Reaching The Next Generation For God 6/6/2023

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by Robin McKinley

In the message of Psalm 78, the Lord commanded His people to share the truths of the past and the miracles that He performed. He said that is how each generation would come to know the Lord. In the same way we can also reach our next generations for God.

Each generation should set its hope anew on God, not forgetting his glorious miracles and obeying his commands.  Psalms 78:7

This Psalm begins with O my people, listen to my instructions. Open your ears to what I am saying. He goes on to say that God will teach us hidden lessons from our past. Then look at what the next verse says.

We will not hide these truths from our children; we will tell the next generation about the glorious deeds of the Lord, about his power and his mighty wonders. Psalm 78:4

Each generation needs to pay attention to what God wants them to know. We must listen to His instructions and open our ears to what He is saying. This must happen for two reasons.

The first is obvious. We must have and maintain a relationship with the Lord. That’s done by reading His Word and allowing it to speak to us as we live in obedience to it. The second one has to do with other generations. Verses 5 and 6 tells us:

He commanded our ancestors to teach them to their children, so the next generation might know them— even the children not yet born— and they in turn will teach their own children.  Psalm 78:5-6

Our mandate is to pass God’s message on to each generation. Are we taking that command seriously? Sometimes I think we give up on passing the truths of the gospel to other generations.

We feel that they don’t care, that they are rebellious, and they refuse to believe in God. In other words we make up their minds for them without ever sharing the gospel with them. 

Move a Generation to Set It’s Hope Anew 

The Psalmist listed things that the people were guilty of. Things like: “they rebelled against the Lord”, “they did their own thing”, “they refused to trust him”, along with other downfalls.

But God never gave up on them. It said in verse 38, He was merciful and forgave their sins and did not destroy them.  

He went on to say this in verse 71. He took David from tending the ewes and lambs and made him the shepherd of Jacob’s descendants—God’s own people.

Now, what does that have to do with us? That is a good question and here’s the answer. Jesus is our Savior and he was born in the linage of David.

  • David was a shepherd, Jesus is our Good Shepherd.  
  • David was a man after God’s own heart, Jesus is the heart of God. 
  • David was the king of Israel, Jesus is the King of kings.

When you accept Jesus into your life then you become a child of the Lord. These are the things we are being told to pass on to the next generations. When each generation sets its hope anew on God, then listen to what the next verse says.

Then they will not be like their ancestors—stubborn, rebellious, and unfaithful, refusing to give their hearts to God. Psalm 78:8

That sounds like it is worth reaching the next generation or for that matter any generation.

Lord, help us to obey your commands and never forget your miracles. Continue to remind us of the importance and urgency of passing your truths on to other generations. 

About the Author: 

Pastor RobinRobin, with his wife Cindy, became children’s evangelists early in their ministry. They ministered to children full time for 8 years. During that time they developed several children’s stories which were told with visuals and puppets.

Robin recently turned two of those stories into children’s books. One is called “The Contest,” a book about the Fruit of the Spirit, and the other is called “Twas the Night of Christmas”.  He has also authored 5 volumes of devotional books called, 3 Minutes Alone with God. Each entry is a product of his personal biblical Journaling.

These and his other writings are available on his website called Christian Perspectives at www.ramckinley.com. When you visit this site, you can sign-up for newly written devotions as they come out which will be emailed to you.

Presently Robin is the pastor of Calvary Christian Center in Pottstown, PA. He is an ordained minister with the Assemblies of God. He and his wife make their home in Birdsboro, Pa. He also serves as the president of the local ministerium. He and Cindy have two married sons and four grandchildren.

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CrossReads Weekly Devotional: For Righteousness’ Sake 6/5/2023

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by Precarious Yates

Matthew 5:10

“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

There is a secret that Jesus knows about us. Those who cringe in fear and walk away from beliefs at the first sign of criticism didn’t really believe in the first place. Jesus knows that persecution acts like a winnowing fork, and this is often released from His hand to bring blessing to us. John the Baptist talked about this when he was ministering in the wilderness. It says in Matthew 3:12 “His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”

Persecution is how the wheat is separated from the chaff. Persecution shapes us and molds us into the image of Christ, because it gives us an opportunity to respond the way He did. 

As 1 Peter 2:21-23 says

“For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.”

We should not allow persecution provoke negative attitudes toward the world. Neither should we provoke persecution by goading people. At the same time, we should be prepared for persecution that comes. This is the narrow way Jesus spoke about, because He promised us that in this world we would have trouble. The persecution will come. And with that also comes blessing. So, how do we prepare ourselves for these?

We prepare for both the persecution and the blessing by pressing into relationship with the Lord. The virgins with the oil are the ones who are available to greet the Bridegroom when He comes (see Matt. 25). Oil is made by intense pressure and heat. Gethsemane is literally translated to “olive press.” When we go through pressures while maintaining communion with the Lord, when we go through the fire and notice He’s there with us (see Daniel 3), we have a history of knowing Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings (see Phil. 3:10). 

When we, while facing trials, choose the narrow way, the way of love, joy, and peace, and the blessings, even when we don’t feel any of these yet, we choose the Lord and the things that bring pleasure to His heart. These choices, hour after hour, day after day, year after year, form character within our hearts. God uses our willingness and our yes toward His heart and purposes and He forms our hearts to resemble that of His Son, Jesus. This is how we hunger and thirst for righteousness. This is how we enter into blessings!

Blessings to you in the name of Jesus!

Precarious Yates

About the Author:

Precarious YatesPrecarious Yates has lived in 8 different states of the Union and 3 different countries, but currently lives in Texas with her husband, her daughter and their big dogs. When she’s not writing, she enjoys music, teaching, playing on jungle gyms, praying and reading. She holds a Masters in the art of making tea and coffee and a PhD in Slinky® disentangling.

Links:

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Imagination 6/2/2023

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by Staci Stallings

Sometimes living in my imagination is difficult.

Maybe that’s because I have what people call a “vivid imagination.”

Do you know what that means, to have a vivid imagination? For me, it means that what I “experience” in my head is often as real or more real to me than things that I experience in real life.

Having gone through the deaths of people close to me, I know that there is a time in death when people rewind or remember their lives as if they were living them again. One gentleman I know who was a carpenter, as he got closer to death, they said he had “started building again.” He was building houses and furniture that he had actually built in his lifetime, recalling details about things he had built many years before.

My grandmother did something similar, recounting details of things that had happened in her life some 65 years before her death. So I know that the brain “works backward” through its memories when you die.  That’s why I’ve warned my kids that when I get to that point, many things I talk about may or may not have really happened because so many things that I have “experienced,” weren’t really in my real life experience, they were things that happened only in my head.

I have had stories that I wrote that I would pick up to continue writing years after I wrote the initial book, and my mind would fill in details I could not possibly have just “remembered” 5 years later. A character who always refers to his grandmother as “Beautiful” as if that is her name—and I wrote that four or five years before and write it into a new scene without reading over what I had previously. Strange things like that.

A room off to the side in a church that I wrote in book 3, and sure enough, that room was written in the original book (that I hadn’t gone back to reread when I wrote that part)—except that church really doesn’t exist except in my mind.  What is that? I don’t know.

I don’t fully comprehend how I do what I do. I just know, for me, that is life.

And so it is with this new series that has just gone on preorder. It’s called “The Imagination Series” because so much of it revolves around characters with “abilities” that I think most of us either don’t have or don’t know how to access.

In the first book “Becoming Me,” for example, Nelson Samuels, the hero, hears music—melodies all the time in his head.  He has learned how to capture them—on a piano, a guitar, the drums, etc.   His friends all think that he “writes” music, but much like I do with my stories, it is less about him creating something as him trying to capture something that only he hears. The heroine, Paige Grayson, does the same thing except her imagination expresses itself in words. She writes poetry. Words about how she feels and about life as she is experiencing it.

Neither of them have ever really told anyone about these gifts because they know others probably will not understand.  It is much like me, trying to explain what it’s like to live with an imagination like mine is a big challenge because, honestly, I know without asking that other people will think I’m weird (and I just don’t want to go there although I’m getting braver and braver about sharing that part of me as I go).

Two things come to mind as I think through this whole imagination and what it means and what it can mean for the one with the imagination and those around that person.

I’ve mentioned before my obsession with “The Greatest Showman,” and I think this discussion is one of the reasons I love it so much. PT had an amazing imagination and the courage to try to put that imagination into real life. In one line in the movie, Phillip says: “They come to see you—the crazy acts you come up with.”  It was because PT could imagine things that had never been seen before that he could unlock the human potential of those around him.

The second is an experience I had the other night. My son and I went to see “Paul, the Apostle.” To say that movie is brutal is, for me, an understatement.  Watching the movie was an extra credit assignment for my son, and so we went. I don’t know that I had really thought through what the movie might be about, but two things should have clued me in:  1) Paul was in jail and I knew that was part of the movie, and 2) Jim Caviezel was in it and had produced it in the vein of “The Passion of the Christ.” So to put it mildly, it didn’t pull many punches.

After the movie, I told my son, “I may never recover from that movie.”  He, having watched things like “Lord of the Rings,” thought that was silly. “Why, Mom? It wasn’t that bad.”  But then as we talked, I began to realize why it “wasn’t that bad” to him.  For him, being only 15, he didn’t understand several points that they (kindly) did not show.  The Christians sent into the arena to be torn apart by animals for example. They left that “up to the imagination.”

And there were several other incredibly brutal things just like that. They didn’t show it, but if you know enough about the history of that time, you know what happened, and for me, it matters little that I was covering my eyes (yes, literally!) because my imagination helpfully fills in all the details with things I didn’t “see” in my own experience with things that I did “see” only in my imagination—sometimes that might be good, other times it might be far worse.

So, I guess I just wanted to share with you some of how this new series came into being, some about me as an author and person, and some to explain what the word “imagination” means to me and why I chose that as the name of this series. I do hope readers enjoy reading it because honestly this one has challenged even MY imagination because I’ve had to tap into my characters’ imaginations to be able to write it.  I hope it will challenge my readers to think in terms of the strengths of their own variant of imagination and get a little braver about using it, sharing it, and calling it out in others.

This is your chance. Get a jump on everyone and preorder this one today….

Becoming Me

About the Author:

Staci StallingsA stay-at-home mom with a husband, three kids and a writing addiction on the side, Staci Stallings has numerous titles for readers to choose from. Not content to stay in one genre and write it to death, Staci’s stories run the gamut from young adult to adult, from motivational and inspirational to full-out Christian and back again. Every title is a new adventure! That’s what keeps Staci writing and you reading. Although she lives in Amarillo, Texas and her main career right now is her family, Staci touches the lives of people across the globe with her various Internet and writing endeavors.

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CrossReads Book Spotlight: The Peaceful Valley Wounded Soldier’s Anthology 6/1/2023

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CrossReads Book Spotlight

CrossReads Book Spotlight

The Peaceful Valley Wounded Soldier’s Anthology

Christian Contemporary Romance

by J. Carol Nemeth

The Peaceful Valley Wounded Soldier's Anthology

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CrossReads Short Takes: Wounded Love & COMING WITH THE CLOUDS 5/31/2023

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CrossReads Short Takes

Wounded Love

A Wounded Warrior Story

by Tori Hines

Wounded Love

Teacher Jaime Kane returned home following her recent divorce to help her mother move to her pregnant sister’s house following the passing of her beloved father. Unable to play golf due to a yet unhealed left wrist injury from a car accident, she sought to get her niece and friends involved in tennis. However, the only one who remained was Mia, a twelve-year-old Hispanic girl, who was living with her aunt’s family while her dad was deployed overseas. Yet, when possible abuse came to be known, Jaime offered to keep Mia until her dad was discharged at the end of the summer. Unfortunately, while on a secret mission, her dad was injured in a roadside bomb that delayed his return.

In the meantime, Jaime through communication with Joe, discovered they had much in common despite her sister’s attempt to set her up with another. With so many changes, she had many complicated decisions to make regarding her future until she decided to ‘let go and let God’. Somehow, upon offering it up, she could only hope the right answer would come to her.

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COMING WITH THE CLOUDS

A JOURNEY THROUGH PROPHECY

by JOSEPH BEACH

COMING WITH THE CLOUDS

“COMING WITH THE CLOUDS, A JOURNEY THROUGH PROPHECY,” explores the scriptures seeking the true meaning of Old and New Testament Bible prophecy. When it comes to what is believed about Bible prophecy, there are many different viewpoints to consider. All prophecy centers around Jesus, His kingdom, and His rule. The study of all prophecy must be Christ centered.

As you read this book, you will gain true insight and understanding of the following:

  • Prophecies of Isaiah
  • Prophecies of Ezekiel
  • Prophecies of Daniel
  • Prophecies of the Gospels
  • Prophecies of Revelation

You will learn the true meaning of Bible prophecy as understood by the Jewish people of the day. We must be able to understand history through the lens of the times in which they were written, not just how they are relevant in today’s news. It is vastly important that we understand Jewish culture, language, customs, and history, as well as the meaning of words or phrases in that time so we can understand the true meaning of the prophecies that were written. Without this understanding we are reading terms outside of their true meaning and can become confused on what the words of scripture are trying to reveal. Prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:20-21). God made it clear only He can appoint and predict future events.

As we examine the Bible, we can learn what God is teaching His people. We must be careful not to interpret newspaper theology as Bible prophecy every time we witness a new war, earthquake, or every sin our society indulges in. If we take every news event today as Bible prophecy teaching, we reduce the Holy Scriptures to the level of the weekly tabloids.

Studying Bible prophecy and understanding the times we live in is one of the most encouraging and faith-building adventures we can take. Bible prophecy gives us hope and keeps us anticipating the Lord’s return.

I invite you to join me in this journey through Bible prophecy. Together we will come away with a clear understanding of what Bible prophecy is all about. We will come away with a positive view of the end-times and with a greater hope for our future.

When discussing His second coming, Jesus himself said no one knows the time, only the Father knows. It is not up to us to discover the time.

It is up to us to be ready

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We Can’t Contain It All 5/30/2023

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by Suzanne D. Williams

If you buy a half gallon of ice cream, how much ice cream do you want to find in the carton? I have a favorite flavor only available at Publix, and I can tell you if I go to the trouble to drive there and purchase it, if I put my money down to obtain that half gallon, then when I get home and have my spoon out, I do not want to find it half full or filled with some other flavor.

Why do we do this about God? Why is what He purchased for us only half full or filled with the work of the enemy? Gibbs-slap yourself. He sent His Only Son, He sent HIMSELF, to die a horrible death, then His Spirit raised Him from the dead with the keys of death, hell, and the grave in His grasp. Major booyah moment. God goes and does this to rescue His creation because He loved us SO MUCH, but clearly the half gallon was half-empty because He could not possibly heal us today. Or prosper us.

Or talk to us personally. Eyeroll. Go read Ephesians 3:20. “Now to Him Who, by (in consequence of) the [action of His] power that is at work within us, is able to [carry out His purpose and] do superabundantly, far over and above all that we [dare] ask or think [infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, hopes, or dreams].” (AMPC) Jesus did that, He suffered and died, rose and won the victory, so the Father, who He perfectly represents, could do more for us than we can fathom. 

Nowhere in the gospels, when Jesus healed the multitudes, did He turn anyone away. Not once, did He put a qualification on it or any sort of requirement from the one seeking healing. “I’m sorry, but not today. Come back tomorrow when you have …” No, He was filled with compassion. It overwhelmed Him to see what He’d created in the state it was in. This was what was on His mind when He laid down His life, and this was what was on the Spirit’s mind, and in the Father’s heart, when they resurrected Him in great glory.

So that He could be IN US. So that every minute of every day, every breath we take, would be filled with the wisdom of God, the power that heals, and in front of us, an eternity of joy. So that Jehovah – Father, Son, and Spirit – could speak with us daily, all the time. At the grocery store, in the car as we drive, when we go to our son or daughter’s school events. All the time.

He not only wanted to restore us to Himself, but to pour out all He had into us. Not only is the half gallon full of what He purchased, but it overflows. We can’t contain it all. It’s more than and exceeding, abundantly above and so much of His goodness that, goodness gracious, what are we going to do with it all? Share it.

Spoons out. Here, you take one side, and I’ll take the other. We’ll meet in the center and find out that this half gallon keeps going. We can’t possibly eat every bite.  

 About the Author: 

Suzanne D. WilliamsBest-selling author, Suzanne D. Williams, is a native Floridian, wife, mother, and photographer. She is the author of both nonfiction and fiction books. 

www.feelgoodromance.com  

www.suzannedwilliams.com  

Facebook – suzannedwilliamsauthor   

Twitter – @SDWAuthor

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CrossReads Weekly Devotional: Gems from Pastor Jim 5/29/2023

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by Jim Hughes 

CrossPs. 51:17 The sacrifice you want is a broken spirit. A broken and repentant heart, O God, you will not despise.

The Lord doesn’t want anything from you but a broken heart before Him. He doesn’t need whatever you have to offer Him. He is the creator and owner of all things. You are not going to impress Him with your gifts or talents. You are not going to gain brownie points with the Lord because of what you do or who you know.

The only thing that matters to the Lord is the attitude and condition of your heart. He is interested in how you feel about Him. Do you see yourself as a sinner before a holy God? Do you see yourself in need of forgiveness and mercy? Do you see yourself as helpless apart from Him? Do you see yourself as heading to hell apart from Him? No matter what you or others may think about you, do you see yourself in great need of God?

The Lord is pleased with a broken and contrite heart. He will not turn anyone away who comes before Him broken, stripped of all pride and self-sufficiency. It is the only way we can gain favor with God. He knows the heart and hates those who are not humbled before Him. No matter how many times we approach Him, if we are not broken in spirit, we approach Him in vain. No matter who we may think we are in God’s kingdom, if we are not humbled in spirit, we labor in vain.

No one is excluded in their need to be broken in spirit before God. No one. We dare not believe Satan’s lie that we are good enough and don’t need to be humbled before God. We must never lose our sense of need for Christ’s righteousness. We must never think that our righteousness is good enough. Apart from Christ, there is no righteousness.

About the Author:

Jim Hughes

Spending his formative years in Ft. Wayne, IN, Jim followed the love of his life to southeast Iowa where they married and have spent the majority of their lives. Jim has pastored several churches throughout his life and has worked many years in local factories to help support his family. The father of two married adult children and one son still at home, Jim is a first-time author.

C Through Marriage came into being through many years of pastoral and life experiences. The book first took on a life of its own over 20 years ago when I sought to address the much publicized moral failures of prominent leaders in the church. In the chapter on Chasity, I include the guideliness that I developed then to protect one’s self from such failures.

I am a firm believer in order to make sense out of life you have to use much common sense. We need to get back to the basics of what has worked for many, many generations. If is isn’t broke, why try to fix it? I strive to return to the basics of what really works in all my writings.

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Mirror Mirror, From the Story 5/26/2023

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by Staci Stallings

Author’s Note:  There are some scenes that just stay with you forever. This is one of my favorites. Enjoy…

It seemed the height of insanity to be out here on a vacant field celebrating when he hadn’t heard from her in 48 hours. Why did everyone else seem to think it should be so easy and logical to just go on as if he’d never heard the name Sage Wentworth? Ugh. It was making him crazy. Luke checked the cell again. Nothing.

Why did he think it would be any different than the last 52 million times he had checked?

At the last second Sage grabbed her cell phone off the desk. The last thing she wanted was to be reamed out for getting separated and not calling them. In the van as the others talked about the coming evening, she sat in the back, scrolling through message after message. Why didn’t he just give up? Any sane guy would.

The rain had washed the hillside in green, and Luke found a spot just off center from where the main display would happen. He’d been doing this since he was a child, so he had it all pretty well figured by now. Everyone would come, bring their blankets, scatter out, watch the show, and then pack it all up and fight the crowd out of the gates and back home.

It was a tradition, strange as that sounded. His parents were somewhere in the melee he was sure, but he hadn’t come with them. That’s what getting older and having your own transportation did for you. Freedom or at least a modicum of it.

Folding himself onto the grass between two people with radios, he let his gaze slide over the others. He was sure if he looked hard enough he might find someone to sit with, but he wasn’t sure that would even be worth it. There were still questions floating around that he couldn’t answer and others he didn’t want to hear asked.

The fading of the sunlight brought on the little overhead portable amber lights and the flashlights. Some people were smart enough to plan ahead like that. He couldn’t be counted as one of them. That was okay. He didn’t need good lighting or a blanket or friends. However, he would take one friend, not that he could be so lucky.

The Lawrence crew poured out of the van and headed in disparate directions.

“Meet back here right after,” Mrs. Lawrence called after them, but if they heard her, they didn’t respond.

Sage tugged at her sweatshirt, okay, Hannah’s sweatshirt, wondering what her place in all of this was. She had no idea. It wasn’t that they wanted her here, so why not just leave her at home? Good question, but one she didn’t dare ask.

“Well, go on,” Mrs. Lawrence waved her away. “You don’t have to sit with us.”

That was both welcome and horrifying. “Oh. Okay.” She turned and carefully avoided the cars parked all over the field. On the downhill slope, she held her balance very tightly. The last thing she needed was to face plant in front of the whole town.

Strange how even out here, in the almost darkness, she felt the watching eyes and the whispers. They would never leave her alone. She knew that now. Picking her chin up and pulling at the bottom of the sweatshirt, she made her way to one small vacant plot of land. Families, people, teenagers, children they all milled about, laughing and talking. In the midst of them, Sage sat down, feeling utterly invisible.

With one glance, Luke sat up. Twenty yards away off to his left, but it was her. Definitely her. He looked around, behind her, in front of her, all around her. No one. No one that she would know anyway. His gaze fused to her as she stepped between and around a few people before she sat down on the grass, and his heart assessed everything about her.

She pulled her knees up to her chest and held them there. The jeans curved perfectly. All he wanted to do was get up and go over there and sit with her, but his gaze swept the town scattered out around them. Her parents were surely here, and Jaycee too. Luke took it all in even as he watched her, sitting there in a sea of people all alone. A moment and thought struck him.

Probably not, but maybe…

Sage was trying her very best to blend in and not be conspicuous about sitting out here all by herself. She was glad for the sweatshirt because the wind had picked up a bit, and there was a hint of the remembrance of rain. Just as she leaned back trying to figure out where the fireworks might start, her phone beeped.

Great. Here five minutes and she was already in trouble. She dug it out of her pocket and swiped it on. Hey, beautiful.

Luke. Sage didn’t think it all the way through before she looked up and around for him. Not spotting him, she bent over the phone.

Are you here?

Look behind you.

She read the message and then very carefully turned so she was looking back and to her right. Why couldn’t she stop the smile when she saw him? It made her sad for him to be that close and yet so very far away. Going back to her cell phone, she typed, Nice night for fireworks.

They let you out of the house?

 Let me? I was forced to come at gunpoint.

Gunpoint?

Okay, not quite gunpoint, but my coming was not exactly optional.

They mad?

Not happy.

About?

Me.

Luke read her message, loving that she was finally talking to him again but hurting for the raw deal life had dealt her. Mind if I join you?

That message about had her running for the exits, and she typed her answer frantically. Don’t, Luke. Seriously. Not here. Not like this. She typed it, sent it, and turned around to look at him as he got it and read it.

Not like this, he read once and then twice. Not like what? Not like they liked each other? Not like she meant something to him? Not like… He looked up and caught her gaze. She shook her head with a sad, soft smile. Not like this flowed through her eyes. He had seen that smile before, and he knew what it meant.

When she turned back around, Luke considered sending her another message, and then he decided this one should be delivered in person.

Gluing her gaze to the display area, Sage forced air into and out of her lungs as she rocked back and forth, trying to dissipate the sadness and hurt surging through her. How she wished he could come and join her, but they both knew better. They did. They both knew it was better this way…

“This seat taken?”

Sage turned with a snap, saw the boots, the jeans, and her gaze jerked up to him standing there, outlined in the amber light. “Wh…?”

“I said.” He put one hand on the ground and just like that he was sitting right next to her. “Is this seat taken?”

Backing up as fast and as far as the crowd would let her, Sage looked at him in horror. “Luke, what’re you doing?”

He shrugged and looked at the front. “What does it look like? I’m watching me some fireworks.”

Well, that was certainly one way of putting it, Sage thought as her gaze snapped around them. Oh, yes, other people had already seen. She spun her arms in front of her to ward off what they were clearly surmising.

“You need to go,” she said, shaking her head. “Now before anyone sees you.”

“Eh.” He waved that away. “It’s going to be dark soon. Besides, they’ll get over it.”

“No, seriously, Luke, you should leave. I don’t want everyone to be talking about you too.”

“Well, if they really want to talk, we could give them something to talk about.” He looked at her and bounced his eyebrows, and Sage felt herself gasping at the thought. “Look, I’m right here.” Reaching over he took her hand in his. “Right where I want to be.”

Her gaze fell to his hand now entwined in hers. It was so warm, so amazing. “Luke…”

“Sage,” he said softly, and she had no defense against that voice. Her gaze came up to his eyes, and worry for him coursed through her.

“Look, I’m not a jock,” Luke said as if he wasn’t sure she didn’t know that. “I’m not a braniac. In fact, I’m kind of a loser if you want to know the real truth. But I’m still here right now with the prettiest girl here, and I’m not leaving.”

Sage’s heart melted for him. How could he think such a thing? “You’re not a loser. Don’t ever say that.” She let out a breath and shook her head. “The truth is, I really don’t want you to leave. I really want to watch the fireworks with the nicest guy here.”

He tilted his head and smiled. “Okay. Then let’s watch us some fireworks.” Carefully he turned and laid down on the ground just as the lights snapped off around them.

What to do. How to do it. And then he took hold of her and pulled her down into the crook of his arm. Sage curled there having never felt so safe or loved.

“Ah, yeah,” he breathed. “Much better.”

Mirror Mirror

About the Author:

Staci StallingsA stay-at-home mom with a husband, three kids and a writing addiction on the side, Staci Stallings has numerous titles for readers to choose from. Not content to stay in one genre and write it to death, Staci’s stories run the gamut from young adult to adult, from motivational and inspirational to full-out Christian and back again. Every title is a new adventure! That’s what keeps Staci writing and you reading. Although she lives in Amarillo, Texas and her main career right now is her family, Staci touches the lives of people across the globe with her various Internet and writing endeavors.

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by on May 26, 2023  •  Permalink
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CrossReads Book Spotlight: Blessings Book and Prayer Journal of Thanks 5/25/2023

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CrossReads Book Spotlight

CrossReads Book Spotlight

Blessings Book and Prayer Journal of Thanks

by Ruth ONeil

Blessings Book and Prayer Journal of Thanks

Do you ever feel like you are surrounded by negative things in life?
There’s good news – you’re not! It may take a little looking, but once you open your eyes to all the little (and big) gifts and blessings God gives to us each day, you will be overwhelmed by His power and glory. Writing these blessings down as a prayer of thanksgiving can change your attitude about many of the negativities that pop up in life. When you realize just how much God loves you, so many of those things will no longer matter.
This book is a devotional prayer journal focusing on the blessings in our lives. Once you start recognizing them, be prepared for more to appear.

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by on May 25, 2023  •  Permalink
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Posted by Staci Stallings on May 25, 2023

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CrossReads Short Takes: Icicles to Moonbeams & The Other Side of Yesterday 5/24/2023

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CrossReadsShortTakes

CrossReads Short Takes

Icicles to Moonbeams

Christmas Eve Blessings

by Sharon K Connell

Icicles to Moonbeams

A Christian Romance Suspense Novella of lost love, new-found love, and the testing of faith.Would life ever be the same for Alanna after the only man she’d ever loved died? A dog, a cat, and a handsome doctor cross her path and fill the void…at least for a while. The pets go missing, and she wonders about the doctor when he does too. But not until after he’s kissed her like no other man had ever kissed her, setting her heart on fire. A former coworker who is determined to win her adds more stress to her life. Should she give up her dream of a happy life in America, leave the home her husband and she shared for ten years, and go back to Ireland?

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The Other Side of Yesterday

A Scottish Time Traveler Novel

by Peggy McGee

The Other Side of Yesterday

Nurse Abigail Adams escaped an abusive marriage by joining the Army during the Mideast conflict. However, when she obtains a head injury during an attack, a fellow soldier gives her his Scottish Crest medal for protection while waiting for help. Abby suddenly finds herself waking up in 1820 Scotland at a Mission School. During her healing, she becomes extremely fond of the family, especially young, handsome Christian McKirk, who is the pastor and introduces her to his faith. Despite falling in love with him, a set-up by the local doctor while assisting him, finds herself in danger with the need to return through the portal she came. She wakes up in the hospital while visited by the sergeant, Kirk, who saved her. Recuperating at his mother’s, they become very interested in ancestry always trying to rationalize her experiences. When her abusive ex comes back on the scene, resulting in an accident that sends her right back to Scotland to right a wrong, she finds herself in dire trouble again. Feeling torn between the past and present, she must decide where her heart and soul remains and who her true love will be while struggling to heal her physical and emotional wounds. Join Abby as she travels between two worlds and attempts to find her true self and love amidst all the chaos and confusion.

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by on May 24, 2023  •  Permalink
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