Live Fire with Chuck Holton

This news item caught my eye today: A burmese army unit crossed the border into Thailand near the mountain village of Mae Hong Son and attacked a Thai army base, killing one Thai Ranger. This happened within a few miles of this picture that I took on my recent trip to that area. I have to check, but I may have video footage of the exact base that was attacked.

The Burmese army is completely out of control. Let’s pray that God will cause that corrupt dictatorship to collapse under the weight of its own evil, and for the sake of the million or so Karen, Karenni and Shan IDP’s in that region, let’s pray that it happens soon.

On Sunday, a U.S. Coast Guard cutter intercepted a ship off the coast of Panama and seized a record 300 million dollars worth of Columbian Cocaine bound for Mexico. What makes this noteworthy here is that the bust was only about 20 miles south of the island of Coiba – the very island upon which my book, Island Inferno is set. And while this story doesn’t mimic my storyline, it’s somewhat similar, and shows how timely the book is.

If you haven’t read Allah’s Fire, I suggest you do, even though each of these books can stand alone. It will introduce you to the characters and the concept of the series, and was just made a finalist for the Colorado Romance Writers Award of Excellence Contest.

Anyway, we can all be excited that in the last 48 hours, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has been responsible for hurting the drug pushers to the tune of almost a half billion dollars. Take that, suckers!

My novel “Island Inferno” will soon be released. I just received this updated cover photo, and I think it rocks! The girl they used to represent the female lead of the story looks better on this iteration – in the last one she looked too young and too husky. Click on this photo to get a better view. This one also dovetails better with the cover art on the first TFV book, Allah’s Fire.

“The Secret,” by Rhonda Byrne, is currently the number one best selling book on Amazon.com. It basically advocates the law of attraction - we attract the things we think about, good or bad. It’s a rehash of the old “mind over matter,” new age philosophy. I’m not quite sure why it’s causing such a sensation now.

And it is, of course, balderdash. I’d like to see Ms. Byrne walk among the refugee camps I’ve just returned from in Thailand. The Karen people who inhabit them dream of freedom. So far, their dreaming hasn’t attracted anything of the sort. Instead, they are persecuted by the Burmese, barely tolerated by the Thais, and ignored by everyone else. Byrne would say that if these people could only “tune in” and “vibrate” at the right spiritual wavelength, they could attract the freedom they so desire. This is the kind of silliness that excites people who are already among the richest in the world, yet feel their deep spiritual poverty and wonder why they aren’t happy. This is why so many in hollywood are jumping on the “Secret” bandwagon. Everyone else thinks it’s ridiculous.

Yesterday I was reading in John 6, and found the TRUE secret to success. Actually, it’s not a secret at all – it’s there in black and white for anyone who cares to give it a try.

In verse 27:

“Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you.”

In other words:

“Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, trust in him and he will act.” Psalm 37:4-5

I used to long for the day that I didn’t have to spend 90 percent of my time trying to make ends meet so that I could spend more time doing things for the Kingdom. I’m realizing, however, that when I concern myself with Kingdom business, the King takes care of the bills. Now there are some good vibrations.