The previous post in this series, Part Three, where the prodigal band is within white, timeless void, ends with former roadie, Bobby, who also composed a song for them relating to their “missions of God” about ‘the Way,’ Chrit, telling them that they had a choice as to accept the missions through accepting Christ—it was up to them, period. In this Part Four, they begin their journey into making that choice. The snippet, neither long nor short, will be broken up a couple of times in order to explain necessary ‘background’ material to help the reader understand what is happening within the snippet, from the middle of Chapter Eleven of The Prodigal Band, © 2018 Deborah Lagarde. Below is the snippet, in portions.
Category: Spiritual fiction
A Look at the Key Chapter of The Prodigal Band Trilogy that Decides the Fate of the Prodigal Band, and Their ‘Redemption Draws Near’ (Part Three)
The previous post, Part Two of this series, ends with the six prodigal band members heading upward along a “line” that seemed to move upward to an undetermined location. Then, suddenly, a “dot” is noticed. In previous posts, “dots” would indicate the presence of a person—or a being of some kind. The “being” they encountered tells them what they needed to hear to guide them into their “mission,” and appeared in person in the previous chapter: Bobby, a former roadie who sent them a song he wrote that he hoped would inspire them to do what was necessary to carry out their “missions of God.” It was this event which caused them to consider whether they would truly accept and accomplish their “missions,” or not. Bobby also told them why they had to be “raptured” (caught up) to this “timeless void.”
The snippet below, unlike the previous one, is rather short.
A Look at the Key Chapter of The Prodigal Band Trilogy that Decides the Fate of the Prodigal Band, and Their ‘Redemption Draws Near’ (Part Two)
This post, Part Two, from the likely most important chapter (Chapter Eleven) in the entire Prodigal Band Trilogy, opens up the likelihood that the band will collectively accept not only their “God-given” missions (given by God’s angels), but God Himself.
But first, let me state why, having said I would post the week after posting Part One, which was last week, I could not post: I could not post because I was too busy being with family and barely even used the internet. I wasn’t even at the location I am now.
Now then, on to Part Two of this series, and a very long post at hand, broken into sections to help in the explanation of this post.
A Look at the Key Chapter of The Prodigal Band Trilogy that Decides the Fate of the Prodigal Band, and Their ‘Redemption Draws Near’ (Part One)
It is within Chapter Eleven of The Prodigal Band, the third novel of The Prodigal Band Trilogy, where the most important key to the purpose of writing this trilogy is found. It is where the prodigal band named Sound Unltd decides to ‘return to the Father,’ that is, God, as the Luke 15 Parable of the Prodigal Son states. It is where they collectively decide to accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and Redeemer.
It has been over three weeks since I posted my last post which related to The Murder Rule, the post being inspired by the near-assassination of Slovakia leader Fico and the assassination of a military leader of Iran, Raisi…on top of other important assassinations and near assassinations that have been done recently—and throughout history. But last night as I was reading this section of The Prodigal Band, inspiration came into my head to write here that this section ‘sealed the deal’ so-to-speak—the band would accept and carry out their ‘missions of God’ given to them by God’s angels, the Tooters, at their hometown festival, during the final note of a song the Tooters gave them years before.
This section is long and somewhat complicated as each band member sparks his personality into the conversations they carry out within a ‘void,’ a timeless, soundless, unknown dimension they think just might be ‘heaven.’ It is a void they were ‘caught up’ into having been taken out of a jet that was about to burn due to a bomb going off, a bomb placed by a minion of evil to force them to ‘toe the line’ or be murdered. They were headed to a ‘Directorate meeting’ where the agenda was to force them to finalize their ‘sell their souls to the devil’ pact, on paper, to finalize their ‘oaths’ to the satanic spirit figure, Corion. The section begins with them getting onto their 747 jet from Philadelphia to London and ends with their collective decision to accept Christ. The section will be divided into a few parts, and, unlike the snippet posts which tended to be longer, each sub-section will be explained as to the personalities within the conversations and various events that happen to them in the void, including those with Biblical implications…being “caught up,” but not quite in the clouds…
Before I post the segment that begins this series of posts, let me review for the reader’s sake the names of the band members ‘caught up’ into this ‘heavenly’ void—from Chapter One of Battle of the Band, with the names of the band members inserted in parentheses:
A lead singer (Erik) with dark brown mid-back length hair accentuated by sensuous bangs on a baby-face was slender, thin-lipped and of medium height. Voice a Godly gift. Yet, some said, the devil’s tool.
The tall dirty-haired guitarist (Jack) possessed an angular face and had hair growing on once side-shaved sides of his head. Now without the screaming instrument he fired into immortality.
The dark, strapping bass player (Keith) with bushy black curls and coal-dark eyes walked without his trademark gold chains.
The tall, lanky, beak-nosed, ringlet-haired master of many guitars (Mick) worried over his past perversions.
The pot-bellied, biker-esque synthesizer player (Bryan) famed for red hair as wild as the wind, fiery as his brew, bore a downcast of regret.
A short, curly-blond percussionist (Tom) once angered by lost love approached with the others to an unknown destination, glad with a full life behind him.
Below is Part One of this series; the scenes are a prelude to the ‘caught up’ into a ‘heavenly realm,’ with the band members at the jet and on it headed to London. But there will be ‘note’ interruptions to explain what is going on in the segments and the characters involved.
Leaving Spiritual Emptiness Behind: Another Reason I Was Inspired to Author The Prodigal Band Trilogy Novels
Happy Resurrection Day, aka Easter. And sorry, trannies, I am not honoring Brandon’s “Transgender Day” or whatever he’s calling it… I do Christ, not politics!
But in honor of my Lord and Savior and Redeemer’s arising from the dead or grave days after His crucifixion and burial, I will state another reason I was inspired to write the three novels that make up The Prodigal Band Trilogy. Having been laid spiritually empty on some occasions beginning in the early 70s when I was trying to ‘find myself,’ and also having experienced some spiritual emptiness in the 90s (dealing with New Agers had something to do with that), I had to incorporate spiritual emptiness within my main characters—the band members as well as their women—because they had to overcome this spiritual emptiness as I was overcoming it. Thus, the novels aren’t just about the journey of the band and women out of spiritual satanic-like darkness into the Light of Christ based on the Gospel of Luke Chapter 15 Parable of the Prodigal Son, but are also based on my own journey from spiritual emptiness to spiritual fulfillment and happiness and without fear (think of that line from Dune here: “fear is the mind killer.” © 1965 Herbert Properties LLC).
I do not remember the exact date some spiritual entity ‘spoke’ into my mind that I had to begin the novel series—get the characters I had created in the late 60s out of my head at last—but it was in October, and I think the year was 1993. So, while mothering a baby girl and also raising a toddler boy, I began writing what I knew of the story of my rock band characters. But, as I was writing the book that would later be called Battle of the Band, I realized the plot and theme were, well, spiritually empty! Yes, they were into the ‘sex, drugs, and rock and roll’ lifestyle, but that rock star lifestyle would, by the mid-90s, drag them and their women as well into addictions, alcoholism, sexual perversion, and personalities that were empty shells of their former selves. In other words, spiritual emptiness and even suicidal behavior. The climax to end the novel has two of the band members nearly dying of heart attacks as the rest of the band and women live in fear of their passing—until God’s spirit beings dispense with the evil ones and guide the two out of death spirals and guide also their watchers: the novel ends with them realizing they have to change their ‘riotous living’ ways! This event takes place in the second novel, The Prophesied Band, where, at the climax, they were given their ‘missions of God,’ because they were ready for these missions…well, almost. In The Prodigal Band to end the trilogy, they do ‘missions on themselves’ so-to-speak: they accept Christ as Lord and Savior, which guides them into completing their missions they were given. The spiritual emptiness had been overcome, first by witnessing and partaking in a miracle, and then later witnessing another life-saving miracle.
So that, in completing the trilogy, spiritual fulfillment took a hold of me beginning in late February, 1997, when I witnessed my own personal ‘shining’ so-to-speak, which inspired me to complete my own authoring ‘mission.’ That is why, on this day, Resurrection Day, I wish spiritual fulfillment on all who read this post. Blessings!
Why All of My Novels Contain Spirit-Being Characters, Fictitious or Not
Allow me to sum up the answer to this ‘why’ question in one simple sentence: My novels contain ‘spirit-beings,’ whether angels or demons or other spirit-beings, because the theme of ‘Good vs. Evil’ is paramount in my novels. That is, ‘the Creator’ (aka God) and His angels and a part-human/part spirit being battling against the satanic character Corion and his demons (and those evil human characters that allow the evil to control them for power and money and control over Earth) for the souls of my prodigal band characters, their women, and more.
If one is going to write a novel based on ‘good vs. evil,’ spirit-beings (in my opinion) must be included. The beings in question likely depend on the religion themed in the novel. Any Christian-oriented novel likely contains at least a mention of and various Bible quotes by Christ, while some (The Shack for instance) contain various angelic characters.
Continue reading “Why All of My Novels Contain Spirit-Being Characters, Fictitious or Not”
Talent For A Mission: Chapter Five (Part Two)
This is a continuation of the previous post of Talent For A Mission, Chapter Five, Part One. Below is Chapter Five, Part Two, the final part of the final chapter of Talent For A Mission, © 2024 Deborah Lagarde. Part One deals with using characters, personalities and roles, and knowledge of national characteristics and the possibility that some target readers has been involved with cults. This final post opens with the possibility that maybe, just maybe, some target readers are members of families some like to call ‘the elites.’ Part Two is below.
Continue reading “Talent For A Mission: Chapter Five (Part Two)”
Talent For A Mission: Chapter Five (Part One)
I decided to split up Chapter Five of Talent For A Mission into two parts for this site. This first part would seem obvious to most authors, using suggestions that, again, would seem obvious to any writer trying to get their readers to consider accepting Christ. But the second part, to be posted next week or the week after, might surprise some authors, but the suggestions there ought to be considered anyway, for it is not just ‘making disciples of all nations,’ but all peoples, even those at the so-called ‘top of the food chain.’ Further, the end of the chapter emphasizes why using talent for your ‘mission’ in these perilous times is paramount. Part One is below, © 2024 Deborah Lagarde.
Continue reading “Talent For A Mission: Chapter Five (Part One)”
Talent For A Mission: Chapter Four (Part Five)
Chapter Four of Talent For A Mission ends with the final verses of Luke 15: 25-32 of the Parable of the Prodigal Son, where the brother of the prodigal son, who has always been faithful to his father and has always done the work his father required, becomes angry with the father because his “lost” and “riotous living” younger brother, upon returning to his father, is feted with a fatted calf—while this always faithful son was NEVER treated with such a reward! So this older brother gets on his dad’s case for this “royalty” treatment to a wayward brother who wasted his inheritance when he could have not wasted it.
Below are the verses from Luke 15:25-32—
{15:25} Now his elder son was in the field: and as he came and drew nigh to the house, he heard musick and dancing.
{15:26} And he called one of the servants, and asked what these things meant.
{15:27} And he said unto him, Thy brother is come; and thy father hath killed the fatted calf, because he hath received him safe and sound.
{15:28} And he was angry, and would not go in: therefore came his father out, and intreated him.
{15:29} And he answering said to [his] father, Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment: and yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends:
{15:30} But as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf.
{15:31} And he said unto him, Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine.
{15:32} It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found.
To sum up, the elder son is angry because the younger ‘prodigal’ son is getting a hefty “fatted calf” reward just because he gave up the “riotous” lifestyle and returned to his father, a hefty reward father never had given to him. One would think the elder son would be thrilled his younger brother gave up that wasteful lifestyle and returned to his father after learning the negative consequences of that wasteful lifestyle.
Continue reading “Talent For A Mission: Chapter Four (Part Five)”
Talent For A Mission: Chapter Four (Part Four)
This post, Part Four of Chapter Four of Talent For A Mission, covers Luke 15: 20-24 about “returning to the father.”
{15:20} And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.
{15:21} And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son.
{15:22} But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put [it] on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on [his] feet:
{15:23} And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill [it;] and let us eat, and be merry:
{15:24} For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry.
In other words, the six members of the prodigal band, having been given “missions of God” by God’s angels, the Tooters, “returned to the father.” For, in order to do their “missions of God,” they had to “return to God.” Further, in order to “make merry” and “be found” after years of being “lost” (since “prodigal” means “lost” in this context), they had to repent of their many and grave sins and accept Christ as Lord and Savior and Redeemer, the “rewards” being an eternity in Heaven with their “father,” not an eternity with the satanic Corion “gnawing their bones forever.”
The other “reward” was that, with their jet having had a bomb placed within a cabin seat by a minion of evil, they were taken out of the jet right before the bomb went off, and then existed in a timeless white void where they would make their fateful decisions regarding their “missions.”
Continue reading “Talent For A Mission: Chapter Four (Part Four)”
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