L M Hopson

A Time to Be Born, and A Time to Die L M Hopson

The American Civil War - a nation divided, Protestant denominations split, both sides claiming protection and blessings from the same righteous Potentate. Not even the strong sentiments that gave rise to the Revolution the century before had evoked such perplexing dilemmas for those who would delve below the surface of "patriotism." Would the Lord choose sides? Why would He allow a nation "under God" to commit fratricide?Winchester, Virginia - the gateway to the Shenandoah Valley, the "breadbasket" of the Confederacy, changing hands as many as seventy times during the course of the war, a dozen times in a single day. Among the occupiers were two of the most viciously retaliative officers in the Union Army, Major General Robert Milroy and Major General Phillip Sheridan. Paul Graham - the widowed pastor of the First Presbyterian Church in Winchester, preaching the pre-eminency of Christ's kingdom in a community torn by political and military conflict, mounting devastation and deprivation, and innumerable casualties of war. Two sons studied theology, one in the North and one in the South. Two sons matriculated to the Virginia Military Institute, followed their instructor Thomas Jackson, and became members of the stalwart Stonewall Brigade. And Paul's daughter Abby, fierce objector to both slavery and the war, caught in the middle while teaching white and Negro children on South Mountain, Maryland. BLEST BE THE TIES is a trilogy: the story of faith in the sovereign providences of God when the "fig tree did not blossom, there was no fruit on the vines, the fields yielded no food, the flock was cut off from the fold and no herd in the stalls . . . ." It is a story that delves into the depths of war's grim realities and exposes the struggles of the human soul to find truth, sanity, purpose, and peace. A TIME TO BE BORN AND A TIME TO DIE is Book One in the series.