Outside the Box

Some people say my book, “No Mercy,” is outside the box. I disagree. Oh, sure. I published it unconventionally, and I speak to issues that are not often revealed in nice company, but I had no intention of writing a book that is not relevant.

The concept of “No Mercy” is revolutionary, granted. And the literary style is outside the norm, but the story of Henry “Hank” Henderson is not uncommon. He is a normal person, living a fairly normal life, who encounters the revolutionary God of heaven.

And some say, “That’s odd: a revolutionary God. It’s outside the box. Abnormal, really.” No it’s not! That God cares, persists, and pursues is what He does, and has done, since He created mankind.

Had I written a book that was outside the box, then the concept of God I presented would have been remote, removed, indifferent, and irrelevant. I didn’t write a fantasy! I wrote about real life and a real-time, interactive God utilizing the literary elements of fiction and allegory.

Why? Because I hope Hank’s life-story sparks a revolution in our life-stories.

There are two types of revolutions: a) those fueled from outside, and b) those fueled from inside. “No Mercy” is the latter. Hank is like you and me. While fictional, he is not hypothetical. And, God is not distant. He is relevant. He is not outside the box. He is inside the box where we live. If God was outside the box, He never would have incarnated Himself. Like TR described, God is in the arena. He is active on the channel as my friend, Lamar, says. He is present and accounted for.

I’m hearing from two types of readers. The fist group encounter Hank, identify with him, generalize from his experience in “No Mercy” to their own lives, and emerge alongside him three-hundred pages later transformed. The other group appears to be afraid—scared that if they identify with Hank, their lives will be revolutionized like his. They seem fearful about transformation—as though it will take them to a place that is not OK.

Here is a thought about fear.

In the meantime, Hank’s story (i.e., “No Mercy”) is intended to instigate change through personal identification.

Revolutions are not driven purely by intellectual ascent, but by passionate identification, and collaboration resulting in true transformation from inside the box—inside the box of life.