It's
a story of love, hope, forgiveness, and redemption that covers five decades. From
the pit of bitterness, Matthias rises to become an apostle for Jesus Christ when
he is chosen to replace Judas.
Read
Chapter 1 About the format The
first thing you'll notice about the book is the unique binding for a novel. We've
spiral bound the book in an 8 ½" x 11" format just like our curriculum workbooks.
Why? We wanted to self-publish the novel and this is the best way we could produce
it with our machinery. It actually makes for a pleasant reading experience. You
only have to flip pages half as often as a book produced with half its dimensions
and the previous page folds back flat! Need to jump up and clean up a spill or
answer the phone? No problem, the book won't flip closed if you toss it and run.
The gripping story of Matthias will be waiting for you right on the page you left
it. A word from the author Matthias
is a book I wrote in the early 1990's. I've shared it with friends who enjoyed
Christian fiction. They were very encouraging in their reaction and commented
that it was ever bit as good as the books by the popular authors they were reading.
I enjoyed writing the novel and that was enough for me. At the time, Christian
fiction was just gaining popularity. I submitted it to several publishers and
never received a response, although one submission service that reviews books
for publishers gave it a very positive recommendation. One reason for it
not being accepted for publication is that even Christian publishers are reluctant
to publish historical Biblical fiction because there are so many different views
and interpretations of scripture and Biblical events. Add to that the things a
fiction author speculates about and Christian publishers can encounter controversies
they never would have expected and definitely don't want. I tried to avoid
this by first, choosing a character whose history is somewhat obscure. Second,
the story parallels Biblical events yet in a peripheral way. For example, Jesus
and John the Baptist make "cameo" appearances, but the book doesn't attempt to
retell or reinterpret their ministries in a significant way. I certainly don't
want to rewrite scripture or create a false impression about a historical Christian
figure. The four Gospel quite adequately do the job of presenting the historical
events in the earthly ministry of Jesus. Nevertheless, the book is fiction and
has its share of speculation and imagination. Hopefully, it will leave the reader
contemplating what it would have been like to have witnessed some of the event
in early Christianity, and maybe even draw some parallels to His ongoing work
in our lives today. Another reason that it's never easy for an author to
get established is that publishers receive thousands of proposals and manuscripts
each year but only publish a handful of books. Preference is given to authors
that can bring their own readership and help insure the financial success of the
book. Authors that have some kind of following or media platform to promote their
books are given preference. I'd already given copies to my following (for a total
of about five copies). At that point, I turned my attention back to curriculum
writing. I've often heard parents comment about how they as adults enjoyed many
of the reading books in the K to 3rd grade reading curricula. So, we've made this
special edition of the novel available to those who might want to read something
on a more adult level. The book is written for a mature audience. I wouldn't
recommend the book to younger children. It may be fine for early teens, but I
would suggest you as a parent read it first to decide. It does feature some mature
themes (like many books in the Bible), but I've avoided gratuitous and graphic
details, and it contains no coarse language. If it were a movie, it would probably
be rated PG or PG-13. The general themes of the book are the provision,
purposes, and goodness of God. Although the story is fictional, those elements
are not. I experience and enjoy God's provision, purposes, and goodness on a daily
basis. I hope this book will encourage you to accept and enjoy the wonderful,
yet sometimes challenging plan God has for your life. Romans 8:28
And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to
them who are the called according to [his] purpose. KJV | 
