You ask, "Where are you to worship? We reply wherever God is glorified, Christ is exalted, God's Word is honored, the Holy Spirit's Power is evidenced and man abased.. Never go anywhere where you do not know more of God's Word when you entered. Never be in any Body where you may be "turned out"; or have your name down where it may be scratched out. Be content with the membership which God has given you in the spiritual unity of the Body of Christ, from which no power in Earth or Hell can cut you off; and be content that your name is written in the Lamb's "book of life" before the foundation of the world, from which no power in Earth or hell can ever take it out. Do nothing to imply that you do not hold these priceless privileges to be of infinite value; or that they can be added to in the slightest degree by any of man's corporate unities."

E.W. Bullinger

ca. 1898 

In Christ with you,

Anthony

An Inheritance in Light  7-18-2010

Cynthia and I were invited to Tom and Sharon Smith's house for a barbecue on Saturday afternoon. What made it unique were all the folks that showed up. Wow...there must have been 50 of their friends and work associates who wandered in. Funny thing is, many were from Sharon's postal route up in Auburn and friends of Toms. The obvious impact the Smith's have upon their community is impressive: a beacon of God's love from them both is inviting to everyone around them. They are a light from a hill that cannot be hid.

A party is a party is a party-however, as the night grew later, the true reason for why we were all gathered, unfolded. There were a select group of God's kids who wanted to know more about their personal entrance into the Royal Household of God. I believe that God met there needs. What a privilege we have to shine as lights in this dark world. 

"Giving thanks unto the Father, which has made us meet (able and fit) to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: Who has delivered (rescued) us from the power of darkness, and hath translated (given us citizenship and sonship) us into the kingdom of his dear son..."Col 1:12&13  

Gratitude,
Anthony 

I began writing at an early age, but not words—music. It wasn’t until the early 90’s, while producing music scores for video and film productions that writing words became of such interest. Writing didn’t start with novels either, it began with scripts for documentaries, local historical events. That work evolved into a documentary on the expansion west, The Donner Party influenced by a journey with living members of the Donner and Breen families, their reliving of the adventure and horror of their forefathers struggle to California in 1846. That experience finally became my first screen play: An American Psalm.

  It wasn’t until after two screenplays, a few years later, that I realized the limitations of the screenplay. I was limited by two very important elements. Having made a small budget film and scads of commercials, I knew the expense involved in making movies. Directing and producing a small budget film for the Sonoma Film Festival with lots of folks involved allowed me to crystallize one key fact. When you write a screenplay, if you can’t produce it yourself, or sell it to a film company, it will never see the light of day. You must write within the limitation of your budget or be assured of selling your creation to a company that will produce your film. Otherwise, it gathers dust and never produces a change.

  When I write a novel, my budget is limitless. The locations, as well as the characters carry no expense. I still have the issue of whether or not anyone wishes to read the story, but I don’t have any limitation other than that. In fact, as in all my work, someone’s life is always paramount. From tragedy to triumph, from commitment to fulfillment, from the seemingly impossible to the achievement of a dream; in service to God and others—that is the hero’s journey and so whether it’s on the screen or in a novel—maybe even in a song, it’s still the expression of a passion for good and thankfulness to God.

Anthony Barbera is the author of three novels, including Jonah - In the Time of the Kings, Catching Baby Moses  and The First Rains of October as well as  two screenplays. An American Psalm and In the Shadow of Grace. He lives with his family in Northern California.

"The Truth of the matter is, we all come to prayer with a tangled mass of motives--altruistic and selfish, merciful and hateful, loving and bitter. Frankly, this side of eternity we will never unravel the good from the bad, the pure from the inpure. But what I have come to see is that God is big enough to receive us with all our mixture. We do not have to be bright, or pure, or filled with faith, or anything. That is what grace means, and not only are we saved by grace, we live by it as well. And we pray by it."

Richard J. Foster Exerpt from "Prayer-Finding the Heartys True Home."

The above blessed me so I thought that I put pass it along.

Anthony Barbera