Are there women out there who actually enjoy reading books that target Christian women living cookie-cutter lifestyles where men are hopeless and helpless, and women must tend the family and keep the home fires burning? What about books like Alice Munro's Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage, where a mind is challenged, lives are deep, dynamic and multi-faceted, and not everything has a happy ending? Even for those who like their fiction “lite,” surely there are plenty of worthy novels out there to entertain.

Walk Through the Bible founder Bruce Wilkinson may not have been a total unknown when he wrote The Prayer of Jabez, but the little book's nine million sales were certainly helped by marketing creativity. The list of spin-offs include three children's versions, The Prayer of Jabez Journal, The Prayer of Jabez Devotional for Children, The Prayer of Jabez Devotional for Adults, The Prayer of Jabez Bible Study, The Prayer of Jabez for Women, a 90-minute audio version, a video, the musical companion The Prayer of Jabez Music … A Worship Experience, backpacks, jewellery, Christmas ornaments, vanilla-scented candles, mouse pads, and even a framed painting of Jabez. After refusing a proposal for Jabez candy bars, licensing agent Leslie Nunn Reed told the Los Angeles Times, “We want to be careful about not over-commercializing this.”

There is a proliferation of books on grief and none are written for pleasure, but rather for the encouragement of those recovering from the death of a loved one. Some do this better than others.

Joan Chittister writes that friendship “colours the very air we breathe. We can see it in the eyes of old women, in the kitchens of the women they love. We can hear it in the voices of one young woman giggling to another over the phone. We can feel it beating in our own hearts on lonely rainy days in faraway places.” It has fascinated philosophers, spiritual teachers and mystics, artists and poets, yet remains “eternal mystery, eternal desire.” Chittister draws in threads from classical scholars such as the author of Ecclesiastes, Cicero, and Ælred of Clairvaux, “who wrote a theology on friendship founded on the belief that 'God is friendship.'” But these views of spiritual life faded. “In a world dominated by war, famine, plague, and oppression, the God of Love lost out to God the Judge and Jesus the Lord.”

Go ahead! Eat each and every page from Introduction to the last little morsel.

The Holographic Reading Club meets every Tuesday, and one evening the subject turned to Christian Fiction.

“In centuries past, influential Christian thinkers … have penned literature that continues to influence Christians today. The Foundations of Faith series unearths these works for a new audience of twentysomethings hungry for revolutionary material that speaks to their lives…” So reads the back cover of each book in this new series. The goal, clearly, is to get theological/spiritual classics read by a younger generation.

Many of us as Christians have directive to forgive — forgive those who trespass against us; to forgive is divine; love your enemies; turn the other cheek — but not training in how to forgive. We are frustrated and puzzled by how hard it is to let go of our hurt, especially when we have seen little or no remorse on the part of an offender. Unable to forgive, we might then ask, “are we being bad Christians?”

Seek and Ye Shall Find There is good Christian fiction, you just have to look for it by Carol J. Garvin A Tasty Morsel A […]

In his introduction to The Master Preacher, short and not to be skipped over, Rev. Sheldon MacKenzie's opening paragraph reads: “The Gospel of John is distinctly different from the other three. To begin with, it is written in language that is deceptively simple. A child may read and enjoy it. At the same time, while a mature adult may read it easily, he/she may understand it with difficulty.”

The Master Preacher: Sermons from John by Roy Sheldon MacKenzie Fairway Press, Lima, Ohio, 2006 In his introduction to The Master Preacher, short and not […]

When I read my first book on mainline church renewal in the early 1990s, the operative phrase was “paradigm shift.” Churches were encouraged to develop new models for ministry and mission. It was time to “think outside of the box,” to start with a blank page. It was not an exercise that came easily to many churches struggling with grief and diminishing resources.

Thanks Giving: Growing Generosity Among God's People

The Sense of the Call: A Sabbath Way of Life for Those Who Serve God, the Church and the World

God’s Kingdom reclaims us A challenging book could set us on a hopeful path by Arthur Van Seters Money Talks (have you been listening?) Stewardship […]

No Small Jewel: A History Of the Synod Of Southwestern Ontario

This is a top-notch piece of historical scholarship. But it leaves me haunted by a disquieting question — so what? The book evaluates Bryden insightfully […]

The Neo-orthodox Theology of W.W. Bryden

No Small Jewel: A History Of the Synod Of Southwestern Ontario

This is a top-notch piece of historical scholarship. But it leaves me haunted by a disquieting question — so what? The book evaluates Bryden insightfully […]