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I just wanted to write a quick Merry Christmas note, just because it’s Christmas. I’m spending a very short visit with family in North Dakota, where the song, “In the Bleak Mid-Winter” has so much more meaning. However, it’s beautiful in its bleakness. There’s just patches of snow, and it’s just cold enough, to remind me that it’s winter. The gifts are opened, the turkey’s in the oven, and I’ve snuck away for a few moments to enjoy a peaceful cup of coffee.

Yesterday we attended the morning service at the Presbyterian Church. They were holding a “Christmas” service later that day, but I’m glad we chose the morning service. As I’ve written at other times, I really appreciated the liturgy, though it was not as formal as I was used to in my Lutheran days, we did recite both the Lord’s Prayer and the Apostle’s Creed. I really appreciated the pastor’s comments reminding us that this same creed has been recited for 1700 years.

What I appreciated most was Pastor Bob’s attitude: he was genuinely glad to be there (or is the best actor I’ve seen in quite a while). I’m not used to this, to be honest. Most pastors of churches I’ve attended in the last several years have always seemed stressed, preoccupied with their sermon, or just distracted by one thing or another. Bob, however, was just full of joy, and the “Christmas Spirit” just filled that church.

His Christmas homily was also good; just a simple reminder of what Christmas was all about. I’d have to rank it as one of the best Christmas sermons I’ve heard (though to be honest, I don’t remember any others). As with the Larry Norman concert I wrote about last week, I was lifted up, just the way the New Testament talks about – you know, that “edifying” thing. This is something that I have learned not to expect from church, and why it seems such a drag so much of the time. Not that I need to be “fed” every Sunday, but I have this simplistic, idealistic belief that church should be good for us.

Perhaps my expectations are too high? I’ll have to think about this for a while.

In the mean time, have a very Merry Christmas!

Last Friday I had the opportunity to see, for the 2nd time, the legendary Larry Norman in concert. It was a surprise, at least to me. In fact, the circumstances by which I learned of the concert the night previous – involving a windstorm, a power outage, Christmas shopping and me catching a wildly blowing advertising banner – make a very amusing story. Too bad I don’t have time to tell that now. The important thing is that I did get to see Larry in concert.

LN is, I am guessing, about 60 now, and has been in ill health for a number of years. Apparently he officially retired in 2001. If you google “Larry Norman” you may come across an article in Christianity Today entitled, “Farewell, Larry Norman,” which tells the story of Larry’s “last U.S. concert” 18 months ago. Needless to say, I was surprised when, as we were driving by a local church, my wife read the banner hanging out front (it wasn’t blowing wildly at that moment), “Larry Norman in concert…”

I had been a fan of Larry Norman’s since the early 1970’s, and someone loaned me the “Only visiting…” album. I then bought “Upon this Rock” (which I still have on vinyl). Back when I thought I was a musician, I did a number of LN tunes, my favorite being “Why don’t you look into Jesus.” I had a slow, bluesy arrangement of the song (in 2 part harmony) that people absolutely hated. I didn’t follow his career after the Solid Rock days, but managed to see him once in 1986 in Downey, CA. Being the icon he was, I was glad to have the chance to see him again.

The concert was interesting, to say the least. For one thing, he had bronchitis and sounded like a cross between Dylan and Johny Cash. He mentioned that he’d been battling one strain or another of bronchitis for about 6 months, and he was running a fever. His left hand was cramping so he’d lose chords occasionally. His right hand was wrapped in a bandage, as he’d cut himself. He’d sometimes forget lyrics, and once asked the audience to help him remember a verse. At one point he stopped and said, “What made me think I could do this?”

The amazing thing was that he did do the concert, and that he enjoyed it (as did we all). Where most performers would be too frustrated at their limitations, Larry just simply enjoyed being there with his friends, especially after the band – including his original drummer, Denny, from People – joined him onstage. He seemed to become somewhat revitalized, singing a couple of blues-rock tunes, then shifting into Christmas jazz mode, singing new standards like “The Christmas Song” and Vince Guaraldi’s “Christmastime is Here” (from the Peanuts special).

What struck me the most Friday night was the fact that Larry Norman is a man at peace. You could see it on his face, in spite of everything he was dealing with. He hasn’t lost his acerbic wit or his very direct manner of calling things as he sees it. But, what I saw was a man who’s been near death (more than once, as I understand) and is just happy to be singing for Jesus and being with his friends. This was great to see, and it was better than the music. This was the Christmas message that I needed to hear, a reminder to count your blessings and enjoy what you have.

I can’t wait until the next last concert.

I bought a paperback from Borders’ “new paperbacks” table the other day. Not an unusual occurrence, except that I didn’t know either the book or the author. The cover and title – Comes a Horseman – looked intriguing, and a quick glance at the reviews looked promising, in spite of the fact it was the author’s first published novel. It promised violence, intrigue, and other stuff that I enjoy (at the moment I’m totally into escapism). So, needing something new to read, I took a brave step and chose this over more well-known authors.

Somewhere in the first few chapters, I began to get a bit suspicious, especially when a hard-nosed cop at the scene of a gruesome murder swears by saying, “Judas Priest.” Okay, you know as well as I do that no one says that. The plot seemed interesting, however, so I continued reading. Then the main characters – 2 FBI agents – seemed too soft and emotionally immature to be FBI agents investigating a series of beheadings.

Eventually, I went back to the several pages of endorsements at the beginning of the book, and found several were from obviously Christian sources, then discovered that the publisher was a “front” for a major Christian publishing house, Thomas Nelson. I felt ripped off, deceived. I would never have bought the book had I known it was an undercover piece of “Christian” fiction. Why do I feel this way? Shouldn’t I have been thrilled to find a good book written by a Christian? Shouldn’t I have been relieved to find that I wouldn’t have to censor language and ideas as I read?

The problem is, I love good Christian writing. I love writing that presents new ideas, challenges old ones, and engages not only your mind and emotions, but also your spirit. The problem is, most “Christian” fiction doesn’t do that. Most fail miserably at being either “Christian” or entertaining. There are a few exceptions, and some Christian authors have found success in the secular market. And, some overtly Christian writing does succeed – CS Lewis’ The Great Divorce is a perfect example. But where are all of the C.S. Lewises today?

Christian authors trying to just write fiction for Christian market tend to have some common flaws. One is that they are so steeped in the namby-pamby Christian Ghetto that they don’t understand the non-ghetto world, and are writing for a ghetto audience that shares this trait. As a result the non-Christian characters turn out flat. In fact, both the bad guys and the good guys turn out cartoony.

Another common flaw is they can’t even present Christians in a believable way. They are afraid (or perhaps conditioned) to ignore the fact that Christians have real emotions and issues. No one lusts, they just kind of like each other. It’s like reading Archie comic books. And, nearly all “Christian” characters seem completely uncomfortable being Christians, even in their fictional worlds. Contrast any of these characters against those of John Grisham, for example. His books like The Testament and The Last Juror, contain overtly Christian characters who actually seem like normal people. Of course, Grisham excels at character development and dialog, but more than that, Grisham himself seems comfortable with his characters, where many Christian authors do not.

The 3rd major flaw is that all books written for a Christian audience has to have something identifiably “Christian” in the book, whether it fits with the story or not. Much of the time the spiritual insertions are so uncomfortably done that you wish they just weren’t there.

All that being said, Comes A Horseman is not really a bad book; in fact, it is no worse than much secular fiction on the shelves. Liparulo tells a pretty good story. It does share the 3 above-mentioned traits, although rather mildly in comparison with some Christian Ghetto writing. He also assumes a certain eschatological viewpoint that is not necessarily correct, but again, it’s fiction so you can overlook that. It is, overall, an enjoyable book, and while not as compelling as Koontz or Blaylock, it holds your interest enough. The plot is fairly simple, but he manages to keep you somewhat bewildered until the end.

I didn’t write this post to review “Horseman,” or I would have done a better job. Rather, I just wanted to express my frustrations with the genre I guess I will label Christian Ghetto Fiction. Maybe some authors will read this (yeah, right…) and become inspired to write for the world outside of the ghetto.