Sunday, June 2, 2013

On The Wings of the Wind: On Sale, Amazon


On the Wings of the Wind




Here now is the third and final installment of the Wind series that began with Where the Wind Begins.  In that volume character and narrative were used to describe and contrast the two approaches to life depicted in Ecclesiastes and Philippians.  This was accomplished mainly in the persons of one multi millionaire-- Malcolm Richardson--and one religious refugee from Iran—Dr. Morv Areed (Moreen) Hassani.

  In the series we witness the dark, cynical epitome of the worldly and wealthy aristocrat of Ecclesiastes (Mr. Richardson) meet up with the joy and hope of the Epistle to the Philippians (Mrs. Hassani).  And in a process that travels through all three books and beyond, Malcolm is transformed from an apathetic, agnostic, and detached father to a more relational position in both the spiritual and the familial aspects of his life…all this resulting from Moreen’s joy and hope assisted by Malcolm’s discovery of great works of literature.  Three of these works (King Lear, Paradise Lost, and The Confessions) are dealt with at length in each volume respectively. 

 Wings of the Wind will continue to explore the ongoing relational conflicts inherent in a large family.    Malcolm is thrice divorced with kids and grandkids from all three marriages.  He and His ex-wife Sybil’s relationship closed with a kiss in the second installment, Where the Wind Will, and continues to gel in this volume as does his previously strained relationship with Todd, his youngest son.   The relationship between Malcolm’s stepdaughter, Dana, and Moreen’s  only surviving son, Omid will move forward.  And the marital strain between Malcolm and Sybil’s oldest daughter, Alicia, and her husband, Tom, will continue to plague as those two deal with their financial success inadvertently following in her father’s footsteps.

Another exploration continuing from the first volume is the liturgical journey upon which the characters continue to embark as they experience God through the traditional and ancient patterns of worship initiated by God through Moses, adapted by the synagogue, carried over into the first century church gatherings, and preserved for centuries in the high church traditions.

Suffering in general and the persecuted church specifically is also an area that the Wind series looks into.   The second book closed with a harrowing hostage development in Columbia, which, in the third book (the volume before you) will affect the entire cast of characters,  deeply challenging their ideas of security, comfort, and even God’s goodness.


Who Gives This Woman: On Sale Now-Amazon

Who Gives This Woman
 
Christianity is replete with paradoxes—give to receive, sacrifice to gain, die to live.   It is how God set up His eternal economy and established it as the means by which He would rescue the Universe from its fallen state.  Indeed, He willingly submitted Himself to this system for it was His love, surrender, commitment, and sacrifice that established forever our way of escape from the misery of Adam’s error now and on into that great city meant for our habitation when God closes the door on this era. 

Randal Simpson, a divorced Dad who has (as much as humanly possible) done everything right.  Still, he loses custody of his adopted daughter, Amber, to her manipulative mother who abandoned the family for six years searching for fame and fortune.  The ex-wife succeeds in completely severing father and daughter for almost two decades.  Randal, under the direction and encouragement of Christian community, comes to understand that his first and foremost responsibility is to provide for and protect the child who carries his name even if he is forced to do so in absentia. 

In Spite of the poison dished out by her ever vindictive mother, Amber is haunted by the natural desire to discover the man whose name she bears.  This desire eventually takes her on a transforming (and trying) journey over a three month period that takes her (resistant all the way) back in time and across state lines.  In the end, though, it will be her father’s love, surrender, commitment, and sacrifice that brings about healing, reconciliation and renewal.