GUEST POST BY CAROL A. BROWN: Review of Seventh Dimension Mini Box Series, Books One, Two, and Three

Carol A. Brown

5.0 out of 5 starsConfronting Life's Issues, through the eyes of youth

October 26, 2019

Format: Kindle Edition

Gripping. This set is filled with action and drama. It is historical fiction, sci-fi fantasy, and time travel all in one! I really enjoyed it and appreciated the Christian worldview. This whole series has nearly nonstop action throughout! The Door starts out in Shale’s modern-day Florida, but quickly shifts to the 7th Dimension. The King and The Castle take place in and around the city of Jerusalem relative to the crucifixion of Jesus. Shale quickly becomes a believer in Yeshua as Messiah, but Daniel struggles with all the issues present-day secular Jews struggle with. He sees the events leading up to the crucifixion and resurrection with his own eyes and puts them alongside what he knows from his Hebrew studies, his family and friends from modern times, his own reading of the Bible; it creates a unique dilemma of faith. He learns forgiveness firsthand and is almost immediately tested. Woven through the story is the thread of a repeated dream or vision of his father who disappeared. Finding him becomes Daniel’s quest.

Characters & Setting: Characters were well developed. In addition to Shale and Daniel, you meet Romans, Arabs, lepers, religious leaders, a compassionate doctor, and ordinary everyday people trying to survive and make a living. You will meet strange spiritual beings, talking animals and see it all through the eyes of Shale, a run-away teen, feeling abandoned and isolated, and Daniel, a modern, secular Jewish pre-med student who along with Shale, was transported into the times of Christ—a time before modern technology. It portrays the struggles secular Jews have with believing that Jesus could ever be the long-awaited Messiah.

Themes teens relate to:
• unfairness
• injustice
• not listening and/or not taking people seriously
• the struggle to believe when your culture and training have taught you not to

Writing Craft: Vivid imagery in her writing creates mental images that stay with the reader. She did an excellent job incorporating the teachings of Jesus into the resolution of Shale’s problems. Well plotted!

Recommendations: This is a set that I could recommend to teens interested in fantasy, who are dealing with similar issues as those Shale encountered, or faith issues such as Daniel faced. I would recommend it to anyone struggling with intellectual issues with Jesus or persons who struggle against the pull of their culture. I would also recommend it to adults/parents of troubled teens to help give them an understanding from a teen perspective.

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Reviews help authors a lot. If you are interested in reading and reviewing, let me know by leaving a comment. You can check out the Seventh Dimension Mini Box Series on Amazon by clicking here.

ETERNAL REFLECTIONS: Devotional by Lorilyn Roberts

Why do you suppose in our soul as we age we don't feel older? Our bodies do, but our minds can go back to when we were young and we can remember things like it was yesterday. It makes you wonder if it's because our souls are eternal and God made us to live forever with Him pic.twitter.com/NMTIWr8whu

— Lorilyn Roberts (@LorilynRoberts) October 18, 2019

Juneau, Alaska

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Juneau, Alaska

Juneau, Alaska

Juneau, Alaska

Juneau, Alaska

Juneau, Alaska

Juneau, Alaska

Juneau, Alaska

Juneau, Alaska

Juneau, Alaska

Juneau, Alaska

LORILYN ROBERTS BOOK REVIEW: “The Divine Code, Volume 1” by Steve Cioccolanti

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 “The Divine Code: A Prophetic Encyclopedia of Numbers,” by Steve Cioccolanti, is one of the most fascinating Christian books I’ve read. Before reading “The Divine Code,” I’d never read the Bible with a focus on numerology, just as I’d never paid much attention to numbers in the world around me, except noting that I tend to reorder them.

As a student in years past, I recall my obsession with double-checking calculations on math tests. To me, numbers were a necessary evil to get through school, especially when it came to college chemistry.

Besides my issues with reversing numbers and not having a proclivity for math, my idea of numbers reflected the often held view that numerology is akin to astrology, tarot card reading, or checking one’s daily horoscope—something the Bible relegates to the occult. As a result, I never looked at numbers as having Biblical relevance. My ill-conceived notion of numbers was turned on its head when I watched some of Steve Cioccolanti’s presentations on YouTube when he occasionally touched on numerology—and God opened my eyes to what the Bible really says about numbers. When I became interested in numerology, I tried to buy an earlier version of “The Divine Code” on Amazon, but Amazon listed it as “out of print.” When Pastor Steve updated and re-published The Divine Code,” I was thrilled.

As I read “The Divine Code,” God revealed to me a new aspect of His nature through the precise prism of numerology. Numbers are exact. One plus one always equals two. God is a God of order, and God created numbers for His glory. Through numbers, He imparted orderliness to the universe that removes all randomness and invokes communion and worship of Him as our Creator.

To be afraid to study the constancy and meaning of numbers in the world around us because of a fear of numerology, I now see as an evil attack on God’s Divine Nature. “The Divine Code,” as the book is so aptly named, is inscribed everywhere—in the heavens above, in the triple helix of our DNA, and in powerful movements of music, like Handel’s Messiah. “The Divine Code” skillfully weaves a tapestry of numbers from one to one thousand that glorifies God theologically, historically, scientifically, spiritually, militarily, and even romantically. With God, there is no beginning and no end, and even scientists recognize numbers as being infinite. What else in the universe is small and large at the same time?

I imagine Steve Cioccolanti has only begun to tap into the mathematical nature of God in these two books. My mind is not like the mind of a mathematician, but in “The Divine Code,” for the first time, I see the awesomeness of God through numbers, and I would never have imagined that before reading “The Divine Code.” Understanding the value that God puts on numbers has awakened a desire in me to see the world through a numerical prism. I also have a keener appreciation for how Biblical numerology reveals the holiness of God.

Lastly, I want to emphasize “The Divine Code” is a must-read for anyone wishing to understand the role numbers play in God’s prophetic timetable and future end-time events. I can’t wait to read book two.

Available on Amazon by clicking here.

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Steve Cioccolanti, BA, M.Ed., is a Christian social media influencer with over 250,000 followers on YouTube, the pastor of Discover Church (www.discover.org.au), and a prolific author of hundreds of videos and multiple books--including his critically acclaimed "From Buddha to Jesus" (translated to 6 languages to date) and his magnum opus "The Divine Code: A Prophetic Encyclopedia of Numbers, Vol 1 & 2" (now in its 10th Anniversary Edition).

Known for his unique gift of researching complex concepts and presenting them in simple and multi-sensory ways, he emphasizes Biblical balance and 'heart' transformation over 'head knowledge'. His appealing approach to End Time prophecy is both practical and spiritual: we should pray and preach the Gospel AND we should engage in the politics of Justice and honor God's chosen vessel, which in America is currently Donald Trump. His mission is to help usher in the next Great Awakening with others who feel the sense of urgency.

A sought-after speaker on history, prophecy and justice, he appears as a guest minister at big and small churches, and on international TV including Daystar. He has traveled to more than 45 countries for Jesus.

THE STORY BEHIND REAR GUARD PUBLISHING: Devotional by Lorilyn Roberts

Shortly before I was diagnosed with breast cancer, during my quiet time, I had jotted down in my journal notebook Is 58:8 (New Living Translation):

“Then your salvation will come like the dawn

and your wounds will quickly heal

Your godliness will lead you forward

and the glory of the Lord will protect you from behind.

Another translation (New King James Version) renders it:

Then your light shall break forth like the morning,

Your healing shall spring forth speedily,

And your righteousness shall go before you;

The glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.

Today in my quiet time, I came across another passage alluding to God being our “rear guard.” I read in Isaiah 52:12 (King James Version):

For you shall not go out with haste,

Nor go by flight.’

For the Lord will go

Before you,

And the God of Israel will be your rear guard.

Back in 2017, when I stumbled upon those words in my journal, I was quite stunned by their prophetic implications.

I wrote them on the gray cardboard in the back of my journal so I could go back to the passage later. I didn’t know the significance of what I wrote when I wrote it, and I had no memory of writing it after my double mastectomy—or now.

I claimed that passage throughout my one-year cancer battle that included surgery, proton therapy, chemo infusions, and reconstruction. I found great comfort knowing that God, in my words, “had my back.” I didn’t need to worry, He was protecting me, my wounds would quickly heal, and my godliness would lead me forward.

I knew whatever godliness I had was from God, so my belief at the time was that God would give me more holiness because His glory would protect me. When you face a cancer diagnosis, especially one as daunting as mine, you want all the protection from your heavenly Father that He gives you.

I’m now a two-year cancer survivor. Two people who went through treatment at the same time as me are no longer with us. I struggled with that at first. Psychologists call it “survivor guilt,” until God said to me, “They finished the job I gave to them. You aren’t done.”

I’ve thought about that since wondering what God has for me in the future. I finished the six-book Seventh Dimension Series in June. God made it clear to me that was a priority, and I’ve written a creative nonfiction novelette that will be published later this year. I’ve submitted it to the Tapestry Word Weavers Awards, and I am waiting to see if I won. I haven’t ruled out the possibility of sending it to a traditional Christian publisher.

Recently, I did some editing for a prominent Australian pastor, and when he paid me through Paypal, he was surprised by my corporation name—Roberts Court Reporters. He wanted to make sure it was me. About the same time, my representative from Lightning Source, one of my two publishers, said I would have a better chance of getting my books into bookstores if I had a publishing house associated with my name.

When I hear comments like that from two sources within a few days of each other, I have to stop and think—is God telling me something?

As I write this, I’ve now officially changed my corporation name in the State of Florida to “Rear Guard Publishing.” At first, I knew I couldn’t use a name that someone else had already claimed. I didn’t want it to be overtly “Christian” as I didn’t know what direction God was leading me, and I didn’t want to limit myself to children, YA, adult, fiction, or nonfiction. 

Roberts Court Reporters didn’t meet my current situation at all. I let my licensure lapse about a year ago because I hadn’t taken a deposition in over twenty years, and it was another expense that served no purpose except to boost my ego. It only took me about five minutes to come up with the name as I remembered the quote God had given me in Isaiah 58:8.

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http://bit.ly/LRBlogRearGuard Jeremiah says, “‘I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, “‘plans for welfare and not for calamity, to give you a future and a hope.’” (Jeremiah 29:11 New American Standard Bible).

Despite all the mistakes we make, God gives us “a future and a hope.” Even now, God is my Rear Guard, encouraging me to look ahead. Does God want me to write articles, write for the secular market, or ghostwrite? Should I continue to blog—which I love, or does God want me to focus on copyediting?  Or, should I keep on the steady course of broadcast captioning until a robot replaces me? I wait, expectantly, for God’s reply.

I’ve spent the last nine years writing books, and at times, the lack of sales has been discouraging. As a for-profit business, sooner or later, the IRS expects you to make a profit. Reflecting on that, I sometimes wonder, when does that intersection happen?  Perhaps it never will. Before I get too sad, I remind myself, “I write for an audience of one.” When I stand before God, He will examine how well I lived my life for Him, not how successful the world says I am.

One thing I know for sure: God has called me to write. I’m an author, and whatever form that takes, God has my back. He holds my future—just as He holds yours.