Randy Is Ready For Prime Time

You should never confuse my reviews of Randy Alcorn's work with "criticism." If you visit this Fan Page, you are likely to only see degrees of enthusiasm. In this case, DECEPTION gets a "buy-now-in-hard-cover" rating. I'll give some detailed reasons later, but first...

I am hoping to do a an interview with Randy Alcorn. There is at least a chance that it is going to happen (I am an optimist.) My first question, as author to author, will be: "How in the world do you keep track of all the twists and turns in a detective novel?" I have tried to write a novel. I read some books on the subject which explain about keeping "character" cards that help you remember the biography, personality, speaking style, etc., of each character. Of course, in any novel you also have to have a consistent story line, plot plan, and other elements. This is extremely difficult. I often say the first year of law school was the hardest thing I ever did, but I got through that. I gave up on writing a novel.

With the degree of difficulty that high on just a straightforward book-length story, you now have to add layer on layer of crime scene investigation, potential perps (you'll truly be shocked by both who is considered and the total number of potential perps in this one), and providing twist after twist. We who have read the complete works of Alcorn know he's brillient, but I want to know if he thinks this ability is associated with IQ or some other kind of strange ability. (e.g. I am also amazed that people can draw things that look like what they are drawing, and this, I can attest, is in no way related to IQ.)

On top of all the intrigue - yes a Christian writer who includes intrigue - memorable and likable characters, surprise endings, and fast pace, there is some just plain outstanding writing. So my next question in my fantasy interview with Randy will (hopefully) be: Where do you find the time to run a ministry, speak all over the country, write articles, and then the ultimate time-suck for writers, come up with phrases like:

It took me a whole baseball season to prove it, but by the time the Yankees took the field for the first game of the World Series, I'd got her. No prize. No bonus. No street named after me. No letters of gratitude from husbands whose wives were on the verge of ordering their first white chocolate mochas. But that's okay. I don't do it for the thanks. I do it because justice is my job, my one contribution to a world that is truly--and I mean big time--a mess.

Now maybe writing like this just trips off his tongue in a purely stream-of-consciousness kind of way. But I doubt it. If so, it would be just one more reason for other writers to hate him...if we weren't Christians.

DECEPTION is a stand alone book for readers who haven't yet read the previous two Ollie Chandler mysteries, Deadline and Dominion. But, you should be able to pick up copies of both of those outstanding books pretty inexpensively by now. So why not start at the beginning.

So Randy, if you're reading this, I am preparing a truly off-the-wall list of questions for our interview. I should be ready by next weekend if you are. In the meantime, I just don't get why Hollywood isn't beating down your door for the TV or movie rights to this one. As a fellow fan of "24" I'm sure you could help them with their writer's block for season 7.

Randy Alcorn Fiction Coming In April

Prayer works. Randy Alcorn in bringing back Ollie Chandler, "a brilliant and quick-witted homicide detective with exceptional deductive skills and street smarts. He's a police department legend for his off-beat methods that solve crimes and coax confessions." This according to the description found on Eternal Perspective Ministries web site. This is the same detective who starred in "Dominion" and "Deadline." It was "Deadline" that turned me into a fan, and "Dominion" confirmed Randy's amazing versatility. I'm going to try and get an advance copy and review asap.

You can go here, and place a pre order (no profit for this blogger.) due out in April.

We Need More Fiction From Randy Alcorn

Sure, "Heaven" was a great book, and all the material that has been created around and for that book are useful to the Kingdom. But, selfishly, I need a Randy Alcorn fiction fix. Recently, when friends have been over to borrow from my library, I'm almost always out of Alcorn. C'mon Randy, don't hold out on us.

The God vs No God Debate Needs Your Help

A new blog has been born. You are invited to participate in any way you can think of to help insure that every aspect of the Christian apologetic (defense of the faith) is represented in this great debate. There doesn't appear to be another place on the web where atheists and Christians of every stripe have a chance to debate the existence of God.

Come visit today, bookmark the site and come back often. We expect to have leading authorities and just plain folks mixing it up on this site.

Randy Alcorn's List of Favorite Books

With permission, we reprint Randy Alcorn's favorite books of all types and stripes.

Favorite Novels: (with apologies to Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Dickens, Hemingway, and Steinbeck)

1. The Chronicles of Narnia (7), C. S. Lewis
2. The Lord of the Rings (3), J. R. R. Tolkien
3. Perelandra, C. S. Lewis (closely followed by the other two in the space trilogy, Out of the Silent Planet and That Hideous Strength)
4. The Singer trilogy (including The Song and The Finale), Calvin Miller
5. The Odyssey and The Iliad, Homer
6. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain
7. Robinson Crusoe, Daniel Defoe
8. The Complete Sherlock Holmes, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
9. The Screwtape Letters, C. S. Lewis
10. The Chosen, Chaim Potok
11. In His Steps, Charles Sheldon
12. Pontius Pilate, Paul Maier
13. Paul, Walter Wangerin
14. The Book of God, Walter Wangarin
15. Ben Hur, Lew Wallace
Honorable mention:
The Birth, Gene Edwards;
The Mantle (name later changed to Elijah), William H. Stephens

The First Book I Fell in Love With:
Stadium Beyond the Stars, Milton Lesser (juvenile science fiction I read as a third grader and reread several times in subsequent years; not a great book by anyone's standards, but as Lewis said of George MacDonald's Phantastes, "it baptized my imgination")

Short fiction: short stories, plays or poetry:
Several short stories by Flannery O'Connor, names of which escape me; "Beyond the Horizon," Eugene O'Neill; poetry, "O God, I love thee," by Francis Xaviar.

Booklet: My Heart Christ's Home, Robert Boyd Munger.

Novels I wish were on my list but I've never finished them:
Everything by Tolstoy and Dostoevsky. Novels that are secretly on my list but I won't admit it:
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (and sequels), Douglas Adams

Nonfiction, after the Bible:

1. The Knowledge of the Holy, A. W. Tozer
2. Mere Christianity, C. S. Lewis
3. Knowing God, J. I. Packer
4. Desiring God, John Piper
5. He is There and He is Not Silent, Francis Schaeffer
6. Loving God, Chuck Colson
7. Through Gates of Splendor, Elizabeth Elliot
8. A Long Obedience in the Same Direction, Eugene Peterson
9. Your God is Too Small, J.B. Phillips
10. Tortured for Christ, God's Smuggler, ŒFoxes Book of Martyrs (three books on the suffering church that greatly impacted me many years ago)

Okay, I couldn't stop, so here's the 2nd team nonfiction:

11. Peace Child, Don Richardson
12. The Everlasting Man, G.K. Chesterton
13. Principles of Spiritual Growth, Miles Stanford
14. The Calvary Road, Roy Hession
15. Biography of George Mueller (don't recall author)
16. The Church at the End of the 20th Century, Francis Schaeffer
17. Where is God When it Hurts, Phil Yancey
18. The Joy of Fearing God, Jerry Bridges
19. Celebration of Discipline, Richard Foster
20. Cost of Discipleship, Bonhoeffer
21. Disciple, Juan Carlos Ortiz
22. Kingdoms in Conflict, Chuck Colson
23. No Wonder They Call Him the Savior, Max Lucado
Short nonfiction (essays, sermons, etc):
"The Weight of Glory" and "The World's Last Night," C. S. Lewis; "Our Unclaimed Riches," "The Art of True Worship" and "The World to Come," by A. W. Tozer; "Tyranny of the Urgent," Robert Hummel.

Nonfiction honorable mention:
These are books which I will likely never reread, but which had great impact when I read them. Mainly because at that particular time of life I really needed what they offered. (I see the providence of God in what books He leads me to at what time.):

* Let Justice Roll Down, John Perkins;
* Basic Christianity, John Stott;
* Battle for the Bible, Harold Lindsel;
* The Cross and the Switchblade, David Wilkerson;
* Run, Baby, Run, Nicky Cruz;
* Evidence that Demands a Verdict, Josh McDowell;
* Countdown, J.B. Hardy;
* Competent to Counsel, Jay Adams;
* The Gospel According to Jesus, John MacArthur;
* The Life of an American Slave, Frederick Douglas;
* Open Windows, Phil Yancey;
* Between Heaven and Hell, Peter Kreeft;
* When I Relax I Feel Guilty, Tim Hansel;
* Roaring Lambs, Bob Briner;
* Jesus the Revolutionary, H. S. Vigevino;
* The Pursuit of God, A. W. Tozer;
* The God Who Is There, Francis Schaeffer;
* The Content of our Character, Shelby Steele;
* The Nazi Doctors, Robert Jay Lifton;
* When People Are Big and God is Small, Edward Welch;
* From Jerusalem to Iryan Jaya, Ruth Tucker;
* The Pursuit of Holiness, Jerry Bridges;

Most powerful books I've read (for first time) in last year:

* The Legacy of Sovereign Joy, John Piper
* The Hidden Smile of God, John Piper
* The Case for Christ and The Case for Faith, Lee Strobel
* How Now Shall We Live?, Chuck Colson
A cool artsy book:
Beyond Words, Ron DiCianni

Authors on a Desert Island:
If I had to go on a desert island and could have only 1) my Bible and 2) any and all books written by only fifteen modern authors and ten historical authors, whose books I would take with me?

15 Modern authors:

1. C. S. Lewis
2. A.W. Tozer
3. Francis Schaeffer
4. John Piper
5. J. R. R. Tolkien
6. Eugene Petersen
7. Chuck Colson
8. Max Lucado
9. Phil Yancey
10. Calvin Miller
11. Elisabeth Elliot
12. J. I. Packer
13. John R. W. Stott
14. John McArthur
15. Peter Kreeft
10 Authors from Church history:

1. Charles Spurgeon
2. Jonathan Edwards
3. Martin Luther
4. John Calvin
5. John Wesley
6. Augustine
7. Thomas Aquinas
8. John Bunyan
9. Blaise Pascal
10. Tertullian
One Theology Book:
Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology

Other reference books:
Vine's Expository Dictionary
New Compact Topical Bible
The IVP New Testament Background Commentary, Craig Keener

What Do You Treasure

The Treasure Principle by Randy Alcorn

When I was a young businessman, just starting out, I was driven to succeed. I wanted the big house with the pillars in front and the bowling alley in the basement. I wanted a Jaguar, the trips to foreign lands, and the home entertainment center worth $10,000 or more. The way to get there was to work hard and smart. I read the books that told you how to get there, and I did all the things they said to do. The good news - I gained a measure of that kind of success.

Then I found myself back in church after a 15 year interruption. Those things I had not yet notched on my gun didn’t seem as important. Preachers kept asking the question: On your death bed, what will seem important in retrospect. The awards, titles, and bank account, or the relationships, good deeds, and righteous behavior.

But there was tricky part for me. How does motivation (a built in part of our human condition) work when we are concentrating on the Christian life. Randy Alcorn suggests that there is no change in human nature or even in the requirement to become motivated, just in the goals. The Bible shows us over and over again how we are going to benefit if we seek the very real and concrete treasures that await us in heaven. God shows us that based on our actions on earth we will either gain or “suffer loss” in heaven.

Of course, God’s use of our motivational nature to get us working hard for heavenly rewards also results in earthly benefits. When we seek the right ends on earth, the blessings flow. They may be financial or they may take on lots of other forms, but they flow nevertheless, and that is our promise from God.

In his usual very readable form, Randy Alcorn explains all the ways we gain or lose based on our decisions. Check out the Treasure Principle for a really good read.

China's Underground Church is the Setting

Safely Home by Randy Alcorn

Yes, this is the headquarters for the Randy Alcorn fan club. Yes, of course I like him because we share the same given name. Yes, there will soon be an end to all the Randy Alcorn adulation. I’m going to try and finish reviewing all of his works in the next couple of weeks. Then it will be on to the Ted Dekker fan club.

This past Saturday my wife and oldest daughter held a baby shower for my younger daughter. Its true Grandchild #3 will be coming along June 20 or so. Azlan will be his name for all of you Lion, Witch, and Wardrobe fans. Anyway, I digress. My wife’s cousin, Michelle, loves to read and sometimes even likes what I like. However, to this date she isn’t quite as enamored with Alcorn as I am. Of course, her given name isn’t Randy.

To the point. She had just completed Safely Home and was so knocked out by it that she was recommending it to all her friends. So for the 3 or 4 of you who haven’t been blessed by his other work, this one is so far different as to make one wonder if it was done by a different author.

The setting is China, today. Two college chums, one an American business tycoon, and the other a Chinese intellectual have occasion to cross paths many years later. The result is high drama, intrigue, and a sword to the heart of any thinking Christian. You come away feeling much like you do after reading Foxe’s Book of Martyrs - I’m not really a Christian after all.

The research needed to accurately predict what is happening in the underground church in China must have been staggering. You get the benefit by learning while enjoying a great story. Historical fiction is one of my favorite Genres. Even though set in the present, it has that kind of feel. I’d love to get feedback from others on this book. Safely Home is widely available.

Think About The Title

Lord Foulgrin’s Letters by Randy Alcorn

It is either an endearing quality or a slight irritant, but up ‘till today I’m not sure which. Randy Alcorn likes to piggy back some of his books onto other great writing in the Christian World. My favorite book of the 90’s was his Edge of Eternity. It was an allegory of the Pilgrim’s Progress type. Sure it was better than Pilgrim’s Progress, but it was still obviously built on that idea.

It is one thing to out write John Bunyan; quite another to go after C.S. Lewis. But Lord Foulgrin’s letters and the sequel, The Ishbane Conspiracy, are too similar not to notice The Screwtape Letters comparison.

Alcorn takes a different approach, but it is still about letters written by the a high ranking demon, Foulgrin, to his protégé’ as Foulgrin attempts to train and guide his disciple, Squaltaint. The letters fall between chapters where the human characters are living their lives unaware of the devilry taking place in another realm.

An interesting aspect of Foulgrin and Ishbane is that some of the characters are young people. Alcorn proves capable of using that voice in a way that sounds authentic. It became a transitional book for my then 14-year-old son to start enjoying adult Christian materials.

Lord Foulgrin’s Letters are very funny one minute, and very serious the next. One failing of the book is that it is full of inside politics with references to people and groups that many readers wouldn’t get. However, those who listen to Christian radio or who are active in parachurch activities will enjoy these elements.

Like screwtape, the goal is to show the reader how demons deceive both the saved and unsaved. Like Peretti’s early novels, we also get a glimpse at just how close the spirit world interacts with us. As C.S. Lewis is reported to have said: The two biggest mistakes Christians make are giving the Devil too much credit, and not given him credit enough.

If you haven’t tried Randy Alcorn yet, Lord Foulgrin’s Letters is a fine place to start.

Murder and Intrigue in the HOOD

Dominion by Randy Alcorn

Credibility keeps me from claiming that this is the best of Randy Alcorn. Somehow I may have already said that about Edge of Eternity and Almost Home. But in keeping with the rest of his body of work, this one is completely different than anything else and just plain fantastic.

Dominion is a mystery first , and you will be on the edge of your seat waiting to find out whodunnit and why. Then it is about relationships, as Clarence Abernathy, an Oregon columnist and suburban middle-class black, finds himself involved in a world of inner-city gangs, violence and and drugs. But finally it is about how an educated black man views himself and the black and white world around him.

I live in a racially mixed (mostly black) neighborhood. My neighbor (black) across the street once told me: “I know that some white people I meet would rather kiss their dog on the mouth than shake my hand.” Alcorn has somehow been able to convey that kind of understanding about the black experience. If I interview Randy Alcorn someday, my first question will be how he knows these things. I am reasonably qualified to say that he is accurate in his depiction.

Be prepared, if you aren’t black, to get new understanding of your black friends and associates. Be prepared, if you are black, to maybe see through a mirror more clearly.

Ishbane?? Check Out This Conspiracy

The Ishbane Conspiracy by Randy Alcorn

Once again, cousin Michelle and I were talking about Randy Alcorn. She mentioned that two more of her friends were going on and on about Safely Home. They both felt, as Michelle did, that it was the best, or one of the best, Christian books they had ever read.

Then she remarked on the depth of understanding of Chinese culture and the point of view of members of the underground home churches he would need to have in order to make the books so believable. I responded that somehow Alcorn had done the same thing with his insights into inner city black culture with Dominion. However, it didn’t occur to me until now that he also managed to write The Ishbane Conspiracy with real sensitivity to the teens and twenties suburbanites he portrays here.

There life is turned upside down and the Devil and his demons are looking for ways to exploit the weaknesses that arise out of the crisis. You will absolutely squirm in your seat if you are 16 years or older as you imagine yourself trying to deal with the circumstances these characters face. You will squirm even more if you are the parents of someone that age, knowing that your kids are dealing with these issues all the time.

I’m sorry to be such a non-critical critic, but its hard to imagine anyone not enjoying The Ishbane Conspiracy.

A Man's Book (Tell Me I'm Wrong)

Deadline by Randy Alcorn

Who knew? This simple little story is well written enough that had it not been “Christian” it would probably have been picked up by a solid publisher. Deadline is a very good piece of fiction. You’ll like the characters, although I think men will like the characters better than women. You’ll be intrigued by the story line. You’ll want to know who did it? (Or is that dunnit?) You won’t want this book to end.

But then there’s this twist. Any other fine Christian or secular fiction will see the story from the point of view of the author, the protagonist, another character in the story, or the narrator. In this case you get that normal part, but thrown in for free, you get another view from . . . scroll down for the answer : ) Heaven.

Randy begins to show his spots in this early mystery novel. His great interest in Heaven shows up through many of his books, culminating in his recent release of HEAVEN. But here we are part of the ongoing drama in heaven as those over there watch the drama that’s going on over here. This unique effect is much fun for a while, but I have to admit to being more interested in the doings on terra firma after a while than I was regarding the heavenly response. Don’t know if that has any deeper meaning. I’ll be interested to hear if others had that reaction.

Deadline is a great Read. Wonderful intro for this reader into the worlds of Randy Alcorn.

HEAVEN from the book by Randy Alcorn

For over twenty years Randy Alcorn has been writing fiction and non fiction works on a wide range of subjects. It is no secret that I am one of his biggest fans. Almost every book he has written has something to do with heaven, and his ideas about heaven have always been a bit off the wall.

In one of his books he pictures the journey between our life here on earth and entry into heaven as being similar to a birth canal. Picking up from the various near death experience stories that have been in the news the last 20 years or so, he saw the journey taking place along a blue tube. A the other end of the tube, we are birthed into heaven.

After taking those kinds of fun liberties in his earlier works, he has now produced a serious study looking at heaven from every angle imaginable. He has three ways to prove his ideas. One is what scripture says heaven will be like. Two is logical extensions of what scripture says. Three is admittedly more theoretical . . . Why wouldn’t God do it this way.

The major premise of the book is that Heaven is a reborn earth very much like the earth as we know it but glorified, perfected, and without sin or death. However, that leads to a tough question. How are we to both love the world as God repeatedly says He does, and at the same time respond to the apostle John’s (1 John 2:15) statement that we are not to love the world or anything in the world. Alcorn answers with this:

“Consider the predicament of decent German citizens under the Nazi regime. Did they love their homeland, Germany, or did the hate it. Both, simultaneously. They hated the Nazi government, the arrogance, depravity, bigotry, brutality, and persecution. Yet they knew there was a better Germany, even though it was buried beneath the prevailing tide of fascism. They were loyal to that better Germany, and they could still see signs of it in the beautiful countryside, a concerto, the eyes of a kind neighbor, Germans jailed for resistance to the Nazis, and faithful citizens quietly intervening to save Jews. Paradoxically, it was their very love for Germany that fueled their opposition to Nazi Germany. Likewise our love for God’s Earth fuels our opposition to fallen earth.”

For me the first third of Heaven was the best. The middle of the book seemed at times like he felt the need to prove everything in just the right way to complete his thesis. The last third is fast paced as he gives his opinion on issues we all think about like whether we will continue our relationships, whether we will have pets, and if there is sex in heaven. Those are just a few of the practical things he addresses.

You will definitely feel closer to God and to heaven after this read. Buy it at your local Christian Bookstore or on the web.

Heaven - Thinking About It While Reading Randy Alcorn on the Subject

Have you ever visited a really poor part of a very poor country. I have done so a few times. The outskirts of Tijuana, Southern Spain, Portugal, Venezuela, and Haiti. Haiti was the worst, but I learned the following lesson on the Coast of Venezuela.

The beautiful rolling hills there are populated by squatters. Each hill has a central staircase going from the coast to the top of the hill. On either side of this staircase are houses made of tin or cardboard or other industrial scraps. Outside the back windows of these little homes is the paper trash cascading down into the valley. Each valley is filled with this colorful litter.

Walking up and down the stairs are women with poles over their shoulders and a bucket on each end of the pole. They carry down the sewage or dirty clothes, and bring back the clean water or clean clothes in the same buckets.

After passing miles and miles of this repeating landscape, I brought up the astonishing poverty of these people to the cab driver taking me to Caracas. He corrected me: “These people are from the interior, from the jungle. They think this is heaven. They will save money from their jobs in the city to buy one brick at a time to replace the tin walls. If they really do well they will move into the city and an apartment in one of the huge apartment buildings seen throughout the city. And, of course, this will be another level of heaven for them.”

I try to imagine the amazement that one of these folks must feel on first coming to the coast.
Just seeing the ocean for the first time must be thrilling and awesome. Seeing the City must seem like going to another planet by comparison to their life. And for most, they probably haven’t any idea in advance of what it will be like.

The closest I can come to getting an idea of this into my head and heart would be seeing Niagara or flying into Honolulu for the first time. No one can explain it or prepare you for the grandeur or the beauty. But I did see pictures, even moving pictures of these prior to arrival. It was still very exciting.

Possibly, the cabby had some real incite. For those of us who have lived a middle class existence in 20th Century and now 21st Century America, it would take a pretty major increase in beauty and prosperity to compare to the experience of those Venezuelans. Everything I know about it would suggest that Heaven will have that kind of impact, but many times more so. Why do so many question how exciting heaven is going to be when we can see the potential right here on earth of moving from one experience to another.

Having said all that, check out Randy Alcorn’s book Heaven. I will do an actual book review in a few days.

Book Review: THE EDGE OF ETERNITY by Randy Alcorn

The Edge of Eternity by Randy Alcorn
published by Waterbrook Press

Randy Alcorn is one of the most versatile writers in the Christian world today. He has produced six fictional works and numerous nonfiction on a range of subject from inner-city race relations to a theological review of heaven. One notable aspect of Alcorn’s work is that you can often see the root of the formula in the works of masters. So, his Lord Foulgrin’s Letters is very much like C.S. Lewis’s Screwtape letters. The Edge of Eternity will remind you of Pilgrim’s Progress. This is in no way intended to denigrate what Alcorn has accomplished, for in this work, he has created a first rate allegory.

The book opens very quickly into a surreal place that will leave you confused and sometimes frustrated through the first 40 pages. I put the book down, and almost forgot about it for several weeks. I am very thankful that I picked it up again and stayed with it during this very strange opening.

Like Pilgrim’s progress, the protagonist is on a journey in a strange land. Unlike the classic, however, the character’s names and the places they visit or not quite so obvious in what they are analogous to. But when clarity comes, it is like a spiritual awakening, and often includes having to deal with feelings that we’d rather leave in a closet somewhere. Skewered is a word that comes to mind.

This book easily makes my top 10 list, and I have consumed 1000’s of books. I don’t think you can read it to the end without having it change your life. . . at least for a season.

The Complete Randy Alcorn Site

If you have had your life changed by Randy Alcorn's writing, then this is a great page for you to make sure you've read everything by him. If you haven't started reading Randy Alcorn, this is a great place to decide where to start. We will attempt to provide you with reviews of every title, links to other materials, interviews, and eventually the most complete bio available. Y'all, come back.