Knocking On Locked Doors

"Knocking on Heaven's Door” is a book of short story prose and brief verse presented by Ms. Anderson for readers who have little spare time with the busyness of their lives. Contents include a few faith based stories covering “How I Found My Soul” to the simple concept of “Respect” and “Friends Are Forever.” Ms. Anderson sincerely hopes the reading public will enjoy this small book and the ideas presented resonate and generate an appealing echo of depth and understanding which exists as a common human thread throughout our world today.

"Virginia Woolf said of The Egoist: 'Meredith pays us a supreme compliment to which as novel-readers we are little accustomed ... He imagines us capable of disinterested curiosity in the behaviour of our kind.' In this, the most dazzlingly intellectual of all his novels, Meredith tries to illuminate the pretensions of the most powerful class within the very citadel of security which its members have built. He develops to their logical extremity his ideas on egoism, on sentimentality and on the power of comedy. Meredith saw egoism as the great enemy of truth, feeling and progress, and comedy as the great dissolver of artifice. The Egoist is the extreme expression of his recurrent theme: the defeat of egoism by the power of comedy."--Goodreads

In the novel Knock, Knock, Knocking On Heaven’s Door, members of the 27 Club – Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, and Jim Morrison – arrive in heaven. They find themselves onstage at a talk show hosted by Jesus. The three don’t know why they’re there or what’s going on. They doubt they should even be in heaven, what with the lavish lifestyles that they’ve led, which included sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll. Eventually, their humanity is called into question. Their pasts come to haunt them, and one by one the three relive their lives on earth. Their old loves and pain are replayed before their eyes. Jesus is toying with the artists, getting His kicks as each of the guests experience misery. Their tortured souls and losses only make them more human. Are the musicians alive or dead? Are they in heaven or hell? One by one, they question their existence and whether they will make it up the stairway to heaven.

How are we to understand petitionary prayer? This is a key question for any thoughtful believer who desires to take both the Bible and experience seriously. Some believe God answers any prayer as long as the one praying has enough faith and/or persistence. Others conclude from experience that prayer is really for our benefit and has no impact on God's actions. According to David Crump, both views are extreme and potentially harmful. While books that deal with prayer from a devotional or experiential perspective have their value, Knocking on Heaven's Door takes a different approach. Crump carefully studies every New Testament passage that has to do with petitionary prayer and draws conclusions that are both theological and pastoral to help us understand the great mystery of prayer.