Click here to buy this book! Lulu Komodo Publishing Buy Paperback Buy eBook Category:  Spirituality Publisher: Komodo Publishing ISBN-10:  1930725167 Type: Non-Fiction Pages: 116 Copyright: 2011 ISBN-13: 9781930725164 Redemption clarifies the confusion surrounding being saved using the ingenious analogy of recycling. Empty, dirty, crushed, discarded; a complete waste... trash!   That’s exactly how someone feels who is not yet saved, and I mean really saved. It’s a harsh statement but unfortunately a sad reality. In fact, we have all felt that way at one point in our lives, and quite possibly many times. We have all felt unworthy of God’s love, hiding in the shame of choices we have made; turning away from His love. But, there is hope for us, all of us, if we simply take the time to do a little spiritual recycling. Redemption takes an insightful and entertaining look at how God runs the greatest recycling program ever; taking our empty, worn-out spirits and remanufacturing them into bright, shiny spirits that glow with the light of His love.   Redemption will fill your spirit with hope, prosperity and the understanding that in God’s eyes we are all shiny and new. We simply need to recycle our spirits and claim our redemption value! Excerpt For many years I have had a number of people ask me to clarify the difference between a Spirit and a Soul. In fact, just today I was speaking with a friend about Empty Vessels and he posed a question. He said, “If we surrender ourselves to Christ, if we become an empty vessel so His Spirit may enters us, don’t we lose our identity?” He was truly concerned about completely letting go of himself, surrendering all that he is to God. It was actually a very poignant question and one I wish to answer here. I realize there is some confusion regarding Souls and Spirits so in the interest of ensuring we are all on the same page, no pun intended, I thought I’d shed a little light on this controversy, well, His light anyway. Our Soul is who we are. It is the definition of us. It’s our identity, and the thing that makes us unique in this world, and unique in the eyes of our Lord. It is our morality, our values, our love and our compassion. It is all things good about us, particularly since it’s the part of us that is Him; the part He created when defining us. If we look at it from a technology point of view, which I simply can’t resist, our Soul is the hard drive on our computer (us). It stores the raw, untainted data that is us. That which retrieves the data, the operating system, is our Spirit. Our Spirit is how we live. It’s the outward expression of our Soul. It’s not unique but rather a shared energy, symbiotic with the world around us, or rather it should be. The problem is that we keep trying to define our own spirit and that simply doesn’t work. It’s like the average computer user trying to program their operating system. If you are a user you are simply incapable of programming the software, and if you tried it would clearly fail. The system would no longer work and you’d most definitely become acquainted with strife. It will become impossible for you to communicate with your hard drive, your Soul, and that’s when the feeling of being lost creeps in. It’s when we lose our identity because we are no longer able to communicate with it; to find it. One of the common misconceptions people have, particularly when defining romantic relationships, is that we have a Soul Mate. It sounds very romantic, and certainly has been very popularized by the media, but the reality is that Soul Mates don’t exist, and if they did they’d be a terrible thing, an instrument of evil. By definition, our soul is our identity and if we had a Soul Mate, someone that has a soul that is so similar to ours that they merge, the result would be catastrophic as we’d lose our identity; and then we’d truly be lost. If we share our soul with someone we are breaking off a piece of ourselves, a part of that which defines us, which would leave us with the awful feeling of being incomplete, as we most certainly would be. Then, what if that person leaves us? Now we truly are incomplete and the hope of ever feeling complete is lost for an eternity as our souls simply don’t regenerate. Well, that is unless we surrender ourselves to God, who is the only one that can save our soul from peril. Only He can fill in the gaps left behind by the erosion of evil. Now, on the other hand, a Spirit Mate is a very real thing. Finding someone that has the same spirit as us, particularly if they are a person of God, is a very healthy thing. We haven’t surrendered our soul so we still have our identity, our uniqueness, but we also have the strength of sharing our lives with someone that has the same energy, the same spirit, the same way of expressing their soul; and their soul is intact as well so the likelihood of a successful and productive relationship is very high. After all, it would be a relationship carrying the blessings of God. We can look at it this way: we share our hearts with many, our souls with none and our spirits with one - God. When we find someone of like spirit it is God we are making a connection with, not that person. It’s His energy that we are sharing. Now, because we have this marvelous connection with this other person, through Him, we are able to experience the glory of their soul, without the sacrifice of ours. We are also able to effectively communicate with them because we are of the same energy, the same Spirit. Now doesn’t that sound marvelous? You bet it does! Of course Spirit Mates are not resigned to being exclusively romantic relationships. We can be Spirit Mates with anyone; friends, family and acquaintances… even complete strangers. Now that shows promise for all of us. If we simply made our connection with Christ; emptied our vessels and let His Spirit in, we’d all be able to communicate on the same level. We’d all get along. Wouldn’t that make for a perfect world? Well, that’s His plan for us and the sooner we realize that, and honor that, the better off we’ll all be down here. You know, since we’re talking about souls and spirits, there is one more analogy about salvation that I’d love to share. A conversation with my good friend Curtis Hardy inspired this analogy, and while we have explored Empty Vessels and Spirits, I think this is an important analogy for bringing further clarity to what it takes to be truly saved. Salvation requires preparation; the preparation of our spirit. There are requisites for us to meet before we can be truly saved. In light of the many misunderstandings regarding salvation I think it’s important to be certain we fully understand the process. After all, we’re talking about an eternity here.

Contemporary Genius!
“Brother let me begin by saying that I have been truly refreshed and inspired by your unique, timely, contemporary and personal message that conveys the heart of God for the masses as well as the Word of God in its written form! Wow what a writing talent! I have nothing but positive praise and accolades for this piercing work! Every man, woman and child can understand and identify with this message of Hope!”

Harold Sampson, Palm Desert, California


Self Evaluation
“Congratulations Bill! What a great book; I couldn’t put it down! The way it made me open my heart and evaluate my own self was the key. You have a great gift from God Bill. You are truly one of Christ’s great soldiers. God Bless you.”

Randy Burke, Coachella, California

Inspired Non-reader!
“Bill Fleming’s book ‘Redemption’ took this ‘non-reader’ by complete surprise. The fact that is was written by my friend and fellow guest here at the Coachella Valley Rescue Mission made me curious enough to open the book, but after the first page I was hooked. It was like having a conversation with my good friend. I actually found myself responding out loud to some of the questions the book asks. I won’t spoil the book for you, but Mr. Fleming’s style of writing made me look at my own faith without feeling like I was being preached to. It was honestly the first book I have ever read in its entirety in one sitting. I am looking forward to reading his next book.”

Matthew Sawyer, Indio, California