A Great Idea!

For today's entry, I'm copying a press release that I originally saw posted on Andra's blog HERE, and am using with permission. Marcher Lord Press is Jeff Gerke's baby, a publishing company that specializes in Christian Speculative Fiction. You can read more about it HERE.

Andra was invited to participate in the premise contest! Wahoo! Since this contest will go better with the more voters who are involved, if you feel led, please take a moment to register and vote in the contest. You can sign up by following this link HERE.

By the way, Andra already has an amazing book, A Reason to Hope, that you can find HERE. I'm sure her new stuff is just as compelling!

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Marcher Lord Press Announces Marcher Lord Select

(Colorado Springs, CO)--Marcher Lord Press, the premier publisher of Christian speculative fiction, today announces the debut of a revolution in fiction acquisitions.

"Marcher Lord Select is American Idol meets book acquisitions," says publisher Jeff Gerke. "We're presenting upwards of 40 completed manuscripts and letting 'the people' decide which one should be published."

The contest will proceed in phases, Gerke explains, in each subsequent round of which the voters will receive larger glimpses of the competing manuscripts.

The first phase will consist of no more than the book's title, genre, length, a 20-word premise, and a 100-word back cover copy teaser blurb. Voters will cut the entries from 40 to 20 based on these items alone.

"We want to show authors that getting published involves more than simply writing a great novel," Gerke says. "There are marketing skills to be developed--and you've got to hook the reader with a good premise."

Following rounds will provide voters with a 1-page synopsis, the first 500 words of the book, the first 30 pages of the book, and, in the final round, the first 60 pages of the book.

The manuscript receiving the most votes in the final round will be published by Marcher Lord Press in its Spring 2010 release list.

No portion of any contestant's mss. will be posted online, as MLP works to preserve the non-publication status of all contestants and entries.

Participating entrants have been contacted personally by Marcher Lord Press and are included in Marcher Lord Select by invitation only.

"We're also running a secondary contest," Gerke says. "The 'premise contest' is for those authors who have completed a Christian speculative fiction manuscript that fits within MLP guidelines and who have submitted their proposals to me through the Marcher Lord Press acquisitions portal before October 29, 2009."

The premise contest will allow voters to select the books that sound the best based on a 20-word premise, a 100-word back cover copy teaser blurb, and (possibly) the first 500 words of the book.

The premise contest entrants receiving the top three vote totals will receive priority acquisitions reading by MLP publisher Jeff Gerke.

"It's a way for virtually everyone to play, even those folks who didn't receive an invitation to compete in the primary Marcher Lord Select contest."

Marcher Lord Select officially begins on November 1, 2009, and runs until completion in January or February 2010. All voting and discussions and Marcher Lord Select activities will take place at The Anomaly forums in the Marcher Lord Select subforum. Free registration is required.

"In order for this to work as we're envisioning," Gerke says, "we need lots and lots of voters. So even if you're not a fan of Christian science fiction or fantasy, I'm sure you love letting your voice be heard about what constitutes good Christian fiction. So come on out and join the fun!"

Marcher Lord Press is a Colorado Springs-based independent publisher producing Christian speculative fiction exclusively. MLP was launched in fall of 2008 and is privately owned. Contact: Jeff Gerke; www.marcherlordpress.com.

The Small Things

Twice yesterday I was reminded of small actions people had done for me over the past year or so that were encouraging. As I reflect on the topic now while writing this blog entry, I can remember others.

I've been thinking: it's important to watch even the small things you do, because you don't know how they may affect others. Do all things well. Go the extra mile for the person who asks you for help, even if it seems little. You just don't know. The small actions that I smiled over today, might have seemed inconsequential but they weren't. They weren't.

I always loved this part of Paul's letter to the Philipians, when he thanks them for encouraging him in his ministry when no one else did. He calls these actions a fragrant offering.

Moreover, as you Philippians know, in the early days of your acquaintance with the gospel, when I set out from Macedonia, not one church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving, except you only; for even when I was in Thessalonica, you sent me aid again and again when I was in need. Not that I am looking for a gift, but I am looking for what may be credited to your account. I have received full payment and even more; I am amply supplied, now that I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent. They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God. And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. (Phil 4:15-19)

Piano Stairs

What was it that Mary Poppins sang? A spoonful of sugar?

This is a fun short that shows the importance of putting a smile into everything you do :-)

Last Words

Time can seem to move slowly, until you look back and are shocked at how much has passed by. The fact is, 70 years is about 25,567 days -- not an infinite number by any means. King David writes "Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom." (Psalms 90:12, NIV). Good advice.

I was thinking about this brevity of time, and what people have said when they come to the end of this world. Following are some last words, in no particular chronology. Some are funny, some sad, some thoughtful.

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I'll be in Hell before you start breakfast!
"Black Jack" Ketchum, notorious train robber

Now, now, my good man, this is no time for making enemies.
Voltaire (attributed), when asked by a priest to renounce Satan

Voltaire died a terrible death. His nurse said: "For all the money in Europe I wouldn’t want to see another unbeliever die! All night long he cried for forgiveness."

Don't worry...it's not loaded...
Terry Kath, rock musician in the band Chicago Transit Authority as he put the gun he was cleaning to his head and pulled the trigger.

Is someone hurt?
Robert F. Kennedy

Die, my dear? Why, that's the last thing I'll do!
Groucho Marx

Go on, get out! Last words are for fools who haven't said enough!
Karl Marx

I have a terrific headache.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt

I have not told half of what I saw.
Marco Polo

Since the day of my birth, my death began its walk. It is walking towards me, without hurrying.
Jean Cocteau

Dammit... Don't you dare ask God to help me.
Joan Crawford

Lord help my poor soul.
Edgar Allan Poe

I don't have the passion anymore, and so remember, it's better to burn out than to fade away. Peace, Love, Empathy.
Kurt Cobain. Kurt Cobain (in his suicide note)

It's very beautiful over there.
Thomas Edison

Now why did I do that?
General William Erskine, after he jumped from a window in Lisbon, Portugal in 1813

Don't worry, relax!
Rajiv Gandhi, Indian Prime Minister, to his security staff minutes before being killed by a suicide bomber attack.

LSD, 100 micrograms I.M.
Aldous Huxley
To his wife. She obliged and he was injected twice before his death.

Let me go to the Father's house.
Pope John Paul II

Jesus, I love you. Jesus, I love you.
Mother Teresa

Don't disturb my circles!
Archimedes

They couldn't hit an elephant at this distance.
General John Sedgwick, Union Commander in the U.S. Civil War, who was hit by sniper fire a few minutes after saying it

Crito, I owe a cock to Asclepius. Will you remember to pay the debt?
Socrates

My wallpaper and I are fighting a duel to the death. One or the other of us has to go.
Oscar Wilde

There are no more other worlds to conquer!
Alexander the Great

So, now all is gone—Empire, Body and Soul!
Henry the Eighth

Let us pass over the river, and rest under the shade of the trees.
Stonewall Jackson

I don't know what I may seem to the world. But as to myself I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the seashore and diverting myself now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than the ordinary, whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me.
Sir Isaac Newton

I have offended God and mankind because my work did not reach the quality it should have.
Leonardo Da Vinci

I desire to go to Hell and not to Heaven. In the former I shall enjoy the company of popes, kings and princes, while in the latter are only beggars, monks and apostles.
Niccolo Machiavelli

Why, yes! A bulletproof vest.
James Rodges, a murderer on being asked for a final request before a firing squad

On a wall in Austria a graffiti said,
"God is dead, --Nietzsche!"
Someone else wrote under it, "Nietzsche is dead! --God."

Go away...I'm all right.
H.G. Wells

I am about to, or I am going to, die; either expression is used.
Dominique Bouhours, French grammarian

I failed!
Jean Paul Sartre

O Allah! Pardon my sins. Yes, I come.
Mohammed the prophet

Now comes the mystery.
Henry Ward Beecher

What is life? It is the flash of a firefly in the night. It is the breath of a buffalo in the wintertime. It is the little shadow which runs across the grass and loses itself in the sunset.
Crowfoot, American Blackfoot Indian Orator

I have taken care of everything in the course of my life, only not for death, and now I have to die completely unprepared.
Cesare Borgia

I am in flames!
David Hume

It is very beautiful over there.
Thomas Edison

I am still in the land of the dying; I shall be in the land of the living soon.
John Newton, author of the hymn "Amazing Grace"

Up until this time, I thought that there was no God neither Hell. Now I know and feel that there are both, and I am delivered to perdition by the righteous judgment of the Almighty.
Sir Thomas Scott

A Chinese Communist, who delivered many Christians to their execution, came to a pastor and said: "I’ve seen many of you die. The Christians die differently. What is their secret?"

Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!
Stephen, the first Christian martyr

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HEAVEN
In childhood's days our thoughts of Heaven
Are pearly gates and streets of gold,
And all so very far away;
A place whose portals may unfold
To us, some far-off distant day.

But in the gathering of the years,
When life is in the fading leaf,
With eyes perchance bedimmed by tears,
And hearts oft overwhelmed with grief,
We look beyond the pearly gate,
Beyond the clouds of grief's dark night,
And see a place where loved ones wait,
Where all is blessedness and light.

And over all we see the face
Of Him who'll bring us to our own
Not to a far-off distant place,
For Heaven is, after all, just Home!

--Sue H. McLane

Reformation Day

Tomorrow, October 31, marks the 492nd anniversary of Martin Luther's posting his 95 theses to the door of Wittenberg Church in Germany in 1517. These theses were a reaction against what he saw as abuses of the Roman Catholic Church against Christianity, and were the catalyst that sparked the Protestant Reformation.

Most famously, Luther objected to the idea of selling indulgences -- defined by Wikipedia HERE:

"An indulgence, in Catholic Theology, is the full or partial remission of temporal punishment due for sins which have already been forgiven. The indulgence is granted by the church after the sinner has confessed and received absolution. The belief is that indulgences draw on the storehouse of merit acquired by Jesus' sacrifice and the virtues and penances of the saints.
They are granted for specific good works and prayers.

Indulgences replaced the severe penances of the early church. More exactly, they replaced the shortening of those penances that was allowed at the intercession of those imprisoned and those awaiting martyrdom for the faith."

Basically (as far as my understanding goes), the Catholic Church teaches that indulgences impart borrowed grace and therefore lessen the time that a person remains in Purgatory before being able to enter into Heaven. During the time of Luther, the Church sold these indulgences for money.

Luther promoted the idea of "Sola Scriptura," literally "only Scripture," the only basis by which we may understand God. He translated the Bible into German so that it would be accessible to everyone, not just clergy, since he considered all baptised Christians to be part of the holy priesthood. He taught that salvation is not from good works, but a free gift of God, received only by grace through faith in Jesus Christ as redeemer. His teachings challenged the Church's authority, and he was excommunicated in 1521.

Today Protestants do not believe in Purgatory, but that Christians at death enter directly into Heaven since sin was effectively and completely remitted at the cross. Protestants also do not accept the infallibility of the Pope as God's representative on Earth, nor the role of Mary as Co-Mediatrix.

Even so, there are many areas of theological agreement between Catholics and Protestants, most importantly regarding the centrality of Christ's death and resurrection as THE means of a person's redemption. These issues are important and well worth discussion, hopefully without the bloodshed and turmoil that characterized the fallout from the Reformation.

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I have a Catholic friend, Philangelus, who was kind enough to read this post last night. You can read her blog HERE, and I imagine she may be posting something on this topic today. She writes:

Defining an Indulgence:

If you break my window, you may come to me and apologize, and I may tell you that it's fine, and you'll still be my friend (that's the spiritual aspect of sin/reconciliation) but the window is still broken (that's the temporal aspect of sin.) Jesus's sacrifice enables us to be forgiven in all senses, of course. But there's still the temporal effects of sin on our souls that needs to be worked off, and that final purification takes place before we're allowed into the presence of God. That's what Purgatory is. An indulgence supposedly removes that or makes it happen eaiser or something. I don't quite get it myself.

On Selling Indulgences:

Indulgences were granted on the basis of certain prayers and good works (and one of the conditions, by the way, was being free of any attachment to sin!) Giving alms is a good deed, of course, and someone got the brilliant idea to attach an indulgence to it. You can see where someone who was unscrupulous would suddenly realize, "Hey! Gold mine! Er...*I* am a charity!" I can't imagine God is very pleased with that kind of garbage. :-b

On Salvation:

Catholicism also teaches that salvation is not from good works but a free gift of God. :-)

On Mary as Co-Mediatrix:

Martin Luther accepted the role of Mary. Sorry about that -- you may want to remove that part. (You want a link?)

NOTE: actually, I'd find this link interesting, since I have not heard this before and find it difficult to believe. Be that as it may, no matter what Luther or anyone else might have believed, I do not accept Mary as co-mediatrix based on my reading of the Word. Sorry, Philangelus.

Papal Infallibility:

Infallibility as a doctrine didn't exist for another few centuries.

And discussion between Protestants and Catholics:

It would be nice if we could have some actual dialogue between Protestantism and Catholicism. There's an awesome discussion going on over at one weblog I read yesterday, which ended up with one guy finally yielding in his fight and saying "Sola scriptura is now dead to me. I have no idea where that leaves me." Scary for him, I bet. :-( (That discussion is HERE,btw. http://cantuar.blogspot.com/2007/08/challenge-to-protestants-is-book-of.html There are a million comments, but they're amazing.)

I agree with Philangelus that we need discussion, not torpedoes. These are difficult issues, and important to sort out.

I'm afraid with this entry that I've opened a can of worms; once again, I'm rushing into a hard issue. Comments are gratefully appreciated, but please don't turn this into a firing ground. Truly, I wanted to just remember an important event that occurred on All Hallow's Eve.

In the Beginning...

I've been studying Genesis, and recently noted that God made light on the first day, but the sun, moon and stars on the fourth day.

I've been wondering about that. God is perpetual light, so that He wouldn't suddenly *become* light and divide it from dark.

What I'm thinking is this: any artist must choose his medium (oil paints and canvas for a painting, bronze for a sculpture, piano or trumpet for music) before he creates the piece. These media all have certain properties, certain advantages, and certain limitations. Since God created the universe, I wonder if He chose His *medium* that day to create this universe, the physical laws that must be in effect for the creation to come into being?

Does that make sense? Hmm, something to ponder anyway.

Epitaph in Bookish Style

Here's a poem by Ben Franklin. I love it!

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EPITAPH IN BOOKISH STYLE

The Body of

Benjamin Franklin

Printer

(Like the cover of an old book

Its contents torn out

And stript of its lettering and gilding)

Lies here, food for worms.

But the work shall not be lost

For it will (as he believed) appear once more

In a new and more elegant edition

Revised and corrected

by

The Author.