Tag: novel

The Upside Down Kingdom

As I think about Advent and Christmas this year, I continue to think about just how upside down the Kingdom of God really is and how different and upside down I hope our celebrations can become.

From St. Peter’s Brewery:

“You know, I realize this week has been rough for various folks in our group,” Matt began. “But as I was reading this weekend and then talking with Julie about random malarkey, I began to think about just how different the Kingdom of God is — compared to the kingdom of man. It’s this upside down, twisted kingdom that I don’t know if we’ll ever really wrap our minds around.”

Jimmy looked up from his plate and listened as Matt continued.

“I hope that no matter what happens politically, no matter what happens in the world around us, it can be said that I serve the king of an upside down kingdom. A kingdom where the meek shall inherit the earth, where those who morn are comforted, where the last are first, where the oppressed shall be freed. Where rather than appearing in a palace to lead his kingdom with a sword, my king came and appeared in a lowly manager — surrounded by farm animals.”

Matt continued strumming his guitar as Julie opened a Bible and began reading aloud.

“You’re blessed when you’re at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule.

You’re blessed when you feel you’ve lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you.

You’re blessed when you’re content with just who you are — no more, no less. That’s the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can’t be bought.

You’re blessed when you’ve worked up a good appetite for God. He’s food and drink in the best meal you’ll ever eat…”

As Julie finished her reading, Matt continued telling his story.

“So as I’m thinking about this upside down kingdom and reading the passage that Julie just read and it brought me hope to know that when we’re at the end of our rope, that’s when God can really go to work. And when we lose what’s really dear to us, that’s when we’ll be embraced by God. God loves us all — but I think he has a special place for those who suffer and mourn — in fact he says he will comfort them.”

Matt continued strumming his guitar as he sat looking at the various faces in the room. Jimmy tried to focus on his food again, hoping not to make eye contact with anyone else in the room.

“And so for those of you who have had your kingdom and your world collapse recently, I want to remind you that God offers a different kind of kingdom for us all,” Matt said. “And I want you each to know that not only does God suffer with you, but each of us suffer with you as well.”

You can grab a print copy of St. Peter’s Brewery from Amazon or now through Christmas, the book is available for only $.99 for both Kindle and iBooks.

St. Peter’s Brewery in iBooks

Just in time for this year’s #nanowrimo, I just received an email confirming that Apple gave the initial approval for adding St Peter’s Brewery to iBooks. (I should have initiated that sooner.)

Hope to have it available within a week or so.

I’d love to update the book and correct a number of typos before publishing to iBooks, so if you’re interested in helping me proof the book, I’ll be glad to send you a PDF of the book if you can have it proofed by the end of the week. Drop me an email and let me know where to send it.

But until the book appears in iBooks then you can always read St Peter’s Brewery on your iOS or Android devices with Kindle’s FREE apps and the Kindle version of St. Peter’s Brewery – available for only $4.99!

And yes, I’ll be glad to autograph your Kindle or iPhone or iPad with a Sharpie if you’d like. 🙂

UPDATE: St. Peter’s Brewery is NOW AVAILABLE for iOS and iBooks. You can purchase the book in iTunes on your computer or in iBooks on your iOS device.

St Peter’s Brewery – one year later

St Peters Brewery

It was one year ago (Dec 2, 2009) that I launched my first novel, St. Peter’s Brewery, into the wild.

I will admit I had high-hopes for the book (I’m sure every author does) but at the end of the day only a “select few” will ever sell more than 100 copies (where’s that stat on Kevin’s website when I need it?). Kevin Hendricks points out that only 79% of all books will sell more than 100 copies.
Continue reading St Peter’s Brewery – one year later

Today’s the day!

In a few short hours we expect to see both our boys!

H-Diddy and I-Diddy are expected to be born by C-Section a little later today and we can’t wait!

To celebrate – (since I can’t buy you all a cigar) I’ve got a special discount code for my novel – St. Peter’s Brewery that will give you 50% off the cover price.

Or think of it as an opportunity to buy one – get one to give away for FREE.

Simply order the book from CreateSpace and use the code: 3YK4MGUP for 50% off the cover price.

The discount code will be available now till the end of the month (Oct. 31) — and works for on as many books as you choose to order — so get your orders in quickly.

We’ll keep folks posted throughout the day in the usual ways – Twitter, Flickr and perhaps our blogs and YouTube.

Thoughts on love and forgiveness

St Peters Brewery

Originally posted at StPetersBrewery.info

I’ve witnessed a couple great examples of people truly living out love and forgiveness recently in my life — especially through some people very close to me. Their stories inspire me to believe that while St. Peter’s Brewery may be a fictional story — the ideas contained within it can truly be lived out day by day. Here’s a couple excerpts from Chapter 8 of St. Peter’s Brewery that deal with these ideas:
Continue reading Thoughts on love and forgiveness

Searching for paradise with Kevin Hendricks

As promised, I had a good chat with Kevin Hendricks yesterday about his novel, The Least of These, which he wrote as part of NaNoWriMo.

Huge props to Kevin for the great book. It was a fun and entertaining read for sure.

Find out more about Kevin in an interview with him on the podcast (from season 1!). He’s also taken part in Five Questions with… on We Live Simply this week, so be sure to be inspired.

And be sure and follow his blog at kevindhendricks.com or on Twitter @kevinhendricks