M. B. Weston's Blog

Galatians 1d: God-Inspired

In the movie, Knowing, staring Nicholas Cage, two children named Caleb and Abby grow up separately, not meeting until almost halfway through the movie. Once they meet, they discover something: each of them can hear voices no one else can hear, and those voices lead them to similar conclusions. We discover at the end of the movie that both children (and other children as well) were hearing the same voices—and the same message. Keep this in mind when you read Galatians 1:11-24.

In our last Galatians blog, we discussed how we should deal with false teachers. Regarding Galatia’s false teachers, the Judaizers, Paul said, “If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned!”

In Galatians 1:11 – 24 (which I won’t quote in its entirety until I research copyright law issues a bit), Paul defends the gospel he and the rest of the disciples preached, claiming the message is not one he made up; it’s a message he received from Jesus Christ.

A few things of note here: Paul often times refers to things in the Bible as “being a great mystery.” In fact, I often read those things, shake my head, read them again, and decide that for me, they still are great mysteries. Also, Paul once referred to “being caught up into heaven” and “hearing inexpressible things, things that man is not permitted to tell (2 Corinthians 12:2-4). Personally, I think this happened when Paul was stoned and lying either dead or unconscious (Acts 14:19-20). I think then he learned many of these great “mysteries” he often discusses.

I must admit, this sounds a bit cultish. How many cults and religions have started with someone saying “I received this revelation from God. Now drink the Kool Aid.” Bear with me, however. Paul says in these verses that he never met with the apostles until three years afterhis conversion, and then only Peter. Then, he visited Syria and Cicilia and did not see the disciples until years later. So Paul’s claim that God and not man gave him the gospel message makes sense, at least historically.

Again, however, we cannot simply accept Paul’s word that he saw cool stuff and that God revealed things to him based on Paul's word alone—at least without a little evidence. God calls us to have faith, but not blind faith. If the Bible is true, then we should see evidence corroborating its claims. Now, we know Paul didn’t talk to any of the disciples except once three years after his conversion and then 14 years later, so we know they didn't mentor him or spoon-feed him information. Whatever he came up with/discovered about God, he either 1) made up himself, 2) derived it from the Old Testament, and/or 3) was told by God (as he claimed). How can we know which?

While I don’t have time to expound on this, I do see one really cool thing here that should make all of us think: Paul and the disciples preached the same message, even though they never fully discussed it together. (At least for the three years until when Paul met with Peter.)

The disciples had three years of training with Jesus under their belts. Paul, on the other hand, was a Pharisee who once killed Christians. Yet Paul comes to the same conclusions and teaches the same message these disciples teach!

It’s kind of like Caleb and Abby in Knowing, hearing the same voices even though they had never met.

How is this possible? I’d say two ways:

• The Holy Spirit revealed truth to both parties.
• The Old Testament points to a lot of these same truths. Again, I don’t have time to develop this, but the Old Testament has some pretty cool stuff in it, and Paul references it a lot!

I see a few things we as 21st century believers can apply from this 1st century story:

• God can bring people who were once mortal enemies together. Don't give up on your relationships or assume that someone can't change.
• The Holy Spirit whispers in all our ears. Start listening. 
• This Holy Spirit unifies believers. Think on this. In each of us resides the very Spirit of God. The same spirit that is in you is in me and is in Billy Graham. This has the potential to create an unimaginable bond of unity. (Why doesn’t it always? Wait until we hit Galatians 5.)
• Knowing scripture is important. As a Pharisee, Paul knew scripture. (Yes, I know he didn’t know the New Testament, but he wrote half of it…) We need to know what the Bible says, both the Old and the New Testaments.

Stay tuned for next week when we start Galatians 2!

 Prior blogs on Galatians:

• A New Direction
• What is Truth – Part 2
• Galatians 1a: The Context
• Galatians 1b: What Exactly is Grace?
• Galatians 1c: What's Missing from Galatians 1:1-5?

Pocasts on Galatians:

• Podcast: Galatians 1: Grace vs. the Law
  (read a description and download podcast)
• Podcast: Galatians 2: No Double Jeopardy
  (read a description and download podcast)
• Podcast: Galatians 3: The Purpose of the Law
  (read a description and download podcast)

Be sure to check out my new To Elysia and Back Againpodcast every Tuesday! Click here for more information.

Fantasy novelist M. B. Weston is the author of The Elysian Chronicles, a fantasy series about guardian angel warfare and treason, which is being adapted into a graphic novel series by Wandering Sage Publications, Inc., with Weston penning the script and KISS comic book artist, Adam Black, doing the art. Weston hosts a podcast on her To Elysia and Back Again blog, which can be downloaded on itunes. Click here for a complete listing of the To Elysia and Back Againpodcast episodes. Weston is also the host of The Final Cut in Movies, an internet radio talk show about science fiction and fantasy movies on Ad Astra Radio, which can also be heard as a podcast on M. B. Weston's Podcasts site or on iTunes. Weston speaks to children, teens, and adults about writing and the process of getting published. For more information on M. B. Weston, visit www.mbweston.com. Find out more about The Elysian Chronicles at www.elysianchronicles.com.

To Elysia and Back Again Podcast Postponed to Next Tuesday

I decided last week to being writing blogs that coincide with my To Elysia and Back Again podcast, which I try to upload every Tuesday. Today, I should have uploaded the Galatians 4 podcast, but I've decided that I need about a week to get my written blogs to catch up with my podcast. I'll post Galatians 4 next week, when I'm hopefully caught up.

Meanwhile, if you've missed the blogs or the podcasts, you can click on the links below:

 Prior blogs on Galatians:

• A New Direction
• What is Truth – Part 2
• Galatians 1a: The Context
• Galatians 1b: What Exactly is Grace?
• Galatians 1c: What's Missing from Galatians 1:1-5?

Pocasts on Galatians:

• Podcast: Galatians 1: Grace vs. the Law
  (read a description and download podcast)
• Podcast: Galatians 2: No Double Jeopardy
  (read a description and download podcast)
• Podcast: Galatians 3: The Purpose of the Law
  (read a description and download podcast)

Fantasy novelist M. B. Weston is the author of The Elysian Chronicles, a fantasy series about guardian angel warfare and treason, which is being adapted into a graphic novel series by Wandering Sage Publications, Inc., with Weston penning the script and KISS comic book artist, Adam Black, doing the art. Weston hosts a podcast on her To Elysia and Back Again blog, which can be downloaded on itunes. Click here for a complete listing of the To Elysia and Back Again podcast episodes. Weston is also the host of The Final Cut in Movies, an internet radio talk show about science fiction and fantasy movies on Ad Astra Radio, which can also be heard as a podcast on M. B. Weston's Podcasts site or on iTunes. Weston speaks to children, teens, and adults about writing and the process of getting published. For more information on M. B. Weston, visit www.mbweston.com. Find out more about The Elysian Chronicles at www.elysianchronicles.com.

Galatians 1c: What’s Missing from Galatians 1:1-5?

Something extremely important is missing from Galatians 1:1-5. And guess what? Paul probably left it out on purpose.

In our last blog, we discussed the importance of Grace (God giving us something undeserved) and how God solving our inadequacy problem gives glory to Him (not us). We also discussed how the Bible and Paul teach that we are saved by grace and kept by grace. I ended saying, “Grace—God giving us something undeserved—is vital to Christianity. Doesn’t it make sense that grace would be the first thing attacked?” (And of course I’m not going to ask a question like that without knowing the answer…)

During Paul’s time, a group of people called Judaizers believed and taught that we are saved by grace, but kept in God’s good graces by continuing to follow the Jewish law (i.e. by works). They taught that gentile believers should also convert to Judaism and follow the Jewish law (especially regarding circumcision) upon conversion.

You can see the problem here:

• Christianity teaches: Saved by grace, kept by grace.
• The Judaizers taught: Saved by grace, kept by works.

The next problem: The Judaizers had infiltrated the churches in Galatia with this false teaching, causing arguments, confusion, and division. Paul wrote Galatians in response to their teaching. This leads us back to the original question: What is missing from the salutation in Galatians?

The answer: Paul’s prayer of Thanksgiving for the Galatians.

In almost all of Paul’s other letters, he expresses how much he thanks God for the churches he writes to. Examples:

• Romans 1:8-10 (“First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is being reported all over the world.”)
• 1 Corinthians 1:4-9 (“I always thank God for you because of his grace given to you in Christ Jesus. For in him you have been enriched in every way—in all your speaking and in all your knowledge—because our testimony about Christ was confirmed in you.”)
• Philippians 1:3-6 (I thank my God every time I remember you.”)

Allowing false teaching to infiltrate the church is a huge issue. Think about this: Christians in Corinth were struggling with some pretty major immorality issues that would make most cultures today blush. (Corinth’s patron goddess was, after all, Aphrodite.) Yet Paul still thanks God for the Corinthians. Galatia wasn’t struggling with those types of issues, yet Paul is not thankful for the Galatians.

Take a look at Galatians 1:6 – 9:
“I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel – which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned! As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned!”

I see two main points here:

• The gospel mixed with truth and lies is NOT THE GOSPEL. It’s like being pregnant. You either are or you aren’t. You can never be “almost pregnant.” (I stole that illustration from my mother.) Once you add works into the gospel message, you’re preaching a different message altogether.
• False Teaching is serious. “…I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned.” Paul rarely uses such strong language with any other issue.

How do we apply this to our lives?

We need to adopt Paul’s No Tolerance attitude toward false teaching. We must stop false teaching immediately. In churches and other ministries, this means not giving someone who has a tendency to pervert the gospel message a platform (such as letting the person teach Sunday school, or speak at your conference, etc.). Individually, don’t give false teachers a platform in your own life.

We must protect ourselves against false teaching by studying the Bible.Ask any banker: the best way to spot a counterfeit bill is to intricately know what a real one looks like. (I stole that illustration from my pastor, Jim Nite.) Study God’s Word on your own. Know the original backwards and forwards, and you won’t fall prey to false teaching.

Churches must protect their congregations by teaching sound theology. Terms such as “Relevant Church,” “Seeker-Friendly Church,” and “Simple Church” are supposed to make us feel as though we’re changing with the times and relevant. I understand the importance of trying to appeal to modern culture. Dorian chants have been out of fashion for a few centuries and probably would fail to draw new people. Unfortunately, I see a frightening, dangerous trend of churches sacrificing teaching sound theology for “relevance.”

Mothers mustwean babies off milk and feed them solid food, or the baby won’t grow and develop physically or emotionally. (I stole that illustration from Paul.) Christians are the same. Feed a congregation only milk, and you’ll not only stunt new believers’ spiritual growth, but you’ll also lose mature believers who need solid food. (Imagine what would happen if you forced an adult to drink only milk. You’d starve him or her to death.) Abandoning deeper theological teaching will deprive congregations of the weapons they need to fight the wolves in false teachers’ clothing.

Recap—False Teachers:

• Don’t give them a platform.
• Don’t give them easy prey.

We’ll continue with the next part of Galatians 1 in the next blog, and we’ll discover something about God and the Gospel message that will totally blow your mind!

Click below to read prior blogs on Galatians:

• A New Direction
• What is Truth – Part 2
• Galatians 1a: The Context
• Galatians 1b: What Exactly is Grace?

Pocasts on Galatians:

• Podcast: Galatians 1: Grace vs. the Law
  (read a description and download podcast)
• Podcast: Galatians 2: No Double Jeopardy
  (read a description and download podcast)
• Podcast: Galatians 3: The Purpose of the Law
  (read a description and download podcast)

Be sure to check out my new To Elysia and Back Again podcast every Tuesday! Click here for more information.

Fantasy novelist M. B. Weston is the author of The Elysian Chronicles, a fantasy series about guardian angel warfare and treason, which is being adapted into a graphic novel series by Wandering Sage Publications, Inc., with Weston penning the script and KISS comic book artist, Adam Black, doing the art. Weston hosts a podcast on her To Elysia and Back Again blog, which can be downloaded on itunes. Click here for a complete listing of the To Elysia and Back Againpodcast episodes. Weston is also the host of The Final Cut in Movies, an internet radio talk show about science fiction and fantasy movies on Ad Astra Radio, which can also be heard as a podcast on M. B. Weston's Podcasts site or on iTunes. Weston speaks to children, teens, and adults about writing and the process of getting published. For more information on M. B. Weston, visit www.mbweston.com. Find out more about The Elysian Chronicles at www.elysianchronicles.com.

Quote of the Day: (03/23/09)

Leadership is a potent combination of strategy and character. But if you must be without one, be without the strategy.

--General H. Norman Schwarzkopf

Description: Make it Blend

I’ve been discussing description in a few of my recent blogs:

• “On Writing: Editing Your Description”
• “Description: If it Doesn’t Matter, Axe It!”
• “Description: MAKE it Matter!”
• “Description: Bring Your World to Life!”

Today, I’ll discuss how to make your description balanced—how to make it blend.

First, you must understand the Rule of Three’s. Stephen King discusses this in his book, On Writing, in much better detail than I can. So purchase his book—it’s an amazing book and worth it. And no, I don’t know Stephen King personally, and no one has asked me to say this. It’s just a really good book about writing. (Kids, it contains a few bad words, so ask your parents first.)

I’m assuming you all will read about the Rule of Three’s from the master, so I’ll just sum it up here:

• You only need three or four main details when you first introduce a scene. For instance, in A Prophecy Forgotten, book I of the Elysian Chronicles, needed to give the reader a quick introduction to The Treetop Inn, a key setting, not only in A Prophecy Forgotten, but also in Out of the Shadows. It deserves a paragraph introduction. I’ve highlighted my main details:
       The Treetop Inn had been the most popular meeting place in the City of Ezzer for five centuries. It was located in the top of one of the tallest trees in the city, and it was one of the only buildings left from the days of Edenian when Ezzer was king. The vast tavern’s only light came from a few glow torches and patches of sunlight that poured through its multicolored crystal windows. It had plump, cushy booths for quiet conversations, immense round tables with soft perching stools for lively parties, and the best honeywine and finest service in all Elysia.
  (The "best honeywine and service" are small bits of “telling” because I can only show so much.)
• The reader will fill in the rest of the details.Did I tell you about the wood-paneled walls? Did I mention the smells? I admit I cheated. I snuck in a few sounds (quiet conversations and lively parties), but you’re inside the Treetop Inn. You’ve filled in the details for me, saving me a bunch of work. (Thank you, by they way.)

Oh, remember that the Rule of Three’s applies to introducing characters as well.

You’ve started with your three to four main description elements, but you know you want to add description to more of the scene, and you should. But how do you add description without boring the reader?

Blend it in!

When I first wrote A Prophecy Forgotten, I included three paragraphs that described cherubians (my angel creatures) in full detail into my first chapter. A big writing mistake! I axed the paragraphs and blended the necessary detail into my narrative when I introduced Arch Seraph Zephor. First, I looked over my paragraphs and pulled out the details I knew I could show instead of tell:

• Zephor’s uniform (a seraph’s uniform, silver and black)
• Non-seraph uniforms (LAF uniforms, maroon and black)
• Cherubian wingspan compared to body height
• Cherubian wing color is not white
• Zephor is old.

These sections take place at different stages in “Chapter One: A Message of Hope.” I’ve underlined the “blended parts.”

     Arch-Seraph Zephor clasped his hands behind his back and paced back and forth along the wall that surrounded the Southern Command Tower. The black leather trim on his grey seraph’s kilt swished just above his knees. His black boots, by design, made no sound. Zephor ignored both the icy wind that rustled through his brown wings and the annoying sprite that kept singing in his ear. As he stared at the gloomy, endless sea of fog that surrounded the tower, the creases around his brown eyes deepened, and he wrinkled his nose. The fog hid the southern front’s charred, leafless trees and scorched grass, but it still failed to block out the territory’s smoky stench. 
     Zephor continued pacing around the wall, where soldiers wearing the maroon and black kilts of the Elysian army guarded the tower with their bows readied. Their black breastplates and helmetsbore numerous dents and scratches from recent battles. Notched swords hung at their sides; mud caked their boots, legs, and arms; and their shoulders hunched from weariness. Normally, Zephor would have complained about the lack of supplies and weapons and demanded to know why his country refused to send him reinforcements... He extended his wings, which were shaped like a falcon’s and measured twice the length of his body, and flew to the ground, where he continued pacing.
(To read the first chapters of A Prophecy Forgotten in their entirety, click here.)

Blending not only helped me add a description of cherubians into my prose, but it also helped me describe the Elysian military’s exhaustion, Elysia's war-torn Southern Front, and hint at political turmoil. Double duty.

So take those details you want to include in your prose—details that will enhance the mood of your book (or your book’s soundtrack)—and blend them in. Don't let your old crone just “point at the forest.” Make her “point a twisted, spindly finger at the shadows in the forest.”

You’ve added two sensory details to your story. You’ve enhanced your reader’s experience ten-fold, and you only used four extra words! That’s spending your words wisely! It’s giving your words double duty! It’s making your description matter! Best yet, it makes your world come alive!

Be sure to check out my new To Elysia and Back Again podcast every Tuesday! Click here for more information.

Fantasy novelist M. B. Weston is the author of The Elysian Chronicles, a fantasy series about guardian angel warfare and treason, which is being adapted into a graphic novel series by Wandering Sage Publications, Inc., with Weston penning the script and KISS comic book artist, Adam Black, doing the art. Weston hosts a podcast on her To Elysia and Back Again blog, which can be downloaded on itunes. Click here for a complete listing of the To Elysia and Back Againpodcast episodes. Weston is also the host of The Final Cut in Movies, an internet radio talk show about science fiction and fantasy movies on Ad Astra Radio, which can also be heard as a podcast on M. B. Weston's Podcasts site or on iTunes. Weston speaks to children, teens, and adults about writing and the process of getting published. For more information on M. B. Weston, visit www.mbweston.com. Find out more about The Elysian Chronicles at www.elysianchronicles.com.

The Final Cut in Movies Podcast: Race to Witch Mountain

The Final Cut in Movies: Putting Science Fiction & Fantasy Center Stage

The Final Cut in Movies is a talk radio show I host that airs throughout the week from 2:00 to 3:00 am & pm on Ad Astra Radio: The World's Premier Science Fiction Talk Radio Network ® (www.adastraradio.com). I also podcast the show each week on iTunes.

On this week’s show, I'll be discussing Disney's Race to Witch Mountain, what I think it takes for a movie to have "mojo," that intangible quality that turns a film into a blockbuster, and other science fiction & fantasy news. Check my To Elysia and Back Again blog over the weekend for more comments that I couldn't fit into the show.

To listen to tonight's show:

• Click here from 2:00 to 3:00 to listen via streaming audio on AdAstraRadio.com.
• Click here to download this show’s podcast from M. B. Weston's Podcasts.
• Click here to download this show off iTunes.

Upcoming Movie Releases: For those of you who like fantasy and science fiction movies, here are this weekend's newest movie releases in theaters:

• Knowing (Okay, it's not 100% science fiction, but it's close and it's the only thing of interest coming out this week. No, Julia Roberts and Clive Owen do not interest me.) 

M. B. Weston's Box Office Predictions:
Which movies will top the charts this week? I'm gazing into the future and predicting that these movies will top the box office once Monday hits. Be sure to check back on Monday to see just how close I got. (And you can make fun of me if I'm way off.)

1. Knowing 
2. Duplicity 
3. I Love You Man 
4. Race to Witch Mountain 
5. Watchmen 

Missed Saturday's edition of The Final Cut in Movies? Don’t worry, you can catch the re-runs each day from 2:00-3:00am & pm at www.adastraradio.com, or you can download the podcast at M. B. Weston's Podcasts site or by following this link on iTunes.

Be sure to check out M. B. Weston's new podcast on her blog, To Elysia and Back Again! You can download the To Elysia and Back Againpodcast on iTunes.

Fantasy novelist M. B. Weston is the author of The Elysian Chronicles, a fantasy series about guardian angel warfare and treason, which is being adapted into a graphic novel series by Wandering Sage Publications, Inc., with Weston penning the script and KISS comic book artist, Adam Black, doing the art. Weston hosts a podcast on her To Elysia and Back Again blog, which can be downloaded on iTunes. Click here for a complete listing of the To Elysia and Back Againpodcast episodes. Weston is also the host of The Final Cut in Movies, an internet radio talk show about science fiction and fantasy movies on Ad Astra Radio, which can also be heard as a podcast on M. B. Weston's Podcasts site or on iTunes. Weston speaks to children, teens, and adults about writing and the process of getting published. For more information on M. B. Weston, visit www.mbweston.com. Find out more about The Elysian Chronicles at www.elysianchronicles.com.

Quote of the Day (03/22/09)

"Can you imagine Paul Twittering or updating his FaceBook Status?

Stuck in this prison cell for the 14th day. The guy next to me smells like old cornflakes. Read the blog @ www.tinyurl...

 or...

@PetertheRock Suck it up. I was once stoned. And tell John to grow a beard or the whole world will start thinking he’s Mary Magdalene.

He he he."

--M. B. Weston in "Galatians: The Context" on www.mbwestoblog.com.

Description: Bring Your World to Life!

I’ve been blogging on writing description, and so far, I’ve discussed:

• "On Writing: Editing Your Description"
• "Description: If it Doesn’t Matter, Axe It!"
• "Description: MAKE it Matter!"

As I’ve mentioned before, you want your world to haunt your reader. (I feel like some paranormal ghost hunter, but I’m serious.) To inspire true “haunting,” you need to bring your world to life.

First, keep in mind how your reader experiences your world: through the five senses:

• Sight
• Sound
• Smell
• Taste
• Touch

(Ooh, look! Three S’s and two T’s! That makes it easy to remember!)

If you do your writing job right, your reader will turn off the visual words on the page and turn on his or her “inner movie.” (At this point, you’ve got your readers in your clutches and you can toy with them. He he he! *Evil smile* I love to toy with my readers’ emotions!) Once this happens, your reader begins experiencing your story through the five senses instead of words. Make those senses work for you! Use as many as you can!

During my editing process, I actually use five different colored highlighters to highlight all five senses I've written into my scene. A quick glance at the colors shows me what senses I’m missing. I take exceptions only with smells and tastes, as those aren’t always available.

To enhance the sensory experience for my reader, I then imagine myself as my main character. I put myself in his exact position, and try to let the scene come alive for me. What’s Davian feeling here? What’s he seeing? What’s he hearing?

I’ll show you an example of how this works. In Out of the Shadows, book II of the Elysian Chronicles, Davian and his soldiers escape into an old abandoned tower now populated with dragons. I wanted to create an “Aaaah” experience in my reader’s mind, kind of like when we watch Gandalf light up the big hall in the Moria. I needed to get into Davian’s head and imagine what he might be sensing. Because I thought beyond simply sight, here’s what I wrote (sensory details underlined):

     The door lifted, and the wind whistledaround the opening. Inside, Davian saw a great room over fifty yards wide. Round pillars reached from the floor to the ceiling one hundred feet overhead. Three wooden, four-tiered chandeliers that held almost three hundred glow torches each hung on the ceiling, casting green light across the room. Scores of dragons crawled in the stone hallways, up the pillars, and around the ceiling, and sounds of their claws hitting the stone echoed through the tower’s halls.
     Davian and the rest of his soldiers flew inside. He expected the temperature to drop the way it did when he entered a cave, but instead it felt warm. He looked around and saw fires cackling in the great hall’s ten main fireplaces.

Quite better than, “Davian entered the tower.”

Try this with your writing. Highlight the senses you’ve already incorporated. If you discover you’re missing a specific color (sense), fill it in.

Use caution or you’ll over-stimulate your readers. Tomorrow, I’ll discuss how to complete the balancing act in Making Description Blend.

Be sure to check out my new To Elysia and Back Again podcast every Tuesday! Click here for more information.

Fantasy novelist M. B. Weston is the author of The Elysian Chronicles, a fantasy series about guardian angel warfare and treason, which is being adapted into a graphic novel series by Wandering Sage Publications, Inc., with Weston penning the script and KISS comic book artist, Adam Black, doing the art. Weston hosts a podcast on her To Elysia and Back Again blog, which can be downloaded on itunes. Click here for a complete listing of the To Elysia and Back Againpodcast episodes. Weston is also the host of The Final Cut in Movies, an internet radio talk show about science fiction and fantasy movies on Ad Astra Radio, which can also be heard as a podcast on M. B. Weston's Podcasts site or on iTunes. Weston speaks to children, teens, and adults about writing and the process of getting published. For more information on M. B. Weston, visit www.mbweston.com. Find out more about The Elysian Chronicles at www.elysianchronicles.com.

Galatians 1b: What exactly is Grace?

You’ve probably heard of grace. We know it’s amazing, it usually accompanies Mercy to dinner parties, and if you've seen me walk, you know I don't have it. But what is it?

I’ve been discussing the inadequacy we as humans feel in a few prior blogs (A New Direction and What is Truth – Part 2), and I argued that we cannot bridge this gap between us and God on our own. God had to do it, I said. The beautiful thing is this:

God did do it.

I will discuss how He did it in more detail a few blogs from now when we begin discussing Galatians 2: No Double Jeopardy. Right now follow me through this concept of we call grace.

Instead of the long, drawn out version, I’ll give you “Michelle’s Quick Definitions” of Mercy and Grace:

• Mercy: Withholding punishment. (Or withholding something deserved.)
• Grace: Giving someone something undeserved.

An illustration will help. Pretend I talk back to my mother and say something rude. (Oh, and you’ll have to pretend I’m a teenager.) Even though I deserve a punishment, my mother understands I’ve had a hard day. She decides to forgive me and withhold said punishment. That’s mercy. Then, my mom decides to take me out for an iced latte at Starbucks. She is, at that point, giving me something undeserved. That’s grace.

Follow me here.

God knows about the separation between us and Him. He also knows we are powerless to fix it. So he made a way to 1) forgive us for our inadequacies (withholding punishment for something we deserve: mercy) and 2) bridge the gap of separation (give us something undeserved: grace). I’ll discuss the specifics of this when we reach Galatians 2.

Paul tells us a little bit more about grace in his salutation to the Galatians in Galatians 1:1-5:

“Paul, an apostle—sent not from men nor by man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead—and all the brothers with me. To the churches in Galatia: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us and our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be the glory for ever and ever. Amen.”

I love how Paul inserts pure doctrine into his salutations. Those verses sum up the entire message of Christianity and of how grace works:

• Who is such grace from? From God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
• How do we receive said grace? [The Lord Jesus Christ] who gave himself for our sins.
• Why? To rescue us from the present evil age.
• Under whose authority? According to the will of our God and Father.
• Why does He bother? To whom be the glory for ever and ever.
• POP QUIZ: What have we humans done so far, according to these verses, to deserve said grace????

This grace Paul is talking about glorifies God and not man. God is doing it all! Paul explains this in Ephesians 2:8-9: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no many can boast.” (Want to hear something that will really blow your mind? Read Ephesians 1:4-5 and you’ll find out God had it all orchestrated before He even created us, but that’s a whole different series.) This is why I love Christianity. It glorifies God, not us. I delve into a little more detail in the podcast: Galatians 1: Grace vs. the Law.

Paul and the disciples took this message across the ancient world: we are saved by grace. As in, God has given us something we don’t deserve. And quite naturally, if we are saved by grace—by God doing something to bridge the gap and fix the inadequacy because we can’t—then we are also therefore kept by grace.

Grace—God giving us something undeserved—is vital to Christianity. Doesn’t it make sense that grace would be the first thing attacked?

More in the next blog.

Click below to read prior blogs on Galatians:

• A New Direction
• What is Truth – Part 2
• Podcast: Glatians 1: Grace vs. the Law
  (read a description and download podcast)
• Galatians 1: The Context
• Podcast: Galatians 2: No Double Jeopardy
  (read a description and download podcast)
• Podcast: Galatians 3: The Purpose of the Law
  (read a description and download podcast)

Be sure to check out my new To Elysia and Back Again podcast every Tuesday! Click here for more information.

Fantasy novelist M. B. Weston is the author of The Elysian Chronicles, a fantasy series about guardian angel warfare and treason, which is being adapted into a graphic novel series by Wandering Sage Publications, Inc., with Weston penning the script and KISS comic book artist, Adam Black, doing the art. Weston hosts a podcast on her To Elysia and Back Again blog, which can be downloaded on itunes. Click here for a complete listing of the To Elysia and Back Againpodcast episodes. Weston is also the host of The Final Cut in Movies, an internet radio talk show about science fiction and fantasy movies on Ad Astra Radio, which can also be heard as a podcast on M. B. Weston's Podcasts site or on iTunes. Weston speaks to children, teens, and adults about writing and the process of getting published. For more information on M. B. Weston, visit www.mbweston.com. Find out more about The Elysian Chronicles at www.elysianchronicles.com.

Description: MAKE it Matter!

Put it to work by giving it double duty!

I’ve been blogging on using description this week. If you’re just joining, you’ll want to check out the prior blogs:

• "Writing: Editing Your Description"
• "Description: If it Doesn’t Matter, Axe It!"

This next description trick makes me tingle—it’s that cool. MAKE YOUR DESCRIPTION MATTER! You’re the writer. You’re the one sitting at the keyboard day in and day out. Force your words to do your bidding!

How can you make your description matter beyond simply setting the mood? How can you make your description matter to your plot and character development?

Make your description work double duty. If you use the words, at least make them work up a sweat. You make your words work double duty by:

• Making them relevant to your plot
• Making them relevant to your characters’ development (No, I did not intend for that to rhyme!)

Let me use two examples from Out of the Shadows, book II of the Elysian Chronicles. Take a look at one of the description-heavy paragraphs from my prior blog and what I took out. More importantly, check out what I left in:

     Tom and Jake ran outside into Tecumseh Court, or T-Court, a courtyard of grey brick where midshipmen lined up for formations. Two once bronze, now verdigris cannons called Mars and Venus pointed at each other from atop stone bases, guarding the courtyard’s entrance with eternal vigilance. Past the cannons on each side of the court, t Two flags flew in the breeze. One bore the red, white, and blue of the United States. The other, the navy-blue flag of the Brigade of Naval Academy Midshipman. Both flags flew at half-mast to honor the dead in the Cincinnati bombing. Haven’t seen them flying at full mast since I arrived, thought Tom.
     Just past the cannons outside of T-Court stood the statue of Tecumseh--a bronze replica of the figurehead of the USS Delaware, a Union ship in the American Civil War. a ship the union scuttled at Norfolk during the American Civil War. The actual Indian was Tamanend, chief of the Delaware Indians. For some reason, midshipmen disliked the name Tamanend and after many nicknames including Powatan, Tecumseh--the war loving Shawnee chief--stuck. The old Indian’s head was shaved except for a tuft of it on top that fell down in spirals. A quiver of arrows hung on Tecumseh’s back--Gabriella’s favorite part of the statue. Tecumseh was a fellow archer.

• The names of the cannons don’t matter. I originally loved the idea of having the cannons “guard” the entrance to T-Court, but I just can’t see any way of making it relevant to the plot.
• The flags flying at half-mast matter. America and the World are far different in Out of the Shadows, which takes place ten years from now. I need the flags flying at half-mast, and I need Tom to notice it.
• I couldn’t bear myself to take Tecumseh out. Tecumseh is too much of a Naval Academy symbol to eliminate. I slashed some of Tecumseh’s history, but to make Tecumseh matter, I made him relevant to Gabriella’s character development. Gabs is an archer. I show her love and even addiction to archery In A Prophecy Forgotten, but I needed to show her attachment to archery in Out of the Shadows as well, especially since that attachment pushes her into big trouble. I gave Tecumseh double duty. When Gabs sees him, she doesn’t think “Union Ship” or “Naval Academy History.” She thinks: archery. Oh yeah! He matters.

I also put Tecumseh on double duty in the next paragraph:

Below, Jake [Tom’s best friend at the Academy] muttered, "Hold on." He stopped in front of Tecumseh and took out a penny. "For my chem test! Got to make my peace offering to the god of the 2.0." He tossed the penny at the statue, and saluted Tecumseh with his left hand--a ritual for superstitious midshipmen who wanted a passing grade point average of 2.0 or above.

Jake is a bit of an overachiever, but he’s not as prevalent a character as Tom. I can’t spend as many words on him. This scene shows his quest for good grades, and adds to his personality. Oh yeah! An unimportant Naval Academy ritual just became relevant!

When I write, I love to incorporate as much of the five senses as possible. (I’ll discuss that tomorrow.) Here’s another great trick to make your description matter: describe your scenery’s effect on the reader.

Two places in Out of the Shadows where I do this:

"Hold on," said Davian. "Listen to that." The wind blew through the trees. "I haven’t heard the wind in ten years." A bird chirped. "Or that either."

I want to show the wind and the birds in order to give the audience a sensory detail experience. I want them enjoying the woods Davian and his men traverse. However, I want my description performing double duty. I’m showing the wind and the birds’ chirps effect on Davian.He’s been incarcerated for 10 years. (Ooh, did I just give something away? Are you just dying to know what happens to Davian?) Davian, a military hero who focuses purely on his objective, is now noticing wind and birds. This shows a bit of his character and how he’s feeling. Double duty description.

Using description to enhance plot might sound difficult, but it can be quite fun. In Hunt for Red October, Tom Clancy spent an entire chapter describing how a submarine worked and describing a flaw one of the nuclear subs. Reading through that chapter makes the reader tense because he knows at the end: BOOM! If you work your description right, you can use it to control your reader’s mood and create suspense, hence enhancing your plot. Double duty.

Here’s an example from Out of the Shadows (with a few parts taken out for speed):

  Davian heard a whoosh above him to his right and felt a gust of wind. The fog swirled around him... They heard it again and felt the same gust of wind. Theo gasped and pointed to the sky where a long, reptilian tale disappeared into the fog above... Marcus pointed [into the fog] at something that looked like the wing of a bat, except it was green and about ten feet wide.
     After most of the fog cleared, a rust-colored dragon more than twenty feet tall sat ten yards away from them. The five claws on each of its four feet grasped at the rock it had landed on. Spikes as long as Davian’s hand ran down the dragon’s back, and they turned into spikes over a foot long at the end of its tail, which swished about on the ground in front of its feet. Five horns grew out of its head like a natural crown, and it pointed its long, thin snout at Davian, Boronan, and Marcus. Its red wings were folded on its back.... More fog cleared, revealing more than fifty dragons that surrounded Davian’s soldiers and unicorns. Twenty more circled them in the air.

Pure description, but highly plot-relevant. The description creates the suspense. It does double duty. I could have just sent a few dragons flying overhead, but that’s boring and clichéd! The dragons also are main characters, so I choose to spend a lot of words on them.

Tomorrow, I'll discuss using sensory details to bring your world to life.

Be sure to check out my new To Elysia and Back Again podcast every Tuesday! Click here for more information.

Fantasy novelist M. B. Weston is the author of The Elysian Chronicles, a fantasy series about guardian angel warfare and treason, which is being adapted into a graphic novel series by Wandering Sage Publications, Inc., with Weston penning the script and KISS comic book artist, Adam Black, doing the art. Weston hosts a podcast on her To Elysia and Back Again blog, which can be downloaded on itunes. Click here for a complete listing of the To Elysia and Back Againpodcast episodes. Weston is also the host of The Final Cut in Movies, an internet radio talk show about science fiction and fantasy movies on Ad Astra Radio, which can also be heard as a podcast on M. B. Weston's Podcasts site or on iTunes. Weston speaks to children, teens, and adults about writing and the process of getting published. For more information on M. B. Weston, visit www.mbweston.com. Find out more about The Elysian Chronicles at www.elysianchronicles.com.