LeAnne Hardy, author and editor
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Beth Moore's Knotted-Up Life

8/21/2023

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[I wrote this review of Beth Moore's memoir, All My Knotted-Up Life back in April and just found it in my files. That shows how badly I have neglected this blog. But I really thought the book deserved attention. Maybe it is even more significant now with the discussions of the Barbie movie.]

 In our years in South Africa, I did several Beth Moore Bible studies with the wonderful women of Grace Baptist Church, Kempton Park. I confess that I chaffed at the amount of homework (especially when Beth had us hopping all over the Bible, looking up dozens of cross references), but I loved the videos where she spoke from the heart about the issues we were studying. ​

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Blow, Wind of God

11/14/2022

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I’m in Istanbul. My husband, Steve, has a conference in Izmir, near ancient Ephesus. As we flew in over this huge city, I kept thinking of a scene from Black Mountain, the third of my Glastonbury Grail books. My character, Old Teg o’ the Hills, arrived in Istanbul (formerly Byzantium, Constantinople) in 1541, at the height of Suleiman the Magnificent‘s rebuilding following the Muslim conquest of the capitol of the Eastern Roman Empire. The population then was about 700,000--more than Paris, Lyon and Venice combined! 
 
"London was but a poor village by comparison.

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Murder in Ephesus

6/3/2022

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​Spunky heroine pursues an intriguing mystery in a vivid and well-drawn setting—recipe for a read I couldn't put down! The setting is late first-century Ephesus where Christians are a forbidden underground sect. Benjamin, a young scribe, is poisoned at a secret meeting where the newly copied scroll of the prophet Isaiah is about to be read. There is no shortage of suspects from his landlord to work colleagues to an obnoxious rival, but it is Bishop Apollos who confesses to the murder so that the other Christians will not come to the attention of authorities demanding worship of the emperor as a living god or death as a traitor. Sabina's father is the magistrate, and the last thing he wants is for his daughter's forbidden faith to be exposed. She teams up with Benjamin's Jewish brother to track down the clues and discover the truth. In the process we roam this ancient harbor city, entering homes, businesses, and even a pagan temple for the meeting of a Gnostic cult. The author shows us a culture very different from our own in a natural way without making us feel like we are getting a history lecture. Bravo! I look forward to the next installment in this series.

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Lenten Readings

3/2/2022

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​40 Selections from The Gospel According to George; Exploring Handel’s Messiah

We begin this Lenten season of 2022 mourning our sinful world, the suffering that is happening in Ukraine, and our fears and uncertainties for the future. As we long for the God's promised comfort, Handel's Messiah is more relevant than ever. 

​For the next 40 days I will be posting brief excerpts from The Gospel According to George at Birch Island Books. You can follow to get the daily posts or you can download this schedule to use with your own copy of the book with its fuller discussion of the text. If you are not using the Apple version with embedded music files and don't own a recording, try this one on YouTube that uses boy sopranos just like the original performance in Dublin in 1742.
Lenten Readings
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George Fredric Handel’s oratorio Messiah tells the whole story of Messiah’s life, passion, death and glorious revelation, including the longing for him before his birth and the spread of the good news after his return to heaven. Such a broad sweep of history makes great listening—and reading—during Lent. Let The Gospel According to George by LeAnne Smith Hardy with Sylvia Patterson-Scott carry you through this season of preparation for Easter as you listen to Handel’s marvelous music and meditate on the text. By omitting the familiar Christmas scene with the shepherds and a few movements from Part 3 as well as combining recitatives with the arias they are meant to introduce, this plan reduces the fifty-three movements of Messiah to fit the forty days of Lent. You will find questions and suggestions for meditation for individuals and families in the Beyond the Music sections of the book with each movement.

​​Day 1, Handel’s Messiah #1, Sinfonia (orchestra)
 
Day 2, Handel’s Messiah #2 Recitative (Tenor) Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. 
 
Day 3, Handel’s Messiah #3, Air (tenor) Ev'ry valley shall be exalted
 
Day 4, Handel’s Messiah #4, Chorus. And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, 
 
Day 5, Handel’s Messiah #5, recitative (bass) Thus saith the Lord, the Lord of hosts: 
and #6 air (alto or soprano) But who may abide the day of His coming, 
 
Day 6, Handel’s Messiah #7, Chorus. And He shall purify the sons of Levi, 
 
Day 7, Handel’s Messiah #8, Recitative (alto) Behold, a virgin shall conceive 
 
Day 8, Handel’s Messiah #9, Air (alto) and Chorus. O thou that tellest good tidings to Zion…
 
Day 9, Handel’s Messiah #10, Recitative (bass) For behold, darkness shall cover the earth,
 
Day 10, Handel’s Messiah #11, Air (bass) The people that walked in darkness 
 
Day 11, Handel’s Messiah #17, Chorus. "Glory to God in the highest,”
 
Day 12, Handel’s Messiah #18, Air (soprano) Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; 
 
Day 13, Handel’s Messiah #19, Recitative (alto) Then shall the eyes of the blind be opened, 
 
Day 14, Handel’s Messiah #20, Air (soprano and/or alto) He shall feed His flock/Come unto Him
 
Day 15, Handel’s Messiah #21, Chorus. His yoke is easy, and His burden is light. 
 
Day 16, Handel’s Messiah #22, Chorus. Behold the Lamb of God, 
 
Day 17, Handel’s Messiah #23, Air (alto) He was despised 
 
Day 18, Handel’s Messiah #24, Chorus. Surely He hath borne our griefs, 
 
Day 19, Handel’s Messiah #25, Chorus. And with His stripes we are healed. 
 
Day 20, Handel’s Messiah #26, Chorus. All we like sheep have gone astray; 
 
Day 21, Handel’s Messiah #27, Recitative (tenor), All they that see Him laugh Him to scorn;
and #28, Chorus. "He trusted in God”
 
Day 22, Handel’s Messiah #29, Recitative (tenor) Thy rebuke hath broken His heart: 
 
Day 23, Handel’s Messiah #30, Arioso (tenor) Behold, and see 
 
Day 24, Handel’s Messiah #31, Recitative (Soprano or tenor) He was cut off
and #32 Air (Soprano or tenor) But Thou didst not leave His soul in hell;
 
Day 25, Handel’s Messiah #33, Chorus. Lift up your heads, O ye gates;
 
Day 26, Handel’s Messiah #34, Recitative (tenor) Unto which of the angels said He
and #35, Chorus. Let all the angels of God worship Him.
 
Day 27, Handel’s Messiah #36, Air (alto or soprano) Thou art gone up on high; 
 
Day 28, Handel’s Messiah #37, Chorus. The Lord gave the word; 
 
Day 29, Handel’s Messiah #38, Air (soprano or alto) and Chorus. How beautiful are the feet 
 
Day 30, Handel’s Messiah #39, Chorus (or air for tenor) Their sound is gone out 
 
Day 31, Handel’s Messiah #40, Air (bass) Why do the nations so furiously rage together, 
 
Day 32, Handel’s Messiah #41, Chorus. Let us break their bonds asunder, 
 
Day 33, Handel’s Messiah #42, Recitative. He that dwelleth in Heav'n shall laugh
and #43, Air (tenor) Thou shalt break them
 
Day 34, Handel’s Messiah #44, Chorus. Hallelujah:
 
Day 35, Handel’s Messiah #45, Air (soprano) I know that my Redeemer liveth, 
 
Day 36, Handel’s Messiah #46, Chorus. Since by man came death, 
 
Day 37, Handel’s Messiah #50, Duet (alto and tenor) O death, where is thy sting? 
 
Day 38, Handel’s Messiah #51, Chorus. But thanks be to God, 
 
Day 39, Handel’s Messiah #52, Air (soprano, alto) If God be for us, who can be against us? 
 
Day 40, Handel’s Messiah #53, Chorus. Worthy is the Lamb that was slain, 
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For Those Standing on the Edge

12/3/2021

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​“Put Christ back into Xmas,” we often hear at this time of year, as if X stood for the unknown in an equation, rather than the Greek letter chi for Χρίστος (Christos). But as Timothy Larsen points out, no one took Christ out of Christmas. Despite all the hoopla over Santa, most people are aware of the baby laid in a manger, of angels and stars and shepherds somewhere in the story, and they long for a moment of holy awe. Think of the ending to Charles Schultz’s “Charlie Brown Christmas.” Who doesn’t get goosebumps listening to Linus recite Luke 2? And modern secularists love the moment as much as believers. 
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Bringing Good from Evil in Afghanistan

8/28/2021

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​This summer in Vacation Bible School we reenacted Saul’s conversion. We made gray paper chains and carried them to “Damascus.” We circled the room muttering threats against those awful Christians who kept preaching that God wanted us to trust in Jesus rather than follow a list of rules. 

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No, Not This LeAnne

7/10/2021

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​When I ran across an author named Leanne Smith, I had to check her out. After all, the first twenty-one years of my life that was MY name! I enjoyed her Leaving Independence. It was realistic and well researched. The romance was compelling without taking over the story. (I am NOT a fan of books whose main point is finding true love.) Smith’s characters are mature and concerned about things beyond romance. 
 
I recently got to read an advance copy of her new book Alone in a Cabin. It is romantic suspense with a twist of history. 
 
Here is the blurb:
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What If We All Served our Country?

7/3/2021

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​It’s noisy at our place on the lake in northern Wisconsin. It’s Fourth of July weekend and everybody and their cousins have come to the lake. Speed boat wakes set our swim raft bouncing. A small plane climbs over the water from the airfield a mile up the road. Children laugh and squeal as they splash. (I LOVE the sound of children laughing! Boomboxes not so much.)
 
It’s a time when we eat hotdogs, watch fireworks, and consider what this country means to us. For some it is freedom to choose, to control their own destinies. For others that promise of freedom has yet to be realized. We struggle politically, socially and economically, yet we all love this land and long to see her live up to the greatness of her ideals.


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Glitter and Guilt in Hollywood

5/31/2021

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​Please welcome Stephanie Landem to “My Times and Places.” I first met Stephanie at a critique group we were both a part of and soon recognized a sister in the Lord. She was unpublished at the time. It has been fun to see her grow as a writer. I loved her biblical fiction, especially The Tomb, ​the story of Martha of Bethany. She just released In A Far-Off Land. It’s still biblical fiction in a way—a retelling of one of Jesus’ most well-known parables, this time set in 1930s Hollywood. It’s a wonderful read with great characters you will really care about!
 
Stephanie, the idea for this book obviously came from Jesus’ parable of The Lost Son (sometimes called The Prodigal Son). What made you decide on 1930s Hollywood as the right setting for such a retelling?


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Rent Hearth-Stones

5/25/2021

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​​I’m a book person. I have a tendency to get behind in the magazines I want to read. Christianity Today is at the top of my list because it grapples with faith in a real-world context. Recently I ran across the December 2018 issue I seem to have missed in a pile (although I did recognize some articles I had read on-line at the time.) From the opening “Editor’s Note” it lamented this awful year. After 2020, I was hard pressed to come up with what had been so bad about 2018. I had to look it up—hurricanes, forest fires, school shootings, international atrocities and violence. Yeah, pretty bad stuff. And even when Coronavirus is over, bad things will continue to happen.

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    LeAnne Hardy has lived in six countries on four continents. Her books come out of her cross-cultural experiences and her passion to use story to convey spiritual truths in a form that will permeate lives.

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