One Glowing Review: A Small But Bright Beginning

I have exactly one review so far for my new book.

It may not seem like much at first, but take a closer look

And feast your eyes upon the splendor of five shining stars,

More beautiful to me than Saturn, Jupiter or Mars!

 

How precious glows the gem of one who took the time to write

And share her thoughts on how this story gave her such delight!

Some readers promise book reviews, but how many deliver?

That’s why I want to take the time to thank this cheerful giver.

 

To me, it’s like the widow’s mite, a gift straight from her heart.

No one can tell the value of this precious work of art.

Like Jesus multiplying food, I choose to  magnify

What God can do with little and trust Him to multiply

 

The fruit of this beginning, which, though small, I won’t despise,

Because the tiniest of gems is mighty in God’s eyes.

What He can do with one review is more than I may know,

And so I’ll thank Him for this one and trust that it will grow

 

Into more feedback so that hungry readers may find out

What lies within this tale of mine and what it’s all about,

Because the focus isn’t money. It’s about the seed,

The precious truths within this book designed to meet the need

 

Of brokenhearted people searching for a little hope,

The ones left dangling as it were from a fraying rope.

I want somehow to reach them and to give them some relief,

Bring comfort to their aching souls and minimize their grief.

 

If one review can give a glimpse into this book of mine,

Then what can I not accomplish on this mission divine?

For truly it’s the little things that make a story great,

And when God shines on them, the work is never second-rate.

 

 

 

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The Comic Book That Changed Pete’s Summer Vacation

 I. The Comic Book That Shook Up His No-Thrills Summer Vacation

Pete was just an average boy resigned to a lazy, hazy, no-thrills summer vacation, but his best friend gave him a comic book that changed all that. It happened on the last day of school. Actually, several things happened to him on that day.

1. He began to see and hear what appeared to be a ghostly creature prowling about his house. When he tried to tell his parents about it, they acted as if he was nuts.

2. His sixth-grade teacher unexpectedly zapped the class with their choice of impossible summer project to do.  Pete accidentally picked the wildlife research project.

3. The next thing Pete knew, his best friend Jack Tamer had pulled him aside and given him an illegal comic book – not to read but to hide.

II. Don’t Read It? That Makes No Sense!

   I mean, come on. What child wouldn’t like a break from summer break, just long enough to curl up with a good book? Summer is supposed to be fun time, not fun-restriction time. You and I should know. July 4th is coming up. It’s Independence Day, not “Being Stolen From” day. For someone to try to steal the comic book was just too much. What school bully in his right mind would attempt something so bold and mean and majorly unfriendly?

   Craig Crowburn, leader of the Bog Fog Gang, that’s who. He and his smelly slime guns with their evil, gushy, soggy tuna-fishy blobs added way too much mayonnaise to the mix.  I mean –

Oops. I already said too much. After all, this about summer reading time, not some special PE class on fighting bullies.

Or is it?

III. To Read or Not to Read the Comic Book: That is the Question

Okay, back to my original point: The school year had ended. All Pete wanted was to go home.

Then Craig shot Jack with toxic slime.

Pete had nowhere to turn. Sitting next to Jack in the back of the bus where no one else could see him, he flipped open the page and began to read.

What happened next changed his life forever. He experiences the supernatural, miracle power of –

I mean, not to get carried away, but the comic book transformed Pete’s life. He became a hero. Now he faced more challenges than ever, as well as perplexing questions such as: Should he keep on reading or should he just hibernate away his summer doing nothing useful whatsoever?

To quote the first page, “The comic book had taken Pete on an amazing adventure. He couldn’t rest until he got it back.”

Speed of Sight Pokes Fun at the Idol of Human Intellect

Human Intellect Versus Real Power

Welcome to Speed of Sight, a Superhero Adventure by C.R. Flamingbush. This upcoming release by Dove Christian Publishers pokes fun at the idol of human intellect.

The novel revolves around a special comic book with magical powers that transports an awkward twelve-year-old boy to a different world. Once inside that world, he glimpses past events he never knew of and goes for a ride almost too real to put in words. Then, when he gets back, his best friend treats him like a space alien.

“Oh no. Pete, what have you done?”

What was Pete’s crime? Daring to actually read the book he was supposed to hide. “But why would that be wrong?” you might ask.

Well, to quote an excerpt from Speed of Sight (the bottom of pages 31 to the top of 32),

Jack put his hands up to block the view (of the comic book). “Don’t shove those pictures in my face. You must be very careful.” He looked nervously about. “This book has been banned for a good reason. Here, let me show you something.” He grabbed the book and turned to the last page.

“What is it?” Pete asked. The handwriting was hard to read and very strange to him.

“It’s a one thousand, five hundred, fifty-five-letter commentary that explains why you’re not supposed to use the comics for adventures,” Jack replied.

Sounds pretty crazy, doesn’t it? “Don’t use the comics for adventures?” I mean, isn’t that what comic books are for? Don’t they in effect take us on adventures, with heroes who have supernatural super powers?

Spiritual Gifts Free Us From Faithless Religiosity

 

In the case of believing Christians, those powers – better known as “spiritual gifts” – come from God. Some Christians, however, either don’t receive those gifts (powers) or else they totally reject them. Like the Sadducees in Jesus’ time who didn’t believe in a resurrection, they interpret Bible verses in ways that promote unbelief. Theirs is a powerless religion – or should we say “religiosity,” in which religion becomes all about form but lacks true substance.

Speed of Sight pokes fun at such mindsets.  To quote an excerpt taken from page 32,

 

“Because that’s the sort of thing I was warning you about when I told you not to read the book,” Jack said. “You must have read the pictures and seen the speech balloons. The commentary writer, who is a good friend of our family, says it’s very dangerous to do that. He should know. He dissects comic books for a living.”

“You mean he picks them apart into tiny pieces?”

The genius boy looked proudly down at Pete. “No, silly. He puts the pages under a microscope and analyzes them molecule by molecule. He wrote a huge book describing what they’re made of.”

“Sounds heavy,” Pete said.

“Of course, it is. It weighs more than I do. He weighs a ton too. That’s because he’s an expert. . .”

 

Powerless Religion: a Heavy Burden – Who Can Bear it?

 

Unlike the noble Bereans of Acts 17:11 who “searched the scriptures daily, whether those things (of which Paul spoke) were so, Jack’s commentator takes a hyper-critical approach to the biblically inspired comics. Instead of welcoming them as vehicles of faith to launch a younger generation into their destiny, he takes a stance similar to that of the scribes and Pharisees – the ones Jesus described in Matthew 23:1-7.

 

“They say and do not. . . For they bind heavy burdens grievous to be borne and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.” (verses 3 & 4).

 

How well might they fit in with the “miracles aren’t for today” crowd, clinging to man-made traditions that deny God’s power! (See II Timothy 3:5). After all, they taught a powerless religion that weighed their hearers down rather than lifting them up toward God’s throne of grace.

 

Hebrews 12:1 exhorts believers to throw off such dead weights and the sin that so easily hinders their race, while keeping their eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of their faith.

 

That’s what Speed of Sight’s Pete Plain does. By following the beloved comic book author and reading His books with childlike faith, he pokes fun at powerless religion while at the same time encouraging believers to take their faith to a higher level.