My creative non-fiction piece “The Ark,” was selected as the Editor’s Choice winner for Relief 2.3. Can you dig it? You can read more about the great line-up of authors for that issue HERE, as well as pre-order your own copy and check out the cover art. Relief Journal is a quality mag and I’m [...]
Evangelical and Emergent Christians have their share of differences. And after two leading figures in each group recently proffered presidential endorsements, it appears politics is another one of them. To many Americans, James Dobson represents the voice of conservative Christianity, if not the face of the Religous Right. Not long ago, Dobson publicly voiced his [...]
The announcement that Roger Ebert and Richard Roeper are finally cutting ties with “At the Movies,” evoked a nostalgic wave. The show has aired since 1986, then named Siskel & Ebert at the Movies, and become a pop cultural mainstay. The two original critics (Gene Siskel died of a brain tumor in ’99) icon-ized the [...]
Things are very busy on the writing front for me, and at the moment, I’m balancing bunches of responsibility (which includes posting two to three times a week on this here blog, and keeping it relatively updated; in fact, under Follow Me Here in the sidebar, I’ve added a link to Duran Clan, a new [...]
Thanks to Jeffrey Overstreet for the link on this. Apparently, Melissa Etherdige and veteran Christian rocker Phil Keaggy had a potentially uncomfortable exchange. Thankfully, their issues were resolved nicely, with both parties looking better for their modulated, gracious tone. (See Jeffrey’s summary HERE.) The nature of the Contemporary Christian Music industry plays no small part [...]
I ran into an interesting article through Out of Ur entitled Formation via Fiction. The piece is aimed at Church leaders, and its gist is that most pastors sorely neglect reading fiction. It’s an interesting point, and one I can corroborate. Having been on staff with two different churches over an 11 year stretch, I [...]
There are currently 748 customers reviews at Amazon for The Shack. Of those, 572 of them are 5 star. It’s indicative of the hype that has swept the religious community, and the profusion of praise for this short, parabolic tale. “I think this book is the best conceptual description of God presented since the Bible [...]
Just when I was beginning to think “edgy Christian fiction” is an oxymoron, something has caught my eye… It’s a trend toward “Christian horror.” Okay, that’s not the term we like to use. The horror genre is usually equated with occult-laden splatter flicks aimed at indiscriminate teens or uncivilized adults. Whether or not that distinction [...]
What songs should play at your funeral? Don’t tell me you haven’t thought about that. For some of us, it’s an inspirational classic like “I’ll Fly Away” or “Abide With Me.” For others, it’s something more raucous or uppity. At Wild Bill‘s funeral we played 50’s music. The do-wah do-wah’s were a perfect reminder of [...]
The Extended Edition of Peter Jackson’s film trilogy is superior to the theatrical release and contains, collectively, almost two hours of significant additional scenes. I recently re-watched them and, once again, was struck by how timeless Tolkien’s epic is and how well the movie embodies those elements. In its eleven hours, there are many memorable [...]
