HIGHER HONOR, by S.M. Kirkland

Day 7. The one person that HIGHER HONOR focuses on, without taking away from the horror that Cassidy is going through, is Chris. He's an odd choice for the role of victim, but let's look at the evidence. His father is slowly slipping away from him due to Alzheimer's. Cassidy always seems to be on his case, and if she turns him in he could lose his scholarship. Now were he financially empowered this wouldn't bother him, but the fact is that between trying to take care of his father, the home they live in, the long trips between the academy and his father's house. His way of dealing with this is to go macho and increase the hazings, rather than use his head. He's not a victim of anyone other than himself, but he is a victim non-the-less.

The interesting problem with Chris is that he not only realizes he's to blame, but begins to feel that if there is a God, His love could not possibly extend to him. The wrongs he has committed do not deserve the mercy of an Almighty God. On one level he's right. Yet, we'd have to take that a step further. You see, none of us are worthy of God's mercy, grace, and the sacrificial death of His Son which bought our freedom. That's where Chris makes his biggest mistake. He feels he's too far away from God for God to reach him. That's just not the case. God can and will reach everyone who is willing to reach out to Him for help.

If you're out there thinking that this Christianity stuff sounds good, but you've done things that put you beyond God's reach, then read this book again. Read the Bible again. There is only one thing that can make you unreachable, and that is the unwillingness to let God reach you. It's up to you. Stop thinking that you are unreachable and start thinking about how powerful God's reach is. Jesus makes us worthy. We live in Him or there is no life worth living.

David Brollier

Be sure to check out her site
You can find Sue at these other places as well:
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Check out these other member blogs this week for more info.

And look for her book online at these locations:

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Parable of a Bullet

Just some thoughts in passing I wanted to share with you!

Perhaps it is fitting that this parable shows up at the end of the tour of HIGHER HONOR. (For those who are still lagging behind, the author is giving away 3 copies to those who post on her blog and CFRB is looking for 3 winners, 2 of which will win copies of THE SHAPE OF MERCY, by Susan Meissner and 1 copy of FOR YOUNG MEN ONLY, by Jeff Feldhahn and Eric Rice with Shaunti Feldhahn. Be sure to post your comments.)

Now to the parable of the bullet. This parable came as a way of teaching a young Christian the necessity of both Bible study and prayer. It doesn't sound like it, but let me explain. Take a bullet, practically any bullet. You'll notice it is comprised of 2 parts, a projectile and a charge. The projectile fits neatly into the container where the charge is stored. If you're technologically advanced enough to read this I'm fairly sure you've at least seen pictures of a pistol or rifle firing off a bullet. This is only possible because of the balance of power between the two parts that make up the bullet.

Suppose all you had was a lead projectile. You kept adding to it to make it more hazardous to the receiptient, but you didn't have a charge. Exactly how were you going to launch this hunk of lead? For it is no longer a projectile, but just some heavy burden.

Now suppose you have this charge. You may add to it so that the charge gets more powerful, but without something to push out all you're going to do is create a nice firework display.

If you take the projectile and put it together with the charge only then do you have a bullet that actually works correctly. The leaden tip can fly through the air at great speeds because of the powerful charge you have matched it up with.

The same is true in the Christian life. If all we do is study the Bible, but don't pray, we gain a head knowledge of God's Word. It becomes like a lead burden to us, and most of the time we find ourselves arguing with other Christians over our viewpoint on some passage. Then again, if all we do is pray, specifically pray in the Spirit, then we gain all this power, but don't have any Word for the Spirit to work with. We become showy, but not much good for anything else. God is looking for us to put those pieces together. Study His Word, get it into your head and your heart. This is actually best done through prayer. Then spend time in prayer, intercession, praise and worship and suddenly you find a power behind the Word that God has planted in your heart. Though we may speak gently, His Word flies out like a bullet and strikes the hearts of those who listen, drawing them to Him.

So, are we going to be a dud? Are we going to be a burden? Are we going to be showy Christians without power? or are we going to understand and study the Word of God and spend time in prayer so that the power and authority given to Jesus is ours as well? The choice is up to us. You can be a dud, or a live bullet. It's all up to you...and me.

David Brollier
co-founder CFRB

HIGHER HONOR, by S.M. Kirkland

Day 6. Just what was it in Cassidy's childhood that proved to her that God wasn't going to intervene? On the back cover we realize that Cassidy once had some kind of upbringing where she was taught about God and His Son, Jesus. The problem isn't with God, however, it's with us. When things go wrong a lot of times God is the first one we blame. Why do you think that is? I think it's because in our fallen nature we really want God to be the one that's wrong. It gives us the right to appease the fleshly desires we have without Him bugging us about them. That's not the case, however. God is always right, and if He's to blame for anything, it's for trying to discipline the children He loves so they will grow stronger in Him. Our failure to see that is enormous. In Cassidy's case she has a big problem. Someone has wronged her (couldn't God have stopped that?) and now she's been wounded as deeply as one can be wounded. Captain Chris Banton has raped her. That's bad enough, but this God of her parents, the God Mandy and Michael talk about tell her that she must forgive Chris. This seems absurd.

How many of us allow unforgiveness to rob us of the riches that God wants us to have? There are so many ways to lose these precious gifts that we shouldn't just give it over to unforgiveness. Some people will read this and think that I'm saying it's easy to lose your salvation. That's not what I'm saying at all. It's easy to lose the joy that comes from fellowship with God because of our salvation. We can get anxious or fearful, or become disobedient. We can be distracted and lose our focus, or try to get so many things done at once that nothing gets done. These are all ways to lose the joys of our fellowship with God. Our relationship is still in tact, but our fellowship is damaged because of sin. The absolute worse one is unforgiveness.

Why would I make such a claim? Well Jesus addresses the issue of unforgiveness numerous times. Seems He thought it was important. You'll even find it tucked away in the Lord's Prayer, "Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors." Unforgiveness holds two people in bondage, the person who holds the grudge and the person who needs to be forgiven. Forgiveness releases both people as well. We see this happening in HIGHER HONOR. It's not something that just happens. It's not like one day we can't do it and then all of a sudden we can. We must hide ourselves in the love of Jesus Christ so through His love working in us we will be able to forgive as He has forgiven us.

David Brollier

Be sure to check out her site
You can find Sue at these other places as well:
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Check out these other member blogs this week for more info.

And look for her book online at these locations:

The Writer's Cafe Press
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S.M. Kirkland
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HIGHER HONOR, by S.M. Kirkland

Day 5. It interesting to me to find individuals in this novel that I have come across just this following couple of weeks. There are those who know they are unworthy of God's salvation, and yet have accepted it because they also know that Jesus has made them worthy by His precious blood on the cross. There are those who have tasted a bit of the "religious life" but haven't really come to understand what Salvation really means. And there are others who truly believe that, because of what they have done, God will not extend His mercy to them.

Let's start with the first group. Michael and Mandy (I wonder if Sue intentionally had both their names start with "M", but that is neither here nor there). Michael and Mandy both know that they are unworthy, in and of themselves, of the love, mercy, forgiveness and peace that God gives. Yet, through faith, they also know that because Jesus took their place, paid the death sentence for them, they were worthy through the blood of Jesus. They found comfort and peace, even in some of the most trying times, because they didn't have to look at their own worthiness, but at the worthiness of Jesus Christ to understand their worthiness to God.

Maybe that doesn't make sense to some of you out there, so let me see if I can state it differently. Suppose you had done something worthy of death, like killed another person, or whatever. And suppose you lived in a country where only the punishment had to be paid, and it could be paid by anyone. Now, chances are not everyone would be jumping up for the chance to die so you wouldn't have to. We all understand that. Our survival instinct, the will to live, is one of our God-like characteristics, something we haven't lost since the fall. We just don't know how to achieve that past this life. So here you are, locked up in some dungeon in a foreign land, waiting only to be put to death. Then one day, the prince of that land comes before the magistrates. He talks with them and finally you watch in astonishment as they put him to death. You can't believe your eyes. Then while you are still trying to get over this, the jailer comes and opens your prison cell. "You can go now." "Go? But I'm to die for what I did, the judge sentenced me to death," you reply. "That sentence has just been paid," he answers.

Sound a bit drastic? There is nothing so awesome as what God did for us. For according to His Law we were to die, everyone of us. God became man in the form of Jesus, offered Himself up to die in our place. When I say "in our place" I mean that in the purest of forms. If you were the only one alive Jesus would still have died for your sins. Why? The closest answer I can give you to that question is because "God is love" (see 1st John 4:8). What I love is that God orchestrated this whole affair to teach us about His love. Look at what happened when Jesus was brought before the multitudes by Pontius Pilate. It had become the custom to release someone, convicted of a crime, because of the coming feast. Pilate gave this crowd a choice, Barabas, or Jesus. They chose Barabas. "What shall I do with Jesus of Nazareth?" Pilate asked them. "Crucify Him!"

You see, just because Jesus died in our place doesn't mean we will be set free. We have to chose Him. These people chose a criminal to be released instead. They said, "May His blood be upon us and our children." I often wonder what happened to Barabas that day. Here was a man worthy of death, standing next to the Giver of Life, and this Giver of Life was willing to die in his place. Don't think for one minute that Jesus was a victim here. Could not the Word of God defend Himself should He chose? Could not the One who spoke and created all that is, in fact, even told the storms to cease in full sight of His followers, could He not argue His case and win? There is no doubt in my mind that had it come down to a true case of litegation and Jesus did not wish to die, He would not have died. In Scripture Jesus tells us, "Think not that any man takes My life from Me." No, Jesus gave His life up freely for all of us, because none of us would be worthy to come before the Father without the payment of death for our sin. Jesus became that payment. Michael and Mandy understood this. They understood that without Jesus they didn't stand a chance, not in this world or the next. So they prayed, they received this gift, and prayed that their friends might also receive this gift. For no one is worthy apart from Jesus. Yet because of Jesus all can be made worthy. How glorious!

David Brollier

Be sure to check out her site
You can find Sue at these other places as well:
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ShoutLife

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Check out these other member blogs this week for more info.

And look for her book online at these locations:

The Writer's Cafe Press
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S.M. Kirkland
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Don't Forget!

We are in the middle of touring HIGHER HONOR, by S.M. Kirkland, a really excellent book. However, in addition to the 3 books that the author has put up for prizes don't forget there are also 2 copies of THE SHAPE OF MERCY, by Susan Meissner and one copy of FOR YOUNG MEN ONLY, by Jeff Feldhahn and Eric Rice with Shaunti Feldhahn. Given the choice I'd pick HIGHER HONOR over these other books, but hey they are free to those lucky people who ask. Who knows, you may even like them as well. I haven't read either book.

So, if you want to be in the running for these books as well as the free copies of HIGHER HONOR, you really have to let us know via comments on any of the CFRB member blogs that you are interested in these books. If you've read HIGHER HONOR tell us what you thought of it, but if not, at least comment on the review as well. Remember, points are given to those who put up a review for HIGHER HONOR on Amazon.

David Brollier
co-founder CFRB

HIGHER HONOR, by S.M. Kirkland

Day 4. As HIGHER HONOR, by S.M. Kirkland begins we start out with two basic groups within the military academy, Christians and non-Christians. This is true of almost every area, whether it is school, work, out on the street, wherever. These two groups are always existing along side one another. The Christians that start out this story are Michael Collinger and Mandy Montgomery. This works well for several reasons. The first is obvious, Mandy and Cassidy are both roommates. You'd expect a certain amount of camaraderie between roommates. Then Michael is also a friend of Cassidy, which causes a little tension with Cassidy, but there is a level of respect that is maintained. All three are friends of Ryan Hayes, although Mandy may take a dim view of his philandering ways. Yet Ryan is not only essential to the story, but becomes your link between the abused Cassidy and the abuser. Were it not for the love of Michael and the loyalty of Ryan to Christ Banton, he'd be out there all by himself.

Have you ever felt like you don't belong? Have you felt part of a group that was more or less despised by the other groups that are in your life? Well, then this story is for you, because we all feel that way from time to time. The reason is quite simple, yet frequently overlooked. When God is in our lives we tend to look outward, to love other no matter what people think of them. When God is not in our lives we tend to be the center of our own little universe. This is overly simplistic, I know, but bear with me. You see with Jesus running our lives we are operate the way God made us to operate, and that means loving others, working together. There is a great deal of pleasure in living our lives this way, even if other shun us, we know that God hasn't and we can show them His love by how we live, how we relate to those around us. Notice I didn't say what we say. We can often say things and not mean them, but as Christians if the deed precedes the words then the words can be accepted. Conversely, those who don't have Jesus running their lives are always operating incorrectly. This brings about pain, loneliness and frustration, to name a few negative attributes.

Now, remember I said this was simplistic? The reason is that we are all infected by the sin nature of mankind. Ever since Adam decided to rebel against God and live for himself everyone afterwards falls into this trap, even Christians from time to time. While a Christian may desire to do what is right, to love his neighbor, his enemy, whoever, that sin nature is right there waiting for a weakness to break through and take over. Then again, because we were created in the image of God, people who don't have God really living in Him will, from time to time, do what God wants them to do, simply because it is in their original nature to do so. Now then, the thing is, were it not for the Ryan Hayes' in our lives, the Christians would frequently stumble and fall without ever wishing to get up and try again. And without the Michael Collinger's in our lives those not knowing Jeus as Lord and Savior would never know that simply doing "good deeds" isn't enough. Most of us fall somewhere in between the pure white of God's truth and the pure black of rebellion against God. Yet, as we see in HIGHER HONOR, even when there is the tiniest bit of light that shines in a dark person's life, they can be reached by God. And, when there is the tiniest bit of darkness that we allow to live in the light of those who already belong from God we can expect Him to put us through dark places to remove even that, just as He does with Cassidy.

Okay, I haven't given you a whole lot of Scripture this time, but I have drawn from a whole lot of Scripture. The thing is, you can speak Scripture without others knowing it if you know how put things in keeping with how people normally speak. I love the King James Version of the Bible, but I'm fairly certain that quoting that to most non-believers is going to cause more confusion than anything else. Sue has learned how to speak Scripture in HIGHER HONOR just as I try to speak it daily to those around me. It's amazing what God will do when we just let Him speak. HIGHER HONOR is a testament to that.

Be sure to check out her site
You can find Sue at these other places as well:
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ShoutLife

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Check out these other member blogs this week for more info.

And look for her book online at these locations:

The Writer's Cafe Press
Amazon.Com
S.M. Kirkland
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HIGHER HONOR, by S.M. Kirkland

Day 3. The conflict between Cassidy and Chris isn't the only thing going on here. Her roommate and close friend, Cadet Captain Mandy Montgomery has gotten engaged to another of Cassidy's friends, Cadet Lieutenant Michael Collinger. Another friend, Ryan Hayes, but here's the clincher, Ryan is also a close friend of Chris Banton. Ryan and Michael are close as well, which makes for some real interesting situations. Who do you go to when you're in trouble, when the person causing the trouble is friends with your friends? I think the Psalmist said it best, "I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills." David knew that if he focused on God everything else would find its proper place. The only one he could trust was God. It takes quite a while for some of these characters to understand this.

One of the things I really liked was Michael. I mean, sure Ryan was possibly a closer friend, but Michael cared so much that even early in the story we find that he gets so engrossed in praying for his friends that he realizes he's not riding his motorcycle safely. His focus has been on his friends instead of the road. He worries, not so much about their physical problems, although that does come into play. His immediate concern is the spiritual condition of his friends. Mandy shares in this, but in different ways. The balance that Mandy and Michael add to the story is great. In some places it may get a little predictable, but since this book goes beyond the issue of salvation, it works well just the same.

As we walk through this life we all need people we can depend on, as long as we realize they're going to fail us from time to time. Only God is fully faithful. Look at the examples we have. David and Jonathon, Paul and Barnabas, and the best example of all, Jesus and His disciples. They all had their conflicts and had to work them out, but only Jesus did so properly all the time. Remember, His friends included Peter, who would deny Him, Thomas, who would doubt Him, not to mention Judas who would betray Him. So what does this tell us? Those we walk with can offer some encouragement to us and help us, but they can also become some of our greatest challenges, frustrations and obstacles. In those times we must be like Jesus who used, even those times when His friends failed Him, to strengthen Him, or show His strength. We can become stronger through these difficulties. There is one word that sums it all up, "love". But what is love? Some will say it's a feeling. Others will say it's "chemistry", but what is love really? Love is a commitment. If you can, get this picture in your mind, do so. It has helped me many times. Love is Jesus looking down at me and seeing me doing things I shouldn't do. He stretches His hands out so they can be nailed to a cruel cross. Then He lifts His eyes toward Heaven and cries out, "Father, forgive David, he doesn't realize what he's doing." That is love. God is perfect love. And He will work hard to find a way into every heart. If we let Him in, we will be awed at how He changes us, frees us, gives us a new life.

Be sure to check out her site
You can find Sue at these other places as well:
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ShoutLife

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Check out these other member blogs this week for more info.

And look for her book online at these locations:

The Writer's Cafe Press
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S.M. Kirkland
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HIGHER HONOR, by S.M. Kirkland

Day 2. Since Sue already mentioned it in her blurb I guess it's okay to mention it here. In HIGHER HONOR our heroine, Cassidy Saunders is sexually assaulted by Chris Banton. Remember what I said in the last post? Things have a way of escalating and getting out of control. Cassidy has a small circle of friends she has associated with. By contrast Chris, at least on the surface, has a lot of people who side with him. This makes this assualt on Cassidy all the more severe. Face it, sexual assault is bad enough, but when the only people you have to turn to are your small group of friends, and they are also friends of the the one who assualted you, things get really rough. What we also learn (minor spoiler here) is that Chris is as lonely as Cassidy. For all his machoism he's alone, struggling with things that were spinning out of control before the assault on Cassidy.

This is the price all people pay for sin. We call it "life". Life happens, and because of the sinful nature of people we can be sure that when life happens it's going to bring with it a seemingly unbearable amount of pain. The ones we feel are innocent are going to be hurt without any justification, while those who hurt them do so out of their petty inferiorities, insecurities, and well, just plane sinful nature. We're often told that sexual assault is about power, not sex. That's true because the one who commits the assault has such a low opinion of themselves they frequently have to crush others to feel better about themselves. Perhaps they are to be pitied more than anything. They are the weak, not their victims.

The Bible says that Satan roams about to and fro, like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. What do we know about lions? Okay, they are big cats, predators, sure, but lions will rarely attack healthy livestock, especially if they are challenged. Instead lions look for the weak in the herds, the sick, the young, the elderly. In a word, lions are cowards. Satan is a coward. He attacks the weak, the spiritual sick, the spiritually young, and the spiritual old (apathetic). Sure he will attack the strong Christian, but rarely in a frontal engagement. Usually he'll try deception. After all lying is his native tongue. He looks for our weak spots and tries to steer us into places of danger, rather than risk an all out attack. Yet, unlike Chris Banton, he isn't to be pitied. He is to be avoided when possibe, and attacked with all the vengence of God when there is no other way. We are called upon to take his strongholds and set captives free in the name of our King, the Lord Jesus Christ. It is His Spirit living in us that gives us this right, this power and this authority over him. It's why he's a coward, because attacking us means attacking God, and he will only do that if he feels he is sure of victory. Yet even the babe in Christ who calls out to the Lord has more power than Satan. When he attacks, remind him who you are in Christ and tell Satan that he's a liar. With the authority of Jesus command him to leave and he must leave.

Be sure to check out her site
You can find Sue at these other places as well:
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ShoutLife

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Check out these other member blogs this week for more info.

And look for her book online at these locations:

The Writer's Cafe Press
Amazon.Com
S.M. Kirkland
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HIGHER HONOR, by S.M. Kirkland

Day 1. HIGHER HONOR, by S. M. Kirkland is an interesting work in a number of ways. First, due to the professionalism of the author, the copy I reviewed was not the copy that will go on the market. Almost at the last minute, with a consult from her editor/publisher, Sue decided it still needed a lot of work. That isn't to say the book isn't good in the unpolished form in which I read it, but it speaks to the quality of the author herself. Writers tend to want to get things out there as quickly as possible, and often make the mistake of overlooking some glaring errors. S. M. Kirkland wasn't willing to take that route. Sure it sounded good. The book was even printed up and bound. In fact, most of the errors weren't all the kind of errors that would stop a reader. Mostly they were technical errors in the writing itself. This made me appreciate both Sue and her book HIGHER HONOR all the more.

As for the book itself, well she takes situations and places them within a military framework. Cassidy Saunders, our heroine, is in her senior year at the John McIntosh Military Institute, holding the rank of captain. She finds herself in the undesirable position of looking over the other cadets, specifically other cadets with the same rank, and required to report to her supervisors of any infractions. I've never been in the military myself, but as a correctional officer for 20 years I can tell you that you quickly lose favor with most of your peers when placed in this situation. Cassidy is hard, but fair. However, that's not the way Captain Chris Banton feels. He feels as if he's being harassed, and he's not about to let some young woman tell him what he can and cannot do. This is how the book begins.

Funny how many life situations start out the same way, one person put in the role of authority, while another person feeling berated. Did you know that this is the result of sin? It's true. Sin reaches down into those small crevices in our hearts, those places we think no one knows about, and begins to rot us from the inside out. In Galatians 5 Paul talks about the evil that lurks in the hearts of those who do evil. Here is the list he gives, "Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such." Looking at this list we are tempted to categorize things into terrible, bad, and not so bad. Yet each sin is the same to God. Let's eliminate the more obvious sins and see what Paul is saying. They would be, "hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such." In other words, most of the list has to do with the way we react to the things around us. It would be easy for both Cassidy or Chris to hate, to have conflicts (variances), to cause strife or seditions (rebellion), to speak falsely about others, to envy what each other had. If they did it would further be easy to let that hatred lead to murder, drunkenness, revellings and things of that sort." I really don't think we realize what kind of impact we have on the world around us. We need to be reminded that one deed does not affect one person, but can change the course of many lives, sometimes forever. That is something for us to think about. Let our lives be guided instead by love, as Jesus teaches us, "Love one another." We will see that this isn't always an easy thing to do, but it is the right thing to do.
Be sure to check out her site
You can find Sue at these other places as well:
MySpace

ShoutLife

FaceBook

Check out these other member blogs this week for more info.

And look for her book online at these locations:

The Writer's Cafe Press
Amazon.Com
S.M. Kirkland
Barnes & Noble