the red pill

Set in contemporary Nashville, Tennessee, Fulmer's novel ponders on what might happen if a prophetic gifting like that of an Amos or Micah might appear on the charismatic church scene today. I ’ m writing from the perspective of the UK church, so the sharp divisions that appear to exist in the American church between the Christian Right (which is here portrayed to be neither Christian nor right...) and more open evangelicals are less apparent in the church in Western Europe. Nevertheless, the attitudes towards prophetic ministry are worryingly similar, with prophecy being reduced to some encouraging "the Shepherd loves his sheep" message as opposed to the call to challenge corrupt systems and institutional wrongdoing. So the central question -what would happen if that kind of gift were exercised? - and the responses the book suggests would come from the wider church, people of other faiths, the media, government agencies and wider society have a resonance here...

*Spoiler Alert - I will reveal some of the plot in this post* I was loaned a copy of The Shack by William P Young recently. Over the course of the last few weeks I've been reading it as spare time allows, and finished it this week. So, what to make of it, and it's popularity? Well, in reply to a friend who asked for a quick response I penned this: It's not entirely without merit, and there were some interesting thoughts that caused a few moments reflection. I did, however, find it quite sentimental. I guess if you imagine putting "The Road Less Travelled", "The Celestine Prophecy", "The Search for Significance" and "A New Kind of Christian" into a blender and whizzed "The Shack" is what might result. It's a good story, and it does involve and pull the reader in and along, but I'm not sure it's saying anything that an up-to-date reader of contemporary Christian thinking would have read better elsewhere. Oh, and it...