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Real Living
through Fiction |
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By Tom Gilbert © 2003
We are all storytellers at heart. Or at
the very least, we are story listeners. The craft of storytelling
is as old as humankind. Before there was a written language
the elders would use the now mostly lost art of oral history,
often in the form of great tales of adventure and life. From
these many stories grew myths that contain bits of truth and
great lessons in every culture.
As Christian believers we hold to the Truth of God’s
word passed on to us through Scripture. This truth is powerful
and living. Story tellers (authors and writers) over the
years have discovered the power to affect us and perhaps
move us towards transformation by taking this timeless truth
and weaving it into their fiction. For some reason, many
of us better relate to these fictionalized expressions of
real life.
Is this because we recognize on some level the deep significance
of life’s lessons as we read of the conflicts and troubles
that all characters of great literature encounter?
For me this is undoubtedly true. Give me a good book and
I’ll easily wile away hours transported into the world
birthed from the vivid imaginations of gifted writers.
All writers of inspirational fiction aspire to communicate
on a deep level through stories that resonate with the power
of God that lifts the protagonist above the struggle of their
human existence. Good fiction is believable, interesting,
entertaining and relatable. It is always character driven.
Christian publishing is big business these days. Sometimes
that is good. Too often it becomes simply a marketing label.
Still, there is some good fiction being published that contains
Christian themes. As long as the focus stays on communicating
a message aligned with the truth of the Gospel, instead of
as a marketing ploy to capture a “Christian” audience,
such writing can introduce multitudes to God, Jesus and redemption.
This can be done through historical fiction, where the writer
uses real life events as the backdrop to the story, or through
speculative fiction and fantasy that allows for wide-ranging
possibilities.
As the chief writer for Living the Solution I’m obligated
to read a great deal. Each day I can be enriched with thoughtful
and inspiring non-fiction. But I love to read a good story!
I even aspire to a bit of fiction writing myself (see A
Shepherd’s
Tale).
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Here are some books and
stories I’ve read (or on my reading list) — some well-known, some not
— that illustrate real living through Christian-themed fiction.
The
Left Behind Series by Jerry B. Jenkins and Tim LaHaye
More than a Christian publishing phenomenon, the “Left
Behind” series has sold many millions. The planned series
is coming down to the climactic conclusion with book number
twelve, Glorious
Appearing, releases March 30, 2004. Spin-offs
include a companion series for kids, audio and video releases,
a fan-based website, and even new books/series written by others
using the timeline and/or settings from the "Left Behind" series..
Jerry B. Jenkins even has a new “prequel” series
with the release of Soon,
about the days and events leading up to the Rapture.
The "Left Behind" series is based on the prophetic end-time
scenario embraced by many evangelical Christians that includes a pre-Tribulation
Rapture. A small group, realizing after the fact that Christianity
is the real thing, band together as the Tribulation Force
to fight the good fight against the Anti-Christ and his global
government. Over the course of the books you get to know
the characters and follow the events and it plays like a
taut mini-series.
Who will survive to the end and the Second Coming? How will the battle
of Armageddon come about? Using primarily the book of Revelation as the source for the plot the authors
have churned out some page-turning action and suspense. The
writing is not as good as Grisham or Clancy, but is entertaining
and the character development is pretty strong. The books
can be a bit preachy with a very literal interpretation of
end time prophecy and a judgmental bias. Still, I’ve
found them entertaining and there is no doubt they’ve
put attention on the Bible from an often cynical secular media.
Bud MacFarlane
Jr. is one of the leading authors of contemporary
Catholic fiction. The odd thing is he didn’t intend to
be a writer. His work has been to distribute free audio tapes
through an organization, the Mary Foundation and
to further Christ’ message through a large web site — CatholiCity.com.
Bud and his wife, Bai, together with a small staff of dedicated
Catholics devoted to the Gospel message give away the books
and tapes. This distribution idea is considered crazy by traditional
publishers, but it has worked, well, miraculously. You can
request free copies and give a donation only if you want to.
To date over 600,000 of Bud MacFarlane’s books are in
print. You can read more about them below and link directly
to getting a copy here.
Pierced by A Sword
A sweeping apocalyptic epic that will take you over the border
between heaven and earth.
Read
our review
Conceived Without Sin
A novel about men and marriage. A novel about friendship.
A story about your world.
Read our review
House of Gold
A story about courage and suffering. A vision for all time.
Review coming.
The Messenger by Tim Woodroof
This is historical fiction that puts you right in the middle
of the Apostle Paul and his dealings with the community of
Philippi. Read our review.
The Windows of Heaven series
(Dawn-Apocalypse
Rising, The Paladin’s Odyssey, A Broken Paradise,
The Tides of Nemesis) by K.G. Powderly Jr.
Here’s an intriguing new mytho-historic science fiction
series. The timeline is prior to and leading up to the Great
Flood. Powderly has created a richly textured backdrop for
his wide-ranging epic of the world’s cataclysmic death
and rebirth of ages ago. Readers will discover the drama
of Genesis in a new way through the adventures of A’Nu-Ahki.
Read our review.
Various Fiction by Tom Terry
The author has been in media, including various television
and radio outlets, for many years and in often difficult
situations like Mongolia (see Eagle
TV article). His evangelistic
enthusiasm, sense of humor and strong writing skills make
his various fiction efforts good reading. Tom has chosen
to self-publish through his web site and you can read online
or download a number of his short stories and novels.
The creative and highly speculative imagination of Tom Terry should, and probably will be, discovered at
some point by the publishing world. Read him now so you can say you “knew
him when”.
Staci Stallings writes
romantic stories with strong moral and Christian themes. She
is not preachy
and draws you into the lives of her characters with good dialogue
and description. Her forthcoming book, Price
of Silence, deals
with High School violence, friendship and a willingness to
make a stand for love. My 15-year old daughter and I both gave
it a “thumbs up”. Read
review.
Princess is
her newest and a review is here.
She plans to release
it as a cyber-serial, like she did with Price
of Silence.
Visit her web
site and get chapters from the book
sent to you free by email. Be sure to also check out some
of her other offerings.
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| There is so much good fiction and you
certainly should not limit yourself to just books published
under a Christian label.
I encourage you to use discernment and these examples are just
some of my suggestions. By all means read – for the enjoyment
and for spiritual growth. There is little doubt that the power
to profoundly change views and lives with good novels can be
part of God working through us.
See our e-store special section on Christian
fiction
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Scripture taken from the Holy Bible,
NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®.Copyright © 1973, 1978,
1984 International Bible Society. All rights reserved throughout
the world. Used by permission of International Bible Society.
NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION® and NIV® are registered trademarks
of International Bible Society. Use of either trademark for
the offering of goods or services requires the prior written
consent of International Bible Society.
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible,
New Living Translation, copyright ©1996. Used by permission
of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, IL 60189, USA. All
rights reserved. |
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1 JOHN 2:10
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"Whoever loves his brother
lives in the light, and there is nothing in him to make him
stumble"
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(NIV)
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