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Looking Out the Window: Author, Song Leader and Teacher Larry Hammersley Talks About the Life of Jesus. Larry Also Discusses His Fictitious, Biblical Re-telling of Mary Magdalene. Gives Away Two Print Copies to Two Winners.

 


A Warm Welcome to Larry Hammersley

To enter the Rafflecopter contest to win a print copy (U.S. residents only) of Mary Magdalene leave a comment and email address below. 

Christ's Life and Mission

Many prophecies occur in the Old Testament concerning Christ.  They describe his life, his mission, his suffering, his death, and his resurrection. One such place is in Psalms 22.  This chapter describes his suffering and death in graphic language in the first twenty-one verses.  The remainder of that chapter gives an uplifting message of triumph.

We see early in the chapter he was all alone, he was mistreated, scoffed, stared at, and surrounded by enemies.  There is a description of what crucifixion did to his body.  He was scourged, his bones stared, his hands and feet pierced, his heart melted which probably referred to his heart bursting due too great anguish which can result in destruction of the heart, thus causing his early death after being on the cross only about six hours.

The last part of this chapter shows that Christ’s name will be praised in all the earth.  We have but to read the closing chapters of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John to learn the details of his resurrection from the dead.  Mary Magdalene was privileged to be the first to see Jesus. She is told to go tell Peter and John the good news.

During his life he performed many miracles. Messages from the pulpit many times stress that he did that to show he was the Son of God.  The gospels do not have to be examined closely to realize so often that Jesus was driven by compassion.  He wept at least two times, one for the city of Jerusalem as he knew what was going to happen to it.  He wept when his good friend Lazarus died.  On that occasion he was touched by those around him as all were grieved.  He had compassion on the widow of Nain.  She had lost her husband earlier and then her son died. She was now all alone.  That touched Jesus’ heart and he raised her son from the dead.  No doubt his compassion went out to Mary Magdalene of whom he cast out the seven demons, thus freeing her of that terrible torture she felt.

Many more examples can be cited.

He knew of the burden of sin that was upon all of us.  Realizing his mission, he gave his life for all of us.  He knew even when he was twelve years old that he must be about his Father’s business. He came in human form, acknowledged that his body was prepared for him, and he gave it for those gone before, those in his time, and those coming after him.


About Mary Magdalene

Mary Magdalene is a character in the first four books of the New Testament.  The fictional account is how she may have spent her early years and Jesus' actions on ridding her of the seven demons which possessed her.  Also told are possible times she may have crossed paths with Jesus and perhaps witnessed some of his miracles and teachings.  The nonfictional parts include her actions during the crucifixion of Jesus and the fact that she was the first person who witnessed the risen Savior.

What People Are Saying 

When Mary's parents see the Star of Bethlehem in the sky, they know it represents the birth of Jesus. Years later, they tell their daughter all about it and Mary looks forward to meeting the Messiah one day. When she hears that Jesus is preaching in the area and about his miracles, Mary hurries to where he is teaching and listens from afar. This is a sweet story about Mary's life and when she first meets Jesus. It is also interesting to learn how she gathers plants and squeezes precious oils from them. It's a fun short story.  Review by Linda Weaver Clarke.

This gives a different slant on the familiar Bible story, and gives a nice, in-depth view of Mary Magdalene from the childhood to a young woman at Christ's crucifixion. Whilst much of the story is obviously drawn from the author's imagination, the background and history have obviously been well researched. An enjoyable story, not just for Christians, but for anyone who likes an historical novel based on fact with characters who are easy to relate to. Review by Hywela Lyn from Great Britain. 

Buy Mary Magdalene on Amazon

Bio: Larry Hammersley, the author, is age 83, married to Sue for 59 years, has two children and eight grandchildren.  He has a BS in chemistry from Purdue University and MS in chemistry from Indiana University.  He enjoys walking, amateur radio and occasional woodworking. 

Active in the local Church of Christ as a song leader and teacher, he’s occasionally called on to preach if the preacher is away or sick. Writing for 46 years, he has published clean, short romance stories at various sites on the internet.  He started out writing short science fiction stories and more recently sweet romance stories as well as several novels, most available on Amazon.  

Connect with Larry on his Authors Den

Blog And Facebook 


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Comments

Sonja said…
I am really enjoying biblical fiction. I hope to read your book!
Gina said…
Good morning and thank you so much for having Larry Hammersley visit your blog, Gail. Larry, I have read "Mary Magdalene" and it was a wonderful book. You brought that time to life, it was so well-researched and informative. I learned about customs of the times, such as herbs and essential oils. And the communication between young Mary and her parents, Kezia and Eliab, was truly heartwarming. Larry, you are such a talented writer, able to do many different genres. It's always a pleasure to read your fantastic books. I didn't know you were a song leader! Wish I could be in your choir :-) Thanks for an outstanding post.
Sounds like a wonderful book love to read. Thanks for the chance to win a copy.
Blessings
Diana
Hi Larry! Congratulations on your new story, and I'm so happy to see you're still writing. Keep on. Your long ago writing friend, Francelia
Hi Sonja: Thanks for stopping by. My Bible character stories are a mix of fiction and nonfiction. I try to stick to the attributes of the character as the Bible reveals. Gina, I always like to hear from you and thank you for the wonderful compliments and support. Diana it was good to hear from you. I am working on another Bible character, a woman from the Old Testament, Deborah. Francelia, yes, we go back a long way and I always like to keep in touch with you.
I didn't know you were a song leader at church. That's wonderful! I read Mary Magdalene and loved it. You did a wonderful job on that short story, Larry.
Hi Linda: Thank you for the kind comments. I am glad you liked my short story, Mary Magdalene. We use vocal music at church, no instruments. I don't even use a pitch pipe because I can't duplicate a sound, I hear so I can hit the right pitch without it. Don't know how much longer my voice will last. LOL. I have a new Bible character story which I am about done with, the character Deborah from the book of Judges.
Hywela Lyn said…
So lovely to see Larry featured on your blog, Gail, Thank you.

Larry, as you know, I loved your story about Mary Magdalene, and I'm really looking forward to reading your interpretation of Deborah's story.

Best wishes, and God Bless.
Hywela: It is always good to hear from you. Thank you as always for your interest in my writings. I really appreciated your review of Mary Magdalene. A friend encouraged me to write about her. There are so many wonderful women in the Bible to explore their outstanding character. Deborah was a fun write, and I will go the KDP route soon with her.
Gail Pallotta said…
Hi Hywela,

Thank you for stopping by. It's my pleasure to host Larry and great to see you.
DanielleThorne said…
What a thoughtful post. Thank you for sharing your testimony of the Savior.
Hi Danielle: Thanks for dropping by and your thoughts. I always follow your posts and admire the covers and info about your stories and those of your friends. It seems my Bible character stories do much better than most all of my novels and other short stories.









Shirley said…
Thank you for a very thought provoking post. I look forward to finding other works of yours.
Hi Shirley: It is good to meet you and I appreciate you dropping by. My books are on Amazon both digital and print by typing Larry Hammersley books in the search at Amazon. Thank you for the kind comments. It seems my Bible character stories do better than my science fiction and clean romance novels.
Laurean Brooks said…
Larry,
Mary Magdalene had plenty of mystery surrounding her life. I understand how she would make an interesting character to develop. With your gift of vivid description and true-to-life dialogue, I know this book will be a page turner.

Don't knock your science fiction. Those are intriguing stories, and I can tell you do a lot of research. I would be exhausted. Lol.

Your romance stories are sweet and emotional. I enjoy those also.

May God continue to bless you as you serve and write for Him.
Hi Laurie: I always look forward to hearing from you. I am glad you could make it to Gail's site. Thank you for your encouraging words. It was a pleasure to meet you in person what was it almost ten years ago. I only had one book out at that time to take to Paducah. Mary Magdalene was a mixture of fiction and nonfiction. I lucked into what I felt was the perfect cover and enlisted Lisa from Utah to do her magic. I will be on the lookout for your writings. I hope to be on a future blog soon for my new novel You Captured My Heart. Keep in touch.

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