Rich Me! is the fifth novel in the series "Heartbeats of Courage."
The book takes you to three of the most prized cities in the ancient world: Laodicea, Hierapolis, and Colossea. These cities are all mentioned in the New Testament.
It was a time when a limited number of families amassed great wealth. They lived in the lap of luxury and were admired by all for their generosity! Imagine the stories told at their fabulous banquets! What buildings with their names engraved for all to read! What stories of wisdom and conquest that brought them such riches!
"Rich Me! A Chronicle of Laodicea" takes you deep into the competitive banking system. At its heart was the struggle to achieve greater and yet more remarkable success.
Laodicea grew at a crossroads. Merchants traveled north and south, connecting the Mediterranean Basin with countries far to the north. They also moved east and west, taking products from the rich agricultural lands to the regions of Persia.
Across the river, Hierapolis, another city of great material wealth, relied upon sick people coming to bathe in the warm, healing waters. People still come there. These are among the world's best healing waters. Wealth flowed into Hierapolis as textile products went to the most significant cities: Rome, Corinth, and Ephesus.
In these two cities, small groups of Christians met under great persecution.
Miriam, whom we have met in previous novels in this series, arrives at her uncle's home in Laodicea. She expects to receive warm family hospitality, but the door is shut tight against her soldier husband, Anthony. And Miriam painfully learns that her values differ significantly from those who keep accumulating ever more riches. Each visit to her uncle and aunt's spacious house increasingly drives this uncomfortable reality home.
If Laodicea is a source of discomfort to Miriam, Hierapolis, across the river, offers other challenges.
The cruelties of slavery, especially those against young women, go against the Christian faith that Miriam and Anthony profess. Within the home of Nicanora, the widow of the previous city mayor, comfort takes the shape of warm hospitality. A small congregation, almost extinct, springs back to life.
But Anthony, a seasoned soldier, is accused by his previous military commanders of undermining the army's authority. He refuses to state the daily declaration, "Caesar is lord and god."
For this and several other reasons, he must appear before a military trial.
How will Christians cope with the difficulties of slavery? What role does music play in the life of a struggling congregation? Will kindness be shown to widows, orphans, and the poor? Can followers of the Jewish Messiah live at peace in the Greco-Roman world?