Guest Post: Chad Pettit: Christian Fiction Guidelines: The Rules That Divide Us.

 I hosted novelist Chad Pettit on 18/05/19 in another blog, now defunct.

Today I welcome Chad Pettit as my guest to talk about Christian Fiction Guidelines. Such a controversial topic amongst publishers, authors and readers.

I asked Chad if I could post this article from his website as it is the most balanced and comprehensive I have found on this topic and gives a biblical POV. I am sure that it may ruffle a few feathers from some readers here but he is prepared for that (I guess I will have to be too)! If there is one thing I have identified about Chad, he says it as it is, no compromise! Which is why I was not surprised how he has approached this topic. In clarifying this issue, he is attempting to show how this division can be avoided and resolved within the Christian fiction community.

I pray that you will find encouragement from Chad's voice of reason and application of Biblical principles. He has definitely got me thinking more about this and clarified some of the divisive issues I have come across from my fellow readers and authors. I find Chad's reasoning a breath of fresh air.

CHRISTIAN FICTION GUIDELINES:

The Rules That Divide Us

There’s a strange phenomenon among Christian circles. It’s the fact that there are Christian circles. Some lessons, apparently, take thousands of years to learn. The “how not to have division among you” lesson Paul taught the church at Corinth nearly two thousand years ago has yet to sink in for many of the disciples of Christ. Paul prescribed a simple solution:

“Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment” (1 Corinthians 1:10).

Paul said to be the same in three ways:

1. The way we speak

2. The way we think

3. The way we judge

There is only one way to accomplish unity in those three things, and that is to have the same guide. Thankfully, the Lord provided that for us in His word. If we’re all speaking the scriptures, thinking on the scriptures, and judging things based on the scriptures, we’ll be the same. Now, I’m not going into a series of doctrinal statements here. I’m simply going to address something I see as an author and reader of Christian books because that is an area where I have noticed a lot of unhealthy division. I’m not talking about rightful division, as in rightly diving the word (2 Timothy 2:15) or having a separation between the world and the church; I’m talking about divisions that hurt the body of Christ.

Guidelines for Christian Fiction

I find it strange when I read reviews of books in the Christian market or read the posts and comments in groups dedicated to Christian books that there are several sets of “rules.” We just can’t help but divide ourselves, can we? I’m not talking about genre. Hey, everyone has a preference, and there are plenty of options to choose from, but that can be a source of division, too, unfortunately.

The lists of rules vary, but here’s a few commonalities:

• No inappropriate language (even when putting it in a negative light; major cause of division)

• Little to no violence but definitely no gratuitous violence

• Clean (no sex, especially not between unmarried people)

• Christian characters either do not sin or they suffer consequences and then repent of their sin

Forgive me if I stop there, but lists of rules have never been my thing, and this stuff gets frustrating. I’m not saying I disagree with everything in that list. My problem is that creating the list of rules is what automatically starts us down the road of division. Sure, publishers need guidelines, and I’m all for that. When you put your name on something, you had better make sure that it aligns with your values. I’m more focused on the way people treat books that don’t line up with their values, and the way they speak about the authors of those books. Let’s look more closely at how these rules are handled.

Language

Often, when the language “rule” is violated, the reader who mostly designates Christian fiction by that rule goes on Amazon, Goodreads, Facebook, Twitter, and everywhere else to call the book trash. He or she then bashes the author. It’s usually posted with anger, and then there is a discussion between people who think the same way, and a few more books and authors get thrown on the fire. The problem with that is the fact that those readers are of the wrong spirit. That should sound familiar, if you know your Bible. In Luke 9, when Jesus wasn’t received by a village of the Samaritans, James and John wanted to call down fire from heaven to destroy those people. Jesus rebuked them, saying He had not come to destroy but to saves lives. Paul warned the Corinthians to restore a fallen brother in the spirit of meekness.

Does the Bible say your speech should be always seasoned with salt? As in making it pleasing to the hearer? Yes it does. That goes for you when you’re upset about the language someone uses. Have you read Matthew 18? It never says blast your brother or sister. It says that if you have something against them, go to them and handle it discreetly. I’ve known plenty of people who didn’t use curse words, but they weren’t Christians. If that’s your mark of being a follower of Christ, something is wrong. Of course, our speech should be holy, but don’t tell me you’re upset about language and then post on Facebook how great the latest Marvel movie was. What? Do you have Christian eyes and secular ears?

I think a person has a right to read and watch things that line up with their values, and they shouldn’t be taken by surprise or set up. A simple disclaimer at the front of the book or a note from the author would give every reader the option to choose whether to continue reading. Now, if you choose not to read the book because it violates your rule, leave it there. Don’t go blast the author or publisher that was gracious enough to warn you. I’m going to be real here. You can say all you want that you don’t want those words in your mind or before your eyes, but you don’t live in a bubble. You can’t live in this world and not hear those words. Jesus prayed in John 17 that we not be taken from this world but that we are separate from the evil of this world. We are in it, not of it. And, honestly, relax. I can’t understand people getting so bent out of shape over a word. If you say use substitute curse words, you’re just as wrong. I find that hypocrites tend to be the loudest about the things they supposedly are against.

I do not condone foul language, and you will not find it in my books or stories. I simply want people to stop decimating the character of their brothers and sisters over something so petty.

Violence

*Insert sigh

No, I’m not about to condone violence. I detest it and believe there is almost always another solution. This rule, though, puts me at a loss for words. Readers complain about a book not being authentic, not realistic, but then they get upset when there are real depictions of violence. I feel like this is a no win situation for authors of Christian fiction. How do you decide what is “too much” or “tasteful” violence? How do you decide if it’s necessary or if it won’t upset the reader?

I’m just going to be blunt. If you think there should not be violence in Christian books, never read your Bible again because it violates your rule for being “Christian.” God led the armies of Israel to many battles. Those were bloody, horribly violent times. The apostles were beaten by the Jews in the book of Acts. Paul was stoned and left for dead. Stephen was stoned to death. Ehud, in the book of Judges, stabbed a king, and the whole thing was graphically described. Otherwise, how would you know dirt came out? Jael killed Sesera by driving a tent peg into his temple, which was described in detail. In fact, the book of Judges is violent almost through and through. It ends with a man cutting a woman up and sending her body parts to the twelve tribes of Israel. You probably didn’t learn about that in Sunday school.

Again, I see the same people on their soapbox saying there shouldn’t be violence in these books posting about Star Wars, Marvel movies, Game of Thrones, and The Walking Dead. Come on, man. You’re not offended by violence. You just want to argue.

I think the spirit in which we do things is a lot more important than the content itself. For example. When Jesus was taken in the garden of Gethsemane, Peter took up a sword and cut off the servant of the high priest’s ear. That was clearly described. Jesus rebuked Peter and restored the man’s ear while giving Peter a lesson. That’s violence treated well. A few verses later, Jesus is being spat on and smacked in the face. A few verses later, he’s being mocked and getting a crown of thorns shoved through his skull. He’s beaten and marred so badly that the Bible tells us he was almost unrecognizable. When He was on the cross, the men being crucified on either side had their legs broken, brutally. Jesus was stabbed in the side after He died. A man stabbed His body, and the Bible plainly describes the blood and water coming from the wound. You could not show that on a program designated for children. That show would be preceded with a warning for graphic violence and disturbing images.

That’s the Bible. That’s the reality of our guide book; it’s filled from cover to cover with violence. Yet, we go into Sunday school and water down the message.

I’ve been to war, and I would be offended if I read a book depicting combat that downplayed the violence. You know how I keep my kids from fighting? I tell them what could happen to a person if they get hit too hard. I warn them how dangerous violence really is. I don’t hide them from the world, and when they see violence on television I take the time to explain what the actors are doing and the dangers of trying those things in real life.

Again, I think people should be warned if they’re about to read something violent or graphic. I just think people have the right to tell their stories without being held back by the angry judgment and slandering of people who read one of the bloodiest books ever written and then act like they can’t handle it when it’s a fictional setting.

* I do have scenes with violence and some very graphic descriptions of difficult situations in my stories. For the context of those scenes and the stories, I do not feel that any of it is gratuitous. I plan on doing a better job of giving my readers fair warning.

 Clean

This is another one of those “how realistic do you want the story to be?” sort of things. We live in a world convinced that sex before marriage is perfectly fine. In fact, we live in a world that thinks it very odd for people to wait for marriage before losing their virginity. That’s unfortunate, but it is the way things are in our society, and it’s been that way for a long time. I guarantee that you and I probably know some people who are living with someone they’re not married to, and some of them are professing Christians. I don’t agree with them living together, I absolutely am not advocating for people committing fornication, but it is a reality.

Cleanliness does not equal godliness. I don’t know who came up with that mess, but it’s those foolish idioms that have non-believers believing that sort of thing is in the Bible. It’s right beside the three wise men, Paul’s horse, love the sinner but hate the sin, and come as you are.

Sorry, but clean does not equal Christian. Want proof? There was this one time some pharisees were all sorts of upset with the disciples for eating without washing their hands. They questioned Jesus about it, and He told the pharisees that the outside of a person doesn’t defile a person; it’s the heart. You’re not holy because you appear to be holy. I challenge you to name some of the most notorious cults out there. The people in those groups are probably living a much “cleaner” life than the average Christian. That doesn’t make them godly.

To be clear, I think the Bible is plain about sex before marriage. I think there are real consequences for sex outside of the sanctity of marriage, and I am a firm believer in the union between a man and a woman as an institution established by God. I also think people mess up. I also think many people are ignorant, either willfully or because they’ve been taught wrong.

Here’s where I think we have a clear distinction, though. God uses discretion. We read several accounts in the Bible where people engage in sexual activity in an immoral manner. Lot’s daughters, for example. Amnon and his half-sister is another case. None of these are described, and they don’t need to be. God says in Hebrews that the marriage bed is undefiled. When a man and a woman come together in the union of marriage, God respects that time as something private. I think we should be the same way. You can imply something without going into detail.

Why use discretion and avoid description for this but allow some for violence? I’m just following the example set forth in scripture. See? A guide for us all to follow.

No sin for Christian characters

I don’t get this rule. Not even slightly. Are you serious? Have the people who came up with this “rule” ever read 1 John? I’ll just leave this right here:

“8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” - 1 John 1:8-10 KJV

I know there are people out there who say that once a person is saved, he or she cannot commit sin. That doesn’t stand up against scripture. This post isn’t about that, so I’m not going into the doctrines dealing with it, right now. What I will say, to anyone reading this, is that common sense has to prevail at some point. You know you. You’ve lost your temper and lashed out. You’ve walked past plenty of people without sharing the gospel. You’ve coveted something. You’ve neglected your Bible and prayer. You’ve lied, even if that lie was to yourself. You can act sanctimonious in front of whomever you like, but you know just as well as I do that you need the mercy of God because we all mess up on a regular basis.

There should be a distinction between good and evil, and those lines should be clear. There should be consequences for sin. Even in fantasy fiction, there need to be rules founded in reality. Wrong needs to be made right. Characters should not be able to do the wrong thing and get away with it. The apostles made a lot of mistakes, but those things were dealt with.

Another aspect to think about is setting forth examples for readers to follow. I think you should have heroes that people want to be like, but they should be realistic. It’s far more powerful to have a character readers can relate to than an impossibly perfect character. A character that never makes a mistake will only make the reader feel worse about himself. A character that messes up but recovers gives the reader hope of being able to do the same thing.

Being Realistic

 We are all so very different. We have different likes, dislikes, personalities, and interests. We’re supposed to be. God made us unique. That doesn’t mean we can’t come together and agree on some basic things, but we have to set aside our version of right and wrong to allow a more accurate gauge to be our measuring tool.

The problem with the world right now is everyone is advocating for this idea of “living your truth.” NO! There is no “your truth.” Either it’s true, or it’s false. The world has tossed the Bible out and thereby lost absolute truth. That’s why the people of this fallen world are searching for truth and end up settling for a narrative they agree with, rather than unshakable facts.

Those narratives have dominated culture, from books and movies to reality television to social media. Now, unfortunately, those narratives have become the truth we want to believe. Many preachers don’t preach the Bible. They get up and quote scripture but then spend fifteen, thirty, or forty-five minutes spouting some philosophy that doesn’t line up with what God says. They tell you to follow your heart. They show you an always positive God who made this universe just for you.

Someone comes along and gives the context for the verses these false prophets are using to mislead people, and everyone wants to attack the person who pointed out the truth. We don’t like truth. We like our own sense of reality. That’s why so many people spend so much time escaping into made-up worlds, and those worlds need to match exactly what they want in their reality. They want their perfect world, and anyone who introduces something they’re uncomfortable with into their reality is evil. I hate to state the obvious here, but if you spend all of your time in a false reality, you’ll start to believe it is reality. Hence, the rules. Those books become the scriptures for the people who escape into them. They spend all of their time in that reality, only coming away to make a quick trip to the grocery store, a doctor’s appointment, maybe work, or a church service where everything matches their reality.

How many times have you sat in a church service, and the sermon was directed toward people who weren’t there? The preacher rails against some sin that no one in the building is committing, so it’s safe. You can talk about that, preacher. That fits my reality.

It makes me sick. But, we should have seen it coming. Paul warned us way back in the first century. He said:

“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears” (2 Timothy 4:3 KJV).

Conclusion

No matter how I say the things I’ve said here, someone will attack me. I’ll be labeled falsely. Someone will say that I’ve violated some sacred trust, that I’ve told people they should just go do whatever they want and God will forgive. Someone will say that I’m for wild living, cussing, partying, and living by no rules.

I’ve done nothing of the sort.

I’ve simply stated the obvious. We make rules that fit our comfort zone and call them biblical principles. Anyone who doesn’t line up with our set of rules must be ungodly, and therefore should be avoided. We create division in the body of Christ that should not exist. The truth is that God wants us to be in a relationship with him. He wants to guide us into truth and show us the perfect way. Our purpose is to honor Him in all that we do.

You won’t find foul language in my Christian fiction books. You won’t find graphic descriptions of sex. If my characters sin, they will face the consequences but be shown the way of forgiveness through the power of God. There will be violence, but it won’t be gratuitous. There will be graphic depictions of some difficult things, but only as far as is needed to drive the story forward and solidify the message. There will be a clear line between good and evil.

But those are my rules that I’ve decided based on my relationship with God. I feel comfortable following those basic guidelines, but they’re mine. Obviously, my publisher has guidelines as well, and I respect those parameters and enjoy my partnership with them. I believe that represents unity in the body of Christ. We come together and agree on the way we’re going to do things in order to get the message to the world and glorify God through our art. If I see a Christian writer doing things in a book that I think are a clear violation of Scripture, I choose whether to keep reading or not. I don’t blast that author, and I certainly am not about to slander him or her. I’m far from perfect, which is why I need the Lord and why I extend the same grace to authors that I want for myself from readers.

I pray we can all love one another and respect our differences.

About Chad Petit: 

Chad is a Christian Fiction Author of suspense woven with the supernatural.

His books seek to pull back the curtain on spiritual warfare and equip people to silence the enemy voices of guilt, fear, and shame.

He was born and raised in Oregon, except for an awesome couple of years in Idaho that included playing Star Wars on the edge of a Nez Perce reservation. He had no idea those game were somewhat prophetic as he would later find himself running through the streets of Baghdad in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

He’s also a singer…in the shower and at red lights. He is an amazing dancer, but no living person has ever had the refined vision necessary to acknowledge that. Because those talents are not recognized, Chad teaches English to pay for his obsession with chai tea, something he picked up during the war while on patrol in the area around Abu Ghraib, Iraq.

He lives in Central Texas with his wife and four sons. There’s also a dog, but he doesn’t drink chai. Chad’s oldest son is in his freshman year of college and plays football. His youngest son is constantly working on new stand up material and is sure to say the craziest thing possible as soon as Chad takes a sip of chai.

Like his stories, Chad’s life is anything but dull.

Chad has committed to pray for persecuted Christians through iCommitToPray. He is a supporter of The Voice of the Martyrs. He has pledged a portion of the sales from all books in his Fate Series to this important ministry. He urgently asks you to partner with him in prayer and support of our brothers and sisters suffering for Christ (Hebrews 13:3).

Chad can be found on his website at:

Amazon Author Page     Goodreads Author Page

Guest Post: Nathan Keys and His Debut Novel: The Epic of Marindel: Chosen.

I hosted Nathan Keys on 10/07/19 on another blog, now defunct. 

Today, I am hosting novelist, Nathan Keys who novel, The Epic of Marindel: Chosen is released today, July 9th. He relates the story behind how this novel was written and dwells heavily on God's involvement and inspiration.

I came across Nathan and his novel from his GoFundMe advert on my Facebook feed. When I read the campaign, the blurb for the novel, and the vision he had for it, I was impressed. This encouraged me to review it so I contacted him for a review copy. I am so glad I did and it was a well-constructed story, replete with biblical truth and allegory that it was awarded the Reality Calling Christian Redemptive Fiction Award.

My review can be found here that also contains his Award.

Now before we begin, here is what The Epic of Marindel: Chosen is about: 

Long ago, the elven Kingdom of Marindel governed the realm of Tyrizah from its place on the back of a giant sea turtle. But when a great evil was unleashed, the Era of Peace came to a tragic end. Thousands of years passed, and Marindel was all but forgotten.

Connor, a young farmer with a wild imagination, always longed for adventure. When bizarre events cause him to realize his role in the greatest story of all, Connor embarks on a quest to defend the Great King’s daughter from a wicked sorcerer, whose darkness grows with every passing day.

Tarento, a promising Samurai warrior, is disillusioned with the grandeur of his own kingdom. But when he hears the voice of a King he cannot see, he discovers his destiny to save the people of Felidae from impending disaster.

As their journeys entwine, Connor and Tarento will travel across the realm, uncover the mysteries of Marindel, and face unimaginable odds in their fight to survive. Tension broils in the city of Cloud Summit as diabolical factions vie for control of the Kingdom of Armavir. The adventurers must make a daring rescue attempt—but at what cost?

Now I will hand you over to Nathan so he can recount how his Award-winning novel came to be. 

The Epic of Marindel began with a dream.

I had given my writing gift to the Lord several years prior, telling Him that I didn’t want to write a book unless it was something that would give Him glory, and empower readers with hope and purpose. Four years later, I began to sense my imagination was gearing up for something.

One night, I had a vivid dream of a girl in an underwater world using magic to make plants grow. When I awoke, I asked the Lord what it meant. He said, “This is where I’d like you to start.” In that moment I understood that the dream was a symbol of Eden, before the fall, with mankind (the girl) exercising God-given authority (magic) to make plants grow (cultivate creation, create life, etc). Over the next few days, I spent time praying and processing how to begin. On August 1st 2014, I began writing the first chapter of The Epic of Marindel: Chosen, with only a minimal idea of where it would go. Since then, it has taken a life of its own, and has been prophesied to reach the nations. I’m honored to be used by God to use my writing gift to craft such an incredible story and share His glory with the whole world!

The purpose of The Epic of Marindel, as a complete series, is to tell the story of Jesus’ pursuit of His Bride, the Church, with emphasis on the events leading up to His second coming. The primary audience is a group referred to as “the generation of the Lord’s return,” those who will be alive to witness and experience the final days. The Epic of Marindel, while it is a riveting adventure story that many people will enjoy, is also a discreet warning letter to the Bride of Christ: “See yourself in this story, and understand the urgency of the times. The final days are coming, and they’re coming fast!”

Even in Chosen, Book I of the series, several characters describe a coming conflict, the likes of which the realm of Tyrizah has never seen. In the following excerpt, Prince Eli describes the conflict to the protagonist, Connor, and the role he will play:

“The times are changing, and tension builds between the forces of good and evil in this realm. A time is soon coming when all the kingdoms of Tyrizah will be deceived by the (Great) Serpent, and they will try to destroy Melody once and for all. Even then, out of every kingdom, a remnant will remain steadfast to resist the will of the Serpent. Against all odds, they must unite as one to defend her in her darkest hour. Only through their courageous love and sacrifice will Melody remember the love of the Great King. Only then will she call for the Great Prince of the Sea, and only then can there be everlasting peace in the realm of Tyrizah. … Connor, you are the Final Seer. It is your word, your devotion to truth, your courage, and your leadership that will rally the remnant of every kingdom to stand as one in the final days.”

The Final Conflict, as I call it, will develop and unfold over the course of the series. Characters such as Connor will undergo immense trials and challenges over the course of several years in order to be prepared for the Final Conflict. At the same time, some characters will be involved in realm politics, where the reader will see the gradual unification of the realm against Melody (who represents Israel) and all followers of the Great King.

What does that mean for us? I believe we are in a very similar time here on Earth. We as the people of God need to be aware of what’s happening around us, in tune with the Spirit at all times, so that we will not be alarmed when the real Final Conflict begins. We know how the story will end; there are hundreds of Scripture passages where Jesus, the apostle John, and others tell us what is going to happen. While I don’t intend for The Epic of Marindel to be a play-by-play strategy book for surviving the End Times (that Book has already been written), it is my hope that it will awaken the souls of Christian readers to the urgency of these matters, perhaps in ways that eschatological debates and sermons may not be able to do.

What is the response I’m hoping for? I’d encourage readers of The Epic of Marindel: Chosen and of this blog post to develop a deep friendship with God, practice obeying Him in simple things, study His plan for Israel in the Scriptures, and always keep watch, so that when trials and persecutions escalate on a global scale, we will all be united in Christ together, ready to herald the coming of the King of Kings.

Don’t wait! Start now! It will never be easier to seek after God and His purposes than it is right now. Who knows? You might be a “Connor” with a big role to play in the grand finale. And the only way to know if you’ve been chosen for such a task—and then to prepare for it—is to commune with Jesus every day. That is the greatest commandment: “Love the Lord your God with all of your heart, all of your soul, all of your mind, and all of your strength.” Trust me, He will show you just how significant your life can be if you tune your heart to hear His voice and spend time with Him as with a friend!

The Final Conflict isn’t so intimidating once you realize how “in charge” He really is.

Why do the nations conspire
    and the peoples plot in vain?
The kings of the earth rise up
    and the rulers band together
    against the Lord and against his anointed, saying,
 “Let us break their chains
    and throw off their shackles.”

 The One enthroned in heaven laughs;
    the Lord scoffs at them.
He rebukes them in his anger
    and terrifies them in his wrath, saying,
“I have installed my king
    on Zion, my holy mountain.”

Psalm 2:1-6

If you want to follow Nathan on social media and keep up to date with his writing and the continuation of The Epic of Marindel, he is found on the following media platforms:

Facebook                                     Instagram

If you would like to investigate this novel further, click on the image below:

About Nathan Keys:

Nathan keys is an award-winning epic fantasy author based in San Diego, CA. It is his dream and vocation to write empowering stories that will not only captivate readers but leave them with hope and purpose.

Nathan has been fascinated with storytelling from an early age. As a child, he invented worlds and creatures, played pretend, and told stories to anyone who would listen. He completed his first “novel,” an 85,000-word fanfiction, at age 13. He spent high school summers creating plotlines for role-playing games on a forum site, where many concepts for characters, creatures, and kingdoms in The Epic of Marindel were first developed.

The Epic of Marindel: Chosen is his first published novel. The first of many.

In addition to writing, Nathan works full-time in the biotech industry, serves as a vision lead at the San Diego Kingdom Writers Association, and is a hospitality shift lead at All Peoples Church in San Diego. During his free time he enjoys hiking, exercise, travelling and visiting coffee shops, breweries, and wineries with good friends.

Readers and reviews are an author’s best asset, so I encourage any reader, to consider reading The Epic of Marindel: Chosen and submit a review on Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes and Noble and on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest (or any other social media you subscribe to). Reviews help promote an author’s novel to potential readers and encourage the author to keep writing.

Reviews also help get the author’s message (and God’s message) to the reader, whether Christian or not, who may need encouragement and support in their lives while being entertained by the story.

Guest Post: Ryan David Gerard and the Challenge of Depicting Christian Fiction Realistically.

I featured Ryan David Gerard on 31/08/19 in another blog, now defunct. 

Today’s guest is novelist Ryan David Gerard. His trilogy, The Baptist is one very edgy, speculative and edge of your seat reading. Ryan explores in this post depicting Christian fiction realistically. It is an issue that Christian authors have battled with and readers have criticised authors for either not depicting it as such or for having done so! Where is the happy medium? Is there one?

Now Ryan, has a lot to say, so this post is lengthy, but if you are interested in this topic, read on and be patient with Ryan! He delivers! He raises some valid and controversial points; I can vouch for these as I have experienced what he describes below in his novels.

Definitely grab a coffee or preferred beverage and dive in here. Let’s go! Over to you, Ryan!

The Baptist is a book series that is a modern-day reimagining of biblical events. In the near future, a time travel experiment goes wrong and an anomaly in the space-time continuum creates a time shift where history is jumbled up and certain biblical time periods happen in our day in age as if for the first time ever…In this modern setting, God and the devil agree to a cosmic rematch for the souls of humanity when the devil thinks he can defeat Christ if he had a second shot.  In the midst of all this, one rogue cop must battle his way through street crime and evil on a larger scale as life and the human condition hangs in the balance.

This series is written specifically for the world, not the church.  It’s not a typical, wholesome piece of Christian media.  It comes with one of those “explicit content” warnings on it. There is violence, in lots of police-action-style shooting and fight scenes and there is language. Because it’s all about the human condition, it is not a very pleasant subject matter. There are prostitution and drugs as well as gang and criminal activity.  None of the characters is Christian and, as such, they are written that way. It’s a story about how the rest of the world goes through life, popular beliefs about how good and evil should be handled, and how the average citizen would deal with God showing up in their life.

So as a Christian, I wanted to write a story that would not just be for Christians as most Christian media is if we’re honest with ourselves.  I guess I reached a point where I saw how ineffective Christian media was—now…let me pause because I want to clarify: I’m not saying that Christian media isn’t useful.  It’s good, wholesome entertainment for kids; it’s good for sermon illustrations or bible study type stuff for youth groups or anything that is within the church, for teaching and possibly strengthening believers—music especially!  I’m not saying it doesn’t have its place…it does. But here’s the real kick behind my writing: I was honestly tired of hearing all my friends say how much they didn’t like church and how cheesy, annoying and lame Christian media is.  The worst part, I came to realize, was that this wasn’t coming out of a place of defence, but because I really couldn’t disagree with them…the production values are poor, the acting is bad, the dialogue is worse because it’s written very carefully to be safe and non-offensive, therefore it’s unrealistic, the situations are likewise and unrealistic, the characters’; reactions are disingenuous, even when they try to be “:…and show a little anger or passion or something, it’s unbelievable, the music sounds like Full House”—I could go on…basically I find it grossly unrealistic and therefore not relatable.

The bottom line is that I thought to myself; “Why can’t Christians put out a better product—a more realistic, gritty, raw and unvarnished piece of media?  A well written and well-produced story, and wouldn’t it be awesome to not worry about being safe” or “So I began to realize that I should be the one to produce something like this, instead of waiting and criticizing.”

Now, I’m not naive enough to think that I am the only Christian who’s ever lived to think and feel this way–do a bit of research and you’ll find many groups and cliques out there–but I think what happens is that other authors write a rough manuscript, with the desire to be more gritty and raw as I’ve been illustrating, but then second guess themselves and begin to edit everything out! Anything potentially offensive or “and I think you’d find their intentions in doing so are not as pure as you would think”.  How do I know this? Because this was me. I am just as guilty of trying to please the church and have had this false sense of obligation to the Christian religion when my only obligation is to God and honouring Him.  My intentions, when editing all the “garbage” out of my books, were based on fear of what my church friends would think of me for writing them and not because I didn’t think the content would really make an impactful statement.  I heard their voices in my head asking, ‘how I could call myself a Christian if I wrote a book like this?’ One of the promotional posters I made for this series was a mock 80s/90s style gimmick poster. It mimicked the poster for Big Trouble in Little China and it included a lot of pop culture easter eggs (because I’m a pop culture nerd). 

Anyway, the poster brandishes a couple of controversial taglines. One is, “The Greatest Story Ever Told, Like You’ve Never Seen it Before”, and the other reads, “Welcome to the Bible, Baby!” (a parody of Guns ‘n Roses Welcome to the Jungle).  This was to portray a kind of sense that the Bible really is a wild story, full of action and drama, contrary to most belief that it is a boring and stuffy rulebook about clouds and sheep and all things good and wholesome.  If you do a google image search of “The Bible” or “Jesus”; I’ll get a bunch of pictures of those old romantic paintings with the sainted faces, or pictures of the bible and holy, praying hands or something.

The Bible is a no holds barred, epic story about the worst evil villain, to top all evil villains, attacking the prized treasure of his enemy, in the ultimate betrayal, causing a chain reaction of events that ripple down into the state of the world and sin and the human condition. Then, after a long exile and when it’s seemed as though evil has won, the fearless hero comes after his enemy, in defence of his beloved, and he kicks his ass!! He mops the floor with him, but not before being broken, beaten and bloodied, fighting through to rescue the girl (us) and restore justice to the world. It’s no mambie-pambie story, and neither is He! Read the description of Him in Revelation when He comes riding on a horse, wearing a robe drenched in blood and blazing eyes! He’s a badass!! And it’s the most epic of revenge and rescue stories to ever happen! That was the intention around my poster but as I was releasing it I admittedly cringed because I’m still fearful of the voices saying, “How can you blaspheme the Bible like this and portray it as this violent and gritty story, and portray John the Baptist as a violent man, with blood on his shirt and holding a gun?” The Bible is supposed to be all about peace and love and charity and selflessness, and all that…

1. The character in the book is not actually the real John the Baptist.  He’s a comparison.
2. The Bible is all about love and all that. 

But it is also full of war and violence, betrayal, sexually perverted societies, murder, and every evil thing under the sun.  Love is the final outcome and the main message, in spite of society and in spite of a hateful world. It’s about all that and how we overcome it. Every character in the history of the book is a loser, nobody, outcast, reject, failure, and on some occasions evil person, and they are all offered salvation, through…what?…the most violent and gruesome form of torturous death and through the blood!

Our freedom was won through great tribulation and war, as outlined for us in Revelation.  It talks about multitudes of angels and demons battling in heaven, great beasts out of the earth and sea, about the great dragon ready to devour Mary’s baby, and about the same dragon being defeated and hurled into hell! Also…it is just a poster, and I obviously do not believe that the Bible should be done over again. The images are meant to be an illustration of everything mentioned above. I am trying to make a statement, but it is simply satirical, to make a point, that if you want a good action story…

I know my books turn heads and raise eyebrows and I honestly am terrified of “making it big” or my books growing in popularity because of the controversy I know it will cause in Christian circles.  It’s still safe for right now, tucked away in my little pocket and only kind of out there on a small scale. But I’d love it to grow and spread and be celebrated and loved by everyone, and debated over.  But it scares me. On the other hand, I am also terrified of being discovered as being a Christian in the spotlight because of how the world does hate Christianity, but I should not be scared of the world and I think it’s time to try something different.  Something new, that breaks some rules but hopefully breaks down some walls and builds some bridges and opportunities. It’s time the Christian world put out something that people we claim to love have something real to relate to.  We have enough edification in our circles to keep us going, and more will be produced, but we need to put stuff out that actually impacts the world around us and doesn’t become a piece of the Christian clubhouse library.  Something that a real person would pick up off a shelf and want to read.

My books are about a bunch of regular, real people, unpolished and raw, and how they react to evil and the human condition and how they might react to the Bible unfolding in front of their eyes today!  I couldn’t write that story with safe language and clean content. These characters are dealing with deep and dark feelings, wrestling through profound situations and battling inner demons. When that happens, it’s not pleasant language and it’s not nice thoughts.  Anyone going through something hard will tell you that being holy isn’t the first thing on their mind while they’re going through it. I get it, and I know most Christian media is meant to shine as an example of how we should respond, an example of how it is possible to react differently, how biblical values should and can be applied to difficult situations, yes!  I get it…but there is also so much failure and heartache and beating of chests in between all the times we get it right.

In real life we often don’t respond the way we are supposed to, and the moment we don’t respond the way Kirk Cameron or Mr Whitaker does is usually when the outside world says our media is B.S., or we’re B.S., but that’s another topic…again, I don’t think Christian media does not have its place, but I want to put stuff out there for adults that is realistic, relatable, provocative, and impactful.  I’ve seen some Christian media outlets try to accomplish this but still fall short because you can tell by watching/reading/listening to it, that they’ve edited and censored the content to remain safe.

For anyone who is feeling conflicted about this style of writing, or worried that if you’d like to write unhinged, but feel like you’re somehow dishonouring God, don’t.  Even though I wrote a gritty, raw, unpolished story, I was very careful about how I wrote about God. The characters all make horrible decisions and they all fall and stumble and fail miserably as they go through the events, as we all do!  But I strictly used the scriptures and did my best to honour His character and emulate the love and patience and overall integrity of what I know, believe and adore about Him.  Everyone else?… I just wrote them as real people. How I observe everyone around me act and speak, and how I am a lot of the time, to be completely honest. here’s a scene in the books where the characters figure out who the Christ character is, and in their excitement they go, “Oh-ho”; and then they stop short, realizing they just swore in front of God, and apologize profusely, but the Christ character just patiently smirks and then the two of them share a vulnerable laugh about the whole situation.  

The world just needs to see that Christians are real people, and we’re not polished and carefully written, holy characters, or least that by writing something like this, it can show we are connected to the world and not removed from it; that we live in the real world with them and understand it, that we understand and can relate to the things that are hard, that we don’t believe things are a fairy tale and sit up on high horses, that we are in the trenches right along with them, that we are part of the grime and the grit that is life. That just like every other human, we are trying to find our way through the human condition and that we all commonly share one enemy of life and that we are all in this together! Not removed…because I guarantee if you ask anyone else what they think about Christians it’ll be all the opposite of everything above.

Going back to what I was saying about editing and censoring, I am not suggesting that we all have to let loose and write a rampage of foul language and gory content. We don’t have to go full tilt and write a Scorsese or Tarantino style book (although I do appreciate both filmmakers and their work).  All I’m really saying is, write real characters, facing real and raw situations. 

When they react to hurtful things or experience hardship, just write them real…think about how you would respond, before you stop and think of that popular 90s WWJD, think about how most normal human beings might feel, and then write that…make it real!  If the character has to say “damn”, let him say it. Let your characters fail miserably when they are challenged. Let your characters be weak.  Don’t edit everything out of your book because, “oh, that’s just not very Christian”. In my book, none of the characters are Christian so why would they do Christian things?  And if you’re writing Christian characters only in Christian settings and only acting Christian all the time, then your book is for the church, and that’s fine, but don’t expect anyone else to want to read it.  The thing is, we want people to enjoy our stories and we want them to impact people, but as soon as you lose your audience because your writing is too cheap then it’s too late, if they’ve even bought your book in the first place. People want to read something they can connect with and relate to. They want to read complex and flawed characters. You can still honour God and write imperfect people going through imperfect situations. Make the focus of your story, ultimately, redemption and salvation. Don’t curse or slander God’s character. 

Speaking of Quentin Tarantino, his Oscar-winning screenplay for Pulp Fiction goes down in history for being violent and chocked full of colourful language, and I’m neither condoning it or condemning it, but it’s a film all about gangsters and seedy people from the criminal underworld. On the surface, it may seem like an awful, nasty story, but if you can get past the language and some of the situations and Mr Tarantino himself has said this, the film is all about redemption. Every one of the characters is offered redemption, and even though it may not be spiritual, they are all offered a second chance.  There even is a large spiritual chunk when Samuel L. Jackson turns from a life of murder and crime and finds God.  And please don’t take that out of context. I’m not saying to look to Tarantino for theological purposes, but it just illustrates the point.  And sometimes we can just write, create or enjoy stories for what they are and not always have to be looking for the “Christian meaning”. It’s ok to like secular bands and enjoy secular movies.  I love the Avenger movies and all kinds of other movies without this whole, “what does this say about Christianity?” notion. Sometimes stories are just stories and entertainment. Write passionately, honestly and from the heart. Don’t take yourself too seriously that you miss the point.

Ryan has included an excerpt from the third novel in this trilogy, The Baptist: Revelation and his reason for including this: 

The following excerpt is taken out of the final instalment in my novel series. For context, the protagonist, John, has gone through the first two books trying to figure out the human condition and fix crime as a vigilante. He has fought and even killed in the name of good to reach this point in the story. Realizing that he was wrong in his methods, and after meeting the Christ character face-to-face, John is left feeling helpless to do anything about the grand scheme of evil itself in our world, besides some type of love in action. He had previously tried to convince his friends to join his fight, but at the time they didn’t understand things fully. At this point (and I’m not giving anything away, because most people know what happens to Jesus in the Bible) the Christ character has been killed and John is devastated. World War has broken out, and it’s pretty much the only option left, to go into the war-torn remnants of Washington D.C. and fight the devil himself and everyone who has chosen to side with him. John is still passionate enough to join the fight that’s now in front of them, but in this scene, he is arguing with his friend, where the roles have now reversed. I chose this scene because I think it reflects the gritty language and nature of the series, and it also highlights important points about sin, evil, choice, the human condition and how the world views these things. Enjoy!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Start of Excerpt ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ridley sighed a huge sigh and looked at me, his face full of nostalgia. 

“I can’t believe you’re here man.”  He said warmly and he thudded my chest twice with his fist.

 “Me!?”  I replied.  “What about you guys!?”  I went on, gesturing towards him and G.

G slapped his hand on my shoulder from beside me and I looked at him.  

“We’re all happy to see you, brother.”  He said with a smile.  “And we’re all very lucky to be alive.”

I sighed and lowered my head.  “That we are.”  I said with a nod and I looked back and forth at both of them.  

There was a pause in our conversation now.  After telling all our stories and catching up, we were left with this moment.  A moment that allowed the reality of our current situation to seep back into our brains.  We looked at each other and our smiles began to fade and our eyes grew dimmer and more serious.

Thinking about my history with both of these men, I had a moment within myself.

“I never thought it would go down like this.”  I said.  “To be honest I never really had a clue how this would all end.”

 “Well you wanted to fight evil, bro.”  G said.  “Now you can.”

  “What’s the play anyways?”  I asked Ridley.  “Do we know where Ranston is?”

 “We have scouts who came back from D.C.”  He answered.  “And our group shares information with other cities.”

 “Wait” I said, “other cities?”

 “Yah.  Baltimore isn’t the only city affected by this war, John.  This is international.  This is global.  Everyone has some stake in this thing, and we’re all fighting the Lung in our own way.  Other cities are cooperating with us, even joining us.  We’ve been gathering Intel from everywhere.”

“And where does Ranston play into all of this?”  I asked.

“He’s the ring leader, man.”  Ridley answered.  “The whole world saw that…”  Ridley grew a little grimmer.  “…the day The Stranger died.”  He said sadly.

G and I both lowered our heads in remembrance.

“When he went on TV and declared himself.”  Ridley went on.  “He’s facilitated The Lung coming to America.  He’s backed them all the way.  But he’s gone into hiding since that day.”

“Yah, cuz he’s scared of us!”  G cut in angrily.  

I looked over and saw the confident sneer on his face.  “Is he though?”  I asked.  “Is he really, G?”  

G’s brow furrowed and he cocked his head.  

“If he’s really who we’re saying he is” I went on, “he’s the opposite side of a supernatural mega-force.  I mean, c’mon guys!  Why would he be scared of us?”

“Because of The Stranger!”  G said.

Ridley suddenly grabbed his arm and G looked over at him.  Ridley was looking at G like a parent looks at their child when they want them to keep their mouth shut.

“The Stranger!?”  I asked.  “He’s dead, G!”  

G settled down and he and Ridley looked away from each other.

“I watched Him on a TV and you two were right there with Him!”  I was raising my voice now and I cut myself off, taking a deep sigh.  I looked at the ground to compose myself.

“Look, Rid,”  I said slowly, still looking at the ground.  Then I looked up to go on.  “I’m with ya’ either way man.  You know that.  I stood up in that crowd for you and I’m with you!  No one wants to see Ranston go down more than me.  I just wanna make sure we’re not underestimating him, or…I hate to say it, playing into his hands.”

G and Ridley looked at each other and then back at me.  

“What do you mean?”  Ridley asked me.

“I mean are we really doing this?”  I began.  “Going to war?!  With the devil himself!?  And all those people…everyone that he and The Lung have recruited to their cause…we’re just gonna go and slaughter them all?!”

“This is war, John,”  Ridley said.  “People are gonna die.”

I was suddenly reminded of the conversation I had with Laz in prison about this.  But I also remembered something else.

“I remember something The Stranger told me,”  I said.  “A word.  Influence.  We’re all victims of it.  Most of the people they’ve recruited…they’re probably scared shitless.  The Lung gave them a pretty grim ultimatum and that’s their influence—I mean…don’t get me wrong; I hate evil!  I started all this to stop evil, but…everything I did…everything I stood for in the beginning was to protect and save people who couldn’t protect themselves…including against a terrorist threat like this.”

 I could tell from Ridley’s face that he was annoyed with my statement.

“So what are you saying then?”  He asked.

“Have we considered all our options?”  I asked.  “Is there another way we can do this?”

Ridley’s face was all screwed up now as he listened to me.  “John, when did you become such a bleeding heart!?”  He demanded to know.  

I rolled my eyes and looked away.

“What do you want to do?”  He went on.  “Peace and love, is that it!?  Is this the new John Revele!?”

“Rid…”  I began to interject.

“Save it, man!”  He hollered.  “Why did you even stand up in that crowd!?”

“Because I love you, Rid!”  I yelled.  “Because you’re my boy!”  I added, taking a step closer to him.  “We’re still partners, man.  All of us.”  I said, looking to G too, who smirked.

“Love…”  Ridley scoffed.  “So that’s the answer then is it?”

 I stared at him with pleading eyes and a long moment passed before he said anything.  Then he slowly shook his head.

 “Nah…”  He began.  “I don’t buy it.  It’s too easy.  It’s dismissive!”

“Dismissive?  How can you say that love is dismissive, after everything The Stranger taught us!?”

“Does it not seem like the easy way out to you?  When faced with real problems and hard situations, to just say; ‘ah, don’t worry’.  Are you gonna tell me that in my lifetime I could have just walked up to a drug addict or a prostitute and told them; ‘Hey, there’s a God and He loves you! He’s got a plan!’  and, what…they would then say; ‘oh!  Really!?  Are you serious!?  Wow, thanks for telling me, let me stop doing drugs right now, that makes all the difference in the world!’  No…they would probably laugh in my face and tell me to go fuck myself!”

“No.”  I said.  “You can’t just tell them that!  I loved Maggie, Rid!  I loved her myself, when no one else would!  And that saved her!”

Behind this, Maggie heard our words and tears rolled down her cheeks.  Clare listened on intently as well.

“Your actions saved her, John!”  Ridley said.  

“My love in action!”

Ridley rolled his eyes.  “Right…”  He said.  “So are we gonna love the terrorist army to death!?  What would you have me do, man?  March this army over to D.C. to give them all a hug!?”

“Pah!”  I passed my hand in the air at him and turned my back.

“And they’ll just lay their guns down and surrender?”  He went on.  “You used a word, now let me use another word.  A big one, John…choice!”

I sighed with my back to him and that word pierced my heart.  I looked to the ceiling with anguish as my thoughts conflicted.

“Choice!”  Ridley repeated.  “All those men who’ve sided with Ranston made their choices.  And we’ve made ours!  We’re standing here, on this side of the line!”

I closed my eyes now, allowing his words to seep in and infect me.  I couldn’t argue with him anymore.

“This is my love in action!”  Ridley went on.  “I’m making sure that people are safe again!  I’m making sure that love survives rather than hate!  Rather than evil, John…C’mon man!”

My friend was pleading with me—begging.  

 I agreed with him, I really did…

I guess I just needed the right push to side with him.

The right influence, To make the right choice.

“That’s Babylon out there!”  Ridley shouted.

My eyes now opened and he had my attention.

“Babylon, the great evil empire!”  He continued.

I lowered my head back down and saw Clare standing across the room.  She was staring at me.  She had written to me about Babylon falling.  Ridley and I used to talk about Babylon in the police cruiser.

“The Babylon, John!”  He said.  “This is it!  We go!”

I began to turn back around to face him.  

“We crush it!”  He said.  “We crush Ranston!”  His voice cracked with a sudden onset of pain, and I watched him stop himself short.  Ridley took a moment to compose but the tears came too quickly for him to hide, and several fell out of his eyes.  “I should’ve been there for Him, John.”  He forced out.  

I faced him completely now and stared back as he spoke.

“He wouldn’t have died.”  Ridley said, his voice full of remorse.

I shook my head.  “You would’ve died with Him, Rid.”  I told him.

“Then I would’ve died honourably.”

 I lowered my head and sighed.  

 “John…”  He went on.  “I can’t do nothing!  Not again.  If we have the chance to end it…we have to take it don’t we?”

There was a long pause between us before he spoke again.

“Babylon…”  He said.  “It’s predestined to fall.  You read it yourself.”

 My face broke into a chuckle and I looked away.  After a moment I looked at him again and he was smiling too.

 “We can’t lose.”  He said.  

The three of us stood there for a good long while more.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ End of Excerpt ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ryan can be found at the following social media platforms: 

  Facebook: Renegades Creative  – Twitter –  Author website  –  Instagram  –  Pinterest 

For those who want to investigate more of this trilogy, Ryan has many videos and trailers about the characters, the novels and Ryan talking about its background. Click on the link below to be taken to his Video Gallery on his website: 

Book Trailers and Video Gallery

About Ryan David Gerard: 

My name is Ryan and I am a lifelong writer but first-time novelist. I am a husband and father of five, living in Ontario, Canada.

Though this is my first venture into the publishing world, I have always been a storyteller at heart. At a young age, I discovered my love of the movies and just had this urge to write stories and even produce my own movies with all my little buddies. It was just me and my imagination and a video camera back then.

All of my schooling background reflects creative arts in some way or another. I was accepted into the Visual Arts program in high school, which included sketching, painting and sculpting to name a few mediums. While going to school there, I became involved with the Audio/Visual team, which opened up a whole new medium of storytelling to me. It was the end of the nineties and going into the two-thousands which were spawning whole new technological advancements in amateur video production. Because of the opportunities that opened up in video production, I fell more in love with the type of medium and really started to focus my efforts in this field. It was fun! It was exciting! When I sat at the computer to either write my amateur scripts or edit a scene we had just filmed, it was sheer freedom! I could create whatever I wanted, despite what I was used to and what every English or Art teacher told me I couldn’t. English class for me, ironically enough (as an aspiring author), was one of those things that I wanted to like but just couldn’t. In theory, English was everything I wanted but I just found myself being bored. There were too many rules. Too many do’s and don’ts. In terms of storytelling, I always considered myself to be a little more unorthodox than the norm. If an artist can’t break the rules, just a little bit, then what’s the point of art?

So, after high school, I did two years of College in Saskatchewan. Without going into too much detail, it was a much-needed retreat away from my life in Ontario. While there, I studied video production and a little bit of sound design and music, though most of my time was spent sharpening my video skills. I met my wife there and we started our life together back in Ontario. We got married pretty quickly and a construction job was only a means to and ends for me. The plan was to work there for the time being, to pay the bills while I strove towards my goal of breaking into the film business. I even had several interviews down in the film district of Toronto at video production studios as an editor. Before I knew it five years had gone by and my dream was proving more and more difficult. The opportunity with my current job came around and with my wife and two daughters, a house and all that real-life stuff; I would have missed out on the incredible chance I had in front of me had I not taken it. I am thrilled that I accepted the offer, and I now work as a Special Constable, in law enforcement, for the city of Toronto. Not only is it a great and rewarding career, but it afforded me so much more valuable time with my family and also the means and time to start writing my story. The premise of it was something that was in my head from my teen years but I only then started to put pen to paper and begin creating this world of characters. I started writing in 2013 and actually finished the book’s first and very lengthy draft in 2014, which included three main sections or acts. Over the next few years until now, I was convinced to split the work into three separate novels and it has gone through extensive editing and revising on the advice and reads of other helpful people.

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