Finding Faith in a Skeptical World with Author Chet Galaska

Our special guest today is author Chet Galaska. Chet was an atheist who became a believer slowly over time as he approached faith with an open mind. As he wandered along the road to faith, he looked for an easy-to-read guide to help him understand Christianity. He didn't find what he was looking for; so he decided to write, Finding Faith in a Skeptical World for skeptics and seekers to help them grasp Christian issues.

One of the most challenging aspects of Christianity is accepting that bad things happen to everyone--even those who believe in God and follow His laws. I asked Chet to address this issue today.

Chet's turn:


If God exists, why does he let bad things happen?

This is really a question of who God is. If you think God’s purpose is to make sure nothing bad ever happens to anybody, you’ve got a point – that God doesn’t exist. But many think that if this cosmic Santa Claus they’ve dreamed up doesn’t exist, then no God exists at all or, if he does, he can’t be good or merciful.

This couldn’t be more untrue. God is an honest realist who told us through the Bible that natural disasters will occur and warned us of man’s destructive traits. He’s also explained that he has a longer view of things than mankind: his perspective is eternal. And he’s shown man the way to obtain the best gift ever conceived: eternal life.

This gift is available to those who love God. God desires heartfelt love and the only way man can freely give it is if he isn’t enticed or pushed into it. This is where our imperfect world comes into play. God won’t manipulate the world to extricate love because the love he desires is genuine, not fake.

Fake love is given all the time. Tyrants have a fetish for crowd adulation, and they get it by holding massive rallies where thousands of people shout their love and support. But many of these people attend only because the consequences of not going are beatings or jail time. This love is coerced.

There’s another way to get sham love: bribery. Anna Nicole Smith was an exotic dancer who married an 89-year-old billionaire who showered her with millions of dollars in cash and gifts. He died months after the marriage, and she contested his estate in court by claiming that her husband always said she could have half. It sure looked like she loved the money, not him.

Because God doesn’t seek fake love, he won’t coerce man to express it. He also won’t bribe him for it by fixing every problem and answering every prayer. He’s given us free will, which means we’re able to make up our own minds. We can ignore God and muddle through life or we can genuinely love him and embrace his peace.

The bad things that happen – hurricanes, diseases, corruption, murder and thousands of others – are part of an imperfect world that’s a stage on which man can choose to love God and receive eternal life, strength, forgiveness and a peace that transcends worldly problems. These gifts from God let man put his short, finite life on earth in perspective and understand that this world is just a prelude to eternal life. Those who’ve accepted God know the reality of this peace and, because of it, they know the reality of God himself.

God is real, he’s good and he’s merciful. But he operates in ways that man, engulfed by worldly concerns, often refuses to see.


To find out more about Chet Galaska and Finding Faith in a Skeptical World, visit http://findingfaith.us/.

You can read our review of Finding Faith here.

Guest Blogger: Chet Galaska, Author of Finding Faith in a Skeptical World

Finding Faith in a Skeptical World was written by a skeptic who became a Christian after questioning his reasons for unbelief. No one book answered the common questions skeptics have, so he wrote one to help others.

The topics have one thing in common: they can all be barriers to faith. Most people won't have all the questions, but everyone will have some of them.

It's non-denominational and sticks to the basic beliefs shared by all Christians.

Finding Faith is an introduction to faith for non-Christians, a primer to prepare Christians for the questions they may get when sharing faith, and a good way for Christians to see the sensibility, practicality and hope their faith offers.

It's a user-friendly tool to help share faith in a time when our society really needs it.

Why Do Bad Things Happen? by Chet Galaska

If God exists, why does he let bad things happen?

This is really a question of who God is. If you think God’s purpose is to make sure nothing bad ever happens to anybody, you’ve got a point – that God doesn’t exist. But many think that if this cosmic Santa Claus they’ve dreamed up doesn’t exist, then no God exists at all or, if he does, he can’t be good or merciful.

This couldn’t be more untrue. God is an honest realist who told us through the Bible that natural disasters will occur and warned us of man’s destructive traits. He’s also explained that he has a longer view of things than mankind: his perspective is eternal. And he’s shown man the way to obtain the best gift ever conceived: eternal life.

This gift is available to those who love God. God desires heartfelt love and the only way man can freely give it is if he isn’t enticed or pushed into it. This is where our imperfect world comes into play. God won’t manipulate the world to extricate love because the love he desires is genuine, not fake.

Fake love is given all the time. Tyrants have a fetish for crowd adulation, and they get it by holding massive rallies where thousands of people shout their love and support. But many of these people attend only because the consequences of not going are beatings or jail time. This love is coerced.

There’s another way to get sham love: bribery. Anna Nicole Smith was an exotic dancer who married an 89-year-old billionaire who showered her with millions of dollars in cash and gifts. He died months after the marriage, and she contested his estate in court by claiming that her husband always said she could have half. It sure looked like she loved the money, not him.

Because God doesn’t seek fake love, he won’t coerce man to express it. He also won’t bribe him for it by fixing every problem and answering every prayer. He’s given us free will, which means we’re able to make up our own minds. We can ignore God and muddle through life or we can genuinely love him and embrace his peace.

The bad things that happen – hurricanes, diseases, corruption, murder and thousands of others – are part of an imperfect world that’s a stage on which man can choose to love God and receive eternal life, strength, forgiveness and a peace that transcends worldly problems. These gifts from God let man put his short, finite life on earth in perspective and understand that this world is just a prelude to eternal life. Those who’ve accepted God know the reality of this peace and, because of it, they know the reality of God himself.

God is real, he’s good and he’s merciful. But he operates in ways that man, engulfed by worldly concerns, often refuses to see.

To find out more about Chet Galaska and Finding Faith in a Skeptical World, visit http://findingfaith.us/.

J.A. Hunsinger's Fascination with Vikings in Axe of Iron: The Settlers

My knowledge of Vikings is limited to the very few things I remember from a high school history class and the comic strip, Hagar the Horrible. So when I heard that J.A. Hunsinger was touring for a second month, I knew I wanted him to stop by and talk about his interest in Vikings and about the first book in his series, Axe of Iron.

The Settlers is a character-driven tale of a medieval people whose wanderlust and yearning for adventure cause them to leave the two established settlements on Greenland and sail west, to the unexplored land later referred to as Vinland.

Eirik the Red established Eiriksfjord in 986 and later Lysufjord, 400-miles to the north. Just 22-years later, new settlers from the homelands found all the best land already occupied, the fragile Arctic environment strained by too many people and animals on too little arable land.

Under the capable leadership of Halfdan Ingolfsson and his lieutenant, Gudbjartur Einarsson, 315 men, women, and children set sail from Greenland in the spring of 1008, bound for the unexplored continent across the western ocean.

Standing in their way are uncounted numbers of indigenous people, the pre-historical ancestors of the Cree (Naskapi), Ojibwa (Anishinabeg), and Iroquois (Haudenosaunee) Indians. From the outset, these native people strenuously resist the incursion of these tall, pale-skinned invaders.

Two calamitous events occur that pave the way for the hostile beginnings of an assimilation process to occur between these disparate peoples. The way is rocky and fraught with danger at every turn, but the acceptance and friendship that develops between the Northmen and the Naskapi over an affair of honor, the eventual acceptance of a young boy of the Northmen by his Haudenosaunee captors, and a scenario that seems ordained by the will of the gods, makes it all begin to fall into place, as it must for the Northmen to survive.

See the saga unfold, in this first book of the Axe of Iron series, through the eyes of the characters as each day brings a continuation of the toil, love, hardship, and danger that they come to expect in this unforgiving new land.

About J.A. Hunsinger:


J. A. Hunsinger lives in Colorado, USA, with his wife Phyllis. The first novel of his character-driven, historical fiction series, Axe of Iron: The Settlers, represents his first serious effort to craft the story of a lifelong interest in the Viking Age—especially as it pertains to Norse exploration west of Iceland—and extensive research and archaeological site visitations as an amateur historian. He has tied the discovery of many of the Norse artifacts found on this continent to places and events portrayed in his novels.

Much of his adult life has been associated with commercial aviation, both in and out of the cockpit. As an Engineering Technical Writer for Honeywell Commercial Flight Systems Group, Phoenix, AZ, he authored two comprehensive pilots’ manuals on aircraft computer guidance systems and several supplemental aircraft radar manuals. His manuals were published and distributed worldwide to airline operators by Honeywell Engineering, Phoenix, AZ. He also published an article, "Flight Into Danger", in Flying Magazine, (August 2002).

Historical Novel Society, American Institute of Archaeology, Canadian Archaeology Association, and IBPA-Independent Book Publishers Association, are among the fraternal and trade organizations in which he holds membership.

You can visit his website at www.vinlandpublishing.com.

Why the Interest in the Vikings?
by J. A. Hunsinger

I have had a lifelong infatuation with the Vikings of medieval Greenland. After reading everything available, one is left with a nagging question. What happened to them? It is difficult to study them because they wrote nothing down. Everything we know comes from archaeological research and the Norse sagas. The Saga of the Greenlanders and Eirik the Red's Saga both tell stories about them, although centuries after the fact, but we know nothing about the people themselves. I decided to tell their tale using fiction because I wanted to convey to my readers what a lifetime of research has led me to believe regarding the abandonment of the two known Norse settlements on Greenland and the disappearance from history of every single settler. Nobody ever saw them again and nobody knows to this day, what happened to them. In spinning my Axe of Iron series of tales, I give my characters personalities, to make them as we are. No other author has ever told their story as I do.

One of my book reviewers, Melissa Levine, IP Book Reviewers had this to say: "It’s the details that grab the reader’s attention in J. A. Hunsinger’s historical novel, Axe of Iron: The Settlers. The book is the first installment in a planned series of stories about the migration of the Greenland Norse to North America. From the introduction, which provides background information, to the brutal ending, Hunsinger uses his extensive knowledge of the history and culture of Norsemen to craft a story that exposes the lives of an ancient people with an admirable sense of adventure and value for community.

Hunsinger teaches with the details that he infuses into this story. The reader will learn what the Norsemen ate; how they set-up temporary camps and permanent residence; how they conducted themselves in battle; and the manner in which men and women fell into intimate relationships. The importance of respect and loyalty in the culture is represented by the relationship between Halfdan and Gudbj. Their bond that is stronger than that often seen between blood brothers. There is an intense trust between them that provides the level of security needed to lead their followers while exploring a new land, surviving severe storms at sea, and battling against natives. The love and admiration between the two men is so overwhelming it frequently makes Gudbj uncomfortable. But their feelings for each other do not diminish them as men. Halfdan and Gudbj are so secure in their masculinity that they are not intimidated by the strength of their women who work as hard and love as strongly as they do.

Axe of Iron: The Settlers is a hearty, adventure-packed history lesson. I highly recommend it."

I am pleased with her assessment of my tale. The saga continues with Axe of Iron: Confrontation. The second book of the continuing tale of the Greenland Norse people and their adventures in North America will be published in June 2009.

J. A. Hunsinger–Author, Vinland Publishing, LLC, http://www.vinlandpublishing.com/©2009 Jerry A. Hunsinger, All Rights Reserved

Book Spotlight: The Man Overboard by Darryl Hagar

The Man Overboard is the dramatic story of Darryl Hagar, a Merchant Marine Officer who within his life of discipline and order led a secret, clandestine existence of alcoholism, drug abuse, chaos, and crime. In The Man Overboard, Darryl retells his gripping personal account of his struggle to reclaim control of his life and begin the journey toward recovery from a lifestyle no one even knew existed.

Read an excerpt!

My son continues to play a major role in my ongoing recovery by giving my life greater purpose. Darryl has been the one constant in my sobriety, because no matter what, he deserves a sober dad. My father’s suicide taught me how vital good parenting is and how I need to be there for my son. When I’m around Darryl, I understand just how pure life can be and how easily I could have missed the opportunity to watch him grow up. Being around for him has been worth every second.

When Jen and I decided to have a child, I hoped being a father would save my life. Before then, we were both out of control. In motherhood, Jen immediately became more responsible. My problems were more deeply rooted, and my toxic body and mind required more years of desperate living before I finally surrendered.

One time I was at a twelve-step meeting where a man with twenty-five years of sobriety talked about how in the first thousand days, a person is still a newcomer. It takes about that long for a person’s mind and body to fully comprehend sobriety, and it’s normal for newcomers to be full of mixed up emotions. At eighteen months sober, I sometimes felt like a brand new baby and at others like a wily veteran.

It took me six years of being a drunken daddy and eighteen months as a sober one to realize that children are truly our most precious gifts from God. My son and I spend enormous amounts of time together. While I’m with him, I sometimes see myself as a loving, beautiful man; at other times, I’m a chaotic madman with a messed-up brain. The big difference is that I now recognize my shortcomings. I’m learning to be the man and father God wants me to be.

One day it was my turn to take Darryl to see his asthma doctor. I picked him up at school with his usual snack of cookies and juice.

“Hi, Daddy, what are you doing?” he asked.

“I’m here to take you to the doctor, remember?”

“What are they gonna do?”

“You’re worrying about taking a shot, aren’t you? It’s just a checkup. They’ll check your breathing. No shots, bud.”

“Okay, Daddy.”

We arrived a few minutes early, so we sat in the car while I helped him with his math homework. It was a beautiful October day, unseasonably warm with the leaves bursting with color. I was with my seven-year-old son being a responsible, sober dad. Life was good. I thanked God I had made it that far.

Inside, the office was packed with kids. A nurse called us into an examination room. The doctor came in and asked a few questions about Darryl’s breathing and medication and listened to his lungs. I noticed a sign that said something about “flu shots,” and suddenly realized why the place was so busy.




Before I could ask about it, the doctor said, “His lungs sound good. We’ll test his breathing. Also, I’d like him to take a flu shot while he’s here.”

Darryl heard the word “shot” and looked me squarely in the eyes.

“You said I wasn’t taking a shot today, Daddy!” The tears started to come.

“I know, honey. Daddy didn’t know they were giving flu shots today. You need one because of your asthma.”

He put his arms around me and cried. I was deeply touched; somebody in this world needed me to protect him, to tell him it was going to be all right. Somehow, he knew I would. I almost cried with him. It was another moment when I realized God was showing me something important.




Darryl Hagar grew up in mid coast Maine with his mother, father, three brothers, and sister.

He is a graduate of Maine Maritime Academy spending four years of rigorous training and education, earning a Bachelor of Nautical Science degree. Additionally, he holds a United States Coast Guard Chief Mate License, unlimited tonnage, any oceans.

After 20 years of sailing, carrying millions and millions of barrels of petroleum around the world, Darryl finally left the industry and got sober in May of 2005.

He currently resides in Portland, Maine raising his eight-year-old son and travels to colleges, jails, prisons, and other large groups throughout the country, speaking about the dangers of drug and alcohol abuse. He shares his dramatic stories, and inspired message about what he does to stay sober and clean and serves as a shining example of how people with severe drug addiction and alcoholism can overcome their demons and lead a happy and fulfilling life.

To learn more about Darryl Hagar or his story, visit www.themanoverboard.com.

Robin Maderich brings Colonial Boston Alive with Faith and Honor

Today's guest blogger is historical fiction author Robin Maderich. I recently finished reading the first book in Robin's Honor Trilogy, Faith and Honor.

Whenever I read a piece of historical fiction, I wonder why the writer chose a particular period in history as the backdrop for her story. My interest was further piqued with Faith and Honor because I've lived in Massachusetts my entire life, and I currently live only ten minutes away from Longmeadow--which is where the female lead, Faith Ashley's grew up.

With all that in mind, I asked Robin to discuss her interest in the Colonial period and how she made the places and characters real for her readers.

Robin's turn:

I have been asked how my interest in the Colonial period emerged as such a favorite of mine, because even though I am a history buff in general, the period leading up to and including the war of the colonies to achieve independence from British rule has always imparted a special energy to who and what I am as a person. I feel an affinity for that period as if, perhaps, I once lived through those times. From my very first trip to Williamsburg (quite a few years ago, the roads not yet fully paved and crowds at a minimum) I felt a pull to the Colonial era. This trip was followed by many others to a variety of historical sites. By the time I read Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes, I was hooked in a fashion that bordered on the abnormal for a child of my age. I watched the short-lived television series, “Young Rebels”, with rabid intensity, pointing out the inaccuracies with annoying frequency to my parents. Throughout my childhood I expended a great deal of time reading all I could on the subject, whether fiction, biographical or historical treatise.

For the writing of Faith and Honor, I took my interest even further, researching everything from how shoes were made to the types of meals cooked to the particulars of hygiene, although not every single aspect of what I uncovered appears in the book. I was just generating the “feel” of the times to enhance my ability to write about them. I knew no one reading historical romance would be foaming at the mouth over a description of chamber pot usage and disposal of its contents. Not everyone possesses my fanatical fascination for all things Colonial.

However, what fascinated me above all else---and still does to this day---was the wickedly empowering division of sentiment that I discovered as I grew older had nothing to do with absolute rights and absolute wrongs. People of honor made their stands on both sides of the conflict. In Faith and Honor I brought that struggle for balance down to a very personal level, with Faith Ashley, the heroine, a fiery, stubborn patriot, and the man she loves against all odds a British officer in the military occupying Boston. When war erupts with the fateful shots fired on the green at Lexington and, later, at Concord, Fletcher Irons remains as true to his uniform as Faith does to the cause of independence. The decisions they make, the compromises or lack thereof, are difficult to overcome. As Thomas Paine described so eloquently, these were the times that tried men’s souls. Faith Ashley’s and Fletcher Irons’ are no exception.

I sometimes believe it may be hard for those who have no interest in the history of our Nation’s beginning to fully understand how these events shaped us, how they elevated ordinary men and women to excel in extraordinary situations. My hope is, and has always been, for Faith and Honor to not only touch a person’s heart because of its searing love story, but to further understanding of the honorable sacrifices by both sides.



To find out more about Robin and the Honor Trilogy, please visit www.robinmaderich.com

Why T.E. Scott Believes Wall Street is The Losing Game

We start off the month of April with a thought-provoking book by T.E. Scott. In The Losing Game: Why You Can't Beat Wall Street, Scott exposes the stock market and commodity markets for what he believes they really are --- brilliantly marketed rip-offs. He says, "Wall Street is fleecing millions of Americans every day with brokerage houses, Congress and the media as willing accomplices. With their help, the American public is fooled into thinking that investing is safe and convinced that, if they’re smart and listen to the right people, they can accumulate wealth quickly. And when we fail, our tax money bails them out."

For today's guest article, I asked the author the follwing question: I am an investor who has seen both profits and losses while investing in Wall Street, but who still believes in the system. What will I find in your book that will change my mind?

Here is what Scott had to say:

What you will find in The Losing Game is that you are looking at Wall Street with what we refer to as an “Eagle’s Eye” view of the markets. You are focused on your specific outcome in the market, and that prevents you (and others) from looking at the system as a whole. This is part of the overall marketing plan of Wall Street, to distract you from the real functions of their business plan.

The Losing Game makes a strong correlation between investing in Wall Street and gambling. If you look at Wall Street as a casino, and your friend won money at a slot machine, would you logically pour all of your money in that same machine expecting the same results? Ultimately, when you are involved in the market, you are trying to predict an unpredictable. If you think you can predict a non-predictable, our advice is to go to Vegas, you’ll have more fun.

The Losing Game points out that the negative cash flow of investors’ money is far greater than the positive cash flow of investors’ money. Investors as a whole are losing billions of dollars a day, and this was before the financial crisis started. No matter how you look at it, the losers in the market support the winners on Wall Street. If you make any money, it comes from one or more investors, which makes it a zero-sum game. And when you add in expenses and fees, it becomes a minus-sum game.

Our question to readers of The Losing Game is this: How can you trust a system that has no real accountability or transparency? The book lays out the argument that the regulatory agencies like the Securities and Exchange Commission are not designed to protect the investor from Wall Street, they are designed to protect Wall Street from the investors. That’s why Bernie Madoff was investigated eight times in 16 years by the SEC with no action taken. As long as Madoff was paying his investors, there was no reason for the SEC to intervene, even if they had reports that Madoff was running a ponzi scheme.

You have to have blind-faith to believe in the system, because Congress or the SEC does not require financial reports tracking investor money. Seriously. If you were to ask your broker or financial advisor for a report detailing how many of his clients have made money, and how many have lost money, and how much, he would tell you that this information is not kept, and not required to report.

That’s why you have to be extremely skeptical about any statistics. Experts will tell you that the market has grown 10% a year over the past 50 years, but what they don't tell you is that those are "listed" companies on the NYSE. If you were to factor the companies that have gone out of business and have been delisted, that number would be lower, and possibly a negative number. It's all part of the marketing plan.

Remember this, Wall Street does not care whether you make money or lose money in the market, only that you keep your money in circulation in the market. That way, the brokers and exchanges make their cut with every transaction.

Visit http://thelosinggame.com/ for more information about The Losing Game and to read an excerpt.

WIN PRIZES!!!

THE LOSING GAME VIRTUAL BLOG TOUR '09 will officially begin on April 1 and end on April 30. You can visit the authors' blog stops at www.virtualbooktours.wordpress.com in April to find out more about these talented authora!

As a special promotion for all our authors, Pump Up Your Book Promotion is giving away a FREE virtual book tour to a published author or a $50 Amazon gift certificate to those not published who comments on our authors' blog stops. More prizes will be announced as they become available.

Patriot Acts by Steven Clark Bradley--Book Review

Hidden away in an Alaskan prison, serving time for a crime he never committed, Colonel Fisher Harrison thinks of revenge. His government forsake him and his Special Ops buddies and no one was meant to survive. If Fisher gets out of that hellish place, the man who put him there is going to pay.

But that man is now President of the United States and seemingly untouchable; until the Islamic Republic of Iran and radical American militia groups join forces, and President Christopher Tate knows that Colonel Harrison is the only man who can stop a planned covert nuclear attack. Will Fisher help the government who forsake him? And if he does, will he make it out alive?

Patriot Acts by Steven Clark Bradley is an intense, fast-paced modern day thriller that leaves you clinging to the edge of your seat. Bradley's wealth of experience comes alive in this story of a covert nuclear attack planned by two deadly forces. Having traveled to thirty-four countries and having been a freelance journalist in Iraq, Israel and Turkey, Bradley creates a realistic and scary portrait of potential terrorism issues home and abroad.

Strong and complex characters fill this novel. From Fisher Harrison to Christopher Tate, from radical militia leader Len Garret to Jamie O'Rourke, the President's Chief of Staff, every player is alternately sympathetic and despicable, likable and easily hated. Bradley has done an excellent job of creating multi-faceted characters whose actions move this story along at a fast clip.

That said, the overuse of the exclamation point in the dialogue rendered its effect useless, and a good editor may have helped making some of the transitions easier. Since this book travels back and forth in time, the choppy transitions occasionally left this reader with a moment of confusion until she figured out the character was recalling past events.

Patriot Acts by Steven Clark Bradley will be a hit with military fiction fans, lovers of fast-paced thrillers, and anyone interested in the War on Terror. This is definitely a book worth checking out.


Title: Patriot Acts
Author: Steven Clark Bradley
Publisher: Cambridge Books
ISBN-10: 1-59431-693-7
ISBN-13: 978-1-59431-693-7
SRP: $17.95 (U.S.)