Inside the Brain of E.C. Henry

Passion for Praise

 Are you the kind of person who has a song in their heart?  

Lotta people here in NE Tennessee aren't shy about singing.  Doesn't take much to get them going. 

Me?  I love singing, but more and more it's the FOCUS of that singing that matters most to me.  My focus is on the Godhead: The Holy Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit.  I love the Lord, and I have a passion for praise! 

Last month I went on a trip back to Illinois with my mother.  We drove the 650+ mile, one-way trek, in two day increment: 350 miles one day, 300 + the next.  Going at 70 MPH for the most part helped make good time.  Not a lot of cool scenery to take in from Kingsport, TN to Princeton, ILL.  Rather, the highlight came when my my put on some of her "praise" CDs.  Charity Gayle, Terry MacAlmon, and Michael W. Smith.  Back when my mom had Covid and on what the hospital tried to make her death bed, but the Lord had a better outcome for my mom -- her miraculous healing!  Praise the Lord. During her stay in the Covid ward of the hospital, while her heath was on the brink I was in her hospital room playing praise music: Terry MacAlmon, Michael W. Smith, and Don Moen.  So who are artists like: Terry MacAlmon, Charity Gayle, Don Moen and Michael W. Smith?  They are performers who tailor their music to worship the Lord.  High worship is what the first three specialize in.  Michael W.Smith in recent years has gotten closer to being a "high worship" performer, but I'm not sure he's there yet.

So what is "high worship"?

High worship is a brand of music where the focus is on worshiping the godhead: the Holy Father, His Son Jesus, and the Holy Spirit.  Is it the kind of music you hear in church?  Probably, though to say that definitively I'd hafta here that for myself, because there in Christian music that is about Christian living, but doesn't go to the level of high worship.  Here's a shortened version of one of my favorite "high praise" songs right now:

Do you love the Lord?  That is really the starting point of high worship; a performers desire to honor and bless the Lord through song.  Focus is everything when it comes to "high worship".  High worship require a focus on the Godhead, NOT on people.  Praising the Lord and desiring to see and be close to Him are recurrent themes in high worship.

The funny thing about "high worship" is that it's relatively easy to do.  I do it all the time.  Sometimes in the car on the way to work.  Sometimes in church as part of the corporate body of Christ.  Sometimes at work when opportunity allows.  Thankfully I've been blessed over the years to be exposed to many "high worship" songs.  Times of worship in church are a great springboard for individual worship of God throughout the week.  When you go to church you should be getting exposed to high worship songs as: Lord, I Lift Your Name on High, I Love You Lord (which sounds like a wedding procession), Blessed be the Name of Lord, (Jesus) Name Above All Names, How Great is Our God, Holy Ground, Amazing Grace and the like.

I've found that focusing on worshiping the Lord helps bring peace to my being.  When I praise God, there is a spiritual renewing that happens; a lifting of burdens when the Lord is praised in song, be that corporately as the body of Christ (the church) or individually.  Praising the Lord is also a key part of spiritual warfare and taking back ground that Satan occupies.  The children of Israel were told to march around the walls of Jericho and praise God.  In obediently doing so, God caused the walls to fall down and the children of Israel took over an enemy's stronghold.

Struggle with sin?   Praise the Lord in song and ask Him for His deliverance.  Praising the Lord in song acknowledges His greatness, and many times gets the Lord to do great things in the world. 

So don't give the devil any room to operate in your life, praise the Lord through song and do your part to see the power of God act in your life and in your immediate surroundings.  We were all made to be worshipers of God in some form or another.  And sometimes when we worship the Lord in spirit and truth the  Heavenly choirs  join in.  I heard a story about that on the Alaskan seacoast where I guy was playing simple worship music with a guitar, that was recorded only to find that when that recording was played back their were  angelic voices  with it!  I heard a recording of this when I was a young Christian in the early 1990s.  Don't have that recording anymore, BUT I did buy a CD from Terry MacAlum, On the 4th track of his The Sound of Heaven, the  choir of Heaven    joins in and becomes part of the later part of the song for I Stand in Awe/The Sound of Heaven. 

Set your heart right and give the Lord the praise that He deserves.  As the age of Gentiles draws to a close made it point of yours to be known as a lover of God through song.  That is an attribute of character that I desire, to be known and recognized as lover and worshiper of the One, True God.  To God be  the glory , amen!  

Treasure Chest

If you were to name the ONE thing on this planet that you treasure the most, what would that be?

Perhaps that would be actual treasure that explorers seek after an adventure at the bottom of the ocean:

If ruled by one's stomach and a carnal appetite you might choose:

Portillo's  Italian Beef sandwich  is ALWAYS a treat!

If you find yourself always chasing the  best scenery  that brings peace to your soul perhaps this --

Is your  treasure .

If you're anything like me, perhaps its a deep, unsatisfied longing for love that makes me prize celebrities as your "treasure":

If you have a creative bend, or consuming hobby, perhaps it's those endeavors that you "treasure" the most: Hey, I hear E.C. Henry is writing an updated version of Indians of the Ancient Plains.  I'll bet that's a good one!  

Well, if you hold to that opinion, you'd be right!  

Hoping to have that updated draft done soon.  In fact, today on my day off, I'm SUPPOSED to be working on that right now, but instead I'm writing this blog post...

Then there's always one's  heath .  For if you don't have  good heath  it's hard to enjoy much of anything.  So maybe that's your "treasure".

Now while I would agree that all of these things are important: a good meal, an inviting environment, an active social life, fun interests that keep your mind engaged, and good health; none are as important as one's spiritual life.  Because no matter what hand you've been dealt, you belong to God and will one day be accountable to Him whether you serve or acknowledge Him or not.  

This leads me to what I treasure the most, and that's --

The Holy Bible 

Yep, it doesn't get any better than reading  the bible .  Why?  Because in reading the bible we connect with God.  The bible is God's written world of what He wanted man to read and study if they were serious about getting to know Him.

Even thought of  the bible  that way?  God's  written testimony  of what He wants those created in His image to know about Him?

Well, from my perspective that's what  the bible  is: God's testimony of Himself designed to be what He wants us to know as we live a life of faith.  

The Christian faith isn't a blind faith.  No, it's based on the testimony and precepts advocated in the bible.  

 The bible  is filled with stories of men and women.  Some were "good examples" of what it was like to live a life of faith:  Jesus , Abraham, Noah, Moses, David.  While others showed examples of people who failed: Cain, the first king of Israel, Saul; Lot's wife, Nebucadnezzer's son, Rehoboam: Soloman's son.  So many examples and various ways that people pleased God.  And on the other hand, examples of those who made God angry in some capacity. 

You can live your life apart from  the bible , but I believe you do so to your own peril.   God's Word  wasn't written for no reason.  No, it is the means which God provided for people on Earth to come to know Him.  Yes, by reading  the bible  you can come to know who God is and what His character is like.  How many other books can claim that?  Hence,  God's Word  is a treasure.  It's MY treasure chest, and from the  precepts  therein I glean the  guiding principals  that govern my life.  And it all starts with the cornerstone,  Jesus Christ .  Jesus Christ is my Lord, the One I pledge my allegiance to.  The One I want to please the most. 

Do I always succeed at pleasing the Lord?  Come on, man.  Not even Jesus's closest disciples did that, and were around Him all the time.  

Faith begins with a love for the Lord.  And that's something I can't give you.  Hopefully I can provoke you in some way that guides you to the cross and faith and dependence on Jesus.  But I can't give you what I have.  No, salvation is worked out individually.  One-on-one.  Inhabitant of Earth to the Creator of all. 

Sometimes I get real down on myself for not being a stronger Christian than I am.  I got "saved" many years ago (1990), and in those 33 years since have been around some of the finest examples of the faith one could ever hope to be mentored by.  I, E.C. Henry, come from good stock. 

But no matter where you come from: a good place or a bad one; we are all accountable for what we know.  And I believe you will be held accountable if you knew you had access to  God's Word  but never pursued it to find out what's in it. 

Treasure is what's in  God's Word .

Why is it treasure? 

Because it's the record God chose for us to know Him.  Everyone is the called to find there place at the base of the cross, to honor Jesus and be restored into fellowship with God.  So no matter what place you are in life, do not neglect to spend time in  God's Word .  May that grow to be a great treasure in your life.

   

When God Chooses a Hottie to Save His People

This is Shannon Bream of Fox News fame.  Of all the women on planet Earth you would be hard pressed to find one as beautiful and nice as she is.  And not only that, but Shannon's an author too -- and it's a godly book no less!  "The Women of the Bible Speak: The Wisdom of 16 Women and Their Lessons for Today".  If interested you can buy the book here.  I fell in love with Shannon watching Fox News.  It's like getting your news delivered by Meg Ryan.  Still, I know she's married...

#allthegoodonesaretaken

Snap!  But now that's we've got this kicked off.  Time for my hot take, and it's this:

Hot woman can be used by God.

The bible is an amazing book.  In God's word, many years ago while the nation of Israel was under the rule of the Persians, there came a time where God delivered His people through a beauty pageant winner.  I'm not kidding.  It's in the book of Esther in the Old Testament.   

I read the book three times recently in preparation for this post.  And the gist of the plot is that a Jew in bondage overcame her circumstances by winning a beauty pageant and agreeing to the queen of a Persian king, Ahasuerus or Xerexes who rained as king of Persia from 486 B.C. through 464 B.C.. 

At the start of his reign king Ahasuerus has a beautiful queen named Vashti.  She was so beautiful that Asasuerus wanted to show her off after he and his friends had been drinking, but Vashti refused!  This led to king cutting Vashti off and a nation-wide search for beautiful virgins was made to replace Vashti.  

This led to Esther's rise to preeminence, as she was ultimately chosen to replace Vashti, but while doing so at the insistence of her Jewish caregiver, Mordecai, who took her as his own daughter.  Esther was beautiful in form and face.  Yet once she was queen, Queen Ester faced one whopper of situation.  For one her king's closest confidants was conspiring to wipe-out all the Jewish people in the kingdom of Persia, all because ONE man of Jewish descent refused to bow before him in his presence.  Haman wasn't even king, yet he was so filled with ego and pride that he wanted the whole nation to wiped-out on account of ONE MAN's refusal to bow before.

Thankfully the beautiful Esther didn't turn her back on her people.  But rather she listened to her adopted father and made a proper entreaty before King Ahasuerus that exposed Haman dire treachery.  King Ahasuerus listened to his hottie wife, and the once he knew about Haman's treachery had him hung in gallows that Haman had built to hang Mordecai, Esther 7:10.  

I'm not a fan of torture.  Even of the most vile people.  Still, I'm glad that hotties like --

Exist.  Okay, the hottie I just posted isn't Esther either, BUT she is the first person I thought of when I started thinking what Esther may have looked like in real life.  Aishah Hasnie is her name.  And she, like Shannon Bream works at Fox News!  All the hot, smart and politically savvy women work there. 

Aishah Hasnie is Pakistani beauty follows the Muslim faith -- at least from what I've read.  But I'm not prejudice.  A beauty is a beauty no matter where they come from and all honest I think the real Esther from the bible looked a lot more like Aishah Hasnie than she did did Shannon Bream.

So many thing to appreciate about Esther's CHARACTER.  That's right, not only was Esther beautiful on the outside as is recorded in Esther 2:7; but this lady PROVED she was beautiful on the inside by the choices she made a critical time in Israel's history.

• Esther didn't turn her back on her heritage even when when was living the high life.
• Esther listened to advice and acted on it. 
• The story of Esther proves that adopted parents can have a success story through the children they raise.  Mordecai took on Esther after her parents died and raised her.  Then, even when Esther was a mature woman, she respected her adopted father and did right by him. 
• Esther was willing to use her God given gifts.  What if Esther never competed in the king's competition?  Her's was occupied people, after all, and Vashti was gawked at for her beauty.  Esther had to know this treatment would probably extend to her, but she endered it anyway. 
• Esther learned the proper ways and practices to be of royalty and how to approach the king.  She actively thought and didn't just rely on her outer beauty to carry her.  Esther had a brain -- and she used it the preservation of God's people.

From the story of Esther and Mordecai the Jewish people now celebrate the feast of Purim.  See Esther 9: 21-22.  On the 14th and 15 day of the Jewish month of Adar the Jewish people are to celebrate with feasting and rejoicing when God delivered them from a treacherous scheme to annihilate God's people while they were being disciplined already by another nation. 

This post was born of discussion that me and my mother had about the rapture.  We got to speculating and though MAYBE the rapture of the church could happen THIS Purim season, which in 2023 is being celebrated by the Jewish people March 8th and 9th.  Purim 2023

Nobody knows the day or hour that Jesus will come from his bride, the church.  BUT things down here on Earth keep getting darker, and the government of today is more led by the devil than it is led by the Lord. 

Many years ago God went so far as to state the EXACT borders that He wanted His people Israel to have.   

Genesis 15:18,  Exodus 23: 31. 

The Christian God does distinguish between people groups.  And the ultimate Lordship of all the people and nations is under the triune God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  

Lots is issues to sort through in this corrupted word.  Thank you Jesus we have the word of God to help make sense of it all, and guide us to where we should be on the issues.  Always seek to be one of Jesus's sheep that He calls to be at His right side.  God does differentiate between people...

Matthew 25: 32-33 (Jesus speaking) "All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them one another, as the sheperd separates the sheep from the goats' and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left."

In the end, God's word is good and worthy to be studied and praised.  So glad that God uses many different ways to save.  Sometimes even a well-placed hottie gets her name called to do a work in His name.  To God be the glory!

E.C. Henry's Public, Christian Testimony

A couple weeks ago a commenter on this blog asked me to shed some details on my attempted suicide.  Maybe that commenter thought that was something recent, but alas it wasn't.  I has now become part of my "testimony".

When I hear the word, "testimony", I think of telling the truth about you know about a specific occurrence.   In Christian circles this word is usually meant for what personal experience you've had with God and how He impacted your life.  Usually someone in Christian circles will ask you for your testimony if you're new to the group and they're checking you out.  When you give your testimony in this way that your time to glorify God, because you're doing what we were intended to do since the days Adam and Eve were in the garden of Eden, which is to recount how our time with the Lord went.  

Here are some of the meanings of that word "testimony" from Merriam-Webster:

1. a solemn declaration usually made orally by a witness under oath in response to interrogation by a lawyer or authorized public official
2. firsthand authentication of a fact: evidence
3. an outward sign
4. an open acknowledgment
5. a public profession of religious experience
6. the tablets inscribed with the Mosaic law
7. the ark containing the tablets
8. a divine decree attested in the Scriptures

For purpose of clarity let me specify that here I'm talking about usage #5: a public profession of religious experience.

So what is E.C. Henry's testimony?  Before I give that let me clarify one other thing: E.C. Henry is Eric Christopher Henrikson's pseudonym.  So when you can use the name's interchangeably, they are synonymous names for the same person, me!  Now that that's clarified here we go...

 

E.C. Henry's testimony:

E.C. Henry grew up "Christian".  I grew up with lots of exposure to the faith through the Catholic church, as that was the domination of choice through my mother, as my father wasn't an active church goer.   I was involved in some Catholic oriented activities outside of mass, but not much.  I stopped going to the Catholic church when my mom got "born again" in 1982, and suddenly it was so important that went to the Catholic church exclusively, but now went to more Christian and ALIVE churches. 

Why would I differentiate that?  Because not all churches are alike.  Catholic services are more regimented and stiff.  Later in life I grew to appreciate the Holy Spirit and His role in church especially in worship. 

As for me, though I was exposed to the Christianity for years I didn't make a profession of personal trust in Jesus until I was 21 after I nearly committed suicide in the fall of 1990 when I thought my life was falling apart.   I was several months off my time on a fisher processor boat in Alaska and hated the jobs I was doing back in Washington and thought I was going to run out of money, plus I was drinking a lot.  So one night I woke up and decided it was time to end my life.  I was going to take my 30-30 hunting rifle out and kill myself.  I remember driving to a place to do "it" which would have been about 20 miles south of my parents house.  But one night I woke up and decided to just go out in the woods.  I nearly did it too.  I was a very close decision.  But in the end, I woke my aunt: Denny; up in the middle of the night and told her I was in trouble.  She drove me to the hospital for an evaluation.

For the next couple of months I went to Christian rehab, and started attending church.  It was a charismatic and free church ran by Al Sholin and Bob Kaminsky: two of the finest Christians I've ever met.  Bob was especially instrumental in my development at a Christian, as he was also a project lead at the aerospace manufacturer, Boeing.  Bob also helped run an outreach to the street people in Tacoma where my mother frequented. I really respected Bob Kaminsky.  He had a joy about him.  Al Sholin was more of a loving people person.  He had outreaches to Mexicans, and traveled to Africa on the "Spirit Ship" where he delivered humanitarian aid and Lord's love to people. 

As for my life, I settled on a plan to go to college and get a degree in electronics.  So I attended Renton Technical College from 1991-1993 until I got a tech. certificate.  During this time I also continue to go to church, going to BSF at one point.  BSF stands for bible study fellowship, which met once a week to discuss and go through books in the bible.  Early on people used to marvel how well I understood the scriptures.  I remember early on I drew the correlation between Abraham willingness to sacrifice Isaac, his only son to the point to the Lord; and the Holy Father sacrificing His own son Jesus later in history.  I was baptized and born again in the Stuck River in a park in South Auburn, Washington.  To date I not spoken in tongues--though my mom does.  And have only received one God-inspired dream, and that was about Hollywood going in parade like procession down the street and sinking into the asphalt until at last all I could see was minor bumps in the asphalt from where they had been.  I stood aloof with an angelic being and witnessed that.  The only person I could make out in the procession was actor Jim Carrey, who looked to be in agony as he marched on with the procession making grotesque faces as he went. 

 

What E.C. Henry believes as a Christian believer:

1. That we are all called to have a relationship with the Lord, and to walk with Him in our lives like Adam and Eve did in the garden of Eden.  God's original plan was to have communion and relationship with mankind on a one-on-one basis.
2. Jesus is the Son of God and the doorway to having a restored relationship to God.  I believe Jesus really did exist and that He is who He said He was, which is the Son of Man and salvation for all who believe.  If you want to get to Heaven Jesus is the way.  He is the exact representation of the Holy Father, and the example that all mankind is called to look to.  To reject or accept Jesus Christ of Nazareth is the most important decision of your life.  For He is the fulfillment of the Holy Father's plan to redeem mankind. 
3. That the bible is there so we can learn about God, and should be used as a shaping force for how we see the world, for it God's testimony about Himself in the way He chose to say it. 
4. God is Spirit and not seen but He exists and His kingdom is greater than the devil's influence.
5. Romans 8:28 "All things work together for the good, for those who love God and are called according to his purposes."  There's a key for life right there: Love God and He'll work things out for you. 
6.  I've always seen Christianity as a simple religion.  Love God, love others.  Do your best in his service.  Get baptized into the faith publically, then profess what you know and believe to others with a desire to honor the Lord as you do so. 
7. Yes, the devil does have a kingdom; but even the Lord dictates to the creature what's his.  When Jesus was being tempted in the desert, he didn't rebuke Satan and tell him, he was wrong to say a kingdom wasn't the devil's to give if Jesus would worship Satan.  Satan had control of a whole city and the Lord didn't refute that. 
8. Look to Jesus and His example to help form your character and the man or woman you are. 
9. Look to glorify the Lord in whatever you do.  Commit your works to Him and honor Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 
10. God gifts us all differently.  We should always be humble because we don't know the gifting and callings the Lord has bestowed on other people.  Case and point: Aarron Caulderon.  Aarron Caulderon was a Mexican migrant worker who used to come to the state of Washington to work the fields.  Aarron spoke very little English, YET the Lord used him to give me a series of scriptures.  He is someone I came into contact with from Al Sholin and his ministry outreach to the Mexican community.  I laminated those scriptures from the early 1990s and still carry them in my bible today.  You never know God's intention towards your fellow man so treat him/her with respect.  So of the least likely people have been touched and gifted by the Lord in some truly amazing ways if you just stop and look.

I'll conclude this post with telling you what I think the secret to my storytelling and creativity is.  Back in 1977 or 1978 I watched the mini-series, Jesus of Nazareth on TV, while doing so I took clay and modeled things I saw.  I think the Lord saw that and blessed me because I took my gifts and acted out as my mind was engaged by the gospel being shown before me.  I don't know if my mom kept those clay renderings or not, but that's where I attribute my gift of creativity: from the Lord, from modeling clay figures while watching Jesus of Nazareth on TV as an 8 or 9 year old boy.  The Lord is good to Him be the glory for creative stories I've made to this point.  Amen. 

Resensitizing to Become a Better Person

My dad died from Covid-19 on Tuesday, September 7th at 11:50 a.m.  I know because me and my brother were there at his bedside when that happened. 

My mother was sick with Covid-19 and in a hospital bed for three weeks.  By the grace of God she turned a corner and started to recover.  Tomorrow, she starts rehab.  Still not home yet, but not in her ultimate home with the Lord yet in Heaven either.  

Our family's bout with Covid has caused me to re-examine my life, and I've decided to focus more on the Lord and live my life for Him.  

It's amazing where the pursuit of the creative life will take you.  Back in late July, when I was trying to settle into life in Tennessee I decided to try writing a "slasher" horror movie to be my 26th completed spec.  I knew some elements of it would be dark.  Even when so far as to listen to some Rob Zombie songs, and follow horror fan on Twitter as part of my quest to write a horror-slasher movie.  But then when my family got deathly ill, I knew I had to drop that script.  

For the briefest moment that notion tortured me that MY CREATIVE dabbling might have brought trouble to my family.  BUT as a man of faith, I then realized that was letting the devil have more territory than he deserves.  Now, I give that notion no credence; and give glory to God.   

My creative pursuits led me to chase Taylor Swift too.  Thought being: IF I could get her to "like" one my scripts, she had the funding to make it, herself!  Never connected with Ms. Swift however. 

So now in light of what happened to my family, I'm turning to Jesus again.  New goal is to make God smile.  E.C. Henry wants to make: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit happy!  

Not so consumed with "making it" in Hollywood anymore.  The Lord gave me a dream about the place many years ago, where I was off to the side of a parade which was marching into the asphalt.  Among them I saw a tortured Jim Carrey. 

Never want to turn my back on the things that the Lord shows me.  My problem is that I wanted it (to get justification for 20 years of writing) so bad.  

But what's more important: selling a spec. script, or making God smile?

May ALL of E.C. Henry's writings be like this:

Jesus reigns!  I choose to follow the Lord.  Not sure what that's going to look like.  But for the past two weeks I attended church!  Right now it feels like I'm doomed to be the Alfred the butler for my brother, his wife, and two kids.  BUT I am looking to RESENSITIZE and be a better person.  Let the Lord do a work in me, then let my light shine in this dark world.  

I'm getting back to the heart of worship too.  Putting on more praise and worship music and letting that minister to me, and change my perspective.  I want my life to honor Christ.  I want my creativity to honor Christ.  Resensitize to be a better man of God. 

Get Oil in Your Lamp

NOW would be good time be CERTAIN that you have oil in your lamp.

Did you know it's Easter this Sunday?  

That makes it Good Friday THIS Friday!

Significance: Easter is the time Christians celebrate the resurrection of Jesus, while Good Friday is the somber day Christians acknowledge the crucifixion and death of Jesus.  

Given how dark things are in our world today I WANT to be raptured out of this world.  I'm very sick of it, and have no reason to believe are going to get better until Jesus comes back.  Sure I'd love to see one of my scripts produced and see my epic fantasy novel series be made into books; but I love the Lord more than the things of this world.  

Read: Matthew 25, 1 Thessalonians 4:17, Luke 17:34 - 17:37, Matthew 24:31

The Holy Spirit is the giver of oil for your lamp.  What you need to do is have a love for the Lord, accept as your Lord and Savior, and ask the Holy Spirit to fill your lamp.  Don't let the rapture happen, and find yourself unprepared and be left behind.  

This world is passing away, and when it you don't wanna be here for that.

So ask the Holy Spirit to fill your lamp today!  

Jesus is Lord.  Hallelujah!  Praise the Lord.  Love the Lord with ALL your heart, He deserves our best!  Oh, and don't forget to listen for--

 

 

Celebrating LIFE in a Time of Death

"I am the way, the truth, and the Life; no one comes to the Father but through Me."

Jesus' own words as recorded in John 14:6

Okay, so as Easter rolls around in 2020, the world is the midst of a pandemic.  We are in unprecedented times.  Here in the U.S. most if not all of us are in a state of lockdown.  Many people can't work, their jobs and livelihood put on hold for the supposed greater good of limiting exposure to the Corona virus.  Me, my job continued, but the odd thing was that the very night that the governor of the state of Washington shut our state down -- I developed flu like symptoms.  Woke up at 10 p.m. feeling sick, finally by 12 a.m. I called a medical advice service and was advised to "self isolate".  Been out of work for three weeks since, BUT I just got a NEGATIVE, COVID19 test, so now I'm going back to work starting on Monday.  In the interim I penned a new script, SO GO BACK & GET HER: a romantic comedy.

For the past 3 weeks this script has helped keep my spirits up.  How could it not?  It's a romantic comedy, which by definition alone should be a spirit lifter for it calls on its scribe to be funny -- or at least attempt to be.  

But as much as I love writing, writing does not define my life.  God does.  No matter what station of life you find yourself in, God is the ultimate judge of your works.  I just hope that somewhere along the line I got Him to laugh.  Yeah, what's the crazy kid from Bonney Lake doing...?  O yeah, he's writing something in an attempt to lift people's spirits.  And that's what Easter is all about; lifting people's spirits!  We celebrate Easter tomorrow, and that's the day that we celebrate Jesus conquering the grave, ushuring in a new era of man's relationship to God.  No longer bound to the Old Testament's way of doing things.  Of man following a set of rules in earnest attempt to follow a set of rules to be on the Holy Father's good side.

The Ten Commandments are a good thing.  (ref. Exodus 20: 1-17) But Jesus accomplishing ALL of our works for us, is a better thing.  What it means to be a Christian means to have Jesus' sacrificial death be a substitute for our dead works.  Now well all have done good works; things we are proud of.  Things that are in accord with how God wants us to act in society with one another.  The deal is, that's what the Holy Father wants the most.  He wants us to be reconsilled with Himself through the sacrifice of His Son.  Jesus is.  The way.  The Truth.  And the Life.  It is all through Jesus that God wants mankind justified.  Not through our works alone.  

Just last night, on Good Friday, my mom wanted us all to watch the 2nd half of JESUS OF NAZARETH as a family together.  Originally she wanted us to watch Mel Gibson's THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST, but I talked her out of it.  For my money JESUS OF NAZARETH (1977: TV mini-series) was the best, and most honorable, depiction of Jesus' life that has ever been made.  And I still hold to that conviction, and as a part of church outreach while living in Boise, Idaho in the mid 90s I went door-to-door trying to give people a DVD that had the life of Jesus depicted on it.  

Jesus was unjustly punished by the Jewish leaders of his time, who really saw Jesus as a threat to their control.  And He was!  Jesus always will be a threat to the tyranny of man.  Why?  Because He does the will of God faithfully.  ALL.  THE.  TIME!  He lived the life that the Holy Father wants us all to live.  A life of perfect communion with Him.  How did Jesus do this?  First, He knew God.  He knew the Old Testament and the INTENT of it all.  Secondly, Jesus prayed a lot.  Read the gospels and you'll find that Jesus oftentimes went off and prayed to the Holy Father.  This was important because during His life on Earth, for Jesus had a lot of pressure on Him.  Some people wanted to make Him king, so their Jewish nation could be free from Roman occupation.  Other people wanted more signs and wonders performed.  Still others were drawn to Him, and wanted to be part of what Jesus was doing, though good intentions of their heart; they were true, earnest believers.  

So this Easter celebrate the One who is the Son of God.  The One who did carry our burdens, though we considered Him afflicted and hated by some men.  Jesus is worthy of all power, honor and praise for what He did.  I cannot imagine leaving Heaven to come to Earth and suffer at the hands of barbarians like He did.  Maybe you have never stopped to think of it like that.  Jesus: the true Son of God; suffered at the hands of evil men / barbarians.  But He did!  The great thing about Easter is that it leads to a brighter day.  The true way to the Father through life in the Son.  

So this Easter consider the Savior.  You don't have to be afraid of death or when your life on this Earth ends.  One of the theifs on the cross asked Jesus just to "remember him" when Jesus came into His Kingdom.  And you wanna know what Jesus said in return, "This day you will be with Me in paradise."  Luke 23: 42-43.

You can have all the money in the world, live in the lap of luxury; but even if your treasure is here on this planet, even that wasn't meant to remain forever.  Jesus is forever.  He will judge the living and the dead.  So be one of the living!  Put your faith in Him, and be saved.  Being saved isn't hard.  It means putting your faith in the One the Holy Father intended you to put your faith in all along: Jesus of Nazareth, His One and only Son.  

So as I switch off one project and refocus on what I hope will be my opus, the Thars series; I take a moment to lay my gifts before the cross.  I chose Jesus above my gifts.  For in the end it is not my gifts that define me, but how a LOVING GOD does.  I cant' help myself, I love to explore stories and see what becomes of them.  I am a writer.  Have been a writer for a long, long time.  But that's the end of my story, my walk with the Lord.  In this Easter season, I, E.C. Henry take a break from my pursuits to acknowledge man's ultimate pursuit; the pursuit of God!  That pursuit begins and ends at the cross.  Who is Jesus of Nazareth?  For me He is the Son of God.  The One who takes away all my sin and shame.  The ultimate giver of joy.  

Years ago when I was writing COWBOY ALIEN DIARIES, I thought I was gunna die.  I just this sinking feeling that I wouldn't live long enough to see this screenplay to completion, and I really wanted to complete it.  That story was about how the son of a pastor relocates his new family to the Colorado frontier in the 1850s.  There his family gets visited by aliens at night, who one by one abduct the children the protagonist's new wife had with other men.  It was the story of the testing of a man's faith.  It was one of the better screenplays I wrote.  True, I'm happiest when I'm writing a rom-com, but COWBOY ALIEN DIARIES was fun and good stretchhhhing of my writing abilities.  To the glory of God I've written A LOT of screenplays since then.  Explored some light-hearted subjects: goofballs in love; and some more weighted subjects like a woman's rejection of the gospel and her dissent into succumbing to the pressures of life and going on a shooting spree at her job.  I don't shy away from subject matter.  E.C. Henry doesn't write "bunny stories".

This Easter, though, I take a moment to say, "Thank you, Jesus."  Thank you for giving the freedom to explore varied subject matters in writing.  The heart of man is deep.  And I'm not just patting myself on the back here.  ALL people have this depth.  And we don't all have the same gifts.  Stan Dewitt, one of our next door neighbors is good at home repair.  He led us on pulling our well a couple times now.  Dude just knew EVERYTHING to do.  Had skill I couldn't touch with a 10 foot pole.  But that's the beauty of life.  Not all are writer.  Not all are great actors.  Not all are great at home repair.  Not all are entrepreneurs that fuel the American economy.  God gifts all differently.   But in the end, we all judged the same:

What did you do with My Son?

That's a scary reality if you have not found peace with God through the Lord Jesus Christ.  So this season, in the great turmoil around us, take a minute to honor Jesus.  Tell Him that you love Him.  Tell Him that you are grateful for what He did.  That's really not too much to ask, now is it? 

He has risen!  He has risen, indeed!  I served the God of the EMPTY tomb!  Hallelujah!  

Depth in December

They say a picture speaks a thousand words.  Well... this is CLOSE to what I image my Elfin Riders riding through as the story kicks of in earnest on Thars on the Plains Goblins seacoast in "A STRANGE SENSE OF DIVINE DESTINY": book two in the Legend in Thars series.

Okay, so I've been relatively silent on this blog for a while.  Doesn't mean I'm dead.  Doesn't mean I'm not doing anything.  No, I am doing something I'm adding DEPTH to my opus, which is A LEGEND IN THARS.

I actually have a sidebar on this blog siting the progress in this series.  Admittedly the progress has been slow.  Lots of reasons for that:

• I can't write full time.  I have to have a "real job" to support myself.  Currently I work in a yard for a construction company.  Easy work.  Isn't breaking me down.  Lends itself beautifully towards making progress on the novel series.
• I took some breaks to writing a couple screenplays.  Hey, lets face it writing the next "Lord of the Rings" series takes time.  Tolkien didn't do it overnight.  Neither will E.C. Henry.  I wrote, "When the Motorcycle Calls" and "The Commune III" when the idea for those stories "popped". They were ripe to be picked -- and I did just that!  I've found that sometimes it's needed to take a break from "big projects" and that's what I did.  Doesn't mean I abandoned Thars.  No, I'm back to it now.  Though "The Commune III" lingered wayyy longer that I thought it would.  Really put some extras in that one.  Maybe someday those efforts will pay off.  Hasn't happened so far.
• Right now I'm mostly EDITING Thars, not a lot of "creative" writing.  The story's done, been done for years.  I know how it ends and doubt I'll deviate from that, but my prose isn't strong enough right now.  And I want that to shine.  Hence, the grind...

Okay, so where do we go from here?  

Continue to work hard at it.  Add depth.  Focus on characters and making them iconic.  And yes, I think I have a bevy of special characters in Thars.  Going to try to turn the focus into the good guys of the story and build up their friendship, and how they form this bond over outside pressures that seek to keep them apart.  

Friendship.  Isn't that a good accent for stories given the current state of our world?

I think so.

E.C. is shooting for a mix something akin to this in Books 2 through 5 in THE LEGEND IN THARS book series.

So what does "depth" entail?  Well, in epic fantasy I think its depth that readers respond most to.  Why was Lord of the Rings so popular?  People could loose themselves in the rich world of Middle Earth.  I need to have that in Thars.  Need to have a rich tapestry that people could see themselves having adventures in.  There's also character depth, but in stories involving world creation I think world trumps character.  So I need to work on that.  Continue to make Thars believable; a place that adventurous souls would WANT to explore.  

And so it's on.  What can I deliver on...  

I set the bar high.  I want MY STORY to compare favorably to J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings" when this is all said and done.  And so I toil on.  Adding depth to the world of Thars, making it more and more like a real place that could actually exist.  I also work on an expansive character roster.  The novels aren't all I writing, also character bios.  Keeping a HISTORY of a world's characters straight is a chore, but it's a chore I'm committed to.  

The best thing about Thars is my complexity of characters.  I don't write simple stories.  Rather I believe in complexity with many moving parts going at the same time.  I don't write to pacify simpletons.  In the end, I write for myself and hope what I like rubs off on others.  

So don't get down in these highly politicized times.  There's still some adventurous souls out there working on making art that is new and exciting.  Will never be a sell-out artist.  Will always write what's on my heart to best of my ability, and NOT let in voices that are pushing a destructive agenda.  

E.C. Henry is the real McCoy; a writer committed to writing the best stories that God gives him to write.  And that will always be my focus.  God first.  Writing is what follows.  

Hope y'all are blessed this Christmas season.  Wish all who who reads this the full blessings of Christ as well celebrate His birth.  To Jesus be all glory from this day forth and forevermore!  Always remember the reason for the season.  Christ's claims trump all else:

  

2019 Spring Fresh Blooms

It's no secret spring is my favorite time of the year.  Nothing like seeing fresh "blooms" like the ones featured in this post's opening image to lift the spirits of the weary soul.

So glad to be leaving winter behind.  This year, in Western Washington (where I live), we had a harder than normal winter.  Spring came a little later that I'm used to from past years but at least it's here now.  Yay!

Sorry I haven't been posting on my Typepad site as often as I should, but things are moving in my life.  Biggest development/boom being my faith.  I'm praying and drawing closer to the Lord.  Better yet, I feel as though lately I'm acting more through a spirit of love than at any time I can ever remember--except for maybe when I was first "saved" wayyy back in 1990/91.  Wssshew, that was a long time ago!  

Haven't spiritually matured like I should.  Heck with nearly 30 years in the faith, I should be titan my now, but alas I'm not.  Have NEVER spoken in tongues as of yet, and haven't received the gift of prophesy either.  But these are GIFTS of the Spirit.  Stuff that: the Holy Spirit, Jesus, or the Holy Father; imparts--as THEY so will.  

Something in me has changed, and I need to keep at it, because that change is for the better.  It is a change of love.  The kind of unconditional love that God has for His creation.  Don't claim to have mastered this kind of "love" yet, but I feel like I'm actually doing it now; I can love people unconditionally.  Love and freedom in the Spirit are were I'm at now.  I wanna be more like God and reflect the loving side of His nature.  

On the way to work, I'm listening to BBR(?) more and more.  Anyway, it's a really God-centered stations that plays HYMNS and has a lot of pastors sermons on it.  It's NOT Christian Contemporary either; rather, it's programming centered more on the WORSHIP of God, as opposed to a Christian's self-help center.  

It's all about Jesus.  About trusting and growing in Him.  Nailing my sin the cross and letting Him use me as He sees fit.  

I've had head knowledge about this way of living FOR-EVER!  But somehow life here on Earth drew me away from really putting my roots down, and growing in the true manner of the Christ-centered faith.  

Don't claim to understand all the mysteries in the bible.  But what I have experienced lately is a greater indwelling of love.  Christians are made to be fountains from which springs up life giving water.  I wanna be like that.  To be a source of life.

Christians are meant to be LIFE-GIVING fountains.

Besides may rebirth of sorts in the faith, I've also got a new job!  This job is actually HELPING my faith.  Why?  Because it's in a machine shop, manufacturing environment where I have to use several different kinds of forklifts to move product around very big and heavy items in tight tolerances.  Gotta be an ACE on the forklift here, and my skill level isn't there yet. 

Yeah, the job I'm at now requires that I use this for some loads and unloads!

Already had to unload one truck using this style forklift.  A lot of my company final products require a high weight rated forklift to more them around.  Hopefully in the upcoming weeks I'll get opportunity to work on my skill with this other style of forklifts.  Had to more a competed unit through the manufacturing hallway using a forklift rated just under this last week.  We're talking 4" clearances load to machine shop stuff.  Gotta be REAL CAREFUL.  So you know I'll be praying a lot at this job for forklifting skills and safety from on-high.  

LOVE the guys I get to work with.  Probably the best group of men I've every had around me.  So I'm real encouraged by that.

Writing-wise I'm on the 2nd draft of "The Commune: III" now.  Basic story is framed in.   Now I've gotta improve everything--except the 1st 10 pages which are rock sold thanks to: Scriptshadow 10-page, attention grabbing screenwriting challenge back in January.  At first I rebuffed this challenge, but then I said, "What the heck" and went for it.  Truth of the matter is I already had a rough draft carved out from an unused opening that at one point I thought I'd use for "The Commune II".  That opening really didn't fit the story for "The Commune II", but with the challenge, and the some encouragement from Scriptshadow regular, Brian McHale-Doyle; I shaped it up and submitted it.  No, my entry wasn't chosen my Carson Reeves, the head guy at Scriptshadow, BUT it did serve a purpose.  It got the ball rolling on this dark sci-fi script.  The more I settle into the new job, the more writing and editing I hope to do.  When "The Commune III" is done, I'm going back to Thars with renewed energy.  Sometimes you just need a break from the grind.  And no matter how much you love your story, all writing eventually becomes a grind.  Somewhere in Solomon's writings he says something to extent, "... the excessive devotion to books in wearying."   Been there, lived through that, many, many times.

O-kay, so I've laid out my new blooms this spring: spiritually, in the working here-and-now, and also in my writing world.  Would love to know what's "new" in your life.  So feel free to comment in comments section.  Hope your life is blooming like these:

Till we talk again,

Yours truly,

E.C. Henry from Bonney Lake, WA

 

Tea Time With Jesus

What do you like doing the most in life?  What is your favorite thing to do?  Whatever it is, why not do it with Jesus?!

Faith is not a compartmental thing.  You don't JUST go to church on Sunday and call it good, do you?!  Hope not.  Originally I had intended to do a post about a writer's inner self critic.  That embodies a writer self-analyzing his own writing and being critical of it so as to produce a higher form of art.  Hey, if you wanna be a writer you GOTTA have be acutely self-critical and NOT just assume the first thing you write is a good as it could be.  

For me, the thing I like to do the most is write.  Why?  I like the prospect of entertaining people through the stories I write.  Okay, so, no to date I don't have any real cool "breakthrough" stories to share.  But writing is about more than outward successes.  Your favorite thing to do in life is more than just its outcome.  It's about your love of doing it.  And if you love doing something, why not take Jesus along with you?

I love the Lord.  I believe it's incumbent on me to bring all my stories to Him.  Even the ones that rough around the edges like, "The Commune":

For me writing is about the pursuit of excellence; writing the BEST story that you're capable of writing, whatever that happens to be.  So I'm taking Jesus along with me.  Inviting Him into the process of what I like to do.  The cool thing is that with the project I'm working on now, it's pretty clean, AND there is a lot of spot to instill scripture and biblical living application, which was really NOT the case when I wrote "The Commune" and later "The Commune II".  

Whatever your great love in life is, Jesus belongs there.  So invite Him in.  Like to fish?  Take Jesus in the boat with you.  Hey it worked for Simon Peter!  Like to take nature walks, and that's where you feel the most refreshed and alive, take Jesus there!  He created it all, so enjoy a Sabbath style rest time with Him.  Like to cook?  Invite Jesus into the kitchen with you.  I'm sure He does okay with making cupcakes.  

My point is: Jesus should be at the center of all you do.  Don't hide your favorite thing from Him, but rather invite Him to be with you!