ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (ANS) -- Although we may have long heard about the consequences of sin and the crucial importance of a close relationship with God, for many it remains a struggle to understand.

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In his first novel, “10 Minutes,” author and ASSIST News Service Senior Correspondent Dr. Jeremy Reynalds puts a face and a page-turning story to the consequences of straying from God through the story of Cameron Foster.

Cameron Foster has a strong Christian faith, idyllic marriage, and career poised for success as a reporter at his local television station. Under pressure from the station and a desire to pursue his own ambition, Foster does whatever is necessary to secure a story, behaving for ten minutes in a manner that betrays his faith, profession, and morals.

In order to cover up his first transgression, Foster continues to act in a manner that is immoral, eventually leading to the deaths of over 150 people. He is continually urged by the voice of the devil, who overpowers the voice of God, to sin—a voice by which many criminals claim to have been similarly influenced.

One case a little while ago was that of a Nevadan teenager who claimed that the devil told him to kill his cellmate in jail, as only one of them could live, after murdering his six year old cousin in May at the demands of the devil.

When the voice’s bidding results in death and destruction in “10 Minutes,” the devil does not show Foster support in his time of need, as God does when we are in our hours of need. He says, “You won’t be hearing from me again, unless that guilty conscience of yours, which got you in so much trouble in Afghanistan, motivates you to tell law enforcement about your part in what happened there. Then, of course, there will be problems. You may even end up in a court of law, charged with treason and criminal insanity.”

Rather than help him, Satan offers only snide comments and expresses his disappointment in the success that they could have achieved together, ruined by Foster’s pesky morality.

Foster reaches the lowest point in his life, left completely destroyed and staying in a homeless shelter, where Chaplain Gene helps him to feel the presence of God again, offering redemption in spite of his terrible acts.

Cameron Foster’s story is a powerful testimony to the necessity of God’s presence in our lives and just how devastating and lonely the wages of sin and a relationship with Satan can be.

In addition to writing, Reynalds is also the Founder and CEO of Joy Junction, New Mexico's largest emergency homeless shelter.

To purchase a copy of “10 Minutes,” go to www.joyjunction.org