Good news makes us very happy. Sometimes ecstatically so. The Springboks lift the Webb Ellis World Cup rugby trophy. All over the country, fans celebrate uninhibitedly. They come out in their numbers to cheer the Boks who are bussed through their streets. A student passes his final year at university with distinction. Friends and family host a dinner in honour of their success. After a series of long and gruelling interviews for a new job, a woman hears that she is the successful candidate. So thrilled is she that she treats her friends and family to a special dinner. A man hears the good news that he cannot die. He praises God with all his heart and soul.
But wait! That’s impossible! Of course all people must die. But must they really? Not if they’ve repented of their sins and believed that Jesus has saved them so that they can be with Him for eternity.
The good news of God’s grace has prompted me, for over a decade, to devote all my attention to writing Christian fiction for all ages. As the Lord has given me the gift of writing, I feel highly motivated to try to share something about His message of salvation with my readers, no matter how young or old they may be. Some of my messages are more overt than others, but whatever the story, the motivation is the same: to try to share God’s love and grace with the world.
In my picture book for young children, The Rainbow Game, for example, where a small girl is eager to see a rainbow, when she does finally get her wish, she gets more than she bargained for: a lesson in God’s love, plus a link, through a child’s game, to the fruits of the Spirit. And in Trees Full of Treasure, I take my young readers on a treasure hunt to discover the true meaning of the gifts they receive at Christmas.
For teenage readers, The Golden Highway, the first book in my fantasy trilogy, explores the consequences of choosing the wide pathway which is full of temptations, rather than the rocky, narrow way which is full of hardships, but which ultimately leads to much more fulfilling rewards.
Much biblical research was necessary for me to equip me to write my adult, factional novel, Headlines in Heaven, which celebrated Jesus’ miracles. And for my two books, Mighty Master Plan and Significant Signposts and its sequel, One Day and Then and Now, I carefully re-read the bible from start to finish in order to give my readers and viewers (striking line drawings enhance the texts of both books) an overview of key themes in the bible.
In summary, the good news of God’s salvation has basically formed the core of all my Christian writing, even when my messages are not overt. My main motivation in writing Christian books is to honour God with the gifts he has given me and to share the good news with my readers.