A quick health update:

I received my stem cell transplant yesterday. There are videos and pictures on my Thrilled to Death blog.

Now I have a three to six week wait for the cells to engraft and begin building a new immune system. Until then, the only immune system I have is the antibiotics, antifungals, and antivirals the hospital can provide, plus intense cleanliness habits. I will have no ability to heal until my white blood cells are built back up by the new stem cells, so avoiding injury is wise, too!

Thank you all for your prayers. I am in far better health at this point than I or anyone else could possibly have expected. The doctors are surprised enough that they joke about it and keep telling me it will get worse.

Through the Bible in a Year Program

When we finished Genesis and moved to Matthew, I slowly began to write more and more. I quit simply referring to early Christian teachings, I began linking to them.

My commentaries in Matthew were over 3,000 words, not 1,000. I have broken them up by section for easier reading, and I have also marked some as advanced so that those that just want to read through the Bible can skip them.

Here is the link for Matthew 13 to 17, today's Through the Bible in a Year commentary. It's a good example of what I'm talking about.

Please pray for me that I might continue this labor of love.

The commentary leans strongly toward early Christian interpretations, not modern ones, and sometimes I'm very blunt about modern problems. I have to suppose that those who have been reading Christian History for Everyman are used to that.

My Book: In the Beginning Was the Logos

For the next couple days, until Jan. 20, Lulu.com is offering all their books, including mine, at a 20% discount with the code PRICETHAW305. My book is already always a 20% discount there, so this will drop it to about $16, which is a really good price for a 460-page book as well-researched as this one is. (I spared no effort on this story/commentary on the Council of Nicea.)

The book brings you both the gripping story of Nicea, and then afterward discusses the important issues and provides a large appendix of original documents, including speeches and letters by the emperor Constantine and others who participated in the council.

As a result, it is enjoyable to "Everyman," who may only want to read the first half, but enjoyable and useful also to amateur and professional theologians who would like to delve deeply into the issues Nicea raised.

If you have read it, please review it at Amazon for me, and feel free to be honest. I'm not just trying to get good reviews, though I have had so many now that I am confident the book is well-written, informative, historically accurate, and can be appreciated even by those who don't agree with my conclusions in the last half of the book. (I've had great discussions with missionaries, pastors, and even church history students about the last half of the book, almost every one positive. I did my homework!)

Also, the .pdf form of the book is always just $2.99 at Lulu.

I'm so sorry I can't get it on Kindle yet. My massive reference system just doesn't work on the Kindle, and I have to completely reformat what I've done before I can make it available that way.