“How do we most glorify God? By being completely satisfied in Him, realizing that the neediness we have is designed by our Creator in order to be fulfilled by Jesus. ” Satisfaction for a Thirsty Soul, by Jake Riddle
“Wait on God and He will work, but don’t wait in spiritual sulks because you cannot see an inch in front of you! Are we detached enough from our spiritual hysterics to wait on God? To wait is not to sit with folded hands, but to learn to do what we are told.” (Oswald Chambers, quoted at ochristian.com)
“Inadequacy can be one of the best blessings in your life if you respond properly.” The Good Side of Inadequacy, audio message by Dr. Charles Stanley (Do take 25 minutes and listen to this…)
I was glad when they said to me,
“Let us go to the house of the Lord.” Psalm 122:1, NLT*
Last Saturday night, thinking about church in the morning, I quoted this verse with a kind of self-mocking regret. It’s not how I’ve felt about attending in a long time. I go, but there’s no gladness to it.
A few minutes later, I climbed into bed and turned to where I’d left off in A Long Obedience in the Same Direction. You can guess which verse was top of the page. Zing!
I stopped to think about what it meant. The house of the LORD. Not a place where a group of mismatched people gather.
It’s about God – not about them, us or me. About honouring and worshipping the One who created and redeemed us. The One who still has a purpose for us, if we’ll get out of our own way and follow Him.
I know “church” isn’t a building. It’s the body of believers who are the “house” of the Lord. And I know His Spirit dwells in each of us and we don’t need to be with others to worship (although Hebrews 10:25 says not to give up meeting together).
But I’m challenged to make attending church more than habit or duty. More than a grim choice, acting in trust that God will do something. I’m reminded to see it as going to meet with God and worship Him.
That’s a radical attitude refresher. It means not only getting enough rest on Saturday night, but preparing my heart for Sunday. Praying for the leaders, for the service, for God to prompt folks to attend. Fixing my eyes and heart on God, not on congregational issues. It even affects the care I take with my appearance.
How did Sunday morning go this week? My heart was different. I served more willingly, remembering who I was really serving. I heard God in the message. While I can’t say I felt worship, I did worship. And I didn’t come home depressed, because I’d been looking upward instead of horizontally.
Holy God, You call us to worship alone and corporately, not because You need affirmation but because it builds our faith. It reminds us of who You are and of Your love for us. Thank You for not letting us settle into negative ruts. Continue to prune, shape and guide us into followers worthy of Your Name. Make us useful and joyful for Your Kingdom.
∞
Let Matt Redman’s song, “Here for You,” remind us why we gather to worship.
Want to know why? Or, if you’re a fiction writer, do you find ways to release real-life frustration in your stories? Pop by James Callan’s The Author’s Blog to read my guest post and leave a comment. One commenter will win a copy of Secrets and Lies.
Thank you to everyone who gave input on the title choices and summary blurb for Redemption’s Edge #3. I’ve closed the poll, and the final results in the title vote are as follows:
Thank you to Polldaddy, my poll host.
And the title I’ve chosen is (insert drumroll here)
Without Proof
Confession time: I did not see this coming. I actually prepared this post to announce Dangerous Questions as the one I thought best fit the novel. Until I did a little chart that I can’t show you, listing five plot threads and ticking how many each title matched. Without Proof matched all five. My only hesitation with this title is that it sounds vaguely like legal fiction.
The back cover summary isn’t yet finalized, but it’ll be something like this:
“Asking questions could cost your life.”
Two years after the plane crash that killed her fiancé, Amy Silver has fallen for his best friend, artist Michael Stratton. When a local reporter claims the small aircraft may have been sabotaged, it reopens Amy’s grief.
Anonymous warnings and threats are her only proof that the tragedy was deliberate. Amy has nowhere to turn. The authorities don’t believe her, God is not an option, and Michael’s protection is starting to feel like a cage.
I’m considering adding a closing question to tie into the title, but perhaps it’s implied in the final sentences.
Wait for the Lord;
be strong and take heart
and wait for the Lord. Psalm 27:14, NIV*
Waiting. It’s a challenge. We who hope in God wait for Him to act, to speak, to comfort.
There’s an element of strain in that. “When, Lord? How long?”
When we give in to that strain, we miss part of the waiting. We miss simply waiting for (or with) God. Being with Him, even when we can’t sense His presence. He’s with us – He promised, and we can depend on that, whatever we feel.
His timing won’t speed up if we’re peering at the horizon and begging, “Are we there yet?” I’m learning that when I do that, I miss what He has for me in the now. Maybe it’s rest. Maybe it’s a quiet word He wants to drop into my spirit. It could be an opportunity I’ll miss if I’m looking too far ahead.
Most of all, I miss His presence. Especially in the stressful times, His presence is subtle, easy to miss. And it’s what I most need.
Quieting ourselves before God, entrusting our needs to Him and abiding in Him, is trust. It’s an act of worship. It honours Him for who He is, not for what He can do for us.
Our God, You see our hurts, needs and fears. Yes, we need Your intervention, and we pray for Your help. Forgive us when we come clamouring to You with requests without taking time to appreciate You for who You are. Whisper into our spirits and teach us to worship You in trust and adoration. Help us set our hearts on You, no matter what goes on in and around us. You are our greatest treasure and our deepest need.
If you haven’t read the first two novels in the Port Aster Secrets series, don’t read this review or you’ll find spoilers for those stories. Desperate Measures concludes the over-arching plot threads about the drug company that has been after Kate because of her father. It also completes the romance between Kate Adams and Detective Tom Parker.
Desperate Measures picks up where Blind Trust left off. Kate is angry with Tom about the choices he made to protect her, and she’s back to acting on her own, hiding plants from the drug company and trying to find out what makes the plants so valuable. She becomes so invested in her project that she’ll take any kind of risk to keep working on it.
Tom, meanwhile, is trying to find a missing youth while keeping an unofficial eye on Kate. He doesn’t trust her research assistant’s boyfriend, or the shady character who’s back from book one.
This entire series is well-crafted. Deadly Devotion and Blind Trust have both won awards, and Desperate Measures is likely to continue that trend. The writing is strong, the characters complex, and the tension is high.
I did find the wrap-up a touch confusing. There were a few additional players beside the drug company and I wasn’t sure how they all fit together. I did read the ebook, so I should have used the search feature to go back and orient myself. I also found Kate’s “desperate measures” a bit trying to my patience, but her behaviour was true to her character, based on all the stress that pushed her to that point.
Sandra Orchard is an award-winning, Canadian author of Christian romantic suspense. I hope we’ll see another long-format series from her like this one. She also writes shorter novels for the Love Inspired Suspense line. For more about the author and to check out her book bonus features, visit her website: sandraorchard.com.
My working title for Redemption’s Edge #3 was No Safe Place, but early feedback said it sounded like a chase novel or a witness protection story. Since it’s neither, I’ve done a Marvin the Martian and gone “back to the old drawing board.”
I’ve considered over 50 titles so far, some downright horrible, lots in the middle, and some I really liked that were already over-used.
Below are my top 5 for your input, but first, here’s my latest draft of the back cover blurb to give some context. I’ve struggled with this blurb all week, and I’m sure the wording will change again before it’s final. As well as the suspense, it needs to convey “Christian romantic suspense.”
“Asking questions could get you killed.”
Amy Silver survived the plane crash that killed her fiancé, and found refuge with his best friend, artist Michael Stratton. Falling for Michael was unexpected, and his faith is out of her reach.
Was the small aircraft sabotaged? Anonymous warnings and threats are Amy’s only proof. The authorities don’t believe her, and Michael’s protection is starting to feel like a cage. Pushing his boundaries is not the way to win his heart, but Amy wants answers.
EDITED JULY 11: revised blurb:
“Asking questions could cost your life.”
Two years after the plane crash that killed her fiancé, Amy Silver has fallen for his best friend, artist Michael Stratton. When a local reporter claims the small aircraft may have been sabotaged, it reopens Amy’s grief.
Anonymous warnings and threats are her only proof that the tragedy was no accident. Amy has nowhere to turn. The authorities don’t believe her, God is not an option, and Michael’s protection is starting to feel like a cage.
[polldaddy poll=8972696]
If you have any comments (especially if something about the blurb confuses you!) please leave them below. Thanks!
“Didn’t I see you out there in the olive grove with Jesus?”
Again Peter denied it. And immediately a rooster crowed. John 18:26b-27, NLT*
Peter loved Jesus. I’m sure he wholeheartedly meant his earlier vow that he’d never deny his Lord. (Matthew 26:31-35)
Yet here he was, doing that very thing. Matthew’s account says Peter’s denial was so intense it involved cursing. And that when the rooster crowed and he realized what he’d done, he fled, “weeping bitterly.” (Matthew 26:69-75)
Why did he do it? Was he afraid? Or was he trying to stay “under cover” in case there was a chance to rescue Jesus?
Whatever his motivation, Peter’s denial came because he was acting on his own initiative and in his own strength.
Isn’t that when we get into trouble, too?
Trust in the Lord with all your heart;
do not depend on your own understanding.
Seek his will in all you do,
and he will show you which path to take. Proverbs 3:5-6, NLT*
Our best intentions can blow up in our faces. Peter’s experience reminds us how important it is to learn to listen to and rely on the Lord. He also reminds us of Jesus’ loving forgiveness when we mess up (see John 21).
Our God and Saviour, Your grace to forgive is beyond our understanding, but we receive it gladly and we rely on it often. Teach us to walk closer to You, to trust You instead of ourselves. Slow us down to listen before we leap. Make us people after Your own heart.
Recipe For Murder (Cozy Crumb Mystery Series Book 1), by Lisa Harris (Lisa Harris, 2013)
When retired cooking instructor Pricilla Crumb steps in as chef at her son’s hunting lodge, she’s hoping to spend time with him and perhaps work herself into a job. Truth told, she also has matchmaking on her mind, having invited her friend Max and his single, charming daughter.
What she’s not expecting is murder.
When one of the guests dies, Pricilla involves herself in the investigation. Max appoints himself as her protector, with matchmaking ideas of his own. He needs to keep Pricilla safe long enough to discover if they have a chance at a relationship, themselves.
Pricilla is your typical, amateur sleuth, thinking she can take on a murderer. For all the mistakes she makes along the way, she does turn up information that helps solve the case.
It’s interesting to watch characters in their 60’s begin to navigate the complexities of a new relationship. We’ll have to read the rest of the series to see how Max and Pricilla tackle what will be a long-distance relationship (and she doesn’t even use email).
I found the delivery a little slow, and Pricilla would annoy me if I lived with her. She’s a kind person, though, with a concern for people’s spiritual needs as well as their physical comfort. And she’s an amazing cook.
Recipe for Murder is a cozy mystery that’s good for an easy read without a lot of tension. Sometimes that’s exactly what we need.
Award-winning Lisa Harris also writes higher-stakes romantic suspense, including her Southern Crimes series. Her website is presently under renovations but she’s still active on her blog: myblogintheheartofafrica.blogspot.ca. I received my ebook copy of Recipe for Murder for free by signing up for her author newsletter, which you can do on her blog. The rest of the Cozy Crumb Mystery Series is available through the regular online booksellers.
Some of us like teamwork, and others prefer to work alone. As an introvert – and a writer – I’m used to solitary efforts. Even there, it’s good to know I’m connected to friends and co-labourers. We need one another, for support, encouragement, and perspective.
I took this photo when my husband and I were in Saint John, NB, in May. These volunteers worked together to repaint the city’s Marigolds Mural and turn it back into a feast of colours for locals and tourists to enjoy.
Nobody’d want to do the whole thing, but together 150+ volunteers did it in a day. I don’t think any of them were professional artists. It doesn’t matter. They saw a need, and they met it. (You can read CBC’s coverage here: Marigold mural revived in Saint John.)
Here’s more of the wall:
What could you or I do, that may not seem like much but could be part of a greater whole? Little contributions add up.
