Are you looking for a new devotional and Bible study for pre-teen boys? Do your boys love stories with action, adventure, and dragons? The Dragon Slayer Bible Series is for you!
Garden of Mysteries — Now on Kickstarter!
Garden of Mysteries, book two in the Dragon Slayer Bible Series is now available to order on Kickstarter! But only from April 3-19, 2024. Don’t miss your opportunity to get this new Bible study for pre-teen boys.
A New Bible Study for Pre-Teen Boys
I like to tell people that the Dragon Slayer Bible Series is like Frank Peretti meets the Jesus Storybook Bible!
The Dragon Slayer Bible Series is a collection of Bible stories, devotions, and Bible study for pre-teen boys. It’s a call to courageously put on the armor of God and join the Dragon Slayer in the battle against the evil dragon.
People ask me: Is this a chapter book, a devotional, or a Bible study? The answer is… YES! Each book includes an action-packed fictional retelling of a biblical narrative, as well as devotional readings, Bible studies, and journal entries.
Book One: Rise of the Enemy
Book one, Rise of the Enemy, is currently available for purchase on Amazon. (affiliate link)
In the narrative section of book one, the angel Lucifer rebels against the King. After a sword fight in heaven between Michael and the angels of light versus Lucifer and the angels of darkness, Lucifer turns into a dragon and is kicked out of heaven.
Michael is ready to go after the dragon and destroy him. But the King says no. “One day, I will send my son to defeat the dragon once and for all. He will be called the Dragon Slayer.”
And so, throughout the rest of the series, biblical characters will eagerly await the coming of the Dragon Slayer, while at the same time learning to defend themselves against the schemes of the dragon.
I use the imagery of a dragon to describe Satan, because the Bible uses the imagery of a dragon to describe Satan! (Revelation 12) Throughout the series, Satan is depicted as an evil, fire-breathing, smoke-snorting dragon.
The dragon and Michael will continue to show up in each book of the series. The dragon’s goal is to do as much damage to the King’s heart as possible. The dragon knows the King has a plan to destroy him. In each book, he attempts to thwart the King’s plan of bringing the Dragon Slayer into the world through the seed of the woman. And so he wages war against the descendants of Eve, particularly those in the chosen ancestry line.
But the King sends Michael to fight the dragon and to protect God’s chosen people. Meanwhile, those faithful to the King look forward to the day that the Dragon Slayer will break the curse, destroy the evil dragon, and make all things right again.
Book Two, Garden of Mysteries
Book two, Garden of Mysteries, takes place about 140 years after the fall of Adam and Eve. Adam and Eve’s son, Seth, tells the story, and we get a glimpse into what the world might have been like after the curse.
Here’s the blurb from the back of the book:
A mysterious prophecy. An ancient curse. An invisible dragon.
Seth’s parents had secrets they wouldn’t share with him. Why had the King kicked them out of the Garden? Why had he cursed the land? And could the curse be broken?
Seth wanted to know more. He had to find out the truth. But finding answers to his questions would prove more dangerous than he imagined.
In the second book in the Dragon Slayer Bible Series, readers will experience a world where the consequences of sin have affected every part of creation, even the animals.
Can Seth learn his parents’ secret before the dragon destroys him?
Garden of Mysteries begins with an 11-chapter, adventure-packed fictional retelling of a Bible story. Find out what the post-fall world of Adam and Eve might have been like. Ferocious beasts lurk in the darkness, and thorns and thistles cover the land.
Adam and Eve didn’t tell Seth the whole truth about what happened in the Garden of Eden. Seth struggles with discontentment, just like his parents did. Despite his parents’ warnings, Seth feels drawn towards the mysterious heavenly creatures called Cherubim, guarding the entrance to the Garden. He has to find out if the Curse can be broken.
Meanwhile, the evil dragon is trying to win Seth’s loyalties, or destroy him in the process. He knows if he can eliminate the descendants of Eve, then the prophecy can never be fulfilled.
On his quest for Truth, Seth learns what it means to trust God, and to resist the lies of the evil dragon.
LEARN MORE ABOUT GARDEN OF SECRETS HERE
Endorsements for the Dragon Slayer Bible Series
Below are a few endorsements for the series:
Amazon Reviews
I am so thankful to those of you who have left reviews for Rise of the Enemy on Amazon. Book one currently has around 20 reviews. I would love to reach 25 (or even 30!) by the end of the Kickstarter campaign. Reviews are SO helpful for other readers, and for authors as well!
When you leave a review for a book, you’re letting other readers know that this is a book worth reading. Your review will help them decide if this book is right for their family. The more reviews a book has, the more Amazon will promote the book to other readers! Which in turn means more boys’ lives being impacted for the Kingdom of God. Which is the ultimate goal, really.
Being an author is NOT just about making money. Believe me, if I wanted to be rich, there are other careers I could have pursued. But I chose to be an author because I want to use the gifts God has given me to make a difference in the lives of young boys. I want to make a difference for the Kingdom of God. And if you’re reading this blog post, I bet that’s your desire as well.
LEAVE A REVIEW ON AMAZON FOR RISE OF THE ENEMY
Here are a few reviews from readers on Amazon:
Peek Inside Garden of Mysteries
Garden of Mysteries is divided into three sections: The Message, The Mission, and The Marching Orders.
The Message
The Message contains an adventure-packed, bible-based fictional narrative. My desire is for readers to experience the thoughts and emotions of the main biblical characters in the story while gaining a clearer picture of our glorious God.
Just the Facts explains which parts of the story are fictional, and which are factual.
The Mission
This section contains five shorter devotional readings that reflect back on the story. Topics addressed include:
- Fight the Lies
- Embrace God’s Love
- Reject Fear
- Do your best
- Talk to the King
The Marching Orders
This section contains seven devotional Bible studies.
Basic Training includes Bible passages to read.
Directives is a devotional Bible study that dives into the Scripture passage and challenges the reader to understand and live out the Word of God.
Critical Communications is a prayer to the God of Angel Armies.
Battle Plan provides an activity or journal entry where you can reflect on the challenge for the day.
These seven Bible studies dive a little deeper into the passages of Scripture surrounding the narrative. Topics include:
- The Mirror – what it means to be created in God’s image.
- The Truth – how Satan tries to twist God’s truth.
- The Fruit – how to be content with what God has given you.
- The Blame – the importance of confessing sin and not making excuses.
- The Sacrifice – the significance of sacrifice.
- The Prophecy – God’s promise to send the Dragon Slayer.
- The Cherubim – the significance of the Cherubim throughout the Bible.
Each of the seven devotional Bible studies in The Marching Orders includes a journal entry or activity, where you can write directly in the pages of the book!
Have You Joined the Army? provides a plan of salvation.
How Does Kickstarter Work?
Let’s talk about Kickstarter. Some of you may be familiar with Kickstarter, since I launched book one almost a year ago. Hard to believe!
But for those of you who are unfamiliar with Kickstarter, I’d love to clear up a few misconceptions and tell you how the campaign works.
Kickstarter is a way to raise funds for creative projects, while at the same time offering fun rewards for those who participate.
Kickstarter is not a Go Fund Me account. I’m not just asking for money. When you back my campaign, you have the option to receive all sorts of fun rewards, including an early release copy of Garden of Mysteries, several months before it’s available to the public. You get to choose at which level you want to back the project, based on which rewards you’d like to receive! (Keep reading for an explanation of Reward Levels).
There is a lot of work and financial investment involved with publishing a book. In addition to actually writing the book, a lot of time and money goes into research, cover design, formatting, editing, illustrations, and marketing.
Launching this book on Kickstarter helps to provide me with the funds needed to get this book out into the world, and it allows you to get some really great perks!
When you choose to back my kickstarter campaign, I will not receive any funds unless the campaign is fully funded.
The funds that we raise during this campaign will allow me to cover publishing costs like editing, illustrations, and printing. But it’s all or nothing! We have two short weeks to meet the funding goal and get this book into the hands of our boys.
The campaign starts on April 3rd at 9 am eastern time and ends April 19th at 3 pm eastern time.
HOW TO BACK THE CAMPAIGN
First 48 BONUS EBOOKS
Everyone who backs the campaign (orders a book) in the first 48 hours, will received this extra bundle of Christian-made middle-grade ebooks. Learn more about each of the books and authors HERE.
REWARD LEVELS
When you back my KS campaign, you get to choose at which level you want to back the project, AND which rewards you would like!
Below is a summary of each of the reward levels:
STRETCH GOALS
Stretch Goals are additional backer perks that can ONLY be unlocked once we reach the initial funding goal for the campaign.
Stretch goals allow more people to get a copy of Garden of Mysteries before the campaign ends. AND stretch goals allow YOU to get some really fun backer perks.
For this campaign, I have set the original goal a lot lower than my last Kickstarter campaign for book one. ($2,000). This campaign only covers the cost of printing, illustrations, and shipping for book two. (I have already covered other publishing costs like editing and cover design out of pocket).
However, I know a lot of you LOVED getting some of the extra perks from my first Kickstarter Campaign … things like bookmarks and water bottle stickers.
If we meet the ORIGINAL goal of $2,000, then we can aim to unlock some of the STRETCH GOALS and get additional rewards for EVERYONE! **
** Anyone who has backed at a paperback book level or higher will receive stretch goal rewards.
Oh, and you’ll get to VOTE on which stretch goals we reach first! 🤩 I’ll let you know when it’s time to work on stretch goals, because FIRST we need to reach the goal of $2,000.
The Series
I want to tell you a little bit about where the Dragon Slayer Bible Series is headed.
I am passionate about teaching the Bible as one big story – the story of God’s plan to rescue humanity from sin and death, and to reunite us to himself. And God invites our boys to be part of the story as well!
There will be many more books in the Dragon Slayer Bible Series that will take boys on an epic adventure through the stories of the Bible. In each story, the biblical characters anticipate the coming of the Dragon Slayer and learn to fight against the evil dragon. Get updates at www.DragonSlayerBible.com.
Are you excited to find out how the story ends? Do you want to see the Dragon Slayer defeat that evil dragon? Me too!! But I don’t want YOU to have to wait thousands of years, like the people of Israel did. So, I’ve created Epochs.
An Epoch is simply a period of time. Kind of like an era. I have divided up the story of the Bible into five Epochs, or time periods. Both Rise of the Enemy and Garden of Mysteries take place in Epoch 1. I plan to write one more book in Epoch 1, Waters of Destruction (the story of Noah and the flood).
But then I will jump ahead to Epoch 2 and write the first book in that era, which begins with Abraham and his family. Next, I’ll write the first book in Epoch 3, which begins with Moses in Egypt. And so on. In this way, we’ll get to the “end” of the one big story of the Bible much more quickly!
I know you’re wondering: “But what about the other stories? Are you just going to skip over the tower of babel, Joseph, Daniel, and the other exciting events throughout the Bible?” Well, initially, yes. BUT, once we get to the “end” of the big story, when the Dragon Slayer finally defeats the dragon once and for all, I’ll be able to come back and fill in some of the gaps with additional books! Crystal clear, yes? 😁
I Need Your Help!
Friends, I can’t do this alone! I need your help to spread the word about this book! Do you know another family with boys? Do you have grandsons or nephews? Do you know a Christian school teacher, a Sunday school teacher or a children’s ministry director? If so, would you do me a favor tell them about this Kickstarter campaign? I would really appreciate it!
SHARE THIS LINK WITH YOUR FRIENDS
We only have from April 3rd-19th, 2024, to meet our goal!
Mommas, There’s a battle raging in our world for the hearts and minds of our boys. The enemy is working harder than ever to deceive our sons and distract them from the truth of the Gospel. I want our boys to be grounded in the truth of God’s Word, and to recognize the attacks of the evil dragon.
Let’s equip our boys to be strong courageous warriors for the Kingdom of God.
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