The Influence by Matthew John Slick

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The Influence (2012)

Matthew John Slick

StoneHouse Ink

If have read the previous posts on this blog, you’ll know that I am a fan of Frank Peretti.  Despite some very real and important theological problems, his books are fun and generally point to an important issue in Christian life.

So when I heard about this book by Matt Slick, I was pretty excited.  I like Slick’s radio show and articles, and while there are still some definite differences in my theology and his, he has considerably better footing than Peretti does.  In fact, the continuation of the charismatic gifts is really the only major area where I differ with him that I can think of off the top of my head, though I’m sure I’d think of something else if I tried.

So I went into this book with great excitement, and I was generally not disappointed. 

A Christmas Carol

A Christmas Carol (1843)

Charles Dickens

This evening my wife and I watched The Muppet Christmas Carol, which is my favorite version of Dickens’ classic tale.  I have a very deep fondness for both this particular story and the Muppets, so the combination of the two does not get old for me.

But I try to watch or read the story itself once a year, whether or not it is the Muppets’ version of it.  I’ve read the book multiple times and seen it scores of times, and have even written my own variation on the idea entitled “AChristmas Accounting” (the link here will not work for too much longer, but when I find a new home for the play, I hope to remember to update the link).

It is a story that is timeless and meaningful to all generations, and it is a story that we should continue to retell.  There is a Doctor Who episode in which the Doctor encounters Dickens, who asks him how long his books will last.  The Doctor replies, as though the answer were obvious, “Forever.”  I hope he’s right.  There’s a lot that Dickens still offers the world, and if the world will listen to him, he will continue to offer it.

We should wonder at part of that.  This is, I would argue, a distinctly Christian novel, not meaning that it is a cheesy book written for Christians (which is normally the sort of Christian art I talk about here), but that it only really makes sense in a Christian worldview.  It is at once refreshing that the world still will stand for this sort of thing, as post-Christian as we are becoming, but also worrisome that the world is missing the point. 

Lion of Babylon (2011)

Lion of Babylon

by Davis Bunn

Bethany House

I got this book as a free audiobook (though not free anymore) from Christian Audio.  Every month they have a free audiobook of varying quality (from utter Christian brilliant to outright heresy).  I’ve gotten several good titles this way, and this is honestly one of them.  Not necessarily for theological reasons, but simply because it is a good book.

This Present Darkness (1986) Part 2: Prayer and Power

This Present Darkness

By Frank Peretti

Crossway Books

As with part 1, I should note that I am reviewing the recently free audiobook from Christian Audio (which is no longer free, but was at the time), not the print text.  The audiobook is heavily abridged, so there are undoubtedly subtleties in the text that didn’t make it to the recording.  But since it’s been years, perhaps a decade or more, since I read the book, I will refrain from reviewing the full text.

Prayer and Power

One major theme of this book is the power of prayer.  Throughout the book, the angels are encouraging the saints to gather in prayer, and are in fact waiting to act until they have more prayer support.

Honestly, the book is a good reminder of the power of prayer.  The Reformed worshipper is tempted to over-emphasize God’s sovereignty and under-emphasize God’s use of means to accomplish His will.  This is not a weakness in the theology itself, but the practice of it.  Almost all Christians will lean toward one ditch or the other on this one.  On extremes, some charismatics think their prayers to be the deciding factor in all (or most) things, while Hyper-Calvinists might not think they matter at all. 

This Present Darkness (1986) Part 1: Angels and Demons

This Present Darkness

By Frank Peretti

Crossway Books

This month, Christian audio is offering an abridged version of This Present Darkness as a free download.  It’s been many a year since I read the book, but I was a fan of it, so I devoured the audio version very quickly.  As a note, this review is on the audio abridgment, not the original novel, since I don’t remember the original novel well enough to review it.  Also as a note, they abridged way too much of the story out.  It looks like they were trying to fit the entire thing on three CDs, and I really wish they had added at least one more disc.

I am not generally a fan of “Christian” novels, at least the ones published in the last few decades.  They are either really goofy, or outright heretical.  Peretti is different.  I like his work quite a bit.  He’s a good writer, capable of fast-moving plots and good suspense, and he appears to be basically Orthodox, as far as I can tell.  He is certainly Pentecostal in his theology, so we should have differences with him there, but based on what I’ve read, I’m under the impression that he is a Christian brother who also writes well.