I realize that it has been quite some time since I’ve last posted on this blog, but I have not been idle! After more than a year of work I’ve finally completed the first draft of Stryker #6, IN THE AGES TO COME. (The draft of the prologue was written on February 4th, 2015; chapter 35 was completed today.) This book is by far the longest book I have ever written. In its draft state (and it still needs a lot of work) it has 126,841 words. It will be the longest book in the Stryker series by a wide margin.

Now I just need to edit the book and make it readable, which will be a significant task. In the meantime, here is a list of the book’s chapters (and keep in mind that all of these chapters actually exist):

Prologue: The End
Chapter 1: Launch Day
Chapter 2: Revenge
Chapter 3: An Undiscovered World
Chapter 4: History Lesson
Chapter 5: The Derelict
Chapter 6: Arrival
Chapter 7: The Great Migration
Chapter 8: Investigation
Chapter 9: A New Plan
Chapter 10: Moving Day
Chapter 11: First Contact
Chapter 12: Recall
Chapter 13: The Seed
Chapter 14: Growth
Chapter 15: Contagion
Chapter 16: Reunion
Chapter 17: Awakening
Chapter 18: Search
Chapter 19: Long Distance Call
Chapter 20: Fallen
Chapter 21: Visitors
Chapter 22: Missing
Chapter 23: The Solution
Chapter 24: Preparations
Chapter 25: Patience
Chapter 26: Release
Chapter 27: Panic
Chapter 28: Abandoned
Chapter 29: Stalemate
Chapter 30: Departure
Chapter 31: Escape
Chapter 32: Eternity
Chapter 33: Defeat
Chapter 34: Redeemed
Chapter 35: A New Adventure

The editing job is complicated by the fact that at the moment I’m also studying for a Java 8 certification exam, which is taking up a lot of my time. I’m not sure how long it will take me to finish editing this book, but it is on my task list.

However, this is not the only book I’ve been working on. In the last quarter of 2015 I wrote three other stories as well. None of them take place in the Stryker universe, but they have been posted on this blog. (I may not post here very often, but I do keep busy!) You can find them posted in the Free Books section of this blog. Take a look – you might find all sorts of free things there that you didn’t realize were available.

Once again, thanks for stopping by!

Someone asked me to write a paper on whether Hell will be worse for some people than for others. I have written this paper and posted it here for your convenience:

Degrees Of Eternal Damnation (PDF file; 3 pages)

Matthew 26:75: “And Peter remembered the word of Jesus, which said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. And he went out, and wept bitterly.”

The words of Jesus came true, just as they always do.

Matthew 26:59: “Now the chief priests, and elders, and all the council, sought false witness against Jesus, to put him to death;
60 But found none: yea, though many false witnesses came, yet found they none. At the last came two false witnesses,
61 And said, This fellow said, I am able to destroy the temple of God, and to build it in three days.”

The trial of Christ was bizarre. It was clearly illegal, because one could not hold a capital trial (a trial for life) after sunset. Yet, it was held anyway. When witnesses were brought forth and proven false they should have been executed, as per the Old Testament law, and Jesus released – and yet He was not. So the trial was a sham. Yet, despite that, the witnesses were actually cross-examined, and the priests refused to convict Jesus on the basis of false witnesses. Why you would have an illegal sham trial with obviously false witnesses, and then grill the false witnesses and refuse to convict when they were proven false, is a mystery. This was seriously messed up.

The fact that they had a trial at all is rather remarkable. Apparently there must have been those in their midst who were unwilling to simply railroad Jesus. They demanded a real trial, with real witnesses and a real case. Yet their attempts to frame Jesus utterly failed, and He came very close to being let go. Even with the illegality of the trial, the illegal witnesses, and the illegal prosecution, they still could not find grounds on which to convict Him of anything.

Then it got worse:

Matthew 26:62: “And the high priest arose, and said unto him, Answerest thou nothing? what is it which these witness against thee?”

It was actually illegal for the chief priest to directly question the accused. This trial was a mockery of Jewish and Old Testament law, and yet they were so desperate to execute Christ that they pressed on anyway:

Matthew 26:63: “But Jesus held his peace, And the high priest answered and said unto him, I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God.”

This is something that Jesus could not ignore. In the culture of the day, when a high priest framed a question like this (“I adjure thee by the Living God”) you could not just brush it off. You had to answer it. The priest had no right to ask it, but since he was the High Priest you had to answer. And so Jesus did:

Matthew 26:64: “Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.”

“Thou hast said” is not avoiding the question, as it appears in English. It was just a polite way (at the time) of saying yes, I am the Messiah. And what Jesus said was absolutely true. He had not only claimed to be the Messiah, but had amply demonstrated it. He had proven that He was God. So, of course, they decided to execute God for blasphemy – just as Jesus had predicted earlier, in the parable of the husbandmen who were renting the vineyard:

Matthew 26:65: “Then the high priest rent his clothes, saying, He hath spoken blasphemy; what further need have we of witnesses? behold, now ye have heard his blasphemy.
66 What think ye? They answered and said, He is guilty of death.”

So the chief priests took the only innocent man who ever lived and put Him to death.

Now, as I said before, Jesus really did have to die for our sins; there was no getting around that. But these men did not have to play a part in it. Nicodemus was not consenting to the Lord’s death, and these men didn’t have to consent either – but they did. That act earned them the wrath of God and the utter devastation of Jerusalem.

Matthew 26:47: “And while he yet spake, lo, Judas, one of the twelve, came, and with him a great multitude with swords and staves, from the chief priests and elders of the people.”

You can see they were taking no chances! The priests wanted one of His own to identify Him so they didn’t get the wrong man. (This tells me that although they hated Him passionately, they actually didn’t even know Him well enough to be able to pick Him out of a crowd.) They also came with a large force, hinting that they were greatly afraid of this man called Jesus and were not at all sure what would happen when they arrested Him. Jesus had already said that He would go quietly, but they were still clearly quite worried.

They may have also been worried about the people, afraid that someone would find out what they were doing and an angry mob would form and try to free Jesus. It was, after all, just a few days ago that Palm Sunday occurred. The priests were always afraid that the people would take Jesus’ side and revolt against them.

Matthew 26:40: “And he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What, could ye not watch with me one hour?”

The book “Who Moved the Stone?” pointed out that the disciples must have been in the Garden for quite a long time. They had dinner, they walked to Gethsemane, and they were there for such a long time that the disciples found it impossible to stay awake. Now, these are the same apostles who were once rowing across the river at two in the morning!

What this means is that they must have spent hours in the garden. Jesus was waiting there – waiting for Judas to come and betray him. However, even though Judas left during the passover meal to betray him, it still took hours for the chief priests and elders to get together a party and make the quick 15-minute walk to the Garden to arrest Him.

The author felt that this was because the priests had to consult with each other to make sure that they could get Jesus arrested, perform the trial, and then crucify Him the next day. He thinks that they had to gather the group up, hold a meeting, make sure everyone approved of a trial, and then send someone to Pontius Pilate to make sure he was willing to try Jesus the following day. They had to make sure that everything would go off without a hitch, because if they arrested Jesus and then had to let Him go, it would have been a disaster.

I think this theory makes sense. It took Judas an unbelievably long time to get to the garden – possibly anywhere from 4 to 6 hours – even though he undoubtedly went straight to the priests. The hold-up had to have been with the priests. Based on the later exchange that the priests had with Pilate, it seems likely that they already had a pre-arranged agreement with him and were surprised when Pilate inexplicably backed out of it and tried to free Jesus.

It’s just an interesting point. There are a lot of pieces to the crucifixion story that may not be as obvious as they seem.

Matthew 26:39: “And he went a little farther, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.”

Here we see a few things. First, Jesus was fully submitted to His Father’s will. He would do as His Father wanted. Yet, He was sorrowful: He knew what was about to happen, and He desired – perhaps earnestly desired – that “this cup pass from me”. Yet He was not willing to simply get up and walk away; instead He did as His Father asked.

Note, too, that the Father denied this request. This shows that “ask and it shall be given to you” is not a strict absolute. Jesus asked and it was not given to Him, because God had other plans. If Jesus did not always get the things that He asked for, then we can be pretty sure that we’re not going to either. Sometimes the things we ask for are just plain wrong, or misguided. God knows what is best. Trusting Him is not easy – especially when life is painful and difficult – but it is the only way to live as a Christian.

Matthew 26:31: “Then saith Jesus unto them, All ye shall be offended because of me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad.
32 But after I am risen again, I will go before you into Galilee.”

Notice that Jesus knew exactly what was going to happen, and He told His disciples in advance. However, they still missed it, and they did not believe Him. Even though they had seen Jesus perform countless miracles (including raising someone from the dead!) and even though Jesus had never, ever been wrong before, His disciples still missed it. Peter said “Well, I’m not going to deny you”, but he did – just as Jesus had said.

How good are we at believing the things Jesus has told us? Are we faithless, or believing?

Matthew 26:29: “But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”

I know this seems like a rather minor point, but this is more evidence evidence that our future existence in Heaven will not be as some kind of shadowy spirit-being. Jesus said that He will be drinking of the “fruit of the vine” when His Father’s kingdom finally comes, and we will be as well. If we’re going to be drinking and enjoying actual liquids then that right there tells us some things, doesn’t it?

Matthew 26:21: “And as they did eat, he said, Verily I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me.
22 And they were exceeding sorrowful, and began every one of them to say unto him, Lord, is it I?”

Notice – and this is so important! – that none of the disciples immediately pointed a finger at Judas and said “He’s the one!” Judas had everyone fooled. No one knew that he would be the betrayer.

We really should take this lesson to heart. It is impossible for us to tell who is saved and who is not, from a standpoint of looking at others. It may be easy to tell that certain people are not saved (I John gives us some pretty clear characteristics of genuine Christians), but it is quite possible that some people who appear to be genuine sheep are actually wolves in sheep’s clothing. After all, the disciples were the men who were closest to Jesus during His earthly ministry. They walked with Him, followed Him, listened to Him, and served Him – and yet every single last one of them missed it. If Judas could fool the disciples then it is certainly possible for other people to fool us!

Yet, Jesus could see things that the disciples could not:

Matthew 26:25: “Then Judas, which betrayed him, answered and said, Master, is it I? He said unto him, Thou hast said.”

Notice how Jesus easily pointed him out. Judas may have had the disciples fooled, but he could not fool Jesus.

You may be able to fool all of the people all of the time, but you cannot fool God. When you stand before God He will call out who you really are. There will be no hiding or deception on that fateful day.

Matthew 26:10: “When Jesus understood it, he said unto them, Why trouble ye the woman? for she hath wrought a good work upon me.
11 For ye have the poor always with you; but me ye have not always.”

Notice how Jesus put Himself above the poor! If He was just a mere man – a teacher or a prophet or some guy with good ideas – then this was a terrible, selfish thing to say. But if He really was God (which is what Jesus always claimed to be!) then this makes a great deal of sense. God should always be honored above everything else, including the poor.

Today we are going to take a look at the way that God prepared the way for the coming of the Messiah:

Prepare The Way (PDF file; 9 pages)

Matthew 25:3: “Then assembled together the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders of the people, unto the palace of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas,
4 And consulted that they might take Jesus by subtilty, and kill him.
5 But they said, Not on the feast day, lest there be an uproar among the people.”

Notice that they were insistent that Jesus not be crucified on the Passover – and yet that is exactly when Jesus was crucified. They did not get their way. God’s plan was carried out in spite of their own desires.

Also notice that it was the chief priests, scribes, and elders – in other words, the leaders of the people – who were behind this. Now, Jesus had to be killed; there was no way around that. He came to die for our sins and that was exactly what He was going to do. But this group of people did not have to be a part of it. They could have accepted Him (as Nicodemus apparently did), but they chose to reject Him instead and to actively seek His execution. That is what sealed God’s judgment upon them and all of Jerusalem – judgment that came in the form of the Roman army.

Matthew 26:2: “Ye know that after two days is the feast of the passover, and the Son of man is betrayed to be crucified.”

It is important to note that Jesus was crucified on the very day of the passover feast, at the very time that the passover lambs were being killed. Jesus was our sacrificial lamb – His death atoned for our sins. He was the fulfillment of that festival.

The timing of this was not an accident. The passover itself pointed to Christ.

Matthew 25:31: “When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:
32 And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:”

As we’ve seen, this entire chapter is talking about those who survived the Tribulation, and these verses are no different. The Church will not be included in the sheep or the goats, because the Church is part of the group that accompanied Christ back to Earth. In the Second Coming the Lord will return WITH the Church. They are already saved and were already judged in Heaven prior to the Second Coming.

This judgment is different: it is focused on those who survived the Tribulation. Here the Lord divides people into two categories: those who are saved (and who demonstrated that faith by the way they acted), and those who are lost. Those who were saved will be allowed to live, and will go on to live it the Millennial Kingdom. Those who are not saved (and who took the Mark of the Beast) will be killed. When it is all over there will not be a single lost person anywhere in the entire world.

So, to recap: this passage does not apply to the Church at all. This applies only to those who survive the Tribulation. They are the ones that are judged when the Lord returns. The consequences are dire:

Matthew 25:46: “And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.”

There are only two possible outcomes to this: everlasting life, or everlasting punishment. You simply cannot be neutral when it comes to God.