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Annette K. Mazzone’s Lily Among Thorns is a Christian end-times story that speaks of a possible future where–if what is happening across the globe is not curtailed–Christians might be in for quite the rough ride, to say the least.
Lily Among Thorns is for letting them know and prepare for the possibility.
Letting Know of the End Times
When we talk about the end times, there is always a varied air of fear and anticipation. For writers of the Christian disposition, the narrative of the end times is a very compelling canvas for storytelling.
What’s more, it is a very effective and powerful vehicle for spreading the word of Christ and convincing people to turn to the light. This is a key takeaway and, perhaps, the most important one that Christian writers must take note of.
How to Write a Christian End-Times Story
Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done.
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The end times are not uncertain. It is certain to come. The only question is then, but there seems to be a heavy and thick filter across the world that prevents people from realizing this fact.
This is why Christian writers are important. Their works are for letting other Christians and nonbelievers know about what is to come and how to prepare for what will come.
What is the worth of your skills in wordcraft if you do not use it in service of God?
Understanding the Theological Landscape
Write, therefore, what you have seen, what is now, and what will take place later.
Before crafting an end-times narrative, it’s essential to establish a solid foundation of theology.
You are not only writing a story, after all. You are also presenting a vision of a possible future for those who have no plans to prepare for it. You want to convince people; thus, your creativity must be tempered with Biblical truth.
Researching the texts in the Bible related to the end times, such as the books of Daniel, Revelation, and Matthew 24, is paramount.
People in Extraordinary Circumstances
Now that you’ve learned more about what has been said about what is coming, you need to create the characters that will animate your narrative. While learning about what the Bible has to say about the end times is critically important, your words will simply fall flat if you appoint a poor messenger to bring the message.
The end times are an extraordinary foundation on which to base your story, but the heart of your story lies in its characters. Thus, these characters must be reflective of Christ’s attributes, even as they are not perfect embodiments of them. This is to reveal to readers the ways to survive and persist in the coming apocalypse.
A Compelling Narrative and Setting
For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again.
For writers, adding tension to a narrative is essential to making it a good read. In a setting such as the end-times, there is an almost limitless pot of tribulations from which to pull. You can write from a global perspective, detailing how the world will be changed; you can be more localized and write only about a specific locale; alternatively, you can drop to a more personal level, focusing only through the eyes of an individual as they struggle through the events of Revelation.
Yet, regardless of what you ultimately choose, the setting should be more than just a backdrop of the narrative. You are writing about the end times; thus, the end times should be an integral part of the story. You are writing not only for entertainment, after all, but to let them know about what is to come.
Photo by David Panqueva
Letting Them Know Through Story
Storytelling has the power to inspire, challenge, and transform the people who read it and, in turn, change the people around the reader. By writing a compelling and powerful Christian end-times story, you can offer readers a glimpse into the future and help them prepare for the eventuality while also exploring timeless themes like faith, hope, and redemption.
For a great example of a story that is all about letting them know the end times, Annette K. Mazzone’s Lily Among Thorns is available for purchase on her personal website. Click this link to take you there.
If you want to know more about Annette’s blog, you can visit her blog page, https://www.annettekmazzone.com/blog/.
