Robert J. A. Gilbert  

I don’t need to gaze into a crystal ball to see that the current period of unrest is going to result in looted museums and lost pieces of artwork, jewelry, and other historical relics. History itself gives enough clues to predict that it would happen. In fact, it seems, a running theme in much of my writing is the loss of national treasures during times of political unrest and instability. Oh, if only mankind were not so foolish as to repeat history again—but then…what would...

Four men from the same community found themselves standing before God at the end of their lives.

God turned to the first and said, “Watch,” as the man’s life was played out like a movie. The men could clearly see God call this man to walk a hard and difficult path, but the man did not ever heed that call. Finally, God stopped the vision and asked, “I called you to follow me. Why didn’t you listen?”

I’ve never been one to color within the lines, so it should be no surprise to my readers that, when I promoted my latest work as a “Romantic” novel…well…this is not going to be the typical “Romance novel”. In fact, I could just as easily market this story as a paranormal romance, a supernatural thriller, or a subtle exploration of Judeo-Christian mysticism disguised as a Dan Brown novel. But the main arc of this story is still the relationship between...

Jesus was walking beside the sea one morning when he came upon a weary fisherman in a boat not far from the shore.

“Have you caught anything?” Jesus asked the fisherman.

“Not a thing,” came the unhappy reply.

“Throw your net onto the other side of the boat,” Jesus offered helpfully.

The fisherman shrugged, scowled, and ignored him.

“No, seriously,” Jesus sa...

I arrived in Heaven to find a row of judges seated before the gates. Jesus was at my side. When asked which saint would judge me, he pointed toward a large crowd gathered in front of a young man who had clearly died in his prime.

“Who is he?” I asked.

“Uriah the Hittite,” Jesus replied. “He will be your judge.”

I was confused. “Am I not to be judged by you?”

“Did you f...

Halftime and down by 33 points.

I sat with my fellow teammates in the locker-room while the quarterback tried giving us a pep-talk. Suddenly I could take no more.

“Captain,” I said, “somebody is trying to throw this game.”

“The only throwing is coming from me,” the qb shot back, “Unless you want to count how many times you didn’t catch the ball.”

“It’s hard...

I’m looking for a word to describe what arrogance is not.

It’s not that attitude somebody gets when they’ve tried a hundred times to explain an injustice and are dismissed as “complaining”.

It’s not the frustration a thinking mind experiences when he has studied something for many years but is unable to explain it to his colleagues because they are “educated” and therefore do not have to listen.

When I was a kid, Dungeons and Dragons was the game that I was told to avoid. My family, my friends, and my church all said it was “evil” because a few people who played the game took it too far. Kids were being pressured into committing suicide because their characters died in the game. Some kids were being pressured into murdering homeless people as a way of carrying the game into reality.

This was only one of many examples as to how depravity can work its way ...

I should point out, before I am accused of “re-writing God’s Word”, that Job is one of the most controversial books of the Old Testament. Biblical scholars may argue that it is an ancient piece of literature originating somewhere in the Middle East, but the style of literature is spot-on with the Classical Greek style of written dialogues and tragic plays.

Job is also one sun-pulling chariot away from several other books that have since been removed from Ju...

Just a short blurb...

While it may not have been my first award ever, I am proud to announce that I recently won the Oregon Christian Writer's 2018 Cascade Award for best short story. This is the first "award" I have won for my writing (since college). As I recover from recent health issues and return to writing, I hope to win a few more in the years to come.

For more details, see here:

https://oregonchristianwriters.org/2018-cascade-award-winners/