WHY WE WRITE
by Bryan Norford
Well,
Brenda, I can’t think of a specific incident that changed my writing life, but
I can describe clearly the motivation that started it. When we reached fifty
years of marriage—six years ago—not only our children, but also grandchildren
were marrying and having children.
Having
seen what the volatile marriage scene has done to younger generations, we felt our
descendants could use biblical guidance for a stable marriage. This prompted
our first book, Happy Together, a
year’s devotions based on all Bible passages dealing with marriage, family, and
relationships. It turned up more material than we expected!
Linked to
that, we saw the need to oppose much biblical illiteracy, which leads to a
superficial or skewed Christianity and accommodation with current western
culture. This in turn inhibits evangelization as Christianity loses its
counter-culture status, its defining role in drawing people to Christ.
So, we added
a series of books with a clarifying biblical approach to confusing issues of
the faith, and study guides to give a basic grounding in Bible knowledge. While
our growing family is our priority, we are encouraged if some of our writing
spins off to strengthen and build a secure faith in others.
The greatest
paradox for a world of high intellectual achievement is so little regard for
truth. Post-modern society uses truth as a convenient, flexible commodity that
only provides shifting sands on which to build lives.
We want a
firm foundation for our families, only found in the unchanging truth of God’s
grace toward us. That influence, in turn, establishes wholesome relationships
with each other, strong lasting marriages and secure, stable children. We don’t
have to look far to see the chaos that loss of permanence creates.
Thus, the
concern for our family’s marriages has broadened into welfare for the whole of
life and the society in which we live. In the few years we have left, we are
constrained to continue proclaiming the authority of God over life by the
written word and representative deeds.
