A: Hey, Shalom everyone and welcome once again to Authors’ Corner.

Together with me is my good friend and co-author, Steve Yohn from Parker, Colorado.

Shalom, Steve.

Shalom.

I’m from Galilee, Israel and as you guys know, we’re in the middle of a war.

And so if something happens and I will be gone from the screen and Steve is still here,

and you’re still here, don’t freak out.

It’s not that the rapture took place and you were left behind.

It is that I ran to the bomb shelter and you’re in a safe place actually.

So I’m going to start…

S: Then you get to listen to me talk for a while, which is really…

A: … which is probably something…

S: …exciting.

A: Exactly, extremely exciting.

It’s as good as the rapture or what?

No, no.

All right, you know, Steve, why don’t you start with a prayer

and then let’s talk about books.

S: All right,

Lord, we are so thankful to be here today,

to be in front of You, to be in front of all those who were watching.

Lord, You know the reason for the books that we write.

They are to communicate truth.

They are to communicate in a way that people can take it in their hand and walk with them to refer back to it.

And we are so grateful that You’ve given us this venue

to touch the lives of people through the written word.

We know that You believe completely in the written Word.

That’s why we have the Scriptures.

And why we by no means are writing Scripture,

we know that what we do write is led by the Holy Spirit and does communicate Your truth.

So bless our time here this day and we give it in Your hands.

Amen.

A: Amen.

Well, Steve, what are we talking about today?

S: We are talking today about The Sick Man’s Rage.

It’s coming out December 3rd.

It’s almost here.

Like me,

yeah, you’ve got that.

I’ve got mine back.

A: That’s the real deal.

S: …back there.

I just got mine back, by the way.

I got my author’s copy and my first copy always goes to my buddy Wes.

And I’ve told you about Wes before.

Wes is my friend who was killed in every one of my books.

And because he complained about being killed in the first book that I wrote way back in 2007.

And I said, okay, you’re complaining about the way you were killed.

I’m going to kill you in every book.

Every book Wes has died.

So when you read this book, look for a name that is similar to Wes

and you’ll find the way that he dies this time.

But,

you know, and Amir, stay on my good side.

Otherwise, you’ll probably die in a book too.

So for this book, we went to Turkey,

which is not what people would normally expect.

You’ve got Russia, which is loud.

You’ve got Iran, which is loud.

But then you’ve got Turkey, which is loud.

But that’s all they do is they just bark a lot.

And it seems that Erdogan is all bark and no bite.

But there’s a reason why you really wanted to go there at this time.

Why were we at Turkey?

A: Well, first of all, because Turkey appears in its biblical name in the description of Ezekiel 38

as one of the main perpetrators of the Gog from the Land of Magog War.

That war of Ezekiel 38 is where Turkey is one of the leading countries.

And you know, ever since Turkey was secularized by Ataturk, Turkey was leaning more towards Israel.

And throughout the 1980s and even the 90s, Turkey was one of the biggest allies of Israel.

And it was almost kind of unfathomable to many Israelis to think that Turkey will one day turn against us.

Because Turkey was the symbol of secular Islam;

the symbol of those who chose to go with the West rather than with the East.

Those who choose to be on the good side rather than the bad side.

Those who abandoned even the Arab handwriting or…

Whoa, whoa, oh, oh,

I’m sorry, I’m sorry, Steve.

Okay, we have major… Yeah, yeah, my son is calling me.

[Speaking on the phone.]

All right.

It sounds staged as this is the second thing in a row with you guys with the Yohns.

But there are…

That was my son.

S: Do you need to run? We can pick this up another time.

A: No, no, no. The thing is this.

It’s like 10 miles or 5 miles west of us.

But we can… I mean, the interceptions are massive and you know, you hear it.

The rocket alarm is there in Haifa.

But the launchers of the interceptors are around us.

So when we launch a rocket towards…

When we launch an interceptor towards the rocket, we hear it and we feel it.

It’s moving, it’s shaking.

But the rockets supposed to hit Haifa.

That’s why they have the alarm going off.

So we don’t have any, but

my son called me; he heard the booms and ran to the bomb shelter right now.

S: You know, and this is totally off topic from the book or anything like that.

But you talk about running to the bomb shelter.

Can you describe…

I think for most of us here in the United States, when we think bomb shelter,

we’re thinking this hard cement box where everyone is huddled together in a corner.

We know it’s a safe place, but what does it look like?

A: Well, in some places, you know, ever since the 1990s, the building code in Israel changed.

Every new apartment, new house must have a safe room

that has thick concrete walls and steel window and steel door that you can lock it up.

So there’s no blast that can cause glass to fly in and cut you.

And the blast will be stopped by the thick wall.

So basically, every house, if it’s a new one, should have a room in the house,

you can use it throughout the year as a bedroom.

For us, it’s our guest room.

That’s why when Mike comes over, that’s where he stays.

So, you know, he didn’t need to run to the bomb shelter.

We ran to his room basically when he was here.

But then there are some older places where there is a community bomb shelter outside.

So, you know, if it’s an older building, you have to run downstairs,

go out of your building and enter the bomb shelter.

That’s a different story.

And you know, a lot of places in Israel have, you know, older buildings.

And so this is what they have to do.

Our house was built in 2006.

So this is why.

S: I think part of my thinking came from,

you know, for this book, we started on October 7th.

And in writing it, I looked at so many videos and it was hard.

It was so painful to watch some of that.

And I know that

I watched some videos where people were huddled into a hard cement bomb shelter.

And then a lot of…

A: Okay, that was not a bomb shelter.

That was a shelter that is placed next to bus stops.

So it’s…

Well, you can call it a bomb shelter if you want, but it’s a mobile…

It’s something that, you know,

it’s a unit that they just bring and place next to a bus stop.

And there’s a…

If people stand in the bus stop and there is a siren that goes off, they can run inside there.

But it’s not part of the building.

It stands by itself all outside.

And that’s why the terrorists, you know, found it very easy to…

I mean, it was basically just a bomb shelter without a window or a door that you can lock,

just to take cover.

That’s all.

And so

I don’t know if you saw, but there were some…

I mean, there was at least one case where they threw a hand grenade inside.

I mean, the place is packed with 30, 40 youngsters.

They threw a hand grenade and somebody from inside threw it back.

And they threw again and he threw four times.

They threw back the hand grenade until the fifth one, they waited longer.

So it would explode exactly when it goes in.

And that’s when he was killed.

But those were the…

This is the places where piles of dead bodies were found.

I mean, I’m talking about at least 100 people died in those shelters.

S: That’s where we started this book.

We started it on October 7th

because we really wanted people to,

as much as they could, get that feeling, that experience of

what it was like to be hunted, to be the prey when the terrorists are chasing.

But it was very difficult because we wanted to make sure that it was respectful.

We wanted to make sure that we weren’t glamorizing anything.

So we started at the Nova Festival.

But why for you as an Israeli, why for you is it so important

that people are taken into that day and experience both

what the victims experience, but also what you as an Israeli from the outside looking in,

what you experienced from your helpless place where you couldn’t do anything for these people?

A: Well, you know, I think that people moved on already.

And…

I mean, a couple weeks after already,

sounds of and voices of denial that had ever happened started floating around.

And for the most part, most of the gullible students in the US campuses

and also other places around the world,

they truly thought that the war started on October 8th.

They did not even have a clue that anything happened on October 7th.

While October 7th is the deadliest day in the life of the Jewish people since the Holocaust.

And so I will forever do my best to make sure that

the Holocaust that happened in my lifetime will not be forgotten.

I mean, I think it’s the duty of every generation to make sure that

the victims of such a horrific thing will not be forgotten.

And the fact that this thing happened will not be forgotten.

And you know, the last year and two months were crazy,

more so because people not only did not believe us for what really happened,

but took it even a step further and did not even think that

we have the right to defend ourselves, to protect ourselves and to pay back.

So I will tell you the truth.

Our entire series of “Nir Tavor” is about payback.

It’s about defending the right of Israel to exist

and doing whatever it takes to make sure we’re still here.

And we’re not done yet…

We are not done yet.

S: Yeah, and I was just going to say that very thing,

this book, “The Sick Man’s Rage” is all about payback

because we start on October 7th,

then we move to part of the payback of the Mossad,

the intelligence services against those who led the initial attack and who oversee Hamas.

And then we move to more payback, this time payback from Turkey,

because you had Erdogan saying,

“Hey, you Israelis, you better not come on our soil. You better not touch anybody here.”

And of course, what did the Mossad do?

They went on their soil and took someone out.

And that’s what the whole catalyst for this book was.

It’s the direction we were going after we met,

I think we were in Florida for this one where we met.

A: We were, yeah.

S: And then once we laid out the plot,

we started seeing all the pieces falling in place one after another,

exactly how it was laid out.

A: Yeah, Steve, and the funny thing is that, you know,

you and I met to go over this book…

that was a week before October 7th?

When was it?

S: It was about that, yeah.

A: And little did we know that

much of what we are going to talk about is coming to pass very soon.

And the plot is no longer just fictional.

It’s actually very realistic.

And I think that’s the story of the entire series so far.

I mean, we meet and we put together an amazing plot for the most part fictional.

And then before the book is launched, half of it happened already.

And quite scary, I think.

But it just shows you that

the reality is kind of pretty predictable if you know the Bible.

S: Yeah.

Yeah, and I think that’s what you bring so strongly to it is:

First of all, you know current events.

You know the world so well that you’re able to see direction that things are flowing.

But then also with bringing in the scriptural side,

we know where it’s going to end up.

A: Exactly.

S: So you bring both of those things together and you find that nexus

and that’s where we write from.

And that’s why it ends up fitting the current event so well

because it’s from what is.

And what the Bible says, what will be.

A: Yeah, and this is the thing that broke my heart years ago

when I saw the amazing, well-versed people in current events

and the sheer ignorance they have when it comes to Bible prophecy and Bible in general.

And I always kept saying to myself, if they only knew…

If they only knew… I mean,

it’s not even in secret pages of some secret documents in the basement of some secret organizations, headquarters.

This is the Bible. Everybody has one.

I mean, you can literally open the book and read what’s going to happen next.

And neither one of us is a superhero knowing all things and all of that.

No, we just know the Bible and

for the last, I don’t know, 30 years I’ve been teaching the same thing,

Steve, the same thing.

I taught about Russia and Iran and Turkey 25 years ago also.

And I taught about the fact that Israel has to prosper and become a regional power.

25 years ago.

I didn’t know about the specific current U.S. administrations or October 7 or whatever.

But I knew one thing.

I knew, I knew that eventually everything will come to the point

where the Bible is going to come to pass and not anything else.

So, you know, we can have as many plans and thoughts and dreams as we want,

but God’s plan will come to pass because He can see the end from the beginning.

That’s what Isaiah 46 says,

“I am God, there is no other, I’m God, there is none like Me declaring the end from the beginning

and from ancient times things that are not yet done.”

He is telling us today about things that are not yet done.

How amazing it is that

human beings who believe in the Lord Almighty, who created the heavens and the earth,

are having access to “classified information” on things that are not yet done.

And it’s because He wants it. He says, “I declare the end from the beginning.”

That’s it. So this is what we want, both of us.

We want people to know the Word as they live in the world

and to then come to the Lord.

S: Yeah, right.

But we also know that people learn differently.

There’s different types of people who learn different ways.

And I know for some, it’s difficult for them to grasp Amir Tsarfati fiction writer,

because they know you from your teachings, they know you from the tours,

they know you from your nonfiction books.

And everything is just scripture, it’s facts.

And then suddenly here you are with this thriller series.

There’s a series of commercials right now with former Broncos and Colts quarterback Peyton Manning.

Peyton Manning is everywhere, like on every commercial you find.

And on this commercial, he is in front of an easel and he’s painting there.

And he says,

“Most people know me as Peyton Manning, but what they don’t know is I’m also Painting Manning.”

And then, you know,

it’s funny because it’s just ridiculous, you know, he’s not the one painting it

because it doesn’t fit him.

And a lot of people look at Amir Tsarfati, Bible teacher, tour leader,

the guy on the videos, the guy who leads the conferences,

and then suddenly you’ve got these thriller books.

And because of that, a lot of people discount the fiction too,

because they think,

“How in the world can a guy who focuses on nonfiction suddenly put out a decent fiction series?”

So why fiction?

Why are we even involved in this?

A: Because we targeted an audience

that wants to know reality, but run away from reality at the same time.

We want to reach out to people that will not enter into a Christian bookstore and pick up a Christian literature.

We want to reach out to people who are very much into what’s going on around the world.

They do want to understand what happens,

but they have zero interest in connecting it to the Bible themselves.

And so the best way to do it is to give them a fiction story that is based on true events,

gives them an understanding of the geopolitical situation in the region,

and at the same time gives you a true and very frank struggle of a Jewish, Israeli-born person

who hears for the first time in his life that the Bible is not just a book, it’s a reality,

that the Messiah is not something that belongs to a different religion that started in the first century only,

but it’s actually his Messiah as well.

And Steve, I’ll do whatever it takes to expose the gospel to people who are not interested because

they don’t know better, you know.

But I think we have to be as humans, as believers,

we have to be very creative in the way we move forward.

And I think that collaborating with you,

you already wrote fiction before, thriller fiction before.

You wrote with Jason Elam, the kicker of the Broncos, three books, I think?

S: Four books, yeah.

A: Four! Four books.

And so I knew that…

S: I’ll get you the fourth one.

A: Okay!

So I knew that it can only work when you’re a co-author with me

because you know the art of writing fiction,

I know the current events and the story I want to bring in.

And so I’m bringing you all the ingredients in your cooking, and it’s just phenomenal.

I mean, I think we get so many people writing to us about how good…

Because people have low expectations when it comes to Christian literature,

very low expectations.

In fact, anything that is Christian, people have low expectations to begin with.

S: That’s true.

A: I know, and so they don’t understand these books are next level.

And they have been bestsellers on secular newspapers,

such as the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Publishers Weekly.

And yes, we did win some prizes of the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association.

But apart from that, it’s secular newspapers that actually put us in their best-selling list.

So because this is primarily based on true events,

and I think we brought the gospel in a very non-preachy way to people

that would otherwise never enter into a store and grab a book about it.

S: And I’ll just come right out and say, they’re just fun books.

I am constantly reading fiction, reading thrillers,

just so I’m in the loop and I see what other people are doing.

So when I write, the person I am first writing for is myself.

Because I want to read a book that makes me laugh.

I want to read a book that gets me on the edge of my seat.

I want to read a book where I don’t know what’s going to happen

and there’s going to be twists, there’s going to be turns

and suddenly someone’s going to say something that I don’t expect.

And then suddenly someone’s going to die and I’m going to be like, “No, you can’t do that.”

And that’s what I find in the books.

I hear so many authors just say,

“Oh, I wrote a book. I can’t read what I write because I’m too critical.”

Forget that,

I am constantly putting our books, our Audible books back onto when I’m working out or when I’m driving around

because they’re just plain fun and I laugh and I cry.

It’s just an enjoyable thing, which I think it stands up to most other fiction that’s out there today.

A: Yeah, I agree with you

and I think that also being involved in a ministry that is very much into news and very much into current events,

I think it helps a lot to also smile and know that people get the truth and people get to understand what’s really going on

that although it’s fiction, it’s actually more real than they can even imagine.

And to be honest, I think that we came up with a new genre.

I mean, I think that it’s a fiction book that is based on current and true events

that is communicating the gospel at the same time as biblical events are happening.

I think it’s phenomenal.

I think it’s not all fiction and it’s not all current events and it’s not all gospel.

It has everything in it to enjoy good suspense,

to understand current events and also to be curious about the faith that is being introduced there.

So I mean, I love it and I can’t wait for more.

S: Yeah,

even around the office building here, we’ve got people from all different walks of life and

I’ve given books away here.

And I have these guys who are very much not believers,

but they’re coming back to me when they finish a book.

They come back to me, “Hey, can I get the next one?”

“Hey, can I get the next one?”

Because they just flat out enjoy it.

And I know for Sick Man’s Rage, we have that coming.

It’s releasing December 3rd, so it’s just coming up.

And I’m just saying,

perfect timing for Christmas gifts.

You got that stocking.

You need to get stuffed.

It fits right in right into the stocking.

So

yeah, I think it’s just a perfect way to communicate the gospel

in an entertaining way, in a fun way, but also in a very clear way

where no one can walk away from one of these books without knowing specifically

how to give their life to Jesus and what it would mean to them if they were to do that.

A: Amen, exactly.

And this is why…

You know, I always ask myself, what if a truck hit me tomorrow?

Okay, what is the legacy that is left behind?

And for me, if every book I ever wrote has that invitation in it,

it’s enough.

S: Yes.

A: Yes, it’s suspense,

yes, it’s current event,

yes, it’s thriller,

but it will never miss the opportunity to invite you to have a new life.

So it’s a good thing.

Okay, Steve, I think that we had a great time.

Time is just flying when we talk about things that we love so much.

Again, I’m sorry that a few minutes into our program today, there was another barrage on Haifa

and my kid just called and he ran to the bomb shelter.

I think people won’t even believe us when we show them that because…

And it happened like a few days ago when I recorded another program with your dad.

But that’s the reality we live in

and this reality is definitely being communicated through this book.

And so,

again, thank you for being such a good friend and a co-labor in the Kingdom, in this field.

And I can’t wait for the next author’s corner with you

and where we’re going to examine how The Sick Man’s Rage did.

And we’ll look forward to talk about other books as well.

S: Yeah.

A: All right, so thank you everyone and God bless you

from Galilee and from Parker, Colorado.

God bless you and Shalom.