Interview with Francine Rivers

Can you tell us something about your Christian testimony?

I was reared in a Christian home. My parents were active in church, my father an elder, my mother a deaconess. I attended Christian summer camps, youth group and said grace at every meal. I thought being born into a Christian family and raised in the faith made me a Christian. It didn’t. Each person makes their own choice, and it took me years to surrender to Jesus – not until after I’d gone through college, married, had children and started a writing career. Rick and I went to church, but came away dissatisfied and knowing there must be something more. We both had personal issues that brought us close to divorce several times. We wanted our own way and to have control over our own lives. Having control is an illusion. As a child, I’d asked Jesus to be my Savior. What I didn’t understand is I needed to surrender my life to Him and allow Him to be LORD of my life as well.

Our marriage was on the verge of collapse when Rick started his own business. We moved to northern California to be closer to family. We made many outer changes, but no change of the heart. As we moved into our rental house, a little boy came over to help and said, “Have I got a church for you!” We weren’t ready to listen. The lady on the other side of our fence also invited us to the same church. Out of desperation, I went a few weeks later. It was my first experience with “expository teaching.” The pastor taught straight out of the Bible, explaining the historical context, what the scriptures were saying, and what they had to do with me in the present. I drank it in! I took my three children to church. They loved it. Rick resisted (after having a somewhat disheartening experience with a denominational church in Southern California). I asked the pastor if he would be willing to teach a home Bible study. He agreed -- if Rick agreed, which he did. Studying the Bible changed our lives. Our hearts and minds opened to Christ. We both accepted Jesus as Savior and LORD and were baptized in May 1986. Since then, God has been changing our lives from the inside out. The Lord also healed our marriage. We celebrated our 40th wedding anniversary this year.

Where do you get your ideas for your plots?

Almost every story I have written since becoming a Christian has come from a question that regards a struggle in my own faith walk. The plot centers around the different ways that question can be answered by “the world” – but the quest is to find God’s answer. Here is a list of my novels with the questions that started each story:

• A Voice in the Wind: How do I share my faith with unsaved family members and friends who have no desire to read the Bible or hear me talk about my faith?

• An Echo in the Darkness: How many times are we called upon to forgive people who hurt us deliberately -- and (in many countries) would like to see us dead?

• As Sure As the Dawn: How do you deal with anger – especially when there is “good” cause? What is “righteous anger” and how does it look?

• The Scarlet Thread: What does “sovereignty” mean in man’s relationship with God? If He is in control of everything, what does that say about the bad things that happen to people?

• The Atonement Child: Is there complete forgiveness and restoration for a woman who has aborted her child? Does abortion have any effect on the woman and the man involved in the crisis pregnancy? Does it impact people around them? (This was my most painful and personal book because I needed to face and deal with my own abortion experience. The character of Hannah is based on my story; Evie is based on my mother’s.)

• The Last Sin Eater: What is the difference between guilt and conviction? This book came out of The Atonement Child. What I learned: guilt kept me imprisoned for years. Conviction sent me to my knees before the Lord where I received forgiveness and experienced His love and grace.

• Leota’s Garden: Are abortion and euthanasia connected? Is euthanasia merciful or an act of murder? This novel also came out of my work on The Atonement Child. While studying the abortion issue from all sides, I realized the arguments for abortion are exactly the same as those for euthanasia. While going through a post-abortion class with other women (one a nurse), I learned that the elderly are already at risk. One scene in the book continues to shock people. I wrote it for that purpose. I want people to understand life is precious. The movement toward legalizing euthanasia continues to gain momentum (and has less to do with “mercy” than saving money for care).

• And the Shofar Blew: What is a church? How do you build it? During my travels around the country and speaking at various churches, I saw many struggling through building projects and massive programs to draw more parishioners. Size of building and number of people in the pews seemed to define success or failure. Like a government out of control, the “church” (in many cases) has forgotten its foundation and purpose. Christ is the cornerstone. Believers meet together to study the Word of God, worship Him and encourage one another – and keep their doors and hearts open to those seeking God. Unfortunately, too many congregations have left their first love (Jesus Christ) and turned to idolatry (placing a building/drawing a crowd/being “politically correct” above a relationship with the Lord).

• Her Mother’s Hope / Her Daughter’s Dream: What caused the rift between my grandmother and mother? When my grandmother had a stroke, my mother raced from Oregon to the Central Valley of California to be with her. Grandma died before she arrived. My mother was heart-broken and said, “I think she willed herself to die just so we wouldn’t have to talk things out.” I have wondered since: What causes people (even Christians) to hold grudges? What might have brought resolution and restoration to these two women? Could my grandmother have loved my mother without my mother understanding it? The two books have many personal, family details woven in and I will be sharing this information in my blog.

Tell us about your current work.

I have just completed the second in a set of two books about mother-daughter relationship over four generations. This was intended to be one long novel dealing with the different ways generations have lived out their faith – but became so long it needed to be divided. Her Mother’s Hope was released on March 16, 2010. Her Daughter’s Dream will follow in September. There are numerous family and personal details woven into both books and I plan to share those things on my blog. You may find out more about my new book and more by visiting my web site at www.FrancineRivers.com.

Win a copy of Her Mother's Hope!

Post a comment by 11:59 PM EDT Thursday, April 22 and be entered in a random drawing for the complimentary copy of Her Mother's Hope.

The winner will be announced on Friday, April 23 at www.KimberlyvonOeyen.com and will be responsible for providing his/her contact information at that time so delivery of the book can be made.

PLEASE NOTE: A complimentary copy of this book was provided to the me as a blog tour host by Tyndale House Publishers in exchange for posting this interview on my blog. Please visit Christian Speaker Services at www.ChristianSpeakerServices.com for more information about blog tour management services.

Getting My Way

Today on the TrueWoman.com Blog Paula Hendricks made an observation that really resinated with me. "...I realized one of our greatest challenges (at least as Christians in America) is learning how to live by faith in a culture that teaches us to do everything we can to live a problem-free life of comfort and ease.... Almost my entire life I've lived as though the goal of my life is to get my way. To see all my dreams realized."

Paula's insight was a huge exclamation point to the end of my morning, where I have been convicted by the Lord that I live with a simmering frustration because I didn't get my way.

Enough time has passed that I wouldn't choose the path that was "my way" even if I could. For God has given me something much better. Yet, I was still angry because I felt like my opinion didn't matter to Him—what a foolish way to think of my loving Creator.

I am so thankful that my Father is gracious to and long-suffering with me. He's willing to give me what I need even as I emotionally and verbally rail against Him.

Isaiah 53:6 "We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

Today I remembered anew that God's way is always the better way.

Any Tree But One

Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?"

The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.'"

"You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman. "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."

When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. –Genesis 3:1-6

"You may pick anything except the pop. That's for the party tonight."

"But mom."

"Brayden, there's lots of other choices: milk, chocolate milk, juice, Kool-Aid. Pick one of those."

"You never let me have anything!"

Any drink but one—any tree but one. The command was simple and so was their disobedience. Together, Adam and Eve disregarded the abundance God had provided and chose the one thing he withheld.

We, too, are prone to focus on what we don't have, or what we've lost, especially during times of economic uncertainty. Discontent and selfishness are as subtle as the serpent in robbing us of our joy and gratitude. But may we not be deceived. Let's honor our Lord by having a humble, grateful, and undemanding spirit.

(from the 31-day devotional Anticipating Christ at Christmastime)

Living Connected

When we have the nutrients of healthy relationships and community we thrive, yet when we are disconnected (or simply feel disconnected) we begin to lose vitality.

This summer I’ve had moments of loneliness that accompany a busy detached life. Like a dashboard warning light my feelings alert me that something is wrong and I must seek community.

This is one of the reasons I found so much joy hanging out with my friend Paula last night. I was craving relationship and she nourished me by engaging in authentic communication. I ended the evening feeling refreshed and yes, connected.

Today as I was walking in my neighborhood the tree in the picture provided the closing argument in establishing the importance of connectedness in my life. As I saw the dying leaves Jesus’ words in John 15:5 replayed in my mind, “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.”

For days I’ve been walking by this tree and paid it no attention. Yet today the brown, crisp leaves revealing its death from disconnectedness captured my attention. We may be able to cope and hide our disconnectedness for a time, but eventually the nutrients disappear and we are left fruitless.

Jesus invites us to live prolific lives, but there is one catch: we must remain connected.

Owned?!

Psalm 24:1 The earth is the Lord's and all it contains, the world, and those who dwell in it.

"It's all God's—we're all God's!" declares the note in the margin of my Bible dated October 2000. How my heart had rejoiced in the truth that I belonged to God. But now, nearly nine years later, I bristled when I read the same truth with a minor difference in translation: "The Lord owns the earth and all it contains, the world and all who live in it."

I didn't understand, nor like, my prickly response so I began to journal: "I don't know why I bristle at the thought of being owned." Yet before I could consider it further, the lyrics of a song I used to sing into a mousse bottle poured onto the paper. "Nobody owns me. I don't want to be anybody's fool...." And with the lyrics came the adolescent agnst with which I had sung Belinda Carlisle's Nobody Owns Me.

Ironically, the rock anthem wasn't about independence but about "the one" who could make you do anything. Yet as a teen performing the song behind my closed bedroom door, I was declaring my desire for the freedom of adulthood. However instead of leading me to freedom the lyrics imprisoned me, creating a wall of rebelliousness between me and my God.

Desiring change I reaffirmed to God I wanted to be owned by Him, as He tenderly reminded me, "You are owned by me no matter how your feelings are responding. You have been bought with a price—you are not your own." Wow! Now that is a beautiful promise and an anthem to sing. Where is my mousse bottle?

Where's Gao?

For weeks my mind has been consumed with thoughts of a man I've never met—Gao Zhisheng. Hostage of the Chinese government, my brother in Christ has now been missing for 145 days. Though only a believer since 2005, Gao, like the apostle Paul, is familiar with suffering for righteousness sake. Accounts of the torture he endured when imprisoned two years ago is sobering. According to Bob Fu, executive director of ChinaAid Association, "Gao's case is the most severe case of persecution in modern history."

Once a prominent member of the Communist Party and listed as one of the top 10 lawyers in China, Gao made enemies of his former colleagues when he chose to defend a house church leader accused of being a religious dissident. Though he lost the case, he ultimately won, for through it he found Christ. But his new-found faith elicited hatred from his former allies within the Communist Party and he became public enemy number one.

John 18:18-21 states, "If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, "A slave is not greater than his master.' If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My world, they will keep yours also. "But all these things they will do to you for My name's sake, because they do not know the One who sent Me." Though I know these words of Jesus, I find they take on a whole new dimension when I line them up with Gao's account of unspeakable abuse.

I ask you to join me in following the words of Hebrews 13:1 & 3, "Let love of the brethren continue.... Remember the prisoners, as though in prison with them, and those who are ill-treated, since you yourselves also are in the body." Follow these words by learning more about the persecuted church and our brothers and sisters around the world who are imprisoned because of their love for our Lord Jesus Christ, because we are part of One body through Christ.

Is God On America's Side?

I admit it. I've been extremely concerned about the changing tide in the American culture. It seems that wherever I turn good is being called evil and evil is being called good. 

Over the past year my concern for my country has escalated and I began writing letters to my senators nearly twice a month regarding specific directions I wanted my representatives to take. So far most of their responses begin, "I appreciate your concerns, however I have voted to...." My hope dwindled as conservative values in America were eroding. 

Then I picked up the book, "Is God on America's Side?" by Erwin W. Lutzer. With a mere 102 pages Lutzer was able to challenge my thinking and change my despair to hopefulness. It is not hope that I will wake up tomorrow and my culture will be different, but hope in the knowledge that God is at work in my generation and he has invited me to participate in that work.

Lutzer challenged, "As God's people, we Christians have been preoccupied with our own peace and affluence and cared little about whether our neighbor knows the warmth of our heavenly Father's heart." Ouch. That statement hit me—not squarely between the eyes—because I do care about, think about, and pray that my neighbors will come to know my Father, but it hit my heart, because I realized how few actions I take to help my neighbors know God's love.

If you, like me, have been anxious about the turning tide and have put your hope in what you can accomplish by writing letters and participating in boycotts, may I suggest that we change. Let's start by asking the right questions: Is America on God's side? And as individuals are we on God's side? 

When I changed my perspective things began to look a lot clear. I began to fix my hope on Jesus, the author and finisher of faith. And begin focusing on the work he has for me: to love the world He loves, and share His transforming message of salvation.