Coming This Winter! Stanley Lombardo's Aratus, Second Edition

Coming this January from the University of Chicago Press:

The Sky Is Our Song: The "Phaenomena" of Aratus

Second edition

Translated by Stanley Lombardo

With Contributions by Cynthia "Cara" Polsley and Walter Michener

From the book description:

"An ancient Greek guide to the heavens, translated in a new accessible modern English edition. . . .

With this edition, renowned translator and amateur astronomer Stanley Lombardo renders Aratus’s poem in reader-friendly vernacular English verse. Complete with endnotes, an accessible introduction, and astronomically accurate illustrations, The Sky Is Our Song brings this master poet’s celebration of the sky to a twenty-first-century audience, inviting new readers to follow Aratus on a visual journey through star signs, moon phases, weather phenomena, and all wonders of the heavens."

It's a privilege to be part of this project. More to come later this year!

Eleven Years Ago, But God

“He that is our God is the God of salvation; and unto God the Lord belong the issues from death” (Ps. 68:20).

Eleven years ago today, after a serious car accident, I was dying on the roadside — but God intervened.  In the wake of an ensuing spinal cord injury, countless physical issues, and untold miracles, I’m thankful for and humbled by the Lord’s faithfulness.  It is an even more indescribable blessing to know that whatever else might have happened in that accident or in the days since then, I can trust Jesus Christ as my eternal Savior, knowing that my future is secure in Him.

“He hath made his wonderful works to be remembered: the Lord is gracious and full of compassion” (Ps. 111:4).

Each breath is precious.  Take time today to consider what you believe and why.  Your life is a gift.  Use it wisely!  “Salvation is of the Lord” (Jonah 2:9b).

Book Endorsement from Dr. Greg Ammons

Thank you to Dr. Greg Ammons for his endorsement of A Primer on Messianic Prophecy!

"Cynthia C. Polsley has written masterfully in her work, A Primer on Messianic Prophecy:  A Bible Journey Through the First and Second Comings of Christ.  Detailing the First and Second comings of the Messiah, Polsley walks the reader through the importance of the background and details of the advents.  Then, the author unfolds the Messiah’s Millennial Kingdom and the eternality of the same. 

In the section on the Messiah’s First Advent, Polsley insightfully records the post-resurrection appearances of Jesus and how they relate to His future coming.  In the Second Coming of Christ, she speaks of both the Rapture and the Revelation of Jesus in a scholarly, yet devotional, manner.  She approaches the Rapture thoughtfully from the Scriptural imagery of a thief and bride.

Later in the book, Polsley details the importance of the millennial kingdom to the reign of Christ.  In a picturesque way, the author describes the stages of a Jewish marriage in the Messiah’s taking of His bride.  Finally, she includes appendices of how to become a Christian, the importance of the Jewish feasts to the Messiah’s reign, as well as the Old Testament tabernacle and its significance.

Polsley’s work is readable for any believer, yet scholarly enough to serve as a textbook.  She weaves the authority of Scripture deftly with strong historical and extra-biblical sources.  As both a pastor of a local church and adjunct university professor, I highly recommend A Primer on Messianic Prophecy for both the pew and classroom."

- Dr. Greg Ammons

Senior Pastor, First Baptist Church, Garland, Texas

Adjunct Professor, Dallas Baptist University

Happy Leap Day! Book Announcement: Battle at the Forks

On the fourth anniversary of Ifscapes, Volume 1 (Ifscapes: Empires and Androids), announcing Ifscapes 9, Battle at the Forks!  From the book description:

Lunar tourism, near-apocalyptic and dystopian outcomes, space colonization, cybernetic networks and robots, and clever extraterrestrial invasion ruses meet at the corner of Greek tragedy, enigmatic archaeological artifacts, crash landings, mysterious creatures, interplanetary politics, and ancient space battles in this short story collection of science fiction meta-myth and alternate historical fiction. Spectacular moments deciding imperial fates? Ingenious individual intrigues changing the course of solar systems? The many crossroads of history, historical fiction, alternate history, possible worlds, and would-have-been worlds split in the antiquity of the ancient future still to come in Ifscapes, Volume 9: Battle at the Forks.

Book Endorsement from James Stitzinger, Jr.

Thank you to James Stitzinger for endorsing A Primer on Messianic Prophecy!

“This essay is an excellent overview of some of the future biblical events of our Lord and Savior in a rich and fascinating way. The study offers a refreshing and clear distinction between the future returns of our Lord as laid out in the Scripture. It resists the temptation to spiritualize what Scripture has made plain. This work is enthusiastically recommended to those wishing to sort out these issues and build on them.”

—James F. Stitzinger, president, Books for Libraries

Book Announcement: On the Cybernetic Circuit

Now out on Kindle!  Ifscapes, Volume 8: On the Cybernetic Circuit

From the book description:

Ifscapes 8 makes the rounds of galaxies and motherboards in the newest installment of the series, On the Cybernetic Circuit. Can a robot really replace a human explorer or astronaut? Will artificial intelligence take over, or is it a figment of the cyborgs’ imagination? Where do AI, androids, and Andromeda meet singularity, sentience, and Sol? From big questions to the big top, the Ifscapes multiverse marches on, sweeping the systems at home and abroad.

In this volume of Ifscapes:

- sail the high seas with unexpected companions

- enjoy an insider’s view of adventure sports and exploits in outer space

- reconsider human nature through a robot’s eyes

- terraform new worlds far distant from the Solar System

- watch artificial intelligence develop from the inside out

- upgrade from settlers’ habitations to epic galactic palaces

Space colonization, star alliances with extraterrestrial visitors, android bureaucrats, and robotic upgrades all feature in this collection of science fiction stories. Interplanetary warfare, incipient empires, shaky federations, and mysterious expeditions are the latest victims of AI-generated mishaps . . . or are they? Plumb the innovative depths of artificial intelligence, natural language processing, human error, convergence, and more in the developing databanks of Ifscapes Volume 8, On the Cybernetic Circuit.

First Coming Christmas Countdown: Christmas Day

The culmination of the First Coming Christmas Countdown: Christmas Day, Dec. 25! (But was Jesus actually born in December? Learn more about His real birthday in A Primer on Messianic Prophecy, Chapter 2, "His Birth.") 

“For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:11).

Merry Christmas!