I made an A.I. animation with the Grok App using the cover art from Jordan's Arrow. It's actually pretty amazing!

I have updated the title for my sequel to The Former Things. Instead of just Aria, it will be The Former Things: Aria. I have been working on the sequel lately and I realized that it truly is Book 2 in a duology with the same theme running between both books. I can't explain why right now (because that would involve spoilers), but I can tell you this is so. This is the way the Lord has constructed these two books to work together. 

The trailer is the same except for the title frame.

I originally wrote this in 2019, and it still holds true. The only additional I’ll make is embedding a video of my full Christian testimony (made in 2023) at the bottom of this post.

I know that for most of its history, Halloween has been a popular “holiday-that’s-not-an-official-holiday.” It is recognized for many reasons, not least of which is children (of all ages) dressing up as whatever they desire and associating a sense of fun with varying degrees of dark, horror and even macabre themes. Little of it is meant to be taken seriously. I remember it well, as I celebrated Halloween from childhood through my early twenties.

Before I proceed, I want to make it clear that I have nothing against anyone who engages in Halloween festivities. That is an individual decision, and it means different things to different people. Consider the rest of what I’ve written here as food for thought.

I stopped participating in Halloween when I became a Christian in 1996. I know that some believers still do celebrate the occasion; and that’s their choice. However, I did not change my mind about it just because of my faith. As time has passed, I’ve come to better comprehend what Halloween accomplishes: it gives people a reason to play with something that many of them either do not truly believe in or understand -- the Spirit World.

Costumes and images evoking ghosts, goblins, vampires, werewolves, and murdering ghouls (whether zombies or deranged psychopaths) are fair game for one day out of the year. Far from angels, these things actually represent demons. But since people see them as fictitious, they’re harmless, right? Isn’t it just make-believe?

And what about people who dress up as superheroes, other heroic characters, or some cartoon character? Is it okay to dress up as a TV/movie character that has nothing to do with horror? What’s the harm?

​If one is celebrating Halloween in any form, it is giving silent acceptance to all of Halloween, including the harmful and evil representations.

Presently, many people do not believe in spirits -- or anything they can’t identify with their five senses. That’s understandable from the society we live in. We are used to instant access to plenty of things we can experience through our mobile devices, computers, or in-person.

But we all have faith. I’m not talking about religious or spiritual faith. I’m talking about believing in something. It could be family, friends, education, politics, science, entertainment, social justice, or any number of other areas. One has to have faith in order to trust in anything. And we can’t see faith, we only experience it.

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. – Hebrews 11:1 (KJV)

There’s literally a universe worth of things we don’t know, realize or understand yet. No matter how long we live, as individuals or collectively as the human race, we will always be learning. We cannot see gravity but it’s what keeps us from floating away into the cosmos. We can’t see the wind; we can only see its effects.

All that said, I will state that we live in a dual universe: one physical and one spiritual - both inhabiting the same reality. We are alive both biologically and because we have living souls. When we are conceived, our bodies are biologically created, and our souls enter in to occupy them. When we die, our bodies cease to function and our souls leave them.

Likewise, as we walk this Earth, we see people, animals, vegetation, land, water, sky, and all things constructed. But occupying the same space are other things, spiritual in nature. There are angels and demons, incredible wonders, and unspeakable terrors. Most of it is beyond our ability to comprehend. Still, it exists.

As a teen, I walked between both worlds in ignorance. Most would probably find it unbelievable. But it occurred. I’m grateful that the Lord Himself had mercy on me. He allowed me to break free of that ordeal.

Today, I see Halloween as linked with all the darkness and wickedness I left behind. I truly believe that most people don’t see the fullness of what they’re associating with in Halloween. They think it’s harmless fun. I saw its true face and I wouldn’t wish that on anyone.

By 1996, the Lord led me down a path to Salvation. My own changed life is a witness to God’s power. As an adult, I have seen and experienced miracles.

​There is no comparison between the Dark and the Light. The Dark can seem attractive. It has things to offer and there’s a power behind it. But the Light has already conquered it. There is hope and peace in God’s perfect light through His Son, Jesus Christ.


Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. – John 8:12 (KJV)


I’d appreciate it if you’d watch my testimony video below. It’s unique, should be entertaining, and yet covers a lot of ground.

This is a project I initiated about a year ago. I was delighted to recruit some incredible Christian fiction authors for this. And last night, I submitted the anthology to the U.S. Library of Congress for copyright.

This will be a self-published indie book and each of its stories are powerful. The Lord inspired this project and He has blessed it every step of the way! So, the wait is over.

Coming soon! This is a book trailer for Choosing Life: A Pro-Life Anthology with stories by H.A. Pruitt, Parker J. Cole, Lauren Smyth, Joanna White, and Allen Steadham.

All proceeds from this anthology will be donated to pro-life nonprofit organizations.

I have been seeing people calling themselves Christians who talk down the idea of Ben Shapiro carrying on the causes Charlie Kirk supported…because Shapiro is Jewish. Many have said, “We want a Christian to do it instead.” 

First off, no one can replace Charlie Kirk; Ben would be the first to say that (and he has). 

Secondly, Ben was a close friend of Charlie’s for thirteen years and they worked together much of that time. 

Thirdly, Ben is co-founder of The Daily Wire with a Christian and it features almost exclusively Christian personalities. 

Lastly, I believe Charlie himself would approve of Ben’s support since they’ve worked together so long and so well. 

There will be plenty of folks either from Turning Point USA (or TPUSA, the company Charlie Kirk created) to share Charlie's evangelical message. Other Christian personalities participating in TP USA events. Daily Wire just donated one million dollars to TPUSA to help carry on Charlie's work.

For those opposing Ben Shapiro simply because he’s Jewish, I would ask you to pray and ask the Holy Spirit for clarity about this. I’m reminded of the Israelites who demanded a king to reign over them instead of the judges God had established over Israel.


I Samuel 8: 4-8 (KJV)

Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel unto Ramah,

And said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.

But the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed unto the LORD.

And the LORD said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them.

According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt even unto this day, wherewith they have forsaken me, and served other gods, so do they also unto thee.


My advice to everyone is this: Make sure you’re not rejecting God’s will. He will show it to you if you seek Him diligently.

There are days like today when I envy my daughter Jeyli, and the perspective she has being autistic. She’s a happy, thoughtful, intelligent girl who loves her family and friends. Her interests are Pokémon, art, music, recording videos and taking pictures, singing, dancing, and she wants to learn to play the trumpet.

She doesn’t know or care about politics. She doesn’t know how people let such things twist and change them into something they didn’t start out as. She knows what death is, but she doesn’t know about terrorism, domestic or otherwise. She doesn’t know that the country she lives in is divided over such things. She isn’t aware of how cold some people’s hearts have become or the degeneracy some people worship instead of God.

She does know about God, Jesus, and the Bible. She goes to church with us and has watched her parents perform music and worship the Lord. She’s not a Christian yet but that will be her decision to make whenever she’s ready.

She works hard at school, excelling at virtually everything including Physical Education. She’s had good teachers who understand and love working with kids with special needs.

My daughter has been blessed with something most other school kids don’t realize they’ve lost (in part or whole): at fourteen years old, she still has her innocence, and a child’s view of the world.

So, while most people are sharing their feelings, both good and ill, about crime, murder, assassination, and the horror of September 11th on this twenty-fourth anniversary of the attacks, my daughter is blissfully unaware of those things and is going about her morning at school. She doesn’t need to know what we know, and she certainly doesn’t deserve to be burdened by it.

Most people don’t understand autism or have misperceptions about it. It’s complicated and it affects each person on its spectrum differently. But it’s no curse. She has a relatively normal life. And if it’s the Lord’s will, I’d love to see her continue to grow up, find love with the right man, marry, and maybe have a family someday. Time will tell.

But on days like today, I see her autism as a blessing from God. My daughter deserves her innocence, and I will do all I can as her father to protect it. And her.

When I was in my early twenties, I had a series of nightmares that convinced me to “program” my mind not to remember my dreams most days. It worked and I got used to it. So, at the rare times I did experience and recall dreams, they were usually vivid and extraordinary. For example, I once dreamed of randomly meeting Bob Dylan on a country bridge in the middle of the Texas Hill Country by myself as he strummed on an acoustic guitar while we talked. It would be things like that.

About a year after my father passed away in 1997, I had a number of dreams with him in them, just the two of us or him and Mom with me. They were peaceful and comforting. Now, they happen less often but I’m okay with that.

Last night before I fell asleep, I prayed and asked the Lord to let me dream and remember the dream. I had nothing specific to ask for (and trying to dream specific things almost never works anyway). So, I just prayed that the Lord’s Will would be done. I was fine with whatever He let me dream.

And I had a lovely dream with my mother who passed away on August 17th, one day after her 84th birthday. It was normal circumstances, and Dad was initially in the dream, too, but he went ahead to somewhere else, and I spent the majority of the dream alone with Mom. She was younger, middle-aged, healthy, and we just talked. In the dream, I didn’t think about her being dead. We were just there in seemingly normal circumstances. The details aren’t important, though I remember them.

When I woke up from another dream I had after that dream, I recalled the Mom dream, was pleasantly stunned, and I thanked God in my thoughts with all my heart. He honored my prayer in the most beautiful way possible.

And I knew that I had to share this experience. Thanks for reading.