Last week, we talked about how careful we need to be when reading Christian books, and even fictional Christian books. Their story lines can be filled with subtle references to false teachings, as we saw with Andrew Wommack. If you missed those newsletters, you can read them at the following links:

              

    https://markcahill.org/get-your-story-straight-part-1/          https://markcahill.org/get-your-story-straight-part-2/

Philosophies of Man

Since I was still in a fiction mood, I decided to try another fiction book. Just like the first author, this author was a really good writer. He could weave a story together well and was able to create great characters. But again, something was off. He kept using certain words that made me question the theology he was trying to espouse. Then at the end of the book, the three Christians in the scene never witnessed to the protagonist before he died. I thought that was very, very odd. He could have brought the book to a great conclusion by having that man either reject Jesus or accept Jesus. He could have done that, but he didn’t. When I read the epilogue, then it all came together and I understood why.

I contacted the author, and sure enough, he was into the false philosophy of Calvinism. I totally expected that as I read his book, but he confirmed it in some emails to me. He stated that someone shared with him the Calvinistic philosophy twenty years ago, and he read some books about it, and then he was long gone. But then, the title of the book hit me: I Pick You. When I finished the book, I also understood the title of the book.

God is not in the business of preselecting who goes to heaven and preselecting who goes to hell. That is not biblical, and it is completely against the loving character of the Most High God. We must, and we get to, make choices during these short lives we live. We can choose to receive what Jesus has done for us on the cross, or we can choose to reject it. That choice is not on God’s shoulders; it is on yours and mine.

Good Writing Can be Deceptive

Since I was in one of my moods again, I decided to read one more author. What a writer! Totally enraptured with the way he wove together sentences and the storyline. If you do enough reading or even if you are an author, you can spot good writing a mile away. He is a top-notch writer.

In the first book of his I read, the main character was a female pastor. She was really a good character. But theologically, this portrayal was incorrect. We have discussed in previous newsletters that the pastorate is for men and not women. The Bible can’t be any clearer on that issue. As the book came to a close, I kept waiting for her to renounce being a woman pastor and line up with the Bible, but the author never took the character there. The only conclusion the reader could come to is that the author believes women can be pastors. It was a great book. He brought up a lot of topics, such as good versus evil, forgiveness, etc. Very good points. But theologically, he was way, way off on this topic.

I liked his writing style so well that I decided to give one of his other books a go. Gave him a second chance, so to speak. He claimed to be a Christian writer. The next book had such an interesting storyline but very little Christian content. He even took some of the main characters through a hypnosis session. And he never once criticized that practice.

Hypnosis moves someone into an altered state of consciousness. That should be your first red flag. Anything that alters our state of consciousness is dangerous. Drugs, alcohol, medications, etc. can move us away from how we normally process things. That is a place you do not want to go. You have heard the term “losing their faculties.” That is never a good time in someone’s life. Why would we ever allow someone to move us into a situation where we would lose our faculties?

And there are plenty of people who believe that when you are dealing with hypnosis, you are dealing with demonic principles or at least something supernatural. But one thing is for sure: if you are emptying your mind, you are opening a door for something else to enter. Anytime you play with the demonic or supernatural side of life, you better be very, very careful. It might seem like a game to you, but Satan plays for keeps.

Deuteronomy 18:10-12

There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch,

Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer.

For all that do these things are an abomination unto the LORD: and because of these abominations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee.

Good Writing or Good Teachings?

The more I read, the more I realize that I am a very average fiction writer. I wanted to try that genre after writing some non-fiction books. I am glad that I did.

A good Christian book can be very effective in someone’s life. I read a few years ago that around 50 percent of readers never read a nonfiction book. They only read fiction. As I have heard from many, they like to escape into a story and see how it plays out.

But a bad Christian book can lead people astray. Before any of my books go to print, I have people pre-read them. I have them look at the theology in the books to make sure we don’t lead someone astray. I make sure that the gospel is presented clearly. That is the main emphasis. If they read one of my fiction books, I want them to get saved, or I want them to be encouraged to share their faith more. Yes, you can work that into any of your writings, but especially into a good novel.

Some of the comments we have received about the books say they are very theologically sound and that the Scripture verses we used in the novels really made them think. The storylines may not be as exciting or well written as the authors I mentioned above, but we brought the stories to a conclusion. The characters had to make a decision for Jesus, and they either choose to believe and be saved or they didn’t. I wanted books that would glorify God and teach people how to get saved if they wanted to. That was my goal with these fiction books. And from all of the feedback we have received from you, that goal was accomplished. I would rather be an average writer with great content than a great writer with content that leads people down the wrong path.

At Panera Bread this week, there was a new girl working there. Emerson loves to read! Her mom was a librarian, then a teacher, and is now a principal. She has always had books in front of her. She wants to get into neuroscience, so she has a lot of reading ahead of her, which she is excited about. She said the next book she wants to read is a fiction book. So I got to explain my Paradise book to her, sign it, and give it to her. Maybe it won’t match up with all of the other writers she has read, but I do know that the content in it will glorify the Lord and give her the truth about Jesus.

Back to the Bible

Time to get back to reading. It is going to be the Bible today and every day. I need to know that book better. Much better. None of us will know it enough by the time we take our last breath. But I want to know it better today than I did yesterday.

1 Peter 1:24,25 

For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away:

But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.

Until the nets are full,

 

P.S.  Our fiction books are still discounted from $45 for three books to $20 for three books! That’s a good deal where I come from. I like to refer to them as realistic novels because they are based on real places and give real information to provide real answers for some of the real issues we face in our lives today. Have fun giving them away!

https://markcahill.org/product-category/specials/

P.P.S.  What is truly the ONLY thing that matters?

https://x.com/LarryTaunton/status/1942226854062268419

Previous / Next Newsletter