Joining us today is Pastor and author, Jimmy Root Jr. As a pastor, Jimmy wishes to be a Voice of Truth and to further the Cause of the Kingdom of Christ. Through his writing, he seeks to re-awaken an understanding of Biblical Prophecy through Distant Thunder and the Lightning Chronicles. We’ll talk to him about these topics and see what the future holds for his writing.
Welcome to The Book Connection, Jimmy. We’re thrilled to have you with us. Can you please begin by telling our readers a bit about yourself?
Thank you. It is a joy to be with you. Let me start by saying I’m as ordinary a guy as you’ll find. I was born and raised in the plains states of Kansas and Nebraska and hold to that easy-going lifestyle as tightly as I can. I am married to a wonderful woman named Jean, have three grown children, and have a Jack Russell terrorist to keep me humble. I am the lead Pastor of Family Worship Center, an Assemblies of God church in a suburb of Kansas City, Missouri, and have been an ordained minister since 1982. We have had the great privilege of serving for a seven-year stint as missionaries to the country of Colombia, South America, and have personally planted five different churches. Although I may sound like I’m getting old, I am only fifty and haven’t garnered too much attention from AARP.
When did you first receive your calling from God? How did this turn into your current ministry?
The first time I felt God tugging at me to pursue a call into full time ministry was when I was sixteen years old. It was during an intense, after-service prayer time and I could almost hear his voice. However, being the son of a long-time pastor, my response was a resounding ‘NO.’ I had witnessed some very negative actions directed at my parents and that turned me sour to entering any sort of ministry. So, I pursued and achieved a degree in computer programming. However, God is full of grace and never quits calling. When I was nineteen, I listened and obeyed. Needless to say, my degree in computer programming was obsolete the second the PC was invented. The ministry is never obsolete.
According to your website, a Christian pollster made some startling discoveries about “Born Again” believers. Can you share some of those discoveries and your opinion on why things are this way?
The George Barn Research Group, a Christian polling organization much like Gallup, conducted a nationwide poll of those who claim the born again experience. This makes up most of the Evangelical wing of Christianity in which a person understands and believes one must have a personal, transformational, experience with Jesus Christ.
In that series of polling, Barna uncovered something startling within the Evangelical community. He discovered that only nine percent of Evangelical, Born Again believers actually held a Biblical worldview. There are five basic doctrines that describe a Christian worldview. First, Jesus was miraculously born of a virgin. Second, Jesus lived a sinless life as the one and only Son of God. Third, that Jesus physically died and was raised from the dead. Fourth, that Jesus ascended to the Father and is the only way to heaven. Fifth, that Jesus will physically return to earth to rule and reign.
The stark reality is that more and more followers of Christ are accepting the lie that there may be more than one way to get to heaven. The fact is, you cannot believe in Jesus as your savior while believing that some other figure might also be held in that category.
When did you begin your Bible Uncensored radio broadcast?
I began the Bible Uncensored radio broadcast in April of this year, shortly after I came across the above mentioned statistics. It is one small way that I can hopefully have a voice in speaking the truth while demonstrating a great amount of grace.
What can listeners expect to learn from your radio show?
I have attempted to build a format that would be similar to sitting down with a cup of coffee and having a conversation. At times that comes in the form of an interview. I also use a Q&A styled conversation as well. The idea is not to preach, but to have a conversation in order to show that Truth is relevant, not relative. The listener can expect to learn from the Word of God and then have the tools to apply what they hear.
Let’s talk about Distant Thunder and the Lightning Chronicles. Where did you get the idea for this trilogy?
I am a life-long student of Bible prophecy. It is a passion. That forms the foundation of Distant Thunder and the entire Lightning Chronicles series. As you will surely remember, a series called Left Behind recently captured the imagination of millions. It was a fictional story dealing with a prophetic time called the Tribulation. That period is described in the Old Testament book of Daniel, and the New Testament book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ, commonly called the Revelation.
After having read that series, I felt someone needed to create a story that deals with life right up to that point. I believe in what is called the Rapture of the Church, a moment in the near future when Christ comes to snatch the church from the earth just before he pours out his judgment. As I do not believe the church will be around during the setting of the Left Behind series, I thought it appropriate to do something more relevant to where we are in current world events right now.
What is your goal for this trilogy? Why did you decide to write it?
My goal for the series is two-fold. First is to demonstrate that the Bible is more than a devotional book. A reader who has never had much to do with the Bible or Christianity can pick up Distant Thunder and enjoy a plausible, thrilling story, all while seeing that the prophecies found in the Bible are true. It will spur them on to discover that everything about the Bible is true, including God’s plan of salvation.
The second goal is to awaken a sleepy American church. I am afraid that most churches in America have lost their passion for the soon return of Christ. Knowing that the prophecies concerning his return revolve around the re-birth of the nation of Israel, I felt a new awareness of current prophetic fulfillment might restore some of the fervor and urgency that believers should have in the spiritual life.
The prologue for Distant Thunder—which readers can find on your website—begins in 568 B.C. and then moves forward to Russia in the summer of 1991. Tell us why you did this? Can readers expect more of this time change as they move through the novel?
This method of launching a story is certainly not new to me. One of my favorite authors is Clive Cussler. In his Dirk Pitt novels, he always begins with an historic event that will eventually form the plot. I felt something similar would work perfectly for a genre using Bible prophecy. Rather than quoting a verse I simply started the story with the prophet Ezekiel as he received the vision of the re-birth of Israel, as well as the coalition that will attack it. I continue this format in the prologue and epilogue of each of the three books. The reason I jumped to Russia was to bring current events into play.
How long did it take you to bring this book from the first draft to the final published product?
I began on a cold, blustery morning on December 2, 2007. Exactly two months later, on February 2nd of 2008, I had my first draft completed. It may sound as if I wrote non-stop during that time, but that is not the case. My primary function was, and remains pasturing a thriving church. However, I was so excited about what was flowing I simply used every spare moment to write. Oddly, I never designed the story as a trilogy. But as the pages kept pouring out, I realized I had way too much story for just one book.
Were there any special obstacles or challenges you faced during the publishing process?
The real challenge for a new, unknown author is actually finding a publisher. It is extremely difficult because of the cutthroat nature of publishing in today’s market. It seems to be mostly about money. For this reason many go the route of self-publishing. That was something I did not want to do. First, I didn’t have the money. Second, I had no clue in the area of marketing. So, I sent out approximately 250 query letters to publishers and agents. I am told that my experience was miraculous, because it only took four months to receive a contract for the first two books.
Pastor Tyler Dempsey and Israeli pilot Moshe Eldan are the main characters in Book One. What can you tell us about them? Will we see them in the other two books?
Pastor Ty is a young, single minster of a church located north of Kansas City, Missouri. His journey takes a terrible turn at the beginning of Distant Thunder as he stands over the grave of his younger brother. The young Marine was killed during a haphazard withdrawal from Iraq. As Ty goes through the process of grieving that loss, God begins to open his eyes to the relevance of several Old Testament prophecies as they compare to current events. His trouble really begins when he preaches those prophecies to his sleepy little church. It nearly costs him his ministry. However, Ty is vindicated by the horrible events that take place.
Moshe Eldan is an F-16 pilot. The Israeli’s call their version of that fighter jet the ‘Lightning,’ thus the formation of the chronicles. Moshe is a secular Jew. He is irreligious, meaning he believes their might be a God, but God is unconcerned about his creation. The last thing Moshe wants is to pursue any type of faith beyond the machine he flies. However, Moshe’s wife, Tasha, comes into contact with the Truth of scripture and her life is transformed. She then begins to share with her husband a series of Bible prophecies that perfectly describe what is happening beneath the wings of his fighter. He cannot help it. He is practically forced onto a journey to find faith.
I will not give any details, but Pastor Ty and Moshe Eldan are connected in strange and miraculous ways throughout Distant Thunder. Both form the main characters of the entire trilogy, with one or two more being introduced as the series progresses.
Where can readers purchase a copy of Distant Thunder?
Distant Thunder is set for national release on August 10, 2009. Ideally, it will be available at both Christian and secular bookstores. However, being a new book by an unknown author, you may have to ask. In fact, I encourage the reader to go to every bookstore they can find and ask for the book by name. That is one way a book gains popularity.
Distant Thunder can also be ordered directly from my website. There are three methods of payment from either myself or the publisher. If you order directly from me, I will sign the copy and mail it out within a day of receiving the order.
Where can readers find you online?
The Book website is www.lightningchronicles.com
My Ministry website is www.jimmyrootonline.com
I also have a blog built around prophecy and current events at www.prophecyalert.blogspot.com, and a blog to encourage budding authors at www.lightningchronicles.blogspot.com. People can also follow me on Twitter: http://twiter.com/jimmyrootjr/ and Facebook at http://facebook.com/jimmyrootjr.
What is up next for you? When can readers expect Book 2 to be available?
Book Two of the Lightning Chronicles, A Gathering Storm, is in the hands of the publisher and is in the editing process. I expect it to be available sometime in the late spring of 2010. In the meantime, I continue to write Book Three, Then Comes Lightning. After the Lightning Chronicles series is complete, I plan on developing a longer fictional series built strictly on the life of the Old Testament prophet, Daniel. In fact, Daniel makes an appearance in the Chronicles trilogy.
Would you like to share a little bit of what the next book is about?
A Gathering Storm picks up right where Distant Thunder ends. It is absolutely stunning in its pace and takes up the fictional span of only two days. In it, Ty Dempsey’s heroism begins to surface, and Moshe Eldan gets ever closer to a living faith in Yeshua Messiah (Jesus Christ). But the main conflict of the book is based on the prophecies of Ezekiel that describe a coalition of nations that will form to attack and destroy Israel. It is literally today’s current events being splayed out in a fictional story.
Is there anything else you would like to add?
I want to reiterate that Distant Thunder and its sequels are just stories. The prophecies behind the story are true and will find their fulfillment. That makes the book relevant to anyone who reads it.
Thanks for joining us today, Jimmy. This trilogy sounds exciting! I wish you much success.
Thank you, very much.
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