Here’s the latest from the crossroads of faith, media & culture: 08/01/25
Three authors I’ve interviewed before – Anthony DeStefano, Dr. Michael Guillén and Peter Berk – are making news on the book front.
Trust God. Whether it’s a medical crisis, a financial disaster or being overwhelmed emotionally, many of us know what it’s like to be in that moment of desperately needing God to reach out help us in a special way. Bestselling Christian author Anthony DeStefano offers his insights on asking for divine help in The Miracle Book.
Personally, I believe in the power of prayer and have seen it work in my own life. My simple advice is trust God, hold onto faith, be bold and pray with positive expectation. He will not let you down. Turn toward Him and away from doubt, guilt and fear. Don’t look back. Don’t overthink. He wants you to be well and accomplish positive goals. He will bring you through tough times. He will make your crooked path straight. However you pray, believe that God is good and on your side. Here are three biblical passages I find helpful.
Mark 11:24
Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.
Luke 1:37
For nothing will be impossible with God.
Psalm 27:14
Wait patiently for the LORD. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the LORD.
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Dr. Michael Guillén’s Believing is Seeing is a worldwide bestseller. An Emmy-winning journalist, bestselling author and host of the More Than Meets the IQ podcast on the positive chemistry between faith and science (yes, they support each other) has received the positive news that his book Believing is Seeing has hit #1 on Amazon’s Science and Religion list. And as Dr. Guillen talks about here, a movie is in the works.
From the Amazon synopsis:
In Believing Is Seeing, Dr. Guillen recounts the fascinating story of his journey from Atheism to Christianity, pulling back the curtain on the mystery of faith as no one ever has by citing the latest discoveries in:
- Neuroscience
- Physics
- Astronomy
- Mathematics
Is it true that “seeing is believing?” Or is it possible that reality can be perceived most clearly and logically through the eyes of faith and religion―and that truth is bigger than proof? Let Dr. Guillen be your apologetics guide as he brilliantly argues for a large and enlightened worldview consistent with both God and modern science.
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On a lighter note: The latest edition of
Peter Berk’s TimeLock book series is out. Four years ago the author decided to honor his noted TV writer, the late
Howard Berk, whose credits include episodes of such classic series as
Columbo,
Mission: Impossible and
The Rockford Files by novelizing an action/sci-fi screenplay they wrote together a few years earlier titled
TimeLock. Published in late 2022, it tells the story a 23 year-old man who’s wrongly convicted of murder and becomes one of the first prisoners to be instantly aged the number of years of his sentence through a radical new genetic acceleration process. He then escapes and teams up with a female FBI agent to uncover the terrifying truth behind the TimeLock program.
Late 2023 saw the publication of TimeLock 2: The Kyoto Conspiracy and now we have the debut of TimeLock 3: The Millennium Paradox, the most action-packed and sci-fi-centric novel in the ongoing series so far.
JWK: So, tell me about this latest edition of the TimeLock saga. How does it differ from the prior two?
Peter Berk: The first one sort of had to do with technology gone awry. So, does this one but it’s slightly different. The past two were set primarily in Washington, D.C…This one is set in Alaska. It also involves a prison genetic experiment that goes terribly wrong in a different way than the other books. It sort of creates an escaped convict with unbelievable powers who is trying to knock off some residents of the local Alaskan town one at a time. The hero is a helicopter pilot who ends up being his main obstacle to achieving his murderous intent…The other books had sci-fi premises but if this one was made as a movie it would have a ton of special effects, things like that…
JWK: With the rise of AI, concerns over the possibility of technology going awry is a pretty topical subject right now.
PB: It’s purely accidental. When we wrote this it was way before any of that. Obviously, there were computers but it was way before AI. There have been so many projects along those lines. You know, with Colossus, if you remember that one.
JWK: Oh, yeah. I remember that movie. It was a good movie.
PB: It’s sort of perennial theme that always seems to work. You know, the real trick – and this is where my dad was particularly great – was to humanize these stories so they just don’t turn into manuals on technology or something. With all the TimeLock novels, despite all the heavy technology-gone-bad premises, I’ve tried to keep them sort of fun, with a lot of humor. A lot of that is a credit to my dad because that’s the way he liked to write. He didn’t want to make anything so serious. Even his Columbos had jokes and humor. I hopefully picked up some of that from him.
John W. Kennedy is a writer, producer and media development consultant specializing in television and movie projects that uphold positive timeless values, including trust in God.
Encourage one another and build each other up – 1 Thessalonians 5:11
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