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 Neela Sakaria: Thank you for joining us. Please tell us a little bit about your professional background. What inspired you to write The Witness?
Ken Cross: I have spent most of my "working life" in retail, but when my son was born in January 1999, I decided I couldn't stand to be away from him for 8-10 hours a day so I quit my job at Dr. Pepper/Seven-Up to stay at home with my son. After a while it occurred to me that I needed something to do and I have always enjoyed writing. My first novel was "Choices" and it took me most of that year to write. Unfortunately, it was not very good. That fall, my Sunday School class was studying the Book of Revelation. About chapter 7, the teacher quit the church. Still wanting to know more, I went to my local Christian book store and bought just about every book they had on the Book of Revelation. I soon decided to share what I was learning on my own study with the rest of the class, and became the teacher. When we came to chapter 11, the Book of Revelation speaks of two witnesses who will prophesy in front of the Jewish temple in the Last Days. I immediately had the thought--"What if one of these witnesses was just some ordinary guy with no prior religious background?". Thus, the premise for "The Witness" was born.
Neela: You are described as a "self taught" Bible student. What does that mean exactly? What led you to The Bible in the first place, and how would you say that your experience in learning from it might have been different from those who were not self-taught?
KC: Since about mid-1997, I have been completing a daily Bible study. I have used several different study aids and four different translations of the Bible. This, combined with my experience teaching Sunday School for two years on the Book of Revelation and Isiah, through the Holy Spirit have given me insight into the Scriptures that are ordinarily reserved for seminary students. I also attend a Bible-believing church with a pastor who has been there for nearly 29 years and in ministry for nearly 40, including several years studying and teaching in Israel. Through his leadership and teaching, I have also gained knowledge of the Bible.
Neela: Would you describe The Witness as a religious novel? Would readers who are unfamiliar with The Bible be interested in the story itself?
KC: "The Witness" is a religious novel, but it also has interest in the secular world as well, as I think most people are curious about the end of the world as we know it and what comes beyond that. The novel does quote some Scripture, but you don't have to be familiar with the Bible to understand the story of a man who risks everyting for what he believes in and makes bold choices to stand by his beliefs even in the face of intense persecution.
Neela: Your writing style varies a little bit throughout the novel. Tim's dream sequence is written in a fast paced style in the present tense. Several other chapters begin with a descriptive style which you repeat several times with the lines "it was (month) (year)....." and so on. Can you tell us about your choice in writing style? What was the significance of altering it in these ways?
KC: It was purely unintentional at first, but I soon realized it worked with the way the story was evolving. The date references are significant in the sense that the events of the End Times occur in a definite order and pattern. I modeled the various plagues on the plagues of Egypt before the Exodus of the Jews in the time of Moses. This seemed the best model as the people of Israel were protected from the effects of the plagues as they were isolated in the land of Goshen. In the End Times, the Bible makes it clear that there will be a safe haven for God's people. Many have thought that the use of the eagle as a symbol and America's staunch support of Israel for the last 40-plus years as an indication that America will be that safe haven. Unfortunately, our morality as a country has deteriorated rapidly over the last 15-20 years and I don't think that we can count on America as that safe haven unless we change our ways soon. I chose Texas as that safe haven because, in part, that is where I have lived most of my life, and also because of the fact that Texas is probably the only state that has the natural and other resources to be a soverign country. The significance of altering the writing style was to change the pace and focus the reader on the particular events going on in a particular scene. Some events are naturally more fast-paced than others (dream sequences, for example) and some descriptive elements needed special attention, so the pace was slowed down so the reader could focus on the details in the description.
Neela: Please tell our readers a little more about Tim Johnson's character. What is it that makes him so extraordinary?
KC: The point actually, is that, initially, there is nothing extraordinary about Tim's character. He is a devoted middle-class husband, father, and suburbanite. However, the dream that has followed him since the beginning of his college career brings out the extraordinary in Tim as he sacrifices everything he has held dear for many years for the uncertainity of following God's will for his life.
Neela: Did anyone in particular serve as your inspiration for Tim's character?
KC: In all honesty, I served as my own inspiration. I have, until recently, had no formal religious training, yet I feel that I can do extraordinary things when I allow God to work through my life. I am living my "dream life", doing what I love for a living, staying at home with my son and daughter (born in October 2002) and now going back to school at Dallas Baptist University with the current goal of eventually becoming a Bible teacher of elementary-age children at a private parochial school. However, I have also considered the possibility of going into the pastorate. God is in the process of revealing His will for my life, and I am doing my prayerful best to follow His direction. Regardless of whether I end up teaching or in the pastorate, I do plan to continue writing.
Neela: How would you describe Tim and Jivin's relationship?
KC: Their relationship is one of two strangers from completely different parts of the world and different lifestyles drawn together by the courge both display in following God's will, even to the death.
Neela:What kind of feedback have you gotten from THE WITNESS so far?
KC: Everyone who has read it has told me the liked the book and the message it sends. "The Witness" presents a different, and I believe (based on Matthew 24:29-31) a more Biblically accurate portrayal of the timing and events surrounding the Rapture than the immensely popular "Left Behind" series. Everyone whom I have talked to about the Biblical accuracy of the "Left Behind" series's belief in what is called a pre-Tribulational Rapture (Christians raptured to Heaven prior to the Great Tribulaton) agrees with "The Witness's" depiction of a post-Tribulational Rapture (Christians raptured to Heaven immediately after the Great Tribulation and immediately before God's judgement and destruction of this world by fire).
Neela: Any other writing projects in the works?
KC: I am currently working on a project titled "Amos Moses" based on the prophet Amos's misnistry. Amos is one of my favorite prophets in the Old Testament for some reason I have yet been able to explain. The book is set in America in the year 2025, and Amos, a Texas cattleman's son, discovers that he is to become a prophet to America that is economically, militarilly and financially secure, but morally bankrupt. The story parellels both contemporary events (the delcining morality of America in the late 20th and early 21st century, the war on terrorism, etc.) as well as the events of the prophet Amos's time in the northern kingdom of Israel when they were in the same condition as America in the time of Amos Moses. I also am planning books on the lives of the prophets Jeremiah and Isiah as well as non-fiction works on the history and meaning of the United States Constitution and Bill of Rights and the real reasons behind the Civil War.
Neela: Is there anything else you'd like to share with our readers?
KC: "The Witness" is a short-read with a powerful message of the strength available to all of us, as individuals and as God's Church, to have an impact on the world around us when we tune into and follow God's will.
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