One of the Few by Jason B. Ladd

I’m delighted today to welcome new-to-me author Jason B. Ladd to Thoughts in Progress to talk about his release, ONE OF THE FEW: A Marine Fighter Pilot’s Reconnaissance of the Christian Worldview.

The story is about Jason’s struggle with doubt during a search for truth and a reasonable defense of the Christian faith.

◊Publisher: Boone Shepherd

◊Genre: Christian non-fiction

◊Page count: 318

◊Publish Date: November 2015

Marine fighter pilot Jason B. Ladd grows up in a military family with loving parents but spends his young life filled with spiritual apathy. 

In One of the Few, Ladd struggles with doubt during his search for truth and a reasonable defense of the Christian faith as he prepares for combat and wages spiritual warfare during his mission to become a better husband and father. 

Ladd enters the US Marine Corps, becomes a fighter pilot, and sees combat in Iraq before life events align to nudge him into profound spiritual inquiry. Digging deep into his quest for truth, he realizes the art and science of fighter pilot fundamentals can help him on his journey. 

Filled with stories that contrast his spiritual apathy with his post-Christian worldview passion, One of the Few is the compelling life story of a spiritual seeker engaged in a thrilling profession combined with a strong, reasonable defense of Christianity. 

Many people fail to recognize the importance of establishing a coherent worldview. As a result, they are unable to think critically, solve problems, or provide their children with answers to life’s biggest questions. The purpose of this book is to show how a search for truth will lead to a Christian worldview allowing parents to provide meaningful answers, defend against false teachings, and protect their children from the dangers of spiritual apathy and secular evangelism.

One of the Few describes Ladd’s journey from apathetic atheist to impassioned evangelist. “Part I: Seek And You Will Find” follows the path from clueless teenager to combat veteran as Ladd describes growing up as a military dependent, military basic training, and Navy flight school. Chapters describe his first experience with colliding worldviews, meeting the girl who would later become his wife and lead him to the Christian faith, and the difficulty of answering important questions without a recognized worldview. Stories contrast his spiritual apathy with post-Christian-worldview passion and show how fighter pilot fundamentals helped prepare him to conduct spiritual reconnaissance during his mission to find the truth about God and Christianity. 

“Part II: Be Not Deceived” describes how his new worldview and role as husband and father shaped his perspective on important cultural issues including alcohol abuse and sexual immorality. Chapters explore common misconceptions about Christianity and discuss topics including faith versus science, the problem of evil, the perceived femininity of Christianity, and the importance of strong marriages. 

“Part III: Always Be Ready” uses military principles to prepare the reader for spiritual warfare and the defense of the Christian faith. Chapters include Ladd’s struggle with doubt after investigating Christianity, use peace, war, and defense as a framework for developing a worldview, and challenge readers to guard against the New Spirituality. It concludes with a reminder from Matthew 22:14 (“Many are called, but few are chosen”), and poses a final question to the reader: will you be one of the few?  

For fans of Ravi Zacharias, Lee Strobel, and Frank Turek, Ladd’s remarkable journey shares the transformative power of faith during a time when belief in God is dismissed and religious liberty in the military is attacked.

ONE OF THE FEW can be found on its website, as well Amazon and Goodreads.

Now please join me in giving a warm welcome to Jason as he joins us to answer some questions about his book and writing. Welcome, Jason.

What lead you to write this book?

Jason:

I was reading a lot about Christianity and atheism in an attempt to discover truths about the world. I ended up embracing the Christian faith, and I wanted to preserve that story for my family. As I began writing, I realized my story might help others struggling to discover absolute truths in a time were relativism reigns. That's when I decided to make it a book. 

What was the most difficult part of writing your book? What was the easiest?

Jason:

I'll start with the easiest part, which was telling the personal stories. The most difficult part was keeping it focused. The book is apologetics wrapped in story, and apologetics can take you in a million directions. My editor cut out a lot.

You narrate the audio version of your book. What was that experience like?

Jason:

It was fun because I saw it as a challenge. The challenge was to do it all myself and get the audio files to pass inspection from ACX/Audible/Amazon's computer/robots. 

It was also a challenge because I was in the middle of a move. Most of it was recorded in a bedroom closet full of hanging clothes, with a few sound-deadening blankets draped as well.

Oh yeah, some of it was recorded in a travel trailer parked in storage lot, without power, in 120-degree heat, underneath one of the busiest civilian airports in the U.S. And under a blanket. (There was sweat involved.)

The cover of your book is quite eye catching. Did you have any input into its design?

Jason:

I came up with the concept and provided some of the images. I used 99Designs.com and had artists compete for the cover design with a cash prize. I was happy with the outcome and impressed with several of the designers. 

Do you have any projects underway at this time?

Jason:

On the writing side, I'm working on a project involving our recent move to Alaska, but I haven't decided on the format yet. It's going to have a lot of humor.

But I've also been sidetracked with IndieListers.com, which is the service I started to help authors share book promotion results to find out which ones work.

Jason, thanks for joining us today and sharing this insight into your story. It’s always interesting learning how a book came about.

Now here’s a bit more background on Jason.

Author Jason B. Ladd

Jason B. Ladd is an award-winning author, Marine veteran, and creator of IndieListers.com. He has flown the F/A-18 "Hornet" and the F-16 "Fighting Falcon."

He and his wife Karry are the parents of seven children. 

For more on Jason and his writing, visit his website and check out IndieListers.

Thanks for stopping by today during Jason’s visit. What are your thoughts about a book like Jason’s? Doesn't Jason's book cover just grab your attention and make you wonder what's inside?