No one said that being a Christian meant your "geek gene" has to get cut out.

As a self-professed Christian Horror writer, the one question I get asked the most is, "Doesn't writing horror contradict your Christian faith?"

My answer is always "Um...no."

To me, my faith compliments my passion for writing horror. In both arenas, the concept of good and evil are addressed. In both arenas, we can examine what we believe about God, the Devil, and our place in the scheme of things. Do I think horror movies are Christian in nature? No, mostly not. Mostly, when I watch horror movies, I see them try to add an element of Christianity, and I cringe because, nine times out of ten, they get it wrong, according to what is found in the Scriptures.

So, the thought occurred to me, what would happen if a firm, Bible-believing Christian dared to tell a story with gun-toting excitement and gritty horror drama, but set out to talk about God as He's portrayed in the Bible?

Well, that's exactly what I set out to do with The Coming Evil. It's not just a cleverly disguised sermon, okay? I mean, go read it. I've got a healthy dose of the fantastic in there, straight from my own monster-obsessed mind. But I've tried to keep the heart of it grounded in Biblical truth. I don't want to be outright preachy, but I do want to be straight with you guys on what it says in the Bible. If at the end of my tale, you don't believe a word of the message and you think it's all a crock, then you're entitled to that belief. God gave you freewill. I don't believe the "truth" taught to me in most movies I see or books I read, but I still have a great time nonetheless. Hopefully, with The Coming Evil Trilogy you still got a crazy ride with a fun group of characters.

So I'm a Christian. What does that mean? What does it mean to be a Christian? First off, I believe that every word in the Bible is true. I don't think it's allegorical or exaggerated. I think it's saving truth. I believe that God inspired many men to write in the same spirit.

Based on that belief, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. In fact, I believe that Jesus Christ is God, part of the Holy Trinity with God and the Holy Spirit, come down to Earth in the form of a man, to live with us, to walk with us, and to save us. Why do we need saving? What did Christ come to save us from? In a word: sin. In Romans 3:10, the Bible says that "there is no one righteous, no not even one". That's not meant to be a guilt trip, but honest truth. No, we are not all murders or sex offenders or these monsters that we like to label as "sinners". But we've all said something hateful, or lied, or been jealous of something that someone else said or did. In society, we've established levels of sin and declared some sins as greater than others. But in the eyes of God, all sin is the same. It's all ugly and it all hurts. In Romans 5:12, we're told that "sin entered the world through one man [Adam], and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned." Doesn't sound very hopeful, does it?

Back in Genesis, in the beginning, Adam sinned when he ate of the fruit. He had a whole world to do with as he pleased and God set only one condition. He couldn't eat this particular fruit. But Adam did it anyway, willfully. Did God set Adam up to sin? Of course not. Could He have stopped Adam? Absolutely. Then why didn't He, right? Because God gives us freewill. Adam used that gift and turned it against God and suffered the consequences. Sin and Death were not "given" to Adam as a punishment, but they came as a result of his actions. If you touch a hot stove, don't blame God that you got burnt.

Yet, God did not want mankind to stay in this condition. One choice condemned us so God created another choice that could save us, if we chose it.

In that same passage of Romans 5, in verse 18, the Bible says, "Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men."

Jesus came to offer that one act of righteousness. Just like the Passover lamb in the Old Testament, Christ was perfect because He was the God-Man. Because of His virgin birth, He did not have a human father and, therefore, did not inherit the "seed of man". He was the only man born without sin or the inclination to sin. It wasn't because He abstained from doing bad things that He wasn't a sinner, but that darkness was genetically absent from Him. Christ could not sin. He was innocent through and through. And yet He took on the punishment for our sins, the full wrath of God. He allowed Himself to be separated from God the Father. It was like the very essence of Christ was torn in two, and that was the sacrifice He made on our behalf. Because of this action, we have another choice now. If we choose to follow Christ, to give our hearts to Him, then He will stand as our mediator before God and, from now until the day we die and go to Him, when we slip and fall and commit any sin – whether small or great, in the eyes of man – Christ will stand before His Father and pronounce us "innocent". He'll vouch for us when we stumble.

But this isn't a one-way street. If we're purposefully living our lives selfishly, with no regard for Christ or His sacrifice for us, then we can't expect Him to stand up for us before His Father. I'm not saying that we can lose our salvation, but I am saying that, if we claim a salvation that means nothing to us, then perhaps we should re-examine if we ever truly followed Christ to begin with.

I could go on and on about theology and the ins and outs of the Bible, but I'll save it. Just know this. Jesus said "I am the way, the truth, the life. No one gets to the Father, but by me." (John 14:6) If Jesus is to be believed, then only by trusting in Him and following Him can we ever be restored to God, both in this life and the hereafter. When put that way, we only have one choice. Believe or don't believe. It's a pretty big risk, either way. But as for me, I'm placing my trust in Christ.

If you want to follow Him, too, then just tell Him. I'm not going to give you some model prayer to use. When Adam sinned, he broke man's communion with God. Christ is here to serve as the bridge to bring us all back together again, like a family. If you want to follow Christ -- to get back to God -- then just be honest. Tell Him where you've messed up and then, let it go. Start over. Pick up a Bible and find out what it really says. Join a strong church; get support from other mature believers. We've stopped talking about faith with each other because we're so afraid that someone's going to tell us we're wrong, but there's no need to go on our faith journey alone. You're gonna mess up, sure. We're only human and, thanks to that knucklehead Adam, "being human" means we sin. But 1 John 1:9 promises that "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." God is waiting and willing to forgive us, but we have to come to Him on His terms and, according to the Bible, that is through Jesus.

So, there. Undoubtedly most of you have gone by now, but I've done my part. I've told you what I've found in the Bible. Now you know "the truth". Now it's up to you what you do with it.