Glaen: A Novel Message on Romance, Love and Relating [Paperback]

Fred Lybrand (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 14, 2010

Annie is a college grad-student who is stumped about love. Her mom and dad are in the throes of a divorce, her teenage sister is obsessed with how her boyfriend makes her look, and her closest friend Jennah is on a continual ride of running off every guy she dates.

Friendships, dating, romance, and marriage—it's all confusing to Annie until the day a white-haired stranger appears in her life. Glaen is an unusual professor with an unusual name. Her white-haired unconventional mentor guides Annie on a path of discovery that unlocks the secrets of real relationships in a world gone phony. By abandoning herself to learn, Annie discovers the mystifying affect of how learning to tell the truth changes everything in friendship, family, and love.

The solutions Dr. Lybrand offers in this book will astound and free you to quit doing the very things that take away your ability to find the love and friendship you want. More importantly, you'll discover a fresh path to the possibility of greater connections with those you care most about. You'll want everyone you love to read this book...twice!

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Fred Lybrand grew up in Anniston, Alabama and studied English Literature at the University of Alabama. He graduated with honors from Dallas Theological Seminary, and earned a Doctor of Ministry from Phoenix Seminary. Lybrand recently retired as senior pastor of Northeast Bible Church to pursue writing and speaking full time. He resides near San Antonio with his wife, Jody, and their five children. Lybrand has written and published five books entitled: Heavenly Citizenship: The Spiritual Alternative to Power Politics; The Absolute Quickest Way to Help Your Child Change; About Life and Uganda; Preaching on Your Feet; and Back to Faith: Reclaiming Gospel Clarity in an Age of Incongruence.

Product Details

• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: The Barnabas Agency (February 14, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0578046520
• ISBN-13: 978-0578046525
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,464,565 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Dr. Fred R. Lybrand has 19 years of management and consulting experience. He provided the background and research to co-found TrimTab Solutions. He has been a catalyst to develop understanding and skills in Structural Dynamics and the Kolbe Conative Index.

His interest in communication, teamwork, and individual giftedness has led him into Human Resource consulting with a variety of companies and firms including large independent oil and gas exploration companies - Burlington Resources, Marathon Oil, and Pioneer Natural Resources. His work with Pioneer Natural Resources is what led Hermann Eben to develop the Kolbe skills and co-found TrimTab Solutions.

He has provided insight and leadership in the development and growth of a private school that provides education from the seventh to twelfth grade. The school provides a - classical education - focused on teaching students through the Socratic method using classical books, interactive science and math, logic, language arts, the creative process, and the foundation of the Bible.

Fred provided the leadership to build a church with a growing worldwide impact, and which is centered on a team concept of leadership (www.midlandbible.org)...and recently retired from serving as the Senior Pastor of Northeast Bible Evangelical Free Church (www.northeastbiblechurch.com) to pursue an extended focus on writing and speaking.

Fred has written and published five books; Heavenly Citizenship; The Spiritual Alternative to Power Politics, The Absolute Quickest Way to Help Your Child Change, About Life and Uganda, Preaching On Your Feet, and Back to Faith (August 2009). His sixth book will be available in February of 2010 [Glaen: A Novel View on Romance, Love, and Relating].

Fred lives in San Antonio, Texas. He grew up in Anniston Alabama, where his father practiced law and served in the state legislature for two terms. He attended the University of Alabama and majored in English Literature, with a minor in Speech Communication. He was inducted into the English Honor Society and was given a graduate fellowship to teach the introductory Speech Communication course for two years at the University of Alabama.

He attended the University of Alabama School of Law for one year before withdrawing in order to pursue theological studies at Dallas Theological Seminary. He formally graduated from Dallas Theological Seminary in 1989, with honors. In 2008 he received his doctorate from Phoenix Seminary. Fred is the father of five children and is still joyfully married to Jody, his wife of 27 years.

He is certified as a Business Structural Consultant, an Individual Structural Consultant, a Creating What Matters facilitator, a Managerial Moment of Truth facilitator, a Kolbe Conative Index Interpreter, certified in Myers-Briggs Temperament Indicator, certified consultant in Natural Church Development processes. For more information about Fred go to www.fredlybrand.org.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Relating with Freedom, Truth, and Love, March 24, 2010

By 

Rael (West Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Glaen: A Novel Message on Romance, Love and Relating (Paperback)

I've always been skeptical of books that claim to be novels but are actually nothing more than sermons in (lame) disguise.

Glaen was not one of those books.

The subtitle says it right off: "A novel message on romance, love, and relating." No tricks. The message is the main point of the book. But once know that, you can relax and dive into a compelling story woven through with relationship principles that we learn along with the main character, Annie.

Glaen reminded me a little of Peter Kreeft's books in which Socrates travels to different places in time to have lively discussions with everyone from Marx to modern college professors. But more plot happens in Glaen, so it's a bit more readable.

Enough about the style. What, you might ask, is the book actually about?

The Socrates-like character, the mysterious professor Glaen, helps Annie, a college student, with an assignment about how relationships work. She makes observations, notices lies and countering truths, and discovers the "secrets" of great relationships that are almost too simple to believe (but rarely practiced). Her observations come in the midst of interaction with her parents and friends.

This is not another dating vs. courtship book. I guarrentee that the core principles in Glaen are applicable to you, whatever the state of your relationships - single, dating, or married.

This book came out at a perfect time in my life! Not that I have fully begun to live out all the truths, by any means, but I have been given unmistakable opportunities to practice them.

I can't give away the plot, or tell you everything Annie discovers - you'll have to read the book yourself to find out! But I will share one truth (for now) and how it has challenged my thinking and actions:

"Lie - If you follow the right process, you will be guaranteed a good marriage.

"Countering Truth - No process can guarantee a good relationship, because there are no future guarantees in relationships. Relationships happen in the present."

A while back I adopted the notion that if I just do things carefully and right, God would give me a permanent (and reasonably perfect) marriage some day. To this end, I began reading about and clinging to the concept of courtship instead of dating. It seemed such a great plan, I thought.

But as various conversations in conjunction with this book have been teaching me, even the best plan cannot guarantee the future. Cling to good principles, yes, but then leave the future to God and focus on being honest, putting others first, speaking the truth in love, and relating without strings or requirements.

Here's a quote to that effect that I copied and stuck on my desk:

"When someone accepts the fact that she cannot know the future, then a new kind of power or opportunity comes into her life. She can quit trying to force and manipulate the future. She can quit trying to control her relationships. In fact, she should finally be able to start enjoying the relationship once she gives up on trying to guarantee its future."

~Glaen, page 77~

This principles in this book are tough, but in the end also incredibly freeing. If you're hungry for truth that will help you start relating in a way that works, go with Annie and meet the strange character, Glaen.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Novel Ideas on Christian Dating, March 14, 2010

By 

Chad Estes (Boise, Idaho, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Glaen: A Novel Message on Romance, Love and Relating (Paperback)

There are a lot of Christian books on dating and relationships. Most of them advocate one form of hooking up over another, whether it be dating, non-dating, courting, or arranged marriages. They tend to tout themselves as being the most biblical, based on their interpretation of scripture, or the most successful, based on their personal experience. From my many years of pre-marital and marital counseling I tend to see each couple's coupling as unique and their learned ability to relate to each other in love is much more of an art than it is a procedure.

I was given the opportunity to review the book, Glaen, by Dr. Fred Lybrand. He attempts to share his perspectives on how to succeed in love and marriage but with a couple of differences from these other books. First off, he hasn't prescribed to a specific method of dating at all; instead he pulls out principles of how people relate to each other--recognizing that the methodology of putting those principles in place may vary from couple to couple. Secondly, he shares his findings as a story, allowing one of his characters, college student Annie, to discover these principles and then write them down in a series of lies she's believed about relationships as well as their countering truths.

Annie has parents that are divorcing, a sister who treats her boyfriends as arm-candy, a best friend who chases off each boyfriend with her over-commitment, while Annie herself is a bit relational-phobic because she is scared that she doesn't understand how to make a relationship work. She takes on a daunting writing assignment from her quirky college professor to write a book about relationships based on her observations and interviews of other couples.

As with any novel that is written primarily as a delivery vehicle for a message, the story feels like one. Though Lybrand uses creativity in his story telling, it falls short of being a great read. However, by putting his principles in the form of a story he has made his insights much more accessible than by writing an essay for a professional journal. I found that I underlined several passages, writing thoughts in the wide margins provided in the book.

Some of the questions the characters deal with in the book are:

* Should I act married in a relationship when I'm not?

* Is there only one person God intended me to marry?

* Will I be happy in my relationships if I follow the right process?

* Where does sex best fit in a relationship?

* Are there relational differences between genders or not?

* What does "love as a choice" mean?

* What is chemistry and does it come in an aerosol can?

* Can I make the other person act the way I need them to?

* Where does romance fit in to the health of a relationship?

* Do I really value truth and freedom in a relationship?

A study guide is available online at the website [...]. This would make a great book for a small group to read aloud and engage in a discussion. I certainly recommend this book as a tool for addressing principles for effective relating.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars interesting approach to encouraging and mentoring people, February 27, 2010

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Glaen: A Novel Message on Romance, Love and Relating (Paperback)

Glaen

Fred T. Lybrand

Barnabas Agency, Feb 14 2010, $14.99

ISBN: 9780578046525

College grad student Annie is shocked and confused when her mother calmly informs her that she is divorcing Annie's dad. She had thought her parents were happy together and there for one another. As she looks around her, Annie notices the downside of her younger sister's relationship and those of her BFF Jennah. Relationships make no sense as a person gives up so much in return for being hurt so conceals the truth to abate the hurt.

Annie signs up for a class on Original Non-Fiction 101 taught by Professor Glaen Breuchis. On her first day in class, Annie looks around to find she is the only pupil. Professor Glaen explains that the administration is well aware he is teaching a class with only one student attending. He begins mentoring her to learn what is important in relationships is the truth. By being honest with others, Annie finds out that others will respect and admire you and most will reciprocate with veracity.

This is an interesting approach to encouraging and mentoring people to be honest and sincere in their relationships with others. The cast is solid especially the professor and his sole student while the fascinating story line simplistically focuses on Annie (and readers) learning how best to relate. Using a character study fiction, Fred T. Lybrand provides an engaging self help primer.

Harriet Klausner