Heart Of Flesh Literary Journal

It's so easy to get bogged down in this world -- to feel the weight of ugliness, hate, destruction, emptiness, and depression pushing down on us. If you're not careful, life will try its best to crush you. But something gentle exists outside of it, under the coarse fabric of things. There is a soft voice waiting for you to listen and hear. And it's so easy to drown it out, to overlook it, to pretend it doesn't exist, or simply not hear it through the noise.Jesus is the whisper in the chaos. Our contributors see Him in the peripheral, call out to Him from the dark places and wait for His voice, feel the peace in His gentle light, or recognize the weight of His absence in an absurd, seemingly meaningless world.In this issue, you'll find laughter and despair, the everyday moments and the sublime, brokenness and healing, pain and joy, and in everything, bubbling underneath the surface, Jesus -- waiting, whispering, and placing His finger on everything.

In Issue Five's eclectic mix of styles, voices, mediums, and backgrounds, you are about to embark on a journey formed by encounters of the past and visions of the future, all shaped by the author or artist's perception of the risen Savior. As those of us who have given our lives to Christ can tell you, once you know Him, you can't look at the past and not see His hand on everything. You can't mistake the presence of sin dripping over every moment like black tar, nor the dazzling occurrences of grace. Once you know the hope of Christ, you can no longer look into the future without being thrown into a prophetic imagining of epic proportions. By simply letting your mind grapple with the possibility of a better place, a better time, you can't help but let your mind wander into a future that rises glorious like a phoenix out of the ashes of corruption (a tired cliché, I know, but, I believe, an appropriate one). Consequently, the present time becomes a place of waiting and passing glimpses- a world full of questions and plaguing doubts, peaceful moments and wake-up calls, obedience and defiance, rebellions and acts of faith with nothing firm to hold onto except the miracles of the past and God's promises for the future. Being still becomes the catalyst for madness for some, patience and growth for others.You'll find all of this in Issue Five, and more.Thank you for reading!

Criticizes the patriarchal world view, outlines the historical realities that have produced a culture that glorifies violence and domination, and argues for a worldview that recognizes the full humanity of women.

In Heart of Flesh's sixth issue, there are a multitude of themes to explore. In these pages you'll find an exploration of doubt, faith, awe, reverence, and a desire to seek God, but also a common focus on relationships--the various interplays between people, nature, and the God who made them. Writers speak about seeing God reflected in loved ones, and experiencing nostalgia for those now gone or slipping away, who once emanated Christ's unconditional love. They talk about an ache for knowing God Himself--experiencing a hole where a relationship once existed or never was there to begin with. In their words they convey a longing to draw closer to Jesus, to find evidence of Him in the natural world, to rest in His arms in life's darker moments. Others express the frustration in attempting to shake the ones around us who can't see--to wake them up to His mercy and grace. These interactions are teased out through poetry, prose, and art, while presenting the contrast between what is in front of our eyes and what remains unseen, swirling around us in untouchable significance.You'll also find bulgy monsters, clones, "Jesus lice," and a talking fox.Yet somehow all these unique imaginations pull together as different pieces of the same picture of God's unfathomable love.I truly believe there is something in this issue for everybody, no matter your beliefs or opinions about the Creator of the world. I hope you read with an open mind, and that you allow these different pieces to speak their way into your life.

Welcome to our second issue of Pure in Heart Stories! In this issue you'll find an exciting treasure trove of poetry, stories, and art to explore. We have fun, lighthearted poems that will make you smile. We have poetry and artwork that will connect you with the beauty of nature and animals, and teach you how they point to a loving Creator. We have biblical adventures and intense battles. We also have stories that teach about forgiveness and make you laugh in unexpected ways. Thank you for reading!

Chris Young became a Christian a few months ago. Now he writes to his older, wiser Uncle Bill, "I'd like to ask you... what part suffering will play in my life." Uncle Bill responds, and thus begins a series of personal letters from the seasoned Christian worker to encourage and guide his young relative in the Christian life. As we read these letters, we too gain great help and insight into how God transforms our character and fashions us into the image of Christ. The cross, suffering, transformation and God's ultimate purpose are the issues that unfold in this unique book by Gene Edwards. Though written for the new believer, it speaks with a depth and newness that will arrest even the most mature believer. The story spans time, space and eternity to deliver its beautiful, moving and profound message. The Inward Journey is the third of a three-book series entitled "Introduction to the Deeper Christian Life."

What Would You Surrender for God? Christians in the Middle East, in much of Asia, and in Africa are still being martyred for the faith, but how many American Christians are willing to lay down their smartphones, let alone their lives, for the faith? Being a Christian in America doesn’t require much these days. Suburban megachurches are more like entertainment venues than places to worship God. The lives that American “Christians” lead aren’t much different from those of their atheist neighbors, and their knowledge of theology isn’t much better either. Matt Walsh of The Daily Wire exposes the pitiful state of Christianity in America today, lays out the stakes for us, our families, and our eternal salvation, and invites us to a faith that’s a lot less easy and comfortable—but that’s more real and actually worth something. The spiritual junk food we’re stuffing ourselves with is never going to satisfy. As St. Augustine said over a millennium ago, our hearts are restless until they rest in Him. Only God Himself can make our lives anything but ultimately meaningless and empty. And we will never get anywhere near Him if we refuse to take up our cross and follow Jesus. This rousing call to the real adventure of a living faith is a wake-up call to complacent Christians and a rallying cry for anyone dissatisfied with a lukewarm faith.

In your hands is a poetry journal written by an undead poet, recounting his firsthand experience during the zombie plague. Little is known about the author before he turned into a zombie, but thanks to his continued writings in this journal - even after his death - you can accompany him from infection to demise. Through the intimate poetry of haiku, the zombie chronicles his epic journey through deserted streets and barricaded doors. Each three-line poem, structured in the classic 5-7-5 syllable structure, unravels a little more of the story. You'll love every eye-popping, gut-wrenching, flesh-eating page!