The Books that Move Me
What you read says a lot about you. Your hopes, your dreams, what you admire, what moves your heart and feeds your soul. I learned this recently at a writer’s workshop with James Rubart, author of award-winning novels like Soul’s Gate and Book of Days.
I learned, for instance, that I am drawn to books about rescuers. Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White has always been my all-time favorite. I must have read that book a hundred times before I was twelve. It’s about a spider that rescues a pig. Next on the list is Bless the Beasts and Children by Glenn Swarthout, about a group of misfit boys who escape from a summer camp to rescue some captive buffalo from being killed. (John Cotton, the leader of the group, was my first book crush.)
In high school, I discovered The Lord of the Rings, about a group of hobbits and a mysterious stranger who save Middle Earth from an evil overlord. In college, I was enthralled by the TV movie The Scarlet Pimpernel, about a wealthy Englishman who saves innocent people from the guillotine during the French Revolution, so I read the original novel by Baroness Orczy. I didn’t read C.S. Lewis’ iconic novel The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe until I was an adult, in which a lion named Aslan (a model for Jesus) saves a group of children from an evil witch, yet that book fired my imagination for the books I would end up writing, especially The Prince Warriors.
Do you see the pattern? My favorite books involve unlikely or reluctant heroes who step up to save others, whether or not they feel equipped for the job.
I realized then that all my own books were rescue stories. My first novel, Hammer of God, is about Charles Martel, the Frankish leader who rescued his kingdom from a massive Arab invasion. In Avalon, two of the main characters are lifeguards—rescuers. One of them goes on to rescue enslaved children in Antillia. In the Forlorn series, a girl and a rather unusual boy save people from demons and ultimately attempt to save the world.
Of course, the ultimate rescuer is Jesus Christ, who saved us all from eternal death. I feel like a lot of my characters, though human and flawed, are modeled after Jesus’ example of self-sacrifice, humility and love. “There is no greater love than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:13)
Jesus isn’t the only rescuer in the Bible, although he’s the only perfect one. Moses rescued the Israelites from slavery. Joshua rescued them from the Canaanites. David rescued his nation from the Philistines. Esther rescued the Jews from a holocaust. Boaz rescued Ruth. Noah rescued his family and a whole bunch of animals. Abraham rescued Lot. Samson, flawed as he was, rescued Israel from total assimilation into Philistine culture. I first became attracted to the Bible because of the stories about these heroes.
There are plenty of modern-day examples: those who risked their lives to shelter Jews during the Holocaust or help them escape. The brave men who fight child sex slavery and undertake sting operations to bring down traffickers. (The new movie Sound of Freedom starring Jim Caviezel is the true story of Tim Ballard, perhaps the best known of these rescuers. Jim Caviezel, you will remember, played Jesus in The Passion of the Christ.) Countless organizations like Mother Theresa’s Missionaries of Charity, who rescued “the poorest of the poor” from the slums of Calcutta. These are the unnamed, unsung heroes.
Many of them inspired the characters in my books. Trey Bennet’s story in Antillia was inspired by an undercover agent Daniel Walker, whose heroic efforts to save children from the sex trade in Thailand cost him dearly. He wrote a heartbreaking account of his experience in God in a Brothel: An Undercover Journey into Sex Trafficking and Rescue. I was also inspired by the testimonials of the people who work at International Justice Mission, a Christian organization dedicated to saving women and children trapped in slavery all over the world. You can watch some of their testimonials here.
Saved by Grace
I was attracted to writing about angels because they are rescuers. They are on mission from God to intercede for humans, bringing messages of comfort and hope, ministering aid, and sometimes even snacks—Elijah is a case in point. (1 Kings 19:5-8). God sent angels to drive the Canaanites out of the Promised Land, to shut the mouths of Daniel’s lions, to protect and reassure Jacob before his meeting with Esau, to guide Abraham’s servant on his journey to find a bride for Isaac, and even, sometimes, to bring judgment upon those who refuse to bend to God’s will.
Angels are warriors—that’s what “heavenly host” means. One of my favorite stories in the Bible is when Elisha confronts an army from Aram, sent to kill him.
'So the king sent horses and chariots there with a strong army. They came at night and surrounded the city. Elisha’s servant got up early and went out. He saw an army with horses and chariots surrounding the city. His servant said to Elisha, “Oh, no! Master, what will we do?” “Don’t be afraid,” Elisha said, “because there are more of us than there are of them.” Then Elisha prayed, “ LORD , please open his eyes that he may see.” Then the LORD opened the servant’s eyes, and he saw that the mountain was full of horses and fiery chariots surrounding Elisha. 2 Kings 6:14-17
On the Last Day, the angel armies will again appear, with Jesus at their head:
Then I saw heaven opened, and there was a white horse. Its rider was called Faithful and True, and he judges and makes war justly. His eyes were like a fiery flame, and on his head were many royal crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. He wore a robe dyed with blood, and his name was called the Word of God. Heaven’s armies, wearing fine linen that was white and pure, were following him on white horses. Revelation 19:11-14
Throughout the Forlorn series, angels have stepped in to rescue humans—always with instructions from God. You’re going to see even more angel battles in Forever, the last installment of the Forlorn series (hint hint) The battlefield will expand to encompass all of heaven and earth in the ultimate war for the soul of the world.
If you’re a writer, what’s the theme of your writing? If you’re a reader, which are your favorite books and why? I’d love to hear from you!
Gina Detwiler is the author of the award-winning Forlorn series and co-author with Priscilla Shirer of the best-selling The Prince Warriors series. She also wrote The Ultimate Bible Character Guide and The Ultimate Bible Character Devotional.
