The River of Life by Lee Harmon Directed to Christians But Also Worthy Study Guide for Everybody...

All the world is seeking, including me...and including Lee Harmon, whose web site clearly defines his position as The Dubious Disciple.  I learned something that has blessed me by reading his latest book... I, too, may fall under the same name... Although I've always considered myself more like the woman at the well...

If you are an individual who is seeking...for something you cannot define, this might be the perfect book for you to read... Most of us, if we admit it, question... Yes, we question many things that happen in our lives and in the world...

The amazing thing about this book, though, and I believe about his earlier books, although I've not read them, Harmon has a passion for learning more... While many of us simply question, he goes seeking. His intense research is obvious. And it appears to be more as a scholar than what you might expect from a pastor, priest or other church leader. Specifically, he is willing to explore all sources of documentation in order to provide the results of his research. I consider and recommend this as a must-read if you, too, are dubious...or, even, like me, always seeking for answers...

The River of Life:

Where Liberal and Conservative Christianity Meet

By Lee Harmon

Let me quickly point out that this book will be very controversial for many! Especially Christians... I'm of the opinion that if you cannot read a book that proves contrary to your beliefs, then, really, how do you have the knowledge to believe as you do... ??? Harmon strikes at the very heart of many of those beliefs... You are Warned... 

Tomorrow's discussion includes many of the books issues, so I hope you'll spend time here at BRH then, as well. Will if encourage you to read the book. I believe so...if you are the type of person who wants to seek to learn, to know more...

I am an agnostic Christian.
For the sake of full disclosure, perhaps I should define what I mean by agnostic. I believe in God; I just don’t think we know squat about him. I sense that we are linked by something mysterious, that we are more than matter. I am not agnostic in general, I am merely agnostic toward the Christian depiction of God, or any other personal god, feeling that inadequate evidence exists for one caricature to rise above the rest. Arguing about whether it is Shiva or Allah who is the Truth is a little like bickering over the color of Cinderella’s eyes. Yet I believe, because I have both seen and felt God. I have sat in the churches of various denominations and seen strong people reduced to emotional puddles and then lifted into radiance. I have seen kidneys given to complete strangers. I marvel at Mother Teresa’s mission of kindness in the name of God, though she herself felt estranged from the God of her church.
I am a Christian in search of God. Christian, because Jesus is my inspiration and Christianity is my heritage.
Life is a mystery. How do we explain our universe, life’s origins, and human consciousness? In the Christian Trinity, we have the Son (the mystery of incarnation, or God-in-us); we have the Father (the mystery of our creation and creator); and we have the Spirit (that “something mysterious,” the wave of meaning and purpose which links us). All three are astounding, beautiful, awesome. We Christians tend to combine these three mysteries into one, and then personify their union, though we have no evidential reason for doing so. Nevertheless, I am happy uniting all three under the heading of God so that a common ground exists for discussion.
I am also a liberal Christian, living in a conservative world. Most of my family and friends are conservative Christians. Conservatives consider apostolic tradition of utmost importance, meaning they seek to emulate the first-century church as best they know how. This is a noble goal, but it can lead to stringent intolerance for diluted beliefs. It’s the right way or the highway. Liberal Christians, on the other hand, find the creedal requirements which develop from such strictness stifling and contrary to observation and experience. We see God in many people and places, not just in Christian circles. This can lead liberals to a violent condemnation of narrow doctrine. Intolerance is intolerable.
And round and round we go. As a liberal Christian, I have both stooped to verbal aggression and felt the sting of attack. Both sides care so dang much that we can’t help squabbling, but this hardly puts a good face on Christianity. If the two sides could merely take one step backward, digging back to the Jesus we both adore, perhaps there could be a unity of purpose. Even though there can never be agreement about religious belief, the Kingdom could nevertheless advance. That is my hope in writing this book.

~~~

Harmon lays out where he is coming from right at the Introduction. He's open and honest with this, as well as with all of the book. In many ways, I thought of this book as his "personal testimony" for those who are used to being called upon to do so... Although, not many individuals did so, in most of the churches I've attended during my life... For that, I was much more appreciative and open to the book... Because the first chapter is called, "Heaven and Hell..."

It may seem strange that I begin
my book at the end. Isn't the
afterlife more of a destination
that a starting point?

Well, I'm not really starting here. I'm dismissing the topic up front as being of little importance to Jesus...


Harmon proceeds then to share his understanding of the stories related to Heaven, including those from the Bible. He quickly dismisses Hell...

And do not fear those who kill the body
but cannot kill the soul. But rather
fear him who is able to destroy both
soul and body in [Gehenna]. Isiah 66:24
~~~

Now if that doesn't set some readers off, I don't know what will! However, I must say that Harmon's argument, his belief, is based on historical evidence as well as his understanding of the Bible...including, most importantly, the background on the words themselves... For instance, reading the Bible historically, easily refers to "unquenchable fire" as simply that... fire, not Hell... I noticed that both Harmon and Cahn, in The Harbinger, both immediately went back to 70 CE in Jerusalem. It is apparent that was a significant time, don't you think? But do you know what happened then? And, are you familiar with the word, Gehenna? If you're like me, I'd never heard of it. This word alone was very enlightening to me...

For now, I'll leave you with Jesus' own definition of eternal life, which has nothing to do with the afterlife:

And this is eternal llife, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent...John 17:3
                                                                     ~~~

For people around my age, we have lived through a number of times when "The Second Coming" was predicted to come... Are you still waiting, or has that already occurred, as clarified in this book? This detailed research is well worth your study and just may explain how and when your personal beliefs were formed...or, maybe just as importantly, why they were formed...

Are you aware of what is called "The Holy Spirit?" This is one symbol that people have used across the years... These others have a more personal feeling for me... 

What if the Second Coming already occurred? Harmon suggests that The Holy spirit is already here...

The spirit remains with us even today. The aion of God's rule began in Jesus's day, when the Spirit arrived from heaven, and continues through today. Do you struggle to feel its presence? If you have trouble connecting with the Spirit, try prayer. Yes, I'm serious, whether you are liberal or conservative. When I slipped from the rank of believing Christian into agnostic Christian, I confess that I forgot how to pray. I simply could not visualize anyone on the receiving end of my prayer, and felt silly trying. Nor could I bring myself to utter the skeptic's prayer: God, if you exist, save me from hell, if there is a hell. Many of you may identify with the class of Spiritual But Not Religious, yet you need not jettison the connection with the Divine that prayer affords.

Six more chapters continue on... And I would say, after reading it, Harmon covered the majority of questions that have bothered me through my life. The book is insightful, intelligent in presentation, objective, world-wide in thought. All this while proclaiming his beliefs based upon his scholarship and humbly presenting his thoughts honestly, logically, and with a caring for his readers, in my opinion. I was impressed. Most of the books I've read from Christians have declared what it is we should believe. Harmon merely provides the results of his efforts and allows the reader to absorb or consider and as you'll see tomorrow, allow questions to be raised about what he's written. The author may be a doubting Thomas, but then, the original Thomas had a pretty good career after he started questioning, don't you think?

Caravaggio — The Incredulity of St Thomas

Do check this out... It's highly recommended. For me, I was blessed by reading The River of Life. I wish for you the same...

But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out. --John 19:33-34

I believe a tricking river began that day, from the pierced side of Jesus. A river the prophets of Israel some anticipated. There came out blood and water. Water, we are told by John's Gospel, represents the Spirit. The blood, while it carries many deep symbolic meanings, represents the sacrifice of Jesus...

GABixlerReviews

~~~

Author, blogger, computer programmer, liberal Christian. Check out my book blog at http://www.dubiousdisciple.com, where I review all kinds of religious books, and learn more about me and my latest book at http://www.thewayithappened.com. Then friend me on twitter and facebook!

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Glenda

Shovel Ready Brings Startling Story...and One Other Surprise!

I write for New York magazine and am the former culture editor of The New York Times Magazine. My first novel, “Shovel Ready,” is a future-noir thriller about a garbageman-turned-hitman set in a dystopian New York City. For many years I was the co-editor of the satirical celebrity website Fametracker. Raised in Toronto, I now live in Brooklyn, where I’m currently at work on a second Spademan novel, "Near Enemy," which is coming out in January, 2015.

I had to start with the author on this one, because he just about blew my mind with his style of writing. You all know my favorite author was Robert B. Parker. His crisp, sarcastic dialogue was what drew me in and I loved it... Picture a Parker book, with just as crisp, short sentences, but without quotes, he said/she saids, or anything else to guide you in reading...

Whoa! What do you think? Well, this immediately put me on alert, of course, but I found I slipped fairly easily into the story and, except for a number of times, I wasn't sure who was talking, and had to stop a second, I found that I quickly realized that it was moving faster than even Parker! Do I applaud this decision? I'm not quite sure. For this particular novel it worked, but for others? I'm just not ready to say...  But those who go crazy over the missing punctuation not found through editing...you have been warned...LOL

Another thing different was that the author included two discussions at the back of the book. These I thoroughly enjoyed and appreciated! They were reprints, but so what, few of us really get to read something directly related to the book we've just finished! So, kudos to the author for this idea! The topics are "anti-heroes" and "genres and nerds" [my own interpretation of the more sophisticated titles...] In fact, you might want to read these before you begin and are faced with the writing style..I think it would have help me a little to not get so unstrung. Obviously this is an author to watch as he stretches his creative genius into the fiction arena...

Shovel Read:

A Spademan Novel

By Adam Sternbergh

This novel crosses genres, perhaps a natural intermix in fact. Lev Grossman concludes one of the discussions with:

Weirdly, I am a crusty old sticker for genre distinctions. I love affixing labels to things, and I bristle like a monstrous Gamma World hedgehog-critic hybrid whenever people talk about the boundaries between genres dissolving. Genre distinctions are exciting! It would suck if they dissolved! It wouldn't be fun to cross two genres--like say postapocalyptic sci-fi and hard-boiled crime, as  in Shovel Ready--if there were no distinctions between them, and all fiction was just undifferentiated mush...

I agree with him and  have enjoyed the cross-genre novels more fully, but still like to differentiate the various genres. Readers can consider how the content has been liberated because of the additional complexity and creativity this has allowed... Don't you think?

The setting of the novel, in my opinion, is perfect. Where else would a post-apocalyptic sci-fi  be more familiar than where the entire world saw what happened on 9-11?

For one thing, Times Square is totally gone.

The population has been reduced by at least half, and most who stayed were too poor to relocate. The dirty bomb that took out the area has left many people still afraid. Those who might want to investigate whether anything is still usable normally carry a Geiger counter.

Parks are filled with camps where the homeless live and are now hassle-free since the cops do little to monitor safety...  That's mainly because of what has happened to the rich...

If you're a Star Trek fan, and have enjoyed the shows with holographic scenes were part of the story, then you will understand what I mean by saying that the rich have gone to "bed..." Not quite like the writers of Star Trek did it, though... In the future, after New York has been destroyed, the rich headed to the tops of the highest buildings and there they spend much of their time, entering into various holographic scenes, of their own choosing, in which they fantasize their days...and lives...away. Of course, they have nurses and other staff persons to help keep them clean, fed...and safe... The latter, however, is not as secure as supposed... Hackers still have to make a living in the future, right?

Enter Spademan...

My name is Spademan.

I'm a garbageman.

--this fucter

I don't care.

Don't you want--

Just a name.

I have his address.

Great.

See this fucker--

I said don't.

Okay.

The less I know, etcetera.

How much?

What I said. To the account I mentioned.

And how will I--

You won't hear from me again.

But how do I--

The dead guy. That's how.

Remember some of the films where Charles Bronson became a vigilante? Well, he was the first one I thought of that would have made a perfect Spademan. He had lost his wife during the bombings in New York...

He had also lost his job since there was little if any garbage to be collected in the following days. He had one thing left from his previous life...a special kind of knife...one he'd use on the job and had carried it with him until one day he opened one of the bags that had been tossed, with a live but dying baby in it...as garbage...

It wasn't that he set out to become an assassin, but now that he was in the business, he had set down the rules for himself--he didn't want to know any names, except the one to be "handled" and he demanded all money up front, transferred before it happened. No followup connection.

 I don't want to know your reason. If he owes you or he beat you or she swindled you or he got the promotion you wanted or you want to fuck his wife or she fucked your man or you bumped into each other on the subway and he didn't say sorry, I don't care. I'm not your Father Confessor.
Think of me more like a bullet.
Just point...

It might sound hard but it's all too easy now. This isn't the same city anymore. Half-asleep and half-emptied out, especially this time of morning. Light up over the Hudson. The cobblestones. At least I have it mostly to myself...

Used to be you'd see men with dogs. This was the hour for that. But there are no dogs anymore, of course, not in this city, and even if you had one, you'd never walk it, not in public, because it would be worth a million dollars and you'd be gutted once you got around the corner and out of sight of your trusty doorman and your own front door...
Now it's just nurses, and doormen and feed-bad delivery boys out at this hour. Tireless members of the service economy.
Like me...

~~~

So it turns out my Persephone has a
reputation. Everyone knows someone
who knows. The people who got too
close to her usually have some
memento. Something permanent,
in the process of healing.
~~~

Enter Persephone...

That was the name now being used by Grace Chastity Harrow... Yes, she's a relative of T. K. Harrow. The evangelist...

Spademan had verified that because famous people drew attention and it was a different rate for the job... He understood that Persephone was now living in one of the camps... but a surprise was there when Spademan... She had used a knife to cut up some of the residents... Yikes!

Spademan starts interviewing anybody who was willing to talk, but then, not too many were willing these days...

So, of course, by the time he finds her, he invites her home to his apartment.  You see, there was a line he wouldn't cross in his business... He would not harm children... Persephone was pregnant...

Now at least in New York, the Garbagemen are sources of important information...so the Spademan made a few calls... And, by the way, a little later readers will discover that they also have access to the incinerators... You know, clean up after yourself at the finish of the job?

Back to the holograph action... and here's where it gets downright eerie... T. K. Harrow and his business associates are all into it! If there's a slight waver of his body as he walks on stage, if you care, you would immediately know it was a holographic image. Now, I would go into specifics about how I consider potential individuals to play a certain role in a book but when this guy popped up, I admit he seemed a very good fit... Because, got to share, that while a holographic image is conducting his revival, the real T. K. is in bed, like the other rich men, and enjoying a fantasy...perhaps even the one he's trying to sell to his followers...

You see, he sells heaven on earth...Why wait?

So here's where the fantasy scifi gets exciting...Because action starts happening within the "tapped in" dreamlands... Cool, right?

Street-corner church service. Soap box preacher. Big crowd. More popular in these end times.

One of the more interesting characters I haven't mentioned is Mark, who appears to be struggling with exactly what he believes. But one thing is for sure, he's into "tapping in" so much so that he gets involved with helping solving the problem and thinks nothing about springing wings during his bed "fantasies...

Set Uriah in the forefront of the hottest battle, and retreat from him, that he may be struck down and die.

Mark paused the story.
So I've been teaching this passage a lot lately to my kids, my students. At first, I taught it the way that I learned it in Bible school. Not as a story of lust, or of corruption, but of temptation. You know, how God puts temptation in front of you. He allows you to feel your own weakness. To confront it just as Christ did here on Earth. Satan laid out the whole world to Christ, promised it to him, if only he'd bend a knee to Satan. And he felt it. Christ. He was tempted. But he didn't succumb. And we feel it too. Whether it's the apple in Eden. Or the desire to look back over your shoulder and watch Sodom crumble. Or spotting the most beautiful woman in Israel, bathing naked on a rooftop. I'm sure you have some secret temptation. Some secret shame...

Whoops, I would not think that it the teaching behind the David and Bathsheba story. And, indeed Mark found that out and quickly learns its real meaning...

And do you know what happens when the Lord is displeased with you?

No.

You end up in New York, outside a library, begging some stranger to put you in the ground...

Okay, the novel might two genres, but there are many more different issues in this book that will smack readers in the face, maybe even more than it did Spademan! But he had made a promise to himself and then to Persephone... Spademan was going to protect her unborn child...

I reallllly enjoyed meeting Spademan! And I'm looking forward to its sequel. What about all the religious issues in the book, you may ask? Well, in my opinion, if you can't test your own beliefs by reading of somebody's either nonfiction or fictional beliefs, then, that is a problem for yourself, don't you think...not the writer's...

Still, I think I would have like to read a few, "Mark said," or "Spademan said," to salvage my prideful years of knowing proper punctuation, especially with dialogue in fiction! LOL! Hey, Kudos to Adam Sternbergh, he has truly stretched the limits and boundaries in his Debut... Wonder what he'll be writing about say, in 3 years... Better watch and learn--he may be the new fiction guru for all future novels... OMG! LOL

If you're willing, I do highly recommend this novel and this author!

GABixlerReviews

Beautiful Aurora Borealis--Latest Captain No Beard Story Takes Us There! And More!!! Check out 3 Reviews!

Captain No Beard and the Aurora Borealis 

 By Carole P. Roman

 Have you ever seen it? I haven't, but I sure would love to! This time Captain No Beard takes children, and adults, to a place few will ever experience! Want to come?! I can't wait!

First, have you met Captain No Beard? Well this is the latest story, Volume 7 and it just might be something one of your children will love as a stocking stuffer! In fact, since it's that time of the year, I decided to read all of the Captain No Beard stories that I've not yet published...

Let's Start With the Latest!

The Captain and his crew are heading north where it is very cold--and lots of icebergs! That's another thing I've never seen! How about you?! 

The Crew called them giant ice mountains but, you know what, they are totally made of... Water! Yes, just like we drink! 

But it was also very dark and everybody started asking questions about where they were going! Can you imagine feeling that cold after sailing through all those warm climates that the crew has explored? BRRRRRRR!  I'm already shivering here and it hasn't even started snowing yet this year!

The Captain pointed and announced they were heading North, following the North Star, or Polaris... 

I love to see the stars, but have never studied astronomy, which is how you learn about stars. Maybe you'll get a chance to have classes someday, but here's a pic in the meantime...and a way for you to find the North Star by finding the Big Dipper... Wow!


The Crew was getting excited and also very nervous, because the Captain announced that, as a Pirate, he wanted to take something back home from that strange place! But everybody started exclaiming that that was stealing! The Captain got upset, at least with his crew! What should he do?

And what he wanted to steal and take home was something so beautiful that nobody could deny it would be wonderful to see all the time! Can you imagine what they could do instead of stealing the Aurora Borealis? 

But did you know that different colors in the sky also can help you predict what weather changes are coming? That's one of the things they discovered in the adventure to Snake Island!

The sun lit up the clouds on the horizon. All of the crew stopped their chores to watch the beautiful sunrise.
"Oh, how pretty!" First Mate Hallie exclaimed.
"I see orange, yellow, and bright pink," Mongo the monkey called from the mainmast.
"It is special," Captain No Beard agreed...

But then Polly the parrot squawked, and she should know,  "It may look colorful, but all I have to say Is: 'red sky at night, sailors delight; red sky in morning, sailors take warning." Now some of you may have heard that little saying before, but it often proves to be true...and soon the rain was coming down!

Well, they did finally make it to Snake Island... and you wouldn't believe what the treasure was that they found! Of course, I was pleased that I already enjoyed that treasure--and hope all children everywhere have the opportunity to share it too! Do check this book out! It's a Treasure!

The next story is an important one about meeting strangers! The title puts it right out there as even on the high seas, there will be strangers...

This important story has a great touch of humor. Because, as you may have guessed, the stories of Captain No Beard are all imaginary while the crew are all friends--real and imaginary alike. 

But reality has to play a part sometimes, and now Captain No Beard has been assigned baby sitting duties! Actually the crew doesn't mind much and by the end of this story,  everybody was glad to have their new cabin girl with them!

Because there was a great big, dark ship sailing their way!
Well, that ship kept coming and their captain started asking for help with directions, but Captain No Beard was not deceived and had his crew recite rules about what to do when strangers talk to them...

Naturally, they turned the ship and started away from the other one...but they followed!

Roman has taken a somewhat dark subject and allowed it to become a bit humorous about who saved the day! But it also provided guidance about sibling relationships which I appreciated...

Cute ending to a warning of danger... More reviews coming soon

GABixlerReviews

Guest Blogger Mark S. Bacon - Sharing How He Created Death in Nostalgia City - A Personal Favorite for Moi!

Theme park dreams 

lead to murder mystery

By Mark Bacon 


When I was growing up in Southern California, the dream summer job of every teen was to work at Disneyland. Whether you were sweeping up trash on Main Street—or had one of the cream assignments on a riverboat in...

Adventureland—the Magic Kingdom was where you wanted to be. As we lived too many miles from Anaheim to make a daily trip to the park feasible, I settled for wrestling boxes as a shipping clerk in West L.A.

Years later, my half-forgotten theme-park dreams were realized when I went to work for Knott’s Berry Farm, a Disneyland rival a few miles up the Santa Ana Freeway. Most of my time, however, was not spent near the rides or even on the park grounds. I was a copywriter; I wrote Knott’s ads and commercials. I had been a city-side newspaper reporter covering the police and other beats, and I traded journalism for advertising, where I thought I’d have more room for creativity.

Although I spent much of my time in a quiet cubicle thinking up catchy phrases for Knott’s radio spots, occasionally I worked on promotions in the park. I got to know costumed employees who entertained visitors and saw, from behind the scenes, what it took to keep a sprawling entertainment enterprise rolling smoothly. Sometimes it’s controlled chaos, in part because—hard to believe—not everyone who goes to an amusement park is on his or her best behavior. Maybe it’s the “what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas,” syndrome on a smaller scale.

No one knows for sure where writers get their inspiration, but I think it comes from a slow-simmering cranial soup, a mixture of all our experiences in which various ingredients bubble to the top. That’s my explanation, anyway, for how my jobs as a police reporter and Knott’s Berry Farm copywriter combined to create Death in Nostalgia City, a theme park murder mystery.

See My Review!

One of my favorites from the 60s...

Not an ordinary theme park, Nostalgia City is a recreation of an entire small town from the late 1960s and early 1970s. Covering several square miles, it’s complete with period cars, clothes, food, music, stores, fads, restaurants, hair styles—the works. It’s a peaceful place to relive the past, something that attracted Lyle Deming, an anxiety-ridden ex-cop who thought driving a cab in a giant theme park would be the perfect stress-free job. He loves his new occupation, exchanging jokes with tourists as he chauffeurs them around. But as this is a murder mystery, of course, bad things happen and successive chapters bring surprises.

One twist for Nostalgia City’s young employees that’s not a concern for Southern California kids working at Disneyland, is the time warp. In the retro park, everything is as it was more than 40 years ago. Before they walk out into the park, therefore, all employees have to surrender to their lockers their cell phones, iPads and all 21st century electronics.

“Macs are hamburgers,” Lyle tells an employee orientation class, “blackberries are fruit and a tablet is a pad of yellow paper with lines on it.”

i LOVED THIS ONE!

One of My Favorites...

See what happens when I go Nostalgia? Wouldn't it be great to have a real Nostalgia
City??!!!

Hey Mark, What's your plans to beat this one? Sure hope we get to go back to be with Lyle Deming soon!

Thanks so much for giving us a little background on your book...and allowing me to enjoy the time period with you!