Author Archive: Chris

Impressions of Israel – Seeing the Bible come alive

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I continue to work on my book, Jesus Gets Hand-Me-Downs. One of the stories, Hannah Brings a Basket, is about the basket Moses was placed in before being set afloat on the Nile River.

Cattails I walked past today

Today, as I walked near my home, I spotted an area where cattails grow. New thoughts about the story bounced through my mind. Now I know cattails and bullrushes are not the same plants, but they are similar. Both are used to weave mats to sit or sleep on, baskets, sandals, etc.

Bulrushes are a better choice for a basket that needs to float on water because its spongy center is designed by God for that purpose. When Jochebed wove the basket to save her son, she covered it inside and out with tar and pitch. I think the purpose was more to keep the water from seeping in than to keep the basket on top of the water.

The inspiration of the cattails and the writing and editing on the story reminded me of how close God is to me at all times. I didn’t need to travel thousands of miles to remember His presence. It is right here and right now.

Halleluiah!

This story of Moses is in Exodus 2:1-10. More information on the differences between cattails and bulrushes can be found at https://www.askdifference.com/cattail-vs-bulrush/.

Impressions of Israel – Recipe

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Hummus

Any international travel includes a food-based experience. It seems every
country has at least one food specialty and most have more than one. While I
had heard of hummus my first experience tasting it was in Isreal.

Some foods are claimed as a specialty of more than one country. Hummus is
one such food as it is a basic staple throughout the Middle East. It can be
eaten as part of breakfast, lunch, or dinner or as a snack. Israel and Lebanon
have traded the Guinness World Record for the largest dish of hummus with the
most recent winner being Lebanon in May 2010 with a recipe including eight tons
of chickpeas (garbanzo beans), two tons of tahini, two tons of lemon juice, and
150 pounds of olive oil.

For those unfamiliar with hummus, it is a dip or spread eaten as a side dish
or with pita, vegetables, or bread. It is also eaten as an appetizer.
Considered to be a healthy food due to high levels of dietary fiber, protein,
vitamin B6, manganese, and other nutrients hummus is part of many lifestyle
meal plans.

Before he was my son-in-law, Cedar, worked for a missionary group in Israel
for four years. During that time, he enjoyed a lot of hummus. It has been said
a bachelor who does not like hummus cannot survive in Israel. When he returned
to the United States, he was unable to find a hummus he liked.

Cedar and Jennifer experimented with and tweaked an almost endless list of
hummus recipes to find one he liked.  Below is the final result.

Hummus

Bowl of hummus 1 15 oz. can garbanzo beans (or 2 cups cooked chickpeas)

2 cloves garlic, minced – optional

1/3 c. bean juice

¼ c tahini

2 tbsp. lemon juice

3 tbsp. olive oil

Salt to taste

Place all ingredients in a food processor or blender and process until
smooth and creamy.

Enjoy.

Share your favorite Hummus Recipe.

First Arrival

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Impressions from Israel

It was 2005 when Roy and I traveled to Israel for the first time. Roy had a lot of experience traveling outside the United States, but international travel was a new experience for me. We traveled with a dance group from our daughter’s church. Jennifer was a member of the Israeli Celebration Dancers.

I doubt it is unique to have some travel jitters. But I didn’t expect what happened when we landed in Tel Aviv.

As the plane touched down the passengers clapped and cheered. Was it the joy of being back on land or the joy of being in Israel? I’m still not sure.

Seats off kilter
I can’t let go!

Trouble attacked when it was time to leave the plane. I could not let go of the arms of my seat. Fear glued my hands in place. I refused to leave the plane until it returned to the United States.

I was terrified I would embarrass myself or my country. Not sure why or how, but I was sure the embarrassment was real.

Not even sure what that means.

Jennifer and her friend gently pried my fingers from the arm of the seat, while Roy reassured me. They held my hands as they guided me off the plane. Roy walked close behind us. I think he was there to support me, but it might have been to keep me from running back to my seat. We were the last to leave.

We returned to Israel three times since they helped me off the plane. All three times I felt like I was coming home.

Now, I view times of terror during new experiences as a barrier trying to prevent me from receiving a blessing.

As I write my book titled Jesus Gets Hand-Me-Downs, I find my impressions of Israel put me in touch with my characters in the story and my movement on the path to publication.

Happy Fourth of July from my heart to yours

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Fourth of JulyJuly 4, 2019
Celebrating the Birth of our Nation

As I prepare for the day with friends and family, I’m thinking and praying seriously about our country. Over the past few weeks I’ve been listening to a series of CDs from speakers at the Colorado Christian Writers Conference. Their words have brought focus to much I see as I look at all the news and rhetoric I hear. To quickly answer the first question the people I’ve talked about this ask, these presentations are not in support of any political agenda. They do not support either democrats or republicans.

The crisis in America is a spiritual battle, not a physical one. It is a battle taking place in the hearts of each person in this country. The level of anger, hate, selfishness and intolerance is tearing this country apart. One of the speakers, Michael Gantt, spoke of how this country is not being divided, it is disintegrating. Bruce Porter reminds us evil can only succeed when good men are silent (generally attributed to Edmund Burke).

One of the concepts most touching my heart was the battle for America will not be fought or won with physical weapons. It will be fought and won, or lost, in each individual heart. The first thing necessary is for those of us who want God’s love, grace, and wisdom to once more rule America to get more active. To do this we must spend time in the study of His holy word and to pray. Then we need to rise out of our prayer chambers and get to work—let our voices be heard. We must be prepared for the long and hard-fought battle.

One of our first battlefields must be taking back the education of our children. A serious look at what is being taught in the classrooms of today does not reveal either the democratic republic designed by our founders or the wisdom taught by our Lord. It is easy to look at this and say there is nothing we can do. But we can do a lot by getting involved. Many have chosen the route of getting their children out of the public school system. That doesn’t mean you can’t still try to change things for all the other children in this country. Go to school board meetings. Be vocal about what is important. Find a way to get on the curriculum committee.

We must also fight for the teaching of both adults and children in the church. It is estimated one third of the churches in America have chosen to turn away from the teaching of God’s Holy Word and teaching to “tickle the ears” of the congregation. Listen to the preacher/pastor/priest. Is he/she preaching in agreement with the Bible? Does he/she even teach from the Bible? If the answer if no, confront the leader of your church with God’s word. What is being taught in your church’s children’s program? Look at the curriculum. Is it based on God’s word? If not, is it what you want your child to learn? Take action. If you can’t convince your church to teach God’s word to both adults and children, find one that does.

Most of all, please, please pray and get involved in bringing the United States back to the Godly country it was created to be.

Guest Blog – Barb Haley

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Today I’m reposting a wonderful blog from my friend Barb Haley. She has some excellent non-fiction books. This is her wonderful debut novel.

Biz On the Go Now Available!

By Barb Haley on Jun 10, 2018 11:35 pm

What a wonderful day!  After more than 10 years, my first novel is finally available for purchase.

I’ve learned so much over the years about the craft of writing and how to make my book entertaining and worth your time. Biz is a unique character who has become one of my closest friends. Sounds weird, right? But it’s not. As I discovered many of Biz’s quirks and prayed to give her the right directions and answers, I found myself growing in the knowledge and love of the Lord.

Many say that an author’s first novel can be very similar to an autobiography. I think that’s probably accurate. Although I didn’t experience anything Biz did in her past or present life, I found much of my heart in Biz.

There have been so many times that publishers have expressed interest in publishing the book. They told me I was a strong writer and that the story idea was great. But the publishing world has changed drastically in the last few years. In order to be traditionally published today, an author is expected to build a huge platform—a list of at least 50,000 names and provide multiple opportunities in which to promote and sell the book. The author must be visible on all kinds of social media. No longer can we just write.

Last year, as I continued to work toward this goal, I began to wonder if I should really be spending such a tremendous hunk of my life pursuing my goal to be published. Was my writing touching anyone’s life as it remained, year after year, on my computer? Would God rather I spent this time involved in actual ministry to others through the church, Bible studies, etc.? 

I asked Him and as He so often did in the Bible, He turned the question back to me? “Barbie, if your book touches only one life in the whole scheme of things, do you think that would be enough for Me to have you spend all this time writing it?”

Of course. Jesus left the 99 sheep to save the one who had strayed. He was all about one-on-one relationships when He lived here on earth. 

The thought of Christ asking me to spend years for one soul brought me to tears of humility and gratitude. He filled me with peace and excitement as I returned to finish my book. But He wasn’t finished with the conversation.

He asked me again, “Would your time be worth it if your book touches and ministers to only ONE person?”

“Yes, Lord. Definitely.”

“Good,” He said. “Because that one person is YOU.”

Okay. A few tears turned to an anointed stream as the Holy Spirit revealed the depths of God’s love for me in that moment. Me. 

And as God’s love filled me to overflowing, all I could think of was how I could share His love with others … with you! 

I pray that Biz On the Gowill do just that. In this first book in the series “A Second Wind,” Biz struggles to trust God, especially when He seems silent so much of the time. But she opens her heart just a crack to test God’s love and the love of others. She risks being hurt as in the past. Life is tough, but through it all, Biz begins to understand how God can use her pain to help others … if she’s willing to take down her walls of protection in order to do so.

Can you identify with Biz? Do you know someone who is struggling with repressed pain? Deep sorrow buried since childhood? Drowning in a sea of hopeless disgust and self-hatred. Overwhelmed with questions about how and why a God who claims to be LOVE can even allow such horrendous situations to come about.

If so, I promise you this story will minister in a mighty way. Please read and share it with as many as possible.

Biz and I would love to have our second and third books traditionally published so many others can discover God’s unconditional and never-failing love, but in order to do that, we need your help. Would you consider becoming one of my team—praying for me and supporting me in the following ways as we work together to further God’s message?

  • Read Biz On the Go. 
  • Review the book on Amazon and on your Facebook page.
  • Recommend the book to everyone you can. Consider buying the book for others as a gift.
  • Go to my website at www.barbarahaleybooks.comto add your name to my email list. Ask others to sign up, too. I’ll send you occasional newsletters and updates on future books. And I will never pester you or give your information to anyone else.

So, I’m a bit embarrassed promoting my own work, here. But, NO! I’m not going there. It’s about the heart. I’m not in this to make money, but to use story (as Jesus did) to reveal God’s love. 

Thanks for listening and prayerfully considering signing on to support this ministry!

“I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God” (Ephesians 3:18-19).                                                    

In His love,

Barbie

From <https://mail.google.com/mail/u/1/#search/info%40barbarahaleybooks.com/163ede4c5018f6c3>