From Israel to India and More

Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all they soul, and with all thy mind (Matthew 22:37).

In the Jewish culture of biblical times, people's faith was considered a part of everything they did. They would have never understood the concept of separation of church and state. Their religious leaders were also the government leaders until Rome came along and forced them to accept their rule. Even then, the Roman emperors were supposed to be of the gods or gods themselves.

I found the same true to some extent when I went to India and saw how they practiced Hinduism. While I was there, I went to the Ganges River at Varanasia to watch the sun rise. The Ganges is sacred to Hindus, and it's often spoken of as the Mother of India. They believe that washing in the river will wash away sins and purify them. Many Hindus choose to have their ashes sprinkled there after cremation. Knowing all this, I expected a shrinelike atmosphere. Nothing could be further from the truth. People were doing their morning exercises on the banks; hawkers rowed boats around, trying to sell their souvenirs; and people even brushed their teeth. I came away wishing more people would make Christ part of everything they do.

There was a time in our history when we came closer to doing this. If we as Christians have failed our children, it's been in that we've taught them to go to church and obey the Bible, but we haven't taught them to put God above all else in their lives and have an intimate, personal relationship with Him. We haven't taught them to put their faith in everything they do and have a heart for Jesus. Christianity isn't a vital, vibrant, powerful way of life for them, and that's why many of them are deserting it all. If we haven't already, let's begin today to make God our All in All and share this with others.

And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord; and not unto men; (Colossians 3:23).

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 The Next Book

The next book I publish will revisit Deadwood, South Dakota. This time it will feature a miner instead of a doctor. Deadwood was settled due to gold discoveries in the area, leading to first placer and later, hard rock mining, and it remained important there for many years.

In The Miner,  Lorne Merritt discovers a pretty young woman alone and looking lost. Addie Shea came to the Dakota Territory to live with her father, a prospector, but he’s been killed by a claim jumper. Knowing it’s not safe for her to be on her own in Deadwood, he befriends her, but then the attempts on her life begin. Who is doing this, and what can Lorne do to help keep her safe?

This Western has both a touch of adventure and mystery as Lorne and Addie try to figure out who's behind the threats and shootings. There are also uncertainty and hope as they try to navigate their budding relationship. For a good Western read, put in your preorder today. You won't pay for it until it is published on March 11.

https://www.amazon.com/Miner-Men-West-Book-ebook/dp/B0DFXHKXP6

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A Disobedient People

Read Deuteronomy 7:11-15.

It has always amazed me how disobedient the Israelites were as they journeyed out of Egypt and headed toward the promised land. Look at all the miracles God did to get them released. Besides the ten plagues, when Pharaoh reneged and pursued them with his soldiers, God parted the Red Sea for his people and then drowned their pursuers.

They knew firsthand how awesome and all-powerful God was, and yet they continued to make poor choices, like building a golden calf to worship. He made them great promises if they would only keep his commandments, but they didn't.

This is why they ended up wandering in the wilderness for forty years. For their chronic disobedience, God said that none of the first-generation would see the promised land except for Joshua and Caleb, who remained faithful. However, he didn't destroy the people but waited until they died of natural causes.

It's easy to criticize these disobedient Israelites, but are we much different? Are we as faithful to God as we should be, or do we get distracted and give other things too much allegiance? He wants to be first in our lives, above all else. He won't and shouldn't accept second best.

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Dime Novels

The Writer's Rescue published on Wednesday. In it, Wade Easton  becomes a successful dime novelist after a bull left him disabled, and he couldn't do ranch work anymore. To his surprise, he became quite wealthy writing short Westerns based on his experiences and those he heard other cowboys tell. Dime novelists made anywhere from $50 - $1,000 for each book, and most could write a book a month. In 1870, $50 would equal over $1,000 today, and $1,000 would be worth almost $25,000 today. That means a top-paid dime novelist could make about $300,000 a year in today's prices.

These books were about 100 pages in length and usually small enough to be carried in a large pocket. Today, we would likely call them novellas. The most popular ones were Westerns, but detective stories, mysteries, military heroes, adventures, and romances also took part of the market. Although most of the writers were men, about a fourth of dime novelists were women. Both genders often used pseudonyms when they wrote dime novels. Some also became popular authors in their own right. Upton Sinclair, Horatio Alger, Bret Harte, Zane Grey, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Max Brand, and Louisa May Alcott were some of them.

The first dime novels were published in the United States around the time of the Civil War. The invention of a more usable typewriter in 1868, better printing techniques, and easier, cheaper ways to ship made dime novels possible. Similar cheap novels began in England in 1836 and were called penny dreadfuls. Dime novels lasted until about 1920 and opened the doors for popular fiction.

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 Love Covers

...for God is love (1 John 4:8b)

God doesn't love because of how we act or who we are. He loves us because of who He is. It is His nature to love. Paul put it well when he wrote, "... that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God" (Ephesians 3:17b-19).


Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself (Matthew 22: 37-39).

Love is powerful. It is the most important commandment. In fact, if we could love like the Great Commandment tells us, we wouldn't have to worry about anything else. We'd have it all covered and live an obedient, Christian life. As John Calvin said, "Whatever a person may be like, we must still love them because we love God."

And now abideth faith, hope, charity [love], these three; but the greatest of these is charity [love] (1 Corinthians 13:13).

Love is a gift from God. He gave us love, and the world has love because of Him. In talking about the great gifts (faith, hope, and love), Paul tells us the greatest of these is love (1 Corinthians 13:13). And Peter said that love covers a multitude of sins (1 Peter 4:8). In this Valentine's season and throughout the year, let us have a renewed spirit of love for God and our fellow man. 

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Blogging Update

I used to post updates on my blog two or three times a year, but it's been a while since I've done that. In reviewing the statistics, I recently noticed that I just reached over 500,000 page views. Since I consider that a milestone of sorts, I thought this might be a good time for another update.

The five most popular blogs of all time are:
1. Running From God (Jonah) - 21,100 page views

2. Cranberry Bread - 7,320

3. Mother Teresa - 2,640

4. Where Has Our History Gone - 1,260

5. The Legend of the Dogwood - 1,080

My biggest single day of page visits came on August 31, 2023, when I had 60,707.

I find the locations these visitors come from also very interesting. They are as follows:

1. The United States - 267,000

2. Singapore - 106,000

3. Hong Kong - 31,300

4. Russia - 13,200

5. Germany - 8,760

6. France - 8,090

7. Canada - 6,040

8. United Kingdom - 5,380

9. India - 2,720

10. Other - 51,800

I now post a blog on books, writing, or research every Monday and a Christian message on Thursdays. A big thank you to all my blog readers. Here's hoping the next ten years are just as good and maybe even better.

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Asaph 

If you've read much in The Book of Psalms, you've seen the name Asaph because he wrote twelve of them. Just who was Asaph? He was a musician, poet, scribe, and prophet under both David and Solomon. He must have been talented because at least three Levites were assigned to this leadership position, including Herman and Ethan (Jeduthum). However, Asaph was the only one who had psalms attributed to him in the Bible. His duties are detailed in 1 Chronicles 16. Even many years later, people were still singing the songs of Asaph and David (see 2 Chronicles 19:30).

Read 1 Chronicles 15: 16-17.

The Bible only tells us a little about Asaph. His father was Berechiah. The sons of Asaph are mentioned in 1 Chronicles 25:1, 2 Chronicles 20:14, and Ezra 2:41. Ezra says Asaph had 128 sons. Some writers take this literally since men during David and Solomon's reigns had wives and concubines, but others believe these were students of Asaph.

As a man of many talents and one of the writers in the Bible, Asaph has influenced many. Even more importantly, he recognized where his gifts came from and used his talents to praise and glorify God, sharing God's Word with a world desperately needing it. We should do the same.

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 A New Series and a New Book

I'm pleased to be part of a new multiple-author project, The Rich Man Takes a Bride. Each standalone story takes place west of the Mississippi River after the Civil War but before 1900. The men all have issues that make them poor candidates for marriage, but in each case, a special woman comes to his rescue.  The Inventor's Rescue will be the first book in the series. My book, The Writer's Rescue, will be released on February 12, but it's on preorder now. 

In The Writer's Rescue, Wade Easton became a recluse after a bull gored him on the ranch where he worked as the foreman. Crippled, scarred, and unable to work the ranch anymore, he became a recluse in Abilene, Kansas. He started writing Western dime novels and, to his surprise, became successful and wealthy. When yet another housekeeper quits, his only friend brings a young woman who's stranded and works out chaperones for her to take the job. With misgivings, Wade agrees. What choice does he have? But he sets down some rules to keep from being disturbed. However, he finds the pretty woman disturbing in other ways and almost regrets his list of rules.

This was a fun book to write. I've always been fascinated by dime novels and the men and women who wrote them, so this was my chance to delve into the research. It's always fun to watch my characters' relationships develop slowly, too. The more I see of this MAP, the more excited I become. I hope readers will be as well.

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