've already posted a review on Barnes & Noble. Check it out, too! http://my.barnesandnoble.com/communityportal/Review.aspx?page=Review&reviewid=1217061 If my friends buy copies of the book and want me to have a book signing, I'll host a special Book Signing Tea at my house one Saturday afternoon. Date & Time TBA. Or maybe on Monday, 9-28-09, since my office is closed that day for Yom Kippur. If that would be more convenient, let me know!

Fearless by Max Lucado Released Today!

The by-line of this title is: Imagine Your Life Without Fear. I never imagined my life without fear because fear has been my constant companion. I cling to my fears, phobias, and frets because they are, after all, legitimate. Or so I thought until reading FEARLESS by Max Lucado. Some fear, Lucado points out, is good. Not stepping in front of an oncoming truck for fear of being run over is acceptable. But our uninvited Loch Ness monsters are not.

Fears, like vampires, can't live in the light. When we expose them to our trust in Christ, they scamper away, seeking their dark hiding places.

Max explains that there's a difference between prudence and paranoia. Prudence being caution, but paranoia being the obsessive side of our fear. Example: Prudence washes with soap. Paranoia avoids all human contact. Christ warned that things will get worse, but admonished us not to be alarmed. We can trust in Him to carry us through any calamity.

To my delight, there is a Discussion Guide in the back of the book. This makes a great tool for the Professional Women's Bible Study that I attend every Friday morning before work. I'll certainly recommend it to Grace, our study leader.

FEARLESS by Max Lucado gets five big stars in my review of this excellent reminder to put our faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, and kick our "hell-hatched, joy-stealing" anxieties to the curb!

Book Review - "Rick & Bubba's Guide" Published by Thomas Nelson

Wondering what to give that special couple for a wedding gift? Or anniversary gift? Traditionally, the appropriate gift for the first wedding anniversary is paper. What better use of paper than Rick & Bubba's Guide to the Almost Nearly Perfect Marriage? This book, co-written by Martha Bolton (former comedy writer for Bob Hope), isn't your typical, dry lecture on how to have a happy marriage. I always thought a study in Proverbs 31 and/or Ephesians 5 was good enough. But Rick & Bubba's Guide incorporate these two Biblical references into life applications with amusing stories of their own experiences. And for Rick and Sherry to give us an insight into the horror of losing a child is, in my opinion, worth the price of the book. Theirs might be the only marriage I know of that has survived that tragic loss. I pray their faith in Christ will continue to carry them forward. I highly recommend this guide, although their wives Sherry and Betty should be held accountable for allowing the secretive Book of Blame to fall under Rick & Bubba's curious eyes. :-) (See the Bonus Chapter.)

Hearts Crossing - A Work in Progress

Just a quick note to let my friends know I haven't fallen off the face of the earth. I've been busy, busy, busy furiously writing my new novella, Hearts Crossing, for the White Rose Publishing contest.

Travis Clark asks his best friend, "Am I the only career criminal who has never broken the law?" Faced with a student's accusations, he must contend with a past indiscretion that has come to haunt him.

Bailey St. John thought she'd finally found the man of her dreams. But her image of Travis is dashed as her best friend, watching the news report, asks, "Bailey, is your new beau a perv?"

More to come! B-)

New Adventures on the Horizon!

Having a story accepted by Chicken Soup for the Soul has pumped up my writing energy! Look for my piece, Romeow & Julie Cat, in Chicken Soup for the Soul - Lessons Learned From the Cat, which will be available September 22, 2009. It's a true account of when my tuxedo cat, Sebastian, fell in love with the femme feline next door.

I've set aside my current novel, "Obedient Heart," to enter White Rose Publishing's writing contest. It's a 25,000 word paint-by-number novel, and the cover here says it all. White Rose has set the parameters of the story: it's set in contemporary times, the characters must look like the couple on the cover, he's an English teacher, and she's a landscape architect. He's one of eight children, and she's an only child. He's lost his faith, and she's beginning to doubt hers. White Rose allows some creative freedom; like naming the characters, choosing what grade the man teaches, and the reason for their diminished faith. Oh, and the man has a deep, dark secret! OooEEEooo. The prize is a publishing contract with White Rose. B-)

I've written five chapters and am already emotionally attached to the two main characters.

So...watch for the adventures of Travis Clark and Bailey St. John as they meet, fall in love, have a spat, break up, and reconcile, all while fighting a yet-to-be-named foe.

Jack and Jennifer, of "Obedient Heart," have agreed to take a break from my constant editing of their story, to give new life to Travis and Bailey. No, I don't have imaginary friends. But one of the many things I've learned as a writer is that our characters come to life and seem to develop their own personalities. I found that to be true with characters in plays, too, way back when I performed in the theatre.

Keep me in your prayers as I move forward with a new story and--dare I say it?--hope for a publishing contract?