The Teacher

EXTRAS - Final Thoughts

CLOSING THOUGHTS

Besides being an entertaining, compelling read with a strong theme to unite the world's often divisive religions, The Teacher was designed to be a literary tool for individuals and church groups to use in the cause of strengthening the faith of high school teens on up while introducing concepts that will help prepare us all for the changes coming as the promised Kingdom Age begins to unfold.

Christian youth ministries often present hard-hitting issues that communicate the need to live the wisdom Jesus left for us, so too, embedded in The Teacher, Fallon, Holden, and the other characters confront many life-and-death decisions, some affecting their physical safety, others, impacting the evolution of their faith and their spiritual foundation.

Yes, The Teacher storyline is fiction, but just as pastors and youth ministers confront teens with the reality of heaven, hell, serving God, serving self, walking in the Light, or slithering in darkness, The Teacher creatively takes the reader on a dynamic literary adventure that does the same.

No matter how deep Holden and his followers of the Guardian descended into darkness, throughout the story narrative hopefully you found the brilliance of God's important Truths beaming brightly—a Lighthouse in a storm of uncertainty, a Beacon pointing the Way back to God.

It is our hope that The Teacher will be used to inspire follow-up study groups where the issues raised in the book can be discussed more thoroughly in the hope of building a firm faith footing based on a clear understanding of the Creator's dynamic, inspired influence and how it applies to our lives today.

As mentioned, the plot and characters in The Teacher were inspired initially by the Twilight series, then, later by Hunger Games. Stephanie Meyer brilliantly conceived of a new kind of vegetarian vampire, much less evil, and able to live in society as productive, respected members of their community. Still, the vampire, by its very nature, represents a significant departure from the Creator's natural plan for man in the context of the Great Cycle of birth, life, death, and rebirth.

Any immortal physical being, such as an evil vampire or one of Holden's Disciples, has stepped outside of the Creator's guidance for our spiritual evolution. Here on planet Earth, on the corporeal plane all physical things must find their place in the important cycles that define physical existence. In the Creator's great wisdom, such gifts as immortality, freedom from aging and disease, freedom from want or need, freedom from the worry of accident or peril, are all reserved for life on the next plane of existence.

In Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins strong female character, Katniss Everdeen, became a role model for the development of The Teacher's Fallon Ford. Twilight's Edward Cullen character, and Holden's character, both represent man's natural inclination to rebel against our mortal weaknesses. Yes, in our world bad things can happen to good people. Does that mean the Creator doesn't care about us? Does that mean there is no divinity? Does that mean the Creator's ways are not the wisest ways for us to live out our lives?

Every Christian, every believer must strive for an enlightened understanding of the Creator's Wisdom as applied to the gift of life we've been given. Free will is a critical element. We must all choose to accept the Creator's love in our hearts unconditionally, and we must choose to respect the role of our life experiences, good and bad, to teach us lessons to help us grow in our faith based on the principles written in our hearts and by passing inspired words of wisdom forward.

Like Holden, today's teens are tempted at every turn to follow the Great Lie—that money, fame, power, or pleasure can fill the empty spiritual space in everyone's heart.

May God, the Universe, the Creator, Jehovah, Allah, however you best relate to the possibility of a Higher Power in our world, anoint the ministry of this book in your life as you consider responding to its Message of Inclusion, Unity, Peace for all by providing our global family with a good life through applying the principles of Justice and Sharing.