10/08/2013

Goodbye For Now

So - life being what it is - I'll be taking a break from blogging (and 'internet' in general ;P :) for a while. . .

Here are a few links if you come across this blog and become interested in some of my stuff while I'm gone :]

My goodreads profile

My wattpad page - where you can read some of my other stuff :]

A link to the ebook version of Warrior's Fury

...And I think that's about it. . . . Feel free to leave comments or email me through the address I've given at the bottom of the Warrior's Fury tab up in the menu bar - I should still be able to get to those if necessary ;)

Thank you,

May the Lord bless you,
~ J D White
10/8/2013


P.S. The Kindle version of Warrior's Fury will be free from November 15nth - 19nth

10/07/2013

In Christ Alone



"This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” ~ Acts 4:11-12

"But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." ~ Ephesians 2:4-10

"So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." ~ Philippians 2:1-11

9/24/2013

What the Future May Hold

Well, it took way longer than originally planned . . . but here's the next short story / scene in the series I'm doing with a character named Jray'Ov ;P :]

(NOTE: the first one can be found HERE ;)

__________________________
Jray'Ov pushed his way out of the crowded entry of the town hall and threw himself between the packed ranks of the army slowly plodding down the main-street.

    Mumbling apologies to the different soldiers that he bumped into and shoved to the side, Jray sought feverishly for one particular face.

    “Ro'Val!” He finally called, unable to keep the name in any longer.

    “Father?”

    Jray forced his way to the left toward the questioning voice. He quickly came to a young man plodding in file with his group.

    Managing to wedge himself between his son and the soldier beside him, Jray threw his arm over his shoulder and quickly looked him up and down. The younger man was exhausted, his clothing was ragged and filthy, his face was smeared in mud, dried blood, and sweat, and his hair was matted and grimy, but he seemed otherwise in good physical condition.

    “What word?” Jray asked.

    “They've taken Reglan’Rowltho. Completely overran the bridge with a large group of Dosh and began to take full control of the city within the first few hours,” Ro said shaking his head. “We were supposed to be on guard for an attack – there had been reports for months of their gathering forces just out of sight of the Border River – but there was no warning that such a number of powerful nayrl-wielders would make the first strike. Our Dosh didn't stand a chance in holding the bridge.”

    “But why?” Jray asked, finally giving voice to the question that had been tormenting his mind incessantly ever since they had heard of the attack a day earlier. “What possible reason could Kroal’Ishlon have for such an assault?”

    “I've no clue – we've only been given orders. No explanations or attempts at the like.”

    “What is to happen now?”

    “As far as I've heard, we're retreating to the next most defensible position, Rillen'Lowl.”

    Jray got a sick feeling in his gut at that bit of news.

    “That is beyond the Fields. They can't be thinking of pulling the army back that far unless they plan to–” Jray's thought was cut off by a horn blast from the edge of town.

    Leaving his son's side, Jray began to force himself through the throng of bedraggled and weary soldiers to get to the square where he could see the banner of the House of Kel'Kieo, the army's leader, being borne aloft.

    He reached the front ranks of the army at the edge of the town and stopped short with the men in front as Kel'Kieo reined in his ronig and turned the mount to face the army.

    Dust drifted up from the road heading out of town as the ronig pawed at it with restlessness. Kel'Kieo gave a hand signal to the only other mounted officer, his banner bearer, and the old soldier lifted a horn to his lips to give a second, longer blast.

    Silence fell over the edge of the town.

    “The Othrarian armies have taken Reglan’Rowltho, and will be upon our trail within days,” Kel'Kieo called, loud enough for most at the edge of the village to hear him. A low murmur passed among those further back as the message was sent into the town. “Gather what necessities you can carry and prepare to leave. We will burn the town and the fields behind us.”

    A rise in murmuring washed toward the back of the crowd as Jray walked out of the line of soldiers and jumped onto a boulder on the side of the road where he could be easily seen.

    “The first man to touch a torch will find it extinguished with his own blood!”

    Jray'Ov felt tension instantly saturate the air as if it were the lingering crackle of the Power he had used to amplify his voice. For a split second he wondered if he shouldn't have taken a moment longer to think before reacting to Kel'Kieo's statement – but glancing into the faces of the soldiers nearby, he dismissed the thought. These men knew who he was.

    “You may continue on, good Kel'Kieo,” Jray continued – using a little less nayrl to amplify his voice this time, but still making sure everyone within the crowd could hear him. “And I would certainly not prevent those who wish to follow you. But you will NOT burn my fields or my home.”

    “Are you in possession of your sanity, Ihk-Nayrldosh?” Kel'Kieo yanked on the reigns of his mount to force it closer to him – ignoring the creature's skittishness at getting closer to Jray. “The enemy is upon your doorstep, and you want to challenge a strategic retreat?”

    “I am well within possession of my sanity, Kel'Kieo. But unless you can tell me why the Othrarians are invading our land – and what they will do to this village when they reach it – I will not give ground. I have never known Kroal’Ishlon to condone needless slaughter.”

    Kel'Kieo's face went blank as he stared at Jray. Jray suspected from the emotions churning deep within his eyes that the nobleman knew exactly what had incited the Othrarian attack. But would he reveal that information to the 'common' folk watching him?

    Without warning, the younger man wrenched on the reins of his mount again and turned to continue down the road.

    “Move on!” he barked, waving for his bannerman to give the signal for the army to continue its march. “We make for the Ri'Wolin Pass, if any wish to follow us.”

    The bannerman gave another long blast on his horn, and the army began to march out of the town. Along with the steady stamp of heavy feet, the sound of rapidly conversing voices rose.

    Jray noted that a group of men were working their way against the wave of soldiers back toward the town hall. It was not long before his son and the Elder managed to break through the mass of bodies to stand at the base of the boulder he stood upon.

    “The men and I want to know what you're thinking, Jray'Ov,” the Elder said, leaning on his crooked staff and watching the soldiers pass wearily by as if the order to continue marching had further exhausted them. “And frankly I'd like to know why you think it's a good idea to stick around here, with an invading army making its way toward us.”

    Jray nodded, and hopped down from the boulder. Looking his son in the eye, he placed his hand on his shoulder.

    “Are you staying?”

    Ro'Val gave a curt nod, grinning ruefully. “You think Ti'dara would forgive me if I left again, or uprooted her and the family?”

    Squeezing his son's shoulder and nodding, Jray turned to the Elder. “You will all hear my reasoning. Let us join those gathering in the town hall...”
__________________________

Let me know what you think! :)
~ J D White
9/24/2013

9/09/2013

Made to Praise

~ Designed by Kate

Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory,
for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!
Why should the nations say,
“Where is their God?”
Our God is in the heavens;
he does all that he pleases.
~ Psalm 115:1-3

 
Praise the Lord!
Praise, O servants of the Lord,
praise the name of the Lord!

Blessed be the name of the Lord
from this time forth and forevermore!
From the rising of the sun to its setting,
the name of the Lord is to be praised!

The Lord is high above all nations,
and his glory above the heavens!
Who is like the Lord our God,
who is seated on high,
who looks far down
on the heavens and the earth?
He raises the poor from the dust
and lifts the needy from the ash heap,
to make them sit with princes,
with the princes of his people.
He gives the barren woman a home,
making her the joyous mother of children.
Praise the Lord!
~ Psalm 113
 

Praise the Lord, all nations!
Extol him, all peoples!
For great is his steadfast love toward us,
and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever.
Praise the Lord!
~ Psalm 117

 ~ English Standard Version (ESV)

8/24/2013

Random Update

Well, I haven't been too diligent about posting - life being what it is ;P :] - but I'm hoping to have a weekly post for several consecutive weeks (at least) starting late September or early November :] . . . (and I'm saying that here so I'll have even more of an incentive to actually finish the stuff I've been working on in a timely fashion ;P ;)

I'm still working on getting Warrior's Fury available for the Nook and other eReaders . . . But unfortunately that and the publication of The Kassul is being pushed back and may not be available until as late as December :/

Hope anyone who finds this has had a great weekend :)

~ J D White
(Psalm 115:1, Psalm 117, Psalm 69:30)

7/01/2013

Art from Friends, Part 4

Recently I was able to attain some more concept paintings (digital) from +Maria Owens, a friend of mine who is far better at art than I...

This is the result of my describing an Ouhlktoo to her:

She originally did a sketch similar to this on paper as I described the creature's head to her . . . then she came back to me a couple of weeks later with this digital version xD

Then she moved into a full creature sketch :]
I think she captured the potentially sinister nature of the Ouhlktoo perfectly. And I can totally see a creature sixteen feet tall having a wingspan of that size (anyone who knows bird anatomy and stuff like that feel free to correct my ignorance ;) . . . also, I really like the way she got the antlers to fit on its head - I've tried to sketch this thing dozens of times and could never quite get it to look right, even with some references to work from :P :]


I am amazed, impressed, and inspired by her attention to anatomy even though it's just a made up critter :)
And then she surprised me with a really epic, full size, rendered version!!! xD

Epic

Great stuff, right? Much gratitude to +Maria Owens  for her generous contribution to my odd ideas ;P :]

6/29/2013

Concept Art: Rim - Improved

So, I kept looking at the illustration I did of Rim (the main character of Warrior's Fury), and could not escape that infamous, 'artist' thought: "that doesn't look even close to what I wanted!" ;P ;)

Well, I finally gave in and did some 'improving' to the original illustration. Though it still isn't 'fantastic' by my reckoning, I do think it is far more better than the original :] . . . If nothing else, the color composition is a little better ;P

~ Rimmegoan Dayor
Oh, and in the process of going through the Photoshop layers to figure out how I was going to make the changes I wanted to - I found this and just thought it looked 'cool' :P xD

~ Rim in line drawing with some color ;P :]
Hope you like the improved illustration! :D

4/20/2013

Grace Like Rain - a Painting

Original Oil Painting - Grace Like Rain

The idea for this painting came to me while listening to Todd Agnew’s song, Grace Like Rain.

I could see a man – his clothes worn, torn, and stained, and his skin covered in grime – standing in the light of the setting sun while a soft rain fell around him. And anywhere the clear water touched his outstretched arms and upturned face, the water glowed with pure white light and washed away the grime and stains, mending the tears in his clothing as it turned the cloth as white as freshly fallen snow.

God’s grace is poured out upon us completely outside of our control and is capable of perfect cleansing. (Exodus 33:19, Romans 9, Ezekiel 36:21-28, Ephesians 2:4-10, Romans 5:15-17). We can do insignificant things that attempt to block the rain of God’s grace from touching us, but He is able to defeat every single one of our pathetic shields. His grace is so awe inspiringly pure and terrifyingly powerful – and yet, at times can be so gentle – it can wash away the filth of our sin-soaked selves and give us the precious gift of Salvation by our LORD and King, Jesus Christ.

“. . . for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus . . .” ~ Romans 3:23-24

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me
I Once was lost but now I’m found
Was blind but now I see so clearly

Hallelujah, grace like rain falls down on me
Hallelujah, all my stains are washed away, washed away


(from “Grace Like Rain” by Todd Agnew)


This is a picture of the painting in different lighting conditions ;P :) . . . only because I thought the one above is a little more 'vibrant' than the painting looks in person :]

3/30/2013

Joy From Christ, Not Your Performance (Sermon'Jam')



Didn't have much to say this week or last, so I thought I'd post an encouraging reminder that it's not about us, it's about the thrice holy LORD and King, God and Creator of the universe! :)

~ J D White

3/16/2013

A Couple Interesting Videos

Okay, my brother recently showed me these videos . . . and I found them hilarious, but sad also. I think this kid's got some good points, and his viewpoint has enough discernment that it makes his statements (again) sad but true...


Five Reasons College Might Be a Waste of Your Time



The One About Missions Trips

What do you think?

2/09/2013

A Digital Painting

Fallen in the Street by J D White
I'm planning on doing a little more to this Photoshop painting that I did in one of the recent Computer Art classes I took, but I thought I might as well share it now since I haven't posted a digital painting in a while :P ;)

1/28/2013

A Painting

I recently finished a four panel painting based on a photo my brother took while he was in Ecuador. . .

Though you can't see it very well in this picture^ the frame was built and deigned by my father :)

1/15/2013

A Map

Okay, this is seriously late in coming, but I was able to throw together this map yesterday and thought it'd be better to post than having nothing . . . But I am still planning on doing a world map :)

The dotted line is the route the Giou-Zeeganzy took to get from the harbors of Khohodym, to Tonnon, to the island of the Great Pillar.

But, like I said, this still has a lot of work that needs doing. I want to include Ehtondym to the north of Khohodym (along with quite a few other markers that need to go on the ocean as well as Melyund) and a compass. . . I'll get to it eventually (maybe not soon though). . . . .

Let me know what you think! :)
~ J D White


1/12/2013

Saturday Night Sermon



I was going to post A Friday Night in the Promised Land, which is also by Eric Ludy, but I couldn't find an available video so I posted the one above instead - since it kind of followed the same premise . . . But I do suggest you go to the link above and download (and Listen to) the other sermon, because it focuses more on the concept that Christ should be our All in All. . .

Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire. ~ Hebrews 12:28-29 ESV

So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. ~ 1 Corinthians 10:31 ESV

Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. ~ Philippians 4:5-8 NASB

And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. ~ Colossians 3:17 ESV

Psalm 63 . . . Colossians 3:1-17 . . . Ephesians 1:15-23 . . . 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24

;D

Praise the Lord!

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