Introduction
Get ready to strengthen your faith and gain powerful insights into the end times with the Stand In Faith podcast, hosted by Amazon best-selling author Thomas Noss, also known as Major Tom.
In each episode, Tom explores spiritual lessons from his "Positive Apocalypse" trilogy and two nonfiction books, all available free on StandInFaith.org. He also discusses current events from a biblical perspective, recommends faith-building resources, and responds to listener questions.
Join Thomas as he helps you stand firm in your faith and prepare for the Lord's return. And now, here's your host, Major Tom!
Thank you Emily. This is episode 3 in the Stand In Faith podcast. Today’s date is Friday, December 27th, 2024.
Works In Progress Update:
Before I discuss the sales status of my new book, I want to remind everyone that the content of all my fiction and nonfiction books and articles is available free through my website at StandInFaith.org.
I have two reasons for publishing commercial versions of my work.
1. Many subscribers asked me to give books to them in Kindle, paperback, audible, and hardcover formats, which they prefer.
2. My calling is to proclaim end-time truths to people in every nation, and commercial vehicles like Amazon have established in-roads to people in many countries.
With that disclaimer out of the way, here’s some exciting news about my new book release.
Before Christmas, when my new Kindle eBook entitled Birth Pangs of the End Times was on pre-order, it rose to being the #1 New Release in the Religious Biblical Fiction category.
On Christmas day it went live, and it’s already the #1 Best Seller in the Men’s Inspirational Spirituality category. So it’s already an Amazon Best Seller in one of its three Amazon-assigned categories.
As of now, it’s Friday, Dec 27th at 11am Eastern time, and the book is currently #5 in its two other categories, which are: Women’s Inspirational Spirituality and Inspirational Spiritual Fiction. By New Year’s Day I expect it will reach #1 in those categories as well.
I sent my Launch Team an email yesterday, sharing my goals and schedule for the book’s launch. In a nutshell, I have two launch goals, and the launch team’s scheduled activities go from now until December 31st.
My two goals are:
To earn Amazon Best Seller status in its three Amazon-assigned categories.
Get at least 8 book reviews on Amazon, and 5 reviews in GoodReads.
During the book’s launch, I’ve discounted the price by 75%, from $7.99 down to $1.99.
To get your copy before the price goes back up to $7.99 on New Year’s Day, go to Amazon and search for the book title, Birth Pangs of the End Times. Or, go to the bottom of this podcast’s transcript and I’ll share a link.
For those who read the book, please leave a review on Amazon.
Finally in my ‘Works in Progress’ section, I’ve had two people today ask me when the physical book will be coming out? I’ll try to get the paperback version formatted and released within the next two weeks.
Recommended Resources
1. Yesterday, Hephzibah, a sister from England, sent me a worshipful YouTube video of Michael W Smith leading a large audience in singing Agnus Dei, Worthy is the Lamb. I was really busy with book launch planning at the time, but once I started this video, I had to stop everything and just immerse myself for 10 minutes in its Spirit of worship. I realized that it’s been a long time since I’ve been in a congregation that really entered into worship, reverently waiting on and worshiping Jesus, in fellowship with others in the Spirit of the Lord. If you’d like to experience this feeling, I’ll add a link to the YouTube video at the bottom of this podcast’s transcript. You can find Hephzibah’s channel on Substack.com @Hephzibah78. I’ll add a link in the transcript.
2. I’m still recommending the book entitled PREM: An Apostle's Triumphant Witness for Christ in Nepal. Prem Pradhan was a Hindu soldier, A Gurkha in the British Royal Air Force, then he commanded a tank regiment in the Indian army. But God had other plans for his life. Prem’s story of dedication and sacrificial faith is one we Westerners need to hear in the days before we’re called upon to suffer for our faith. And that day is coming. I’ll add a link to buy this book at the bottom of the transcript.
Current Events Analysis
While everyone is distracted by the holidays, many of the world’s economies are on the verge of collapsing. For example, the Mannarino Market Risk Indicator or MMRI, shows the US Stock Market is at an extreme level of risk. On the MMRI chart, anything above 200 is high, and above 300 is extreme risk. We’re at 310 and it’s still rising.
Meanwhile, in the middle east, Syria is a failed state and Iran’s economy is failing, making the Ayatollahs even more dangerous as they cling to power.
Speaking of Iran, the outgoing US administration recently briefed the incoming Trump administration that Iran is an imminent nuclear threat. It sounds like the Biden people have washed their hands, like Pontius Pilate, and said “Good luck with that.” I just hope we make it to January 20th without something blowing up. Link in the Transcript.
Fox News celebrities Sean Hannity and Ainsley Earhardt are now engaged.
The following are gleanings from the Christmas edition of the Know the Times newsletter in Substack.
Drunken Sailors: There’s a summary of the American budget fiasco last week, including congress’s attempt to give themselves a 40% pay raise. Thankfully, their bloated bill got rejected, and they ended up ‘kicking the can down the road’ a couple more months. But, after president-elect Trump proposed eliminating the debt ceiling altogether, I’m concerned what a totally republican US government will do when this issue comes up again in the spring. If they remove the debt ceiling, congress will spend like a drunken sailor, without restraint, resulting in hyperinflation.
The Next Scamdemic? There are human cases of Bird flu in California, Wisconsin, and Louisiana. The governor of California declared a state of emergency there. New Jersey’s largest healthcare system now requires everyone to wear masks on their premises.
Spiritual Lessons
In the Spiritual Lessons portion of today’s podcast I’m discussing Chapter 3 of Birth Pangs of the End Times.
Here’s A Brief Summary of Chapter 3:
1. After being rejected and ashamed in her village, Uncle Andy enrolled Katie in Ketchikan High School where Katie finally gets a fresh start.
2. Andy shared his two rules with Katie, which Katie agreed to follow.
3. After a social studies class discussion about abortion leaves Katie alone and depressed in the lunchroom, her teacher encouraged her. Her teacher said, “You’re a good person and you’ve got a bright future ahead of you, so always remember that.” Katie left the cafeteria with a desire to heal, forgive herself, and begin anew with a fresh start.
4. Four years later, Katie graduated from high school, enlisted in the Army, and graduated from flight training as a Warrant Officer helicopter pilot. Katie is assigned to fly Blackhawk helicopters in a medevac squadron in Kygyristan, a fictional nation resembling Afghanistan and Iraq.
a. Katie is a good pilot, but she’s struggling to learn the administrative and procedural requirements in her new position. She must memorize all the local area routes, threats, safe altitudes, and procedures before she can be released as a copilot and become part of a crew flying operational medevac missions.
b. After a full day of studying, she puts on her mask and parka, then walks out into the cold to the squadron mess hall. There, she’s loudly invited to join three of her fellow pilots at their dinner table. She doesn’t really want to but feels socially obligated to join them. T-Bar, Shrek, and Tiedown are their nicknames. They introduce themselves and give her the nickname ‘Poca,’ which is short for Pocahontas. These three will be her best friends during her time in Kygyristan.
Three Topics:
1. A Fresh Start: Sometimes we all need a fresh start. If Katie would’ve stayed in her village, it would’ve been very difficult—almost impossible—for her to gain any semblance of self-respect or success. Every day, for the rest of her life, someone in the village would’ve looked down on her, reminding her of her moral inferiority to them. So, changing her environment didn’t change Katie, but it gave her the opportunity to start making the changes she wanted to make.
2. Uncle Andy’s Two Rules. This book is unapologetically a Christian book, but I don’t like syrupy-sweet, Bible-quoting movies and books that beat me over the head with their religious message. In everyday life, real people don’t talk like that. So I tried really hard to avoid being preachy. On the other hand, our need for God in our lives, and our common need of repentance and faith are true, so it would make this book just another spiritually-useless bit of entertainment if I watered them down so as to make them popular with everyone who doesn’t want to be spiritually challenged. As a result, Uncle Andy rarely quotes the Bible, but his two rules basically sum up the way everyone should think and live. And if you follow these two rules, I believe you’ll prosper as God’s disciple.
3. Encouragement and Hope: Her teacher’s words of encouragement gave Katie a desire to heal, to forgive herself and hope for the future. It’ll be a few years before Katie is fully able to forgive herself, but here she’s encouraged and there’s a flicker of hope—she sees it afar off.
Listener emails and comments
About the last podcast, Aaron said, “Great episode this week. I'm enjoying the spiritual lessons you're drawing out of each portion of the book.”
I received these comments about my new book release:
Lily said, “How exciting!”
Justine said, “I look forward to this new book.”
Un-silent had trouble seeing the options for the cover design survey, so I posted them in my website and added a link in the comments to last week’s newsletter.
Next Week
In next week’s podcast I’ll share the results from my Kindle eBook’s launch, including whether I attained all my launch goals or not.
Then I’ll discuss spiritual lessons from Chapter 4 of Birth Pangs of the End Times. This chapter is action-packed, with many spiritual lessons, including:
Katie asks, Am I dead? Is this what it’s like to die?
Seeking Glory and Respect
Counting the Cost
What is True Success?
Walking the Narrow Path
Until next week, may God’s kingdom come, and his will be done, on earth as in heaven.
Closing
We hope you've enjoyed this episode of the Stand In Faith podcast.
If this podcast resonates with you, we invite you to become part of our growing community. Visit thomasnoss.com to subscribe to our weekly newsletter, where you'll get exclusive content and notifications about new episodes.
And don't forget – all of Major Tom's books are available to download completely free at Standinfaith.org.
This is Susan, encouraging you to stand firm in your faith.
Links to Resources:
YouTube video: Agnus Dei, Worthy is the Lamb
Know the Times
Hannity/Earhardt engagement, https://people.com/sean-hannity-fellow-fox-news-host-ainsley-earhardt-engaged-8766822
White house briefing about Iran’s nuclear potential. https://archive.is/qdsRp
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