Yesterday I introduced you to My Stubborn Heart by Becky Wade. As you can tell from that post, I l-o-v-e-d the book. I’m thrilled to have Becky here today to share a bit more about the book and how she manages the balancing act there sometimes is in romance novels in the Christian market.
We’re giving away 2 signed copies of her book today, too, so check out the end of the post!
Welcome, Becky!
God & Romance Novels
I once heard a bestselling (general market) romance author make the following statement:
"I don't like God in a romance novel."
Well.
She was expressing a mindset that is, I think, shared by many secular romance readers across the nation. They want the love stories they buy to focus solely on the relationship between the hero and heroine. They worry that a subplot about faith will leach away the things they value most about the romance novel: drama, passion, longing, tension, and unapologetic emotion. And, perhaps, they also believe that a romance novel without graphic love scenes can't be as good.
I thought about and wrestled with all of these issues while writing My Stubborn Heart, my Christian contemporary romance.
I should tell you that I'm a die-hard romantic. I'm CRAZY about love stories, romantic plotlines on TV shows, chick flicks. All of it. When I started My Stubborn Heart, I knew I wanted to try to give my reader the kind of concentrated romantic storyline that I like best. I also knew that God had called me to write for the Christian market.
Every writer's voice is different. How exactly did He want me, Becky Wade, to find the balance between the two goals He'd placed on my heart? How to write a love story that would be powerful, intense, and also clean? How to keep the characters authentic in my modern day setting without letting them slip into preachiness or unrealistic perfection? How to integrate a faith story? Should I just weave in a hint of God? Or a large helping?
I felt my way to those answers with instinct and prayer as I progressed through the writing of My Stubborn Heart. God, the foremost expert on great loves, was gracious to help me every step of the way. He reassured me that, yes, romances can be heart-pounding and Christ-honoring at the same time. He helped me find a way to write about imperfect people by reminding me that we're all imperfect, just redeemed by a perfect God. He taught me that He could and would take a large role in my book, just as He deserves to take the largest role in my life. (And to my astonishment, as much as I like the high emotion scenes between my hero and heroine, it's the scenes in My Stubborn Heart that depict the characters encountering God that give this hopeless romantic goose bumps.)
By the time I'd finished the novel, I'd also discovered the kind of book God meant for me to write. I'd found the my own signature balance of love story/faith story. And one truth rang clear and true for me.
I like God in my romance novels. In fact, I love Him there.
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Becky Wade makes her home in Dallas, Texas with her husband, three children, and one adoring (and adored) cavalier spaniel. Her inspirational contemporary romance, My Stubborn Heart, has just been released by Bethany House.
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And now for the giveaway!
We have 2 copies of My Stubborn Heart that Becky has signed for us to giveaway today. For your chance to win a copy, just go to the comments section of today's post and tell us what city you live in. Yep, we're keeping it simple today.
Leave your comment by 8:00 p.m. central time today. We’ll randomly select 2 names to win a copy of the book.
And don't forget, LifeWay Christian Store's Fiction Days Event begins today! Do you have your 30% off coupon yet? If not, click here to get a copy. It's good today, Friday, Saturday, and Monday.
Back in the fall of last year, a lovely girl who works at Bethany House Publishers (shout out to Debra!) sent me an advanced copy of a novel that she said I really must read. About a month later, I tossed the book into my carry-on as I went on a trip. I read a good chunk of it on the way up there and knew within a few chapters that I was going to enjoy My Stubborn Heartby Becky Wade.
Kate Donovan is doing something that I’ve always wanted to do. She and her grandmother have traveled to Pennsylvania to restore the old house her grandmother grew up in (I’ve always wanted to restore an old house… not travel
to Pennsylvania, although I’m sure it’s a lovely state and it would make for quite an enjoyable visit). After she arrives in the small town, Kate is introduced to the guy who will be doing the renovations. And wouldn’t you know it, Matt Jarreau is, well, to use her grandmother’s description, “a hunk.” It doesn’t take long for Kate to realize that Matt is carrying around some type of grief that keeps him cut off from the world. A good looking guy who’s troubled. That’s always good to have in a story.
Matt is a hard worker but he prefers to do his job alone. Having a tall, gangly girl from Texas hanging around, always trying to have a conversation with him is not the way he likes to spend his work day. Between Kate asking to help him paint and her nice, but pushy grandmother always inviting him to stay for dinner, Matt is beginning to wonder why he took this restoration job. After his wife died of cancer, the Matt Jarreau that the world knew as a popular NHL hockey star ceased to exist. To the people of Redbud, he is just Matt, the quiet handyman, and that’s just fine with him.
Well, since this is a romance novel, it’s pretty safe to say that Kate and Matt develop a friendship that then blossoms into a little more (insert dreamy sigh here…). I’m pleased to report that it’s a realistic relationship, full of learning about each other, aggravating the tar out of each other, and having fun. Let’s face it, a lot of the story lines in Christian fiction are, well, not true to life (which is part of the fun of reading fiction, I guess!). So it’s a breath of fresh air for me when I read a novel like My Stubborn Heart. Thank you, Becky Wade!
There are several key themes in the book but one of the most overarching ones is that of listening for the Holy Spirit’s guidance. While Kate is fired up that a hunk of an ex-hockey player actually wants to be her, she continues to be plagued by one thought. What if Matt isn’t done with hockey? He didn’t go out like any professional player wants to: on his own terms. Instead, he walked away just as his star was beginning to shine. After his wife died he left the sport and crawled into the hole known as Redbud, PA. God keeps telling her that he needs to return to the sport he loved. But, does that mean Kate has to walk away from Matt in order for him to see God’s will for his life? Is God really asking her to give up what she wants more than anything?
So at about this point in the book, I’m back on a plane heading home. I’m sitting in my window seat crying. Not just silent, occasional tears. No, full blown tears are plummeting down my face. An all out ugly cry (come on, y’all have had those). I can only imagine what the chick in the seat next to me was thinking. I wasn’t the least bit offended when I saw her scoot ever so slightly to the other side of her seat.
As I was reading Kate’s back and forth conversation with the Lord about Matt and whether he was the guy for her at this time, I heard the Holy Spirit through the pages. I was coming home from a trip where I had been asking a lot of those same questions (not about an ex-NHL player, of course!). Like Kate, I had the nagging feeling that I was supposed to walk away from a potential relationship. I was fighting it because I was afraid that what God was asking me to give up would never cross my path again. Yes, Kate, I understand your pain!
I love how God can use a lot of things, even an advanced copy of a book that wasn’t to come out for another 6 months, to speak directly to me. The words that Becky had penned on those pages were written just for me sitting in that window seat. I knew what God was calling me to do and that was to relinquish my own desires and trust him for his greater purposes in my life. I did just that as I came to the end of the book and, of course, received the peace that only comes from the Lord when we’re obedient to him.
Why do I tell you all that? First, I want you to go buy My Stubborn Heart at your local LifeWay. But I also want to remind you that there are countless ways God can speak to you. Whether it’s through his word, the counsel of a friend, the creation around you, or yes, a romance novel, he wants to talk to you. Are you listening for his voice today?
My love fest over this book will continue tomorrow when Becky Wade is our guest blogger. Hope to see you then! Also, take a quick read through the first chapter of the book.
LifeWay's Fiction Days are coming!
Don’t forget! LifeWay’s Fiction Days Event start tomorrow! Click here for your 30% off coupon. And, if you pre-buy Karen Kingsbury’s next release, Coming Home, during this event, you’ll receive a $5 savings card good for a future visit to LifeWay. We’ll also have lots of authors signing in our store. Check out our line up to see if one will be near you this weekend!
Today we get to peek in on a recent chat between five women who love fiction. We have Colleen Coble, Diann Hunt, Denise Hunter, and Kristin Billerbeck who are the authors of the new romance novel Smittenalong with their editor at Thomas Nelson Publishers, Ami McConnell. Not only will you get to know these fun ladies a bit more but you’ll hear how the whole idea of Smitten came to be.
SMITTEN WITH FRIENDSHIP
How do four best-selling authors collaborate on a highly-interconnected novella collection? Very carefully. And it helps when you’re best friends.
Colleen Coble: The four of us are more than writing partners—we’re soul mates. Kristin and I met first. We were critique partners when we were first starting out . She lives in California—a thousand miles away—but we talked on the phone and via email all the time, connecting about fiction. It was amazing—somebody who loved writing and was dedicating her craft to God, just like I was! Then we met Denise who lives within an hour of me, which was such a blessing. To have her nearby was such a gift. Several years later I met Diann and knew she was the missing piece of our group. We are so close we can finish sentences for each other. Kristin and Di are the funny ones who have crazy things happen to them. Denise is the deep thinker who keeps us all organized. I’m the mom of the group and mother everyone within an inch of their lives. That first picture of us all together at the coffee shop is on my website: www.colleencoble.com. If you think we’ve aged, don’t tell us, okay?
Diann Hunt: I confess to pouting over the fact that the three of them had written a novella collection or two together before I came along. I mentioned it once—okay, maybe twice—I’ve never been good at math—that I wanted to do a collection with them. I never dreamed it would happen.
Denise Hunter: When we were approached about doing a collection, we were so excited. I mean, the chance to do what we love, with the people we love? What could be better?
Colleen: An editor we all knew asked us if we’d consider doing a historical collection. We had never worked together on a project before and Diann really wanted to try that. For Di’s sake, I asked Ami McConnell, my editor at Thomas Nelson, if we could do it (Denise and I had an exclusive contract and needed permission), but Ami wondered if we’d want to do something very different for Thomas Nelson instead. She went to Allen Arnold, our publisher and he was enthusiastic. I talked to the girls and we brainstormed several ideas that might make a novel in four parts, which is what this story really is.
Ami McConnell (Editor): I've worked with each of these authors on their individual, full-length novels, so I knew the wealth of talent they had for creating captivating, inspiring romances. That excited me. But I also knew firsthand about their dynamic as a friendship circle. I met Colleen, Kristin, Diann, and Denise at a writer's conference years ago in California. I wanted readers to experience the energy, the laughter, the intense feeling of knowing and being known that they share. If we could capture that feeling and let the reader feel it vicariously along with some terrific romances, I knew we'd have a hit.
Kristin Billerbeck: Writing can be such a lonely sport, and I missed the connection we’d had when working on earlier projects. We already work so well together brainstorming each other’s books, so to work together on one book, where the ideas are coming so fast and furious? It was simply pure joy. You can see us brainstorming and giggling at the SmittenVermont.com site.
Diann: Since we found one another, loneliness is no more! The first person I called when I found out I had lymphoma was Colleen, who then called the other girls. Did I mention that Colleen called me on my cell phone at the hospital—as I was being rolled down the hall on a gurney after a biopsy—to tell me one of my books had finaled in the ACFW Book of the Year Contest? Through the years we had laughed a lot together and when it was time to cry, we did that together too, especially when I was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. But laughter always follows us.
Denise: Especially when we visited you in the hospital, Di! And Colleen punched your morphine button when she thought she was calling the nurse. I tried to stop her. Really I did. But it was like one of those slow motion things where you’re shouting n-o-o and nothing is coming out.
Colleen: It was an honest mistake! You girls will never let me live it down.
Denise: Well, what do you expect when you drug our friend?
Diann: I went to sleep happy.
Kristin: What would we do without one another? There are days when I don’t know how I will make it through everything I have to do with four kids. The girls help me keep my sanity.
Colleen: And when Dave was diagnosed with prostate cancer this year, I cried on your shoulders. But you know what? I wouldn’t trade walking the valleys with my friends for anything. Anyone can have a friend who laughs over coffee. But how many of us are blessed with friends who stick “closer than a brother,” as scripture says, when the going gets tough?
Denise: I have to take Justin to college in a few weeks. My first little chick out of the nest. The girls know how I like to know exactly what’s going to happen. And this is outside my comfort zone. So get the DeBrand truffles ready, okay? I like the raspberry.
Diann: DeBrands? Did someone say DeBrands? You can do it, D. We’ll pray you through it. And get you DeBrands.
Ami: And I’m the fifth wheel, always, but you’ve taken me in—and it’s been a bonding year for sure. I’ve prayed for each of you and felt your prayers this year as I’ve navigated a hard road, a tough divorce. Trials for all of us—and so much grace! You all have such different personalities and they complement one another. How does that work in real life?
Kristin: You mean that whole Winnie the Pooh thing? Colleen blogged about it here: http://girlswriteout.blogspot.com/2010/11/plotting-of-smitten.html. We all laughed but she might be a little right. Though I will say Colleen is totally Tigger. Her cheerfulness can be positively annoying.
Denise: You said it; I didn’t.
Ami: So you sent in your ideas for a novella collection. Several, if I recall correctly. I’m a sucker for a good romance, so that was a given. Key for me was the setting. What setting would entice readers to settle in for four great romance stories? The notion of a small town—of knowing the names of the folks you pass on the street—that just makes me smile. When you all said “Vermont” I was swooning!
Diann: I remember when we heard from you that Smitten was your pick from the ideas list we’d sent in. There was a lot of whoohooo!-ing over email, and I’m certain a trip to DeBrand’s was mentioned.
Denise: That might’ve been me because I was pulling for Smitten. You can just see the joy in all our faces in that photo we took when we signed the contract (www.DeniseHunterBooks.com). The whole concept of Smitten excited us all. It’s about a town whose survival is threatened when their logging company closes. Then four friends devise a plan to turn Smitten, Vermont, into the country's premier honeymoon destination—and each finds a love of her own in the process.
Kristin: Why Vermont? We were looking for a setting that was highly romantic, but also remote enough where the idea of it being a “new” romantic destination spot worked. We also wanted to do a story for each season, so we needed a locale that had winter sports and summer recreation. Vermont just felt cozy and a fellow writer, Rick Acker, helped us brainstorm. His family owns a stand of trees in another state. So we liked the idea of a logging mill being abandoned and the townspeople rallying together to find new hope in their town. Community is so important to our book and to our friendship. Our image of an idyllic community naturally includes us together, something we can’t be with life going on around us. But when we are together, it’s like the image of community.
Denise: We knew these stories would be highly interconnected, with story threads running through the whole collection and with each of our heroines appearing in all four stories. I think it was Colleen who suggested we give our heroines our own basic personalities. We know each other well, so putting words in each others’ mouths would be a piece of cake.
Colleen: I knew I wanted to get to write about Kristin’s character, Julia, giving Natalie, my character, a pair of shoes. And how Diann’s character, Shelby, loves her small dog and dresses it up. And how Denise’s character, Reese, organizes her spices by alphabet. And okay, I admit I might have sprinkled a few other friends in there. Like Natalie was named for a certain editor friend at Thomas Nelson. And there is a certain Mrs. Deshler mentioned. . .
Denise: We’re not exactly like our characters though. My heroine Reese, for example, is an exercise nut. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m a walker and all, but I don’t jog, and I sure don’t jog up mountains or play one-on-one basketball in the middle of winter.
Diann: Well, since we’re being honest here, I’m not exactly as elegant as my heroine, Shelby. I know that comes as a shock to you all. But I DO have a creampuff dog. Take a peek at Latte on my website at www.diannhunt.com. Isn’t she adorable?
Colleen: In real life I hate conflict, so if I were really my character, I'd have asked Kristin's character to confront my hero, Carson. But for the sake of the story, my "Natalie" had to do that hard work! It worked well for her in the end...
Kristin: This book was so easy to write because we know each other so well. though In fact, we even had Colleen’s character saying the same thing in two of the stories. We simply know how the others will react. Colleen is comfortable being bossy (or the mother, depending on if you agree with her at that moment). She’s also incredible with setting, so her taking the first story allowed the rest of us to follow that lead. Denise is the organizer, so she cleaned up all the loose ends by taking the last story in winter. Diann seems to find it appropriate to listen to Christmas carols in July and I do believe she starts decorating her tree around October, so she got to do that in the story. I got spring – because I’ve lived in California all my life and have no idea what a real winter looks like.
One way I’m significantly different from my character, Julia, though, is that I can only take nature in small doses, and the idea of small-town living gives me hives. So I’m glad to live in Smitten with my girls, but ultimately, I love being able to walk to Korean, Indian, or Japanese restaurants any time I feel like it.
Ami: We should’ve had you take winter so you would have to do some research!
Denise: Like a trip to Indiana in February!
Diann: I loved how the community came together to save the town, and the faith of a little girl led the way. Our Heavenly Father is so creative that way. He surprises us with answers to our prayers in ways we hadn’t considered.
Denise: That is so true. I was praying hard when we finished our stories, and it was time to send them to the other girls. Yikes. Was I the only one who was nervous? I mean, they knew what they were getting when they signed me up, but we were in this together, and I didn’t want to let my pals down, you know?
Colleen: I think we were all a little nervous! Would this idea even work? But when I read through the entire story, I was struck by how our unique voices brought a distinct flavor to the whole. Smitten is just plain fun to read!
Denise: Colleen, our fearless leader, compiled the stories into one document and hit Send. Then we waited patiently to hear from Ami. We did not email each other seeking reassurance. We did not bite our nails to the quick. And we never, not even once, turned to chocolate for comfort.
Ami: The manuscript was everything I’d hoped for: four individually compelling novellas that read together as if it were a cohesive experience. And the vicarious experience of friendship in a small town was just so lovely and so real! I never wanted to leave Smitten.
Kristin: The editorial process, which I thought would be a nightmare, was incredibly easy. Ami and LB each gave us feedback and we simply made sure all our facts were straight and the characters/setting consistent.
Denise: In many ways, Smitten is a celebration of our friendship, a celebration of enduring love, and a celebration of God’s unexpected blessings, all wrapped up in one book. We hope our readers will feel part of that as they join us on a journey to a very special place called Smitten.
Back by popular demand today is Ruth Anderson, reviewer extraordinaire (in my humble opinion, anyway). Ruth is a fellow LifeWay gal that works in my office and she loves reading novels, talking about novels, and blogging about novels (check out her blog). Today she’s giving us her take on the new Christmas novel by Susan May Warren, Baby, It’s Cold Outside.
Welcome, Ruth!
When war claimed her only son Nelson, Dottie Morgan grew cold and brittle, the physical embodiment of the name of her hometown of Frost, Minnesota. Nelson had been her salvation, a sign of redemption and forgiveness for the youthful
folly that caused her to spurn her childhood sweetheart Gordy's declarations of love for adventure with a ne'er do well thug. With crushed dreams and a hopeless outlook, Dottie resigns herself to another isolated Christmas and a lonely future, sure that God and mankind has forgotten her -- but more than that, positive that she doesn't deserve to be found. But when a fast-moving snowstorm brings four lonely souls to her door for shelter, Dottie discovers that not only she stands in desperate need of a new beginning. Gordy hopes for one last chance to rekindle his romance with Dottie. Violet, a tomboy who understands cars better than men, served in the WAACs and now struggles to adjust to civilian life and her family's expectations. Jake, a handsome stranger newly-arrived in town, hopes for redemption and carries with him news that could destroy Violet's dreams. And Arnie, a lost and lonely boy, longs to be a hero for his single mother, their family bereft by his father's wartime death. Isolated in Dottie's Storm House, these five bruised and wounded near-strangers are forced to confront their deepest fears for a chance to grasp hold of the promise delivered to the world anew each Christmas -- hope birthed in a world craving a second chance at redemption.
Oh how I adored this book. Baby, It's Cold Outside is the perfect Christmas read, brimming with the warmth and nostalgia of the late 1940s, made all the richer by Warren's trademark and skillful handling of emotional issues that cut to the core of what it means to be a believer in a fallen world. This novel is saturated with hope and spiritual truths, capable of thawing the most jaded of hearts if you'll but crack open the door, much like Dottie does, and listen to the whispered promise that no matter where you're at, no matter the pain, God has not forsaken you. With Dottie as the centerpoint, Warren speaks strongly to the idea of what makes a family -- not just those one is related to by blood, but family forged by the fires of shared experiences and faith. It's a powerful reminder to not overlook or forsake those who are different or whom tragedy has set apart from the "norm." The flirtatious song from which the novel takes its title dually speaks to the sweet, heart-stopping romances that Warren spins on the page, and on a deeper level as an invitation to take shelter in God's never-failing promises of redemption and second chances.
I am admittedly biased towards novels centered around World War II and its aftermath -- the 1940s is a decade rich with history and change, heartbreak and hope. Warren is adept at bringing this generation to life, with characters that feel wholly authentic to the time period, but vibrant and relatable thanks to their struggles with hopes and heartaches that are timeless and define what it means to be human. It seems that the 1940s is where Warren really shines when writing historicals. She has a gift for sprinkling her narrative with little details that bring the time period to life, from descriptions of clothing and food to the music and expressions that bring the characters and the time period to sparkling life on the page. And setting the story during the 1949 holidays is a well-played stroke of genius -- enough time has passed for the reality of the war's aftermath to settle into the characters' lives, and on the cusp of a new decade's worth of promise, Warren posits a question for the principle players, and by extension the reader: will the tragedy and heartbreak of the past define one's future, or will one allow God to bring beauty and hope forth from the ash heaps of shattered dreams?
I have to briefly speak to Violet and Jake's blossoming romance, as since it begins with letters it is one of my favorite storylines in the novel. With echoes of You've Got Mail (perhaps a more apt comparison would be In the Good Old Summertime, the musical remake of The Shop Around the Corner that released in 1949), Violet and Jake fell in love through letters, where the worst hurts of their wartime experiences were laid bare (only Warren adds the delicious twist of "stolen" identities). In the Storm House, they're faced with the choice -- is the hope of love worth the risk of possible rejection? The risk of being truly known? Warren writes some of the best, most sizzling romances in the business. The tension between Jake and Violet sends sparks off the page, and Jake's quiet heroism and vulnerability will melt your heart -- Warren's outdone herself with this hero. :)
More than a passing seasonal treat, Baby, It's Cold Outside is a novel saturated with rich spiritual truths and overflowing with the beauty of grace. Warren's novels never seem to fail to meet me where I'm at and encourage me when I need it most. The characters within this novel's pages are so heart-breakingly authentic, so fully-realized on the page they'll become your friends, and if you're like me you'll be loathe to finish the book's final pages. Warren's story will weave its way into your heart, leaving you warm with its gorgeously rendered illustration of the meaning of Christmas -- redemption for a fallen world, hope to broken souls. Like so many of Warren's books, this one is a gift to treasure.
Thanks, Ruth! You can check out of the first chapter to Baby, It's Cold Outside to get a taste of the novel for yourself.
With the high gas prices taking a significant chunk out of wallets and keeping us at home more this summer, some of you might be feeling a little restless. You want to get out, explore new places, and see interesting sights but it’s just not in the budget this year. While I know it’s not the same, how about traveling to unique towns through a good book instead?
Summerside Press has a successful series of novels called The Love Finds You Series. If you enjoy a great historical romance or one set in modern times, you are sure to find one to capture your interest. What makes this series distinctive is that they choose quirky and unique towns to set their stories in. Some of the locations you’ve no doubt heard of, such as Hershey, Prince Edward Island, or Carmel-by-the-Sea. Other novel settings are in places that only the locals know of such as Valentine, Lonesome Prairie, Calico, and Sugar Creek. Here’s what Summerside Press says about The Love Finds You Series:
At Summerside Press, we feel fortunate to live in a country full of towns and cities with great names and colorful histories. For that reason, we’ve published a series of novels that capture the flavor of those towns and we dream up stories about the people who live and love there.
Each novel in the series draws on the compelling history or the unique character of a real place. The stories center on romances kindled in small towns, lost and found again on the high plains, or newly discovered and exciting vacation getaways.
So, if you’re stuck at home this summer, pick up a couple of these novels and make an escape to one of these towns. Oh, and the best part of this series? The price… $12.99. It’s hard to beat that for a novel these days! You can plan out your "road trip" by checking out the map below... it pin points where the novels are set.
Here are some of the newest titles that have released in the series…
It is the dawn of a new century and Olivia Stewart is heiress to an empire. Her family numbers among the Four Hundred - those considered the wealthiest and most distinguished in America. Unfortunately their wealth has nearly disappeared, and now their security rests upon the Stewart daughters' marrying well.
Olivia's sister, Eleanor, was engaged to Harrison Bennett, one of the nation's wealthiest men, but has since died. Now the pressure is on Olivia to take her place, despite her suspicions about Eleanor's fiance. Using her family's long-forgotten English title, Olivia travels to Mercy Falls, California, as Lady Devonworth, hoping to learn more before committing to marriage. There she finds that Eleanor's death was no accident. And Harrison is not the man she thought he would be.
When Mercy Falls holds a charity ball masquerade to raise funds for the new lighthouse, secrets - and truths long hidden - will be revealed. But can Harrison really love Olivia when he finds her true identity? Can she live with the repercussions of failing her family, or will she finally realize that nothing - not money, family, or romance - will ever compare to God's unconditional love?
Check out the first chapter to The Lightkeeper's Ball. Need to catch up on the series a bit? Check out a past post on The Lightkeeper's Bride. Don't worry, these books stand by themselves very well so you don't need to read the previous ones to enjoy The Lightkeeper's Ball.
We're doing a special giveaway starting tomorrow related to Colleen's new book. Be sure to stop back by!
I felt like a middle school gym teacher running a basketball clinic for the Boston Celtics.
“How many of you have been persecuted for you faith?” I asked.
Hands shot up all over the room. These pastors had been beaten, thrown in jail, and had their houses burned down. And they had asked me, a guy who serves as a pastor for a church a half-mile from the Ocean in Virginia Beach, Virginia, to talk to them about persecution. What could I teach them?
I did have one asset. I was a lawyer as well as a pastor. So I knew how to ask questions.
“You there, in the back. Please state your name and tell us your story. How did God show himself strong for you?”
The man stood reluctantly, as if he didn’t deserve to be speaking to such an august group. He was thin, bookish and frail-looking. He talked haltingly, through an interpreter, but eventually lost himself in the story and became more animated. His church had been growing. He had been thrown into prison, accused of violating the anti-conversion laws. He had been beaten and abused. He prayed every day for his main tormentor, a man who mocked the pastor’s faith.
One day, this man challenged the pastor: “If your faith is real, your God could heal my back.”
The pastor prayed for the man who had been tormenting him. His back was healed. Many conversions followed.
“Praise God that He counted me worthy to suffer for him,” the pastor said.
The pastors’ conference was in a large city in India. The world’s largest democracy. A country where the church is exploding with converts and miracles. But also, the vortex of one of the greatest human rights struggles of our generation.
Last year, I decided to rewrite one of my favorite books—False Witness—so that I could weave in glimpses of the story of the church in India. I did this because most western Christians are unaware of the persecution happening there. I also did it because the church in India needs our help.
India is a land with two faces. To the outside world, there is “shining India” – the world’s largest democracy, a growing economic force, and a land with admirable civil rights laws. But for the hundreds of millions of Indians in the lower castes, and for a large segment of the Christian church, there is a darker side to India. Anti-conversion laws are used to imprison pastors. Some radical Hindu groups intimidate and abuse Christians and Dalits (formerly known as Untouchables) often without any repercussions from the government. For the 165 million members of India’s lowest caste, India is a land of civil rights in theory but oppression in fact. Human trafficking in all of its barbaric forms is rampant and equal enforcement of the laws is still a dream.
During my first trip to India a few years ago, I saw first-hand the systemic oppression of the Dalits through the Hindu caste system. I was astonished by the fact that the world’s largest democracy was also the breeding ground for the world’s largest human trafficking operations, that it would allow the exploitation of 15 million children in bonded labor, that it would tolerate temple prostitution and other forms of sexual slavery, and that it would foster economic and social systems that oppress nearly 25% of its people.
But for the people of God, there is a silver lining. After being silent for too long, the Christian church has stepped up its advocacy for the Dalits. Thousands of schools have been built, providing Dalit children with an English-based education (critical to landing good jobs) and newfound self-respect. A church planting movement has exploded. The result is that millions of Dalits and other Indians are coming to Christ, drawn by his love for them and a religion that believes the ground is equal at the foot of the cross.
What can we do to help? For starters, I’m donating every penny from the sale of False Witness to two ministries: the Dalit Freedom Network (www.dalitnetwork.org), which helps Dalit children obtain a quality education, and Dayspring International (www.dayspringinternational.org), which starts churches and takes the Gospel to the remote areas of India. In addition, I’m committed to personally serving the pastors and Christian leaders who are on the front lines of this great Gospel movement in their country.
While I was in India, one of the Christian leaders explained to me that it takes two generations to abolish systemic slavery or oppression. The first generation gains legal freedom through the courts and the legislative process. Much of this has already been done. But it takes a second generation to really grasp the mindset of freedom and equality.
“It is,” the leader said, “the struggle for the soul of a civilization.”
Would you consider helping in that struggle?
“If you hold to my teaching, you are truly my disciples. Then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.” John 8:31-32.
Today's review comes from Cindy Stewart, the manager of the LifeWay Christian Store in Baltimore, Maryland. She's a huge fiction reader and a great gal to know. If you are ever in the Baltimore area, be sure to pop in and say hello to her and the great staff at her store.
Welcome Cindy!
Katie McKenna leads a perfect life. Or so she thinks. She has a fulfilling job, a cute apartment, and a wedding to plan with her soon-to-be fiancé, Dexter. She can name a billion reasons why she should marry Dexter. He’s everything she’s ever said she wanted.
Katie thought her predictable relationship with Dexter would be the bedrock of a lasting, Christian marriage. But what if there’s more? What if God’s desire for her is a heart full of life? And what if that’s what Luc has offered all along?
Kristin Billerbeck once again develops a charming story with characters that are real, unpredictable and often times pretty sassy in A Billion Reasons Why. The lead character, Katie McKenna, finds herself torn between the safe, predictable life she plans to lead with Dexter and the unpredictable, whirlwind of a former romance with Luc that she thought was destined to remain in her past.The bulk of this story takes place in New Orleans and Ms. Billerbeck does well to set the stage and make you see the sights and understand the culture of the city as you follow the characters through their story. As with her previous Spa Girls books, she creates characters who challenge and amuse with their witty responses and lively interactions. Billerbeck once again delivers a fun, contemporary romance sure to make you smile and warm your heart at the same time.
We had snow here in Nashville on Sunday! It didn't stick... or even collect in the cracks on the sidewalk. Okay, it wasn't Minnesota or anything but I loved seeing it however brief it was. It helped to get me in the Christmas spirit just a little bit more.
Today's first chapter comes from one of the new Christmas novels we had release this year. I'll Be Home for Christmasby Julie Cannon is a great read for anyone who enjoys historical romance novels.
It's Christmastime 1944 and Maggie Culpepper finds herself far from home and those she holds dear. With the U.S. at war and Maggie's heart reeling from the death of her saintly mother, she had impulsively stumbled into a recruiting center and enlisted in the U.S. Navy WAVES. Anger at God and fear of the out-of-control feelings that accompany love caused her to run from the marriage proposal of William Dove, her boyfriend and longtime neighbor.
Though a childhood bout with polio left William physically unfit for military service, he wages an all-out battle to recapture Maggie's heart. Will Maggie ever be able to open her heart to love again... and find her way home for Christmas?
