About
articles • book quests • news • library
reviews • podcast • gifts • archives
Crew manifest Faith statement FAQs
All author resources Lorehaven Guild Subscribe for free

112. How Does Fiction Help Us Love Our Enemies Even If We Must Defeat Them?
Fantastical Truth Podcast, May 17, 2022

Clawing Free
Reviews, May 13, 2022

How Spider-Man Saved My Marriage Before It Even Began
E. Stephen Burnett in Articles, May 12, 2022

Library

Find fantastical Christian novels

fantasy · sci-fi · and beyond
middle grade · young adult · grown-ups
All novels Search Add a novel
Vivid, Ashley Bustamante
My Soul to Take, Bryan Davis
Into Shadow's Fire, Mark Castleberry
Deceived, Madisyn Carlin
Arena (2022 edition), Karen Hancock
Kurt Nickle-Dickle of Whiskers, N. J. McLagan
"In a city where debts are paid in blood, one young man will learn that everyone needs help sometimes if they want to survive." New in the Lorehaven library: A Matter of Blood, Lauren H Salisbury
Son of the Shield, Mary Schlegel
Maxine Justice, Galactic Attorney, Daniel Schwabauer
Mordizan, Alyssa Roat
Prentice Ash, Matt Barron
Etania's Calling, M. H. Elrich
The Choice, Bradley Caffee
The Obsidian Butterfly, Lani Forbes
Reviews

Find fantastical Christian reviews

All reviews Request review

Clawing Free
“Clawing Free is an absorbing tale that seamlessly joins modernity and myth.”
—Lorehaven on May 13, 2022

Vivid
“Ashley Bustamante’s Vivid paints a world built on secrets and carefully controlled color palettes.”
—Lorehaven on May 6, 2022

Prophet
“If great fiction dares explore culture wars, it must show more than perfect people smiling before a flat backdrop. Frank E. Peretti’s 1992 novel Prophet reflects this reality.”
—Lorehaven on May 4, 2022

Realms of Light
“Author Sandra Fernandez Rhoads creatively uses classical art and Milton’s writing to give Cera necessary information to fight the darkness, drawing readers deeper into this urban fantasy world.”
—Lorehaven on Apr 29, 2022

Book Quests

Join quests in our digital book club

All book quests
Lorehaven Guild Faith statement FAQs

Maxine Justice: Galactic Attorney
Book Quests, May 2022

The Green Ember
Book Quests, April 2022

The Seventh Sun
Book Quests, March 2022

Power On
Book Quests, February 2022

Podcast

Get the Fantastical Truth podcast

Podcast sponsors | Subscribe links
Archives Feedback

112. How Does Fiction Help Us Love Our Enemies Even If We Must Defeat Them?
Fantastical Truth, May 17, 2022

111. Why Do Your Kids Need Fantastical Stories for God’s Glory?
Fantastical Truth, May 10, 2022

110. Could We Enter a ‘Golden Age’ of Christian-Made Fantastical Fiction?
Fantastical Truth, May 3, 2022

109. How Should Local Churches Support Christian-Made Fantasy?
Fantastical Truth, Apr 26, 2022

Gifts

Find new gifts for Christian fans

Browse back issues (2018–2020)

Order back issues online!

The original SpecFaith: est. 2006

site archives | statement of faith
Articles Questions? Writers

Yes, Speculative Faith Is Closed, At Least For Now
E. Stephen Burnett, Dec 30

Last Stands, Custer, General Gordon, and Being a Christian Warrior
Travis Perry, Jul 2

How Christian Must Christian Fiction Be?
Rebecca LuElla Miller, May 24

Gender In Fiction: The Implication Of Failure
Rebecca LuElla Miller, May 10

Making a Story Visual UPDATE: Behind the Scenes of the Animal Eye Comic
Travis Perry, May 9

What Does “Woke” Culture Have To Do With Christian Fiction?
Rebecca LuElla Miller, Apr 26

About
Library
Reviews
Podcast
Gifts
Guild
Archives
SpecFaith
Lorehaven helps Christian fans explore fantastical stories for Christ’s glory: fantasy, science fiction, and beyond. Articles, the library, reviews, podcasts, gifts, and the Lorehaven Guild community help fans discern and enjoy the best Christian-made fantastical stories, applying their meanings to the real world Jesus Christ calls us to serve. Subscribe free to get any updates you choose and to access the Lorehaven Guild.
Subscribe free to Lorehaven
/ SpecFaith /

Observations: Eternity’s Student

Happy Wednesday! Well, I’ll tell you what’s happened over the last two weeks. First, I’ve finished off my insanely long Doctor Who series. Second, I had to have my OS reinstalled and I’m still trying to put everything back into […]
Kaci Hill on Jun 29, 2011 · Series: Lord of the Time Lords, Observations of a Youngling
No comments

Happy Wednesday!

Well, I’ll tell you what’s happened over the last two weeks. First, I’ve finished off my insanely long Doctor Who series. Second, I had to have my OS reinstalled and I’m still trying to put everything back into place. Third, I felt a bit ill for a couple days. Fourth, and most interesting, I had discovered though someone’s Facebook invitation that Steven James was speaking in San Antonio and attended that seminar over the weekend.

I’m on record saying God laughs, most of the time, and regularly at my expense. He has his own way of speaking to each of us, and, well, more often than not he uses images and storytelling to make his point with me. But often we don’t really notice when he’s teaching us until he informs us of the test results. Because, you know, he is that good.

Well, he certainly had a thing or two say to me, more than I can really reduce down to a blog post: things on presumption and pride, selfishness and forgiveness, divine appointment and humility. All of it, though really bundled into maintaining a teachable spirit.

For instance, two weeks ago, I made some comments about violence in Doctor Who. In general, my assumption has been that our culture has become so saturated in it that we’re desensitized to it. However, at the seminar, Mr. James made the comment that “We live in a culture of muted violence.” For example, a newscast might spend twenty seconds on a flood that resulted in thousands of people dead, wounded, and/or homeless, but immediately switch over and spend fifteen minutes on sports or celebrity gossip. He went on to say that “the reason tragedies don’t shatter us is because our hearts our frozen.” If “tragedy is a matter of proximity,” then our job is to bring that tragedy as close to the reader’s face as possible, to shatter the ice, as it were.

It was a new way to look at it, at least for me.

Teachability.

I had a history teacher in high school who was always studying his field. One of us asked him about that one day, and he said, “I’ll tell you what my professor told me: ‘I’d rather you learn from a flowing stream than a stagnant pond.'”

For me, being a Christian as long as I have leaves me forever on the edge of a heart that says, “You can’t teach me anything from this book that I don’t know. I know everything there is to glean from Scriptures.” And I’m learning the more comfortable I get in a particular field: writing, tutoring, substitute teaching, editing…The danger is to think I’ve learned it all and haven’t anything else to learn from anyone else, for my heart to turn to stone. At that point, I’m useless to everyone. I’m not listening to God, so he can’t teach what I won’t learn. And I’m no use to anyone else because even if I had something to say, who’s going to listen?

Teachability.

One thing (among many) I’ve learned by people watching is that even writers with dozens of books under their belt and a steady, sustainable business are always learning, always honing, always improving. The process is alive, in constant motion, churning, twisting, rising, falling, so that everything in and around it feels its presence.

We’re always learning. My favorites are the books written for the sheer challenge, for the success of something new, untested, untried. If they fail, they fail. But when they succeed, they’re awe-inspiring.

So, time for something new, at least from me.

What are you reading?
What’s inspired, influenced, or altered your perspective?
What are you learning?
Moreover, who’s your teacher?

Enjoy the day.

Kaci Hill
Kaci is the co-author of Lunatic and Elyon with New York Times bestselling author Ted Dekker. She's also substitute teacher with a little editing and tutoring sprinkled in for grins. She lurks on Facebook, Twitter, a blog she dubbed Life in the Veil Betwixt the Realms, where she continues to explore the threshold between reality and fiction and everything in between.
Website · Facebook · Twitter
  1. MGalloway says:
    June 29, 2011 at 1:48 pm

    I’m currently listening to an audiobook about cave exploration…and well…I’ve learned that in some instances, people can spend up to 2-3 weeks at a time exploring, camping, climbing cliffs, and scuba-diving through lakes. The startling part is that they spend all that time undergound.

    As far as the Bible, everytime I start thinking I’ve got a handle on it, God shows me otherwise…so He will always be a teacher for me. For example, I’m continually discovering new connections between the individual books as well as individual passages.

    It reminds me of a quote Dr. Adrian Rogers once made…and I’m paraphrasing here…but something to the effect that when he started out teaching the Bible, he couldn’t figure out how he could make it last a year. After fifty years of preaching, he realized he would never get to the bottom of it.

    Reply
  2. Galadriel says:
    June 29, 2011 at 5:20 pm

    A good thing to remember. It’s easy for me to get tired of certian areas, especially Bible things.

    Reply
  3. Kaci Hill says:
    June 29, 2011 at 7:27 pm

    Amen to that. I’m unfortunately known to mysteriously not show up if I know two or three subjects are going to be the sermon topic.  I know it’s bad…

    Reply

What do you think? Cancel reply

  • The Legend Of Intaglio, Part 2The Legend Of Intaglio, Part 2
  • Rearranging Icons: An IntroductionRearranging Icons: An Introduction
  • Love Me, Love My BookLove Me, Love My Book
  • Not A Waste Of TimeNot A Waste Of Time
Lorehaven magazine, spring 2020

Wear the wonder:
Get exclusive shirts and beyond

Listen to Lorehaven’s podcast

Authors and publishers:
Reach new fans with Lorehaven


Lorehaven helps Christian fans explore fantastical stories for Christ’s glory: fantasy, science fiction, and beyond. Articles, the library, reviews, podcasts, gifts, and the Lorehaven Guild community help fans discern and enjoy the best Christian-made fantastical stories, applying their meanings to the real world Jesus Christ calls us to serve. Subscribe free to get any updates you choose and to access the Lorehaven Guild.