Written by Micah Levi Conkling

If you’ve ever been to a Christian bookstore or even the far corner of Barnes and Noble, you’ve probably wandered into the Christian fiction section that’s littered with novels owning sentimental titles like Abby’s Journey, complete with a downtrodden-looking Amish girl on the cover. Or you might have escaped gazing at such saccharine work and come across fictional books about the End Times, or maybe about a detective who tracks down serial killers using Scripture and his “quiet time.”



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Written by Jessica Kent

In 1845, a young man filled with the philosophy of the Transcendentalist movement built a cabin in the woods of Walden Pond in Concord, Mass. Of that experience he wrote: “I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. ... I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life.”

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Written by Allen Cates

“The riddles of God are more satisfying than the solutions of man.” - G.K. Chesterton

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Written by John Pattison

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. published five books in his lifetime; a sixth was released after he was assassinated in Memphis, Tenn., on April 4, 1968, at the age of 39. They are all seminal works for American Christians. Stride Toward Freedom (1958) tells the story of the Montgomery Bus Boycott. The Measure of a Man (1959) is a slim volume explaining the theological and philosophical roots of nonviolent activism. Why We Can’t Wait (1964) is a history of the civil rights movement in general, and the 1963 Birmingham Campaign in particular. This book includes his famous “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” which was addressed to eight clergymen and urged the church to join the struggle for racial justice. King’s 1967 book Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community? is a clear-eyed look at the state of race relations at a moment when the civil rights movement was in disarray. The book also makes a provocative connection between the bankrupt ideology of systemic discrimination, and the literal impoverishment of millions of Americans, white and black. The five speeches that make up The Trumpet of Conscience, published posthumously in 1968, link the evils of poverty, militarism and racism, and call for nothing less than a nonviolent revolution.

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Written by Karen Swallow Prior

I’m an English professor, so I’m a little biased when it comes to the topic of reading. I believe that reading widely and well benefits everyone. But for the Christian, reading holds particular theological and worldview applications. And I’m not talking just about reading the Bible, theology or guides to Christian living (although those are good for a Christian to read). I’m saying that the literary Christian is uniquely equipped to live out the Christian faith and to draw others to it because of a connection between being a faithful reader and a faithful Christian.

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Written by Ian Ebright

RELEVANT talks to pastor and author Richard Dahlstrom about his new book, passion and intellectual vs. active faith.

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Written by David Masciotra

The following is an excerpt from David Masciotra’s book-in-progress, Faith That Won’t Die: Death, Defeat, Sex, and Spirituality in One Rust Belt Town:

One of the most often repeated clichés in American culture is that life is about the “journey and not the destination.” Anyone with any familiarity with American culture, however, knows that it is an efficiency-obsessed, results-driven, success-centered utilitarian marketplace more than it is a nation. As a priest friend of mine puts it, “In America all that matters is you go home rich. You may go home neurotic and psychotic, but if you’re rich that’s fine.”

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Written by Spencer Spellman

October 1st, 2010

Are You a Christian?

By Spencer Spellman

"By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. "
 John 13:35 TNIV

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Written by Bryon Mondok

There is no easy way to combine two separate organizations. Tullian Tchividjian, the new pastor at Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., learned this very difficult lesson firsthand during the summer and fall of 2009. As he stepped into the pulpit of the late Dr. D. James Kennedy, founder of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church, Tchividjian preached a sermon series through the book of Jonah. His latest book, Surprised by Grace: God's Relentless Pursuit of Rebels [check out our review here], is a product of this trying time. This book is the fruit of his personal trial.

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Written by Carl Kozlowski

Larry Doyle has a cartoonish take on life, having spent three seasons writing on The Simpsons and, before that, three seasons on Beavis and Butthead. But after moving into live-action film writing, the Baltimore native turned his thoughts back to high school and wrote the novel I Love You, Beth Cooper, which went on to win the highly prestigious James Thurber Award, given to the best humorous novel of the year.

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