The love of the telling?
There are many concepts addressed in C. S. Lewis’ The Great Divorce that are extremely insightful, if not equally controversial. (Read the flannelgraph review here).
I admit to being only an amateur musician, focusing mostly on writing songs for use in congregational worship, but I find Lewis’ insight into the motivations of the ‘Christian’ artist deeply challenging.
“It was all a snare. Ink and catgut and paint were necessary down there [on earth], but they are also dangerous stimulants. Every poet and musician, but for Grace, is drawn away from love of the thing he tells, to love of the telling till, down in Deep Hell, they cannot be interested in God at all but only in what they say about Him. For it doesn’t stop… you know. They sink lower – become interested in their own personalities and then in nothing but their own reputations.”
I must ask myself… am I guilty of the same? Being drawn away from loving the One I tell about, by the love of the telling?
The Ted Dekker challenge
I’ve just finished yet another Ted Dekker book.
In two words… pure awesomeness.
Without any exaggeration – I wholeheartedly believe that Ted Dekker is one of the best writers currently on the planet – and it just so happens that he is a Christian.
Naysayers.. don’t stop reading this post just yet…
Many of you probably think that Christian fiction authors only write second rate drivel, cheesy romance novels or cliched 300 page evangelistic tracts…
Think again.
I encourage you… no, urge you… no challenge you to read a Ted Dekker novel. Regardless if you are a follower of Christ or not, you will be impacted by many of Dekker’s stories.
The man is incredibly talented – and his tales, plots, twists, messages are nothing short of brilliantly crafted and some would say divinely inspired.
One word of caution though – don’t expect your average Christian romance novel.
Click here to visit Ted Dekker’s website.
Click here to read reviews of Dekker’s works at over at Flannelgraph.org.
Behind The Shack
The Shack was a story written for my six children, with no thought or intention to publish. It is as much a surprise to me as to anyone else that I am now an ‘author’. (William P. Young)
Last night I finished reading The Shack (You can read my review over at flannelgraph).
Currently (September 2009), The Shack is #2 on the NY Times bestselling paperbacks list. It debuted at #1 in mid 2008 and stayed at the top spot for 36 weeks. It has sold over 7 million copies and counting, and people are ranking it among Christan literary masterpieces like Pilgrim’s Progress.
Wow.
What not many people realise, is how the book became popular…
William P. Young wrote a story about his journey with God for his children. He gave it to his close friends to read, who all thought that the story was too significant not to publish. Problem was that no Christian publisher would take it on, saying it was ‘too controversial’, and no secular company would publish it due to it being ‘too Christian’. What did Young’s friends do? They started their own publishing company of course! Windblown Media was launched and $300 was spent marketing the book. Over 7 million copies later, the rest is now history.
Imagine the joy of Young and his friends (and their wonder of God). Imagine the tears of every publisher that turned down the rights to the book. Imagine the millions of lives this book has impacted.
If you haven’t already read this book (whether you have a faith in God or not), please do… it could quite possibly change your perspective of life.
(If you want to read more of the story behind The Shack, please visit William P. Young’s blog.)
Me, Myself, & Bob
The full title is ‘Me, Myself, and Bob: A True Story About God, Dreams, and Talking Vegetables’ by Phil Vischer. The following is the blurb from the website…
Ever wondered how Bob and Larry came to be? How a young computer animator and a few friends with no money and no clue managed to launch the most successful direct-to-video series EVER? Even more interesting… how did such a huge success flame-out and fall to pieces – and what role did faith and God play in what happened to Big Idea Productions and in what has happened since then to that computer animator with the big idea? Shortly after the bankruptcy of Big Idea Productions, Phil wrote an account on this website to briefly explain what had happened to everyone’s favorite vegetables. A lot of people really enjoyed that account – some even made it required reading for their own employees at their own ‘big ideas’. And then some asked, “But how did it all start? What was it like when it was a big hit? And what did Phil learn from the entire experience?” And Phil realized he had more to say than one website article could contain. Two years later, here it is. The whole story. A tale so big, it could only be called Me, Myself & Bob. If you thought VeggieTales and Big Idea were interesting to watch from the outside – whoo boy! Strap yourselves in for the real adventure!
I’ve always loved Veggietales (PJ and I used to hire them even before we had kids 
. I just counted the number of Veggietales DVD’s/videos we own… 14. A few years ago I heard the rumour that Veggietales had gone into liquidation, that everything had hit the fan, and had wondered why God allowed it to happen. This book explains why.
It is excellent, and I believe it is a ‘must read’ for anyone who has had big dreams for God… started to see them come to pass, only to see them fall apart. Phil Vischer is very transparent retelling his story, his dreams, his ambition, his shortcomings, his failure and his disillusionment… and I really, really appreciate him for it.
This book will appeal to anyone who is…
… a veggietales fans
… into computer animation
… into entertainment industry
… a christian businessman or woman
… a christian leader
The average customer rating on Amazon for this book is 5 starts out of 5 stars.
Top children’s books of all time
8. A Very Hungry Caterpillar
7. Ten Dirty Pigs/Ten Clean Pigs
6. The Monster At The End Of This Book
4. The Bear Scouts
(Written and illustrated by Stan and Jan Berenstein. First published in 1967.)
I never yet have read this book right through, out loud, and at normal speed without getting words mixed up. All of Dr. Seuss’s books are legendary, but this is his masterpiece IMO.
(Written by Helen Palmer and illustrated by P. D. Eastman. First published in 1961.)
(Written by Laurence Anholt and illustrated by Katherine Anholt. First published in 2001.)
