Unleash the Inner Prayer Warrior and Christian Barbarian
We spoke in chapter one a little bit on the fear you might have in attempting to witness for Christ, whether to strangers or even people you know. Here are a few books to help empower you on your way to becoming the Über-Witness that you really are inside.
“Waking the Dead,” by John Eldredge.
“Total Truth: Liberating Christianity from Its Cultural Captivity,” by Nancy Pearcey.
“The Barbarian Way: Unleash the Untamed Faith Within,” by Erwin Raphael McManus.
“The Holy Wild: Trusting in the Character of God,” by Mark Buchanan
“The Importance of Being Foolish: How to Think like Jesus,” by Brennan Manning.
It’s All on the Web
“CultureWatch” - Another interesting website that brings culture and faith together is DickStaub.com which is about “Equipping the Culturally Savvy Christian through insight, quotes, and articles from the intersection of faith and culture.” The site provides commentary on faith and culture covering movies, music, books, and contemporary issues.
A great website, basically a blog, is www.culture-makers.com which contains the collected writing of Andy Crouch who explores the ways that culture shapes faith, and the ways followers of Christ respond to culture. Worth a visit or two...or three...
Mars Hill Media is a non-profit media ministry whose goal is to “stir up cities with the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ through thought provoking, impactful media messages.” They are tuned in to using today’s culture and media sources to get their message out. And they offer some free resources, including an online version of their pamphlet, “Good News for the Religiously Tired,” (you can also purchase a hard copy). Go to: www.marshillmedia.com
Blogs
The last I checked, there were over a thousand Christian weblogs (source: blogs4god.com) and that number will undoubtedly be bigger when you check. Remember we talked about those who like to share their faith through writing? Well here’s a way get going immediately (if not sooner!). You can create you own blog for free and there are templates to chose from so you don’t need any design skills to create and format your blog. Just the will to do it and tenacity to keep it up. Go to it, writers for God!
Nothing but the News
For those news junkies out there who like to talk about current events, you might want to check out the “Religious News Service,” which bills itself as “the only secular news and photo service devoted to unbiased coverage of religion and ethics – exclusively.” Find them at www.religionnews.com.
Top Film Lists
Artsandfaith.com publishes a list of “Top 100 Spiritually Significant Films.” You’ll find many films listed there to stimulate your faith and get you thinking.
Writing Out Your Faith
“I was a Christian before I started writing,” said Bret Lott, author of many novels, including “Jewel.” So he’s a writer who is a Christian, not a Christian writer. His goal in writing is to teach and evangelize through fiction but his work in not preachy. (Source: “A Jewel of a Writer,” by Lauren F. Winner, published in “Christianity Today,” June, 2005)
Christian film critic, Matthew Kinne, loves movies so much that he wrote a devotional book, “Reflections for Movie Lovers,” which includes 365 musings on the power of cinema from a spiritual perspective.
Though we’ve already mentioned Stephen King, there are a few other works of his that bear mentioning. King has said, “While I believe in God, I have no use for organized religion.” Be that as it may (who knows how God may be working through people – Christian or non-Christian? He does, though. We know that from the Bible.) Stephen King has certainly featured God directly or indirectly in much of his work, offering you a wealth of material to draw from in those discussions with the fans of scary novels/movies (or not-so-scary, as it turns out, too). Here are a few to explore if you haven’t read/seen them already:
“The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon” (book)
“The Green Mile” (serial book and movie)
“Dreamcatcher” (book only, forget the movie)
“Desperation” (book)
Christian Fiction (Yes, It’s out there and doin’ fine, thanks)
“Struck by Lightning,” by ME. Yep, Mike Curley. Okay, another shameless plug, but it’s a pretty decent little Christian supernatural-horror type book so if that’s your thing, give it a spin and let me know what you think. Be kind, though.
Like a good mystery? Ted Dekker has written several suspense novels with Christian themes woven throughout his stories. “Red, Black, White,” and “When Heaven Weeps” are just two you might want to check out.
“Shadowmancer,” by G.P. Taylor. More darkness and evil stuff in this fantasy novel. Also, “Wormwood.”
“This Present Darkness,” a classic by Frank E. Peretti. Check out his other novels, too, like “The Visitation.”
“Girl Meets God,” by Lauren F. Winner – a year in the life of a young Christian woman’s life whose father is Jewish and whose mother is a lapsed Baptist. See, I’m not all about the evil, spooky stuff.
“Dinner with a Perfect Stranger,” by David Gregory, about a guy who gets an invitation to dinner with Jesus and gets to ask all the questions one might want to ask our Lord and Savior.
“Comes a Horseman,” by Robert Liparulo. “Christianity Today” sums up this spiritual thriller with: “Take ‘The DaVinci Code,’ throw in a dash of ‘Left Behind,’ pair it with the intrigue of a Tom Clancy thriller, and you’ve got this chilling debut novel.”
"Christ the Lord," and "Road to Cana," by Anne Rice. Yes, Anne Rice, the writer of all those vampire novels, has written a compelling fiction of Christ’s life as a young boy. The story of Ms. Rice is also compelling – her journey to re-discover and re-confirm her faith is worth reading about and is certainly a great example to share in your witnessing for someone who is struggling in their own journey. Think of the many fans of her vampire tales who don’t have Christ in their life. What a wonderful chance to share the Gospel through this novel.
Again, there’s more Christian fiction out there than you can shake a stick at (but why would you anyway and why do you have a stick?) so give these a taste for that whetted appetite then go for seconds, and thirds, and...
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