I Thessalonians 2:2: “But even after that we had suffered before, and were shamefully entreated, as ye know, at Philippi, we were bold in our God to speak unto you the gospel of God with much contention.”

There’s a good lesson here. Even after Paul was persecuted time and time again for preaching the gospel, he kept right on preaching it. He didn’t let what happened in the past affect what he did in the future. He didn’t carry around baggage – he just kept boldly proclaiming Jesus. He persevered in the face of much opposition.

God calls us to do the same thing. It’s easy to get upset over things that happened in the past, or become discouraged when we’re persecuted. But God calls us to lead bold lives, telling others about Jesus both “in season” and “out of season”. In other words, we’re called to be a light to the world when people appreciate it, and when people don’t appreciate it.

One moment Amy Stryker had been on Xanthe, seconds away from pouring out her wrath on Adrian Garza. The next moment the Sentinel had abruptly terminated her holographic link to Tau Ceti and she found herself back on her nameless world.

Amy was furious. She whirled around and glared at the Sentinel. “You had no right to stop me!”

“You cannot wipe out humanity,” the Sentinel said firmly. “That prerogative belongs only to God. You are not the judge of mankind.”

“You have no authority over me!” Amy shouted. “Don’t you dare tell me what to do!”

“I will not let you do this,” the Sentinel replied. “You may be in authority over me, but there is a higher law that I must obey. If you continue down this course then I will oppose you.”

“This is not over,” Amy snarled. She then vanished, leaving him alone.

Amy was intensely angry at the Sentinel and wanted to get as far away as possible from him. But the question of where to go posed a problem. She was sure that if she simply went to another planet in the network he would be able to find her. So she jumped through space to a location that he was unlikely to search – the space stations that maintained the Wall around Sol.

It had been a long time since Amy had visited these stations. She remembered upgrading them for Governor Nicholas before she and her sister left the 19th century and jumped into the future. For her that had only been a few weeks ago, but for the rest of humanity millennia had passed. Amy wouldn’t have been surprised to find that everything had changed since her last visit. Yet, as she turned on the lights and looked around, she saw that nothing had been touched. Everything was exactly as she had left it.

It’s as if no one has been here since I left, she thought. The girl walked around and looked at the computer screens, idly reading the messages that appeared on them. She finally sank down in a chair and stared at a terminal, lost in thought.

A part of her was gratified that the equipment she had built was still functioning after so many centuries, but that feeling was quickly buried by her sorrow and anger. Her entire family had been killed – betrayed by Adrian, who had defended what he had done and refused to express any remorse. In fact, he boasted about it! He actually dared to tell me that there wasn’t anything I could do about it. What an idiot! Does he really think that I’m just going to let this go? He murdered all of them, and I am going to make him pay.

She sighed and shook her head. Why can’t Steve just leave me alone? Why does he have to protect those murderers? I don’t want to fight him. I’m not even sure I can fight him. Maybe if I built an army I could invade and overpower him, but he could probably build an even bigger army, or stop time or something. I don’t know. But why is he protecting them? Why isn’t he on my side? Doesn’t he care that everyone he was supposed to protect is now dead? How can I get my revenge if he’s there standing in the way?

Amy said nothing for a long time. She just stared at the terminal in front of her. The screen told her the current power output of the station’s generators and the stability of the Wall that surrounded Sol. The girl didn’t care what it said, and she wasn’t really reading it. She was lost in grief, wanting desperately to go back to Xanthe and destroy it but knowing that the Sentinel would not let her.

If only I had someone to talk to. If only I could go back home! But Tonina is empty. Well, not empty, exactly. I guess Alex is still there. Poor Alex! He won’t understand what happened. I guess I need to go and tell him, but I just can’t do it right now. Why did this have to happen? Why do I have to be alone? What am I supposed to do now?

A thought suddenly occurred to Amy. Maybe there is something I can do. Maybe it’s time for me to go home. Not to Tonina, but to Mars. I was born there and I’ve spent most of my life there. Maybe that’s where I’ll find peace.

Amy sat up in the chair and pressed some buttons on the console in front of her. She navigated to the reactor control interface and brought up the screen that would shut down all four space stations. After entering the appropriate credentials and pressing TERMINATE the screen stopped her, asking if she was sure that she wanted to bring down the Wall.

The girl hesitated for a moment, thinking about it. I have no idea what’s inside that Wall. There could be anything – including something far worse than the swarms. Do I really want to do this?

Eventually Amy shrugged. You’re being foolish, you know! At this point it just doesn’t matter anymore. There’s no one left – all of the Ranger colonies are dead and the network is empty. The only inhabited system is Tau Ceti and it’s protected by both a Wall and the Sentinel. Even if there is something evil inside the Wall there’s no one left for it to harm. I might as well bring it down. The Wall no longer serves a purpose.

With a slight feeling of nervousness in her stomach Amy pressed the button on the screen. She then watched as the console contacted the other stations and quietly turned all of them off. Within minutes the Wall was gone.

For a while Amy sat quietly in the chair, waiting. She didn’t really know what she was waiting for. It was almost as if she expected something to happen the moment the Wall collapsed. But nothing did.

So she closed her eyes and used her nanites to reach out into space. Starting with the outer planets, she examined each world within Sol, searching for signs of life. With nothing else to do the girl carefully examined each planet and satellite, and even scanned the asteroid belt.

What she found was that only Earth and Mars still had life. Every other planet was dead. She knew that the outer planets were once home to millions of people, but that was no longer the case. Scattered throughout the Solar System were fragments and ruins that hinted at a mighty space-faring civilization that had once existed, but it was now gone.

Amy knew that she should feel something – maybe sadness, or disappointment, or grief – but somehow she just didn’t care. Her own sorrow was so great that she could not bring herself to care about the collapse of the Spanish Empire. The only planet she had ever known was Mars. The other settlements were just points of data – something she had read about but never seen. She had no personal connection to them. To her they might as well have never existed at all.

What did disturb her was what had happened to her beloved homeworld. When she was last there the city of Tikal had been seriously damaged in the war with the Spanish Empire, but the planet itself was still home to vast green forests and deep blue oceans. She had hoped that in the past five millennia the city would have been rebuilt and perhaps even expanded. But even from orbit she could see that the planet was dead and its cities were gone. The only life that now existed was buried deep beneath the surface.

Amy was heartbroken. What happened to you? How did this happen? You weren’t like that when we last parted. Have you been abandoned? Were you forgotten about? Oh Mars, my home! Why were you not cared for?

The girl quickly left the station and transported herself to Mars. She appeared on the very spot where her home used to be. Amy hoped that there would be some sign that something had once stood there, but she found nothing. Above her was a sky that was quickly becoming dark. The sun was setting on the horizon, taking its light with it. Beneath her feet, and as far as she could see in all directions, was sand. There were no ruins or debris. There weren’t even any plants. There was only sand.

When she was last on Mars Amy could see the city of Tikal from her yard. Even the Pyramid of Kings was visible. But now there was nothing. There were no ruins in the distance, and the pyramid that had been built by the first Martian settlers was long gone. Her world was empty and its glory had passed away.

Amy sank down onto her knees and cried. She felt utterly abandoned. Her sister was dead, her family was dead, and even her planet was dead. Everything she had once loved, known, and cared about had been taken from her. What do I do now? I’m all alone, and everything is gone – gone, gone, gone. Oh Lord, why did you bring me here and then abandon me? Why did you leave me all alone?

Colossians 3:16: “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.”

We don’t really do much of this anymore. Instead we go to church, sing a few songs, get preached at for 45 minutes, and then go home. We don’t teach or admonish each other. We’re passive; we sit there while someone talks at us for a long time, with no real opportunity to interrupt or get clarification. You may be able to hunt down the preacher and talk to him for a few seconds after the service, but the chances are he’s already run off to go eat. Some people have gone to church three times a week for the better part of 60 years, and yet after all that they still know very little about the Bible. (Imagine what you could learn about, say, knitting if you took three hour-long classes a week for six decades!) Theological ignorance is rampant, on a truly appalling level.

On top of that, churches are oddly impersonal. People go to church, act like everything is going great in their life, and then go home. If you’re looking for some good Christian friends to help you over the rough spots in your life, well, chances are you’re out of luck. Churches are not places where people go, confess their sins, and then help each other live more godly lives. They’re more like a spiritual obligation – you feel like you have to go, even though going is a pain and people in the hallways are more likely to talk about sports than God. I’ve often wondered if people go to church because it makes a genuine difference in their life, or if it’s because they’ve been told since childhood that all good Christians go to church and the really good ones go to every service.

The early church was different; there people gathered together as a family. They knew each other’s burdens and cares, and they encouraged one another. Everyone had something to teach, or something to add, or something to give. It was more like a family than a lecture. Today our churches are impersonal; you can go to a church for years and never learn anything about the people who sit behind you. Not only do churches demand little, but there aren’t many opportunities. They seem designed more for comfort than personal growth.

Maybe I am just growing old and intolerant. It just seems that our churches today are largely a waste of time and do little to actually help people grow spiritually. They could be so much more than what they are.

This is a mocked-up cover for the unwritten book Starman #11, The Caves of Mercury. It was one of the books that we originally planned to write and even created a brief plot summary for, but ultimately ended up skipping.

If you would like to read the proposed plot for the book, simply click on the image below to see a higher-resolution scan.

(I do not know who created the cover artwork, but it was not me.)

Have you ever heard the phrase “That person is so heavenly minded that they’re of no earthly use”? I’m sure we’ve all heard some variation of this saying. The warning is clear: if you focus too much on heavenly things you’ll become useless, so it’s best to keep at least one foot firmly planted on Earth. However, I have to ask: is that really a Biblical sentiment? Does the Bible really warn us against becoming too “heavenly minded”?

This may come as a surprise, but it actually does not! In fact, it does quite the opposite: the Scriptures urge Christians to be even more heavenly minded. This is a constant refrain throughout the Bible.

For example, take a look at Matthew 6. Here we see Jesus commanding people to not lay up treasures on Earth. Instead, He wants people to lay up treasures in Heaven. Why? Jesus explains:

Matthew 6:19: “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:
20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:
21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”

Do you see verse 21? Jesus wants us to lay up treasures in Heaven so our heart will be focused on Heaven. You don’t see Jesus saying “Now, whatever you do, don’t think too much about Heaven!” He wants our heart to be set on it.

Paul expands upon this idea in Hebrew 11, which is often called the Hall of Fame for people of faith. The chapter lists person after person that exhibited extraordinary faith, holding them up as shining examples to follow. At the end of this list he explains the reason why these people had the courage to act as they did:

Hebrews 11:13: “These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.
14 For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country.
15 And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned.
16 But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city.”

Do you see what these verses are saying? The reason Abraham, Noah, and the rest were able to act with such great faith was because they desired a “better country” – a heavenly one. Their mind was so firmly fixed on Heaven that they were willing to make tremendous sacrifices. They saw themselves as “strangers and pilgrims on the earth” – and because of that they were able to serve God with incredible effectiveness. They were not tied down to this world, so they were willing to give up the things of this world. Their heart was somewhere else.

I have heard people say that longing for Heaven is a selfish thing to do, but in reality the fact that these people were “heavenly minded” pleased God tremendously. Verse 16 tells us that because of this singular focus, God was “not ashamed to be called their God”. In fact, it goes further to say that God had prepared for them a city. These people longed for a better country and the Lord was going to give it to them. They sacrificed earthly things and in return the Lord was going to give them heavenly things. God was honored, not appalled, at their passionate longing for Heaven.

The apostle Paul was definitely heavenly minded. He longed to go Home:

Philippians 1:21: “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
22 But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labour: yet what I shall choose I wot not.
23 For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better:
24 Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you.”

If you’ll notice, Paul does not say “Longing for Heaven is bad! Keep your mind here on earth. It’s selfish to want to move on to be with Jesus.” Instead Paul makes it clear that dying is gain. It is “far better”, he says, to depart and be with Christ than it is to say here. Now, Paul does recognize that at the time the churches needed him, and he remained here for years after this. But he clearly had a passionate desire to “depart, and to be with Christ”. That was what he wanted.

This wasn’t because he was mired in defeat and had no hope for the future, nor was it because Paul simply wished to end his life and be done with it. Instead Paul realized what many of us fail to understand: our life doesn’t end when the Lord calls us to Heaven! It actually gets much better. For Christians, dying does not end life; instead it starts a whole new chapter that is so glorious and amazing that the Bible says it “cannot be compared” to even the greatest trials and struggles of our life here. Paul was looking to radically improve his life by changing his address – and the same can be said for the “Hall of Faith” people that are listed in Hebrews 11.

After the Last Supper, when Judas had departed to betray Christ, the Lord took His disciples out for a walk. One of the things He told them in those precious last moments before His crucifixion was this:

John 14:1: “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.
2 In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.”

Jesus is telling them that the time of His departure is at hand, but they were not to “be troubled” about it. The reason He was going away was so He could prepare a place for them, and one day He would come back and get them so that they could be with Him forever. In other words, the Bridegroom was leaving to prepare a home for His Bride, and one day He would come back and get her so the two could be together for eternity.

Do you honestly think the Lord wants His Bride to be indifferent at the prospect of finally going home and being with Him? Do you think it pleases Him when she puts out of her mind the thoughts of her future and focuses on the things of this world (which are rapidly passing away)? The first and greatest commandment is to love God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength. How can we be passionately in love with God and not long to go Home so that we might be with Him? Is that not part of being in love with God?

Yes, we have work to do here, but as Paul pointed out in Hebrews it was a longing for Heaven that enabled the great people of faith to do what they did. Because their heart was not set on Earth, they were able to make great sacrifices and accomplish great things. A true longing for Heaven doesn’t make a person ineffective; instead it frees them from the “cares of this world” that serve to distract a person from God, and enables them to more clearly see the Lord’s will – and pursue it with less hesitation.

It is my great concern that many Christians are so earthly minded that they are of no heavenly good. That is something that Christ did warn about:

Mark 4:18: “And these are they which are sown among thorns; such as hear the word,
19 And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful.”

This is the real question. Have we become so distracted by the “cares of this world” that we can no longer see straight? What is really distracting us from the Lord: is it Heaven, or is it actually the world in which we live?

An imposing building, full of history and mysteries.

A battered, metal vehicle slowly lumbered across the Martian desert. The Raptor – named after a bird of prey that had gone extinct millennia ago – had treads instead of tires, and a cylindrical body that could seat a dozen people but was rarely home to anyone other than Miles. The nose of the vehicle was made of a transparent plastic. Years of driving through sandstorms had scuffed it, reducing visibility. The grainy sand had long ago stripped every bit of paint off the hand-crafted machine, and the bare metal that remained was pitted and stained. Yet, despite its age and condition, the Raptor continued to serve its purpose well – transporting its reclusive inventor from his hideout in the wastes to the buried city of New Tikal.

Miles had left his refuge far later than he had intended. He had known for months that the containment stabilizer on New Tikal’s aging zero-point-energy plant was on the verge of failure, but he found it difficult to summon enough energy to do anything about it. Miles was an old man – far older than anyone knew. He was the sort of person that had always been around. The few technical people that were left in New Tikal took him for granted, believing that he would always be there to solve their problems. Only Noel Lawson truly understood how fragile Miles had become. His extraordinary life was coming to an end, and he knew it.

As his tank lumbered over the sand dunes he glanced into the rear of the cab, making sure that he had remembered to bring the part he had made. As old age set in he found himself becoming more and more forgetful. One thing he was quite positive of, however, was that the part would fix the colony’s present crisis. It had taken more than a month to build it, most of which was spent examining the ZPE generator he had in his refuge. Long ago he had found one buried in the sands of Mars, and he had taken it home and spent years getting it to work again. That was a lifetime ago, however, and his technical skills were not what they used to be.

I just can’t keep doing this, he thought to himself as he steered the Raptor around a rock. I’m getting too old. I don’t know what they’re going to do without me. Their life depends on this part, and I’m the only one left that understands the technology. Unless something remarkable happens they’re not going to outlive me by very much. Mars is dying, and it’s going to take all of them with it.

Miles glanced at the sun and studied its position in the sky. “The sun will be setting in a couple hours,” he announced to no one in particular. “Another day has come and gone. We’re one step closer to the end.”

In the distance he could see giant metal towers rising out of the sand – a sign that he was getting near the colony. The towers were more than a hundred feet across and nearly a thousand feet high. Inside them were fans and compressors. Their purpose was to suck in the thin Martian air and pump it underground to New Tikal, so its residents would have air to breathe.

It had been centuries since anyone could walk around on the surface of Mars without some type of protective environmental suit. The air was too cold and thin to allow life to exist on the surface. The only creatures that managed to survive were the giant monsters that lurked in the radioactive wastes, feeding off the dangerous energy of the planet’s ruined cities.

The thought of the rad-creatures caused Miles to take a quick glance at the scope. Although he was giving the ruin of Tikal a wide berth, he was still cautious. The creatures were violent and unpredictable and often acted in irrational ways. He had only had to face them twice, but both occasions had left him scarred and nearly dead. Miles had no wish to encounter them a third time.

As he approached a wide canyon he noticed that a new air tower had been built. He sighed. That’s only going to help you for so long, you know. Eventually there won’t be any air left to harvest. This planet is dying and won’t be able to support life for much longer – even life that’s underground. But I suppose you’re doing the best you can. I wish I knew how to help you, but I don’t. I’ve done all I can do.

In the side of the canyon there was a broad, winding road that led down into the ground. Miles steered his vehicle onto the road and carefully guided it around the piles of rubble and broken rock. The road was rarely used and tended to be in poor condition. Miles had repeatedly urged the city to maintain the road, pointing out their dependence on people like him for emergency supplies. His cries fell on deaf ears. Resources were scarce, he was told, and they couldn’t afford to waste them on trivialities. Miles would be more tempted to believe this if the mayor didn’t have his entire family on the payroll, with each one earning an exorbitant salary and living a decadent life that would have made most people blush.

It took Miles nearly twenty minutes to drive the craft to the bottom of the canyon. Once there he rolled up to the door, picked up his communicator in his hand, and activated it. “This is Miles, requesting clearance to enter the city.”

He was a bit startled to get an immediate response. “Clearance granted!” Noel Lawson’s voice came over his cabin speaker loud and clear. “Come on in. Hey, where have you been? You were supposed to be here hours ago!”

“Sorry,” Miles replied, as the giant doors to the colony slowly opened. “It hasn’t been a good day.”

“I suppose I should just be grateful that you came at all,” Noel replied. “I don’t know what we’d do without you. But we’re cutting it awfully close this time. It’s been all I can do to maintain field integrity! Once that goes–”

“We’ll be fine,” Miles said. By now the doors were fully open, and he drove the Raptor into the facility’s airlock. “I’ll give you the part as soon as I’m parked and we can install it tonight. It won’t take more than half an hour.”

“All right – I see you coming in now. Signing off.”

After making it through the airlock Miles drove his tank into the city’s underground parking lot and brought it to a stop. He was disappointed but not surprised to see that there were only a handful of other vehicles present. At one time there had been dozens of independent colonies and settlers, but now there were only a few left. Everyone’s putting all their hope in New Tikal, he realized. I suppose they don’t realize that it’s on the verge of death. Or maybe they do and this is just the last hope they have.

Miles stood up, put the containment stabilizer in a bag, and stepped outside. After he made sure that the tank was locked and its alarm system was engaged he began slowly walking toward the elevator that led down to the colony. Before he reached it, however, Noel had ran up to him.

“Woah there!” Miles said. “It’s good to see you, but what’s your hurry?”

“What’s the hurry? Are you serious? We’ve had six class-nine alarms today, Miles – six! We’ve got to get the reactor fixed now or the colony won’t make it through the night. You do have the part with you, don’t you?”

“I’ve got it right here,” Miles said, patting the bag that was slung over his shoulder. “Did you get clearance to move the colony onto reserve power so we could bring down the ZPE?”

“Kind of,” Noel said. “I just told Mayor Thornton that I was bringing it down whether he liked it or not. He wasn’t happy, but honestly, I don’t care. I don’t have time for his usual dithering.”

Miles smiled. “You’re not going to win very many friends that way, you know.”

“Probably not, but let’s face it: if I waited around until I actually got his approval, we’d all be dead. I don’t have time to deal with incompetence right now.”

Miles and Noel stepped into the rickety metal elevator. Noel pressed the button that would take them down to the city’s power plant. The elevator shuddered, then started slowly descending. They could hear its machinery creaking as the floors went by, and occasionally there was a sharp grinding noise. It made Noel nervous, but Miles was too old to care. At his age there was very little that could frighten him.

Miles noticed that Noel was fidgeting. “You see to be in a hurry today,” he remarked.

“You bet I’m in a hurry! I’ve had everything lined up for hours. All we need is that part and my team can get right to work. Where have you been, anyway? We were expecting you around noon, you know. If you hadn’t shown up when you did I would have started sending out search-and-rescue teams. I was almost convinced that old Lizzie had gotten you.”

Miles sighed. “I know. I should have come earlier, but as I said it’s been a bad day. Some friends of mine died rather unexpectedly, and to be honest I’ve taken it pretty hard.”

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that,” Noel said, his tone of voice changing. “I had no idea – I hadn’t heard anything about it. Who died?”

“You don’t know them. They lived – well, they didn’t live around here. But I had a lot of hope for them, Noel. I really believed that they would save us. I thought that they would fix this planet and put things in order again.”

“Fix the planet?” Noel asked. “Do you mean politically, or ecologically?”

“We’re all dying,” Miles said abruptly. “You know that and I know that, even if Mayor Thornton doesn’t want to deal with it. The air is getting thinner, the water table is being depleted, and the machinery that keeps New Tikal running is wearing out.”

“Well, of course it is! This place was built two thousand years ago, and all we’ve ever done since then is repair whatever stopped working. That’s why we’re in this mess! I keep telling them in the open meetings that we need a new approach, but they won’t listen.”

“No, they won’t,” Miles agreed. “They never have – not in your time, nor your father’s time, nor in all the centuries since this colony was built. That’s why we’re in this mess. Nobody cared about tomorrow, and tomorrow has finally arrived. If someone doesn’t repair the atmosphere and bring this planet back to life then we’re all going to die. It may not happen today or tomorrow, but I’ll wager you anything you care to bet that this colony won’t last another century. If someone doesn’t do something we’re history. There won’t even be anyone left to write about our demise.”

“And you thought your friends could help? I mean – I don’t mean to be disrespectful, but that seems to be pinning a lot of hope on them. Can anyone terraform a planet?”

“Of course,” Miles said irritably. “If we had started a couple hundred years ago we would have been finished by now. In fact, if the colony started today and put all of its energy into it we just might be able to make it. The science isn’t the problem, Noel. What we don’t have is the will to act. That’s what’s been missing for the past two thousand years.”

“You’re probably right, I guess. I can see that. But I don’t know what we can do about it.”

“I don’t either,” Miles replied. “That’s why I had such hope for my friends. I was sure they could do it. I just knew it! But now they’re dead.”

“Who were they?” Noel asked.

Miles shook his head. “I’m sure you haven’t heard of them. I’m probably the only person around here who knew them. They were the Strykers – Amy and Amanda Stryker.”

“Never heard of them,” Noel said thoughtfully. “Were they originally from this area?”

“They were born here a long time ago,” Miles replied. “But they’re gone now. They were murdered by a thoughtless man.”

“I’m sorry,” Noel said. “I really am.”

“I am too. Our future may have died with them, Noel. I wish I had better news for you but I don’t.”

“Let’s take one thing at a time,” Noel said. The elevator doors finally opened and Noel quickly stepped out. “Right now we’ve got a ZPE to fix. Let’s get that done so the colony can live through the night. Then we can figure out what do about the future.”

“All right,” Miles agreed. The aged man then followed the engineer down the long corridor.

Colossians 2:9: “For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.”

There are many cults that say that Jesus was not really God (Islam comes to mind). This is a lie. The Bible makes it plain in many places that Jesus is God. In Colossians 1 we saw that Jesus created all things; here we see that in Him is the very “fullness of the Godhead”. Jesus is much more than just a man – He is God. As John said in I John, those who deny this are antichrist. You simply cannot be a Christian and deny that Jesus is God.

Let me repeat that: this is something that all Christians must believe. In order to be saved you must believe in the Biblical Jesus – you cannot simply make up your own idea of Jesus and believe in that instead. Only the real Jesus can save you.

Philippians 4:6: “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

This is another interesting passage. God doesn’t want us to worry about things; instead He wants us to cast all of our cares upon Him. He wants us to bring our problems to Him instead of trying to handle them on our own. When we do this – when we come to Jesus with all of our cares, instead of holding onto them and worrying about them – we will be blessed with peace.

However, this doesn’t mean that Jesus is going to make our problems go away. The challenging situation or personal problem that we’re facing may still be there; it may be that nothing actually changes. But yet, despite this, peace is still possible. This peace that God offers is not a peace that says “I have no problems”, but a peace that says “the Lord is my strength”.

Perhaps we are too focused on getting rid of our problems, when in fact God actually wants us to work through them with His strength. There can be peace in the midst of trials – a peace that comes from trusting the One Who holds tomorrow. We need to learn to trust the Lord’s care for us.

I think sometimes it’s impossible for us to reach this peace because we’re too bitter about the problem that we’re facing. Life is cruel and unfair, and praying doesn’t always seem to change that. We’re looking for an end to our problems when what God offers is offering peace in spite of our problems.

In the country that lies beyond the farthest star there is a giant, golden city. Nothing that is abominable, or evil, or false can ever enter this celestial paradise. It is home to not only the righteous, but to the Holy One. Its glory outshines the sun, and it is an eternal city that will never fade away.

In the heart of this city is a tall tower – a golden spire that overlooks the city itself. In the top of this tower is a vast, circular room. Around the edges of the room is a walkway that overlooks a pit. Within the pit are images of a world that is lost in shadows.

Amanda Stryker was standing in that room, leaning over railing balcony and staring at the scene that was unfolding below. The image was crystal-clear. She could see her sister standing in a room filled with communications equipment, angrily screaming at a very old man. Her rage was palpable:

“Adrian!” Amy screamed.

“Of course you didn’t know! Why, if you had known then I would be dead too. You murderer! My family came here to save you and you killed them.”

Amanda made a motion with her hand and the image froze. She quietly stared at the picture of her sister. Grief and longing tugged at her heart. “You’re in so much pain, Tiger,” she said.

“She is indeed,” Jones replied. “I suspect you would be too if you had lived and she had died.”

The girl turned her head to look at Jones. “Oh – hey there! I didn’t see you come in.”

“When I entered this room I saw that you were busy, and I did not wish to disturb you by calling attention to myself. But I can see why you were distracted. You’re worried about Amy, aren’t you?”

“Of course! Well, not worried, exactly. But I care about her. I know she’s in pain and I know she misses us. I wish someone could be there with her, but all of us are up here and she’s alone. She doesn’t have anyone to lean on, and she really needs someone right now.”

“She has the Lord,” Jones replied.

“Oh, I know,” Amanda said. “But it’s not the same. I mean, I know Jesus is there, but He’s not there the way He’s here. Jesus is physically here – He can actually hold me. Down there, well, it’s different.”

“But it’s not as different as you think. Even in the shadowlands below there are still people who serve the Lord. Amy’s life is about to change, Atzi. The Lord is going to bring her into contact with people who will care about her and comfort her. Through them He will hold her, and give her the strength she needs to do the most difficult thing she will ever do.”

“What’s that?”

“Show mercy to Adrian,” Jones replied.

“But he doesn’t deserve it!” Amanda protested. “He betrayed all of us to our deaths, and he knew we would be killed when he did it! He deserves to be punished.”

“That’s what mercy is, Amanda – a gift to people who don’t deserve it. A second chance for people who have no right to it. Mercy is why you are standing here now, instead of in Hell with Carroll Lane. Mercy saved you, and your family, and me – and it can even save Adrian Garza.”

Amanda glanced back down at her sister. She saw the tears on her face and the utter rage that filled her heart. “She’s a long way from forgiving him, Jones.”

“Give her time,” he replied. “With God all things are possible.”

This is a mocked-up cover for the unwritten book Starman #10, The Search for the Xenobots. It was one of the books that we originally planned to write and even created a brief plot summary for, but ultimately ended up skipping.

If you would like to read the proposed plot for the book, simply click on the image below to see a higher-resolution scan.

(I do not know who created the cover artwork, but it was not me.)

The Apostle Paul told us that the Lord gave him a thorn in the flesh, in order to keep Paul humble:

2 Corinthians 12:7: “And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure.
8 For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me.
9 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.”

This passage says that God gave Paul so many extraordinary revelations that the apostle was in danger of being “exalted above measure”. In order to keep this from happening the Lord blessed him with a serious problem. Paul asked the Lord three times for it to be removed, but the Lord refused, saying “My grace is sufficient for thee”.

In this passage Paul does not come out and say what this “thorn in the flesh” actually was. In fact, Paul doesn’t explain the nature of this “messenger of Satan” anywhere else in the New Testament. This has led many people to wonder what, exactly, Paul was suffering from.

It is my opinion that Paul’s “thorn in the flesh” may have been poor eyesight, or some other eye-related problem. The Bible does not come out and state this directly, but it does offer a few clues. The first one is the famous scene in Acts where Paul was brought before the High Priest, in order to answer charges that he had been causing a disturbance in the Temple. This is how that scene played out:

Acts 23:1: “And Paul, earnestly beholding the council, said, Men and brethren, I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day.
2 And the high priest Ananias commanded them that stood by him to smite him on the mouth.
3 Then said Paul unto him, God shall smite thee, thou whited wall: for sittest thou to judge me after the law, and commandest me to be smitten contrary to the law?
4 And they that stood by said, Revilest thou God’s high priest?
5 Then said Paul, I wist not, brethren, that he was the high priest: for it is written, Thou shalt not speak evil of the ruler of thy people.”

This particular scene is quite well-known. The High Priest commanded that Paul be punched, and Paul immediately shot back “God shall smite thee” – only to become apologetic once he found out that he was talking to the High Priest. What is remarkable about this is that Paul was not only a Pharisee, but a “Pharisee of Pharisees”. He should definitely have been able to recognize the High Priest! Even if he didn’t know him personally (which he probably did, given the incredible legalistic zeal he once had), the High Priest would not have been hard to spot – and yet Paul missed him entirely! Someone actually had to tell Paul which one of them was the High Priest, and that is quite astonishing.

After all, this is what Paul told King Agrippa:

Acts 26:4: “My manner of life from my youth, which was at the first among mine own nation at Jerusalem, know all the Jews;
5 Which knew me from the beginning, if they would testify, that after the most straitest sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee.”

In other words, Paul was not only a Pharisee, but he was a famous Pharisee. Verse 5 tells us that “all the Jews” knew how zealous he was. Before his conversion Paul was not an obscure man. In fact, look at Acts 9:

Acts 9:1: “And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest,
2 And desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem.”

Where did Paul (previously Saul) get permission to go around hunting down Christians? From the High Priest. It’s inconceivable that Paul would not have recognized the High Priest, and yet that is exactly what happened. Even if the High Priest had changed between Paul’s days as a Pharisee and his arrest in Jerusalem (and given the many years that passed between those two events, that is quite possible), he still should have been quite easy to spot. It would be something like going to court and not being able to tell which person in the room was the judge!

But Paul’s astonishing lack of ability to recognize the High Priest is not the only evidence for this. Take a look at what Paul said in his letter to the Galatians:

Galatians 4:15: “Where is then the blessedness ye spake of? for I bear you record, that, if it had been possible, ye would have plucked out your own eyes, and have given them to me.”

Paul said that the love of the Galatians was so great that they would have given Paul their eyes. If Paul had poor vision or other eye-related problems then that statement would make perfect sense: the Galatian church wanted to meet the great need in Paul’s life.

Besides, do you remember what happened when Paul met God on the road to Damascus?

Acts 9:3: “And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven:
4 And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?
5 And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.
6 And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.
7 And the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man.
8 And Saul arose from the earth; and when his eyes were opened, he saw no man: but they led him by the hand, and brought him into Damascus.
9 And he was three days without sight, and neither did eat nor drink.”

After Paul met Jesus he was struck blind. It’s true that God sent someone to lay hands on Paul and heal him, but it’s still interesting all the same.

This is something we will probably never know, but perhaps – just perhaps – this is the “thorn in the flesh” that God sent to afflict Paul.

The old Glaser Furniture store – one of many businesses on a street that existed in another time and place.

Philippians 3:18: “(For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ:
19 Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.)”

This is a marvelous description of people that have been called “carnal Christians”. These are people who call themselves Christians but care nothing for Christ. They openly despise the Bible and think nothing of editing the Scripture to suit themselves. They mock the Lord’s commandments and refuse to obey God. They call Jesus Lord but they will not submit to His authority. They are terrified of the Second Coming and, like Satan, hope Jesus never returns. They love the things of this world and are loathe to give them up. They hate the thought of leaving this life and going on to Heaven, as if an eternity in Heaven was some kind of terrible curse. They are very much friends of the world and have only contempt for lovers of God.

These are people without any form of self-control, who have given themselves over to whatever their flesh happens to desire. They are people who love their sin and enjoy being selfish, cruel, and hostile – people who truly glory “in their shame”. Their mind is on earthly things to such a great extent that they hate the very thought of heavenly things. Whether they will admit it or not, they see Heaven as their enemy and God as their oppressor.

The church today simply calls these people “carnal Christians” and does not really believe it is a serious issue. They certainly don’t think it affects their salvation. Some people say that this is simply the world that we live in, and we can’t expect all Christians to care about holiness. The problem with this is that Paul rejects this entirely and calls these people “enemies of the cross of Christ.” There is no trace of “Well, some Christians love God and others don’t, and it really doesn’t matter either way.” They are called enemies, and Paul warns that their end is destruction.

This is a vital point, because the end of all believers is salvation and eternal life. The only people who face destruction are the lost. Paul is actually saying something terrifying: carnal Christians are not Christians at all! They are as lost as they can be.

What compounds this problem is that the church today isn’t terribly concerned about the issue. Holiness is presented as a purely optional thing, and pastors act as if it’s not necessary for anyone to repent of their sins or accept Jesus as Lord. They are not sounding the alarm that carnal Christianity is not Christianity at all – and since the church doesn’t take this seriously it’s easy to start thinking that maybe God doesn’t take it seriously either.

This is where it is so important to stay grounded in the Word and not allow our culture to influence us. We are to be in the world but not of the world. We are to have the mind of Christ. God takes sin very seriously, even if the church does not. No matter what we may be told, the Bible is clear: carnal Christianity leads to eternal death, not eternal life. You cannot be saved apart from repentance, and you cannot be saved if you refuse to submit to the lordship of Christ. If Jesus is not your Savior and Lord then He is not your Savior at all.

The third book in the Stryker series, The War of the Artilect, is now available! The expanded, revised version of the story can be downloaded free-of-charge right here:

The War of the Artilect, PDF file. 221 pages.

Printed copies of the book are also available:

Paperback edition, $12.99.

Hardback edition, $24.99.