JESUS THE NAZARENE: As Told by Boomer John (Tales from Gal'lee County)

By Ken Read

The apostle John is an intriguing character in the New Testament. Author of multiple books, the only survivor among the twelve of martyrdom. A fisherman by trade, whom Jesus named a "Son of Thunder" (Boomer John), who became an apostle of Christ, remade by Jesus into "The Apostle of Love." John's writing style is unique. It is a combination of eloquent Oriental poetry and wordplay, mixed with a relatively small vocabulary and occasional grammatical error. More than once, he wrote with comparisons between himself and Peter, as if he were highly competitive. Yet he never identified himself by name. He was a Galilean, a region with a reputation for being uncultured and less-than-kosher. No doubt, he had an accent, as Peter did, who speech betrayed his background.So this is a portion of the writings of John, given in first person, within the context of a more contemporary culture. Boomer John writes this by way of introduction to the book:"You might never have heard about Jesus before. Or you might know about Him because you heard from someone who heard from someone. But I am writing to give you a true eyewitness account of His life and ministry and death and beyond. These are things I saw with my own eyes and heard with my own ears. My frank goal is to testify that Jesus is God, come in the flesh to bring us to Him."I know, I know. I hear you thinking to yourself that I don't seem to look or sound like what you expected from one of the holy apostles. Were you expecting me to look and act like some stained-glass window image of Saint John the Theologizer, with a halo around my head and a Bible in my hand? "If so, then let me ask you a question: What do you THINK a fisherman from Gal'lee County is going to sound or look like? You think he's gonna sound like Shakespeare and dress like the pope? If so, maybe it's a good thing you're hearing my tales now, because I want to give you a culturally-true eyewitness account of Jesus here."My grammar comes from growing up in Gal'lee County, where blue collars abound and the local dialect is given free rein among her fair citizens. I get my bold directness from my daddy, Zebedee, who always spoke his mind, no matter who was within ear shot. My smooth and eloquent poetic writing style comes from listening to my first mentor, Johnny the Dipper. And if you find any love and wisdom in my words, know that they come from Jesus, who is the way, the truth, and the life."Now on to give a true tale of Jesus, as told by His humbly-anonymous best friend in the world. (It's me. Ain't boasting if it's true.)"

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1980710589
• ISBN13: 9781980710585
• Release Date: April 2018
• Publisher: Independently published
• Length: 100 Pages
• Weight: 0.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.5" x 0.2" x 5.5"