Owner: Ask Andrea URL:http://askandrea.adamsweb.us Join Date: Wed, 31 Jan 2007 16:04:16 -0600 Rating:0 Site Description: Christian. Advice. Free. What more could you ask for? What? Book Reviews, too? Why not? Site statistics:Click here
For All the Eves longing for an Adam (and vice versa) 2007-01-31 15:53:38 If you’re single, a Christian, and not called to celibacy, you may be asking questions like, who should I marry? Is there such a thing as a soul mate? Does god have someone particular in mind, or is it up to me?
To all of you, my heart goes out. I’ve been in those shoes myself. Let me tell you, ladies, you can have soul mates without reincarnation, because the Lord knows exactly who He wishes you to marry and had that man’s faults and weaknesses in mind when He made you. Likewise, guys, just as the ladies have been made for their Adam, God also has an Eve out there for you.
Unfortunately, most people today don’t seek the Lord’s will on this matter, and wind up under covenant with people they weren’t intended for and bound by their oath until death do they part. And He certainly does not approve of dumping that person without just cause (ie, adultery) when you figure out your mistake, no matter how wrong for you they are. Unless you’re in physic Read more:versa
Trouble (and Peer Pressure) Comes in Threes. 2007-01-26 20:13:32 Dear Andrea,
I had the following dream in June. I am a middle-aged empty nester with six grandchildren. I bought a new business in July and took on a significant volunteer leadership role this year in an organization. This dream came about a week before both of these events occurred.
I was teaching a group of college kids at a high school camp. After our lesson, we toured the camp and were walking around looking at different buildings, etc., and I was explaining some of the purposes of them to the students. Across the way, here came three rams running right at us. I did not notice the colors of them. We all froze and were unable to move because the charge of the rams was so great. One of the rams butted one of the young male students. All three rams then ran off.
A few things are unclear. The students are probably those you are responsible for leading, and your actions a metaphor for what you’re doing with them in real life. The meaning of the college students at a high school ca Read more:Pressure
, Threes
, Trouble
Better Late Than Never, Right? 2007-01-22 20:02:50 I finally got the opportunity to read A Pagan's Nightmare by Ray Blackston, having missed the blog tour by merit of not yet having a copy of the book.
With a classic story-within-a-story frame, the title of the novel derives from the title of the manuscript Literary Agent Ned (forgive me for missing his last name, he's a first person narrator) receives from one of his more, ah, well, eccentric clients, Larry Hutch, not to be confused with the hero of Larry's story, Lanny Hooch. Or go ahead and confuse them, Lanny sort of is Larry. Hutch also wrote into his story his agent (as DJ Ned Neutral) and his girlfriend Miranda, with a running gag of keeping her from finding out due to the misconception that females hate being written into books even when not portrayed in a negative light.
The nightmare referenced is a "reverse rapture": in a twinkle of an eye, all but a handle of "pagans" (meaning here non-Christian rather than Wiccan) vanish, leaving behind a religious cult to ta Read more:Right
Go and Sin No More 2007-01-19 14:38:46 Hi Andrea,
[Lengthy detail of past adulteries deleted by the blood of the lamb] … I now understand that what I did was so very wrong. I am very very sorry for what I did. I prayed and asked God for forgiveness. and I know he forgive if you mean it. And I really really do. The past few days have been the worst. I haven't been able to eat or sleep over this. I want to tell him because I can't live like this. But I know if I tell him he will break up with me for sure. Lately things have been going so well for us! And he is the guy I want to spend my life with and have a family with. I even think I am pregnant now. I know if I tell him he will break up with me and maybe even more. He has such a anger and rage in him, and I'm scared that he may even try to kill himself. He has once before because he said that he thought I didn't love him. We had a talk the other day and said we were sorry for everything in our relationship, and things are great between us. But I know if I tell
On Race and Racism 2007-02-02 17:28:29 Gentle Readers,
On my husband's blog, I came across a question from a liberal political blogger, who showed a documentary that interviewed young Blacks with, ah, identity issues. This blogger asked the conservative blogosphere if they feel the same sense of responsibility and concern about this.
I've been debating with myself whether to respond for several days, but in the end, I couldn't resist. To start, my dominant feeling in response to the video (I did watch it) is empathy, but I don't think that's quite the answer Binkyboy was looking for.
If he means do I feel responsible for these problems, I'll agree with Adam, no. I can't tell you what part my ancestors may have played in slavery and the Jim Crow era, but I am guiltless in those national sins by merit of not having been born. While, "the sins of the fathers shall be visited upon the children unto the third and forth generation," a spiritual reality wreaking havoc still today, the Lord also declared that the Read more:Racism
Announcing: The Carnival of Christian Advice 2007-02-06 18:05:57 Bloggers, now, you have another way to participate in this site. Simply ask your question, or offer your own advice, at your blog, and submit your piece to our bi-weekly carnival. Giving myself plenty of time to get this started, the first is scheduled to come out Mar 05, 2007. The deadlines for the carnival is first of every month and the friday closest to the fifteenth of the month. The carnivals will come out the first and third monday.
Submission Guidelines:
Submit posts asking questions of various topics, can be relational, practical, cultural, or spiritual, q/a style posts, and posts on the kind of topics you’d find in an advice column, such as Ask Andrea.
All answering posts must reflect a conservative Christian
, biblical world view (read: compatible with orthodox/fundamentalist theology). Posts asking a question don’t necessarily have to come from a Christian perspective, but should be sincere and open to a biblical worldview, not hostile.
You may submit up to two Read more:Carnival
The Whipping Boy 2007-02-09 15:55:18
In olden times, the servants who cared for aristocrat’s children wouldn’t dare spank their charges, but couldn’t let it go, so a servant child would be whipped instead. No doubt many an aristocratic child grew up spoiled, knowing they would never be punished. If they had deigned to be friends with such a common child, the young aristocrat might have thought twice and mourned that their friend would take their punishment.Yet the King looked upon this and grieved. For He had come down from His throne and lowered Himself to take the punishment His subjects deserved, setting an example for us all in granting our liberty.
And how many of us today scorn Him as a mere whipping boy? So many today have been deceived into thinking Jesus took the punishment we deserved and freed us from the law of sin, only so we could continue to serve our own sinful desires and somehow stand before a holy God, as if we could be made righteous before God while we yet practice unrighteousness.
Making the Rounds 2007-02-12 20:00:30 Gentle Readers,
My piece over at the Lost Genre Guild Blog, Roots in Frozen Generation, has been quite a hit so far. If the intersection of abortion and racism and/or how I handled those two issues in the short story referenced in the piece’s title interests you, go check it out.
Love in Christ,
Andrea Graham Read more:Rounds
CFBA Book Tour: Christian Writer's Market Guide 2007-02-14 16:53:54 This week, we had a last minute change, and we’re touring a rare nonfiction book, the ChristianWriter
’s MarketGuide
. My copy has yet to arrive, but it sounds like a good resource has gotten even better. The only real problem with this guide is one they all have, by the time they go to press, half the information is out of date. The guide is still helpful, and the CD sounds especially promising, but it’s a good idea to subscribe to the website for uptodate listings if you can, and definitely be sure to visit publisher/agent websites and check their guidelines before querying.
The main CFBA blog had the following on this great resource:
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Sally E. Stuart is the author of thirty-four books and has sold more than one thousand articles and columns. Her long-term involvement with the Christian Writers’ Market Guide as well as her marketing columns for the Christian Communicator, Oregon Christian Writers, and The Advanced Christian Writer, make her a
Review of Abiding Darkness (Black or White Chronicles) 2007-02-15 14:47:15 Speaking of race issues, next week, the CFBA is touring Wedgewood Gray, Book two of the Black
or White
Chronicles. Normally, it’s not a good idea to jump into the middle of a series, and since the author kindly went the extra mile and sent me a copy of Book one as well, I thought I’d start at the beginning, or namely, with Abiding Darkness
.
Abiding Darkness left me with mixed feelings. On one hand, John Aubrey Anderson is a masterful story teller (and feel free to quote me on that if you’re so inclined, Mr. Anderson).
On the other, Anderson is a story teller and hence has not quite mastered the new fangled techniques ever popular nowadays, such as showing the story through the eyes of one character (or at least one character per scene), which if adhered to renders thought tags completely unnecessary (a practice I found inconsistently carried out). Somehow, I suspect Anderson may love the freedom of entering a scene in one head and walking out with an entirely differe
To Go or Not to Go… 2007-02-16 14:25:26 Dear Andrea,
After a weekened visit to my parents house by myself, i came back home with an awkward feeling and some suspicions. I checked our computers history, and to my surprise found a bunch of pornorgraphic websites that my husband had visited over the weekened..all viewed at night time. Due to his actions i lost complete trust in him and am having a hard time regaining it back. I feel like our sex life has gone down hill. My husband makes me feel like a sex object that is only used to his advantage. One evening while taking a walk i decided to take the opportunity to confront him about it. He looked embarrased and ashamed…and he denied it at first..until i got the truth out of him. The sad thing is that i live with the guilt of wanting to divorce him. We have a three mth old baby together which we both love dearly. Would i be a bad mother/spouse for leaving my husband and my baby without a father?
Sincerely,
Unhappy Wife
Dear Unhappy wife,
I understand your feelings. It is a ha
CSFF Tour: Wherethemapends.com 2007-02-20 04:33:38 This month, I’m getting to participate (although somewhat late thanks to Pres. George Washington having another birthday) in CSFF’s blog tour. On Deck we have Jeff Gerke’s Wherethemapends.com
First, if you don’t like gateway pages, you’ll want to enter the site at the main page.
What else I noticed about, or on, this site, in order:
1) Killer graphics (one of which you’ll miss if you skip the gateway page). That alone is reason enough to take a peek. I’d love to copy some over for you, but none were provided with the tour, so you’ll have to visit to understand. The best part? Not only does this site have a design destined to visually delight fans of speculative fiction, it manages at the same time to look professional and tastefully done, this is not “visual overload” graphics, but a good clean design, and fastloading, too (on DSL).
2) The newsletter sign up box has been wisely placed in the upper right of the page, but also Read more:CSFF Tour
CFBA Book Tour: Black or White Chronicles, Book 2 Wedgewood Gray 2007-02-21 18:31:29 This week, the CFBA is touring Wedgewood Grey: The Black
or White
Chronicles: Book Two by John Aubrey Anderson. Last week, I went ahead and threw in an extra review of book one as well, and eagerly picked up book two after I finished it.
Let me say, Wedgewood Gray stayed consistent in it’s craftsmanship as Abiding Darkness, which my regular readers may recall nearly drove me up the wall, despite the fact I actually loved the story. Anderson is still a masterful storyteller. I’m just not always the biggest fan of story telling and prefer fiction written from the perspective of one or more view point characters. It’s the way I craft my stories and I’m not sure it’s my place to knock a technique I couldn’t write my way out of a paper bag with if I had to or perish.
So facing a decision of either letting the techniques employed drive me nuts or just ignoring them and enjoying a pleasurable read, I did that latter. As a result, I don’t have a det
Hoping to be the future Mrs. Wrong? 2007-02-23 13:28:09 I recieved a private letter that I won’t disclose, but imagine any number of ladies reading this could have written something along the following lines:
Dear Andrea,
My fiance/boyfriend confessed to a porn addiction/ongoing use and suggested I might want to call off the engagement/stop seeing him. I’ve read up on this subject, so I have an idea of how hard our life together would be, but …. (insert excuses reasons for wanting to marry Mr. Wrong
here.)
In short, I love him, and if I say yes (or continue in the engagement) I can help him overcome this even though right now he’s ready to give up and doesn’t want to talk about it anymore. I’d be better able to help him and surely my love can save him. Right? He needs me. How can I reject him?
Signed,
the Future Mrs. Wrong
If you see yourself in this letter, the following is for you:
Dear Future Mrs. Wrong,
Beloved, I realize you love him, but frankly, he’s done the most loving thing he can in allow
CFBA Tour:A Valley Of Betrayal 2007-02-28 18:17:05
This week, the CFBA is touring A Valley
of Betrayal
, a novel by Tricia Goyer, the first book in a new series of historical fiction centered around a little known civil war that tore apart Spain in the middle of the great depression, which I learned from the book was a major prelude to WWII.
A Valley of Betrayal is the story of a young woman, who filled with romantic notions and dreams of walking down the aisle in a blue wedding dress and happily ever after, follows her heart into Spain just as it is on the brink of civil war, after the communists win the recent election and the nazis demand a do-over with bombers. As the title suggests, the brutal realities of war provide a rude awakening and she has to choose between turning back towards home or taking sides in the conflict and assisting in a war not her own.
Now, for most of us, this is definitely going to be a lesson in history, but have you ever read a history book cover to cover, had difficulty putting it down, and enjoyed it? No Read more:CFBA Tour
Heart Matters 2007-03-01 21:40:19 I am a very happily married woman of three years. My husband is honestly all I could have ever asked for and more, but it seems as though at least two or three times a year I find myself thinking of my first love. I find myself missing him wondering if he ever thinks of me. We dated for a long time and I thought he was the man I was going to marry but he broke things off and that was a very traumatic experience for me. I am a very happy mother and wife so I am wondering why I am getting these feelings! I wrote a letter trying to find closure and my husband read it and said he would like me to first pray about it and talk to the girls in my accountability group about it. After talking with them they said it would not be in my best interest to send it. I feel like no one understands what I am going through. I don’t know where this emotion is coming from. I was hoping you would be able to give me some helpful advice! Thank you for taking the time to read this if nothing else.–Darc Read more:Heart
Nightmares and Warfare 2007-03-05 14:51:27 I hope you can help me figure out my dreams, in general I often dream of homes, being disrobed and not remembering how I got this way, fighting with my parents, whom I am estranged from, having heart attacks and a spotlight showing this and feeling embarrassed. Always being chased, someone trying to capture me and hurt me…always running away from something evil…thank you for any help and God bless you.
–Tortured by Nightmares
Dear Tortured,
All quite common. Most of us have looked down in a dream and realized we were partially or completely naked in a dream at some point. It’s an expression of our fears of public exposure, of being seen for who we really are, of revealing parts of ourselves we wish to keep private, the heart attack dream seems to be along the same lines, only with pain/dying (nonphysically most likely) underscored. Houses represent ourselves (on all levels) and most dreams are about ourselves, so houses are likewise common. The various rooms, condi Read more:Warfare
First Edition of The Carnival of Christian Advice 2007-03-06 16:12:43
Welcome to the March 6, 2007 edition of carnival of christian advice. Submissions for April are due on the Friday closest to the last day of the month and the next carnival comes out the first Tuesday in April.
questions
Charles H. Green presents Trust, Freedom and Resentment posted at Trust Matters
Excerpt: Trust requires the ability to get outside oneself. Why do I find that so hard to do?
Paul presents What is your greatest love? posted at ExtremePerspective
Excerpt: Our countries wealth has made it easy for us to be distracted by millions of things we “must have” . . . . But at the end of the day do any of these pursuits make us fulfilled, happier or assured of what comes after death?”
Paul Ferree presents Lessons From The Street - Why? posted at How To Become A Missionary
Andrea’s Comments: This piece makes the assumption that the body of Christ is made up of a bunch of parts all with the same fundamental function rather than many kinds with differ Read more:Carnival
, Christian
, Edition
, First
, First Edition
Odds and Ends 2007-03-09 19:06:21 Gentle Readers,
BibleRhymes.com is offering a darling little children’s book. The cover price ($17.95) seems awful high for a hardback copy of such a short book (32 pages, but the e-book is free and well done. Granted, part of the proceeds are going to supply books to orphans and other needy children.
The rhymes are kinda cutesy, but it is a children’s book. Doctrinal purists will be upset (and I must admit I was rather annoyed.) On the sixth day, one could conclude on his planet, the woman was created first, at least going off the sentence structure, as he rearranged the order for a rhyme, and needlessly as woman and man rhyme.
Particular sticklers will note, contrary to what the book implies, before the fall, our first father and mother were vegetarians and did not eat meat, as death was unheard of then, so more accurate than “a buffet of fruit and good meat” would have been, “of fruit and delicious soy burgers.” It could equally be argued tha
CFBA Book Tour: The Reliance 2007-03-14 18:23:36
Get ready for swashbuckling adventure on the high seas of the Caribbean! This week, the CFBA is touring THE RELIANCE( book two of the Legacy of the King’s Pirates, by Mary Lu Tyndall. I checked my dictionary, and interestingly enough, swashbuckler is actually what I’d consider a negative term, as it means, “a blustering, swaggering fighting man.” Exactly the sort of lifestyle pirate Captain Merrick left behind when he became a Christian, when we meet him in the Reliance
, he has dedicated the rest of his sailing days to chasing down wicked pirates and bringing them to justice.
Then an old foe, Kent Carlton, tricks him into believing Merrick’s pregnant wife Charlisse is dead, and sends both of them spiraling into a crisis of faith, and Merrick backsliding into his old ways. Besides nearly air-tight wordsmithing (I have to agree with Frank Creed’s assessment there from his review of the first book) the Reliance’s strength is all too human charac
The Watchers Book Tour 2007-03-16 17:34:45 Last week, the CFBA toured THE WATCHERS ( Bethany House, 3/07) by Mark Andrew Olsen, but my copy decided to show up too late to join the party. So this week I’m doubling up, if my computer doesn’t eat my review again.
The CFBA had the following on this title:
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
MARK ANDREW OLSEN whose novel The Assignment was a Christy Award finalist, also collaborated on bestsellers Hadassah (now the major motion picture: One Night With the King), The Hadassah Covenant, and Rescued. The son of missionaries to France, Mark is a graduate of Baylor University. He and his wife, Connie, live in Colorado Springs with their three children.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
Just below the surface among the family of God lives another family tree–one traced in spirit, invisible and ageless, known as the Watchers
. For two thousand years they’ve seen beyond the veil separating this world from the next, passing on their gift through a lineage mostly overlooked. Throughout history they&rsqu
Seeing Double Yet? 2007-03-20 17:39:49 Dillon Richards sure is in Double Vision, a new novel out from Randy Ingermanson, which is on a blog tour this week with the CSFF. I must admit, I’m still in the process of reading this one, but I didn’t want to leave everyone hanging. So allow me to comment on what I’ve read up through chapter seven, and add more later this week if I have additional comments after I finish it.
Recently, I got wind at the Lost Genre Guild of a list of sci-fi cliches. Reading Double Vision reminded me of one particular alleged cliche and got me asking, ”Why would a supergenious have such a hard time figuring out secondary meanings and metaphors?”
I hit upon the answer based on the well-portayed symptoms Richards displayed ten or twenty pages before he came right out and disclosed the answer to my question: A super genious wouldn’t–unless, that is, they happened to have Asperger’s Syndrome.
An amazing number of scientists are running around the Read more:Seeing
CFBA Book Tour: It Happens Every Spring 2007-03-21 16:00:52 To tell you the truth, I wasn’t entirely sure what to make of this title; It Happens Every Spring
( Tyndale Fiction, 2007). At first glance, a cynical person would be apt to view this first installment of the four seasons series as an awkward literary marriage between diverse genres attempted as a marketing ploy to sell more of Dr. Gary Chapman’s marriage books, or in particular The Four Seasons of Marriage, which this novel is based from and illustrative of. And a truly cynical person might assume that the goal was also to launch a career for Catherine Palmer.
Indeed, if I were the type to gamble, I’d wager I could find more than one reviewer making such a case. There is one slight problem, at least for any that want to throw in the bit about Palmer. She already launched her career—in 1988 to be exact.
I’ll admit I’m far more familiar with Dr. Chapman, especially his book, the Five Love Languages, which I heartily and fully recommend to all married cou
More Diplopia–CSFF Tour Day Three 2007-03-22 17:40:19 I finished reading Double Vision yesterday (see my earlier review), and author Randall Ingermanson continued to wow and raise the bar on craftsmanship in it’s genre, although my reading materials of late have shown I take honesty about as seriously as Dillon, who I found it easy to identify with, except for politics, and especially on bathing suits. I think some ladies will be surprised by Dillon’s reaction as he would have been dismayed to learn today’s young women have been trained by culture to intentionally flaunt their assets and literally dress to kill.
On the science, if you can make it through the initial explanations early on, the sailing will get much smoother later on. He’s got this aspect about as air tight as one could expect, given God’s sovereign omnipotence (translation: there is nothing He can’t do with the caveat that He also won’t contradict His own character and will) makes the theory the universe splits in two every time we Read more:CSFF Tour
, ndash
, Three
Recommend Site To A Friend
