I used Canva A.I. to make some more character art, this time from my Christian fiction superhero thriller novel Mindfire.

Josh is Leia's boyfriend. He has no superpowers but he has been best friends with Leia since childhood. He loves her deeply.

Steve is Leia's father. He used to be the superhero named Crusader. He is super strong, invulnerable, and can fly. He was the co-founder of a superhero team called The AR-MEN. The team disbanded 20 years ago and Steve left that life behind to be a husband and father to Leia and later, Tanya. He is also a Christian.

Sue is Steve's wife and Leia's stepmother. She is also the mother of Leia's half-sister, Tanya. 20 years ago, she was a Latina model and superhero named The Cat. She stopped being a superhero after Leia was born, choosing instead to be a wife and stay-at-home mom. Sue is also a Christian.

Angela is Leia's biological mother, the strongest telepath and telekinetic in the world. She is also a sociopathic supervillain who calls herself Malevolence. She agreed to stay out of Leia's life shortly after her daughter's birth, but has recently returned.

I was compelled to write this morning. As many of you know, the conflict in Israel is close to my heart. I may be Christian but I support Israel and  the Jewish people's right to exist and thrive. In my heart, I am a Spiritual Jew as outlined in the Bible:

Romans 2: 28-29 (KJV) states, "For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God."

Recently, some have tried to create the phrase "Never again for anyone." This is an attempt to morally equivocate the Israeli genocide of the Holocaust with what they call a "Palestinian genocide." They do this to stir emotions and win people over to their Pro-Hamas argument.

It is also a lie.

By 1947, six million Jews had been killed in the Holocaust. Their population had been reduced from over nine million to just 3.5 million. It is something that has been thoroughly documented. That kind of slaughter is literally genocide.

Polish lawyer Raphael Lemkin coined the term genocide in his 1944 book Axis Rule in Occupied Europe. It is a combination of the Greek word γένος (genos, "race, people") with the Latin suffix -caedo ("act of killing"). Lemkin had fled the Holocaust to the United States. Many in his family had been killed during the Holocaust. He heard a 1941 radio broadcast by Winston Churchill in which the UK leader described the atrocities being committed by the German state police as "a crime without a name." Lemkin decided to give it a name to help prevent future acts of wholesale slaughter of a race or ethnic group.

In contrast, the Palestinian population that was displaced from Israel and mostly sent to Jordan was 200,000 in 1948. The current population in Gaza is over two million. That is not to say the Palestinians in Gaza have not suffered casualties but it is not a genocide by any stretch of the imagination.

And Gaza is ruled by Hamas, the same terrorist group that inflicted Holocaust-level atrocities upon Israel on October 7, 2023. Hamas still holds many hostages taken that day in Gaza. Hamas constantly breaks any ceasefire attempts. Their charter literally calls for the eradication of Israel.

Yet people still attempt to morally equate Israel and Hamas's actions. They call Israelis "white colonizers" when they're neither "white" (implying they are European born and not from the Middle East) nor colonizers. In 1947, they were allowed to return to their own land. In 1967 and since, they expanded their territory after being attacked by neighboring countries.

That isn't colonization. That is survival and the results of victory in wars they didn't start.

Since October 7, I have prayed for Israel,  the Jews, and the innocents who suffer from this needless conflict brought about by terrorists and their financial backers in Iran and other countries dedicated to Israel's destruction. I pray for peace and resolution.

I admit, it angers me when I see people try to culturally appropriate the term "Never Again" for an anti-Israel purpose. I see it as another way to water down or erase the significance of that term, to take it away from the Jews.

So this morning, I wrote the following:

Never Again
By Allen Steadham

“Never again” happened on October 7, 2023

A phrase born from the Holocaust

A warning from the past to future generations to be vigilant against hate towards the Jewish people

Against the fruit of Holocaust denial which is a rallying cry to destroy the Jews and Israel

Against people who would erase the Jews and their ancestral, God-given homeland

Against people who would try to appropriate the very warning itself

You can’t have “never again.” It’s not yours.

Am Yisrael Chai ("The people of Israel live")

I made a new video today about Christian deconstruction. I have not deconstructed but it is something to understand. I offer my perspective on the topic.

In this video, I discuss certain aspects of my Christian testimony and how I believe they relate to current identity issues in society. This is not a political discussion or rant. I hope you find it interesting "food for thought."

Christmas Miracles: Six Short Stories of God's Faithfulness in Any Time, Space, or Realm is a Christmas and miracle-themed anthology from Ambassador International. It is available in paperback and ebook.

Buy Christmas Miracles on Amazon (paperback and ebook)

Buy Christmas Miracles on Barnes & Noble (paperback only)

Buy Christmas Miracles on Bookshop

More Canva A.I. text-to-images I used to depict some of the supporting characters from my upcoming Christian steampunk book Queen of the Skies. I've included some insights into each character.

Blaze is Merritt's best friend. He's a local artist who also does some commercial art. He is aware of Merritt's autism and is very supportive of her.

Vinnie is Marjorie's daughter and Merritt's cousin. She is attending college and works part-time at a mall. She and Merritt were supposed to be raised as sisters but that didn't quite happen. They have a somewhat adversarial relationship.

Fletch is Abe's father and a widower. He owns an airship repair business and has become wealthy from its success. He was James Moore's best friend in college and knows Merritt's true parentage. As a result, he has watched out for her over the years.

Last week, I used Canva's A.I. text-to-image feature to make some character art for my upcoming Christian steampunk book Queen of the Skies. Here's a look at the main characters with a little bit of insight into each character.

Merritt is 22 years old, biracial (Black/White) and autistic. She has a unique view of the world and brings that perspective to the series. She was abandoned at birth by her mother and raised by her aunt, Marjorie Clarke.

Abe is 22 years old and the son of Douglas "Fletch" Fletcher who owns an airship repair business. Abe is an office manager at his father's company. Merritt and Abe went to high school together but didn't become friends. Circumstances bring them back into each other's lives.

James is Merritt's father, though he doesn't know that. He is a technology designer for a major corporation in New Amsterdam City. He has not seen Merritt's mother, Catherine, in twenty-three years.