Why I'm Done with One-Sided News: a Lie is still a Lie

By Benjamin H. Liles

          Justice is such an interesting word. On one hand it implies a legal term in which two sides come to mediate a sentence due for the person who has done wrong. But is there another meaning for this often misunderstood word? In 1828 Noah Webster provided tons of terms that we get our modern dictionaries and thesaurus's from. The word I'm looking at is the one for justice. It says of this word, "The virtue which consists in giving to every one what is his due; practical conformity to the laws and to principles of rectitude in the dealings of men with each other; honesty; Impartiality; equal distribution of right in expressing opinions; fair representation of facts respecting merit or demerit."

Zion (Aaron Shust Lyric Video)

Brief post edit by Benjamin H. Liles

          I want to explain why I'm making this post edit here. There was a point in my life I absolutely hated and was failing at history in high school. We were given the project, as students, to look at and get into our family histories. As it has happened, since those days I had been in high school I am now caretaker of my family's heritage and ancestry.

A Redesigned Life (Book Review)

By Benjamin H. Liles

          "Well, darling, it's that time of year again," she says to me as I slowly wake up. "Shake a leg, handsome, Spring cleaning time!" Ugh, those words, they mean moving furniture, clutter, and a possibility of having to, dare I say, throw out trash? I shudder pulling covers back over my head, daring to go back to sleep, and then she comes back in: "Benjamin Herrell!"

          "Okay, I'm up!" and I stomp out of bed.

Shift Your Thinking for a Deeper Faith (Book Review)

By Benjamin H. Liles

          Dean Del Sesto is a prominent author who's written several best sellers that include Shift Your Thinking for Success, Shift Points, and A Shift a Day for Your Best Year Yet. I would have to say after reading his latest book Shift Your Thinking for a Deeper Faith he's hitting notes that make it look the former way of living life in sinfulness and being and feeling defeated are things of the past. A new life in Christ means the person is transformed from the inside out and lives a victorious life even against the odds.

Breathe Again (Book Review)

By Benjamin H. Liles

          Niki Hardy writes with an abundance of humor about trials and tribulations we go through as people in need of healing and joy. With her book Breathe Again, Niki recounts times in her life, from her mother, her sister and even about her own life dealing with cancer. While she does so with a down-to-earth and easy going, shoot-straight-from-the-hip kind of style in her writing at least she's honest and open that we all can live the best life we absolutely can with God's grace.

Thanks to the Lord

By Benjamin H. Liles

          I saw something this morning, while reading, that I thought would be a good and loving word: "Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind" (Psalm 107:8, 15, 21, 31). Everytime this verse is mentioned there are certain things mentioned before it: Those who "wandered" and "hungry and thirsty" (v. 4, 5), "Some sat in darkness" (v. 10), "Some became fools" (v. 17), "Some went out on the sea" (v. 23).

Back Roads to Belonging (Book Review)

By Benjamin H. Liles

          I want to paint a picture for you here: maybe you're a bit slow, possibly a bit "fluffy" around the middle, maybe not the smartest stack in the pile, or as some say, "A round peg in a square hole;" the point is made clear: "You're not wanted or desired here." Society does that to people. Pigeon-holing those they deem as weak. But God says, "I use the weak things of the world to confound the wise" (1 Corinthians 1:27). Even Jesus called twelve men, most of them fishermen to disciple them to reach out and be "fishers of men" (Matthew 4:19).

Falling Away

By Benjamin H. Liles

          I know that with a title like that some would be scratching their heads like, "Okay, what's up with that? Is he about to do the same thing as Joshua Harris and Marty Sampson in recent days?"

Actually, this concerns that. The verse of the day, which is allowed to run even on my site says, "And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write, ‘These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God: Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me" (Revelation 3:14, 20).

Seeing God for Purity of Heart

By Benjamin H. Liles

          I absolutely love how Charles Haddon Spurgeon said this: "Believe on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and ye shall be saved. Whosoever here will now cast himself as a guilty worm flat on Jesus- whoever will throw himself into the arms of everlasting love, that man shall be accepted; he shall go from that door justified and forgiven, with his soul as sate as if he were in heaven, without the danger of its ever being lost. All this is through belief in Christ.." More or less, he's saying, "Forgive me, O Lord, a sinner!" (Luke 18:!3). For that taxpayer has more of a right to heaven than the self-righteous Pharisee.

A Stained Legacy: One

By Benjamin H. Liles

          The halls not only dimly lit by a shaded hue of what seemed to be medical stale, Matt Shinom stalked down the vast corridors of the Terminal. Hand up, coiled around a saber, drawn and ready, lights flicked on and off gently. Something ripe hung in the air, causing Matt to put his hand to his face. A silver moon hung outside, casting eerie glows upon the cavernous inside of the decaying, molding building. Nothing seemed right in his world. In fact...Ta-zing, a bullet ricocheted off a wall near Matt's right ear; he fell tumbling to the other side.

The Gryphon Heist (Book Review)

By Benjamin H. Liles

          I recently read this wonderful, great and heart-stopping, race against time novel James Hannibal wrote. The Gryphon Heist is one heck of a read, albeit in my opinion. But opinions do not go well in a world that is in need of facts. So, here are some facts readers ought to be aware of when it comes to picking up this book to read it. James Hannibal, from the back of the book, "is no stranger to secrets and adventure." From the moment I started reading this book, I absolutely could not put it down.

Sowing What You Reap

By Benjamin H. Liles

          I'm not real sure if I wrote about this topic in a while, but it needs to be said again. Sowing specific types of seed towards others comes back to you in the end. Paul tells the church in Galatia, "Do not be deceived: God is not to be mocked. Whatever a man sows, he will reap in return" (Galatians 6:7). A lot of people talk about karma, but it's not that when it comes from the Lord on high.

The String (Book Review)

By Benjamin H. Liles

          The way he stands there, looking serene, austere, intense, lips flat and pressed wearing a tuxedo, with a bit of tail covering his waist makes the orchestra nervous. He gets in position before the orchestra, facing them and then he starts giving them direction to play their piece. So the conductor normally plies his craft with the orchestra. Where am I going with this? Caleb Breakey, with his book The String does exactly that.

Light From Distant Stars (Book Review)

By Benjamin H. Liles

          The latest book by Shawn Smucker, Light From Distant Stars, hits several notes of fictional writing that seem both majestic and tragic. I don't mean that in a bad or a mean way. His writing is spot on, in my honest opinion. But what I mean with my "majestic and tragic" comment is that for the main character Cohen Marah, he seems to have a hard time coming to terms with his father's death.