Interview with Jimmy Root, Author of Distant Thunder: Book One of the Lightning Chronicles

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.

Distant Thunder, Prophetic Fiction by Jimmy Root Jr.

In Distant Thunder: Book One of the Lightning Chronicles, the unthinkable has happened. Iranian terrorists are poised to strike the United States and Israel with tactical nuclear weapons. How will the world respond? More importantly, how will a sleepy suburban Church in America respond?

Ty Dempsey is a young American pastor who finds himself in a trial of grief after the loss of his younger brother to the war in Iraq. During his darkest hours, God brings to life a series of passages in the Bible that Ty had always considered allegorical in nature. They aren’t. With a strong sense of urgency that the message must be preached to his congregation, Ty dares to go beyond anything he has ever done before. Most of his people are intrigued, but others begin to stir trouble. The result is a church conflict that threatens to destroy his ministry. His only reprieve is found in a budding romance with talented and beautiful singer, Blake Sieler.

Meanwhile, Moshe Eldan is an Israeli F-16 “Lightning” pilot who is faithfully doing his duty to protect his increasingly beleaguered nation. But things have gotten more complicated than normal. Beyond the fact that Hizbollah fighters are administering their cyclical rocket attacks across the border of Lebanon, neighbor nations are beginning to act provocatively, even after a Palestinian State has been formed. Worse, his wife confronts him with a startling prophecy from the Bible that seems to be coming true ten thousand feet beneath his wings. Never one to be anything other than a secular Jew, Moshe is forced into a journey toward faith. Then, his Lightning jet is shot down by a Russian Mig 29, and things get suddenly complicated.

Strangely, these two men, from totally different backgrounds and cultures are connected in ways that can only be orchestrated by God. This fast plausible, paced thriller never stops moving, and the end will be shocking.

EXCERPT:

Tel-Abib, Babylon 568 B.C.

The old man kicked at a clump of dried grass, while he wiped away the sweat that was burning his eyes. Just standing in this heat weakened his spindly legs, and a scorching wind seared his lungs. It was the season when relentless summer winds sucked the life out of just about everything in this “Heart of Babylon,” greatest of all kingdoms, center of the universe.

“Bah,” spat Ezekiel, the crusty old prophet. “There is only one King who will lay claim, and it is not Nebuchadnezzar!”

He wasn’t concerned about his words falling on the ears of a stray Chaldean; he was already known by most as a lunatic. In reality, only a handful of his own people actually listened to him. Mostly, he was mocked as a babbling fool, and that only sharpened his frustration.

He was meandering along the eastern bank of the Chebar Canal, alone with his tortured thoughts and nagging regrets. So many hopes and dreams had been piled up like refuse in a trash heap, sometimes he wondered if there was any point in continuing what seemed to be a fruitless ministry. Worse, Ezekiel knew he was nearing his last breath. The reality that he would not see his beloved Jerusalem again weighed heavily upon him.

Stolen away from his homeland by the King of Babylon some thirty years earlier, the prophet had nearly forgotten the beauty and blessings of Judah. Only images remained. Some were pleasant ponderings; others were memories of shattered possibilities. But most glaring were the remembrances of a greater invasion of wickedness that had consumed his people.

He’d cried out fervently while still in Israel, trying to awaken the people to the abomination of it all. Few listened. Wretchedness had been unleashed upon the people, and it came from the iniquities of the people themselves. No matter how passionately he’d challenged the depravity, there seemed to be no power behind his words. None of his pronouncements carried the necessary weight to bring about change. His desire to call upon the conscience of his nation was simply not enough. So, with the heaviness that accompanied a sense of failure, Ezekiel had left prophetic utterance to the prophets, to the few who claimed to have the power.

It wasn’t until he’d settled in the hovel called Tel-abib, situated beside this dirty river, that he first began to feel an odd stirring in his belly. Strangely, it signaled the arrival of a power that would energize his words. It was also when his dreams began to turn dark. He was shown things he, to this day, could not comprehend.

His visions were so horrifyingly real that he’d developed a tremor in his hands, and a slight twitch had become noticeable under his eye. Whenever he shared the dreams and visions, the quaking and twitching became so prominent that people would either discount him as sick or denounce him as a fool. But the inner stirring only intensified until it became a raging storm.

He lifted his head and looked toward a setting sun smeared by distant dust-filled winds. Slowly, his thoughts turned to his once lovely Jerusalem, and it made him mourn. Worse, his wild visions concerned that once great city. Over the last few weeks his waking dreams had disturbed him so much that he’d hardly been able to stomach his food.

Whenever the trance fell, a huge valley would be stretched before him, a valley filled with nothing but dust, dry bones and armor. It was a place of defeat and death, where all flesh had been picked clean by vultures and jackals. Some great battle had been waged and an army had met complete annihilation.

With each repetition of the vision, the prophet would end up puzzled and confused. But the last few times, something different had happened. What seemed to have been a messenger from the Almighty had appeared beside him. The figure was beyond comprehension, yet exuding a sorrowful compassion for the lost people lying before him.

“What do you see, son of man? Describe it to me,” the bronze-hued, light shrouded being commanded.

Ezekiel’s knees were banging together like drums being played at a wedding feast. “I see bones, nothing but bones. Bones separated from one another and piled high. Swords, helms, bucklers, and shields,” Ezekiel answered weakly.

“Can these bones live again?” the being asked. “Can there be life in place of death?”

Ezekiel strained his eyes out over the valley looking for any sign of a survivor, any life at all. Not even a bird remained to pick at the bones. Everything was desolate. With a shrug and a sigh, he let the question stand for a moment. How does one give answer to such a majestic being, when words fall short of holiness and are shrouded in trepidation?

“You know, my Lord, you know,” was the prophet’s feeble reply.

“I tell you, son of man, these bones will live again.”

Suddenly, a swirling wind blew outward from the messenger and passed down the entire length of the valley. It was accompanied by bursts of lightning as it rolled forward in raw, creative power.

A clicking sound could be heard, something far beyond Ezekiel’s knocking knees. It was the sickly pop of bone reconnecting with bone. He looked toward the nearest pile of death and gasped as a soldier was swiftly reassembled, then another. He witnessed a torrent of bones flying as if they were looking for the correct skeleton to connect to. Then, sinew and tendon began to form in joints and spread rapidly over each body. Flesh appeared. Clothing followed it.

Armor flew into place on one lone soldier nearby. The new man took his place among the hundreds of companies who were being formed across the entire valley. Then, silence. The army was standing, living, breathing, and ready to march to war. Sweat poured down Ezekiel’s face as he turned to the messenger.



“I tell you, that which was dead will come to life. My wayward people were crushed under my discipline, but they shall be restored. Jacob shall live again, and my servant David shall be king. I will make a covenant of peace with them. I will be their God, and they will be my people. Then the whole world will see my sanctuary standing in their company forever.” Then the man was gone.

It was the same nearly every night for the last moon cycle. Ezekiel grunted as he thought of how he was getting to the point where he could repeat the words with each night’s visitation.

However, this last part of the vision needed a bit more consideration before he shared it. The people were already raising their eyebrows, no need to confirm his lunacy just yet.

Suddenly, the prophet felt himself driven to his knees by the weight of a massive hand. He was pushed mercilessly downward until his sunburned forehead touched the parched earth he’d been kicking moments before. Then a voice said,

“Son of man, set your face to the north, to Gog of the land of Magog, to the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him…”

You can listen to the Prologue and the first two chapters from Distant Thunder by visiting the author's website.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:


Jimmy Root Jr., has served as an ordained minister with the Assemblies of God since 1982, including service in Nebraska, Missouri, and a seven year term as a missionary in Colombia, South America. Jimmy is the lead Pastor of Family Worship Center of Smithville, a growing suburb of Kansas City, Missouri. Married to his wife Jean for twenty-nine years, the Roots have three grown children.

Root is a 1981 alumnus of Central Bible College of Springfield, Missouri where he majored in Biblical Studies and Pastoral Theology. He is also an alumnus of Southeastern University, Lakeland Florida, where he majored in Intercultural Studies.

A lifetime student of Biblical prophecy, Jimmy is also the Professor of Eschatology, The Study of End Times, for Berean University through the Northern Missouri District School of Ministry. He is a featured speaker at Churches and other venues, and is the host of “The Bible Uncensored” radio broadcast heard on radio stations around the country.

His writings, both in book form as well as his blog, are purposed to be a wake-up call to a sleepy American church that seems to be losing a truly Christian World View. Distant Thunder and its sequels, A Gathering Storm and Then Comes Lightning, will reveal to the adventure/thriller aficionado the reality of the coming fulfillment of Biblically prophesied events. You can visit his website at www.lightningchronicles.com or his blog at www.prophecyalert.blogspot.com. Connect with him on twitter at www.twitter.com/JimmyRootJr and Facebook at
www.facebook.com/jimmyrootjr.

Look for our interview with Jimmy Root Jr., coming later this month!