Stories we have written:

@All: I like your stories.

Here is one that I wrote today. I have not finished it yet. Please tell me what you think. I had to write a story in this time for history and I would really like to know what your thoughts are. I will hopefully have it all done soon…All the way to when Pharaoh is drowned in the red sea and I will also have some history of that time (such as who the Pharaoh was, etc…). All the dialogue is from the ESV Bible except for the ones marked with asterisk. All the italics are the thoughts of characters and those I came up with.

“Ah, look at our great country of Egypt. Nothing can destroy it. Our great gods will help preserve this country for years to come. We will be the masters of the entire world and the other people will be our slaves,” Bomani thought to himself as he looked up at the great monuments that all the different Pharaohs had built. “But I am late to the Pharaoh’s palace,” Bomani muttered to himself as he looked at the sun. He walked with a thoughtful demeanor as he headed to the great palace. As he walked into the palace he heard angry voices growing louder and louder as he drew nearer. He stepped into the great room where the Pharaoh sat and saw with a quick glance what was taking place. “Moses is here,” He sneared to himself, “I can’t believe that Pharaoh’s daughter wanted to save him. It would have been better if he had been killed as commanded.”
“Thus says the Lord,, the God of Israel, ‘Let my people go that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness.’” Said Moses looking straight at Pharaoh.
“Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord and moreover, I will not let Israel go.” The Pharaoh returned with a snort.
“The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please let us go a three days’ journey into the wilderness that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God, lest he fall upon us with pestilence or with the sword.”
“Moses and Aaron, why do you take the people away from their work? Get back to your burdens. Behold the people of the land are now many, and you make them rest from their burdens.”
Bomani watched as Moses and Aaron turned away from Pharaoh and headed out. “This won’t be the last of them we see. Once a Hebrew gets an idea in his head he won’t stop until he gets it.”
“Overseer, you shall no longer give the people straw to make bricks, as in the past; let them go and gather straw for themselves. But the number of bricks that they made in the past you shall impose on them, you shall by no means reduce it, for they are idle. Therefore they cry, ‘Let us go and offer sacrifice to our God’ Let heavier work be laid on the men that they may labor at it and pay no regard to lying words.”
Bomani watched as the overseers hurried out to tell the slaves what Pharaoh had commanded. He waited knowing that the Hebrew slaves would not take it obediently. He was correct. Some Hebrews were already walking into the room before Pharaoh.
“Why do you treat your servants like this? No straw is given to your servants, yet they say to us, ‘Make bricks!’ And behold, your servants are beaten; but the fault is in your own people.”
“You are idle, you are idle; that is why you say, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to the Lord.’ Go now and work. No straw will be given you, but you must still deliver the same number of bricks.”

It was another hot stifling day inside the great room where the Pharaoh sat. Bomani along the wall with others of the Pharaoahs’ favorites. They helped pharaoh whenever he wanted their help…which wasn’t very often. Bomani could see some of the magicians across the room from him and couldn’t help but being glad that he wasn’t in their place. If they didn’t do all the ‘magic’ that pharaoh commanded they would be put to death. A commotion of people entering the room pulled Bomani back into real life.
“Those Hebrews AGAIN!” He muttered to himself, “I wonder what they want.”
“God says to let his people go that they may sacrifice to him in the wilderness.”*
“Let them go, why, I do not even know about the God you are talking about. Why should I listen to him. Our gods are greater than your God. You are nothing but slaves while we live above you and are rich and prosperous. Whose god do you think is greater. If your God is greater than prove it by showing me a miracle.”*
“Throw your staff down, Aaron, that it may become a serpent.”* Moses said to his brother
Aaron took his staff and threw it down and immediately it was changed into a serpent.
“You call that a miracle. My magicians can do the same thing. Magicians, come and make your staffs into serpents.”*
Magicians came from all over and all threw down their staffs and immediately they became serpents. Bomani jumped back as he saw but still had a smug look on his face. “Our gods are just as strong as your God.”
A look of surprise came over Bomani’s face as the staff of Aaron the Hebrew swallowed all the other serpents.
“That is nothing. You cannot prove that your God is stronger than our gods when our magicians can do the same as you. Leave my presence.”*
The smug look returned to Bomani’s face. Pharaoh was right…the Hebrew God was not stronger than their gods.

Bomani followed Pharaoh as he walked down to the river Nile. A group of other attendants were also following to be on hand if the Pharaoh needed anything. A hush fell over the group of people as they saw who was standing there as if they were waiting for someone…it was the pesky Moses and his brother Aaron. Pharaoh became very angry as he saw who was there and he knew who they were waiting for. As the group of people drew nearer Moses said to Pharaoh,
“The Lord, the God the Hebrews, sent me to you, saying, ‘Let my people go, that they may serve me in the wilderness. But so far you have not obeyed.’ Thus says the Lord, ‘By this you shall know that I am the Lord: behold, with the staff that is in my hand I will strike the water that is in the Nile, and it shall turn into blood. The fish in the Nile shall die, and the Nile will stink, and the Egyptians will grow weary of drinking water from the Nile.’”
“Aaron, strike the water with the staff that is in your hand,” Moses commanded his brother.
Aaron struck the water with the staff and the water turned to blood, the fish died and the Nile stunk. Pharaoh looked at his magicians that had come along and they knew that he wanted them to do the same thing. They did by their secret arts.
“See, your God is not stronger than our gods. We can do the same thing. You shall not go to sacrifice to your God. Leave and do not bother me again.”
Bomani was concerned with what would happen next. The Hebrews were stubborn people.

Cool!

Very good, Carissa! I like it so far! :)

P.S. Sometime fairly soon, I MIGHT have a link to a the first chapter of a book I'm writing. :)

Thanks SBG and Jackson. I can't wait to read the first chapter of your book, SBG.

I will probably just post the rest of my story on my blog once I have it finished. rosieposiesplace.blogspot.com

I like it!! That's great!

Well, it looks like I finished Chapter 1 a lot sooner than I thought! I finished it this afternoon, but it still needs a lot more revision before I show it to anyone. You could probably expect a link here in about a week. But don't expect Chapter 2 anytime soon–I haven't even started yet, and, at the moment, I'm not totally sure what is going to be in it! :)

I am looking forward to reading Chapter 1 :D Ahhh, wipes away tear I don't know if I can wait that long for chapter two. I am also looking forward to reading more after chapter 1 :D

Okay, I have found that it may take longer than I thought to finish revising my first chapter–you might not see it for a while, as I have been changing it quite a bit, and don't have much time anyway. :)

@Octavius: gasps I SO like your story. It is really good. I especially liked the prologue :D I can't wait for the next chapters :D

I know, his book is amazing. :D I can't wait for Chapter 9! :)

I read the prologue, and I almost laughed by head off :) Then, I read chapter 1-8, and I just about cried my way through it.

Amazing writing!! Can't wait to read the rest!!

@Bethany: What will I say?? ;-)

It's funny, he actually did mean Octo and Christian in the prologue to be himself and COS. :P I thought it was really funny too. :)

Also, he told me at church yesterday that Chapter 9 will likely take a while to come out, just so y'all know. :)

@Nicolas - I knew it instantly when I read about the "purple mechanism that had six screws that went into his head" :) Yes, it was very funny - I laughed through the whole thing. Especially when it said "What! That only happens in Disney Movies!" :D Oh, and when Christian said something…."his voice dripping with sarcasm" :D :D I liked the whole thing so much…that I read all of it to Carissa that night :)

@Carissa - You would say what you did last night - "WHAT?! shocked You read the book…you told me that it was going to be boring…See! I told you that it wasn't smirking

@Bethany: Yes…I do remember that I said that :D But you did say it was going to be boring…and then you read it all in one night (quite an accomplishment for you :D).

@Carissa - Oh, my, Carissa. I do read, just not very much. Besides, remember when I read that book that over 400 pages in just 4 days?!

EDIT - But now I'm done talking with you on here. It's absurd…we're in the same house!

@Bethany: Yes…it is absurd…just what I was thinking :D

I recently heard Doug Phillips say that one year his son Providence had some sort of reading craze and read 300 books of at least 250 pages each in one year! o_O Wow… there are no words for that. :P

Glad you liked Octo's book–I can't imagine anyone who wouldn't like it. :D I hope it's the same with my book… :)

WOW! I can read really fast…but I'm not sure about reading THAT fast :D I don't know what my record is…I did read "A Tale of Two Cities" in one day…

@SBG: Well…if you want to know what people think of your book you had better post it somewhere right away so we can read it :D I am eagerly awaiting it…

I only have 2 things to say about that:

1. I would never even be able to find 300 good books. I only have a total right now of about 10 that I could read.

2. I think it would take me forever to read that many books. I mean, I timed myself a while ago…it took me 1 hour to read 8 pages. Yeah, I read SUPER slow. Please don't laugh :

@Nicolas - Yeah, come on! Just post the link - we don't care if it has a little bad spelling, grammar, etc.!

@Bethany: I could find you more good books if you wanted grins

PLEASE stop bugging me about reading your classics! As I have told you before…I don't want to read them!! How many times do I have to tell you :)

For the record, I am NOT a big reader. I think I could easily say that I have read maybe 3 whole books in the last 2 years. So there.

Whats the "So there" about??

Alright sighs :D

I would love to post the link, but I'm actually still trying to work out how to get the file from my computer at work to a link here. Plus, the problem isn't bad spelling or grammar, but an incomplete storyline. I hate to keep you all waiting, as I see that you are eagerly expecting it, but it may still take a few more days. So sorry!

For uploading files and sharing them, I'd check out Google Docs. You can setup the sharing so that only people with the link can see it.

I only have 2 things to say about that: 1. I would never even be able to find 300 good books. I only have a total right now of about 10 that I could read.

Yeah……It's hard to find good books. :( I have a lot more than 10 right now that I could (probably more like "should") read, but I doubt anywhere close to 300!!!!

2. I think it would take me forever to read that many books. I mean, I timed myself a while ago...it took me 1 hour to read 8 pages. Yeah, I read SUPER slow. Please don't laugh :|

It takes me like a half hour to read 4 or 5 pages, so I won't laugh at you =D I do like reading though. :)

EDIT: sorry, kinda off topic.

My sister once read a 384 page book in 3 hours.

I can read pretty fast, for example, I read a 200+ page book yesterday and today, and finished it in about 4 -5 hours, maybe? Anyway, I enjoy reading (good books!) :)

I can read fast as well. I read a 380 page book in less than 4 hours.

chokes Ahem! Wow. I wish that I could read that fast–and that I could have the time to read so much! :)

I read The Lord of the Rings in a little under a week a few years ago.
And just this past two weeks I read about 10 books of probably 300 pages each!
Probably a bit too much reading, I know….

chokes again, but this time does not say anything else :P

Most of the time I like that I am able to read fast, but sometimes, I'd like to read slower- for one reason, you miss details of the story or of the Bible when you read fast, so I try to go slower during my devotions :)

(BTW - Nicolas - that comment was not directed towards you ;) )

Octavius I remember I did that too, when I was younger. Don't have much time now, tend to listen to pastors when I do have time. :) My record is reading Genesis in an hour and then having a quiz on it. :) I was a fast reader and then took a SpeedReading course :)

@SBG: I read the book for school :D

Okay, just in case some of you are wondering why I have not yet posted the first chapter of my book, I came here to say that I am experiencing a sort of writer's block. I am rather stuck at one point in the story, and am not exactly sure how to build to the next part. Sorry to keep anyone waiting. :)

Sorry, I hope that you get unstuck very soon. And I guess I'll just have to wait a little longer sighs :D

@Octavius: Do you have any more of your book written??

Actually, Octavius just told me this morning that he has finished Chapter 9 and will be posting it sometime on Monday. :) Also, I got a little sneak preview into it from him earlier… :P Can't wait to read it! :) And as for my book, I think I might have something that will get me "unstuck." I won't make any promises this time, but I expect that it will be done in at most a month. :)

EDIT–Actually, I just discovered that the ninth chapter of Octavius's book is out right now! Of course, I am going to read it immediately… :)

pulls up new tab

Thanks ,Nicolas, for telling me. He also has chapter 10 out now. Can't wait to read them.

I can't wait to read yours either :D

Where can you read it?

www.talesofkhartur.wordpress.com is where you can read Octavius's book. I'm off to read Chapter 10!! :)

Nicolas, are you almost finished with your chapter yet? :) I'm getting really excited about reading it. And, if you aren't (which means we can't read it yet, I suppose) could you at least tell us what it's about?

Oh dear, I almost completely forgot about that. :} Sorry, I have been really busy lately, and have had little to no time to write anything more. Also, I've decided to entirely redo the first chapter… again. So… it's going to be a while. Sorry!

But I can tell you what it is about. It involves a teenage boy in another world (which I have named Otarkel) who lives with his uncle in a remote village in the middle of practically nowhere. He has had no contact with the outside world his entire life. But one night, his village is attacked by dwarves; they are fought off, but the boy's uncle is very confused as to how they came "all the way down here." He takes the boy on a trip to the king of the realm that they live in to get answers–or possibly for more than that. The plot is not very far along yet at all, and it may not sound like a good one yet, but I think it will turn out okay. :)

In the meantime, I have a short story that I recently wrote as an assignment for school that I will probably post here shortly. :)

Sounds interesting. Don't worry about it taking a while, I understand completely. I'll be looking forward to reading your assignment for school :)

Okay, here's the short story I wrote for school (this is going to be a long post… :D):

BORN AGAIN

Mr. Breen sat in his comfortable recliner with an empty soda can in one hand and a full bag of chips in the other. He was watching a football game on the large flat-screen television in front of him, but he soon became disinterested and began to doze off.
But just as he started snoring, he was startled awake by the very loud ring of the front doorbell. His chips and soda fell to the ground.
“Honey, can you get that?” he shouted. He closed his eyes and tried to get back to sleep. But after a few seconds he remembered that his wife was not home; this Saturday, she had decided to go on a day-long trip to the mall with some of her friends. Mr. Breen sighed as he realized that he would have to get out of his comfortable position and answer the door himself. The doorbell rang again.
“I’m coming, I’m coming!” he yelled as he reluctantly rose out of his chair. He trudged to the front door groggily. When he opened it, he was greeted cheerfully by a teenaged boy with a book under his arm.
“Hello, sir! Do you have the time to talk for a few minutes?”
“Listen, kid, if you’re tryin’ to sell me something, I’m not buyin’,” Mr. Breen said with a yawn.
“No sir, I’m not selling anything. At least, not anything that can be bought with money.”
“And what on earth is that supposed to mean?” Mr. Breen asked.
The boy answered, “Well, I mean that you might say I am selling something; but this thing is far too valuable to be bought with money.”
Mr. Breen snorted. “Then why are you coming to me if I can’t buy what you’ve got?”
“Well, Mr. . . . um, I didn’t get your name.”
“Name’s Breen. Jackson Breen. And you?”
“I’m Mason Lander,” the boy replied as he held out his hand. Mr. Breen shook it limply.
Mason continued, “So anyway, Mr. Breen, the reason I’m here is to offer you the most valuable thing on earth . . . free of charge.”
Now Mr. Breen was very confused. “What are you talking about? First you say it’s too valuable to be bought with money, then you say that it’s free! What game are you playing, kid? I don’t have time for this.”
“Sir, please bear with me for a moment. The reason I’m offering this priceless gift for free is because it has already been bought for you by the only person with the means to do it.”
Deciding to play along with the kid, Mr. Breen asked, “And who exactly is this person?”
Mason’s response was immediate. “Jesus,” he said.
At this, Mr. Breen moaned, “Oh no, not again. Listen, kid, I don’t wanna talk religion. You should know at your age that stuff like that is for kids younger than you.”
“No sir, this isn’t just for kids; it’s for people of all ages. If you’ll just humor me for a few minutes, I can show you why I believe this.”
Normally, Mr. Breen probably would have shut the door in the kid’s face. But today, since he had nothing else to do anyway, he sighed and said, “Yeah, go ahead.”
“Thank you, sir. First, I’d like to show you how no one on earth is able to get this gift for themselves.”
Mr. Breen interrupted, “Aren’t you going to tell me what the gift is first?”
“I’ll do that later,” Mason replied. “But first I want to make sure you know that no normal human can buy it. Using this, I’ll prove it to you.” As he said this, he opened the book he was holding.
“Now wait a minute,” Mr. Breen interrupted again. “You’re gonna use that Bible to prove it? The Bible’s been proven wrong!”
“Actually, sir, it has never been proven wrong. In fact, it has been proven to be true in much of what it says. But I’m not going to wait for all of it to be proven before I believe in it; I have to accept it by faith.”
“Yeah, you go ahead and ‘accept it by faith,’ and I’ll stick to the proven facts, thank you.” Mr. Breen retorted. He was starting to get a little irritated.
“Well, how about I show you what it says before you decide to dismiss it as unworthy of consideration?” Mason asked.
Mr. Breen sighed, “Go ahead.”
“Okay, here’s the passage I want to show you. It’s in the book of Romans, and it says, ‘All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.’ The gift I mentioned can only be bought by someone who is sinless; but as this says, no one is without sin. Another passage that says something similar to this”—at this Mason turned to another place in his Bible—“is Jeremiah 17:9. It says, ‘The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure.’ This is referring to every human heart, so this passage shows the same thing as the last one: every person is sinful.”
“And therefore, no human can buy the gift. I get it,” Mr. Breen said, trying to look and sound as uninterested as possible.
“Right. But fortunately, there once was one human who was not a normal human at all. He was just like us in that He had a human body, felt pain, and had emotions, but one thing about Him was very different. He was without sin.”
Mr. Breen figured he knew what was coming, so he said, “And this human bought the priceless gift. So what? What does that have to do with me getting the gift? And how was He sinless in the first place, if He was a human?”
“Those are very reasonable questions,” Mason responded. “And the Bible has answers. The reason that this man had no sin is because He was not only human; He was God. In fact, He was 100% of both.”
“Wait a minute. That doesn’t make sense at all! You can’t be 100% of one thing and 100% of another thing at the same time.”
“That would be true, except for the fact that nothing is impossible with God. He loved the world so much that He sent His Son, Jesus, as a perfect man to buy the priceless gift. This gift is salvation for everyone who will receive it.”
Mr. Breen scoffed. “Salvation from what? I don’t need saved from anything.”
“But Mr. Breen, I’ve already shown you that you do. We all need salvation, because we are all sinners. Our sin deserves punishment from God, who by His very nature cannot tolerate sin. He is perfectly holy, so He must punish sin very severely—eternally in hell.”
“See, that’s a problem I’ve always had with Christianity. You people believe that everybody except you gets sent to a place of fire that never ends! Why would your God, whom you claim is loving, send anyone to a place like that?”
“Well, I just explained it to you. God is perfectly holy, so He cannot tolerate sin. Because of His very nature, He must punish sin. And since our sin is committed against His infinite holiness, we deserve an infinite punishment. It’s not a nice thought, but it is the only way to satisfy God’s justice. Well, actually, it isn’t the only way.”
“And what do you mean by that?”
“There is only one other way for God’s holy wrath to be satisfied—a substitute. And since God cannot tolerate sin, the substitute must be without sin.”
“I see where you’re going with this. You’re gonna say that since Jesus was without sin, He was the substitute.”
“That’s correct. And the only way for Him to be the substitute was for Him to die.”
“On the cross, right? I think I’ve heard this part before.”
“Yes, you’re right. When Jesus was dying on the cross, His Father turned His back on His Son and poured out all of His wrath on Jesus instead of on those who deserved it.”
“Wait, didn’t you say that God’s wrath was infinite? How could he pour out all of it on Jesus in the time He was on the cross?”
“That is a question to which the Bible actually does not supply a specific answer—except for ‘With God, all things are possible.’”
Mr. Breen smirked and rolled his eyes. “Is that your answer to everything you don’t understand?”
“I guess you could say that. But it’s a pretty good answer,” Mason replied with a smile.
“Sure,” Mr. Breen said, smirking again. “And also, I have another question. You said that God sent His Son, Jesus. But you also said that Jesus is God. How does that work? Wait, let me guess: ‘With God, all things are possible,’ right?”
“True, but that’s not my only answer. The Bible does give an answer to your question, though it is quite difficult to comprehend. Really, the Father is God, and the Son is also God. God is one, but He is three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. They are not three different Gods, but one God in three persons at the same time.”
“You weren’t kidding. That is ‘difficult to comprehend.’ But I guess it answers my question well enough.”
“Good. Now, where was I? Oh, that’s right; I was about to tell you how a person can receive the priceless gift of salvation. Do you want to receive this gift?”
“I’m still not sure if I even need it! I’m not that bad of a person.”
“But whether or not you think you’re a bad person is not the point; we all are. I can prove to you that God sees you as a sinner by using His standard for judgment: the Ten Commandments.”
“Oh, you mean like ‘Thou shalt not murder,’ ‘Thou shalt not lie,’ and stuff like that?”
“Exactly,” Mason said. “I’ll take you through a few of the commandments to see if God would see you as a sinner. Is that okay with you?”
“Sure, go ahead.”
“Okay. The ninth commandment, as you said, commands us not to lie. Have you ever lied?”
“Of course I have. Who hasn’t?”
“Okay then, you are a liar, just like everyone else. Another commandment, the sixth, commands us not to murder. But Jesus, while He was on earth, said that this command not only forbids murder, but also hatred toward anyone. Have you ever hated someone?”
“Yeah, sure.”
“The seventh commandment says, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ Jesus said that this commandment also forbids looking with lust at a woman, for God considers lust as adultery of the heart. Have you ever looked at a woman with lust?”
“Hey, now you’re gettin’ personal, kid. Of course I’ve looked with lust; haven’t you?”
“Yes, I have too. But I have something that you do not have yet.”
“Yeah, yeah, ‘salvation’ and all that. I see.”
“Okay, so you have just admitted that you are a lying, murderous adulterer at heart. Judging yourself by God’s standard, do you agree?”
“I suppose you could say that.”
“And you could say that and much more of me. Like I said before, we are all sinners, deserving of God’s wrath. Do you now admit that you are a sinner like the rest of us?”
“Yeah, I guess I am. I guess I need some of that ‘salvation’ too. But you didn’t tell me how I’m supposed to get it. What do I have to do?”
“That’s just the thing,” Mason replied with a smile. “You don’t have to do anything.”
Mr. Breen was surprised. “What do you mean I don’t have to do anything? Surely I have to do something, don’t I?”
“Well, you don’t have to ‘do’ anything in the way that you are probably thinking. Our good deeds can do nothing to get us the gift of salvation. Instead, we have to repent and have faith.”
“Meaning . . . ?” Mr. Breen asked.
“Meaning that you must turn from your sin and turn to Christ. You must believe that He died for your sins on the cross, and even more, that He rose from the dead three days later.”
“Rose from the dead? How on earth could He do that?”
“His Father gave Him the power to rise from the dead so that He could prove once and for all that He defeated death, and that it has no power over Him and His followers.”
“Okay, so, all I have to do is believe that, and I’m saved?”
“Yes, and you must also repent of your sins; like I said, repentance is turning from sin and to Christ. You must hate your sin and never want to commit sin again, because it is what made Jesus have to die.”
“Does that mean I’ll never break any of the Ten Commandments ever again after I get salvation?”
“No, not at all. However, it does mean that the Holy Spirit, who I mentioned earlier, will enter your heart and will help you hate sin and begin to commit it less and less as you grow to be more like Christ.”
“I think I understand. So I have to repent of my sin, hate it and never want to do it again, and believe that Jesus died on the cross to pay the penalty for my sin. Then I’m saved, right?”
“Right. But to make sure that you are saved, you must regularly check yourself to make sure that you are hating your sin more and more, even though you continue committing it, and that you are becoming less and less sinful.”
“I see. Can I . . . can I get this salvation right now?”
“Absolutely, Mr. Breen. You can pray to God right now to receive His salvation.”
Mr. Breen immediately prayed to God, asking Him to free him from his sins; he said that he despised all the wickedness he had committed in his life and wanted to turn from it. He said that he believed that Christ’s sacrifice on the cross had paid for his sins and that he wanted Jesus to take control of his life and to make him a new person.
With tears in his eyes, Mr. Breen looked up at Mason with a huge smile when he finished his prayer.
“Thank you so, so much, Mason. No one has ever told me this wonderful news in my life! How can I ever repay you?”
“Oh, there’s no need to thank me, Mr. Breen. Thank God for allowing you to hear His good news from me. And thank Him for giving you His Holy Spirit to guide you!”
“I will, I will. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to stop thanking Him. I suddenly feel like a huge weight has been taken off my back!”
“That means that your guilt has left you; you are now free from sin’s penalty forever. Do you have a Bible, Mr. Breen?”
“No, I don’t. I always hated the Bible.”
“Here, you can have this one. A few pages are bookmarked, and there are a few highlighted verses that you’ll find. I’ll pray that you will be blessed by what you read,” Mason said with a smile.
“Thank you again, Mason, for everything. I’ll never forget what you’ve told me.”
“You’re very welcome, Mr. Breen. Now, I would strongly advise you to find a good church, one that preaches God’s Word. But be careful; there are many bad churches out there. When you find a church, attend it as often as possible; you will find great joy in being with God’s people.”
“I’ll certainly do that.”
“Good. Well, I’d better go now. It was very good to talk with you, Mr. Breen. I hope to see you again one day!”
“Goodbye, Mason. Thank you so much!”
“Goodbye, Mr. Breen.” Mason turned and walked off the porch and down the street.
Mr. Breen shut the door and immediately ran to the phone. He had to tell his wife about this! And his friends and neighbors! Why, he had to tell everyone!

THE END

Hey, nice job Nicolas!
I wish I could talk like Mason did…he was very clear and concise.
One question (and this is more theological than pertaining to the actual story itself)… at one point Mason said this: "Right. But to make sure that you are saved, you must regularly check yourself to make sure…”
That almost sounds like checking on your spiritual progress is a way to make extra-sure that you're saved. It's probably just the way I took the wording, and I know you don't believe that…
…you were trying to get to the "faith without works is dead" issue, right? That obedience is the measure of a true Christian (if you love me, you will keep my commandments)? That good works are the proof of true faith?

Anyway, I liked it.

C U SundA

Oh, sorry for the poor choice of words! :} I didn't mean that regularly checking yourself is necessary for salvation, but that if you don't, you could be unsaved and not know it. A person who does not check his salvation by the Bible's standard could be a false convert; so Mason was warning Mr. Breen against that. :) I'm glad you liked it. :)

Interesting! :) Good story!

Also, I believe this is the longest post I've seen on the forum :)

So, anyone been on Octo's blog lately?

I have…his book is really good :D