Meet and Greet Monday: Joseph Bentz

Book Giveaway!
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(Limited to those with mailing addresses within the United States or Canada.)
 

Joseph Bentz is the author of four novels and three non-fiction books. In March, 2010, Beacon Hill Press is scheduled to release God in Pursuit: The Tipping Points from Doubt to Faith. Other recent releases include the contemporary novel A Son Comes Home (Randall House, 2007) and the non-fiction Christian living book, Silent God: Finding Him When You Can't Hear His Voice (Beacon Hill Press, 2007). His other books include contemporary novels published by Bethany House and a fantasy novel, Song of Fire, published by Thomas Nelson. Some of his books have been chosen for the Guideposts and Crossings book clubs and have received various honors. Bentz is a professor of English at Azusa Pacific University in Southern California, where he teaches courses in American literature and writing. He earned a Ph.D. and M.A. in American literature from Purdue University, and he graduated with a B.A. in English from Olivet Nazarene University. He and his wife Peggy and their two children live in Southern California. More information about his books and speaking is available at his website, www.josephbentz.com. 

BRC: How would you describe your new release?

             My newest book, God in Pursuit: The Tipping Points from Doubt to Faith, identifies and celebrates the sparks that allow faith to catch fire in the lives of new believers who were once hostile or indifferent to God. It also examines the ways those tipping points operate throughout the Christian life as people confront spiritual crises or grapple with questions that did not arise at the time of conversion.

              What is the turning point that causes a curious journalist and atheist to walk into a church and be converted the first time she takes communion? At what point is a lifelong atheist and head of one of the greatest scientific breakthroughs of the twentieth century persuaded to turn to Christ? What leads a woman who has a Mafia contract on her life and who appeared on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted list to become a Christian in prison and then start a national outreach ministry that has touched the lives of thousands of children? I look at these and many other conversion stories to find the patterns that allow people to move from disbelief to faith. 

BRC: What message do you hope your book conveys?

               This book shows how God is monumentally unsettling in people’s lives, not only at the time of conversion, but throughout the Christian journey. In addition to the tipping points themselves, the book touches on concepts such as “foreshadowing,” the idea that even though a conversion to Christ may look “sudden,” it is usually preceded by clues—people and books and experiences and other details—that have prepared people for the day when God arrives. Another element that surfaces in many faith stories is “kairos,” or “loaded time,” a period of time separated from all the ordinary moments of life when a person is particularly awake to the presence of the Holy Spirit. The person may have heard the Christian message a thousand times, yet it never penetrated. But during this “loaded time,” God seems particularly close, and the truth of the Gospel burns inside of the person as never before.

             God in Pursuit reveals a Father who does not sit and wait for his children to search him out. Instead, even before they realize they’re looking for him, he is already busy laying clues, preparing people to hear him, loving them into His presence.

BRC: What did you enjoy most about writing this book?

              Doing the research for this book was inspiring because I got to talk to so many people about their conversion stories and probe the influences that helped them move into faith in Jesus Christ. I also read dozens of spiritual memoirs from Christians over the centuries and in our own day to see how they describe their movement toward God—or his movement toward them. My favorite stories were those of reluctant converts, people who never intended to become Christians but who found themselves pursued by God and following him in spite of their earlier intentions.

BRC: What did you dislike most about writing this book?

              The hardest part about writing this book was trying not to get overwhelmed by all the research. I would get so caught up in someone’s memoir or in some book about conversion that the hours would slip away before I realized, hey, I need to figure out whether any of this is relevant for my book. Even if I had never written anything, the research itself would have been worth doing for my own spiritual growth.

BRC: What inspired you to become a writer?

              From a young age, I loved to write stories, and I also liked to read. With some of the early books I read, I felt such a strong connection with the author that I thought writing a book and having that relationship with a reader would be one of the greatest privileges imaginable. My first four books were novels, and then I got some ideas for some non-fiction books, so my most recent three books have been books on Christian living.

BRC: Tell us about your writing process.

              My writing process is a little different for each book. When I’m writing a novel, I start with a period I call the “play stage,” when I write disconnected scenes and snippets of dialogue and other details of the story as they emerge in my mind. I don’t write the story in order, but I follow the scenes that play like little movie clips in my head. Once I have a few hundred pages of those fragments, I come up with a rough outline and then start to write the book from page one.

              With a non-fiction book, the process is much different. The “play stage” is replaced by a time of brainstorming, note-taking, and research. With God in Pursuit, I didn’t want to draw conclusions before I let the tipping points from doubt to faith emerge from the stories themselves. So I listened to people’s stories and read the spiritual memoirs, and eventually the patterns emerged. Only then did I identify the tipping points and begin to write the chapters. My method is not the quickest or most efficient way to write a book, but it’s the only way that works for me.

BRC: Where can readers buy your book?

              My book is available at Amazon.com, Christianbook.com, and most other online bookstores. 

BRC: Where can readers find you online?

              Here is a link to my website:

http://www.josephbentz.com


For a chance to win a free copy of God in Pursuit: the Tipping Points from Doubt to Faith, leave a comment to this post with a way to contact you. Entries will be accepted until this Wednesday at midnight (Pacific time). I'll announce the winner on this blog on Friday. Thanks for reading!