Also, this old timey hymn is the theme song of the fictional New Testament Fundamentalist Temple in my latest historical novel in The Sam Matijevic Series.
Bring Them In! : College, Churches, Cults
It’s the 1970s: Vietnam. Watergate. Energy crisis. War in the Middle East. Comet Kohoutek—the Comet of the Century. Doomsday prophets.
During these times, Pastor Bill Renfrew returns to his hometown of Colter, Montana. Fresh from Bible college, he’s confident that he knows more than anyone else, he’s smarter than anyone else, and he’s better than anyone else. And this college town is a target rich recruiting ground to build his Bible believing, Bible preaching, Bible teaching, fundamental, evangelical, pre-millennial, New Testament church.
Bring Them In!
After Samantha Matijevic enters Colter College, Pastor Renfrew snares this disoriented girl from a small town as well as vulnerable and naïve souls. Will Sam wise up and extract herself from this cult of pastor without destroying her faith?
The novel is available at amazon.com as paperback, Kindle, Kindle Unlimited:
And the title of my historical novel: Women breaking into aerospace in the 1980s meet men behaving badly.
It's 1984. The space shuttle Challenger is up in orbit. The Reagan administration is beefing up defense to fight the Evil Empire of Communism. And the Satellite Tracking Center, known as the S*T*C, is staffing up to meet those challenges.
Then the old boy network finds itself turned upside down when young professional women, such as Samantha Clark and Rosalind Hart, breach the male-dominated mission control teams inside the S*T*C. In the secrecy demanded in the classified world, how do Sam and Roz cope with men behaving badly? Will the women or the old boys break first?
Christmas 1984 rolls around.
Let's take a peek at the festivities inside the S*T*C.
In particular, the Mission Control Complex (MCC-F) where Sam works as a contractor for Celestia Space Corporation (known as CSC).
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Chapter SIXTY-THREE
The
week before Christmas and counting down to launch, CSC held their annual
Christmas party. Inside MCC-F, the customers, mostly the Air Force, were
invited to CSC’s Christmas lunch buffet in the SCIF.
So,
the feasting began.
Those
at the end of the line were the essential personnel, who had been running real-time
satellite passes at the start of brunch. And when their work was done, nothing
was left. The guests had eaten up the food which was calculated as ample enough
to feed the contractors.
“Great!”
Ned Gaubert on the two-side pouted after finishing a pass. “Our customer…the
Grinch…stole this Christmas!”
“Now,
Ned—” Paul Coleman started his mild scold. Then he saw the injustice of it all.
And PC agreed Ned had a point.
Ned
glared at the GC Randy Rowdy, who had a plate of food.
“Hey,”
Randy mumbled with a mouth full. “You got to look out for Number One, Ned.”
Ned
sneered. “Love your Christmas spirit.”
* * *
The
lunch buffet had cleared out of the SCIF. More fun ahead, it was time for the
crew to open presents from their secret Santas.
Rich
Kerry, tall and thin, wore a red Santa hat and fake white beard. He looked as
incongruous as Christmas in July.
Arye
smiled when he opened up his present from Sam. A customized Jewish Christmas
ornament, crafted from a wooden Star of David, with a fake sprig of holly in
the middle.
“Thanks
for the Messiah-mas ornament,” he said.
“And
I want to show you something.” Sam pulled out a thin book.
“Zlateh
the Goat, by Isaac Bashevis Singer.” Arye looked it over. “My favorite Hanukkah
story. My mother read me this when I was a kid.”
Sam
explained, “An old friend of mine—old as in senior citizen—gave me this when I
was thirteen.”
“For
your bas mitzvah?” Arye grinned.
“My
what?”
“It
would be a bar mitzvah if you were a guy. A bas
mitzvah is when you became a woman.”
“The
gentleman, who gave me this, helped me to grow up a lot. He’d be in his
eighties if he were alive.”
Sam
could see that the book touched Arye as he looked at the cover. “Thanks for
thinking of me this time of the year. It’s not easy being a Jew during
Christmas.”
“Hey,
Jesus was Jewish. He celebrated his bar mitzvah and Hanukah.”
Then
Rich called out the next present. “Rosa Martinez.”
“From
Doug?” Rosa looked apprehensive as she opened the package. “Chocolate colored
bikini underpants? And it says…oh, my—”
Doug
grabbed the card. “I want to eat these panties right off of you, my dear.”
“Of
all the nerve!” Rosa took her present and smacked him hard on the head with it.
Doug
leered back. “More S and M after the party, dear?”
Rosa
smacked him harder—several times—and no one stopped her.
Then
one by one, all the presents were given out.
Sam
asked Rich, “Is there anything…for me?”
Rich
shook his head.
Sam
stood still for the moment. Then she ran off to the women’s room to cry and
pull herself together.
* * *
Frank
Bustamonte was a quiet man. Yet he observed more than he let on. Charles
Sinclair had drawn Sam’s name. And Frank overheard Charles say that he was not
getting anything for that bitch.
Frank
wondered if Charles would have a change of heart. He didn’t.
So
Frank took action. He repackaged his present from Werner, then sent Rosa to get Sam from no-man’s land.
“This
is for you, dear.” Frank presented Sam with her gift.
Rosa
came up with an explanation. “Your present fell behind the file cabinet where
the tree sat. So, Rich missed it.”
Sam
felt ashamed for crying, as she opened the gift of coffee. “This is nice. It’s
from you, Frank?”
Frank
smiled. “Yes, dear.”
“I’m
sorry I misunderstood.”
“Don’t
ever deny your feelings.” Then Frank threw in some cookies from a fan of his
son, the Elvis impersonator. And he said this Elvis had just gotten his
divinity degree so he could do weddings.
“I
thought you might appreciate these.” Gordon Howard presented Sam a few El Chichon Chicos, his pet lava rocks
with smiley faces.
“Thank
you.” Sam looked at her presents, feeling her depression fly away. “These rocks
are so nice. They’ll look so cheerful in our garden.”
“And
I’ve got a garage full of them.” Gordon flashed his yellowed teeth. Then he belted
out a great belly laugh that would outdo any Santa.
Do you like historical fiction set during World War
Two? If so, the Winged Coronet by Joe Freitus weaves an engaging yarn during the
tensions ramping up to D-Day.
During a storm, Sister Anne Marie, a nursing Daughter of
Charity, mysteriously appears and bicycles toward the communities on the French
side of the English Channel. Her
official documents indicate her mission is to serve the medical needs of the
various seaside denizens, so symbolized by her winged coronet in her
pannier. But her mission almost fails
from the start with a nearly fatal roadside accident.
Herr Major Henri Reichert steps in to help the Sisters of
Charity after the occupying German forces confiscated or destroyed their
previous clinic and housing quarters.
This former German army officer and World War One veteran has opened up
his chateaux apartments to Mother Mary Rachael and her latest charge, Sister Anne
Marie, who arrives unexpectedly as a casualty.
Herr Major, a man of surprising resources, revives the injured sister as
he sees to it she is on the mend so she can work in the local clinic.
Meanwhile, the Gestapo watches the resentful civilians for evidence
of the French Resistance, including new comer Sister Anne Marie, whom they
suspect is on more than just a mission of mercy. Their suspicion puts the nun in peril,
especially when skirmishes with the Allies intensify and radio broadcasts from
London babble with coded messages.
So the Winged Coronet
unfolds a cloak-and-dagger mystery with a taboo romance between a French nun
and former German officer. The flavor of
the English, French, and German accents in the writing makes the characters
more distinct and real, while maintaining the balance of a smooth read without
distraction. Simply put, I recommend Winged Coronet as a story that both men
and women would enjoy.
Indiana Jones- perhaps the most famous fictional archaeologist - could have been most interested in this site as his tales included searching for artifacts of Biblical proportions, such the Lost Ark and the Holy Grail. And the papyri in the garbage dump at this site was key to piecing together some of the mysteries of the Bible - its Greek translation, that is. (reference: POxy Oxyrhynchus Online)
Oxyrhynchus papyrus
The New Testament was first written in Greek with a vocabulary of about 5000 words. And much of the criticism was that the Greek used was *not* the high level or classical Greek of scholars, such as found in Plato or Aristotle. But the Greek words used were very common and low level. (reference: Biblica | In what language was the Bible first written?)
Yet, for years, scholars puzzled at some these Greek words - about 500 of them - which were not found in secular Greek. Even German theologian Richard Rothehad concluded that these words, seemingly unique to the New Testament, must be the "language of the Holy Ghost." (reference: Eat This Book by Eugene H. Peterson)
But in the late 19th century, Bernard Grenfell and Arthur Hunt (pictured here) first dug out pieces of paper from the Oxyrhynchus rubbish heap and pieced together life in ancient Alexandria. They accounted for all these unique "Holy Ghost words" in the scraps from letters, accounts, grocery lists, bills - writings in the common language that never got bound and put in libraries.
After 1900 years, the "Holy Ghost language" was finally cracked.
The language of the New Testament was that of everyday people living in humble circumstances.
Tyndale's Gospel of John
William Tyndale had the wish of writing the Bible in the common language of the people in the 16th century. He was one of the first translators of the New Testament into English and the first one to print an English translation of the New Testament(though John Wycliffe produced the first hand-written ones). (reference: William Tyndale)
It has been said that a clergyman once told Tyndale:
"We had better be without God's laws than the Pope's."
It was Tyndale's mission that the humblest of people, like the lad driving the plow, know the Holy Scriptures as spoken in their common language, which could be clearly understood by all.
And as shown in this clip below, Tyndale was martyred for this cause, strangled and burnt at the stake in 1536, for this heresy. His last words:
"Lord, open the king of England's eyes."
This prayer was answered. In 1539, King Henry VIII allowed the publication of the English "Great Bible." And in 1611 was published the most well-known English translation, the King James Bible, of which 75 to 90 percent was incorporated from the work of William Tyndale. And it's still the most widely spread version in the English language 400 years later. (reference: King James Bible still going strong at age 400 | World news | The Guardian)
Meanwhile ...
There has been a spiritual struggle as old as the fall of man to keep the Word of God from the common people. This was especially true during the Dark Ages. And the spiritual darkness of medieval Europe is the setting for the historical fiction trilogy:
The Forbidden Book and the Upside Down Kingdom
The first book of the series:
Anastasis - The Forbidden Book Concealed
This book is divided into four parts. The first part concerns the hero, Lord Adryan Crippen, and is aptly called -
The Rise and Fall of Lord Adryan Crippen
This high and exalted lord, Adryan Crippen, one of the elite Fortunate Five Lords of the Kingdom, has everything in this world within his grasp - wealth, position, power, handsome looks, and the chance to marry the most beautiful and wealthy woman in the region - Queen Anastasia. Then it all evaporates ....
(The Queen's name is derived fromanastasis - the Greek word translated as resurrection in the New Testament.)
The following Bible verse is the theme of the first part:
For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth
eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also
that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble,
and to revive the heart of the contrite ones. Isaiah 57:15 (King James Version) *
Only by losing everything does the hero gain everything. And his help comes from Bishop Sinjin, a type of John Wycliffe and William Tyndale, whose passion is to translate the Word of God into the common tongue of the people, so the humblest in the kingdom can understand it. And there is great opposition to this - which plays out in this book and its sequels.
* (Yes, I know the King James came out in 1611, and the trilogy is set in the 14th century. But the version is readable, has the flavor of antiquity, and most important - it's in the public domain, so there is no issue with copyright or license.)
That was then, what about today?
The King James Version has set a high standard, yet many regard it as sacrosanct. But some very good modern translators have this same passion of translating the Word of God into the language of the everyday people of the times - much like William Tyndale.
Here is a clip of the Gospel presented in hip hop -G.O.S.P.E.L. by rapper Propaganda for the person on the street in the 21st century:
The Lord dwells in the high and holy place, but also in the hearts of those of humble spirit. And the New Testament was written in the language of the street - not for the erudite or the elite.
And Christian rapper Propaganda puts the Gospel in the speech of the street in the 21st century. And I believe William Tyndale would be most pleased with this translation.
Crop failure due to drought, depleted soil, insect invasions, plant diseases, hail storms, tornadoes, hurricanes, floods, freezes, freak acts of nature ...
Some man made.
Poor agricultural practices. Overpopulation. Genocide. Wars. Bureaucratic screw ups. Ignorance. Numerous types of blunders and human error ...
Famine has been felt on all continents at different times throughout our history. In its wake are the ravages of malnutrition, starvation, illness, and death.
It's still the F word.
Yet, the Old Testament prophet Amos spoke of a most unusual famine.
Not one of bread, alone ...
Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD:
And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, and shall not find it.
The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had given Israel His Holy Word. But during 8th century BC, the children of Israel had rejected their Covenant. As evidence of their apostasy, the Israelites in the Northern Kingdom had resurrected the worship of the golden calf (Amos 3:13, 14 and note that Bethel was the site of the golden calf. ) and rejected the words of Amos – God’s prophet.
In the verses above, God speaking through Amos, His prophet, was telling the Northern Kingdom they would no longer have the privilege of hearing His Word.
One of God’s judgments is silence.
----------------------------------------------
These verses from Amos 8:11,12 were chosen as the theme of the first book of the trilogy:
The Forbidden Book and the Upside Down Kingdom
Anastasis - The Forbidden Book Concealed
Anastasis
The setting of this historical fiction is in the tiny kingdom of Opulentia, anno Domini 1375. Opulentia seems to be at her zenith, but is in great danger of being overthrown by greedy men and from collapsing from within.
The people outwardly had turned to God during the Great Plague of anno Domini 1349 - known today as the Black Death. But instead of giving praise to God, credit was given to a dead saint, which turned out to be almost as profitable as the kingdom's famous mines.
The Shrine of St. Barbara, which commemorated the Great Miracle of the Passover of the Great Plague, draws many pilgrims and further enriches the Church with their offerings. Likewise, the magnificent Cathedral of Our Lady of the Mines receives visitors throughout Christendom.
The established Church at this time is wealthy, but spiritually wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked. Corruption has infiltrated the Church of the Middle Ages like a cancer. The business of saving souls has evolved to the big business of selling souls.
Below is a clip of what the spiritual condition may have been like, such as this scene set before the Protestant Reformation:
Like Amos had prophesied to the Northern Kingdom, Opulentia suffers from a famine of the Word of God. The Bible has been withheld from the common people and forbidden to read for hundreds of years.
Sadly, the Gospel has become lost in the Church.
Yet, there still was a small voice – like Amos – which could ignite a revival and truly bring the people Back to Bethel ... which is the subject of the next post in this series.
Even the Dark Ages could not extinquish the Light.
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