Did I Really Write This?

Dear Friends,

David and I and our small staff here at Mainstay Ministries are swamped getting the three books of the Kingdom Tales Trilogy edited, designed, re-illustrated and ready for publishing so we can ship them by the December 12 mailing deadline to the Backers who pre-ordered books.

The Kickstarter.com fundraiser exceeded our $22,500 goal by $15,500, totaling $38,000. In addition, friends of the ministry also contributed gifts so that we could redo these prize-winning, life-changing books for the next (multi-racial) generation of readers. This money just covers the illustrations, design and republishing of the three books.

Personally, I am undergoing a series of déjà-vu experiences. The books were written because of a challenging sermon series titled "The Christian, the Church and Society" sometime in the 1970s. In stunning fashion, my husband brought to our attention the fact that Christ’s major message of the Kingdom of God ought to make a radical difference in the way we lived. We took it seriously, and we were changed.

I am remembering why I wrote these stories and how the New Testament theology of Christ and His Kingdom framed the meaning of not only these tales but our lives.

I often have the strange feeling in the reading process where I wonder,  “Did I really write this?” I am one of those authors who discovers that he or she has written beyond their ability. I particularly feel this way when David and I receive letters from readers, like this young woman who just wrote:

“In high school I used to hurt myself … suicide, eating disorders, cutting … I cared very much for my relationship with Jesus, but whenever I relapsed, a voice always whispered that He wouldn’t want me back. It is very easy to believe those lies, when you’re already hurting. To escape, I ran from God, often finding solace in my books. Then Princess Amanda found the dragon egg.

“You know the story. She loved a dangerous, forbidden thing, which eventually threatened her life. And in fighting it, she was hurt. I was in a wheelchair for a week because of self-inflicted wounds, before I gave up and sought help. When I read Hero’s challenge, ‘How can you stand to be so far from the King?’ I realized I was exactly where Amanda was.

“Finally, they walk through the sacred flames, and the King asks Amanda to never leave Him again, because He was lonely without her … I broke …”

Perhaps you understand how humble a letter like this makes me feel, and how convinced I am that I was simply a midwife who assisted at the birth to some amazing literary children.

You may have some young people in your life who would also benefit from David’s sermons on Christ and his Kingdom told in prize-winning story form.  The above letter is only a sample of the hundreds we have received from children and from adults, most of them eager to tell us how these books have transformed their lives and their Christian walk with the King.

We would like to give you a chance to pre-order the newly illustrated Tales of the Kingdom Trilogy for Christmas giving. Some people’s original books are dog-eared with broken covers and have been difficult to replace since they have not been readily available for purchase. The young woman who wrote the letter said, “Tales of the Kingdom is my favorite book … the book has accompanied me overseas, across the country, I’ve lent it to friends, and at this very moment it is beside me on my college bed, tape on every inch of the cover…” Many, like this young fan, never acquired the third book, Tales of the Restoration.

We will need to have your pre-order for Christmas shipping As Soon As Possible. The details for single-book or trilogy-book orders are can be found at www.kingdomtales.com/preOrder.

These are the deadlines we have on our Tales of the Kingdom Trilogy publishing list (you can see why I feel swamped):

1.    Tales of the Kingdom—to printer on 10/10/14
2.    Tales of the Resistance—to printer on 10/24/14
3.    Tales of the Restoration—to printer on 11/7/14
4.    “Born to Reign: 5-Part Advent Sermon Series” (based on the Tales) by10/28
5.    Small group leaders discussion guide for Tales 1 by 10/21
6.    Thy Kingship Come: A New Look at Christ’s Kingdom Message revised by 10/28
7.    Insiders DVD with David and Karen by 10/31
8.    E-workbooks for all three books finished by 10/29

This is a whole lot of work, but we feel that the impact of these products that all develop the concept of living fully for Christ and His Kingdom is essential for us to emphasize in these later days of our lives.  We feel impelled by our King to make these tools available for the church here at home and worldwide.

To the Kingdom! To the King! To the Restoration!

Karen Mains

Illustration from Chapter 4, "The Faithless Ranger"

Reminder!

The Soulish Food e-mails are being posted biweekly on the Hungry Souls Web site. Newcomers can look that over and decide if they want to register on the Web site to receive the biweekly newsletter. You might want to recommend this to friends also. They can go to www.HungrySouls.org.

David and Karen Mains

BOOK CORNER

Thy Kingship Come:
A New Look at Christ's Kingdom Message
by David Mains

We are revising David’s book Thy Kingship Come: A New Look at Christ’s Kingdom Message. Since we are so into the concept of Christ and His Kingdom due to republishing The Tales Trilogy (which is the theological theme of the Kingdom Tales Trilogy), I decided to spend this month using these 30-some short chapters for my morning and evening devotional reading.

It has been a profound spiritual journey. I keep asking myself, “Am I really living whole-heartedly for the King and His Kingdom?” Each chapter has nudged me along.

Since we are revising this book, meaning that we will let the original edition go out of print, and have a printer’s box still around, we will be happy to mail this to you FREE if you will pay the shipping and handling ($5.00).

When David preached the sermon series in the inner-city church he founded and pastured, then were woven into the theme of the Tales books, then became a series of broadcasts with the Chapel of the Air radio show, I realized that his message—by far the most important message that Christ preached—has influenced most of our married life together. The dedication page reads, “To Dad and Mom who sacrificed to pay my way through Wheaton College where the school motto was ‘For Christ and His Kingdom.’”

If you want to be moved to ask my question, Am I really living whole-heartedly for the King and His Kingdom?, I can’t think of any better tool than this one. Great also for a Bible-study group discussion.

You can send a check and an order to Hungry Souls, Box 30, Wheaton, IL 60187 or call the Mainstay Ministries office and give us a credit card order. That number is 630-293-4500. We don’t have a lot of these copies left, so if you want more than one book, you may want to act quickly.  The new, revised copies will be available next year on the Tales of the Kingdom Web site.

Oh, how we long for those Kingdom days to come:

“Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf be unstopped;
then shall the lame man leap like the hart; and the tongue of the dumb sing for joy.
For the waters shall break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert;
the burning sands shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water.”

Isaiah 35:5-7a, NRSV.