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    An Awakening Within
    An Awakening Within
    An Awakening Within
    Ebook107 pages1 hour

    An Awakening Within

    By Joseph Mattioli

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    An Awakening Within is an unconventional fifteen-chapter short novel that takes the reader on a captivating spiritual journey to the Holy Land and back. Though the characters and many of the events are fictitious and the dialogue is Christian based, it is universal in nature. The main character, through strange encounters in a land far from his normal sheltered existence, is faced with supernatural encounters that question and challenge many of his own basic Christian teachings , universally known as "the Story". A continuing strange turn of events and struggle make a captivating read while providing an insight, richness and vitality to the searching spirit. It is a story of acceptance and rejection; it is a story of faith; a story of Truth and fables; the questions of life. On a deeper level, it is a journey. The story is a journey in pursuit of the true that is filled with people. Yet it is a journey we must all travel alone.




    Interaction between characters encourages the reader to think out and question things he has been taught by humans and instead seek God's revelation directly. The reader is challenged not to be a conformist but rather to uncover the simplicity of God's church and knowing Him. It brings one back to the very foundation of the New Testament Church. And that foundation is hearing directly from the Father himself by seeking our hope in knowing God through the universal Truth that God exists within each of us. It points to Christ or the anointing of the Spirit of God as the true teacher of all truth rather than a man or a book. Being a novel, it is a non-threatening story for the world of religion for the 21st century!

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTrafford Publishing
    Release dateAug 5, 2006
    ISBN9781412212649
    An Awakening Within
    Author

    Joseph Mattioli

    Joseph Mattioli is an ordained Christian minister and author of two books. His previous unconventional Christian book, Throwing Away God, is also available from Trafford Publishing. Throwing Away God has challenged scholars, readers and ministers alike from all denominations of the Christian faith. He has also authored a self-publishing Christian booklet titled "Condemned", which presents "the law", written and unwritten, in a concise and simple to understand manner. The booklet is available directly from the author. He claims no authority from any pages of paper but rather inspiration directly from God. He currently lives in Independence, Kentucky with his family. To find out more about Throwing Away God, click here

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      Book preview

      An Awakening Within - Joseph Mattioli

      © Copyright 2003 Joseph Mattioli. All rights reserved.

      No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval

      system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic,

      mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written

      prior permission of the author.

      Contact with author may be made by writing to Mattioli Enterprises

      11997 Cadillac Drive, Suite 102, Independence, KY 41051.

      Front Cover Picture, istockphoto #29390

      Copyright Daniel Norman.

      Printed with Permission.

      National Library of Canada Cataloguing in Publication Data

      Mattioli, Joseph, 1947-

            An awakening within / Joseph Mattioli.

      ISBN 978-1-4120-0417-6

      ISBN 978-1-4122-1264-9 (ebk)

            I. Title.

      PS3613 A858 A93 2003        813’.6          C2003-903086-5

      9781412212649_raw.pdf

      This book was published on-demand in cooperation with Trafford Publishing.

      On-demand publishing is a unique process and service of making a book available for

      retail sale to the public taking advantage of on-demand manufacturing and Internet

      marketing. On-demand publishing includes promotions, retail sales, manufacturing,

      order fulfilment, accounting and collecting royalties on behalf of the author.

      Suite 6E, 2333 Government St., Victoria, B.C. V8T 4P4, CANADA

      10        9        8        7        6        5        4        3        2

      CONTENTS

      Introduction

      Chapter 1

      The Good News

      Chapter 2

      The Trip to Israel

      Chapter 4

      A Strange Encounter

      Chapter 5

      A Second Encounter

      Chapter 6

      Rescued at Last

      Chapter 8

      Getting Ready for the Return

      Chapter 9

      The Trip Home

      Chapter 10

      Home Again and The Story

      Chapter 11

      Pondering The Story

      Chapter 12

      Still Searching for a Church

      Chapter 13

      Meeting Herman

      Chapter 14

      Truths

      Chapter 15

      The Conclusion

      Introduction

      by Reader

      Each life has its own story. Part of that story is the spiritual journey each one of us takes. It is a journey of faith in the unseen; a search for the sacred; the pursuit of the true, the good and the beautiful; and, the ultimate questions about life and death. Though it is a universal journey, it is one without universal agreement.

      In this short but powerful book, Joe Mattioli shares a story of one person on a search for answers to those important questions. Like most of us, the main character in the story, is living what he thinks is the good life. The good life that he, and most of us, believe in because of what we have learned from others. But a casual trip to the Holy Land with a local church group turns into a surprisingly profound spiritual experience. Amid the heat, sand, rocks, and air of an ancient land comes strange events that change a life forever.

      Like all of us, new things do not come easily and without reconciliation with the old. It is not an easystruggle. But it is one that in the end brings a peace and a faith never known before. The teachings of Jesus take on a new vitality and richness gleaned only as it can through the searching spirit. It is an experience that both challenges and deepens longheld cherished Christian beliefs. It is an experience that only the individual spirit can partake with all its fears and hopes. It is an experience that can happen only with a living God and an open spirit.

      It is not a book that has all the answers, nor does it try to be. It is the story of the spiritual journey of one person, yet it is the story of us all. For it is much as T.S. Eliot once said, that at the end of all our exploring we shall come back to where we started and know it for the first time. And if this book does anything, it may help do just that.

      Chapter 1

      The Good News

      The year was 1988. It was a remarkable year for me. Prosperity was at my door. Everything I touched seemed to turn to gold. As a software programmer for the General Electric Company, I was getting paid well to have what I considered fun. There was great satisfaction in the tasks I was assigned and my dabbling in the stock market was very favorable to my pocketbook. My criteria for happiness was narrow as my life existed primarily in my work. I was sheltered from most of life’s storms and content. What more could I ask of life?

      It all started on a Sunday in October while attending morning service at a small Baptist church in Cincinnati, Ohio. There was nothing special about this particular church that would make it stand out. It was your typical congregation of pleasant and friendly church people. Little did I know that something was about to happen that day. How could I know that my life was about to change forever.

      The church was beautifully decorated and arrayed in colors of red, blue and purple. The pastor stood behind a massive oak lectern. His voice was amplified by an expensive deep base audio system and his black attire gave his words a real sense of authority. The message was the same as always but there was an unexplainable feeling within me that said today was going to be a starting point that would alter the rest of my life. At the end of the service, the pastor announced that for part of December he would not be present since he was going to the Holy Land with a small group that had signed up for the trip months ago. I always wanted to go to the Holy Land but never got past the thinking about it part. I wondered to myself how I had missed his past announcement and the sign up invitation. Then I remembered that most of the time, in church, I was busy day-dreaming while the pastor was talking. Somehow I enjoyed sitting in church among the people with my silent thoughts living fantasies while others listened intently as if something new was being said.

      As the service ended, I started towards the door only to find that the pastor had arrived there before me. Pastor Jenkins was now shaking hands with those leaving. Impatiently, I slowly moved along near the end of the line of people. I now wished that I had taken a seat in the back of the church as I usually do. This would have allowed me to escape the exiting ritual that was so commonplace here. A brief handshake and a thank you were the price I would pay to get out of the door. I had hoped to escape this ritual but this day it was not meant to be.

      I had taken a third row seat that day so I could get a better look at Judy Schreiber, a young unmarried girl, who always sat in the second row. She always wore a perfume that reminded me of fresh tulips from a botanical garden I went to as a boy with my parents. We had never talked before as I was too shy to strike up a conversation. Somehow I thought she was too good for me. However, that didn’t stop me from thinking about her and fixing my eyes on her voluptuous figure as I heard the sermon as a distant drum in the background while daydreaming things I dare not speak of in church.

      Finally, the pastor reached out his hand to shake mine but instead of the usual Hello Joe, glad to see you today

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