About Jayna Baas
Jayna Baas (pronounced as in “baa, baa, black sheep”) is the author of Preacher on the Run and director of The Christian PEN: Proofreaders and Editors Network. She writes and edits from beautiful northern Michigan, where she strives to give readers faith-filled adventures bursting with courageous characters and biblical truth.
When she’s not writing her own books or editing other people’s books, Jayna seeks out new adventures on the screen, on the page, and in the kitchen. She also loves to spend time with her great family of real people and the family of pretend people who live in her head. (Yes, she does know her characters are not real. No, she does not want you to tell them she said so.)
Although her love of words extends to multiple genres, Jayna’s favorite story is this: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).
Interested in an interview, guest post, or more information? View Jayna’s media kit here.
Beyond the Bio
That’s the official “Jayna Baas bio” part. Now let me say hello, I’m glad you’re here! I strive to provide readers like you with engaging, encouraging, edifying Christian fiction that is filled with great characters and deep biblical truth. If you love Christian fiction that’s truly Christian, you’ve come to the right place.
Each of my books is written with the following in mind:
- Good writing honors God, the creator of language and the author of the most amazing book ever written.
- Just as we strive to live out our faith in a natural way, Christian stories should display truth without being “preachy.”
- Life as a believer in Jesus is so much more than a moral to a story.
- Christian fiction should not be defined only by what is not in it but also by what is.
- Jesus Christ is the only way to heaven, and that’s worth writing about.
Beyond the Bio
These are a few of my favorite things . . .
Favorite book of the Bible: Hard, but probably Ephesians or maybe Psalms
Favorite Bible verse: Even harder, but probably 1 Thessalonians 5:24—“Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.”
Favorite coffee: Medium-roast French press
Favorite tea: Gunpowder green tea
Favorite movies:
- Amazing Grace (profanity warning)
- Chariots of Fire (profanity warning)
- Little Crew Studios: Runner from Ravenshead, The Defense of New Haven, and Return to New Haven
- The Scarlet Pimpernel (1934, starring Leslie Howard—profanity warning)
- The Sound of Music
Favorite TV series:
- The Adventures of Robin Hood (1950s, starring Richard Greene)
- The Buccaneers (1956, starring Robert Shaw & Peter Hammond)
- Zorro (1950s, starring Guy Williams)
Favorite books:
- Pretty much anything by Amanda Dykes (Christian historical or dual timeline fiction)
- The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown (narrative nonfiction—profanity warning)
- Lion of Babylon by Davis Bunn (Christian suspense fiction)
- The Mitford Years series by Jan Karon (Christian contemporary fiction)
- Saving Amelie by Cathy Gohlke (Christian WWII fiction)
- The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Emmuska Orczy (adventure classic—profanity warning)
- The Sentinels of Andersonville by Tracy Groot (Christian Civil War fiction—violence warning)
- The Warrior’s Path by Louis L’Amour (early American fiction—profanity and violence warning)
If you’d like to learn more about me and stay in touch, I’d love for you to join my email subscribers to get monthly updates, a free short story, and other special content. I love to respond to readers’ emails when they reply to my newsletters. Join me here, and I’ll see you in your inbox!
“Of making many books there is no end . . .” (Ecclesiastes 12:12).
Books by Jayna Baas
Promise of Refuge
(short story)
He came looking for a preacher. He found more than he’d bargained for.
Preacher on the Run
Standing for truth could cost him his freedom. Fighting for freedom could cost him his life.
Patriot at the River
The fight he got wasn’t the fight he wanted.
More to come!
Statement of Faith
What I Believe about God and His Word
- There is one God, Creator of everything (Genesis 1:1; Acts 17:24–28; Revelation 4:11). He is three Persons in one Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19; 1 John 5:7).
- God has given us all the spiritual knowledge we need in the Bible, his inerrant, infallible Word, which he has preserved for English-speaking peoples as the King James Version (Psalm 12:6–7; Proverbs 30:5; 2 Timothy 3:16).
What I Believe about Sin
- All men are sinners, by nature and by action (Romans 3:10–11, 23; Romans 5:12). God’s justice and holiness demand complete payment for sin (Psalm 5:5; Isaiah 59:2). Good deeds can never cancel sins—in God’s eyes, our righteousness is as filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6), but his love and mercy want sinners to have restored fellowship with Him (Isaiah 1:18; Ephesians 2:4–5).
- Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God’s way for sinners to come back to him (John 14:6). Jesus was born on earth of a virgin, fully man and fully God (John 1:1, 14; Matthew 1:23). He lived a sinless life, then willingly took on the sins of every person who ever has or will be born (1 Peter 2:22; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Hebrews 9:28). God’s justice was satisfied when Jesus was crucified (Acts 2:23; Romans 4:25). After three days, Jesus came back to life by his own power, proving his victory over sin and death and providing new life and righteousness for those who believe (Luke 24:1–7; Acts 2:24; 1 Corinthians 15:17, 55–57; ). Forty days later, he ascended into heaven and is now seated at the right hand of God the Father, interceding for those who have trusted in him (Acts 1:3, 9; Romans 8:34; 1 Peter 3:22).
What I Believe about Salvation
- All who place their faith in Christ’s atonement become God’s children and are seen by God as perfect (Romans 8:1, 14–16; Philippians 3:9). The blood of Jesus washes away the sins, past, present, and future, of those who trust in him (Colossians 1:14, 20; Hebrews 9:14). At the moment of salvation, the Holy Spirit indwells the believer, giving understanding of the Word of God and growing the believer into the likeness of Christ (Galatians 4:6; John 16:13–14).
- Salvation is by grace through faith and is not contingent on good works, either before or after salvation (Ephesians 2:8-9, Galatians 2:16; 3:3). Believers are eternally secure on the sole basis of Christ’s work (John 10:28–29).
What I Believe about the Christian Life
- While all believers will continue to face temptation until they die, true faith will produce a desire to obey God (1 John 1:8-9; Romans 7:18–25; James 2:14–26).
- Baptism by immersion is an act of obedience that openly identifies the believer with Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection, but it is not a part of salvation in any way (Acts 2:41; Romans 6:3–5; 1 Peter 3:21).
- On earth, the church is a local assembly of believers under biblical leadership (1 Corinthians 14:33; 1 Timothy 3:15; Ephesians 1:22; Ephesians 4:11), while the family of God is the entire number of all believers, past, present, and future (Ephesians 3:15). In heaven, the church will be the final assembly of all believers (Hebrews 12:23).
What I Believe about the Future
- All believers will spend eternity with God in heaven (1 John 2:25; 1 Peter 1:4). All who reject Christ’s work will spend eternity in hell, separated from God (2 Thessalonians 1:8–9).
- Someday Christ will descend from heaven, and all believers, dead and living, will be caught up to meet him in the air (1 Thessalonians 4:16–17; 1 Corinthians 15:51–52). The world will immediately enter God’s judgment, known as the Great Tribulation (Matthew 24:21; 2 Peter 3:10; Revelation 6:15–17). The believers who have been taken up to heaven will be judged and rewarded according to their service for Christ (1 Corinthians 3:12–15; 2 Corinthians 5:10). At the end of seven years, Christ will return to earth and set up a physical kingdom for a thousand years, followed by the defeat of Satan and his followers (Revelation 20:1–15).
- After the final judgment, unbelievers will be cast into the lake of fire, called the second death (Revelation 20:14–15; 21:8). God will create a new heaven and new earth (2 Peter 3:13; Revelation 21:1), and believers will spend eternity with Christ (John 14:2–3).
What About You?
What do you believe? Have you been redeemed by the blood of Christ? Are you reconciled to the God who loves you and gave himself for you? If not, his invitation is open. All he requires is that you acknowledge that you are a sinner who has fallen short of God’s perfect standard, and that you cannot save yourself. (The Bible calls this “repentance,” or turning from your own way.)
Once you’ve admitted your sin and inability to please God, believe Jesus died in your place so you could be restored to God. Believe he rose from the dead and is alive today, and place your faith in his work alone. Then call on his name, telling him you trust his work and want him to save you. He’s promised that “whosoever cometh to me I will in no wise cast out” (John 6:37). (One of my favorite verses!) Here are some other things he’s said:
About our sin
- “As it is written, there is none righteous, no, not one; There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God” (Romans 3:10–11).
- “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).
- “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned” (Romans 5:12).
- “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23).
About our Savior
- “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father but by me” (John 14:6).
- “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).
- “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him” (Romans 5:8–9).
- “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him” (2 Corinthians 5:21).
About our salvation
- “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Romans 10:9–10).
- “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Romans 10:13).
- “In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace” (Ephesians 1:7).
- “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast” (Ephesians 2:8–9).
