THREE CUPS OF TEA is the perfect example of what can be accomplished when we don’t draw lines between each other. When religious and cultural differences are left out of the mix, and the only common goal is helping children. Devoted to educating the children, especially girls, in the area where the Taliban organized and Osama bin Laden hides, the wilderness between Pakistan and Afghanistan, Greg Mortenson built 55 schools over a decade. With the help of the people who reside there, who for generations have built their lives there, radical ideas were left at the doorsteps so those children could get a balanced education. Given the state of world affairs and the intolerance we normally show each other, it almost seems impossible, doesn’t it?
Shawna Ryan
Author: thrillers DESTINY'S DAMNED & SATAN'S SCAT
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Friday, July 25, 2008
Our Lords, Tammuz & Christ
The similarities between the ancient god Tammuz and the Christian God are striking.
Tammuz was worshipped throughout Palestine and Mesopotamia, including Jerusalem, as early as 700 years before Christ was born. Tammuz worshippers called him “The Lord.”
The Church of the Nativity was built at the site Christian’s worship as the place Christ was born. It is located in Bethlehem. That same site was worshipped centuries before Christ was born as the place Tammuz was reborn.
In a letter from St. Jerome to Paulinis, St. Jerome writes, “This Bethlehem which is now ours, and is the most august spot on earth, was foreshadowed by a grave of Tammuz- that is to say, Adonis in the cave where the infant Christ once wailed....”
Tammuz was said to have been crucified. Tammuz symbol was the Tau, which was a pagan symbol for the cross.
Every year Tammuz’ was laid on a bed or bier and his death mourned by women. Afterwards, his resurrection was chanted and praised. Tammuz was said to have been a beautiful youth. The women who mourned him: the goddess Ishtar of Babylon and Assyria and the goddess Astarte of Phoenicia.
Many Christians, Muslims, and Jews reject any connection with gods like Tammuz that preceded their own. They call those gods “pagan.” For most of them that term is derogatory, particularly when the pagan gods are compared with their own. But why? Why are these “modern” religions so defensive? There is no reason to be ashamed. They may not be perfect, but Tammuz and the other pagan gods are the Christian, Jewish, and Muslim god’s ancestors.
Sources:
• “The Myth of the Resurrection” by Joseph McCabe (1925).(McCabe was once a Franciscan monk.) www.faithofyeshua.faithweb.com/crucified_sun_godno4htm
• “The Origins of Christianity & the Quest for the Historical Jesus Christ,” www.truthbeknown.com/origins.htm
• “Examining the Crucifixion of Jesus and Parallels to Crucified Sun-gods,”
www.faithofyeshua.faithweb.com/crucified_sun_godno4.htm.
© Shawna Ryan
Author: thrillers DESTINY'S DAMNED & SATAN'S SCAT
available:
www.pilchuckpublishing.com
amazon.com
books stores and libraries
Tammuz was worshipped throughout Palestine and Mesopotamia, including Jerusalem, as early as 700 years before Christ was born. Tammuz worshippers called him “The Lord.”
The Church of the Nativity was built at the site Christian’s worship as the place Christ was born. It is located in Bethlehem. That same site was worshipped centuries before Christ was born as the place Tammuz was reborn.
In a letter from St. Jerome to Paulinis, St. Jerome writes, “This Bethlehem which is now ours, and is the most august spot on earth, was foreshadowed by a grave of Tammuz- that is to say, Adonis in the cave where the infant Christ once wailed....”
Tammuz was said to have been crucified. Tammuz symbol was the Tau, which was a pagan symbol for the cross.
Every year Tammuz’ was laid on a bed or bier and his death mourned by women. Afterwards, his resurrection was chanted and praised. Tammuz was said to have been a beautiful youth. The women who mourned him: the goddess Ishtar of Babylon and Assyria and the goddess Astarte of Phoenicia.
Many Christians, Muslims, and Jews reject any connection with gods like Tammuz that preceded their own. They call those gods “pagan.” For most of them that term is derogatory, particularly when the pagan gods are compared with their own. But why? Why are these “modern” religions so defensive? There is no reason to be ashamed. They may not be perfect, but Tammuz and the other pagan gods are the Christian, Jewish, and Muslim god’s ancestors.
Sources:
• “The Myth of the Resurrection” by Joseph McCabe (1925).(McCabe was once a Franciscan monk.) www.faithofyeshua.faithweb.com/crucified_sun_godno4htm
• “The Origins of Christianity & the Quest for the Historical Jesus Christ,” www.truthbeknown.com/origins.htm
• “Examining the Crucifixion of Jesus and Parallels to Crucified Sun-gods,”
www.faithofyeshua.faithweb.com/crucified_sun_godno4.htm.
© Shawna Ryan
Author: thrillers DESTINY'S DAMNED & SATAN'S SCAT
available:
www.pilchuckpublishing.com
amazon.com
books stores and libraries
Monday, July 21, 2008
INTRODUCING SHARON MARSHALL - DESTINY'S DAMNED
Sharon Marshall is a high-powered trial attorney in San Francisco, a partner in the large, prestigious firm of Braddick & Beene. Alex Caldwell is an investigative reporter with the New York post.
Close friends, Sharon meets Alex outside the Medical Examiner’s office in San Francisco on the day after Alex’s brother, Eric, is sadistically and ritualistically murdered.
Excerpt from: DESTINY’S DAMNED:
A figure in shadow, sitting on a bench in an empty, colorless hall paved with marble was motionless, not even the clacking of an approaching woman’s three inch heels disturbing him. Behind him, was a double glass door, shades drawn, marked “Medical Examiner.”
“Alex,” she said, her voice soft and soothing, “are you all right?” Crowded by small, high cheek bones and brows that had no curve, her forehead pinched with worry, she stooped and put her arms around him. “I’m so sorry.”
“Yeah,” he said, beneath his breath. His eyes were red and worn with distress as he rose and hugged her. “Thanks for coming.
Tailored in every respect, her not too short, dark brown hair was brushed back and over her ears in a style that perfectly matched her expensive, conservative business suit and figure. Wearing just a touch of makeup, allowing her natural color and the brilliance of her bright green eyes expression, she possessed a kind of genuine attractiveness Alex always found appealing. Comforted by her, he held her closer. His brown eyes tearing, he cried.
He was tall and slender, casual in appearance, his all night flight across the continent telling. His pre stressed jeans, over stretched, bagged at the knees. His black wool, sports coat was crumpled. He had been out in the rain and he was wet. Shocks of his curly, black hair clung to his forehead, and he shivered.
© Shawna Ryan
Author: thrillers DESTINY'S DAMNED & SATAN'S SCAT
available:
www.pilchuckpublishing.com
amazon.com
books stores and libraries
Close friends, Sharon meets Alex outside the Medical Examiner’s office in San Francisco on the day after Alex’s brother, Eric, is sadistically and ritualistically murdered.
Excerpt from: DESTINY’S DAMNED:
A figure in shadow, sitting on a bench in an empty, colorless hall paved with marble was motionless, not even the clacking of an approaching woman’s three inch heels disturbing him. Behind him, was a double glass door, shades drawn, marked “Medical Examiner.”
“Alex,” she said, her voice soft and soothing, “are you all right?” Crowded by small, high cheek bones and brows that had no curve, her forehead pinched with worry, she stooped and put her arms around him. “I’m so sorry.”
“Yeah,” he said, beneath his breath. His eyes were red and worn with distress as he rose and hugged her. “Thanks for coming.
Tailored in every respect, her not too short, dark brown hair was brushed back and over her ears in a style that perfectly matched her expensive, conservative business suit and figure. Wearing just a touch of makeup, allowing her natural color and the brilliance of her bright green eyes expression, she possessed a kind of genuine attractiveness Alex always found appealing. Comforted by her, he held her closer. His brown eyes tearing, he cried.
He was tall and slender, casual in appearance, his all night flight across the continent telling. His pre stressed jeans, over stretched, bagged at the knees. His black wool, sports coat was crumpled. He had been out in the rain and he was wet. Shocks of his curly, black hair clung to his forehead, and he shivered.
© Shawna Ryan
Author: thrillers DESTINY'S DAMNED & SATAN'S SCAT
available:
www.pilchuckpublishing.com
amazon.com
books stores and libraries
Thursday, July 17, 2008
A TROUBLED PRIEST - SATAN’S SCAT
Its air stagnant and old, its floors and ceiling, its tables and stools reeking of fifty years of stale body odor and smoke, the squalid, old bar in the heart of the Tenderloin District was home that night for Patrick. Sitting slumped at a booth in the farthest, darkest corner, a warm erotic body pressing him to the wall, he slugged down his sixth shot of mash and asked for more.
He was frightened and confused. Sybil had come for him but had not taken him. She had revealed her spirit to him but not her name. What does she want? he kept asking himself. Staring at hands that brought his drink, he took a ten from the bills he had put in front of him when he came in and surrendered it. Sober for months, he had a great thirst not only for drink but for something else.
Seductive fingers, crawling through tiny hairs at the back of his neck climbed toward his mutilated ear and played there. As her tongue took their place, her hand reached for his thigh.
Excerpt from SATAN’S SCAT
© Shawna Ryan
Author: thrillers DESTINY'S DAMNED & SATAN'S SCAT
available:
www.pilchuckpublishing.com
amazon.com
books stores and libraries
He was frightened and confused. Sybil had come for him but had not taken him. She had revealed her spirit to him but not her name. What does she want? he kept asking himself. Staring at hands that brought his drink, he took a ten from the bills he had put in front of him when he came in and surrendered it. Sober for months, he had a great thirst not only for drink but for something else.
Seductive fingers, crawling through tiny hairs at the back of his neck climbed toward his mutilated ear and played there. As her tongue took their place, her hand reached for his thigh.
Excerpt from SATAN’S SCAT
© Shawna Ryan
Author: thrillers DESTINY'S DAMNED & SATAN'S SCAT
available:
www.pilchuckpublishing.com
amazon.com
books stores and libraries
Monday, July 14, 2008
WHAT IF CHRIST LEFT HIS OWN TESTAMENT?
What if Christ left His own Testament? And what if that Testament survived and is hidden? Why would the Christian Church want to find and destroy it? And who would be protecting it?
The Christian Church is founded on the New Testament and its Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Yet none of these gospels were actually written by Matthew, Mark, Luke or John. The Gospels were written by various people, many unknown, then added to, named, and materially revised during the hundreds of years following the apostles’ deaths.
During the 4th century AD, on the instructions of the Roman Emperor, Constantine the Great, Bishop Eusebius and others edited, rejected, or destroyed the stories of Christ then in existence. Writing new and revised stories that furthered Constantine’s ambitions, Eusebius and the others created a work that became known as the New Testament. As a result, through legend, folklore and revision, Christ’s original teachings might well have been lost.
But what if Christ’s original teachings survived in another form? In His own Testament? What if his teachings were recorded contemporaneously with his life and death and survive as originally written? Can you imagine what would happen then? What would the publication of Christ’s Testament do to the power and authority of a Church built on stories that have questionable origins? What would the Church do to protect itself?
from SATAN’S SCAT
Based partly on the work of Martin E. Marty in his A SHORT HISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY, the World Publishing Company.
© Shawna Ryan
Author: thrillers DESTINY'S DAMNED & SATAN'S SCAT
available:
www.pilchuckpublishing.com
amazon.com
books stores and libraries
The Christian Church is founded on the New Testament and its Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Yet none of these gospels were actually written by Matthew, Mark, Luke or John. The Gospels were written by various people, many unknown, then added to, named, and materially revised during the hundreds of years following the apostles’ deaths.
During the 4th century AD, on the instructions of the Roman Emperor, Constantine the Great, Bishop Eusebius and others edited, rejected, or destroyed the stories of Christ then in existence. Writing new and revised stories that furthered Constantine’s ambitions, Eusebius and the others created a work that became known as the New Testament. As a result, through legend, folklore and revision, Christ’s original teachings might well have been lost.
But what if Christ’s original teachings survived in another form? In His own Testament? What if his teachings were recorded contemporaneously with his life and death and survive as originally written? Can you imagine what would happen then? What would the publication of Christ’s Testament do to the power and authority of a Church built on stories that have questionable origins? What would the Church do to protect itself?
from SATAN’S SCAT
Based partly on the work of Martin E. Marty in his A SHORT HISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY, the World Publishing Company.
© Shawna Ryan
Author: thrillers DESTINY'S DAMNED & SATAN'S SCAT
available:
www.pilchuckpublishing.com
amazon.com
books stores and libraries
Thursday, July 10, 2008
WAS HEROD NOT A JEW? - SATAN'S SCAT
The infamous Herod may not have been a Jew. The man historically responsible for Christ’s death was probably not a Jew at all.
His grandfather was Antipater, an Idumaean. The Idumaean were conquered by John Hyrcanus at the end of the 2nd century BC. The Idumaean, together with Antipater and his family were obliged to live as Jews and were thereafter considered Jews. However, Antipater’s loyalty was to Rome.
Antipater won favor with the Romans by helping them in the Orient. That favor won Antipater’s son, Herod the Great, the office of governor of Galilee. The Roman Emperors Octavian and Antony later secured Herod the Great the crown of Judea. To help secure his position, he married into the Hasmonean family who were very popular with the Jews.
Herod the Great was known for building the temple of Jerusalem, but he also built temples to pagan gods. The most notable was a temple to Apollo in Rhodes.
Christ was probably born during Herod the Great’s lifetime.
After Herod the Great died, he was succeeded by his sons: first, by Archelaus; then by Antipas, the Herod accused of being responsible for Christ’s death. Both were educated in Rome.
Herod Archelaus publicly declared that his title and authority were dependent on the the good will of Caesar. But he lost that good will and was banished to Gaul ten years after his reign began.
His brother, Herod Antipas, succeeded him. It was Antipas who was allegedly responsible for Christ’s death.
Antipas, too, catered to Rome. The Roman Emperor Octavian confirmed him as tetrarch of Galilee. When Antipas built his capital city on the Western Shore of the Sea of Galilee, he named it after the Roman Emperor Tiberias. He tried to Romanize Galilee. He helped Rome extract as much wealth from the conquered land as possible.
He was devoted to the Romans. And like his family, Herod Antipas, appeared to be more interested in wooing the Jews than being one.
see: SATAN’S SCAT
Sources:
•Catholic Encyclopedia, New Advent, “Herod.”
•USU 1320:History and Civilization, “Section 13: Early Christianity and the Church,” http://www.usu.edu/markdamen/1320Hist&Civ/chapters/13XITY.htm
© Shawna Ryan
Author: thrillers DESTINY'S DAMNED & SATAN'S SCAT
available:
www.pilchuckpublishing.com
amazon.com
books stores and libraries
His grandfather was Antipater, an Idumaean. The Idumaean were conquered by John Hyrcanus at the end of the 2nd century BC. The Idumaean, together with Antipater and his family were obliged to live as Jews and were thereafter considered Jews. However, Antipater’s loyalty was to Rome.
Antipater won favor with the Romans by helping them in the Orient. That favor won Antipater’s son, Herod the Great, the office of governor of Galilee. The Roman Emperors Octavian and Antony later secured Herod the Great the crown of Judea. To help secure his position, he married into the Hasmonean family who were very popular with the Jews.
Herod the Great was known for building the temple of Jerusalem, but he also built temples to pagan gods. The most notable was a temple to Apollo in Rhodes.
Christ was probably born during Herod the Great’s lifetime.
After Herod the Great died, he was succeeded by his sons: first, by Archelaus; then by Antipas, the Herod accused of being responsible for Christ’s death. Both were educated in Rome.
Herod Archelaus publicly declared that his title and authority were dependent on the the good will of Caesar. But he lost that good will and was banished to Gaul ten years after his reign began.
His brother, Herod Antipas, succeeded him. It was Antipas who was allegedly responsible for Christ’s death.
Antipas, too, catered to Rome. The Roman Emperor Octavian confirmed him as tetrarch of Galilee. When Antipas built his capital city on the Western Shore of the Sea of Galilee, he named it after the Roman Emperor Tiberias. He tried to Romanize Galilee. He helped Rome extract as much wealth from the conquered land as possible.
He was devoted to the Romans. And like his family, Herod Antipas, appeared to be more interested in wooing the Jews than being one.
see: SATAN’S SCAT
Sources:
•Catholic Encyclopedia, New Advent, “Herod.”
•USU 1320:History and Civilization, “Section 13: Early Christianity and the Church,” http://www.usu.edu/markdamen/1320Hist&Civ/chapters/13XITY.htm
© Shawna Ryan
Author: thrillers DESTINY'S DAMNED & SATAN'S SCAT
available:
www.pilchuckpublishing.com
amazon.com
books stores and libraries
Monday, July 7, 2008
An UNUSUAL DETECTIVE - DESTINY’S DAMNED
An UNUSUAL DETECTIVE - DESTINY’S DAMNED
San Francisco. The sadistic, ritualistic murder of Eric Caldwell brought Sybil Meter, Lieutenant Detective of Homicide into the case. Outside the Medical Examiners office, where Eric was being autopsied, his brother Alex waited.
At precisely the appointed time, the double door that led to the Medical Examiner opened and a woman in an inexpensive, somewhat worn, brown, slack suit and black turtle neck, without adornment, stepped outside. She wore her thick, light brown hair like a hat, full on top and short on the sides. Elfish, triangular sideburns extended to the middle of her ears and framed big, round cheeks slung low over a subtly dimpled jowl. A small, but not delicate, mouth and strong, definite chin line accentuated her perfectly oval head. Under gently sloping eyebrows, trimmed evenly from one end to the other, her walnut brown eyes were dark and equivocal. She was not to be read easily.
“You Alex Caldwell?” she asked. She wore no make-up at all, but had a clean, fresh look, her skin reflecting the hall light. Suddenly sharing the light with her eyes, she drew them toward her, holding them captive. “Lieutenant Detective Sybil Meter,” she said, breaking the spell as she extended her hand.
Excerpt from: DESTINY’S DAMNED
© Shawna Ryan
Author: thrillers DESTINY'S DAMNED & SATAN'S SCAT
available:
www.pilchuckpublishing.com
amazon.com
books stores and libraries
San Francisco. The sadistic, ritualistic murder of Eric Caldwell brought Sybil Meter, Lieutenant Detective of Homicide into the case. Outside the Medical Examiners office, where Eric was being autopsied, his brother Alex waited.
At precisely the appointed time, the double door that led to the Medical Examiner opened and a woman in an inexpensive, somewhat worn, brown, slack suit and black turtle neck, without adornment, stepped outside. She wore her thick, light brown hair like a hat, full on top and short on the sides. Elfish, triangular sideburns extended to the middle of her ears and framed big, round cheeks slung low over a subtly dimpled jowl. A small, but not delicate, mouth and strong, definite chin line accentuated her perfectly oval head. Under gently sloping eyebrows, trimmed evenly from one end to the other, her walnut brown eyes were dark and equivocal. She was not to be read easily.
“You Alex Caldwell?” she asked. She wore no make-up at all, but had a clean, fresh look, her skin reflecting the hall light. Suddenly sharing the light with her eyes, she drew them toward her, holding them captive. “Lieutenant Detective Sybil Meter,” she said, breaking the spell as she extended her hand.
Excerpt from: DESTINY’S DAMNED
© Shawna Ryan
Author: thrillers DESTINY'S DAMNED & SATAN'S SCAT
available:
www.pilchuckpublishing.com
amazon.com
books stores and libraries
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