Testimony

            I was wandering around in the dark, an unsaved high schooler. Although I grew up in a solid Christian home, the church denomination we were in was not so “faithful and true.” It seemed hell-bent to be hell-sent, denying absolute truth’s existence at every opportunity. It was a bit like trying to assemble your kid’s toys on Christmas morning after insisting you don’t need the directions. (I’ve tried it. Not smart.) This was in the 1970’s and as far as I can tell, things have gotten no better for that religious institution.

            But my parents were good and godly people. Their prayers surely saw me through. Heaven listened and glistened in my life when there was no personal reason to hope for that. Somehow, someway, that church I just criticized ironically enough, led me to salvation by means of a ministry outreach one weekend. Still, I left a couple years later in search of a deeper Christian experience with better teaching and preaching of the Bible. (Imagine my audacity.) Providentially, my parents and my younger brother, Greg, followed shortly thereafter. We found ourselves in a very good church, a very “faithful and true” denomination.

            Spiritually things got much better. Nonetheless, I floundered around for a couple years trying to get my career bearings. (Not sure I ever accomplished that goal. What should I be when I grow up?) I ended up attending a Bible College in Fort Wayne, Indiana. It was cleverly named, Fort Wayne Bible College.

            I recall four things about my experience at that small undergraduate school. First, the theological and biblical instruction were fantastic. Second, the music department tried hard, but was just too small for my purposes, which didn’t follow the traditional Bible College ministry preparation ideals at all. Third, the legalism was like nothing I had ever seen. Fourth, and most importantly, I met Carol, the woman I would marry. Other than getting saved, she is the greatest thing that has ever happened to me.

            Somewhere in this time period (probably as far back as Junior High; before the Authorities manifested the new truth- “Middle School”) I started reading a lot of fiction. Early on it was mostly Sci-Fi, especially Arthur C. Clarke. (2001 A Space Odyssey remains my all-time fave movie.) But in my college years I began reading the genius of Tolkien and Lewis. My life changed forever. I knew that someday I would write. Fiction would be my field and the truth of divine revelation would be the essence of my thought.  

            Meanwhile. I attended Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana, earning a Master’s Degree in music. It was an extraordinary experience. Both the positives and the negatives of my undergraduate school were counterbalanced to the extreme at I.U. I will leave you to analyze the implications of those polarities!

            Also in this time period, I was providentially blessed to discover Josh McDowell's Evidence that Demands a Verdict. This iconic book on Christian apologetics had a massive influence on me. McDowell’s brilliant and thoroughly reasonable defense of the Christian faith, along with C.S. Lewis masterpiece, Mere Christianity, launched me into a much more secure and logical faith. This was a profoundly deep blessing given that my work-life would be, almost without exception, in “the world.” Additionally, this provided me with a lifelong motivation to study apologetics and even teach apologetics classes on occasion.

            I have emphasized my college years here because they were very formative in my faith experience, having a deep impact on my ministry and my writing.

            Although I made a few starts on writing, it was not until I was around forty-five that Lost in Heaven began to become a reality. (When I was in sixth grade, I wrote a fifty-page book about a small-town high school basketball team in Indiana winning the state championship. You wouldn’t understand the passion unless you are a native Hoosier.)

            After finishing Lost in Heaven, I began the torturous and humiliating process of attempting to get published. I sent out about one hundred query letters to literary agents. (If you don’t know what a literary agent is, trust me, your life is much better in your ignorance.) One literary agent told me, “I just can’t imagine who would want to read your book.” (Golly, thanks!) Another agent said, “I don’t like books with long words.” (What a myopically degenerative incontrovertible  

sesquipedalianist.) Oh, yes, and another agent told me “You’re ugly." (Okay that is a lie. No one told me that, at least to my face.)

            Somewhere along the publishing way, I started to write the second book of the series, the follow-up to Lost in Heaven. The second book, The Dark Land, describes Adam Sane’s travels through a region of hell. The Dark Land has not yet been published, but it is completed. A third book, not a part of the Mysterious Redemption series, is more-or-less finished. This was cowritten with my brother, Greg, (who is much more intelligent and better looking than me) and is called The Redemption of Mann.