Excerpt from A SOUL'S KISS

"A SOUL'S KISS delivers the right balance of romance, suspense, and the paranormal."

Synopsis:

Seventeen-year-old Jessica thinks high school would be perfect if she could win over Hannah’s boyfriend, Michael, but a horrible accident changes everything.  Jessica’s physical body falls into a coma while her spirit splits off to invade the thoughts and dreams of those around her, including Michael, Hannah, and even Tyler, who has a crush on Jessica.

As she harvests slivers of others’ souls she also learns everyone’s secret memories and starts to suspect that Michael isn't as wonderful as she thinks he is. 

When she invades Hannah, she has a chance to be with Michael, but now Hannah is interested in Tyler. 

Excerpt:

I think about Michael, but Hannah’s face keeps interrupting every memory. I think about Rashanda and Tyler, but again Hannah’s voice splits my thoughts in two. Her voice. And what I last heard her say as I sat behind her in her friend’s car. Last night: “We could make Andrew the next victim if you want.”

“We could make Andrew the next victim if you want.”

It echoes. I can remember the entire conversation. And more. I can remember touching my forehead to the back of her head. I got inside, but she would not acknowledge me. I could not get past the boxes of darkness that litter her head. It was like there were doors and more doors, all of them closed, and I didn’t have the keys to open any of them.

And now I'm stuck. There’s no pulling back out of her mind. Last night I felt her nausea, her migraine. I heard Brittany’s voice, took in their conversation, their good-byes, the walk into the house. I saw her father, felt Hannah’s disappointment – a mixture of repulsion and love as she sneaked past the snoring hulk sprawled on the living room couch. I remember her, us, getting ready for bed.

And then this blackness.

My heart, or maybe it’s Hannah’s, stutters to life in a race to beat my mind to a horrible conclusion: I am stuck in Hannah and Hannah is waking up.

(A SOUL'S KISS is available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo and Smashwords.)

My Cool Stupeflix Video

The Book of Ecclesiastes, part 3

After bewailing the vanity of life and arguing that there is nothing better than to be happy and do good, Solomon continues in chapter 9 of Ecclesiastes:

 11 I have seen something else under the sun:

   The race is not to the swift
   or the battle to the strong,
nor does food come to the wise
   or wealth to the brilliant
   or favor to the learned;
but time and chance happen to them all.

Time and chance – that’s an interesting translation. The original Hebrew has “the time of mischance comes to us all” meaning that we all die. “Mischance” was a euphemism for death. Yet wise old Solomon wasn’t completely sold on hopelessness. His conclusion finishes out the book. Read 12: 13, 14:

13 Now all has been heard;
   here is the conclusion of the matter:
Fear God and keep his commandments,
   for this is the duty of all mankind.
14 For God will bring every deed into judgment,
   including every hidden thing,
   whether it is good or evil.

Whew! That will sober you up.

The Book of Ecclesiastes, part 2

After all the disappointment and feelings of meaninglessness in the first two chapters of Ecclesiastes the next three chapters look at earthly happiness, its difficulties and means of advancement. Read 3: 1-8:

1 There is a time for everything,
   and a season for every activity under the heavens:

 2 a time to be born and a time to die,
   a time to plant and a time to uproot,
 3 a time to kill and a time to heal,
   a time to tear down and a time to build,
 4 a time to weep and a time to laugh,
   a time to mourn and a time to dance,
 5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
   a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
 6 a time to search and a time to give up,
   a time to keep and a time to throw away,
 7 a time to tear and a time to mend,
   a time to be silent and a time to speak,
 8 a time to love and a time to hate,
   a time for war and a time for peace.

Pete Seeger adapted these verses into the lyrics for the song Turn, Turn, Turn, sung by The Byrds.

The Book of Ecclesiastes, part 1

We don’t know who wrote Ecclesiastes, but tradition assigns authorship to Solomon. The word Ecclesiastes comes from the Greek word Ekklesiastes which means “speaker of a called out assembly”. The Hebrew Bible calls this book Qoheleth from the word in verse 1, chapter 1, that many translations have as “preacher”:

1 The words of the Teacher, son of David, king in Jerusalem:

or as you see here “teacher”, but the original means “assembler” or “collector” of wisdom. Who was a collector of wisdom and son of David? Solomon seems to be the obvious answer. After his scandalous backsliding he made public what he learned from his experiences. Whereas in Proverbs he reveals God’s wisdom, in Ecclesiastes he despairs over the complexity of life, the failure of natural wisdom and the futility of looking for truth and happiness apart from God. The major theme of the book is that without God’s blessing nothing satisfies, not wisdom, power, pleasure or riches. In fact, without God those things bring disillusionment and disappointment.

The Book of Leviticus, part 2

Chapter 23 of Leviticus starts with what I think is a pleasant contrast to all the previous negative prohibitions and sacrifices. The Lord appoints some feasts: The Passover, Feast of Unleavened Bread, Firstfruits, Feast of Weeks, Feast of Trumpets, Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) and the Feast of Tabernacles. These are wonderful “parties” and have special significance to Israel, but even more significance to Christians. Why? Because they have been or will be fulfilled in Christ.

First of all Passover, the Feast of Unleavened Bread and Firstfruits fall on the 14th, 15th and 17th of the Jewish calendar month of Nisan. These are spring feasts. Pentecost is 50 days later on the 6th of Sivan, a summer month. The last three feasts are all autumn festivals falling on the 1st, 10th and 15th of Tishri.

Today is Brought to You by the book of Leviticus, part 1

Leviticus (Va’yikra in Hebrew) means “and He called”, which is how verse one starts. We call this book Leviticus because it records the duties of the Levites. The Hebrew title is representative of the content and purpose of the book, namely the calling of God’s people, and in particular the calling of the Levites, to minister before Him.

This book was written by Moses and its major themes are like an instruction manual for morals and ethics. There are civil, sanitary, ceremonial, moral and religious regulations for the nation of Israel. There are also instructions for making offerings (burnt, meat, peace, sin, trespass, grain). We have the ordination of Aaron and his son, rules and laws for purification, regulations for atonement, rules for sexual relationships, provisions for festivals, and final instructions and warnings.

Psalm 119, a couple of facts

Let’s look at Psalm 119. It is the longest psalm as well as the longest chapter in the Bible. It is referred to in Hebrew by its opening words:

 Ashrei temimei derech

 ("happy are those whose way is perfect") It is the prayer of one who delights in and lives by the Torah, the sacred law. There are 176 verses, 8 verses for each of the 22 Hebrew letters. The first 8 verses each start with the Hebrew letter Aleph ,the next 8 with Bet and so on through the alphabet (alephbet).

We have lost the amazing beauty of the psalm in translation.

Happy Easter Everyone

I just wanted to share this Amazing Hallelujah Song
Praise God. He is risen.

Passover + Jesus

We really need to look at the Passover celebration as revealed in the instructions given to Moses and Aaron in Exodus chapter 12 because the symbolism is wonderfully woven into the Jewish and the Christian experience.

Each household needed a lamb, a perfect male, and they had to take it on the tenth day of the month and not sacrifice it until the fourteenth day. Compare: Jesus entered Jerusalem on the 10th day and was crucified on the 14th day.

Passover restrictions required that they had to eat the lamb and not break any of the bones. Compare: Jesus was crucified, but His legs were not broken (as was the custom in crucifixions).

In celebrating the Seder (Passover) dinner Jews still put three pieces of unleavened bread together (representing the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) then take the middle piece, break it and wrap it in white cloth (symbolizing Christ’s death) and hide it (the burial). If you’ve seen Matzah bread you know it is striped and pierced (as was Jesus – whipped and later pierced with a sword). Later the bread is found (resurrection). The third cup of wine is drunk; it is the cup of redemption.

(taken from CROSSING THE SCRIPTURES)

Cindy C Bennett's THE END OF FEELING

Now available: Cindy C Bennett's The End of Feeling

After missed deadlines and pushed-back release dates, it's finally here!

Benjamin Nefer seems to have it all. He’s the most popular guy in school, the star quarterback with college scouts looking at him, his grades are near the top of his class, he can get any girl he wants . . . but he hides behind his dream life to mask the nightmare of his reality.

Charlie Austin is the new girl. Forced to move in with a bitter aunt, she only wants to protect her fragile mom from the world’s cruelty. When Benjamin sets his sights on Charlie, she’s armored against his charm—friends warned her about Benjamin’s game of pursuing and then dumping a long line of girls, not caring about the broken hearts he leaves behind. She doesn’t count on how single-minded he can be when she refuses him, or how charismatic, easing into her life through what he claims is just friendship.

Benjamin thought he could keep Charlie in the same place he keeps all girls—something to be used and then discarded. But Charlie has as many secrets as he does, secrets he’s determined to discover while keeping his own hidden. He realizes she’s the perfect girlfriend candidate . . . someone he can use to keep up the façade of a perfect life. Now he just has to keep his frozen heart from softening toward this unique girl, because if he doesn’t, his carefully constructed lies might just come thundering down around him, crushing him beneath the burden of feeling.

Get your copy today at: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or other digital formats.

Proud to be a part of Amazon's Kindle Matchbook - Purchase the paperback, get the Kindle version free!

Here's what's being said about The End of Feeling

The End of Feeling is a story that will stay with you long after you finish reading it. Haunting, heartbreaking, in other words, another winner for Bennett!

~ Sherry Gammon, author of Unlovable

From the moment I picked it up, my heart was warmed, melted, broken, and pieced back together again. A beautiful story that will leave you aching long after the last page.

~ Jamie Canosa, author of Falling to Pieces

A tale of hope and love about a couple of teens who have every reason to believe in neither. It's raw and real, but leaves us believing in the power of redemption.

~ Juli Caldwell, author of Psyched

The reality both characters live makes their story captivatingly unique, and emotionally powerful. . . Demonstrates the beautiful truth that two people can learn to be true to themselves, no matter what—especially while falling in love. 

~ Heather Frost, author of The Seers trilogy

The struggles in this story bring to light the fact that beauty and truly miraculous things can be found in the everyday, and that the most important thing any one of us can possess, is love.

~ Shannen Crane Camp, author of Under Zenith

Once again Cindy C Bennett's incredible talent shines through yet another masterpiece . . . a triumphant story of love, compassion and human strength.

~ Camelia MironSkiba, author of Hidden Heart

Bennett brilliantly weaves the fears and trepidation of two teens treading the hazards of acceptance, young love, and. Curl up with this story and enjoy the ride—it's terrific.

~ Jeffery Moore, author of Jericho Solus

Learn more at Cindy C Bennett's blog.

Visit The End of Feeling blog to read the full reviews.

Today is Brought to You by the Hebrew Letter Gimel

The third Hebrew letter, gimel, represents the “camel”. The desert dwelling Bedouins call the camel the “gift of God” because their entire sustenance – food, drink, clothing, fuel, and travel – depends upon it. Camels are frequently used in the Bible as a symbol of wealth and abundance. Picture the wise men with camels, bearing gifts for the Christ child.

In the Hebrew alphabet the first three letters are aleph, bet, and gimel. Aleph has the symbolic meaning of ox or “leader for God”. The second letter, bet, means “house”. Their word for father, Av, combines the first two letters, hence we clearly see the hidden meaning in this short word: the father is the leader of the house.

The word for son, ben, is spelled with the letter bet and the letter nun which means “heir”. Do you see the hidden meaning of son? Heir of the house. Makes sense to me. Therefore, we’ve got Father, Son, and … we’d expect the third letter to give us the Holy Spirit, right? How do we get that from gimel, camel?  Well, the three letters that spell gimel, also spell gamal, gamál, and gomel (vowel points were added centuries later). Gamal means camel, gamál means recompense, reward, deal bountifully or do good and gomel means benefactor or abundant giver. What I know of the Holy Spirit seems to fit these definitions, especially abundant giver – what do you think?

I love the codes in the Hebrew alphabet. As I see it the first three letters show us the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

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A Closer Look at the TEN COMMANDMENTS

The first commandment is basically 

“I am Adonai your God” 

The word Adonai here is actually the tetragrammaton seen above and pronounced Yahweh or Jehovah, but Jews replace this sacred name with Adonai or HaShem and never speak it. If you start reading at verse 1 of Exodus chapter 20 then you know that God “spoke” all these words: the commandments. He starts with this implicit fact that He is our God.

“You shall not have other gods before me.” 

Literally, it says “before my face”, implying forever and everywhere, since God is omnipresent and eternal.

“You shall not take the name of Adonai your God in vain.” 

This commandment prohibits the voicing of the Lord’s name in an empty or useless way. Did you read that? Do not say “oh my God”! It has become a habit for too many people and it breaks my heart when I hear anyone and especially small children repeating this phrase.

“Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy.” 

Set it apart. The Sabbath should be special. Heed God’s word, after all He spends several verses on this one command explaining that you should not work on the Sabbath.

“Honor your father and your mother.” 

Now the commands switch from being about our relationship with God to being about our relationship with others. Notice that this command to honor your parents continues with a blessing for you if you obey. Read verse 12 and see what you will get if you honor your father and your mother.

“You shall not murder.” 

If your translation says “kill” it is wrong. That is too broad a word. The actual Hebrew implies illegal killing only, hence murder. This commandment does not prohibit justified killing or killing in war.

“You shall not commit adultery.” 

Could that be any clearer?

“You shall not steal.” 

Stealing implies a lack of trust that God will supply all of our needs.

“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.” 

This commandment is implicit in our lives if we live by the truth.

“You shall not covet” 

This goes on to list the things that you shall not covet: your neighbor’s house, wife, servants, ox, donkey, or anything he owns. To covet is to have a selfish desire or even lust.

The commandments are given in Deuteronomy 5 as well.