Gospel.com Blog

Maybe it was an inspiring devotional collection or a moving biography; or maybe the book itself had little to do with Christianity but somehow prompted you to think about your faith in a new way.

If you had to name one book other than the Bible that has influenced your Christian life, what would it be?

Share your thoughts!

Did anybody else grow reading—and re-reading—Frank Peretti’s This Present Darkness?

Ever since my college experience changed (for better or worse) my ideas about what is and isn’t Great Literature, I have looked back at my teenage obsession with Peretti’s novels of spiritual warfare with a mixture of mild embarrassment and nostalgia. The characters and stories aren’t timeless (I can’t remember any of the details of those novels these many years later) and there’s undoubtedly much to take issue with in the theological and spiritual aspects of the tales. But while reading them I felt a vague sense that I was experiencing something new and interesting in Christian fiction.

At least one other person feels the same way. Take a look at In Defense of Frank Peretti by Joi Weaver at the Evangelical Outpost blog:

The criticisms of Peretti have quite a range: to some people he’s too overtly Christian, to others he focuses too much on the occult. For some the characterization of the people in his novels in the problem, and others find his plots too cliché. His books almost always include a dramatic conversion, angelic warfare, and New Age rituals that turn out to be Satanic in origin.

Though they might not rise to the heights of literature one hopes to see from Evangelical fiction, Peretti’s early books did something very important: they opened a door. With the popularity of This Present Darkness and Piercing the Darkness, up and coming authors were more free to branch out, to explore, to use other genres of fiction. In any Evangelical fiction catalog, one can now find detective fiction (The Danielle Ross series), comedy (The Wally McDoogle books), adventure stories (The Heirs of Cahira O’Connor series), and many more. It is even arguable that Peretti’s ground-breaking stories allowed Christians to be more engaged with the Harry Potter, Golden Compass, and Twilight series. Such books are no longer “off-limits,” but open for reading and debate.

I think Weaver’s definitely on to something. For me as a young reader, Peretti’s sometimes-clunky spiritual thrillers helped me see that C.S. Lewis, brilliant though he was, was not the only Christian allowed to blend faith and fantastic fiction. Other Christian writers like Stephen Lawhead and John White helped to push that door even further open.

I think Weaver’s final observation is particularly insightful; it may be that the most important legacy of Peretti and his peers is not the fiction they wrote so much as the way they encouraged Christians to approach the genres of fantasy and science fiction with a mind toward their spiritual aspects.

What about you? Did you, like me, spend many a childhood evening with your nose buried in a Peretti novel? What other authors might you add to the above list? And do you think these Christian fantasists have had a positive impact on Christianity’s relationship to literature?

Despite visual media’s best attempts to kill off reading, people still really like books. Between libraries, online bookstores, Google Books and devices like the Kindle, it’s almost trivial to find any book we could ever want.

But with all those choices comes the next question of “What do I read next?” For Christians that question takes on a spiritual element as well, becuase—as we all know—what we read does affect us.

So, with that in mind we’d like to hear your thoughts on the question: should Christians read non-Christian books?

What do you think?

The publishing industry has undergone massive changes in the internet age. Where does that leave Christian writers who want to take advantage of the new opportunities presented by the digital age?

James Watkins is a Christian writer who has been charting a course through the challenges and opportunities of publishing amidst a rapidly-changing industry and a massive economic crisis. He was recently interviewed by Upper Case about how to avoid becoming a digital dinosaur. He talks about his own experience making the transition from the traditional Christian publishing model to the wide-open world of modern web-savvy publishing. It’s an interesting discussion of the importance of adapting to the new online medium.

It also goes along nicely with a recent discussion among Christian bloggers and writers about the increasing pressure on writers to market themselves in the online world. Christian literary agent Rachelle Gardner kicked off the discussion on her blog, and the ensuing conversation is well worth reading.

What do you do when life deals you lemons? James Watkins, columnist (and friend of Gospel.com) has a new book out that asks just that: Squeezing Good Out of Bad. The new book focuses on practical strategies for dealing with the trials and setbacks we encounter in everyday life.

James has put a full chapter from the book online; it challenges us to rethink pain—and to consider that God can work through pain and tragedy to bring about good in our lives, even though it’s hard to see that in the midst of our suffering. There’s also a Yahoo group where you can discuss Squeezing Good Out of Bad with James and other readers.

And while you’re taking a look at James’ site, don’t miss his Valentine’s Day resources—lots of articles and essays about love, marriage, relationships, and sex, all of which are probably on your mind as television ads and florists remind us of the approach of Valentine’s Day!

It’s a good time to be a student: school’s out, and you’ve got a couple months to go before you have to start thinking about homework again. There’s no better time than summer to relax with a good book, and the folks at StudentSoul.org can help you pick out a few particularly worthwhile ones: read their top five must-reads for the summer. Lots of good suggestions there, and if you’re hungry for even more, check out the excellent and much more extensive summer reading list from Student Leadership Journal. Everything from fiction to theology and even a few movies thrown in for good measure. Enjoy!

Here’s your weekly roundup of noteworthy blog posts from around the Gospel.com community. Lots of good stuff here this week:

• Jonalyn Fincher (of the Soulation apologetics ministry) muses about the claim that “if churches cater to men, then the women and children will follow.” Is it true that churches can win over entire families by focusing on the “man of the house”?
• The Internet Ministry Conference blog reminds us that the deadline for early bird conference registration is coming up soon—June 3. Complete with an amusing video to help make the point!
• Over at The Culture Beat, Jim Dahlman talks about “going green” as part of faith. Is eco-friendly living an aspect of the Christian call to stewardship? And don’t miss Alex Wainer’s reflections on the latest Indiana Jones movie.
• Jim Watkins takes issue with the premise of Sex and the City, and provides some useful data about cohabitation and sexual activity before marriage. (If only the filmmakers had employed Jim as a movie consultant during filming!)
• ThinkChristian wants to know: how far do you live from your church? Take the poll and share your thoughts!
• The Outflow blog asks whether or not the church is filled with passionate Christians. People got outrageously excited when World of Warcraft hit local Best Buy shelves—do you see the same level of excitement about the infinitely more important Gospel message in the church today?
• Dave Zimmerman writes about a supremely hot summer day, and what he learned from it, over at Strangely Dim.
• What’s it like to sit on the other side of the author table at a book signing? Lisa Rieck shares an author’s perspective over at IVPress’ Behind the Books blog.

That’s all for this week. See you Monday!