INSPIRING BOOKS FOR LAST-MINUTE GIFTS

 

By Ada Brownell

 

SQUEAKY CLEAN NOVELS; Suspense; Humor; Spiritual Payload

The Lady Fugitive (60 Reviews)

Peach Blossom Rancher

Love’s Delicate Blossom

Joe the Dreamer: The Castle and the Catapult

 

 

FAITH-BUILDING NON-FICTION:

 

Swallowed by Life, (You're more than a body)

Imagine the Future You,

Following the Tracks (Life with the Railroad);

Confessions of a Pentecostal

What Prayer Can Do--(55 reprinted articles

From The Pentecostal Evangel)

 Amazon Ada Brownell author page: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B001KJ2C06

 

JESUS IS COMING? ARE YOU READY?

By Ada Brownell

Centuries before “Beam me up Scotty” became a common phrase from the television sci-fi show Star Trek, a well-known person stood on a mountain in Israel and went up through the clouds and out of sight. No space ship, no airplane, no parachute, no rockets, no fuel. Just a blue sky and a few white clouds. Not even a huge eagle taking on passengers.

The event was witnessed by a crowd of spectators, who craned their necks until he was out of sight. Mouths dropped open, hands shaded their eyes as they stared. Some stood on tiptoes. Others ran on the dirt road surrounding the peak and tried to see higher into the blue sky.

A few young men swiftly tucked their robes around their legs and tried to climb up on a boulder, but two huge figures dressed in white stood in their way.

Chatter died down. Women wept, and a few tears tricked into the beards of men.

Everybody knew the Roman government voted for the death penalty after the Sanhedrin, the highest court in ancient Jerusalem, carried out the sentence. After all, he claimed to be the Son of God.

Then in three days witnesses said he was alive. The guards at the tomb reported his bloody body stolen by his disciples. But how could they do that with so many soldiers guarding the tomb? If there was a body why didn’t someone find it?

Reports kept coming in that people had seen him alive, talked to him, and even though he performed miracles, some didn’t believe. While eating with his disciples, he vanished from their sight (Luke 24:31). He appeared to them in a closed room with the door shut (Luke 24:36-40).

For forty days he taught about the Kingdom of God (Acts 1:3), and showed them by many infallible truths that he was alive.

 “But how did he go up like that?” a loud voice demanded.

The crowd shoved their way toward the two men dressed in white. Shoulders wide and strong, the huge creatures stood their ground. “Silence!”

Immediately you could have heard an olive leaf drop.

“Men of Galilee, why do you stand here gazing into heaven?” one of them said, while the other kept the people back. “This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as you have seen him go into heaven.” (Acts 1:11 KJ).

The creatures in white disappeared, and Peter moved to where they stood.   “We have a command from the Lord. Let’s go into Jerusalem like Jesus said and pray and tarry for the Holy Spirit!” Peter shouted.

“Yes!” John answered. “He said not to leave Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father.”

Jesus had been teaching them that God had something special for them. “John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

A dunking in the Holy Spirit? What would that be like? But they thought he was going to establish his kingdom.

He had said, ‘You will receive power when the Holy Spirit is come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the earth.”

That was when gravity let loose of him. His scarred feet with bare toes wiggled in his sandals, and he started going up. The crowd watched in awe, but he disappeared before their eyes.

No matter how long they stared at the sky and the place on Mount Olivet where their Lord had stood, he was gone.

“He’ll come again,” someone said. “The angel—or whoever he was—promised.”

Amazed people walked around and stared up at the sky from a different angle. They touched the ground where he stood and somebody pointed out his footprints.

“We may as well go home,” one of the women complained, but then a man stood on a rock before the grumbling crowd.

“Jesus said not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father.”

“Wait?” a shrill voice inquired.

When the sweaty group arrived in the city, about one hundred and twenty people remained. They likely had five hundred people who saw him go into the clouds because 1 Corinthians 15:6 says Jesus was seen by up to five hundred brethren at once. It could have been more, counting the women and children. In those days they usually counted only the men, but some evidently went home instead of going into Jerusalem. Yet Acts 2 mentions women. Mary, the mother of Jesus was there with his brothers.

They named Peter, James, John and Andrew; Philip and Thomas; Bartholomew and Matthew; James the son of Alphaeus, Simon the zealot, and Judas, the son of James.

By now they had a noisy crowd in the upper room. They waited, and then began to pray.

Whispers echoed. “He said he’s coming back!”

“How can that be?” a loud whisper filtered from ear to ear. “The man clothed in white said Jesus would come back like we saw him go.”

Similar to a family at the airport today, whose relative hasn’t arrived despite waiting and watching, Christians have studied the Bible and tried to figure out exactly when the Lord will appear in the skies, ready to pick us up.

Some think the flight is on a schedule and they can figure out when they depart for heaven. Their faith is built on many scriptures such as 1 Thessalonians 4: 14—18 KJ.  ¹⁴ For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.  For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:  Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.  Wherefore comfort one another with these words.”

“How can that be?” a loud whisper filtered from ear to ear. “The man clothed in white said Jesus would come back like we saw him go.”

Similar to a family at the airport whose relative hasn’t arrived despite waiting and watching, Christians have studied the Bible and tried to figure out exactly when the Lord will appear in the skies, ready to pick us up.

Some think the flight is on a schedule and they can figure out when they depart for heaven. Their faith is built on many scriptures such as 1 Thessalonians 4: 14—18 KJ.  ¹⁴ For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.  For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:  Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.  Wherefore comfort one another with these words.”

NEXT : How do we get ready for His coming?  

                                                                                                       :          ;

FOLLOWING THE TRACKS

 

FOLLOWING THE TRACKS SUMMARY

By Ada Brownell

 

Ever wondered how trains going different directions on the same track arrive safely at the destination despite rock slides, derailments, a fire burning a trestle bridge, and other hazards?

How in the era before Centralized Traffic Control railroad employees communicated and prevented accidents?

Lester C. Brownell was age eighteen when he started working for the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad, after earning a certificate from Gale Institute’s telegraph school in Minneapolis. He was one of many employees who helped transport people, animals and mammoth loads from coast to coast, around the clock. For years, telegraph was about the only means of communication.

When he began his career, an unknown stomach ulcer ready to rupture worked on his insides, and he didn’t even notice when he stood beside the rails, his pants flapping in the breeze, meeting a train going 50 miles an hour. With a Y-stick in his hand, he delivered urgent transcribed telegraph messages up to the engineer.

When he married Ada Belle Nicholson, she became the support and companion he needed. After they married in 1953, together they conquered challenges of moving twelve times the first three of their 66 years, finding places to live in the desert or snowy mountains, and making a boxcar, a depot, and shacks into homes..

Then Centralized Traffic Control changed the railroad and the lives of workers. Enjoy the history, the humor, the romance, the suspense, the rewarded faith—a true story.

 

 https://tinyurl.com/y2w2jqyu

 

 

 

 

 

 

Socialism as I witnessed it

By Ada Brownell

The first time I viewed television news, Fidel Castro’s military was mowing down men with a machine gun in front of a trench where their dead bodies fell.

It was 1960, if my guess is right. I was 22 years old. My husband and I had two young children.

I was horrified at what I had seen. We viewed the event when we were over at our neighbors’ house. The husband was a signal maintainer for the railroad. We didn’t own a television set, and that scene didn’t help me want one. We lived in Thompson, Utah. The little town had just shy of 100 people who built a tower so television signals would come in.

A few months later we bought a television, and the news usually wasn’t that violent. But everywhere television showed the multitudes of rafts Cuban people fashioned and loaded up with their relatives trying to get to America. Many of them drowned, and that continued for years.

I think the majority of them knew the risks. At one Trump rally recently with tears a man who escaped from Cuba told how his father risked everything to get his family to the United States. He asked, “Where else could we go?”

Communism was atheistic, and controlled people’s lives, even their thinking. I felt sorry for the Cubans.

That feeling never changed in the many years since, even though television reception has improved in the U.S. and they’re no longer controlling the people with machine guns. But sad to say, the promised Utopia— first with socialism, and then Communism, never came.

Cubans still are oppressed. When I was younger most of the cane sugar that fed the U.S. and maybe the world, came from Cuba, and I think most of the people who lived there before communism were comfortable financially.

The country now is open somewhat to tourists, but it’s tight by what I heard. My brother and his wife went on a mission trip a few years ago to work on a Cuban church building and do some other charitable work.

The church had a measure of freedom, but within limits. The people were poor and their lives supervised and controlled by the government.

A talented young man in the church already had his future planned by the government: where he could get higher education, what his career would be, and where he would work, although that wasn’t what he wanted to do.

Most people in the church lived in poverty, including the pastor.

For years Cuban autos have fascinated men. All their cars are old, but the guys knew their transportation depended on keeping them running, so a lot of men became the mechanic that would keep the vehicles running, probably from parts cannibalized from junked autos.

The cars on Cuban highways and streets are so old they would be valuable to collectors in the United States.

Any America who thinks, reads, and remembers history will not trade their freedoms for socialism, no matter how much “free stuff” is offered.

Every American should think before they vote.

 

 

  

PARENTING FOR THE FUTURE

HOW TO HELP YOUR CHILDREN GET TO HEAVEN

By Ada Brownell

One of the first things I learned about parenting was my husband and I didn’t have to do it by ourselves.

God calls others to help. Ephesians 4:10-12 says, “⁰He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fulfill all things.¹¹ And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.”

Our children had great pastors, youth pastors, Sunday school teachers, evangelists, as well as wonderful Christian friends who influenced them in the choice to give their lives and talents to Christ.

To help your children make the choice to “go to heaven,” here are a few things we did when our five offspring were young. They all made Jesus Lord of their lives.

·       Attend a full gospel church where the gospel is preached and rightly divided. Full gospel churches usually teach salvation comes only when we believe Jesus died for our sins, and resurrected on the third day. (John 3:16 and Romans 10:9) .Full gospel churches believe in the divine inspiration of the Bible as God’s Word, the baptism in the Holy Spirit with the evidence of supernatural speaking in other tongues. They also believe in Divine Healing, the Catching away of the church in the rapture, and the Second Coming of Jesus.

·        Scriptures for you to teach your children: “If thou will confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in thine heart that God raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved” (Romans 10:9). “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and cleanse us from all unrighteousness “(1 John 1:9).

 Another: “But you will receive power after the Holy Ghost has come upon you. And you shall be witnesses unto me …” (Acts 1:8). “And while they watched, he was taken up and a cloud received him out of their sight. .. While they looked steadfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold two men stood by them in white apparel who also said, ‘This same Jesus who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you have seen him go into heaven” (Acts 1:9-11).

·       Become a student of the Word of God yourself. “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. (2 Timothy 2:15).

·       Teach them to become students of the Word. “All scripture is given by inspiration of God (God breated), and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16)

Hopefully your church has programs for youth like Royal Rangers, Missionettes, Bible Quiz, Talent contests, and services where young people can use their talents and ministries.

·       Expose them to great people—Bible characters and adults as well as teens who are living for God.

·       Go to missions services. When they’re just forming opinions and finding people to “worship” let them know the difference between fantasy, fiction, reality, and history. They may adore Spiderman and Star Wars characters, but they should understand they don’t exist, and when God enabled David to kill Goliath, David wasn’t a vegetable from Veggie Tales. He lived, loved God and did great things in His name.

* Teach your children God loved them from the beginning of their lives. “I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb” (Jeremiah 1:5).

However, when Jesus was born as a baby in Bethlehem, he was different from any other baby because he is God’s son. Jesus was in heaven before he came to earth. Jesus was there when the world and people were created. Jesus, God’s only Son; and the Holy Spirit were there in the beginning. “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth” (Genesis 1:26).

 Buy them great books and go to movies that support Christian values.

 

MOST IMPORTANT; Pray for and with our children frequently. Ask God for wisdom. He promised to send wisdom to those who ask for it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

SCREAMING SIRENS

 

By Ada Nicholson Brownell

 

 A siren’s wail penetrated the early evening air. A young mother ran out of the house. She imagined her child lying in a pool of blood somewhere in the street. But she found her toddler playing happily in the yard.

Another mother parted the living room drapes, looking anxiously toward the street. Why was her teenage son so late driving the car home from the store? Was he now breathing his last beneath the wreckage of the automobile?

A father, just returning from work, heaved a sigh of relief when there was no fire truck in front of his home.

A young fellow coming out of a supermarket chuckled. “Somebody’s getting a ticket.”

Sirens can mean many different things. They make imaginations run wild. But their main purpose is to warn. They want motorists and pedestrians to get out of the way of a speeding ambulance, fire truck or police vehicle. Those who don’t give the emergency vehicle the right-of-way often cause serious accidents, creating an even larger emergency.

Other warning sounds are evident in our world—violence, war, revolution, famine. More important the rise of atheism from our schools, and churches that offer everything but the gospel and the Word of God.

Centuries ago a physician wrote a warning about these problems. Its theme: When these things encompass the earth, a great event is about to take place—and every person should prepare for it. Dr. Luke, more widely known as St. Luke, penned the Gospel of Luke in the New Testament and the book of Acts, relating the words of Jesus when he was on earth.

One of the warnings he delivered was about the second coming of Christ (Luke 21:7-36) that came from the mouth of Jesus.

Matthew sounded a similar warning. The warnings foretold about the destruction of Jerusalem in A. D. 40, but then Jesus connected events that would come to pass that would precede His Second Coming.

The Lord mentioned his second coming to his disciples several times, Here’s what he said in Matthew 24: “And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. ⁵ For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. ^“6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. ⁷ For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. ⁸ All these are the beginning of sorrows.

⁹ Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake.

¹⁰ And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. ¹² And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. ¹³ But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

^“ And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come…”

According to the Scriptures, today’s world tensions are dovetailing into the Battle of Armageddon, described in the Book of Revelation.

Today’s warnings are largely ignored. Some people have heard about the Second Coming all their lives –and they say, “It hasn’t happened yet.”

They may end up like those who have had to run to storm cellars so many times without experiencing a tornado, they have become callous.

Are you ready for Christ’s return? Have you accepted Him as your personal Savior? ”He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life; and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him” (John 3:36).

Heed the screaming sirens of the times, warning you to get ready. Jesus is coming! Whether you are dead or alive when he bursts through the clouds with the sound of a trumpet, if you’ve repented of your sins and made Jesus Lord of your life, you’ll meet him in the air, and from then throughout eternity you’ll be with the Lord. (See 1 Thessalonians 4:14-18).

“Two men shall be in the field, one will be taken and the other left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill. One will be taken and the other left. Watch therefore, for you do not know the hour your Lord doth come” (Matthew 24:40-41 KJ).

NEXT: More quotes from the Bible about the catching away of the church and Christ’s second coming. “Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming.

THE GOD-SHAPED VOID WITHIN YOU

By Ada Brownell

I covered one of the first seminars on the Human Genome Project,[i] for The Pueblo Chieftain in the early 1990s. Reporters from several Colorado newspapers were there.

An international team of researchers were mapping the genes of humans and it was considered “one of the greatest feats of exploration in history.” By 2003, experts could read the genetic blueprint for building a human being. But did they miss anything?

Four years later, a new field, neurotheology, revealed our Creator wrapped faith in our DNA, according to a CNN report by A. Chris Gajilan on April 4, 2007.  Dr. Andrew Newberg, neuroscientist and author of "Why We Believe What We Believe" told how the human brain processes religion and spirituality.

Newberg says the brain’s frontal lobe, the area right behind our foreheads, helps us focus our attention in prayer and meditation.

The parietal lobe, located near the backs of our skulls, is the seat of our sensory information. Newberg says it's involved in that feeling of becoming part of something greater than oneself. The limbic system, nestled deep in the brain’s center, regulates our emotions and it is responsible for feelings of awe and joy.

He suggests brain scans may provide proof that our brains are built to believe in God. He says there may be universal features of the human mind that actually make it easier for us to believe in a higher power.

I remember one brain surgeon who reported stimulating some areas of the brain caused a patient to react in ways that suggested religious activity and faith.

Newberg has written several books about the connection between the brain and the spiritual and a new book is coming out later this year (2020).

Evidence shows we have a God-shaped void within us nothing else can fill. People all over the world search for a Supreme Being because of the emptiness inside them. If they haven’t heard the true gospel or reject it, they worship the earth, animals, stars, the sun, an idol they know is nothing but a figure humans created, or something else they devised such as Humanism, turning unbelief into doctrine or worshiping the created instead of the Creator.

I don’t know where the God-shaped space in us resides, but I know inside each person is a mysterious place where supernatural activities occur. If you’ve given your life to God, that’s the place where you’ll discover unconditional love, unspeakable joy, faith, supernatural peace, comfort, and biblical gifts and fruits of the Holy Spirit.

Supernatural joy is a phenomenon different from happiness because it doesn’t depend on circumstances or people. Peter said when a person believes in the Savior and repents of his sins, something amazing happens.  “…The genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see him, yet believing you rejoice with ‘joy unspeakable and full of glory’” (1 Peter 1:8 NKJ). In other words, too- wonderful-to-describe joy, and only God can be the source.

The joy obviously is linked to awesome knowledge Jesus is God’s only son, who rose from the dead and gives eternal life (John 3:16).

The grief I experienced when we lost a daughter to cancer felt like my insides had been ripped out. Yet, when I believed God’s Word, the Comforter came and gave me supernatural peace and joy, and that’s something unbelievers don’t have.

Humans have wrestled with death since Cain killed his brother, Abel. The Apostle Paul gave amazing teaching in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 that everyone can use. He said, “I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with him those who sleep in Jesus…For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, and with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will arise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore, comfort one another with these words.”

That fills perfectly the God-shaped space in us.

---

[i] https://www.genome.gov/human-genome-project

FOLLOWING THE TRACKS

Following the Tracks and Dealing with Snow

By Ada Brownell

http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B001KJ2C06

July 4: How God's mercy brought America through hard times

By Ada Brownell

A phone call from our daughter. “Better turn on the news.”

 A click, and I sank into a recliner. Flames shot from the World Trade Center and people jumped out windows. Then a large aircraft plowed into the remaining twin tower, exploding top floors and setting the remainder of the crumbling skyscraper on fire. A short time later, a plane made a direct hit on our Pentagon, and another headed for the White House.

We were at war. Our soldiers still fight the tentacles of terrorism trying to strangle the last breath of freedom from our nation and the world.

What a joy liberty has been in the decades I’ve lived! No bombs lighting the sky in the distance or jarring my bed at night. During my childhood I trembled during World War II when the town siren screamed, “Blackout.” But sirens stopped, our homeland was safe despite carnage at Pearl Harbor, and Americans lived free.

 Yes, war bruised our nation. I remember my sister’s scream when she received the call revealing her fiancé was killed in World War II. We feared Russia during the cold war, and during the Bay of Pigs crisis we wondered if atomic bombs would level our nation before morning. We’re still burying our young killed on battlefields abroad.

Throughout history, America went to its knees for God’s help. They cried out to the Lord during the Revolutionary War, War of 1812, Mexican-Indian War, Civil War, Spanish-American War, World War I, World War II, Korean War, Vietnam War, the Persian Gulf War, the War on Terror in Afghanistan and Iraq; and interventions in Granada, Panama, Bosnia. I’m thankful for those who fought, gave their lives or were maimed.

Liberty prevails, and I believe it’s partly due to our Judeo-Christian heritage that teaches loving God and others.

 Another reason we have been blessed is our nation’s support of Israel.  "And I will bless those that bless you and curse the one who curses you,” God said of Israel (Genesis 12:1-3). Zechariah 2:8 speaks about God rising against the nations that plundered Israel – “for whoever touches you touches the apple of my eye." 

If we turn from God, it even affects the environment: “There is no faithfulness, no love, no acknowledgment of God in the land. There is only cursing, lying and murder, stealing and adultery…. Because of this the land mourns, and all who live in it waste away, the beasts of the field and the birds of the air and the fish of the sea are dying” (Hosea 4:1-3).

And the promise for obedience: “Then all the nations will call you blessed for yours will be a delightful land,” says the Lord Almighty (Malachi 3:6-12).

Even with continued war and our nation divided by different agendas, we are free and blessed. The church still prays for our leaders and our country, and I thank God for His mercy and ask for more.

Ada Brownell, a free lance writer and author of ten  books, is a retired reporter for The Pueblo Chieftain. 

Sale on Swallowed by Life Paperback!!! Get it now! Find assurance of life after death.

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SWALLOWED BY LIFE: MYSTERIES OF DEATH, RESURRECTION, AND THE ETERNAL

 SALE! Paperback only $3.83; Kindle $2.99.

While we live in these earthly bodies, we groan and sigh, but it’s not that we want to die and get rid of these bodies that clothe us. Rather, we want to put on our new bodies so that our dying bodies will be swallowed by life” (2 Corinthians 5:4 NLT).

Tell your book club, your grief support group, Bible study group, family, friends ABOUT THE SALE!

“You know what we’re doing?” friends asked the author when the Corona virus lockdown began. “We’re reading Swallowed by Life again!

The author’s brother, a pastor, read the book at least three times.

Ada Brownell worked seven years on the medical beat at The Pueblo Chieftain, and covered one of the first seminars on the human genome. In addition to being a newspaper reporter, her articles have appeared in more than forty Christian publications. She has authored ten books.

BOOK SUMMARY:

By Ada Brownell

Peter wrote, "For we did not follow cunningly devised fables...but were eyewitnesses of his majesty."

 (2 Peter 1:16).

13-week Bible study: SWALLOWED BY LIFE

Do you believe you could live with someone else’s heart or kidneys, but not without your body? Evidence shows we’re more than flesh. The author, a prolific religion writer and retired medical journalist, talks about the evidence; the wonder of life with all its electrical systems; the awesome truth about cell death and regeneration; mysteries surrounding the change from mortal to immortal; where we go when our body dies; resurrection; and a glimpse at what we will do in heaven. Questions and answers make this non-fiction inspirational book a great text for group study.

 Swallowed by Life written for support groups, religion classes, people with chronic or terminal illness, individuals who fear death or are curious about it, the grieving, and those who give them counsel.

Review: “It was wonderful how the author merged the medical with the spiritual.”

Available from some bookstores, Amazon and from the author. Buy it here on Amazon: http://ow.ly/U11Rn

  

IDEAS TO HELP YOU WRITE A REVIEW

By Ada Brownell

IF YOU ENJOYED FOLLOWING THE TRACKS, PLEASE WRITE A REVIEW AND POST IT ON AMAZON AND GOOD READS.

Questions to give you ideas for a review, or to discuss with your book club.

When you read my new non-fiction book, Following the Tracks: Life With the Railroad, what did you expect from such a book?

What caught your interest? The author, the topic, the location, the history, the characters, an expected theme?

How about the first scene? Was the telegraph operator fighting for his life in the first pages relevant to the book?

What did you think of the way telegraphers delivered urgent messages to engineers in the 1950s?

Why were changes necessary that took communication from telegraph to teletype, and then computers and Centralized Traffic Control?

 Why was it necessary to have an agent-telegrapher in depots in every little town and junction along the tracks, even after they quit selling passenger train tickets?

How does CTC work and why has it made so many changes in the railroad operations?

Why would readers cry, laugh, rejoice, and enjoy a book about railroad tracks, trains, and people? Would you still call the book “historical?” Why?

© Ada Brownell

Here’s what one of my endorsers wrote:

My family shared this story with the Brownells, as did many families along the tracks of the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad. As I read Ada’s book, I was moved to tears, laughter, and prayers as the memories and old stories came bubbling up from the past. But it was not only the past that grabbed my attention, it was the assurance that each of us had, has, and will have, the grace of God on our lives no matter what our circumstances. As we follow the tracks with a young bride through the mountains, into the desert, and then to the city, we find proofs that the choice to trust God is never a mistake.  Ada’s concise reporter style makes this an enjoyable, encouraging journey along the tracks.

--Lucretia Smith, Nurse, Educator, and Railroad Family

 You should be able to get the book here:

https://tinyurl.com/y9ky7vn5

Links don't seem to work. Search for

Following the Tracks By Ada Brownell on Amazon

 

  

How I Write Reviews

 How I write reviews

  By Ada Brownell

I’ve reviewed more than 60 books for authors who are members of American Christian Fiction Writers. Besides that, I wrote reviews for non-fiction Christian books for The Denver Post in the 1980s.

When I open a book to read, I usually look to see where it was published. Because I’m a writer, too, I am familiar with a few secular and most Christian publishers so that sometimes tells me what to expect. The publisher’s name often tells me the denomination represented; doctrines; and sometimes even the type of story or premise that will be inside the book’s cover.

Since independent publishing has gained more respect, I don’t frown on an author going with Amazon or other reputable print-on-demand publishers. But I won’t review one from a publisher I know scams authors and doesn’t bother with editing. We used to never review a book done by a “vanity” publisher and a few of those are still around preying on people.

I usually look at the summary, table of contents, and then I critique in my mind as I read. With fiction, I jump into the story and watch to see whether I like the lead character and whether the person has a worthy goal. The minor character doesn’t need to be likeable, but even if he is the villain he needs to be developed enough to make me either like him or hate him early. With non-fiction, I’m looking for a great premise and a fresh way of approaching a significant subject.

The core of my review revolves around whether it is squeaky clean (even non-fiction can have unsuitable language, goals or suggestions) and in fiction I want enough plot to keep me reading.

During the course of working through the book, I take notes, and if I own it, I’ll turn down pages and underline sections I like, don’t like, or don’t understand. Then I’ll make notes in the front of the book giving page numbers and a brief explanation for indexing purposes. If it’s not mine, I make notes on little piece of paper and insert where I have a comment.

Great writers keep me reaching for my pen to write down sentences and phrases I might want to quote in a review. I usually don’t use them because of space limitations, but I might share them with my writers’ group and further advertise a good book.

Yet, there is something else important to me. I’m not looking for perfection. I want to know what the writer did exceptionally well, and I usually find it if I like the book well enough to read it to the end. Most of my reviews are 5-star because I focus on the one thing I can rave about. I don’t review books I can’t give at least a 4-star rating.

I take my notes, sit down to the computer and make myself think about the story and start writing. It’s amazing how fast it usually flows because I narrowed my focus. I never reveal important twists or the ending in a fiction book and no reviewer should.

The important thing is to sit down and write the review. Anybody can do it. Truth is, all you need to do is say, “I enjoyed it!”

I rarely write a review now since I’m cutting back on writing because of my age. Yet I still read, and read, and read.

Here’s my new book, Following the Tracks on my Amazon Author page. https://www.amazon.com/Ada-Brownell/e/B001KJ2C06

 Among others, The Lady Fugitive,  an historical novel; Imagine the Future You,  a motivational Bible study; Joe the Dreamer: The Castle and the Catapult, a suspense novel for middle school up; Confessions of a Pentecostal; and Swallowed by LIFE: Mysteries of Death, Resurrection and the Eternal, a popular Bible study. Purchase the books on Ada’s author page: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B001KJ2C06

Ada’s blog: http://www.inkfromanearthenvessel.blogspot.com

HOW TO HELP YOUR CHILDREN GET TO HEAVEN

By Ada Brownell

One of the first things I learned about parenting was that as a child of God, I didn’t have to do it by myself.

God calls others to help. Ephesians 4:10-12 says, “⁰He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fulfill all things.¹¹ And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.”

Our children had great pastors, youth pastors, Sunday school teachers, evangelists, as well as great Christian friends who influenced them in the choice to give their lives and talents to Christ.

To help your children make the choice to “go to heaven” here are a few things my husband and I did when they were young.

·       Attend a full gospel church where the gospel is preached and rightly divided. Full gospel churches usually teach salvation comes only when we believe Jesus died for our sins, and resurrected on the third day. Full gospel churches believe in the divine inspiration of the Bible as God’s Word, the baptism in the Holy Spirit with the evidence of supernatural speaking in other tongues. They also believe in Divine Healing, the Catching away of the church in the rapture, and the Second Coming of Jesus.

·        Scriptures for you to share: “If thou will confess the Lord Jesus and believe in thine heart that God raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved” (Romans 10:9). “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Another: “But you will receive power after the Holy Ghost has come upon you. And you shall be witnesses unto me …” (Acts 1:8). “And while they watched, he was taken up and a cloud received him out of their sight. .. While they looked steadfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold two men stood by them in white apparel who also said, ‘This same Jesus who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you have seen him go into heaven” (Acts 1:9-11).

·       Become a student of the Word of God, the Bible yourself. “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness. (2 Timothy 2:15-16).

·       Teach them to become students of the Word. “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16)

Hopefully your church has programs for youth like Royal Rangers, Missionettes, Bible Quiz, Talent contests, and services where young people can use their talents and ministries.

·       Watch who their heroes are. Expose them to great people—Bible characters and adults as well as teens who are living for God.

·       Go to missions services. When they’re just forming opinions and finding people to “worship” let them know the difference between fantasy, fiction, reality, and history. They may adore Spiderman and Star Wars characters, but they should understand they don’t exist, and when God enabled David to kill Goliath, David wasn’t a vegetable from Veggie Tales, he was a real person who lived, loved God and did great things in His name.

The three young Hebrews who survived the fiery furnace after refusing to bow down to the king, were real people like you, but God was there to protect them.

* Teach your children God loved them from the beginning of their lives. “I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb” (Jeremiah 1:5).

However, when Jesus was born as a baby in Bethlehem, he was different from any other baby because he is God’s son. Jesus was in heaven before he came to earth. Jesus was there when the world and people were created. Jesus, God’s only Son; and the Holy Spirit were there in the beginning. “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth” (Genesis 1:26).

 Buy them great books that support your values, and if your child is in a public school, survey assigned books, which sometimes can be X-rated and ask for a substitute. If your student is required to study propaganda and false doctrine, survey it and teach your child why you don’t believe that. Don’t be afraid to approach a teacher, a principal or a superintendent of schools with your protests, and do it in writing. Yet be Christ-like not only as a witness to the educator, but also to your child.

Always ask for them to be excused from sex education classes, but teach them from the curriculum of a Christian School. Ask homeschoolers and Christian school workers for recommendations. Abeka has online Christian texts.