Summary: When super-powered eco-terrorist Tempest attacks an oil rig, the equally powered Hand of the Morningstar team fly in to save lives and put a stop to Tempest’s mayhem. As the world praises the team, the superheroes redirect the world’s attention to their mysterious and supernatural leader, the Morning Star, the person with a plan to save the world.

Review: I’m just going to spoil the review up front and say that I absolutely love this series! The series is an eight volume story that is highly character driven, filled with awesome super-powered fights, and a theological subtext that brought me to tears a number of times.

The book was originally written by Brett Burner and Mike Miller, with the art being drawn by Mike Miller as well. As the series progressed, Miller dropped off and newcomer Eric Ninaltowski took over the art and Ben Avery also joined the writing team. Usually a change in the creative team (although Burner stayed on the series throughout) is never a good sign, but all eight of the titles were written and drawn well.

The graphic novel series bogged down a little during volumes four and five, but that’s really my only complaint.

Hand of the Morningstar is a complex super-hero story. The heroes aren’t all heroes. Some of the bad guys use language and phrases like a church-going person might use . . . and that’s terrifying. We’re exposed to a wonderful love story, and exploration on truth and deception, redemption, damnation and the ultimate source of power. Fans of comics, superheroes, complex characters and action absolutely need to check out these books.

The books are appropriate for junior high levels and up. Take a peak at the trailer for the series:

Rating: 5/5 (I loved it)

The graphic novels were a part of the “Z Graphic Novels” line which was very poorly publicized and many readers had a very difficult time finding and buying all the books in the series. Because of this, I’ve listed all the titles, in order, here.

This was an important episode for us. Brian Godawa graciously allowed the Untold Podcast to produce a portion of his book and present it as a stand alone story (which required some slight modifications).
I actually heard an interview with Godawa a few months ago on the Spirit Blade Underground Podcast. I went to his website, paid for a video seminar on Christians and the genre of horror, then bought his book Noah Primeval. After reading the book I sent him an e-mail thanking him for writing it, and exchanged a few thoughts about the genre of horror.

A few days later, I decided to be bold and asked him if he had any short stories we could use on the show.

He didn't.

But he did offer up the possibility of producing a chapter or two from Noah. I declined, because I wanted the podcast to contain stand alone stories only. The wheels were turning, though, so I went through Noah again and found a section I thought could work and Godawa agreed.

Now, I think the episode worked pretty well as a stand alone story (the main tension of Noah's belligerence and imprisonment is resolved), but I don't think I want to regularly pull stories out of larger novels.

It worked this time and I think it has helped increase the traffic to the podcast. And I was thrilled to have a larger name like Brian Godawa connected to the project!

Listen to it here if you haven't already! And be sure to share it on twitter, blog about it, facebook it . . . spread the goodness!

Summary: Jamie Burroughs, a suburban insurance salesman has been making a series of bad moral decisions. On the verge of cheating on his wife, he is assaulted by an angel-masked man and awakens inside a dark labyrinth. And while he may be the only human inside the maze . . . he’s not alone. Jamie must find a way to escape the maze – built around his vices – to not just save his life, but the lives of his wife and son as well.

Review: I almost want to categorize The Maze as a spiritual allegory. But that would be over-simplifying Jason Brannon’s supernatural suspense novel. The backdrop of the story focuses on Jamie’s spiritual fight against his own sinful desires (the flesh), but there are also strong themes of family drama, interpersonal conflict and spiritual warfare that undergird the narrative.

Brannon has created a very unique world in the Maze that infuses mythological Greek characters into the Christian worldview he presents. And it works well.

I had a few qualms with the book, however. First, the pacing of the book right after Jamie enters the maze began to get really slow. At one point I wondered if the rest of the book was going to consist of Jamie wandering from room to room, repenting of his sins, then moving to the next room. Fortunately, this is not the case, and the pace picks up as soon as he encounters the Minotaur face to face. Additionally, there were a few moments where Brannon deflated the tension of the story a little too quickly. And at times Jamie’s transgressions felt a bit too generic, rather than the harmful sins they actually were.

But The Maze is a great supernatural thriller. Fans of speculative fiction and contemporary supernatural drama (infused with a touch of horror) will really enjoy the book. I would also recommend the novel to individuals who need to get a good picture of the effects of their harmful desires, and the constant battle it takes to overcome them.

On a last note, while the novel has a very satisfying ending and works well as a stand alone book, Brannon leaves open the possibilities for a sequel and I really hope to see one (especially if it focuses on one of the antagonists as the main character)! I’ll be one of the first in line to read it!

Rating: 4/5 Stars (I really liked it)

(Only $1.00 on Kindle!)

Preaching Idea: "What you do with God determines what he does with you." 1 Samuel 2:12-4:1

Meme: "Fast and Party"
© 2013 Juli Woodgerd


Feel free to pin them, post them and share them as much as you want. Just don’t change, sell or adapt them.

I'm pretty sure I will never be playing heavy metal before or after a church service at the Orchard Church . . . or probably any church for that matter.

This past weekend the sermon text was Psalm 20. It was a prayer before battle. It was a prayer for victory from the hand of Yahweh. It was a heavy-metal prayer.

Now, I like nearly every genre of music you can think of: opera, classical, folk, alternative, bluegrass, jazz, electronic, techno, hip-hop, rock, pop, gospel, blues, and on and on and on. They each have their place.

But this past week's sermon where King David prophesies that the people of God will "Rise and stand firm" in the name of Yahweh . . . that was just a heavy metal sort of song to me.

So, in the interest of full disclosure, all last week I had the soundtrack of The Dark Knight Rises (get it?), music from the Christian heavy metal groups Becoming the Archetype and The Showdown running through my stereo! (Pray for the church secretary.)

This song in particular would not leave my thoughts:

(It of course relies heavily on metaphor! Get the album here.)

Some well-meaning folks would say that I should have played this song at some point around the sermon . . . because, after all, it moves and inspires me. But I wouldn't. No way. No how.

There's nothing wrong with the song. There's nothing inherently wrong with heavy metal. But I was called to pastor the church . . . not try and conform it to my tastes and preferences. I was called to disciple the church which means, in whatever context, I need to adapt my leadership to effectively lead the congregation to a deeper walk with the Lord Jesus Christ. And that has nothing to do with my own tastes.

I'm not interested in having a church filled with sci-fi geeks, book lovers, Shakespeare reading, blog-obsessed, heavy metal listening people.

I'm interested in making disciples of Jesus Christ.

So, whether anyone knew it or not*, this past Sunday's message was a heavy metal sermon.

You can hear it (sans-screaming) here.


*My wife knew. And you can pray for her too!

It seems to me that during tragedies Psalm 7 is a good text to pray through.

During these times of national and personal calamities we experience a plethora of emotions. We feel scared for our safety. We feel anger toward those who committed the evil. We feel vulnerable. We want justice. We want answers. We ask: “Why?”

Today, like so many other days, none of us have answers to satisfy our aching hearts. But we can pray. Please pray with me today this prayer adapted from Psalm 7. I think this psalm covers a wide range of our emotions today.

Pray:

Lord, God we seek protection from you,
keep us safe from violent people.
Rescue us. Rescue Boston. Rescue our country.

Lord, this was evil and we’re scared.
But we’re also angry that this happened.

We know that evil acts also anger you
because you love justice.
Please let justice come swiftly,
and peace return to the injured,
the families of the dead,
the city of Boston,
and our country.

Be our shield and protection.
Everything you do is right.
Search me, search us
and transform us into upright people in Jesus Christ.

We turn away from our selfishness,
and turn our hearts, minds and souls to you.

Bring your justice quick.
Let those who seek to do evil,
be undone by their own schemes.

Thank you Lord.
Fill us with the hope that even though it doesn’t seem like it
in Jesus,
every wrong will be made right.
Amen.  



Psalm 7

A Shiggaion of David, which he sang to the Lord concerning the words of Cush, a Benjaminite.

Yahweh my God, I seek refuge in You;
save me from all my pursuers
and rescue me
or they will tear me like a lion,
ripping me apart with no one to rescue me.

Yahweh my God, if I have done this,
if there is injustice on my hands,
if I have done harm to one at peace
with me
or have plundered my adversary
without cause,
may an enemy pursue
and overtake me;
may he trample me to the ground
and leave my honor in the dust.  Selah

Rise up, Lord, in Your anger;
lift Yourself up against the fury
of my adversaries;
awake for me;
You have ordained a judgment.
Let the assembly of peoples gather around You;
take Your seat on high over it.

The Lord judges the peoples;
vindicate me, Lord,
according to my righteousness
and my integrity.

Let the evil of the wicked come
to an end,
but establish the righteous.
The One who examines the thoughts
and emotions is a righteous God.
My shield is with God,
who saves the upright in heart.
God is a righteous judge
and a God who shows His wrath
every day.

If anyone does not repent,
God will sharpen His sword;
He has strung His bow
and made it ready.
He has prepared His deadly weapons;
He tips His arrows with fire.

See, the wicked one is pregnant with evil,
conceives trouble, and gives birth
to deceit.
He dug a pit and hollowed it out
but fell into the hole he had made.
His trouble comes back
on his own head,
and his violence falls on the top
of his head.

I will thank the Lord for His righteousness;
I will sing about the name of Yahweh
the Most High.

Undoubtedly, you've heard about the Atlanta, Georgia public school cheating scandal.

As CNN Reports:

The cheating dated back all the way to 2001. And it became a normal task in the Atlanta Public Schools.

While the courts need to be allowed to make judgments in this case, I have one question: How could this have happened?

Didn't someone think this was wrong? Why didn't someone try and blow the whistle on this earlier?

I don't have an answer. I wasn't there and I'm not terribly interested in researching the topic. But one thing occurred to me while I was thinking through this news story. Do teachers have to take a professional ethics class as a part of their education and certification?

I asked my wife about this because she has been a licensed elementary teacher in New York, California and Michigan. And in her education, there was no ethics class for her major.

Now, I don't know if other colleges or states require an ethics class for primary or secondary teachers, but they should! Almost every other profession I can think of requires some sort of ethics class and/or training. Pastors, lawyers, doctors, many of the sciences, etc., all require professional ethics training as a part of their program.

Now, I'm not teacher-bashing here! I love teachers! My mother is a teacher at a public school and I married a public school teacher!

But it seems to me the teachers need to be given the tools of an ethics class, tailor-made for their profession, because right now the ethics of the Atlanta Public Schools consisted of doing whatever the superintendent wanted.

I'm wondering if any teachers reading this have had a professional ethics class or training. Do you have a different take on this story? (And you probably do have a better perspective than me!)

Summary: In a simple world recovering from a devastating war, the Taylor family tries to hold the family farm together after the long absence of their father. Then a boy with a jetpack crash-lands into the farm being chased by a massive robot left over from the war. In Visitor in the Field and Secrets of the Cell the mysteries of this boy, Jet Jones become intertwined in the Taylor’s family life and survival.

Review: Normally I would delve into the intricacies of plot and characterization, but anything beyond what I shared in the summary would  be treading into spoiler territory. I love these graphic novels. They are among my favorite.

Both drawn and written by the amazing Royden Lepp (David: The Shepherd’s Song), the first two volumes tell the story predominantly in images. It is a strength of these novels. Much of the emotion from the story comes from Lepp’s emotive and poignant art. Lepp’s art is incredibly unique and detailed.  

Lepp has created a world where prairie farms can successfully coexist with highly developed robot war machines. The real drama, however, comes from the Taylor family. During the devastating war, their father was drafted into the war, and years later he has not returned. His eldest son, Roman, still writes him a letter everyday, and those letters frame the entire story.

Anyone who enjoys graphic novels, phenomenal art, visual storytelling, family drama, robots, robot war machines, robot farmers or beautifully bound books should rush out to grab a copy of these books.

I cannot possibly recommend them enough!

Rating: 5/5 (I loved it)

Rust: Visitor in the Field
Rust: Secrets of the Cell

You can check out some of Royden Lepp’s art on his blog.

I just heard Eva Longria comment about how the majority of "dating show" marriages end in ruin and breakup. She further went on to say that her new show, Ready for Love  would be different because it would use professional matchmakers to bring together people who want to get married.

Well, ever since hearing that sound clip (and seeing the show promo) I really don't think there is anything different from this show and The Bachelor, The Bachelorette, Love in the Wild  or Battlestar Galactica! (Just kidding about that last one . . . I'm just making sure you're still reading!)

Sure, the process in this new show is different than the umpteen similar basic cable knock-off shows. But at their heart, these shows force the "contestants" to ask one question: "Which one of these people do I want to marry?"

Now, that might not seem like too bad of a question . . . but think about it in context of nearly every other dating relationship. Right before a person gets engaged, he or she isn't asking themselves, "Which one of these people do I want to marry?" No, we've spent some time with one person, and only one person, and ask ourselves "Do I want to marry this person?"

Do you see the difference?

The first question gives one person (usually the man) a number of options and he chooses the one that best suits himself. In the second question, however, the individual still must make a choice to commit him or herself to another person, but they are only making that decision about one person.

The dating show paradigm introduces an unhealthy and unfair precedent into the relationship: comparison. The decision to marry a person was arrived at via comparison to other persons.

The rest of us, certainly decided to initially pursue a relationship based on comparison . . . but by the time we came to the marital commitment we made our final decision based on the person and the person alone.

So, the foundation of the dating show is one of comparison and competition. The foundation of pretty much ever other marriage is based on commitment to an individual.

I'm not saying that it's impossible for dating show marriages to survive. But I am saying that they don't have a very strong foundation to start off with.

One last note: If the dating show paradigm was adopted into the everyday culture it would be correctly denounced as misogynistic (or whatever it would be called in the case of The Bachelorette), but we put it on television and it becomes "tender," "sweet," and "romantic."

What do you think? I'm not damning the shows . . . but I may be suggesting that we think of them as fictions a little lower than sci-fi. 

But am I totally off base here?

My wife and I share a love for the British TV show, Doctor Who. Actually my wife turned me onto the show, if you can believe it.

Recently, we’ve been going through some of the key episodes from the years of the ninth and the tenth Doctor. As the tenth Doctor’s time on the show nears an end I just re-watched one of the most tragic and personally terrifying stories I’ve ever experienced.

Spoilers (as River Song would say) are ahead.

One of the Doctor’s travelling companions, Donna, began her journeys with the Time Lord as a strong-willed, outspoken, self-important and somewhat mean-spirited woman. As she travelled with the Doctor, she became a better woman. She became compassionate and caring to others. She could selflessly put herself in harm’s way for the good of others. Donna became more intelligent as well. She hadn’t been stupid before, but she just refused to apply herself. She was lazy, and under the doctor she became wise. She was still, of course, strong-willed and outspoken . . . but these attributes became a force of good instead of selfishness.

She saved a peoples from perpetual slavery. She saved worlds. She saved the universe.

And then, in order to save her life, the Doctor had to wipe her memory of every second of her time with him. She went back to being a self-absorbed and mean-spirited woman.

To see all of Donna’s growth wiped out like that was among the most tragic, sorrow-filled events I’ve seen in a story. And it speaks strongly to the Christian life because we’ve all seen this sort of thing happen in real life.

We’ve seen self-centered men and women egoists transformed into selfless, wise, and compassionate persons as they travelled with the Great Doctor, Jesus. These men and women became wise, they led others away from slavery to sin and to freedom in Jesus. They loved others, changed lives and brought beauty into the world around them.

And then it all fell apart. They made a decision. They stole. They lied. They hurt people.

They acted just like they had before they had met the Great Doctor. And it was tragic.

This scene terrifies me, though, because as much as I would never want to back-slide and return to a life apart from my Lord . . . I cannot pretend that I am so good that I will never go back to a life characterized by sin.

Donna’s story is tragic and horrifying.

For me, as a Christ-follower, I hold onto the words of the Apostle Paul to young Timothy. He instructed him to always be "having faith and a good conscience. Some have rejected these and have suffered the shipwreck of their faith" (1 Timothy 1:19 HCSB). In other words, always be trusting in Christ and making God-honoring decisions . . . lest you destroy your own life and those around you.

Tragic, terrifying and horrible. Praise God for his forgiveness, empowerment and grace.


Watch the tragic scene here: