Like the Dominion Trilogy that Parrish released the last couple years, Offworld starts with a mysterious hook. Everyone is gone. Everyone. It’s 2033 and the first manned mission to Mars has returned to earth successfully, but no one is there to greet them. Even the animals and bugs are mysteriously gone. After four years by themselves in space, this is hardly the welcome the team wanted.

Thus, the crew sets out to unravel this mystery. Along the way, the reader finds that these astronauts have their own personal secrets. Plus, there’s an anti-social young woman who seems to have spent her whole life on the streets and is the only person to not have disappeared. Not to mention that it seems that nature itself is trying to stop them from finding the answers.

Within Offworld, Robin Parrish creates characters that are as flawed and realistic as they are NASA’s biggest heroes. Throughout all his books so far, the characters have always had some mystery, such that just when you think you know them, they surprise you with a new wrinkle to their story. These are definitely no exception, and with less than a half-dozen main characters, there’s plenty of time to get to know them well. Although the character development has very little action to it, this was probably my favorite part of the novel.

Speaking of action, I found this the hardest book yet to put down. Nearly every chapter ends on a total cliffhanger. As many have said before me, Parrish’s books will someday do really well as summer blockbuster films, and Offworld is no exception. (That is, as long as Roland Emmerich doesn’t direct it and make the climax happen in New York.) In fact, the book was so intense I finished it less than 24 hours after picking it up. Good thing it was a weekend, or else I would have suffered at work from either sleep deprivation or thinking of nothing but what might happen next.

So what about Parrish being a “Christian”? Does the book create some big allegory to our life in Christ? Do some of the main characters get “saved”? Thankfully, no, Parrish’s books are not preachy. The heroes of the book exude characteristics that Christ teaches us like selflessness, hope, and sound morals. Some characters beg a higher power for help, but Parrish doesn’t slow the story down with any theological lessons. In my opinion, it’s great to see persons of faith writing positive, engaging stories that are for everyone, not just a church-going audience.

If you’re looking for a fun, engaging read during the heat of summer, check out Offworld. I’m hoping it’ll be hitting theaters in Summer 2013, but don’t count on it; get the book now and you’ll be ahead of everyone else.

P.S. – Going back to my old days with Robin Parrish publishing his early revisions of novels on the Internet, I hope something like that continues. I don’t read many novels, but because Parrish’s stories were released (at least partially) for free on the Internet, I was hooked. I’m not exactly sure if the first chapter will suffice for me as a hook to get me to buy the book – I’d like to see more to promote upcoming books online.

One of my favorite moments was when Nathan gave a quick reflection. (I can’t quote him because I don’t remember it exactly, but I will paraphrase.) Nathan said that American tradition is that we should give thanks, but often we do not give thanks to anyone in particular. We should be offering this thanks to someone. However, many things, such as the trees, the weather, the great life I have, etc., cannot be attributed to any person. However, these things should always be attributed to God. It was just a great reminder for me to be thankful and, more importantly, to be thankful to God for all he has given us.

For example, I’d not been feeling that great towards the end of the weekend through Monday. I had a bit of a headache and was kinda feverish, it seemed. Plus, there was a pain starting in my leg and I didn’t know if it was that I had knocked it against something. Anyways, it wasn’t an easy day at work, but about 3:30pm I got a tap on my shoulder. (Most of my coworkers don’t tap me on the shoulder; they usually IM me or just yell “Dan” until I hear them over the music in my headphones.) I look up and it’s my sister Catherine, who goes to school a mile away. She brought me cookies and Hershey’s Kisses along with a nice note! It was great to have a bit of encouragement, and those cookies made a good desert on Tuesday too.

The pain in my leg was getting progressively worse, so I called my mom like any good post-college kid who doesn’t know what he’s doing. She recommended calling a doctor who I’m not sure I’ve ever talked to but was also a People of Praise member. I called her up and she offered to stop by my work that afternoon and take a look at my leg! From what I hear, this busy mother of two serves her brothers and sisters in the People of Praise in ways like this almost daily. Thank you, Lord, for such a rich and abundant life, in the glamorous times and the hard times.

Shaun recently posted a very intriguing post called, “The Church I Want“. He outlined what he’s looking for in a church within driving distance. First, he explains what he’s not looking for because he already has it, from people to hang out with to a place to serve. Second, he explains his criteria for a church, which includes a commitment and a purpose for being.

Although this definitely is the ideal definition of church, it’s not how I commonly use the phrase. To me, “church” is just going to a service on Sunday morning. It’s a building a couple blocks away. That’s not what Shaun is talking about.

I think what Shaun is really looking for is what we call “Christian community” or more specifically, the People of Praise. We’re not just a community that lives in one cul-de-sac, we’re in cul-de-sacs in 20+ cities across the country. Our purpose is to spread that type of richly lived Christian life where we have meals together on a regular basis and live our lives more in common. We’re not just about cleaning up a poor neighborhood, but we’re about moving in with them and making their burdens our burdens. We’re also working on meaningful ways for young people to live high school and college life with much more than a social scene. Not only are we reaching out through preaching, but we’re also reaching out through creating useful businesses that are Christ-centered and support our work in other ministries.

By most definitions, People of Praise is not a church. There are no pastors. We are a group of laity who all are a part of our respective churches but seek a more purposeful and communal life. I myself am Roman Catholic, but regularly share life with Lutherans, Baptists, and many more Christians.

If you want to learn more about the People of Praise, I recommend reading our publication. Sorry, Shaun, but we’re not in Nashville yet, but maybe we’ll be starting up in Music City in the future.

As I’ve grown older, it has gotten harder to keep these traditions. It wasn’t too much of a problem during college because I went to a Roman Catholic college that did give us Good Friday and Easter Monday off of school. (Mom and Dad weren’t happy one year when we went to see Switchfoot on Holy Thursday, but it had to be done.) The last couple years have been the hardest, I guess, as I have begun to work full time.

The owner of my company just announced that next Friday we’re going to have a fun afternoon where we’re going out for lunch and watching a movie (or something like that, I was in the bathroom while he announced it). It just so happens it’s Good Friday, and even odder is that last year we watched Office Space and gorged ourselves on candy on Good Friday.

I know that I’m in a mostly non-Christian, great work environment, but when these kind of things come up, it just makes me feel wrong. How do I reconcile these types of things? Maybe I should start taking Good Friday as a personal vacation day? I’ll probably just go with the flow (and remember not to have meat in my lunch), but I guess that someday I’ll have to deal with bigger moral dilemmas.

These men are not preaching some “you need to be saved or you’ll go to hell” gospel. They’re preaching the Gospel of life together in a Christian community. They’re not trying to count the number of people they’ve brought to Christ, they’re making friends to share life with in Christ. Just check this out:

Their brand new blog is a great place to learn more about what they’re doing and what the People of Praise is bringing to the world. Of course, feel free to join the discussion there about what life in Christ really looks like.

For my friends in the People of Praise who want yet another easy way to get started with blogs, I’ve put together a current OPML file of all the blog feeds. Save this to your desktop and then import it into your feed reader such as Google Reader. The only downside is that this won’t automatically update. However, I’ve included the feed of People of Praise member blogs with it so that you’ll be notified of new blogs. Enjoy!

Update: Justin noted to me that this file does not include The Bunge. Don’t miss it or you’ll miss out, seriously.

What’s wrong with it? Well, it seems to propose what Ben Kessler said was wrong. It only mentions people who were disgruntled with his statement. Was Ben Kessler the only one who has these opinions? Hardly.

If it were my graduation, I’d risk the boos and heckling to cheer Ben on. He was voted Tommie of the Year, so why not let him say his peice? Nobody would have given him trouble if he did the usual “y’all did good” speech. If you’re not challenged at a graduation, then what good did the graduation speech do? The graduates certainly won’t remember it in a couple years. It won’t change their life.

Besides, this could be the start of the University of St. Thomas becoming a Roman Catholic university. For years, St. Thomas has been trying to be the most secular university possible without losing their Roman Catholic roots. If the administration was smart, they’d stop being the mediocre institution they have been for years and start being a real Catholic university. Support the students who represent the Roman Catholic church teaching well.

And if the Star Tribune wants to do a good job with their writing, why not talk to the head of the Vianney Seminary? Or, better yet, ask the Archbishop who was there was they thought? What did graduates who have Catholic Studies degrees think?

At least the President of the university, who has rarely had a thought of his own and usually just spends his 20 minutes reading from a book of quotes, said it was important “to treat one another with respect as we speak and as we listen, regardless of how controversial an issue may be.”

Sheesh. I knew I should have gone to the U of M.

The authors of LarkNews have released A Field Guide to Evangelicals & Their Habitat. It looks like a invaluable book should you ever encounter full-on Evangelicals. I mean, it preaches the truth: that I am going to hell, apparently (along with the rest of Catholics and the Pope). Just check out the handy chart that was reprinted at Shlog.com.

This afternoon some very important people in my life hit me over the head with a two-by-four. It’s a shame they had to do it, but all too often I need a kick in the ass to get me moving. Thanks, Lord, for letting them do it in a very kind and generous way.

Please keep me in your prayers. I’m mostly over the easy part of realizing that they were 100% correct in what they said, but the hard part is following through. It will be a great excersize, though, in perseverance and endurance, because I realize I’ve hardly ever done something with my whole heart and mind before. But I’ve got to, so I will …with your prayers and God’s grace.

“…And I regret my ways
You never left
Remind me once again so I won’t forget
You’re never far away.”

I spent last night at the hospital with Jeanette and David, his siblings. It was great o be with them and a powerful experience to be praying for my brother in Christ. With our prayers, Michael is doing such a great job, and it has been great to see him respond to us in very limited ways over the last day or two.

Michael, as I said last night, I’m very proud of you. You have worked so hard the last couple days.