About the Book

Book:  The Rabbi’s Touch

Author: Annetta Lammers

Genre: Biblical Historical Fiction

Release date: Sept, 2020

Ten Gospel Encounters

What if you could live in the story? What if you could meet Jesus and have His eyes meet yours and know His great love for you?  What if you could feel his healing touch and know your body was well?   Author Annetta Lammers explores ten encounters with Jesus found in the gospels and tells their stories. Through reflection, study of the Greek and living each story she retells the encounters of Jesus touch, voice and power.

Click here to get your copy!

About the Author

Annetta Lammers is a wife, mother, homemaker, and educator. She savours quiet walks in the woods, the texture and colour of pottery and reading Biblical fiction with a cup of coffee. Her fascination and love of God’s word has motivated her to study over the years. You will find more of Annetta’s reflections at annettalammers.com.

More from Annetta

I counted my journals, wondering. A drawer filled with thirty-three journals. The years of words held in those pages cover countless seasons of living and following Jesus. Even the gaps of silence speak volumes in the journey.

This passion for writing, evident in that drawer of journals, has had the dream of a book tucked within it.  And, quite by surprise, a book has formed and grown these past years. The Rabbi’s Touch began innocently with the study of Blind Bartimaeus. His miracle took shape in my imagination, taking on sounds, images and emotions.  Notes and reflections about his healing found their way in the current journal. Hidden Greek meanings fed my imagination until I was Bartimaeus meeting Jesus. That encounter took on words that needed to be put down on paper as his story.  Bartimaeus’ story led to another short story, which led to another.  Each story was driven by the desire to enter the lives of those who met Jesus and were healed. Each story was written with the longing to encounter Jesus for myself, as if I had never met Him before. Perhaps I would grow in knowing Him.  And I did.

As the stories grew, so did a quiet desire for others to meet Him as I had. Perhaps others could meet Jesus on their dusty road, make eye contact with Him, hear His voice and feel His healing touch?  Perhaps a conviction of what He can do will grow, and they, too, could be determined to press in to receive what is His to give?  Perhaps they also will cast aside the veil they have been hiding behind and walk free? Perhaps you can meet Him, too?  So, here it is, a collection of first-hand stories, ready for you to encounter Jesus.

Annetta Lammers – Author

Mindy Houng’s Q&A with Annetta

Which part of the book was the most difficult to write?

Setting the direction of “No Longer Hiding”, the second story in The Rabbi’s Touch, was the most challenging.  It was the only story where I began the character’s narrative in one direction and hesitated. I had read a Greek scholar’s description of the healing and scrapped my beginning as a result. Having lost confidence, I tried to write from that scholar’s angle but had trouble continuing because my imagination wasn’t engaged in it.  Months later, when I revisited the story, I decided to return to my initial setting and sense of the story. The story flowed again and I found that, in the end, it didn’t contradict what I had learned from the scholar’s explanation.

What is your favourite verse or life verse?

One verse that has followed me for most of my adult life is Zephaniah 3:17.

“The Lord your God is with you; He is mighty to save.  He will take great delight in you and will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.”

Over the years I have grown to understand and be nurtured by various aspects of the verse. In fact, when I first wrote out the verse, from memory, I had changed the verse to present-tense because I have grown to believe it is my present truth in Jesus. I had originally learned it in the NIV (above) and have since been using the ESV which makes an important change in translation. The first line reads: The Lord your God is in your midst. In a devotional called Streams in the Desert, Dr. Henry Wilson shares that “ALL Mighty God, is our INSIDE God. He is, as Father, Son and Holy Spirit, in the midst of me…”. This revelation has grown my trust and my prayers. He is not just a God who is over all, who hems me in and surrounds me, but He is INSIDE me, in all His fulness and all His riches.

What are you reading right now?

I recently finished a book by Connilyn Cossette, a writer of Biblical fiction. I have enjoyed her multiple series of novels that span the time of the Exodus from Egypt to the period of the Judges. This particular book is the most recent release, To Dwell among Cedars. The House Covenant 1.  Her books invite me to contemplate the parallels with our world today, take heart in God’s faithfulness to his promises, and to be bold and firm in my faith today.

Describe your view as you’re sitting in your writing chair.

I didn’t really have a writing chair until recently.  It is delight to sit at my, now-decluttered, antique maple desk with books lined neatly on tall shelves behind me. A small swivel of my chair to the left and I can look out a large window to see tall majestic pines rooted in gardens surrounded by greening lawn and framed by the changing moods of the sky. On the warm maple surface in front of me is my laptop and a second monitor.  Stacks of papers and apple-themed containers, filled with writing utensils, sit neat and ready for writing and for at-home teaching.   The broad space is enclosed like a library carrel with two russet walls and a filing cabinet. Various mementos, my favourite being the sweetest letter from one of my Grade 2 students, decorate the expanse.

If you could have one book or piece of art or music on a deserted island, what would it be and why?

I love beauty in art and music, especially when it inspires me to worship God.  A few quickly come to mind. Yet, if I was alone on a deserted island? I’d want my Bible, hands down.  I’d miss my journal but my Bible would provide an endless source of God’s voice in the isolation. It would be an opportunity to meditate on His truths without distraction.

Thank you, Annetta, for your time in letting us get to know you better!

Blog Stops

Batya’s Bits, June 9

Texas Book-aholic, June 10

For Him and My Family, June 11

deb’s Book Review, June 12

Abba’s Prayer Warrior Princess, June 13

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, June 14

Inklings and notions, June 15

Locks, Hooks and Books, June 16

Artistic Nobody, June 17 (Author Interview)

Ashley’s Clean Book Reviews, June 17

Connie’s History Classroom, June 18

A Modern Day Fairy Tale, June 19

Simple Harvest Reads, June 20 (Author Interview)

Mary Hake, June 20

Musings of a Sassy Bookish Mama, June 21

Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, June 22

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Annetta is giving away the grand prize package of a $50 Amazon gift card and copy of the book (fulfilled through Amazon)!!

Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.

https://promosimple.com/ps/10d51/the-rabbi-s-touch-celebration-tour-giveaway