I Would Die For You

It is well established that the Old Testament is a shadow of God’s great promise and plan for mankind and that he had promised came into fulfilment in the New Testament. However the Old Testament is not redundant with regard to how we are to live our lives. Just because the new covenant has come which is better with regard to the promises and the fulfilment of those promises, it doesn’t mean we still can’t glean something from it. The Apostle Paul tells us that ALL Scripture is inspired by God for correction, instruction, reproof. There for the Old Testament definitely still has a lot of lessons for us with regards to the life we live in Christ.

In the book of Genesis we see the first marriage between Adam and Eve. The relationship is great and going on well until we see the Devil through the serpent enter the picture. He beguiles her, playing on her desire to be more than she is, to be like God. She doesn’t realise that she is already like God. In the end, she takes the fruit God had commanded them not to eat. Not only does she eat it, she gives it to her husband as well. When God calls Adam and ask him what happened, Adam lays the blame for the whole fiasco on Eve, even though he also eat the fruit in spite of the fact that God gave the commandment to him. As a result of their disobedience, God curses them and ejects them from the Garden of Eden. However, he makes a promise to them that Christ would come to save them from the effects of their sin.

Several prophets like Isaiah prophesied about the coming of the Messiah, the one who would save his people from their sin. When Jesus finally came, he said that he had come to take away the sins of the world. He came not to impute people sins on them but that as long as they believed on him and in him, he would not only save them from the effects of their sin but from sin itself. In the end, he hung on a cross to fulfil the word earlier spoken that cursed is anyone who hangs on a tree. He took your sins and my sins on the cross and subsumed and erased them in himself. He did condemn anyone who came to him but he accepted all men as they are as long as they would allow him to make them.

Myles Munroe says that if you want to know how a thing is supposed to work, then you need to read the manual from the manufacturer. In the life of Christ we find a great pointer with regards to marriage. There are several new-fangled ideas about marriage. I must confess that I am amused by those who think that new ideas about ancient customs are the best. To best understand marriage we need to look at the relationship Christ has with the Church. We understand that marriage is a mystery and is similar to the relationship Christ has with us, his body. The first thing we see is that unlike Adam who blamed his wife for his failings and therefore died alongside her, Christ does not impute our sins on us and took them upon himself and died for the Church. He took our punishment, our pain, our exclusion and separation from God on himself and made everything right between us and God. Unlike Adam who did not seek the mercy of God but rather decided to take the path of blaming, Jesus took upon himself the role of mediator between God and men thereby bringing peace between both.

There are so many things we can learn from the life of Christ and the relationship between him and the Church as it pertains to marriage. Like Christ, a husband should “die” for his wife; protect her, as much as lies within his power keep her from hurt, pain and shame. He should not only be a mediator between her and God but also between her and men in that he has a role to play when she falls out with friends or others. Like Christ expects and believes the best about us, knowing that we can be more than we presently are, so the husband should be. Equality in marriage is all about being your own person and standing alone. If equality is what a wife seeks then she shouldn’t be surprised when as the first sign of trouble, the man takes off and leaves her to fend all by herself. You can’t be equal and expect help or support when trouble comes.

The Apostle Paul said men were to love their wives while wives were to respect their husbands. It wasn’t that he didn’t want wives to love their husbands or husbands to respect their wives but he understood that respect is what a man needs most while love is what a woman wants the most.  This is seen in our relationship with Christ. He showed his love by dying for us while we show our respect by first acknowledging him as Lord. When we model our marriages on the relationship Jesus has with his Church, we will have storms and trials but I believe we will come through them.

JC Cruz is the author of DECEPTIO published by WestBowPress, a division of Thomas Nelson publishers, http://bookstore.westbowpress.com/Products/SKU000194087/Deceptio.aspx and LOST, BUT FOUND available at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DPLLEUQ/. You can follow him on Twitter @Cruz_JCReal.  

We Came With A Purpose: Chase After Him To Find You

I feel sad for anyone who doesn't believe that we are here for a purpose and a reason. Those people who believe that our lives are random happenings that blot the face of the planet for a while before we pass away from the world to go somewhere no one knows. It is my firm belief that the idea that we are rudderless and without direction leads to a point where people do not see the big picture and grand design of the world and end up living selfish, self-centred lives that add nothing to the world. However when we realise that we humans on this planet are all connected and we all have something to add to the lives we come in contact with, and we act on this, the world becomes a better place.

I believe that there is nothing on earth whether created, made or manufactured without a purpose on the face of this earth. We understand the issue of purpose when we understand that there is nothing whether animate or inanimate that does not have a purpose. From human beings to chairs, the air we breathe in to the clothes we wear, everything has a purpose. If inanimate objects without awareness have a purpose, how can we say that human beings, the greatest of the living species do not? Simply put, everything has a purpose for being, for existing. In fact, a purpose is first discovered and then a thing is made to fulfill that purpose. Therefore I believe that there was a purpose that God wanted man to fulfill collectively and individually when he made him. The purpose, then the thing to fulfill the purpose.

When God called Abraham (then Abram) in Genesis 12, he told him him what he wanted to do with him. When he called Jacob in Genesis 28, he revealed what he wanted to achieve in his life. The same thing when he called Joshua in Joshua 1. He followed the same pattern when he called Cyrus, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Elisha and Paul. Wherever in the Bible we are shown the moment God called one of the elders in the faith, we see a process where God calls them by name and reveals his plans and purposes to them and lets them know the part they have to play in the fulfillment of that plan. There is always a big picture and God tells us what he wants to achieve. He never tells us the processes we have to go through but at least he gives us an indication of the end so that we can press forward.

I am of the firm belief that God has created each and every one of us with a purpose and he has a plan for our lives. Our lives are not aimless and neither do they lack meaning. I believe that when God called us, he spoke on our lives the plans and the purposes he desires for us to achieve and fulfill. Whether or not we come to a full realisation of this plan, depends entirely on us. The Bible says that His word is forever settled in heaven. He cannot and will not change. Therefore there is a responsibility placed on each of us shoulders to seek his face and find it. For us to truly have a relationship with the world we live in, we need to have a relationship with him. If we pursue him, we will not only find him, we will also find ourselves.    

JC Cruz is the author of DECEPTIO published by WestBowPress, a division of Thomas Nelson publishers, http://bookstore.westbowpress.com/Products/SKU000194087/Deceptio.aspx and LOST, BUT FOUND available at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DPLLEUQ/. You can follow him on Twitter @Cruz_JCReal.  

I Know Whom I Have Believed

When God called Abram (before he was Abraham) he informed him that one of the reasons he had called him was because God knew that Abram was not only going to tell his children about God, he was also going to instruct them in the worship of God. As an aside, that tells us the responsibility we have to instruct our offspring in the knowledge and worship of God. When God called him, he promised him that not only was he going to have his own child (Abram was at the moment childless) but that his descendants were going to be like the sand on the sea shore. Abram was 75 years old when God spoke to him the first time and made those promises to him.

In the end, Abraham waited 25 years for the fulfilment of the first part of God’s promise. Isaac was born when Abraham was a 100 years and the Bible tells us in Genesis 25:8 that he ended up living an extra seventy five years after the birth of Isaac. A further reading of Genesis 28 tells us at verse 26 that Isaac was 60 when Jacob and Esau were born even though he married Rebekah when he was 40. That means that Abraham had around 15 years to spend with Jacob and Easau before he died.

By the time we get to Genesis 28, Jacob had not only got Esau to forfeit his birth right but in connivance with their mother Rebekah, he has obtained their father’s blessing which legitimately belongs to Esau. Isaac asks Jacob to go his uncle in Padan Aram to not only take a wife but to stay there till Esau’s anger cools. While in the wilderness at a place called Luz, Jacob lies down with his head on a stone for a pillow and dreams about angels going from earth to heaven and back on a stairway with God appearing at the top of the stairway. God’s makes him a promise and based on God’s promise when Jacob wakes up he makes a deal with God. He promises to serve God if he would provide for him and preserve his life. He creates an altar there and names the place Bethel to commemorate his encounter with God.

Abraham lived with Jacob and Esau for about fifteen years before his death. He must have spent a lot of time with the twins on his knees, telling about the God who also wanted to be their God and have a relationship with them. Which was why when God showed up when Jacob was a fugitive and desolate and in despair at being separated from his family; he wasn’t a stranger to Jacob. When Jacob wasn’t really looking for God, God was looking for him. Another thing was that just like his grandfather; God introduces himself to Jacob with a promise.

Wherever we are in our walk with God, I believe that as much as we want to be in fellowship with God, he wants to fellowship with us even more. The love and the purpose of God is such that he is reaching out and speaking to us each and every day, hoping that we listen. I believe that like Abraham and Jacob, God makes promises to each and every one of us regarding our lives and our purpose. At times, the promises God makes to us are not as pleasant as those made to Abraham and Jacob. When he called Saul of Tarsus who later became Paul the Apostle, he promised Paul that he was going to be a witness for him throughout the earth. I doubt when Paul heard it, he thought his witnessing would be in chains.

Abraham, Jacob and Paul all followed after God’s promise. They never knew how God’s promise was going to come to pass but one thing they all had in common was that they followed God in faith. They could not see the end of the path God was leading them on. However as a result of having a relationship with God, they were able to walk the path set before them. That was why Paul was able to say with conviction “I know whom I have believed.” That is what God is asking of each and every one of us. To find out what his promises, purposes and plans for our lives are and walk in it without wavering to the right or to the left. So that like Paul at the end of our stay on this earth, we can tell the people coming after us “I know whom I have believed.”

 JC Cruz is the author of DECEPTIO published by WestBowPress, a division of Thomas Nelson publishers, http://bookstore.westbowpress.com/Products/SKU000194087/Deceptio.aspx and LOST, BUT FOUND available at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DPLLEUQ/. You can follow him on Twitter @Cruz_JCReal.  

God Isn't Into Equality

Joel 2:28-29  "And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: And also upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit."

One of the major buzz words of the present age that we live in is the word "gender equality" and the proponents of this movement tell us that their aim is equal pay for women who do the same work as men. I support this. However I must confess that I have always wondered why the proponents are always looking for the next Carly Fiorina (and now Marissa Meyer) the equality never extends to supporting women who want to be the best carpenter, plumber, electrician or truck driver. Just saying.

The book of Joel gives us an indication of the plans God had for mankind in these last days. He promised that he was going to pour out his spirit upon all flesh and "your sons and daughters" would prophesy". God promised us his spirit so that we would all prophecy. Now if you're looking for someone who believes in equality then God is your man. However I don't think equality was God's main purpose. I believe his motivation was the knowledge that in order for him to fulfil his plans in these last days, he needed both men and women. So when it came to his purpose with regard to ministry, he made men and women equal. Therefore the equality is derived from the purpose intended. I therefore do not believe God has given us his spirit so that we can be less than he meant for us to be. It would be a waste of the power of the spirit.

I have been immensely blessed by the ministry of women like Joyce Meyer, Michelle Hammond and every woman I have been blessed to listen to or read their book including my pastor's wife. I'm sure that I would have loved listening to Katherine Kuhlman or Aimee Semple McPherson if I had lived in their times. I believe women were meant to minister and not just be adjuncts to the men. But I also believe in spiritual authority and respecting authority. While I believe women should be able to preach (I refuse to use to use the word "right"), I believe there should be respect for authority where they do not yet do so. 

I have somewhat followed the arguments for and against the ordination of women in both the Anglican and Catholic Churches. It's interesting to note that those against the ordination of women are mostly men who are in positions of authority. However what has been most disturbing to me are the comments of those in support of the ordination of women. The Church is not a business or a corporation and it does not run on the same principles as the world. Jesus said that we are in this world but not of this world. The main reason given by those arguing for the ordination is that of "equality". I have never once heard the argument that women too should minister because they also have God's spirit. In the end, it always sounds like they want the "right" to minister simply out of good old fashioned ambition. What the Apostle Paul calls the pride of life. I have also been appalled by the way they denigrate the leadership of their churches even as they try to get people in the world to put pressure on so that they can have their way. Romans 14 tells us that if we desire to do or be anything in God's kingdom it should solely be out of love. Love for God and for his people. Not out of love for ourselves. 

I am disturbed at all the the things we want to label as a right. Working with God is not a right but a privilege. It's not not something to be fought for or to vilify others over. I believe it something to be sought for with prayer and discussion. Ministry is about serving other people and not about satisfying a desire for position. If we have a dream of serving God in ministry, how can we as Christians justify the murder of people we claim to want to serve with our words and actions? What would we have gained? What would we minister? What would we minister? God is not as concerned with what we achieve as to how we achieve it. God is mostly concerned with our character, not our results and that is something we should always have at the back of our minds.

JC Cruz is the author of DECEPTIO published by WestBowPress, a division of Thomas Nelson publishers, http://bookstore.westbowpress.com/Products/SKU000194087/Deceptio.aspx and LOST, BUT FOUND available at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DPLLEUQ/. You can follow him on Twitter @Cruz_JCReal.  

   

Life and the Pride of Life

We live in a world that constantly tells us how we should view ourselves in relation to others. Most and generally, the world tells us that if we are talented, gifted, hardworking or have some gift or have some advantage that others do not seem to have, we should have a high opinion of ourselves. In fact, it tells that us that we should think of ourselves better than the next person. However we are then hurt when others do not seem to have as great an opinion of us that correlates and corresponds with the opinion we have of ourselves.

Let me say that I believe that there is good pride and bad pride although barely separated by a very thin line. Good pride is as a result of knowing and recognising the gifts, talents and blessings that God has given to you and doing your best even while resting in God's grace to make full use of them to bring glory to God. In the first place, it's not about you alone. It's all about God and you. You realise you are not in competition with anyone and you are running your own race based on the hand you have been dealt. It's also not really about the achievements or the accolades but it's about understanding the purpose for which you were born and working with God so that you reach as many people as possible with your gift, talent or blessing and if possible, help change their lives for the better. And in the process we are changed as well. If all we strive for are achievements and records rather than seeking to help change lives for the better and point God out to people, then we have entered the second category of pride.  

Now the other other pride which the Apostle Paul refers to as pride of life is not really something we are aware of. It's actually quite subtle and insidious. While the good pride corresponds with the relationship between us and God, the other pride normally shows up when we think of our talents and abilities in relation with others. In other words, pride shows itself with regards to our opinion of superiority in relation to others. Pride normally shows itself in situations which are perceived as negative by the person with pride. Pride is usually revealed by the question "Why?". I said usually because "Why?" could also be as a result of introspection with a view to correcting what is wrong. When a man is laid off from work and he asks "Why?" he could be asking with a view to finding out what went wrong and correcting it so that it doesn't happen again. However, when a man asks "Why?" and he is thinking "Why was I laid off since I was the best worker, the most hardworking person, the first in to work and the last person to leave?" he doesn't really need to ask the question since he already has an answer. He has shown that he is someone who takes pride is his abilities in relation to others and just maybe he lets others know what he thinks of them. The Bible asks us not to think more highly of ourselves than we ought.

The question "Why me?" usually denotes that we think that there is something special about us so that life is barred from happening to us. As long as we live in a fallen world, life will happen to us. The secret is not being to attached to this life and the things in it. Life will bring disappointments, pain, hurt and sadness. Things will happen that we will not be able to understand this side of eternity. Therefore our focus should not be on what we can do but on what God can do. When we focus on us, we get lost in a myriad of feelings and emotions but in him we find clarity of purpose. The Bible says when we behold him, we are changed to be like him. That should be our desire, to be more like Christ and less like the world.

JC Cruz is the author of DECEPTIO published by WestBowPress, a division of Thomas Nelson publishers.http://bookstore.westbowpress.com/Products/SKU000194087/Deceptio.aspx and LOST, BUT FOUND available at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DPLLEUQ/. You can follow him on Twitter @Cruz_JCReal

There's Really Something About Marriage

I once came across a blog post where the writer was talking about her experience at a wedding she recently attended. According to the writer, the pastor who officiated the wedding ceremony kept making reference in both his remarks and sermon to how great marriage was. According to her, he made her feel less of a person because she wasn't either married or with a significant other who she was thinking of marrying. The way she saw it, there was nothing wrong with being single and she didn't particularly like being put under pressure to get married as she didn't think that being married was any more special than being single. From the comments made to the post, most people seemed to have that view. Personally, I think they miss the point.

In the book of Genesis, after God created the Heavens and the Earth and he had made man, he looked at the man and declared that it was not good for the man to be alone. He brought all the animals to Adam so he could name them all but amongst the animals, there was none that Adam could relate to or with even after he had named them because there was none like himself. So God made the woman who was like the man. Therefore God made the woman for the sake of relationship, communion, agreement and help. If you've read enough of the Bible, you will understand that the scriptures contain some very funny mathematics equations when it comes to marriage. For example it tells us that one plus one gives us one. It also tells us that while one will chase a thousand, two will chase ten thousand. Even the Apostle Paul tells us that there is a mystery about marriage. According to him, the unity in marriage between a man and a woman is like the unity in the Godhead itself. In Genesis, we see the unity of the Godhead where they declare to themselves that they should make man in their own image and after their likeness. We even understand that that marriage is a hounourable institution.

The question then is, is being married better than being single with regards to living a full and fulfilling life with regards to finding your purpose and doing it? No. I do not believe that being married is better than being single. It's a choice. The Apostle Paul even said it was better to remain single and serve God with a focus that would not be distracted by a husband. However, do I believe there is something special about marriage? Absolutely. I do believe that marriage is a special institution ordained by God that he takes great pleasure in. This is especially true when that marriage produces children who are then taught God's ways by their parents.

I believe one of the great things about marriage is that it teaches us about caring deeply and wanting to please someone other than ourselves. We have to come out of our selfish zones and bend over backwards to express the love of God to this person we are bound to. Also, we have the powerful opportunity in our marriages to model the love and unity of the Godhead and that, I think is something pretty special.Therefore rather than denigrating marriage or thinking that it doesn't matter or that there is nothing special about it, I honestly believe it is something we as Christians should look forward to as it gives us a peculiar opportunity to show people the Christ that lives in us.

Therefore when next we go to a wedding ceremony, those of us who are single should not think that because we are not married, God loves us less or we are less spiritual. It's just that two people have decided to share their lives together to the exclusion of everyone one. (Not totally true but you get my meaning). It is something we should be happy for them for instead of grousing about how we feel excluded. We should wish them well and pray that some day, we also will have the grace to find that one person we want to give up everything for, let down the walls we have built and share a love filled life with.

JC Cruz is the author of DECEPTIO published by WestBowPress, a division of Thomas Nelson publishers, http://bookstore.westbowpress.com/Products/SKU000194087/Deceptio.aspx and LOST, BUT FOUND available at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DPLLEUQ/. You can follow him on Twitter @Cruz_JCReal.  

Everything Is About Love

The book of 2 Chronicles 25:2 tells us about a king called Amaziah who did right in God sight but not with a perfect heart.He was a man who did all the right things he was expected to do in relation to worshipping God but he did all he did with the wrong motives. (I wrote a blog post earlier about motives which you can see here (http://herstheword.blogspot.com/2013/10/we-all-have-agenda-whats-yours.html). Technically that means that everything he did not meet with God's standard. If Paul were the one referring to him, he would have said that his works were put on a scale, burnt and all that was left was ashes.

Jesus took the Ten Commandments that God gave to Moses and distilled them into two new and distinct commandments which said love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind and strength and love other people as yourself. We understand that the central story of the Bible is all about God's love for and search for mankind and about how we are to receive his love and share it with others but at times we seem to forget that. I was struck by this this thought recently while going through some of the chapters of the book of Corinthians. As an aside, most times as Christians, we take a verse of Scripture in isolation that corresponds with our feelings and we ignore the the rest of the verses. At times, we need to read more than one verse or the whole chapter to be able to get the meaning of the verse.

Church historians and theologians tell us that the books of the Bible were only recently divided into chapters for easy understanding. I was reading 1 Corinthians 14 and I found out that if I wanted to fully understand it, I needed to read Chapter 13. Then I found out that Chapter 12 was also needed as well. In a nutshell, what Paul was saying in those chapters of the Bible is that not only is love the most important thing, your motive for doing anything must be love. Therefore it's not enough to believe that something is a calling or that it's your purpose in life. You must be motivated by a love for God and a love for people.

Therefore it's not enough to want to be a pastor because you believe you have a pastoral calling. You must be motivated by love. It's not enough to join the volunteer workforce in your church because there are not enough workers or because you want to give something back to your spiritual feeding place. You must be motivated by love. It's not enough to desire to speak in tongues or prophesy, your desire must be backed by and propelled by love. If your desire is not as a result of love then the motive is fuelled by a selfish desire for self aggrandisement or duty. God is not looking for people bound by duty. He is looking for those moved by love.

The Bible tells us that our works will be tried by fire. I believe that when our works will be tried, it is not the quality of the work we do that will be judged but the heart with which we do it. When our works are tried by fire, I honestly believe that what will determine whether our works survive will be determined whether or not our hearts were moved by love or a sense of religion or duty. The Bible tells us that love is the evidence of being perfect, of being mature. We should grow up and leave duty and thoughts of the praise of men behind and focus on love. I believe therein lies our salvation. Doing anything else, like Amaziah, we might find out too late that we didn't walk before God with a perfect heart. Today when the world celebrates a love that is different from that which God says, we need to let them know that there's something more.



JC Cruz is the author of DECEPTIO published by WestBowPress, a division of Thomas Nelson publishers, http://bookstore.westbowpress.com/Products/SKU000194087/Deceptio.aspx and LOST, BUT FOUND available at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DPLLEUQ/. You can follow him on Twitter @Cruz_JCReal.  

Taking The Test

I was talking to my brother the other day on the phone and by the time our conversation was over, I felt like a better person. At least I felt extremely wiser. I have come to understand that my brother has great wisdom. But there was something he said that especially caught my attention. He said that the world as it currently is has just one major function. The trial of our faith. At first when he said it I was startled. But as I thought about it the more, I realized that he was right.

Jesus told us that we are in this world but not of the world. The Bible tells us that we live in a fallen world. A world that is extremely distant from God’s glory. The Apostle Paul tells us in the book of Romans that we should not be conformed to this world but rather we should be transformed by the renewal of our minds. That tells me that there are things and situations that we will face that will try to make us conform but we need to rise above them so that we can be transformed. It tells me that transformation involves a lot of work. It tells me that transformation will not happen by itself but we need to take an active part in the process. Transformation will not occur passively.

The book of Galatians tells about the fruit of the Spirit in Chapter 5 at verses 22 to 23. The Bible doesn’t refer to them as “fruits” but fruit. That means that if you find one of them you are most likely to find the others. I believe the fruit was what Paul was referring to when he said we should let Christ be formed in us. The presence of the fruit shows that how much of Christ we have imbibed or how much we have matured into measure of the stature of Christ.

The world we live in is radically against Christ. The world hates him. To be able to live successfully as disciples of Christ, we need to have the same attributes and gifts he had. Just as the world did not like Christ because its works were those of darkness, the world will also be violently opposed to us if we decide to come out of darkness into the light. If you decide to say you belong to Christ, the world will test what you profess. How you respond to the tests the world throws at you will determine how much you grow as a Christian. Someone said Goliath was actually Saul’s giant to kill but he cowered and hid and David killed Goliath and received the reward. There are tests waiting for us when we wake up every day.  The Bible said for the glory that was before him Christ endured the cross. There are tests we need to pass daily so that we can grow and receive the crown. Rather than cower in fear, we should go out in boldness and faith every day, seeking to conquer the things that seek to conquer us. We should go out every day knowing the Holy Spirit in us will cause us to win. If only we would ask for his help. Like Lecrae said, “We have the power to start a riot, how can we deny it?”

JC Cruz is the author of DECEPTIO published by WestBowPress, a division of Thomas Nelson publishers.http://bookstore.westbowpress.com/Products/SKU000194087/Deceptio.aspx and LOST, BUT FOUND available at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DPLLEUQ/. You can follow him on Twitter @Cruz_JCReal

We Are Accepted In The Beloved

From a young age I always wanted to write and be a published and well known author. When I published my first novel, Deceptio with WestBowPress, a division of Thomas Nelson Publishers, I didn't really know anything about things like literary agents, proposals or platforms. That means I really didn't know much about publishing, period. However, publishing Deceptio did not put an end to the dream I had of being paid to publish a novel with a major publishing house. I then wrote another novel, Lost But Found. By this time I knew a little about how things worked. I had bought Michael Hyatt’s book on how to write a winning fiction proposal. I sent out proposals to several literary agents. As you would expect, I got a lot of “No’s”. Some didn't reply. In the end, near the end of last year, I finally found someone who liked what I had written and I was told that my work was going to be presented to the people in charge at the agency. I was so excited. I waited to get feedback but meanwhile I must confess I had a few dreams about how much I was going to get offered and how many copies of the book I was going to sell. When I didn't hear back by February, I sent a mail. I got a reply saying that a mail had been sent to me earlier (which I never received) saying the people in charge wanted to go in another direction. Whatever that means.

I also love the law very much and I love litigating. I love the thought of presenting my arguments in such a way that the judge agrees with my line of thinking. And I love winning. However, I felt I was in a rut at work and I felt there were no opportunities for advancement. So I wrote a few applications and sent them to some of the top law firms in my city. Most of them didn't bother to reply. Those that did sent me a mail telling me that after considering my application they didn't think I would be a fit for them. I would be the first to admit that my grades in my law school exam were not the best. So maybe my grades wouldn't look too good on their website. But I thought that the almost ten years of experience I had garnered should count for something. I guess I was wrong.

I'm not going to lie, the two instances of rejection hurt. Badly. But that is what people do, people reject us. If we let it, the rejection we get from people can hurt us and damage us for life. Rejection can make us feel small and unworthy and unlovable. Rejection can make us give up on our dreams. But you know what? Men may reject us because we don’t fit into a certain mould or we don’t fit into a certain picture they have of how they think we should be. But you know what? That’s okay. That’s life. If we are afraid of rejection and we don’t want to experience it, we will end up not living because life is full of rejection. But you know another thing? I'm thankful there’s a God who loves me and would never reject me. I'm thankful there’s a God who has accepted me warts and all. The Bible says God has accepted me in the beloved. God has accepted me, not because of anything I can or will ever do but because of what Jesus did on the cross of Calvary.  So no matter the rejection I face from men, I know God loves me.

So, has the fact that literary agents aren't breaking down my door in a bid to represent my work discouraged me? No. It has made me even more determined to succeed and get a book published by a major publisher. That’s why I'm not going to stop writing. There’s a song I love titled “More Than It Seems”. It’s by the group Kutless. There’s a verse that says, “Passing through the darkness into my own world will I, be more than when I left”. That verse has given me an idea for another novel. And when I'm done and I've written the best novel I can write, I'm going to write proposals and send to literary agents again. And I'm not going to stop till I get a 'Yes". Has the fact that some people think I don’t fit into their law firm made me doubt my abilities as a lawyer? No. Because I know that God and I make a good team. Recently, I have even begun to get leadings that maybe it’s time I and a few friends opened our own law firm.

Am I afraid of rejection? Yes. Am I afraid of failing? Yes. Then why am I going to put myself in the position of being hurt or rejected again? Because I know this is what I was born to do. To deal in words. And there’s nothing that is going to stop me fulfilling what I know to be my purpose. Not even fear. Because God loves me, he’s on my side and he’s cheering me on. And I believe like Paul said, that everything works together for our good. Even rejection.

What fear will you surmount?

JC Cruz is the author of DECEPTIO published by WestBowPress, a division of Thomas Nelson publishers, http://bookstore.westbowpress.com/Products/SKU000194087/Deceptio.aspx and LOST, BUT FOUND available at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DPLLEUQ/. You can follow him on Twitter @Cruz_JCReal. 

Saint Know Thyself

3 John 1:1  The elder unto the wellbeloved Gaius, who I love in truth

At first reading, a man calling himself “the elder” seems quite pretentious. However, when I continued to look at this scripture it occurred to me that the words were not those of an ego driven man but those of a man who knew who he was, his position in the scheme of things and the responsibility that came with that position. At the point he wrote the letter, he was probably old and nearer the end of his life than near the beginning of his ministry. He could have called himself an apostle, the one whom Jesus loved the most when he was alive, anything. However he chose to refer to himself as an elder. This doesn’t even begin to describe who he was to the church and what he had done. By this time he and Peter had healed the lame man at the Beautiful Gate. He had done many things by this time although he had not received the revelations detailed in the book of Revelations. He had seen many things, he had experience. He knew the power there is in the name of Jesus.

A man came to Israel and said he was the Son of God. He impacted the life of a dozen men, eleven of whom went on to do great works in his name. People were impacted by the lives of these eleven men such that men in exponential amounts began to follow the Jesus that these men preached. These men made such an impact on the world that in one of the places where they went to, they were described as the people who were turning the world upside down. These were men who were beaten, went to jail, suffered all kinds of deprivation yet they never lost sight of what they were, men and women who had been privileged enough to be called and chosen by God for his purpose. Nothing was too much for them to suffer to bring glory and honour to God. Some of them were killed for the sake of the message they proclaimed.

In today’s era of social media and being concerned about what people think of us, the question I ask of myself is: what am I ready to give up to serve and honour Jesus? What do I think is too much to do for God? What am I ready to suffer for Christ? The apostles of old were totally aware of whom they were in Christ. Paul understood that his identity was to be found not in any thing he had achieved but his identity was to be found in a God who loved him enough to send Christ to die for him. I believe the there was a direct proportional relationship between the revelation  these man had of God to the understanding of who they were in him which was directly proportional to the exploits they did in his name.   

Every day, I have to keep reminding myself that it’s not really about me, it’s about him and his purpose. Until I let go and stop struggling to find relevance for myself and realise that it’s about what he wants me to become, I will never truly find myself in him. I will continually struggle to live this life that he has given me. But like Paul, every day I press on that I may be found in him. Every day, I hope to grow in the knowledge in of God that I might truly fulfil the reason for the call on my life knowing that he who loves me and called me is cheering me on.

JC Cruz is the author of DECEPTIO published by WestBowPress, a division of Thomas Nelson publishers.http://bookstore.westbowpress.com/Products/SKU000194087/Deceptio.aspx and LOST, BUT FOUND available at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DPLLEUQ/. You can follow him on Twitter @Cruz_JCReal. 

     

In His Presence

A few hours ago, I was listening to the song “I Am”, a song by Nicole Nordeman from her album, Woven & Spun. A part of the song talks about dying, leaving this world and going home to heaven. We have all heard it before. When a child or parent dies, the person left behind is told that the person who has died has gone to home to heaven. If we were to speak to most Christians, one would discover that most Christians think of heaven as home. That however is only partially right.

When one talks of home, one thinks of a place where one stays with family and loved ones on a permanent basis. One of the tenets of the Christian faith is the belief that Christ will return one day for a church without spot or blemish. A ready church. The book of Revelation tells us that Christ will come again for us and we will be with him where he is. But a careful reading of the book of Revelation however shows that heaven is not our permanent home. Heaven is for God. The White Throne judgment will take place in heaven after which those whose names are found in the Book of Life come back to earth with Christ. We understand that there will be a new heaven and a new earth and that instead of the moon and sun, Christ’s face, his presence will be our sun and our moon. The Apostle Paul said that to be absent from the body to be present with God. That tells me that heaven is something of a place where those that leave this world go to stay before Christ returns.   

All that got me thinking. Why do we like thinking that heaven is home? Simple. Because that’s where God is. We all want to be where God is. While listening to the song, it occurred to me that the thing we most long for (but at times we don’t know it) is the presence of God. While we long for God’s presence and the knowledge that he is with us, our bodies and the circumstances we go through in the flesh living on this earth do not let us realise or know that God is with us. We go through troubles and we ask ourselves, “Where is God in all these things I’m going through?”

But Jesus told us that God would send the Holy Spirit to be with us and we know that the Holy Spirit was sent at Pentecost. We know that God has given us the Holy Spirit as a gift, just as he gave us Christ as a gift. The Apostle Paul tells us that it’s a mystery, God being with us and living in us. We don’t therefore need to die and go to heaven to be in God’s presence. He is already with us, living in us. That is what we need to understand and believe right now. God loves us and his presence is with us. Jesus promised, “I will be with you, till the end of the age.” Take him at his word. 

JC Cruz is the author of DECEPTIO published by WestBowPress, a division of Thomas Nelson publishers.http://bookstore.westbowpress.com/Products/SKU000194087/Deceptio.aspx and LOST, BUT FOUND available at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DPLLEUQ/. You can follow him on Twitter @Cruz_JCReal.  

All Of Us Are The Church

The Apostle Paul was quite different from the other Apostles. Unlike the others who had lived with Jesus and had developed a personal relationship with him based on proximity, Paul’s relationship with Jesus was based solely on revelation. Paul’s initial zeal in persecuting the early Christians was turned around and used in serving God. God saw his heart and turned him around because God saw his heart and understood that he did all he initially did out of a zeal for and a desire to please God. Unlike most of the Pharisees in Jesus days who loved themselves and wanted honour from men, Paul loved God. Therefore when God turned him around, he committed to Paul the deep revelations about the nature and structure of the Church and sent him as an Apostle to the Gentiles (that’s you and I).

Paul wrote most of the books of the New Testament. It was Paul that gave the analogy that the Church was like a body where everyone has something to contribute to the development of the Church. He therefore admonished that we should not think that one part of the body was more important than the other or that one part of the body was not needed. Unfortunately we have come to believe in the Church that the pastor is the most important person in the church because he feeds us with the word. I understand that the pastor is the person with the vision and the leader but I do believe that without people to help him achieve his vision, he would be a very frustrated person indeed. No matter how anointed a pastor is, he needs a choir leader and members, ushers, people to serve in the children’s ministry, even people to park cars and people to sit on the pews and listen to his message. In essence, we are all important in the Church of Christ. However, a note of warning. While we are all important, it is not about having a sense of pride in the fact. It’s about doing all that we are called to do with a sense of humility and thanking God for the privilege to serve. Someone recently said that even though God loves us, his investment in us is not solely because of that love. His investment in us is because of the purpose he seeks to achieve from our lives. What we are created for. If we fail to fulfil our purpose, God will find a replacement. Upon his triumphant entry into Jerusalem when the Pharisees were complaining about the people praising him, Jesus told them that if the people failed to praise God would cause the stones to praise.

When I go through a blog, I marvel at the number of people who criticise the Church. They have no church in which they are planted and all they can talk about is how no Church is good enough for their perfect natures. There is always a problem with somebody or everybody else. Either the pastor is wrong or the ushers are rude or the worship is not good enough. They criticise and complain and move from place to place, not setting down roots anywhere because there is just no church that can meet their high standards. Once in a while some go to a church so that it can’t be said they’ve forsaken the gathering of believers. They add nothing to the Church because they feel they’re not getting anything.  

I have come to understand that as long as men live, there will be problems with institutions. The high rate of divorce doesn’t mean there is a problem with marriage. The problem is not with the institution called marriage but with the people who get into it. Good sex cannot be the basis for marriage. Marriages mostly collapse because people do not know the reason for marriage neither do they understand that marriage is about the other person, not you. As long as we live in the flesh, there will be problems in the church. What we need more of is not the spirit of criticism or self-righteousness. We need less of finger pointing. We need more of people speaking in love. We need more of people praying for their leaders and the church.  We need more people led not by the spirit of their own self-importance but by the Holy Spirit who is always ready to help us. We need more of people practising biblical Christianity and not thinking it’s just an opinion we can ignore. We need more people with patience who led by the Holy Spirit are ready to change the things that are wrong.

JC Cruz is the author of DECEPTIO published by WestBowPress, a division of Thomas Nelson publishers.http://bookstore.westbowpress.com/Products/SKU000194087/Deceptio.aspx and LOST, BUT FOUND available at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DPLLEUQ/. You can follow him on Twitter @Cruz_JCReal. 

How Do You See God?

While doing my devotion a few days ago, I came across the premise that while there is an innate desire to worship God in every man, we will not be able to truly praise or worship him with our lives or in word, song and dance like the fathers of the faith unless we get a true understanding of who he is. According to the writer, if we think God is some faraway being who is not too concerned about our lives but just wants obedience from us, we will never be able to truly worship God. I agree.

Moses grew up realizing that there was something special about him. His real father was a prophet while his mother came from a family of prophets. He grew up in Pharaoh’s palace where he learned governance and administration but he always knew where he was from. He felt the desire stir in heart to deliver his people but he missed God’s leading and timing. In the end he ran away from Pharaoh’s wrath and ended up tending sheep, a far cry from being a prince of Egypt. Moses must have been traumatised by his experience. However, when Moses met God his life changed. From an insipid cowering shepherd, he became a god to the most powerful monarch in the then known world. He led millions of Israelites from Egypt in one while ruining the economy of Egypt. He spoke with God face to face. The Bible says God showed his acts to the children of Israel but to Moses he showed his ways. God later described Moses as the meekest man that ever lived.

One of my favourites in the Old Testament was Elijah. Elijah definitely knew God and had a right perception of God. Whenever Elijah spoke to a king in his days, you would usually find the expression “the God before whom I stand” as part of his comments to that king. He was always conscious of the fact that he stood before God whether in the palace or pit. He famously called down fire not only on a sacrifice to God but on two different battalions of soldiers that came to arrest him. Even though somewhere along the line Elijah got afraid of Jezebel, from the Bible we know that along with Enoch, Elijah was not allowed to taste of physical death.

Peter and ten of the Apostles walked with Christ for three and a half years. By the time he died, resurrected and went to be with the Father, those who met them realised that these men had changed. Before meeting Christ, quite a few of them were uneducated. However by the time the three and a half years were over, something had changed. Paul never met Christ physically but by revelation. From being a zealous persecutor of the church, he became the pre-eminent teacher of the Gospel of the Kingdom. From their letters that we read in the Bible, we know that all of them were worshipful, thankful men. Their lives and the things they did by obedience were acts of worship. All these men had something in common. They either met God physically or by revelation. And their lives never remained the same. According to Dr. Mike Murdock, you cannot meet with God and remain the same, unless you met with an impostor. I believe they were able to do the things they did because they had a right perspective of God which led them to worship and obedience.

The book of Revelation shows us a picture of everything in heaven, from the elders to the four living creatures, from the innumerable company of angels to the saints in heaven; we see a picture of never ending worship. However, we haven’t yet reached that zenith were we know God totally and we are known totally. While on earth, the Bible tells us that we see darkly as if in a mirror. However, that is not an excuse to press on to know more of God, to have a right perspective him. Paul, as great as he was still pressed on to know more of God. The Holy Spirit has been sent to us to show us Christ and the father. The thought of whether I have the right perspective of the father is one that has continually engrossed my mind these last few days. Like Paul, I want to know him, even as I am known that I might worship him like Michael W. Smith said with my love, my life, my all.  

I Won't Judge (But Can I Say You're Wrong?)

Anyone who has read the first chapter of the book of Galatians would immediately realise that the Apostle Paul was quite annoyed, possibly extremely angry and livid when he wrote the letter. He could barely wait to write his usual gracious greeting before laying into the Galatians. The first few verses are a greeting blessing them and praying for the grace of God on their lives. Then he switches. While reading it, I thought to myself that the first verse should have given us a clue what was coming. In the first verse, Apostle Paul practically gave us his resume and the reason why he was qualified to write the letter. According to him, he was not an Apostle ordained by men both one ordained by God himself. Then he proceeded to tell the Galatians where they had got it wrong.

There is a constant refrain everywhere today both in the church and the world about how we shouldn't judge. I have begun to think this is another way of saying we shouldn't tell people about their faults just because we have our own. The other day I listened as a female artiste laughed away accusations of being a home wrecker even though she ended up with someone else's husband. We seem not to want to hear about the things we are doing wrong just because we feel no one is perfect.

For me, judging is not telling people what they've done wrong. It's about making a conclusion about what would happen to someone based on what they were doing wrong. For instance, telling someone it's wrong to have an affair with a married man is not judging. It's telling them what is biblically correct. However, saying the person will end up in hell and be damned and will never be happy is judging. Maybe I'm looking at it from a lawyers perspective. To put it another way, telling someone what they've done wrong with an attitude of love cannot be judgment. Telling them the consequences of their actions is judgment. And I think that is the way it should be. Or am I missing something? 

I Believe

The general rule is that I’m too much of as tough guy to cry while watching a film. But I must confess that there are exceptions to this rule. One of those exceptions is the The Champ. I think you must be a heartless individual without any hope of redemption not to cry as the little boy (or is it a girl?) keeps on shaking the lifeless body of the dead father, uttering those heart rending words “Wake up champ.”. The next film that loosens my tear ducts is Quo Vadis. Courage Under Fire and Gladiator come close but they don’t really open the ducts.

For those who don’t know, Quo Vadis is the fictionalized account of true events. The story of the film is that of a popular Roman general who falls in love with a Christian girl. Their story is told with that of the persecution of Christians who were being thrown to the lions in the arenas as backdrop. The events of the film are supposedly quite a few years after the death of Christ. By this time, Peter is a blind and old. The early church has decided to secret Peter away. He is led out of the city gates of Rome by a young boy just before they are to close. Nero has blamed the Christians for the fire that burnt down Rome and they are all being apprehended. Just as Peter is about to escape, he sees a vision of Jesus Christ. Jesus tells him “Peter, I must go back to Rome to be crucified a second time.” Peter understands that Jesus is talking about him. He turns back and walks back through the gates to a certain death fulfilling Christ’s prophecy about his latter years. According to Church history, he asked to be crucified upside down because he felt unworthy to die the same way Jesus died. People say they want see Paul when we all get together in heaven. I want to see Peter.

The early church was extremely lucky to have people like Peter and Paul, men of great whose shadow according to reports healed people. These were people who received revelations of heaven, walked on water, raised the dead, healed people, saw the future including the end of the earth. These were spiritual giants, men to whom God told his secrets to. If we were to include them in the heroes of faith described in Hebrews 11, I would say that they were men and women of whom the world was not worthy. However, I must say that I have recently begun to marvel at the intellectual arrogance and feeling of superiority of the 21^st century Christian. Due to an increase in “knowledge” which feeds our souls instead of our spirits, we now feel we know more than the fathers of faith. We feel that we of the 21^st century have more “information” than the early church fathers and so we can ignore whatever they say. We think their words are advisory and to be ignored. We think the words are not relevant for the times we live in.

I believe in God, the creator of the heavens and earth and he dwells in Heaven. I believe Jesus Christ is the only begotten of the Father who in obedience to what the Father wanted, came to the earth to show us the way back to the Father. I believe that when Jesus Christ ascended, the Holy Spirit was sent to us to guide us in our honest search for truth. I believe the Holy Spirit lives in hearts of all believers and He is work is to help us fulfil the reason why God put us on the earth. I believe that Jesus is coming back again and that we will reign with him in his government that he will set up in the earth. I believe the Bible is the infallible Word of God inspired by the Holy Spirit and that the words are relevant for today and tomorrow. I believe.  

JC Cruz is the author of DECEPTIO, a thriller about the persecution of Christians. DECEPTIO is published by WestBow Press, a division of Thomas Nelson Publishers. DECEPTIO is available here http://bookstore.westbowpress.com/Products/SKU-000194087/Deceptio.aspx. He's also the author of LOST, BUT FOUND, a story of love and redemption, available here http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DPLLEUQ.

Riches and the Kingdom

Rom 14:17 “For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.”

When I newly became a Christian, I often wondered why there was no Christian that was among the first 10 richest men in the world. I knew Pat Robertson owned the Christian Broadcasting Network and that he must be rich, but he wasn't among the first 10 richest men in America or the world. My reasoning went along the lines that if God was powerful, then he could make it so that Christians would be the richest people on earth. Then non-Christians would see the benefit of being Christian and convert and so a lot more people would go to heaven. I must confess that thoughts about purpose and serving God for the right reason’s never entered my mind.

Now that I'm older in the faith, I have come to understand that calling yourself a Christian and having a fat bank balance do not necessarily go together. In fact, a man can be extremely backslidden and still be filthy rich. Paul talked about those who preached Christ for the sakes of their bellies. He also made remarks about people like Demas who had forsaken Paul and Christ for the pleasures of this world. There are a lot of people who started out following Christ, who wanted to do God’s will. Somewhere along the way, the pleasures, ambitions and cares of this world drew them away from Jesus. Some people love the applause of men rather than the applause of heaven. There are those who think that loving others is the greatest commandment. Some people have received ecclesiastical titles from other men and they and the people who look at them think that they and God must be first cousins. But if the truth were to be told, their hearts are far from God.   

Having riches is not evidence of a relationship with God. Conversely, a relationship with God could translate into riches. However, a relationship with God is characterised by the fact that we have right standing with God through his son Jesus and that despite all that goes on around us and in the world, there’s a peace in our hearts. Also, joy follows us because we know that we are in his will for us.

I know of quite a number of miserable men and women who have quite a lot of money. A few years ago, I remember reading the story of a German billionaire who committed suicide by jumping in front of a train because he had lost a few billion Euros in the stock market. But he was still a billionaire. God wants to give us stuff but he doesn't want the stuff he gives us to have a hold on us. We should be able to leave everything we have at the drop of a hat to follow Jesus, otherwise the things we can’t leave have become gods and idols to us, replacing God. That is not what God wants. He wants us to have a relationship with him such that whenever he comes looking for us, unlike the first Adam, we can boldly and confidently looking him in the face and say, “Here I am.”

JC Cruz is the author of the novel, DECEPTIO, a thriller which has the persecution of Christians for their faith as one of its themes. DECEPTIO, published by WestBow Press, a division of Thomas Nelson Publishers, is available here http://bookstore.westbowpress.com/Products/SKU-000194087/Deceptio.aspx.  He is also the author of LOST, BUT FOUND, a story about love, rejection and redemption available here   http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DPLLEUQ/

Can I Do All Things Through Christ?

I honestly believe that there is no substitute for reading the Bible ourselves. The book of Joshua enjoins us at Chapter 1, verse 8 that “This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein; for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success”. The simple fact is that if we want to ensure that the book does not depart out of our mouths or and that we meditate on what is written in the word day and night and observe to do all that’s in the word, there is no substitute for us to read the word and understand it ourselves by the help of the Holy Spirit. While our pastors, friends, colleagues and other Christians are there to help us with our understanding of the Scriptures, it does not absolve us of the responsibility to check if what they are saying is the truth.  

 

The Sun Shining

While I was in university, I remember that when examinations came around we were urged to pray and declare that our memories were blessed and that we would remember all that we had read. I really didn’t think much of this and I happily and fervently prayed along with the rest of the congregation that my memory was blessed and that I would remember all that I had read. No matter how little I had read or understood. However when I got round to reading the verse of scripture that gave rise to the prayer point, I discovered that we had been applying the scripture in error. Proverbs 10:7 says: “The memory of the just is blessed: but the name of the wicked shall rot”. Immediately I read it, it occurred to me that the verse had nothing to do with my memory or examinations. It also occurred to me that it had been taken out of context. I realised that what the verse was talking about was about how men who were considered just or wicked would be remembered when they’re dead. Case in point, Saint Francis of Assissi and Adolf Hitler. While people are grateful for the life of the former, a lot of people probably wish the latter had never been born.

Which then leads me to the verse of scripture that I think has been quoted of context the most, probably because a lot of Christians have not taken time to read it and understand it for themselves. They’ve heard their pastor, parents, friends, colleagues and even new converts to Christianity all quote it and so they’ve accepted it. Philippians 4:13. “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me”. However, when people misquote it, the “which” somehow changes to “who”. What they then mean is that thanks to Christ who strengthens them, they could become a brain surgeon, an architect, an intrepid explorer, you name it. For a while, I accepted this misquote. But then, I began to wonder, why would Christ strengthen you to be able to do all things if he has a specific purpose for your life? I then went back to read the verse and I found out that people were quoting the verse all on its own. The more I read it, the more I was convinced that verse 13 was linked to and could not be divorced from the verses above it, especially verse 11 & 12. Verse 11 talks about how Apostle Paul has learnt to be content in whatever situation he found himself. Verse 12 talks about how he has learnt to abound or be abased, be full or be hungry. Verse 13 then talks about how he is able to all those things he talks about in verses 11 and 12 through Christ. The question then is, is it Christ that strengthens him to go through those experiences? Probably. However, I believe that in using “which” instead of “who”, I believe what he was saying was that the things he goes through strengthen him for the other trials that are to come. In short, they build character in him.

The Bible is full of rich texts which if we faithfully apply and follow, our lives will be full of joy and prosperous, just as God intended. However, we can’t continue to receive revelation on a second hand basis. We need to dig into the word of God ourselves and unearth it’s rich resources.      

JC Cruz is the author of DECEPTIO, a thriller published by WestBow Press, a division of Thomas Nelson Publishers. DECEPTIO is available here http://bookstore.westbowpress.com/Products/SKU-000194087/Deceptio.aspx. He is also the author of LOST, BUT FOUND, a story of love and redemption. LOST, BUT FOUND is available on Amazon,  http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DPLLEUQ/. You can follow him on @CruzJC_Real.