Jack LaFountain's Blog

Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.  Philippians 3:12   I was taught long ago that there is nothing free except our will. Only the willingly blind and ignorant believe they have found an exception to that truth. My Christian friends might protest that salvation and grace are free, but they are wrong.   Romans chapter 5, speaking of salvation, mentions a “free” gift....

You have to have a stout heart to be an author. I can’t speak for others, but my characters all like to complain. I mean, I give them a voice the world can hear, and what do they do? They blame me for being a busybody and telling their secrets all over town. I never get an “atta boy”, only a string of “about time you got it right”.   Take Ed Landry, for example. He loves to complain about how that trouble seems to seek him out, and how his desire to help others always gets him into hot...

“There is nothing permanent except change.”  Heraclitus   I once wrote a book about Christian faith. I didn’t want to. I argued about it with God and my editor, maintaining it was a waste of time. The reason for my protest was that I wanted to sell  books as well as write them. After giving in and writing it, I did my best on the book. I think it is worth reading. My theology was sound, and the telling is a bit entertaining. Of course, it didn’t sell. A prophet has no honor in his own country...

But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in. Matthew 23:13   This scripture popped into my head a few weeks ago when I was trying rather unsuccessfully to navigate from the front doors of the church into the sanctuary. Now, I can’t speak for Yankees, but in the South, the preferred place to converse in most public buildings is the doorway. If you’ve...

Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt.  Exodus 3:10   Moses was raised in Pharaoh’s house but chose to leave its luxury in favor of his Jewish heritage. Seeing a Jewish slave being beaten by an Egyptian, he intervened and killed the overseer. The deed became known, and Pharaoh pronounced a death sentence upon Moses. Moses ran for his life. Years later, in the course of his shepherd duties, he happened...

“The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive the Veterans of earlier wars were treated and appreciated by their nation.” George Washington   I do not believe American history is generally in accord with Washington’s remarks. From the Revolution through the War on Terror, a peek deeper than parades and speeches shows that we have treated our veterans shabbily. The treatment of the Bonus...

Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. .. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.    Matthew 5:14,16 Many people say that our country was not founded on Christian principles. I don’t engage them in debate mostly because, in part, this is true to an extent. Christianity is not a republic; it is a kingdom, so differences in thinking cannot help but exist. That said, there are stunning...

Before the advent of TomTom, Google Maps, and GPS, I navigated around the Western United States as a travel nurse. I am tempted to say here that “somehow” I managed to get through large cities, make highway connections, and traverse thousands of miles to places I had never been. That I had never been to these places was a huge part of their appeal.   But there was no “somehow” about any of it. I got to where I needed to go by learning the way there. I once moved from a tiny rural community in...

“ Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: ” Matthew 7:7   In pursuit of peace with God, Jesus’s command to knock is the action that results from asking and seeking. All three may seem to happen at once, and in a way, they almost do. Though you may ask God to reveal Himself and seek after God, entry into the kingdom comes when you knock.   Knocking is a sign of surrender. You cannot storm the gates of heaven and barge into the kingdom of...

“Humans don’t want sober advice, but affirmation that their folly is wisdom.”   Ralph Peters~ Endless War   One of the greatest mistakes I made as a new author was to self-edit my writing. Now, there’s nothing wrong with going over what we’ve written to refine and polish the work. That is a must, but it is not the end-all of editing. I say that because there are always errors that we simply cannot see. Oh, the optic nerve works fine in relaying the image. The problem lies in the brain that...