Forward
An historically fictional novel about a young man that was brought up with high moral standards, and not caught up in the goings-on of this world, at least to the point that his life is submerged in it.
I have tried to be as accurate as possible, using as many sources and references as could be had; most of the greater details are hidden in Scripture, and with an understanding of the region and human nature could conclude many of the finer detail.
This young man, like most any of us, at least those of us that seek a deeper relationship with our God, struggled through life with a feeling of emptiness, although happy in every other aspect, knew that something special was missing in his life.
Each step of the way brought him closer and closer to that fulfillment, but still seemed to stumble with each step taken. This man, born Simeon, and later surnamed Peter, was not unlike those of us that search for a truer and far more developed life, as any who have reached it, will confess; and can only be attained thru the Christ of God. Can we see ourselves in these pages? I think we can.
This world, which is enmity to God, throws out a net to contain and capture as many as would follow its empty rules. The façade of the glamour it offers, with its so-called great morals, and the pie-in-the-sky attitudes, reveals itself to all those that are seeking God, and a relationship with Him, wanting more than this world can proposition. The people of the world are generally good, but few if any, are ever taught that there is a greater Life that lies beyond the veneer this world pretends to possess, and this story shows that for not only Peter, but any who want this new Life, not dictated nor owned by this world, can have it.
This story brings an understanding of the men of old, with their life that is very much like ours, to an empathetic awareness that these were just common folks, people like you and me, empty without Christ, and wanting more than just an acknowledgement of Him, wanted Life abundantly. Struggles, we’ll always have, and this story shows many, but it will also show that these same struggles aren’t there to bring us down, but to take us to an appreciation of a greater life than this world, and its circumstances, are offering.
These ‘things that we call church’ are counted among those that are letting us down. There should be a vast difference between the world and these entities called ‘church’, but there is not.