It's Begun

Published November 15, 2023 on LinkedIn

Over eight years ago, God compelled me to write a story about my life, the details of my incredible relationship with Him, and the visions of the world He bestowed upon me. On August 9th, 2023, I self-published my book on Amazon.com. Sales have been next to non-existent, and I’m about to receive my first royalty check from Amazon. The amount is under $60.00.

I was recently invited to speak about my book by my local Rotary Club. It’s a small club, I’m a past president, and everyone in attendance already knew me. During my presentation, our waitress would pop in occasionally to take our food orders, refill beverages, and bring us our meals. After the meeting, the waitress approached me and asked about my book and my experiences with God. She had heard parts of my presentation, and my experiences and messages resonated with her.

The next day, I exhibited at the El Dorado County Business Showcase, and I Love Film Mixer. During the event, I spoke with several people and sold several copies of my book. What struck me, though, were the conversations I was engaging in. People were genuinely interested in my testimonial, life, and relationship with God. A week later, I exhibited at a Gun Show at the local county fairgrounds. Once again, I engaged in several interesting conversations, and pretty much everyone who spoke to me about my book picked up a copy.

I’m not making any money from the sale of my book, and I’m certainly not recouping my investment from the little sales that I have, but I have faith, and I have hope. I’m a huge believer that once an idea is released into the universe, it will take hold and manifest into reality. Up until August 9th, 2023, my experiences with God and the visions of the world He bestowed upon me were only known between God and me. The one-to-one conversations I’ve been having with others are incredible. People are thirsty for a relationship with God. People want to know more about God, and most importantly, people want to be able to share their own experiences with God. Every day, people are out there, interacting and having experiences with God. God is everywhere, watching, listening, and waiting for people to reach out to Him.

I’m humbled, knowing that I serve God. I have partnered with God, God has compelled me, and I’m doing what God has asked of me. The more people I get in front of, the more people will pick up a copy of my book, and the more people will receive the messages and visions for the world that God has bestowed upon me. It's an absolute honor to work for God and know that God has a plan to defeat evil.

For those other aspiring authors out there, don’t give up. There was a reason why you invested your time and energy to bring your thoughts to life. As self-publishers, we have our work cut out for ourselves. There is an audience out there for our works. We just have to find them.

Jamil "Jim" Maroun

Desensitization

Published September 14, 2023 on LinkedIn

The following is an excerpt from my new book Heroes Wanted:
The Screams Of Children Haven't Fallen On Deaf Ears.

We see the sensational news headlines. A child has gone missing, only to be found dead days, weeks, months, or even years later. The details fit an all-too-common narrative. She was abducted, raped, tortured, and then murdered. These once taboo, horrific crimes have become commonplace to the point that society has become desensitized. The days of these terrible crimes sparking mass outrage, public outcry, demands for accountability, and even mob justice are remnants from a bygone era. The desensitization of these horrible crimes, along with society’s apathy, has allowed evil to thrive unabated.

For its part, the mainstream media does a fantastic job of sensationalizing these horrible crimes yet sanitizes the details to make the story more palatable to a broader audience. Consider the definition of the words rape and murder. Rape basically means unlawful sexual intercourse without the victim’s consent. Murder is defined as the intentional and unlawful killing of another human being. We hear about a young woman who was forced into non-consensual sex and then she was murdered. Yes, the story is unsettling, but we have bills to pay, shopping to do, kids to pick up, and jobs to get to. We have other, more important things to do with our time and focus. Without much effort, our brains have been tricked into diluting and processing a horrific crime into a sanitized, impersonal experience.

We’re further desensitized about these horrific crimes because we live in a civilized society. We have placed our trust in numerous government agencies that are supposed to protect us from monsters and bring the perpetrators of these horrible crimes to justice. Between our dependence on government, our hectic lifestyles, and the media feeds we choose to follow, we mindlessly go about our daily business, following the daily narrative that’s been provided to us without question.

Other than saying a brief prayer for the victim, and the victim's family, as well as taking a moment to be grateful that God is looking out for our family members, we just don’t have the time or motivation to give serious consideration to the plight of victims of abuse, rape, and murder. We’ve placed the horrible crime in God’s hands, and we’re now free to continue on with our everyday activities.

The Screams of Children

For me, there's nothing benign, unoffensive, or desensitized when I read about a predator that has abducted, raped, and murdered a little girl. I get incredibly emotional. I don’t get to skim over the details. My train of thought doesn’t just process the term “little girl.” Instead, when I hear the term “little girl,” I imagine an innocent child full of life, wonder, happiness, playfulness, curiosity, adventure, and mesmerized by the incredible world around her. I can see her smile and hear her laughter, and if I were to look into her eyes, I’d see the miracle of God’s creation looking back at me.

Creating My Book Title

Published September 5, 2023 on LinkedIn

I’ve recently been asked how I came up with the title for my new book, “Heroes Wanted: The Screams of Children Haven’t Fallen On Deaf Ears.” During my eight-year writing journey, the book's title only changed once. The initial beta title was satirical and gave me a certain level of amusement and irony. If my story is ever worthy of a limited edition release, I’m sure a copy of the original front cover, with the provocative title and artwork, will be included.

As I neared the completion of my book, or so I thought, and trust me, there were several instances when I believed my work was completed; I began searching for a replacement title that would encapsulate the reason for the book’s existence. I started to focus on the various messages and themes contained throughout the book and identified the common threads that tied everything together. Eventually, I identified two significant messages I was trying to convey to the reader that encapsulated the reason for bringing my story to life.

“Heroes Wanted” was selected for the book’s title because when I first read about a little nine-year-old girl that was savagely raped, poisoned, and left for dead, in addition to questioning God as to why he wasn’t there to prevent such a horrific crime, I questioned why Superman, Batman, or any other Hero wasn’t around to intervene and protect this little girl in her time of need. The sub-title of the book, “The Screams Of Children Haven’t Fallen On Deaf Ears,” represents my belief that not only did God respond to my inquiry but also partnered with me so that I could be a force for goodness and prevent these types of horrible crimes from ever occurring.

God is not dormant nor indifferent to the plight of children being abused, raped, and murdered. Based on my incredible relationship with God, cultivated outside of organized religion, along with the numerous visions for the world and the talents God has bestowed upon me, I know God hears the screams of children, and I know God is looking to partner with heroes willing to make a stand, be counted and work toward the defeat evil. The title of my book represents the need for good people to heed God’s call, unite, and begin to make this a better world for all.

Changing The World

Published August 26, 2023 on LinkedIn

Have you ever imagined what our world would look like if there were no corruption, no murders, no rape, no violence, no thefts, no drug addiction, no injustices, and everyone was working towards making this a better world? Have you ever wondered where God is or why God doesn’t intervene when horrible, violent crimes are committed against innocent victims? I have! When I read about a nine-year-old girl who was savagely raped, poisoned and left for dead, I asked God why He allowed such atrocities. God’s simple response changed my life forever. From that moment on, I pledged to God that I would use the skills, talents, and gifts He bestowed upon me to honor Him by preventing these horrible crimes and making this a better world for all. God took me on my offer.

At a time when everyone was trying to monetize the internet, God began blessing me with numerous innovative and visionary technology-based businesses. Despite my best efforts, I was never able to launch a single company. While God had partnered with me, unbeknownst to me, nefarious forces plotted against me, and it would be well over a decade before I realized I wasn’t a failure. My life had been purposely squandered and made irrelevant. At the lowest point in my life, when I was defeated and all hope was lost, God intervened and compelled me to tell the story of my life and share with the world the incredible details of my relationship with Him, as well as the visions He provided me with for defeating Satan, evolving humanity, and making this a better world for all. After eight years, on August 9, 2023, I fulfilled my obligation to God and published my first book:

Since the beginning of my writing odyssey, I believed the sole purpose of God compelling me to share my story was so humanity could benefit from my experiences with God and the visions of the world God had provided me with. It was only during the final six months of putting my book together that I realized that God had an ulterior motive. In order to tell my story, God forced me to examine the details of my life so that I could discover my life has value. I’m a good person, striving to make this a better world for all every day. The text in the graphic at the top of this page is from a document I created back in 1992 when tasked with brainstorming who I was. I discovered the forgotten document in an old file folder and was pleasantly surprised to recognize the sentences I had written represented who I am, what I believed in, and what I wanted to accomplish with my life. I had captured the essence of my being. Recognizing the significance of this document, I turned it into a poster, and given my life experiences, I aptly titled it “I Am The Miracle.” The poster hangs on the wall next to my desk. A full copy of the poster text can be found in my new book.

If you believe in goodness overcoming evil, doing what is right, not what you can get away with, and are striving to make this a better world for all, then I invite you to pick up a copy of my book. Our world is engaged in an epic battle between good and evil, and it’s imperative for all good people to unite in their efforts to defeat evil.

I hope you’ll join me and become the Hero the world needs. For more information visit www.jamilmaroun.com or purchase directly from www.amazon.com
Jamil “Jim” Maroun