Guest blog post by Cathy Bryant
By far, the question I receive most often when it comes to
writing fiction is: What's the story behind the story? In other words, people
want to know my motivation and inspiration for writing the book.
With CROSSROADS,
the sixth Miller's Creek novel and a Christian contemporary romance, the
original germ of an idea actually came as I watched the movie, God's Not Dead. The thought occurred to
me that each of us knows someone who has either defected from the faith or
altogether refuses to acknowledge the existence of God. It might be a friend,
co-worker, or even a family member.
All fiction writers are taught to ask the question, 'what
if?' So for me, my 'what if?' became this story question: What if an
ex-military man and Christian found himself involved in the life of a bitter
atheist and single mom who wanted nothing to do with his God?
Once that question was in place, other questions popped up.
What happened to the female lead in the story to make her antagonistic toward
the faith? What questions and arguments would she have? How would our
ex-military hero--a man who sees himself as a defender--go to battle in a
spiritual sense? What internal dilemma would he have to overcome to defend his
faith? And most importantly, what would it take to turn our heroine around?
In the book, I sought to explore this spiritual topic, not
just for the sake of the storyline, but also for each of us as believers. I
wanted to know how I could best handle the objections of those opposed to faith
in Christ. I wanted to be prepared to answer the tough questions these folks
often have. And I hoped in the process to also help others in their own defense
of the faith.
Some of the questions non-believers tend to have are: If God
is so good and loving, then why does He allow evil? If God cares about me, then
why have so many bad things happened to me? How do you know the Bible is true?
What if the people who wrote the Bible made it up? How do you know that Jesus
is really who He claims to be? What if He was just a delusional man with
dubious motivies?
Can you think of other tough questions often
levied at Christians by non-believers?
I've been confronted by all these questions at one time or
another, but suddenly it became personal for me. How did God want me to respond
to these people? What could I do to make a difference for Christ and His
Kingdom when it came to answering their questions? And how could I incorporate
all this in the story of CROSSROADS?
Here's what the process involved for me: I devoured my Bible
and books on apologetics to find answers for tough questions. I wrote the PROOF
blog post series about what I'd learned. Next, I turned some of these posts
into videos. And of course, I included it all in the storyline of the book.
As I wrote the story, a few things crystallized in my mind.
1) In the end, it all comes down to
faith, and that's a decision each person must make for themselves. While we can
hope and pray for others to turn to God, ultimately the decision is theirs.
Faith is something we can't force on others.
2) Based on 1 Peter 3:15, we need
to be prepared to answer the tough questions that come our way from those who
don't believe.
3) And above all, our response
should be one of unconditional love and persistent prayer. No one is a lost
cause or beyond the power of God.
I pray we'll all be prepared to give a defense to those who
ask about the reason for our hope.
Look for more posts on Cathy's new release as the week progresses!
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