Sorting Beans

Between Two Kingdoms is an adult fantasy written by pastor, author, and film producer Joe Boyd.

Between two Kingdoms is a story about a Kingdom ruled by the Great King and his Son, the Good Prince. The only thing is that this Kingdom has been separated from its lower Kingdom. Both used to be ruled by the Great King and His Son, but Sinkrad—a former servant of the King—had rebelled against the Great King, which caused a division among the children of the King, therefore a division between the upper and lower Kingdom. Sinkrad therefore becomes the “Prince” of the lower kingdom.

Since the division, the Good Prince sends out his messengers—the children—to create relationships with the people of the lower kingdom in hopes of inviting them into the upper Kingdom with the Great King and the Good Prince. Everyone whom the Good Prince welcomes into his kingdom—if they are willing to come—are transformed into being eternally seven. They become child again and live in the care and the joy of the Great King. By the time you get to chapter three, you may very well find yourself in tears as Bobby finds his right place in the Upper Kingdom. People of the lower kingdom lived in a in a “world [that] lacked the substance, the brightness, the solidness of life up on the mountain. It was just a shadow of the Upper Kingdom” (p.17). And when just one person comes to the Good Prince, the entire Kingdom rejoices.

I love how Boyd reveals the person of Jesus in the character of the Good Prince. He depicts the Great Prince as a loving, warm Prince who cares for the Children of the Upper Kingdom, but also as a fierce warrior and protector of his children and those who are being influenced by the Prince of Darkness. In one scene, the Good Prince rushes in and infiltrates the Kingdom of Darkness to rescue one of his own children with a sword and fierce passion.

It is a story about reuniting these two kingdoms where the one true King rules. Boyd illustrates the struggles between the upper and lower Kingdom in a way that captivates his readers and pulls them into the story itself. But before the lower kingdom can be reunited with the Upper Kingdom, there is work to do, which involves building tree-houses for people to learn about the Great King: “A genuine tree house is a little taste—an embassy of the Upper Kingdom here in the lower one” (p.63). Tommy, a child of the King, is chosen by the Good Prince to be a leader in this adventure. This task, however, comes not without a fight against the enemy and his servants.

One could learn a lot from this allegorical fantasy. Boyd does an excellent job at illustrating the struggles Christians face, temptation that befalls them, ministry in this world, and devotion to God. He shows in quite humorous as well as convicting ways the truth of real-life issues. One of these moments happens when Tommy has difficulty differentiating between the Upper Kingdom (Heaven) and the lower Kingdom (earth):

“Don’t be deceived, Tommy. This very much is the Lower Kingdom.
The farther away from the River you get, the dirtier and more
dangerous it becomes. Even the people who live here in these tree
houses are not necessarily followers of the King. Many spend their
time here fighting about the shape of their tree houses or the true
identity of the King or the purpose of the River. Don’t waste your
time in these discussions, even if you are sure you are right. We
haven’t time for pointless debates.” (p.54)

What a great way to illustrate the fact that we as Christians often times fight over non-essentials and completely neglect the duty we are entrusted with.

With writing that is likened unto C.S. Lewis and a story line that had me feeling like I was watching a movie, I give this book a hearty 4.5 out of 5. There is only one reason I don’t give it a total 5, and this is only a small theological preference with regard to the River. However, given the context of what the story illustrates, this is not that big of an issue. I still love the book and would read it again (which is unusual for me).

My vote still remains: 4.5 out of 5!

Be sure to purchase this book for yourself and get ready for an adventure of love, joy, battle, and victory!

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With lots and lots of writing.

I just went through a class called “Life of Christ,” but was really an “Introduction to the Gospels.”

We really didn’t get into the life of Christ much, but we covered some amazing topics leading up to the life of Christ and the writing of the Gospel accounts.

We talked a lot about different types of criticism, such as source criticism, form criticism, and comparison. Our text material for this was Jesus and the Gospels by Craig Blomberg. Great book!

We also got to read through The Harmony of the Gospels. But one of my favorite books we read through in that class was The Jesus I Never Knew by Philip Yancey. That’s a really good read.

There were lots of good stuff in that class, and I’m surprised I wrote at ALL on this website during that time.

In just six weeks, I wrote 78 pages of assignments and final papers, and 12 pages of notes!

That’s why last week I had three guest writers. Their posts were really, really good. You need to read them. Right now. Go do it. They are the last three posts.

So, as much as I have loved that class, boy am I glad to be finished.

What’s coming up next?

I’m really looking forward to reviewing a book, Between Two Kingdoms, by Joe Boyd. It’s an adult fairy tail.

I’ve read the first couple chapters, and plan on downing the rest of it this week. It’s captivating, and you will want to read my review.

So stay tuned as I hash out some clutter out of the closet in my mind.

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Guest article written by Demian Farnworth, keynote blogger at FallenandFlawed.com.

There are two people in the world: Those who go to church and those who don’t.

Let’s talk about those who go to church.

We all know a man who never misses a Sunday morning service–not because he wants to be there… But because it’s his duty.

Dad would roll over in his grave if he didn’t.

A duty he symbolically checks off his list as he kisses his shaky, silver-haired mother on the cheek and then slips out the door, never to give church, God or Christ a second thought.

This man “goes” to church.

On the other hand, we have the man who manically drags his family to church every Sunday only to break down midway through the sermon, struck dumb by the conviction of the Holy Spirit on some secret sin holed up in his heart.

Fortunately he eventually pulls himself together and rejoices when God reminds him of Romans 8:1: “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

But this man’s not done.

Throughout the week he nurses that tension between conviction and joy–his thoughts always hovering between shame from sin and pride in Christ.

Yes, he goes to church. But as you can see, he’s manifestly different than the first man and church doesn’t define him. What gives?

The truth is really very simple.

Guest article written by Daniel C. Wilson, keynote blogger at DesireSpiritualGrowth.com

There is no one so useless as the one who is lukewarm, content, comfortable, and safe behind a buffer of outer holiness.

Trying to remedy this by focusing on living “right” can feed this unusable stratagem. When we focus on living “right,” we inevitably miss out on a passionate pursuit of Christ.

Not only that, but our pursuit of right living empties our life of the spiritual power that ought to be filling our life.

What are you zealous for?

Do you lack zeal for prayer? For missions? For church? For Bible study?

If so, the problem is not a lack of information or focus on those activities.

Guest article by Don Dudley, keynote blogger at YouSeeDryBones.com.

I own books. Let me explain.

I own a history book. I can look in it and learn all about the people who lived in the ancient Sumerian culture. There are early samples of their writings like the epic known as Ishtar’s Descent into the Netherworld. How awesome is that? In the appendix it shows how cuneiform evolved into Hebrew and later Greek.

However, I am not an ancient history scholar.

I have a diet book. It’s all about getting good abs. It shows me how to eat correctly and what exercises I can do to have a sweet upper body. It has a special chapter devoted to building “explosive” speed by correctly developing my muscles.

Judging by my waistline, I am not a body builder.

Another awesome book I own is called The Blair Handbook. It is an extensive volume to help writers know the grammatical rules. This book includes sections on how to notate academic papers in MLA and APA.

Despite this, I can barely spell my own name and homonyms trip me up.

Oh, I also own a Bible.

Today I review a book through BookSneeze, an extension of Thomas Nelson, The Hole in Our Gospel, by Richard Stearns.

Richard Stearns is the president of World Vision U.S. In his book, he writes of his journey through faith and how the corporate world took a toll on it.

In his introduction, Stearns clearly defines the perspective at which he is approaching in his book:

“we are carriers of the gospel—the good news that was meant to change the world. Belief is not enough. Worship is not enough. Personal morality is not enough. And Christian community is not enough. . . . When we committed ourselves to following Christ, we also committed to living our lives in such a way that a watching world would catch a glimpse of God’s character—His love, justice, and mercy—through our words, actions, and behavior” (3).

How long before you actually followed Christ did you say that you “believed” in God?

I can speak for myself here. It was for all my life. I’ve always “believed” in God.

But I didn’t trust in Him. I didn’t love Him. I didn’t worship Him.

There have been numerous people with whom I’ve talked and have told me that they believe in God. Of course, this used to satisfy my inquiry. But not now.

Now, however, when someone tells me they believe in God, I ask them, “Oh yea? That’s great!” And then follow with, “What do you mean by that?”

So why does it take more than just believing?

Whoever follows Jesus knows his voice. They discern from the voice of the enemy, and the voice of their Savior. To put it plainly in the words of Jesus, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me” (John 10:27).

But what does it mean to follow Jesus? I suppose we could write a book about this, but this article does not afford the time and space. So I will break it down into two things for now that are most protuberant: Loving God and Loving Others.

This comes from Jesus’ response to the Pharisees in Matthew 22:36-40: