New Year Update

DISCLAIMER: This post is fully and totally Christian, if you disagree with this point of view and would rather not read anything from this POV you can avoid this post. If you are interested in more posts like this you can go to BelieveBetterMinistries.com.

Okay, I’m looking at the new year and I have a lot of thoughts. On news year day my thoughts turn always to what has happened over the previous year. My first thought is about death. A few people I’ve known, I’m sad to say have passed away. But, also more than thirty people, famous people, have passed this year. It seemed like a month couldn’t go by without someone famous dying. I’ve always known this, but this year seemed to crystallize it: With all those famous people dying, none of those deaths matter. I don’t mean to be callous but that is where my thoughts are. These deaths don’t matter to me at all.

There is only one death which happened (yes they were a famous person) which matters to me. This death is the death of Jesus. His death is the only death that affects my life and through His death the cost for my sins was paid. Through his resurrection I gain eternal life. These are my thoughts as this year ends. I am so thankful for this relationship and for His love for me. I am absolutely thrilled by this and I don’t have a thing to say beyond this. I apologize, but this is where my thoughts are. I’m so thankful for the Lord Jesus and his atoning sacrifice.

A Walk in the Darkness Between the Stars

Well I’ve been rather busy recently, if you’ve been following any of the other projects I’m involved in (Believe Better Ministries or Breath of God Ministries) you know that I’ve been keeping busy. But apart from that I’ve continued to work on my writing.

I’ve cancelled all my writing projects that are not part of the Imonoran Empire Universe – at least for now. I have completed all of the history for the Imonoran Empire (from year 1871 – 3588) and have put aside the Empire for stories that are set after the empire. I’m working on four ships right now. The Republic Vessel Tetran (a military vessel commanded by Dominic Jorvir), the Transport Ship Vatoz (a large freighter that is commanded by Jenxian Xipa), the TS Azure (a less than legal midsize bulk huller commanded by Jolynn Marra), and finally the Jadzir (a mercenary, or merc, ship commanded by Imalek Voshimir).

These four ships are the night and day versions of each other. Both the TS Vatoz and the TS Azure are transport ships but the Vatoz is a corporately owned legitimate and legal vessel, while the Azure is a privately owned less than legal ship that runs cargoes that vary on their legality. The RV Tetran is a military vessel that is part of the Juronian Republic’s navy, while the Jadzir is a mercenary ship that is a paramilitary group that do everything from bounty hunting to fighting for whoever will pay. All four of these ships exist in the same universe and same time period.

We have moved from the Imperial time farther into the future into the successor to the Imonoran Empire the Juronian Republic. The Republic is a much more open  place to write in. The other thing that I’ve also done is that I’ve started posting things on wattpad.com which I’ve been kind of enjoying. I will be posting other stories on wattpad so keep an eye on that if you want to be able to read my stories.

––
RB

2015.0425

Well to jump right and let you know what is happening with me I have to tell you what I’ve been doing. First of all as I have posted in several other posts I run my own Martial Arts School. This takes A LOT of my time. I think there is no other way to put it than that. Running a business is exhilarating and I am enjoying it immensely. I feel as though I have been hugely blessed by what I am doing with my martial arts school.

The second thing that is going on in my life is I have changed focus with my fiction writing. I am now putting everything on the back burner except one project. I am calling that Project Tetran. This is my one and only project that I am working on as far as writing fiction is concerned. I am not ready to share and details or shed any light on just what exactly Project Tetran is, but I will let you know that I am hoping to come out with the first story in the series soon.

Finally the third thing that is going on my life is that I am currently putting most (if not all) effort (that is not already taken up by running my business) into ministry. I have posted about my other blog on here before and the writing that I was doing on it, but now I have changed the focus a little. I am now using it as a platform for ministry. The name of the ministry is: Believe Better Ministries. I have been putting a lot of effort into this work because if there are two things that I want to do for the rest of my life they are Serve my God and Teach Taekwondo.

By starting this ministry I feel as though I am accomplishing both of those goals, not just one anymore.

In a nut shell that is what I am currently doing. A lot of my energy is also going into getting ready to be a dad. My baby girl, Sophia Rae May, will be born sometime around September 2nd.

Working Hard or Hardly Working

Well I have not posted nor podcasted or anything, because I have been really busy. I am working my butt off at my Martial Arts Studio. I have been doing a lot of thinking and you can see some (not all) of those thoughts if you go read the latest post on my my Believe Something Better site. I’ve completely revamped the purpose of that blog in order to show what I plan to do with essays I write and post on the site. I love feed back and love to have open conversations, so that is one of the things that I hope to have on that blog.

I am also trying to prepare to publish my first book. I have the Lost Falchion and other Stories on the editing table. I’m working on some writing (both fiction and non-fiction) but mostly I am prepping for publishing. My major focus right now is not writing or any sort of art, but it is my Business.

I am currently running a fundraiser for my school. We are trying to raise money to finish of our school. We have quite a bit of work that we are doing on the building as well as we have to buy pads and training tools for the school as well. So that is where most (if not all) of my focus is going. Anything that I have left at the end of the day is going into my puppy. He is a 4 month old Standard Poodle puppy and he has so much energy. He is great!

Quandaries of Evening Unusually Frank

I have been working on getting some recordings finished in order to be able to put out some more podcasts. Every time I stop podcasting I miss it.  So I am trying to get Forced War completely recorded before I start podcasting again. I just bought a new microphone too and am pretty excited about that! It’s a Blue Snowball and it is absolutely amazing. Been doing some recording already on it and been having a blast doing it.

So with that said. I am working on stories. Besides all the projects I’ve written about in the past nothing I want to reveal at the moment. I will undoubtedly be revealing some of it in the future months but right now I’m going to let you keep guessing at what is new and what I’m working on. On the projects front keep your eyes peeled and looking for a fundraiser to start up soon to fund Kudan Publishing^TM because some start up funds are needed then we’ll see about getting that first book (Lost Falchion) published.

[Begin Blog Info Section]
When ever you see something in brackets (like above) it is a direct for you to know what I am about to talk about. If you don’t want to read my point of view on the subject listed in the brackets then skip down to the appropriate “End” bracket (see below).
[End Blog Info Section]

[Start Religious Section]
Well Since this is my complete personal blog (and since I don’t have another “article” finished for Believe in Something Better) I’m going to write about a thought that I have been having. I was reading in 2 Corinthians a few nights ago and I read a verse that pretty much hit all the teaching of the Bible on the head. It really just made me kind of stop and go “Wow God is great!” The verse is 2 Corinthians 4:15

“For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.”

2 Corinthians 4:15 ESV

It nails it. It just really does. Everything that God does is for our sake and He does it to give us grace. That just really struck a chord in my heart. I’m thinking that after I complete my next article for Believe that I have another idea for the next one.
[End Religious Section]

So I hope that the format of the blog wasn’t to hard to read. I’m trying to make it easy for people to skip the sections that they want to skip. If you have any comments or questions feel free to leave one and I will get back to you as soon as possible. If you need to get in touch with me and want to do it privately you can always send me an e-mail at RBsUniverse@gmail.com.

Thanks!
—
RB