five flaming arrows synopsis

My long-awaited book, Five Flaming Arrows, is about to be out there for the world to critique. Am I nervous? Absolutely, but I’m super excited to see the effect this book will have in the lives of others, especially those former campers of mine. This book was written for them. To help them in each of the five common areas of struggle: lust, death, science, anxiety and depression.

There were so many of my campers who struggled in these areas (including myself, as you will see if you pick up a copy); I couldn’t just let them walk out of my life that Summer without giving them something to chew on down the road. This book will be the spiritual meat prepared for that very purpose.
Since writing this book, I’ve learned a lot about myself. I have not only noticed my inadequacies as a writer, but also as a Christian. When writing about our God-given purpose, I realized that I wasn’t even living up to the purpose that I was challenging others to live up to. I wasn’t living up to the standard. Of course, none of us will ever fully reach the standard of Jesus, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try. Through writing this book I’ve been convicted of living a purpose-driven life that honors and glorifies Christ.
Another challenging aspect to writing this book was the fact that I was preaching to myself (or a younger version of myself). I’ve been through these struggles. Some are more behind me now than others; but of course, I’ll never be 100% done with any of them on this side of Heaven. I’m still a broken sinner living in a broken world. When you get a copy, I hope you read the book with this fact in mind. I’m not talking at you, I’m talking with you. We’re all terrible people, even those who are saved. The only difference is that the person who has Christ in their heart will not be judged on his own righteousness at the end of time but on the righteousness of Jesus (who is perfect). That’s the only reason any of us will ever get to Heaven. Our good deeds will never be good enough to get us there.
As far as the specifications of Five Flaming Arrows is concerned, the book is 367 pages and 79,000 words. It’s a paperback, 5.25 inches wide by 8 inches tall, with a gloss cover designed by my wife, Bailey. It will be sold over the Amazon marketplace in June, and a book signing will closely follow in July (exact dates will be posted on the website soon).
It’s actually funny how it worked out. I remember my dream goal for the book was 250 pages of solid content. But, after extreme dedication to the process, the book kept getting bigger and bigger. I even found myself deleting whole chapters that I really liked to cut down on the size of the book. It hurt a lot to delete them, especially since I had spent so much time writing them. However, the book just got way too long. I had over fifty pages dedicated to the “age of the Earth” argument and radiometric dating. While it was insightful, I found it to be unnecessary and extraneous. I guess at some point you must learn to let go of things that aren’t essential to the book’s purpose (this was definitely one of those unessential things).
I simply had to decide which chapters were the best. I strongly believe the chapters that I have selected to keep will have the biggest impact on the reader. They are the most essential, well-written and streamlined chapters that stay true to the book’s purpose: to help teenagers recover from these five areas of spiritual attack.
Additionally, this book is not only a great read for teenagers, but it is an insightful read for parents, young adults, and anyone seeking biblical guidance. It breaks down these five areas (lust, death, science/why bad things happen, anxiety, and depression) into their constituents. Namely, the aspects about them that are particularly tough to deal with; whether philosophically, theologically, or otherwise. Then, I follow with ways in which we can address these aspects with scripture and rational thought.
Since I’m sure you are eager to see the contents of this book, I am pre-releasing the table of contents for Five Flaming Arrows below:
Acknowledgements i
Introduction 1
Flaming Arrow #1: Lust

1. A Society of Monsters 13
2. Sex and Marriage 25
3. Abstinence 35
4. Epidemic 49
5. Breaking Your Addiction 73

Flaming Arrow #2: Why Do Bad Things Happen?

1. Last Time on the Hardwood 99
2. Last Time with Steven Huddleston 109
3. Why Do Bad Things Happen? 121
4. God’s Sovereignty 133

Flaming Arrow #3: Science

1. Atheists 143
2. Christians 151
3. God and Time 161
4. The Teleological Argument 179
5. The Cosmos 217
6. The Reliability of the Bible 241
7. The Spiritual Taxonomy of Doubt 255

Flaming Arrow #4: Anxiety

1. Be Anxious for Nothing 271
2. Worry 279
3. Weight Room 289

Flaming Arrow #5: Depression

1. Depression 299
2. The World Doesn’t Satisfy 311
3. You Have a Bigger Purpose 323

• Afterword 333

Notes 351
Index 359
About the Author 367
In the first “arrow”, or first section of the book, I talk about how lust has permeated our society and has made so many people monsters. It has done this through two main mechanisms: premarital sex and pornography. I talk about how these are a massive societal problem contributing to the high divorce rate in America, and to the unsatisfied life that many people experience. I also provide biblical advice on how to break an addiction to pornography, and how to view sex from a biblical perspective.
In the second arrow, I talk about why bad things happen. I center the discussion on the death of my good friend and teammate, Steven Huddleston. He died at the age of seventeen, which completely shocked and disrupted the Pleasant Valley community. I talk about why these things happen. I talk about how God is still good. I talk about the inherent brokenness of ourselves, God’s infinite sovereignty, and how we do evil things. I found this section of the book to be very difficult to write, but I think it will be extremely helpful to those who have experienced the death of a loved one, or to those who think God is somehow evil.
In the third arrow, I talk about science. Many young people now believe that science has somehow destroyed and contradicted Christianity; however, this could not be farther from the truth. In this section, I get deep into the arguments for God’s existence based on scientific evidence. In fact, it seems that science is in more support of God’s existence now than it ever has been in the past. This section will be particularly fascinating to the scientifically minded reader. In the fourth arrow, I talk about anxiety. I talk about my experience with school-related anxiety. But, most importantly, I talk about what God says about anxiety; that we should not be anxious over anything, nor should we be worrisome. This section is particularly applicable to those in any type of schooling, but also to those who deal with anxiety for any reason.
In the last section, I talk about depression. I center the discussion around our life’s purpose. You see, if we do not follow the purpose for our life, then we are prone to depression. The most depressing life you could ever live would be one without an eternal purpose. If we do not follow our created purpose, given to us by our Creator, then we will never be satisfied with life and we will be prone to depression. This section gives us biblical ways to view depression, and biblical ways to find our purpose.
All of these five sections are meant to help the reader form a biblical perspective on these issues. Furthermore, to find a source of strength to recover from the detrimental effects that lust, death, science, anxiety, and depression can have.
Of course, when all is said and done, the ultimate source of strength discussed is Jesus Christ. He is the strength we need to recover. And He is the reason we are motivated to do so in the first place.
Please contact me if you have any questions. The book signing and official release date will be posted soon. I also want to thank everyone for supporting me through this process. If it were not for the great people who encouraged me through every step, I could not have finished this seemingly impossible project!
Cite: Faucett, D. (2018). Five Flaming Arrows Synopsis. Faucett Journal. Retrieved from http://www.faucettjournal.com/articles/five-flaming-arrows-synopsis