Steven Losee - Christian Scribe

  Here are the first two chapters of my mystery novel ONE LAST HIT: CHAPTER 1      Looking out at a Brooklyn night can be like listening to an old blues tune: endlessly sad in a detached kind of way.  That might be why I prefer classical music, especially when I'm on my perch.      I feel I ought to make one thing very clear, right at the beginning: I'm no Spartan crusader.  My three-room apartment on the fourth floor has a waterbed, recliner, couch, two overstuffed chairs, complete kitchen set, complete and modern entertainment center, and hot-and-cold running water.        But my favorite place to sit, when I need to think or sulk, or just for those deep kind of times at night, is on my perch, a.k.a. windowsill.  Sometimes I go all the way onto the fire escape landing for a more panoramic view of the street.      That's where I was one night in early October, as I took slow sips of hot coffee and...

 It's frustrating looking up the meaning of the Greek word "daimonizomai", because sooner or later everyone falls back on "possessed by demons".  What frustrates me is the word "possessed".  If we remove that word from the "religious" context, it always means "owned".       I think everyone agrees that a demon can't "own" a human being.  In fact, this whole idea of "possession" is, I believe, pagan rather than Christian in origin.  In many pagan rituals, the "god" being invoked is said to "possess" either the priest, the shaman or the sacrifice, who begins to "manifest" (ie levitate, change in appearance, behave like a wild animal, reveal secrets, etc.).  Since they are liars anyway, it's foolish to accept their terms except to refute them.     I know there are people who venerate the King James Version, and I have no arguments until they start to idolize it.  In fact, that (...

      In a way, I miss the days before computers and AI made sending appeal letters so professional looking.  I used to get a real kick out of what I'd sometimes find in my mailbox:     "Dear Occupant:     GOD told me to write to YOU specifically and share this REVELATION that He just gave me:     GOD wants to OPEN THE WINDOWS OF HEAVEN for you, pouring out an abundance beyond your wildest dreams!     And all you have to do is empty your bank accounts and send a TAX-DEDUCTIBLE gift to this ministry.       Remember: the angels are waiting to open those windows.  God is waiting to see your response. May you obey His voice through me today! In His Service, Rev. Fullof Myself PO box 666 Lausanne, Switzerland PS: your stamp on the enclosed return envelope will DOUBLE your blessing!" Nope.  They don't write 'em like that anymore.  I kind of miss it.  Actually, I'd use the backs of the sheets fo...

 Through much of my Christian life, I've been on the outside of traditional structures.  I'm not against them.  I just don't see them as necessary.  And in some ways they actually militate against the design given in the New Testament. This book, UPON THIS ROCK, details the New Testament model, so universally neglected by almost every expression, denomination and fellowship that claims to be "Scriptural".  It outlines principles without giving explicit instructions.  And, as the culture around us gets increasingly hostile, this just might be the Church of the Future.  It's available as a paperback or an ebook from amazon.com.  Please let me know your thoughts.  I'm blessed by hearing a variety of viewpoints when it's not a salvific issue.  Blessings!  

  JUST A SLIP I was young in the Lord in those days, and I made a lot of foolish mistakes. But one decision from those days has stayed with me: our financial policy. Concerning money and other donations, I insisted on two things: Nobody involved in the ministry would ever ask anybody for anything, and We would never admit any need unless someone specifically asked (ie: “Do you need a table?” etc.) Out of the five we started with, three of us were working. Four of us were attending local churches, and we tithed to them. We gave what we could to the Mustard Seed, but it didn't amount ot enough to depend on. Nevertheless, the rent was never late, the utilities were always paid, we painted and slowly furnished the place with one easy chair, one folding table and several folding chairs. We also kept the place stocked with Bibles, New Testaments and tracts. Occasionally, we would try to figure out where all this money was coming from. We...

 The play was "Smuggler's Ransom" and was about a James Bond-type secret agent who gets assigned to rescue a captured Bible smuggler in Cold War Romania and winds up getting saved himself.  It was later adapted to a video and is available online.  I later felt that the main character, Bill Donley, needed more treatment.  How would he, as a newly saved counter-assassination agent, function at all?  That caused Part 2: THE CHASE DISPATCH.  Finally I gave Donley closure, personally and professionally, in Part3: LAMBS, WOLVES AND LIONS.   Then I rewrote SMUGGLER'S RANSOM as a narrative and put them all together.  As always, I hope it's a blessing.  Available online from several outlets.