Interviews
Josh McDowell Interview
Thursday, September 25th, 2008
Israel Wayne: Josh, you’ve become known as someone who promotes the concept of absolute truth, and many of our readers would already be familiar with many of your materials devoted to that subject. However, you’ve brought out a different dynamic in some of your newer materials, and that is the aspect of relationship. Can you explain to us why it is important to cultivate a relationship in the transmission of truth?
Josh McDowell: Well, there are many reasons. First of all, that’s how God created us. Science now shows (see Josh’s executive summary of the study by Dartmouth Medical School) that a baby’s brain from the time they are born, and this is amazing, is physically, biologically hard-wired to connect in relationships. I thought, come on, how can science…but then I thought, wait a minute, God created us. God says in Exodus 34:14 (NLT), “You shall worship no other gods, but only the LORD, for he is a God who is passionate about His relationship with you.” Then it makes sense that God would create us to desire to have a relationship and need a relationship with Him and others. So God created us for relationship. Second, God’s dimension, God’s program for truth is in the context of relationships. All truth is relational. Jesus said, “I am the Truth.” Most people have no idea what that meant.
What is truth? Webster defined it, “Truth is that which has fidelity to the original.” Fidelity means the same as “equal to.” So truth is that which is the “same as” or “equal to” the original. What does that mean? Let’s suppose that I say have a liter of water. You say, “No you don’t.” I say, “I do too.” You say, “You do not!” Now is my statement true and yours false, or is your statement true and mine false? We would catch a flight and fly to Paris, France. We’d go to the far out suburb where there’s the International Bureau of Weights and Measures, where they have all the original measurements in metrics. Linear, liquid, solids, everything. We would like my bottle, my liter of water, and we would compare it with the original. Remember, truth is that which has fidelity to the original, same as, equal to. If the water in my bottle equaled the original measurement of a liter then my statement is true. Why, there was fidelity to the original. But if there is a little more or less water then my statement was false. Why, because there was no fidelity to the original. Now, picture this, Jesus said, “I am the truth” in John 14. What did He mean by that? He meant that he had fidelity to the original, or Jesus said, “I am the same as, equal to, the original.” Who is the original? God the Father. It’s probably the boldest claim to deity that Jesus ever made. You see, Mohammed could never say that, Buddha couldn’t say that, no one. Only Jesus. Others say I have the truth, I teach the truth, I believe in truth. Jesus said, “I am the truth.” Why? Because “I am the same as the original, God the Father.”
Do you know why in that context he said, “Why do you say you do not know the Father, when you know me? For if you know me, you know the Father.” Why? Because “I am the same as, equal to the original.” He said, “Why do you say you believe in the Father, but you don’t believe in me? If you believe in me you’ll believe in the Father.” Why? Because “I am the same as, equal to, the Father, the Creator.” And it says there, “Why do you say you haven’t seen the Father?” Jesus said, “If you’ve seen me you’ve seen the Father.” Why? Because “I am the Truth.” This is why he said, “I am the visible representation of the invisible God.” Why? Because “I am the truth.” Christ is the truth. Why? Because he is the same as, equal to, the Father. Now that becomes our standard for everything. Why is lying wrong? Because God is truth. Why is hatred wrong? Because God is love. Let’s put it this way, why is lying wrong? Because there is no fidelity to the original. God is truth.
Jesus intended truth to be relational. He became man. God became man, as truth, and he related to people. So He has created us to understand truth in relationships. That if it is true, it will work. This is why I think the scripture is so dogmatic about relationships. For example, “I have been constantly aware of your unfailing love, and therefore I have lived according to the truth.” I’ll tell you this with homeschooling, just like everything else, but especially more in homeschooling, because they become the source of the very truth they teach, if those kids do not believe, in their hearts of hearts, “My dad and my mom loves me,” they will walk away. It’s the relationship that engenders the belief. I believe part of a Biblical worldview is relationships. If you don’t have relationships incorporated in there it’s not a Biblical worldview. It’s isolated, it separated. We’ve got to teach that all truth is relational. Therefore, no matter what part of our worldview, we’ve got to show that it’s relational. Like with the deity of Christ: what do I learn about the incarnation? Who I am. What do I learn about the resurrection? Where God wants to take me. What do I learn from the Scriptures? What God wants me to be like. All these scriptures are relational. God wants to show us what we need to be like, to relate to Him. Anyone who says, “I believe in a Biblical worldview” has to incorporate relationships in it. Where we are falling down today, and often in homeschooling, is where there is not that loving, intimate relationship. Now, I admire homeschooling. I think homeschooling and Christian schooling is the future of the Church. I don’t know how any kid can come up through all school: elementary, junior high, high school, going to a secular university and in the future really become a Christian leader, unless they had the most phenomenal parents and church. They won’t be able to. It’s too anti-Christian and secular oriented. It’s not public education, it’s secular education, it’s anti-Christian education. But so many of your homeschooling families come from a very narrow, fundamentalist perspective. Now I’m a fundamentalist, if by fundamentalist you mean you believe in the fundamentals of the faith. Yeah, the deity of Christ, the resurrection, the holy life, etc. Oh, I’m a hard-core fundamentalist when it comes to that, but not when it comes to the rules and regulations.
Here’s the principle, rules with relationships leads to rebellion. Truth, the truth of God’s word that we are so sold on in homeschooling…we want our kids to know truth, to be embedded in truth, truth to change their life. Truth without relationships leads to rejection. Relationships is part of God’s plan.
Israel Wayne: So just as Jesus modeled truth, as he discipled his followers, parents have the same responsibility. The children are to imitate them as they imitate Christ.
Josh McDowell: In John 13, Jesus says, “Imitate me, follow my example.” In 1 Thess. 1, it says, “Many of you are following our example,” and “Follow the example of those who follow Christ.” Oh yes! Especially today, if we don’t model that truth, they will reject it. There are two cultures now for the first time ever, and homeschoolers had better realize that. Kids do not process truth the way their parents do. Parents process truth through their minds and flow them through the scriptures. Kids process truth through their feelings, their emotions or relationships…called their experience. That’s why when a parent hears a true statement whether it’s the deity of Christ, the incarnation, the resurrection, or whatever, their mind is, “Well, if it’s true it will work.” For the kids, “If it works, it is true.” It’s totally different. For kids you create truth, for adults you discover truth. You can’t communicate the same way to them.
Adults see hypocrisy and say, “They’re not living the truth.” Kids see hypocrisy in their parents and say, “It’s not true.” That’s how the process. Wow! That’s devastating if parents don’t model that very truth. It’s very interesting that Dartmouth Medical School came out and said, you want to pass you values on, and you talk about homeschooling, then model that very truth.
Israel Wayne: What is the difference between belief and conviction?
Josh McDowell: It would be better to ask, “What is the difference between belief and faith?” You can believe something, and I think in the scriptures belief is the same as faith. In the scriptural belief, pisteuo, means not just to adhere to something intellectually, to know it. It means to adhere to it, to grab on, rely in. Probably the best description of that is the Amplified Bible, John 3:16, “For God so loved the world…that he who believes (adhered, relied in, grasped a-hold of). So true Biblical belief is what we see as faith. It is committing to that truth. I would say that when you commit to it, that’s when it becomes faith. It’s like, there could be a big gully here with a rickety bridge going across it, and I could say, “I believe that bridge will hold me. In fact, I know that bridge will hold me.” But that’s only belief. It becomes faith when I commit and walk across that bridge. Then I’m living by faith. It’s taking the belief and committing your life to it and living it out. The difference between belief and conviction is that belief basically in our mode, in our culture, not eastern culture, but in our culture, is to adhere to a set of cognitive facts or something. Conviction is to not only adhere to those facts but to know why you hold on to those facts, and to experience it. Faith is experiential. Faith means to live out what you believe. We need to lead our kids to a life of faith, not a life of belief. Because it goes one step further to experiencing that very faith. But here again, the parent can say all they want to the child, and it’s even more devastating in homeschooling if they don’t do it because they’re around that parent more, if that parent isn’t living by faith, with their money, everything, then those kids are going to walk away. That’s the downside of homeschooling.
Israel Wayne: Do you a message for homeschooling leaders?
Josh McDowell: If there is any hope (and this is just apart from spiritual things), if there is any hope for any morality in this country, the leaders are going to have to be homeschoolers. It’s going to have to be. They are not going to get it in public school. It’s going to be difficult in Christian schools. Now Christian schools are getting better and better. Thank God. They really are. If my son (Sean McDowell) has anything to do about it they’re going to get a lot better!
But I’m just thrilled that homeschoolers win the spelling bees and everything else…what a testimony. But there has got to be those relationships, or ultimately homeschooling will fail.
Visit Josh McDowell at www.Josh.org
To more info on Homeschooling, visit the Home School Digest magazine.
The Faith of America’s Presidents - interview with Daniel J. Mount
Saturday, September 6th, 2008
The Faith of America’s Presidents is a book written by Daniel J. Mount. Here is an exclusive interview with the author:
1. Can you explain the difference between a Christian, a Theist and a Deist?
I’d be happy to. In fact, that’s a good question to start with. When we discuss this topic, it is really easy to talk past one another unless we start out by defining our terms. In particular, there are several different definitions used for the term “Christian” in American culture. Properly used, the term denotes one who has accepted Christ as his Lord and Savior, and one who accepts the basic, foundational teachings of the Christian faith. However, the term is also used in our culture to denote one who attends a Christian church, at least on occasion, and would identify himself as a Christian instead of a Jew, Muslim, or Hindu. While I’d love to reclaim the term “Christian” to its proper meaning and use it without qualifier, in recognition of the inroads the second definition has made in our culture, at times in the book I use the term “orthodox Christian” in its place. When people ask if our earliest presidents were deists, they’re often working from a similarly careless definition of the term. While pop culture historians might use the term “deist” to signify anyone who was not an orthodox Christian during the 1700s and early 1800s, that view is erroneous. A deist is someone who believes that God set the universe in motion but left it by itself to run itself. A deist believes that there is no way to supersede the laws of nature, that all history was determined at Creation, and that humans are just a part of the clockwork of the universe. Under that definition, none of our early presidents was a deist. But while some were indeed orthodox Christians, others were not; to define these, we use a third term, “theist.” A theist is someone who believes that God created the universe and remains actively involved in it. All Christians are (or ought to be) theists, but not all theists are Christians.
2. Why do you think so many of the American presidents claim to be Christians, even when they were not openly religious in any way?
Whether or not the secular left likes to admit it, America was a Christian society. Enough Americans were Christians that it was expected that our elective leaders would be Christians.
3. Can you name a few presidents who were very vocal about professing faith in Christ?
James Buchanan, James Garfield, William McKinley, Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush.
4. Have any presidents made strong statements about the importance of faith in how men govern nations?
Yes. As one example, John Adams said in a 1798 national call to prayer:
As the safety and prosperity of nations ultimately and essentially depend on the protection and the blessing of Almighty God, and the national acknowledgment of this truth is not only an indispensable duty which the people owe to Him, but a duty whose natural influence is favorable to the promotion of that morality and piety without which social happiness can not exist nor the blessings of a free government be enjoyed; and as this duty, at all times incumbent, is so especially in seasons of difficulty or of danger, when existing or threatening calamities, the just judgments of God against prevalent iniquity, are a loud call to repentance and reformation; and as the United States of America are at present placed in a hazardous and afflictive situation by the unfriendly disposition, conduct, and demands of a foreign power, evinced by repeated refusals to receive our messengers of reconciliation and peace, by depredation on our commerce, and the infliction of injuries on very many of our fellow-citizens while engaged in their lawful business on the seas–under these considerations it has appeared to me that the duty of imploring the mercy and benediction of Heaven on our country demands at this time a special attention from its inhabitants.
5. Who are a couple of your favorite presidents? Why?
James Garfield—Garfield was the only preacher to become President. I admire his zeal for the Lord in his youth. He would preach at several churches every Sunday, and also preached at Disciples of Christ camp-meetings. Calvin Coolidge—You just have to admire someone who never used a word more than he had to and still managed to become president!
6. Do we have examples of presidents who became more committed to their faith once they were in the White House?
Two that come to mind are Abraham Lincoln and Dwight D. Eisenhower. Lincoln became more privately committed to the faith during his presidency. While it’s disputed whether he became a Christian before his death (I’m inclined to think he did), the pressure of the Civil War and the 1863 death of his son definitely caused him to draw closer to God. Eisenhower became more publicly committed to the faith. Though he did not want to join a church and make a public profession of faith in Christ during his presidential campaign, lest it was said he did it for political effect, he did it once he had won. He told Billy Graham that he believed America was a Christian nation and wanted a Christian leader.
7. When you wrote your book, what methods did you follow to make sure that you were being objective and not bringing a wrong bias to your writing?
I set myself a rule at the start: Tell the truth. It is easy to fall into the temptation to selectively present evidence to portray a president as more, or less, religious than he really was. Several previous books on the topic fall into this trap, in one direction or the other. I went back to original source material to the greatest extent possible, and read interpretations from liberal, conservative, and moderate perspectives in an attempt to present as balanced and accurate an account as possible.
8. Why is it important to know about the connection between faith and leaders in American history?
These forty-two men have shaped our history. Studying their faith gives a window into one of the biggest factors that shaped them. To give just two specific examples: William McKinley’s missionary zeal played into his expansionist policies, particularly in regard to the Philippines. Granted, I think his specific policy application may have been a little misplaced, as guns are rarely the most efficient method of spreading the Gospel, but I have to give him credit for good intentions. Another specific example is that the faith of Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush has shaped the pro-life positions they’ve taken on the abortion issue.
To order your copy of The Faith of America’s Presidents, visit: www.DanielMount.com
The Bravehearted Gospel
Saturday, August 23rd, 2008
I recently caught up with my friend Eric Ludy to talk with him about his new book, The Bravehearted Gospel.
In your book, The Bravehearted Gospel, you say that the current version of the gospel being presented in America has “lost the manly stuff.” What do you mean by that statement?
When you study Christian history and stand the church of ages past next to the anemic church of our day, it’s not hard to see that something has gone awry. As a group, we modern Christians are soft, mushy and lax. There seems to be a serious shortage of the majestic, intrepid, daring, just, and durable qualities the Church once possessed. The steel of a man is strangely lacking. Or, as I often say in my book, “the manly stuff is missing”.
For instance: Whatever happened to the idea of sacred honor; unvarnished nobility; and unwavering allegiance to a King? What happened to the quake-in-my-boots Fear of God; the lay-it-all-on-the-line commitment to the cause of Christ; and the die-if-I-must attitude toward defending truth and Scripture? Where did the radical abandon to seek and save the lost disappear to; or the once glorious idea of martyrdom? Or how about the burning need to stand against evil, to break the jaws of the wicked in order to ransom the oppressed, the orphaned, the widowed and the enslaved? Where is the holy boldness, the courage, and the daring needed to birth the Truth of Christ into this God-forsaking culture? What happened to the once noble idea of preaching with both authority and conviction? Where has the vanguard, the mighty men, the fiercely loyal regiment of King Jesus vanished to? Because we need them, and we need them now!
What do you feel are some of the greatest enemies of the true church today?
To be honest I think one of the greatest enemies we, as the church, are facing today, isn’t external, it’s an internal slumbering feline within our souls known as apathy. For some reason we have bought the notion that we are at a time of peace, when in fact, we are at a time of war.
I also believe that the church has been infiltrated with serious doctrinal error that has slowly, over time, whittled away our confidences in Scripture and ultimately dismantled our expectations of God building His church into a mighty company of “more than conquerors.”
And I believe that the modern Emergent Church movement poses one of the greatest threats to historic, Christ-centric, Spirit-empowered Christianity that the church may have ever seen.
How do young people fit in to The Bravehearted Gospel?
The church has literally lost an entire generation. Multitudes of youth group bred kids are abandoning the church when they leave home for college. The statistics are staggering, some as high as 8 in every 10.
Young people want something real and authentic, and unfortunately, they haven’t seen that in the church. But I believe that we are at a time in history where the nerve of longing has been exposed. There is a felt need within the younger ranks to leave dry and dusty religion in their wake and “emerge” into something different.
Of course, the Emergent Church is offering a “real” and “new” Christianity that is very effectively capturing the imagination and heart of this vast demographic. But the “Emergent Church”, whereas it is loaded with the irreverence, the worldly hip-ness, and the fleshly license that the younger crowd loves, it is absent the power of the Gospel to set free from sin. And whereas, this younger demographic is strongly antagonistic toward the traditional church system they grew up in, it’s important to note that they still are hungry for something that works. The bravehearted gospel isn’t “traditional” Christianity, it’s “historic, biblical” Christianity full of authenticity AND power. The key appeal to the notion of “bravehearted” Christianity is that it actually works in the human life and actually changes the world in which it lives.
I strongly believe that it will be young people that respond to The Bravehearted Gospel most heartily.
Tell us about your passion for reaching orphans with the love of Jesus.
My wife, Leslie, and I began to ask for something very specific from God nearly two years ago now. For close to twenty-two months we have asked over and over again every day that He would give us His heart – that we could feel what He is feeling and carry the burdens that He is carrying. He knows that we couldn’t possibly carry such a thing, but as a loving father, He has gently begun to acquaint us with his grief, his love, his compassion, and his indignity over injustice.
I tell you what – when I think of orphans it stirs me deeply. I remember talking with a missionary woman from Liberia and she was telling me about a young boy who was starving on the side of the road – with no one to help him, no one to feed him, no one to protect him.
That night I woke up in the middle of the night and the thought exploded in my mind, “what if that were Hudson (my son)?”
If that were Hudson I would move heaven and earth to come to his aid, and if I couldn’t come, I would call every single person I knew and beg them to take the first flight to Liberia to rescue him.
This is when God spoke to me and said, “Eric, that little boy is MY Hudson.”
Leslie and I have spent nearly fourteen years standing for issues of the Christian life (purity, holiness, and full-surrender), but we feel strongly that this next season is to be one dedicated to cause of the vulnerable. And this is, in its very essence, the Bravehearted Gospel. God’s not just speaking this message through us, He’s making sure it’s working in us.
Does the Bravehearted path have a place for women?
Absolutely! Just as I was always told growing up that I needed to get in touch with my feminine side, this book is a call to the church, both male and female, to get in touch with their manly side. The gusto and grit of true martyr-ready Christianity is not something merely for the men, it’s the stuff of Jesus Christ and should be drilled into the bedrock of every believing soul.
Some of the most powerful spiritual influences in my life have been women who walked the “bravehearted path.” Amy Carmichal, Gladys Ailward, Viba Perpetua, Sabina Wurmbrand, Elizabeth Fry – these were all women that didn’t prance through their Christian journey like ballerinas, but rather, marched it out as good soldiers of Jesus Christ. They didn’t forsake their femininity, but rather, allowed their femininity to be fully completed by the strength, boldness, courage, and fortitude of Christ. These were women that lived the Gospel with power, with victory, and with epic grandeur.
What are the most dangerous aspects of the Emergent Church movement?
The Emergent Movement is kind of like Jell-O. Try and nail it to the wall and it slips and slides away. And this is precisely one of its most dangerous aspects – it’s total lack of definition. In fact, obscurity and mystery is all part of its ethos.
The Emergent Movement really IS saying something clearly, but they throw in a thousand disclaimers to make sure that you don’t realize that they are saying something clearly. For instance, they constantly diminish the authority, integrity, and majesty of Scripture, but then after they do, they make a statement about how much they love Scripture. They cast doubt on the historic claims and beliefs of the Christian faith and then proceed to say things like, “Oh, don’t get me wrong, I believe in the virgin birth, I was just posing a few questions.” They make it clear that they believe Mormon, Muslims, and Buddhists can all go to heaven and then say, “However, I’m not a universalist.”
The Emergent Movement is laboring to re-define the entire idea of Christianity. It’s a Christianity defined as a result of cultural sensibilities and sensitivities and not as a result of the clearly defined revelation of God as given in the Bible.
It’s a wolf in a sheep’s costume. But not just any sheep costume – the most brilliant sheep costume I have ever seen.
These “emergent” guys are brilliant. They know what they are doing. And they are currently laboring inside the sheep pen of the church with hearty sanction from many pulpits.
In your book, you coin the phrase, “Wikibiblia.” What does that mean?
Wikipedia is the online world-wide phenomenon of Truth as defined by community. All the definitions on Wikipedia are given by everyday people and edited by everyday people. It’s the community that is responsible for keeping the definitions as presented accurate.
This concept is the essence of post-modernism – and it’s not bad in and of itself. For instance, it builds connectivity and engenders a deeper sense of commitment for all those involved in the project.
However, when post-modernism entered into the corridors of Christianity it carried this notion of “truth by committee” with it. This has led to what I refer to as “Wikibiblia,” or Truth as determined by community.
Biblical Truth is being manhandled these days by men and women who view it as “open ended” and “free for new interpretation.” However, the Truth as revealed in Scripture is not from men, to be critiqued by men, or to, God forbid, be edited by men. But this is exactly what is happening in our day and age.
Emergent writer, Rob Bell, makes a case for “re-imaging” Christianity in his best-selling book, “Velvet Elvis.” Without any holy apprehension he claims that it was God’s intent that we alter and adapt our understanding of Scripture in our modern age based on the opinion of community. Thus saying that though God may have expressly forbidden homosexuality in times past, in our day and age the community can overrule such an incorrect notion and free the church to accept a new morality. This is Wikibiblia, and this is one of the scariest things the church is facing today.
How did nice guy Eric Ludy, end up sounding like a sanctified, Christian version of a Viking warrior in this book?
God has been working on me. I told God a few years back that I wanted the “full package” and not the “partial package” of the Christ-life. So, for better of for worse (I’m convinced it’s for the better), I’ve found a lot more of the “manly stuff” of Christ emanating out of me. I used to be Mr. Nice Guy, and I still am in a lot of ways, but it’s sort of Mr. Nice Guy with a whip in hand now. I really used to really be uncomfortable with Martin Luther’s bombastic behavior during the reformation. I used to think to myself, “It seems to me that he could have handled this with a little more love and sensitivity”, and now, surprise, surprise – I’m feeling the same sort of indignity rushing through my bloodstream that he must have felt. I must admit that it is a bit uncomfortable allowing this politically incorrect stuff to find its way into my nature, voice, and disposition, however, the glory of Jesus Christ is at stake in our modern world and I can’t just sit back and remain silent as the Truth of the Gospel is falling in the streets.
Tell us about your current ministry in Colorado related to discipleship and community.
For years we have been asked to set up a discipleship project. There are countless young Christian men and women who want to go deeper, they want to troll the depths of Scripture and find the fullness of what Christ promised. Well, after turning people away for years saying, “We are so sorry, but we just aren’t set up to pull it off,” as of March of this year we have opened the door and said, “Okay, come on out!”
In many ways we are still figuring things out regarding structure, but all in all, it has been a fabulous thing. The depth of discipleship, the depth of teaching, and the vision for living is a great strength in what we are doing.
We are still small (less than a hundred), and in many ways that is preferable. However, I’m fairly confident that this community will really begin to grow in these next twelve months. It’s exciting, world-changing stuff, and it’s fun to be a part of it.
If you could, through the power of God, accomplish a handful of major goals in the next thirty years, what would they be?
I really ache over the vast number of orphans and street children in the world today. The latest numbers are showing near 145 million. That number is so big that we very easily cloud over and wave a dismissive hand within our souls. I would love to see that number evaporate in my lifetime. We will always have the poor and always have the orphan this side of heaven, however, I wish to move and mobilize the Body of Christ to practically become the hands and feet of our Heavenly Father to these precious ones.
I want to see the Church be the Church in this world. I want to see us once again threaten the powers of Hell and awaken the venom of the Evil one. I want alarms sounding in Hell without reprieve. I want to take back all that has been plundered from my King – I want souls, men and women captured by the power of the Gospel for the pleasure of my God.
I know it’s a lot to ask, but I want to see the Church of Jesus Christ once again bear the purity, the holiness, the love, and the epic grandeur of our Captain. Simply put, I want to see the Bravehearted Gospel of my King echo in the hearts of His people once again.
Max Elliot Anderson Interview
Thursday, October 4th, 2007I recently caught up with Max Elliot Anderson, one of todays leading authors of children’s adventure stories and a true pioneer in the Christian film industry. He was gracious enough to grant me an interview.
Q. I remember seeing the movie Pilgrim’s Progress in the secular theater when I was a young boy. I was probably six years old and it was one of the first movies I ever watched. I remember that seeing Christian’s burden roll away at the foot of the cross made a big impact on me spiritually. What was it like for you being involved in that movie?
There are so many impressions that flood my mind concerning the production of Pilgrim’s Progress. Of course, that film was released back in 1978 when I was a LOT younger. And it doesn’t help much to know you were only six when you first saw it. I have several photographs from the production and a DVD of the film.
I was one of two cinematographers on the project. That meant I shot a lot of the film. The overriding recollection I have is of the tremendous upheaval that was going on in Northern Ireland at the time, since most of the film was shot in and around Belfast. The locals referred to it as the “troubles” and it meant that Catholics and Protestants were virtually at war with each other.
I remember that at night, we never stopped at red lights, but sped through them until we reached our destination. And we tried not to be out at night much anyway. One of our local contacts drove us to a place where a car bomb had gone off the day before. He pointed to human flesh plastered on the brick wall of a large building.
On one afternoon, while filming in a remote area, something truly frightening happened. We used a generator to power a few small lights. Right in the middle of a scene I was shooting, those lights suddenly toppled over backwards. Immediately after that, several British soldiers came over the hill with weapons at the ready. They were quite relived to find a group of people who were making a Christian film. We had an interesting conversation, and they looked out for us for the rest of the time we were there.
Pilgrim’s Progress was the first feature film for a young, up-and-coming actor by the name of Liam Neeson. He has since gone on to star in dozens of Hollywood films including Schindler’s List, and Star Wars. I remember him as a pleasant person to work with. He had a great attitude and was willing to work hard. And I saw him, even way back then, as a great actor.
But the biggest thing I remember was the sequence we shot of the cross. We had an excellent makeup artist who did a fantastic job of making it look like gigantic spikes where nailed through the hands and feet. During one break in the filming, I got up and stood on the base of the cross. It was then that the full impact struck me of what Jesus had done for me, and I remember being extremely thankful at that moment.
Q. What was the Christian film industry like when your father, Ken Anderson, first got involved in making Christian movies?
When he first started, I was just a toddler. I used to hear him editing far into the night on film projects in our basement. There was no distribution back then, no VCR or DVD, so it was necessary for film companies to find whatever means they could in order to get the films circulated. Some of the people who did this called themselves film evangelists. They’d buy a projector, secure a few films, and head out on the road. Churches gave offerings, and some of that was shared with the production company.
Later, a network of distributors was established and this became worldwide. My dad was a true pioneer in Christian filmmaking, and it was delightful growing up around it. I like to tell people that I was killed, by a hit-and-run driver, while riding my bike, when I was 8 years old. But, because the film I was in was being shot in black and white, the blood coming out of my nose, mouth, and ear was from a bottle of chocolate syrup.
Q. What are your thoughts about the state of Christian films today? Are the trends in Christian filmmaking positive or negative?
I think Christian films are a bit invisible right now. I know they’re being made, and I know they’re being distributed, but I don’t see much of that activity. In my Dad’s era, most churches had a Sunday night service. It was common to show films at these, or even on Wednesday nights. Our biggest demand for rental films used to be on New Year’s Eve. I know that Fox is getting into Christian films, I’ve noticed some of the Left Behind movies, and some films show up on places like the Hallmark Channel, but I’m not sure where they find their audiences today.
It’s kind of interesting to me because, as I’ve been writing my action-adventures and mysteries, I’ve always seen them as films first, in my head, and not books. Who knows what might happen to them in the future?
Q. You obviously believe strongly in storytelling. How did your interest in writing develop?
In the beginning, I tried everything I could NOT to write. My father had been the author of over seventy books. I grew up hating to read. I couldn’t see why God seemed to be prompting me to start writing. In time, I came to understand that was exactly what He wanted me to do. I also understood how my life of work in visual communication, through film production, video programs, television, and commercials, prepared me for writing. My stories are very visual. One of the best reactions I’ve ever gotten is when kids tell me that reading one of my books is like being in, not watching, but being in an exciting or scary movie.
Q. What are the necessary ingredients for a good storyline?
The way I like to approach it is to ask, “Why would I want to read this story?” And as I’m writing, I keep in mind the reader at all times. When I finish a manuscript, I read it as if I’ve never seen it before, and try to actually become one of my readers. I also read the manuscript out loud.
For my books, the story needs real, believable characters. There has to be conflict. I incorporate a lot of dialog and humor with plenty of nearly heart-stopping action. There’s a pretty high fear factor in most of my stories with lots of excitement.
In addition, I try to include strong, human emotion. Often, when I read a finished manuscript for the first time, and as I try to do that as a reader and not the author, I find myself getting anxious at the right places. I’ve laughed right out loud at some of the dialog, and a couple of manuscripts have moved me to tears.
While I’m writing, I play mood appropriate music in the background. This increases my visualization of the scene. All of these elements, working together, seem to create a powerful storyline.
Q. Why have you targeted much of your book writing to boys?
As I said, I grew up hating to read. I first set out to write the kind of book that I would have enjoyed as a boy. In many ways, I’m writing books to satisfy myself as an adult reluctant reader. But in my research, I found that there weren’t as many books for boys as there were for girls.
I also speak in lots of schools. I always ask if there is anyone who doesn’t like to read. Several hands go up immediately and most of those are boys.
During my film production days, I learned a valuable lesson. We knew that girls would watch a boy’s story, but boys would not show the slightest interest in a girl’s story. I applied that principle to the books I write, focusing on boys first, and I’ve found that girls like the stories too.
There is a tremendous, untapped market for Christian adventures and mysteries for boys.
Q. In what ways have schools and publishers been ineffective in reaching “tweeners,” especially boys?
My daughter is a teacher in the Orlando area. We’ve had many discussions on this subject. There is a serious problem in working with boys. They are high energy and easily distracted. They’d rather do than read about it. Many are on medication because of what is perceived as hyperactivity, when all they need is material that interests them, and a lot of physical exercise.
I wouldn’t say that publishers have necessarily been ineffective. I think it comes down more to economics. Women buy books, and girls are our readers. End of story. I’ve had publishers tell me that they’ve tried books for boys in the past, but didn’t have much success. I believe there are definite, structural reason why those books didn’t work. These are elements that my books effectively address, but there isn’t enough time to cover it all in a short interview like this.
Q. If you can leave a legacy to the next generation, what would it be? In other words, how do you want to be remembered?
I’d like to leave the world a little better than how I found it. If I could have reached out to only one reluctant, boy reader, I will have been successful. If I can turn an entire generation of boys onto reading, that’s all I want out of the time I have left. Here is just one example of an email from a mom. I got it a week or so ago. If I knew that this was happening all across the country, then this is how I’d like to be remembered.
“Thank you so much for writing all the Tweener Press
Adventure series! My 9 year old son loves every book! We have them all!
The White Wolf was the first one he read. He was 8 and not a very good
reader at all. I had to coax him along by promising to read a few pages
to him after he struggled thru a couple of pages for me. This went on
through out the book. By the end of the book, he was reading faster and
with much more accuracy. He would accidentally read past his spot because
he was so captured by it. He read the Big Rig Rustlers next. He
couldn’t wait to get me to sit down with him to read together. He didn’t
want to stop at the end of each chapter. I love the way you write and
make us want to read on! By the third book, he didn’t wait on me
anymore! He was off in his room reading away all by himself! I feel
like I owe his success of reading to you. YOU
gave him the love of reading! “
NEWSPAPER CAPER, TERROR AT WOLF LAKE, NORTH WOODS POACHERS, MOUNTAIN CABIN MYSTERY, BIG RIG RUSTLERS, SECRET OF ABBOTT’S CAVE & LEGEND OF THE WHITE WOLF, are compared by readers and reviewers to Tom Sawyer, The Hardy Boys, Huck Finn, Nancy Drew, Tom Swift, Scooby-Doo, Lemony Snicket, and adventure author Jack London.
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