THE SONGS OF THE NIGHT

Leonard Ramblin knew that this music would be the “siren call of the Harvest.” These are the “Songs of the Night.” They are:

“Eli’s Coming,” “Liar,” and “One” by Three Dog Night
“Somebody to Love” by Jefferson Airplane
“Temptation Eyes,” “Feelings,” “Wait a Million Years,” “Midnight Confessions,” and “Live for Today” by the GrassRoots
“Paint it Black,” and “Gimmie Shelter” by the Rolling Stones

(“I Want You / She’s So Heavy” is not one… when the Temple Shadows gang hears that, it’s too late.)

These songs were not chosen. They just are. It is the musical quality that makes them songs of the night. They’re not cheery. Their melodies are dark and foreboding.

The Songs of the Night do have some curious things in common:

All of these are still performed in concert. I had no way of knowing that when Violent Night was written.

They are often rated as favorites among pop/rock fans, even though none have topped the Billboard charts.

All of the studio recordings use a similar reverb technique to give the vocals a “large empty gymnasium” quality, a technique often used by Led Zeppelin.

An unusual number of these have lyrics that suggest possible Apocalyptic connections… “Eli” is a name sometimes given to the Antichrist. “Paint it Black,” “Gimmie Shelter,” “Wait a Million Years,” “Midnight Confessions,” and “Live for Today” all have titles that take on a different meaning when applied to the Harvest. Even “Somebody to Love” sounds like a warning: “You’d better find somebody to love!”

BUSTER MURPHY: THE CARDBOARD CHARACTER

Author Ted Magnuson wrote in his review of VIOLENT NIGHT that Buster Murphy is a “detestable cardboard character.” That’s not a nice thing to say. Especially when he made those comments four days shy of Buster’s birthday.

But Mr. Magnuson is correct. Buster is detestable. And, when he enters the Apocalyptic stage, he is very flat cardboard. I wrote his character that way on purpose. Buster is evil, and evil has only one focus in being: kill, pervert, and destroy. Period.

Destruction is relatively simple. One doesn’t have to be careful about it. One does not have to take responsibility for any collateral damage. It wouldn’t take much to program a robot to destroy. C:\\ RUN \ DESTROY \ ALL.

Creation is much more complex. It requires skill, care, and attention to detail. Success depends on how well the creation functions in its environment. The creator seeks to love the creation.

What evil does is nothing compared to what good does. What Satan does is nothing compared to what God does. This is why Buster is cardboard and the Temple Shadows Gang is dimensional.

Most readers who know the Bible get it that Buster Murphy is a parallel to Saul who converted to the apostle Paul. Saul was cardboard, too. But not Paul.

When you reach the end of VIOLENT NIGHT, the Lord begins to fold this cardboard Murphy character into something new. What will the new Buster be like?

THE GATHERING:

W.S. CREED'S CHRISTIAN ADVENTURE RUMBLES ON

After giving William S. Creed’s first book in this Christian adventure series a well-deserved 5 stars on Amazon, I had to eagerly wait two years for the sequel to come out.

COMES THE END was indeed a thriller, but this second book, THE GATHERING, does not stand alone without the prequel. The tail end of this book begs for the third in the series to come along and bring back the thrill of the first book. What’s left is essentially what’s between the beginning of the end and the end of the end.

THE GATHERING picks up immediately where COMES THE END leaves off, with Andy and Stephanie following the Lord’s subtle but convenient directions to a new calling. Other than one close call with the “alien” Brothers, there isn’t much meat in the middle of this trilogy. Stephanie and Andy fall in love, rather predictably. A few characters from the previous book appear for cameo rolls. It does have some suspense, but seems to pull back from a climax several times. Creed is laying the groundwork for what I hope is a Biblical-size confrontation yet to come.

The author’s military experience is evident in this book as it was with the first. Military settings are described in loving detail. The place they call Camp Noah is easy to picture. I wish the characters were a little deeper, though. The text flows well, but is plainly written.

A peculiar surprise occurs near the end of this book that will leave you scratching your head. If that makes you curious, go ahead and read the book. If you liked COMES THE END, you’ll enjoy THE GATHERING also, although it's a little like eating tofu after you've had steak.

eWAR

If you’ve looked at what’s in your spam folder recently, you know that the immoral juggernaut (we call it Satan and his minions) has moved far beyond the physical realms of earthly cesspools like Las Vegas. Checked out MySpace or YouTube lately? Much of what I find there is overwhelming, discouraging, and, ultimately, frightening. It’s hard to be an eChristian in such an environment.

Search the Net a little harder, and I can find groups of eChristians sharing both messages of hope and messages of warning to each other. Credibility in their world hinges on one’s ability to throw timely Bible verses into the discussion. This is so intimidating for newbie Christians!

We need to stop playing Bible trivia with each other and get on places like MySpace and fight moral decay. Otherwise, should we wait for it to come to us—in our churches?

WHY DID I WRITE VIOLENT NIGHT?

The genesis for this version of the Apocalypse has been part of me since the beginning. My earliest memories date back to when I was about four years old, yet the memory of that day was there even then. As I grew older, I began to realize that this particular memory I possessed—the time, the people, the places, even the smells and the music—was of a place and time I had not witnessed. Many of the things about this memory, which were new in 1961, appeared old to me in the memory. I remembered music that would not be released until decades later. On several occasions I searched in vain among the “oldies” for a title I eventually found in the current Top 40.

The day of the Apocalypse left a strong impression. Nowadays I think of it more like an epic movie that I’m dying to see again, but when I look on my video shelf, I know it was never made. I remember it like I’ve seen it a thousand times, yet I learn to experience it again. I have scores of books and movies that come as close as I can get. Disaster flicks like Earthquake, Twister, Airport. I have the “Left Behind” series, and the prequels to the “Left Behind” series. Oddly enough, none of the Apocalypse films: Armageddon, Seventh Sign, End of Days, etc. capture anything significant about this coming great event.

My desire to revisit the day of my memory—the end of the worldly days and the beginning of God’s new world—remained unsatisfied. So I put it in a novel and named it VIOLENT NIGHT. I long to feel the suspense of knowing it’s coming, the wild ride that is the event itself, and the ultimate joy and peace in the new world beyond.

If I had one wish, should I die before that day comes in real life, it would be to see the VIOLENT NIGHT movie… again.

THE STORY BEHIND THE HURRICANE THAT ENDED THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT

Hurricane Damien. A fictitious hurricane from the book "Violent Night." The "mother of all hurricanes." How does it happen? Global warming?

Nope. In recent years, late-season major hurricanes have become common: Mitch, October 1998, and Wilma, October, 2005, for example. But Hurricane Damien didn't form out in the Atlantic, where the media would have a two-week fetch to obsess over. He began as an upper-level low-pressure system, not asscociated with any weather front and non-tropical. Upper-level lows sometimes stall in the Houston area, causing torrential rains and flooding. But when this low drifted out over the warm gulf, he was thirsty for warm water. Earth is in a warm cycle at this time, so Damien drank of the 91-degree salt water. The added energy transformed him into Tropical Storm Damien overnight.

Not so long ago, 1.2 million Houstonians found themselves stranded on the highways trying to run away from Rita. Desperate, they were forced to urinate and defecate along the roadsides and carry gasoline in cupped hands. Rita decided to make a mockery of Houston by bypassing the city to ravage the Piney Woods instead.

Therefore it was no surprise when the public ignored Damien (who had to play second-fiddle to the World Series), and it was further understandable that emergency management didn't react to Damien. Besides, having formed in the Gulf like he did, there wasn't time to evacuate anyway. The lessons of Hurricane Alicia were forgotton. 1983 was a long time ago.

Then an angel of the Apocalypse appeared and poured forth the bowl of wrath fortold in the book of Revelation. There were earthquakes in various places. A small fissure opened in the Gulf, and beneath the waves, molten rock began to heat the water in a area that Damien passed over. The energy allowed him to grow from an infant pissant depression to a monster Cat 5 hurricane in just 24 hours.

In the dark night of October 24, Damien began his trek toward the Texas coast...

RICK WARREN NOT SO BAD AFTER ALL

After our church, Westminster, "did" Rick Warren's "Purpose Driven Life" program, I responded to that torture by writing Warren a one-star review on Amazon.com. What discredited the book for me was Warren's assertion that his Saddleback Church was the chosen venue of worship for a number of CEOs whose God-given purpose in life was to become rich, where they could do their part for the Lord's kingdom by writing checks. Gathering excessive wealth for one's self (while the people at the bottom end of the ladder in their company struggle to make ends meet) is greedy. The writing of checks is not DOING God's work, it's FUNDING God's work.

TIME magazine ran an article this week on what is now called "Prosperity" teaching: that God wants me to be rich, a message touted by preachers a la Joel Osteen, who has his name boldly emblazoned on the front of Lakewood Church. As you can guess, I don't subscribe to this materialistic blasphemy. God doesn't bestow luxury on us just because we want it. It's about what GOD wants, folks. As Jesus said, "The poor will always be with us." If we're all writing checks, who's going to take care of the DOING?

Much to my surprise, TIME quotes Warren opposing the prosperity movement. I still think his book is repetitive, boring, and ineffective, but I give the Reverend credit for choosing the right side on this one.