Book Comment: Fruit Happens!

Michael Christopher’s book, Fruit Happens!, (2010) is a free Christian young adult novel distributed by the 1687 Foundation. The short (only 112 pages) is the story of an old man named Dellie O’Shea who is reminiscing about his boyhood adventures.  He is a retired stage singer and dancer who describes himself as  “little person” since he is 37 inches tall.

Dellie has adventures with a girl he probably loves. Her name is Paisley Baker, but Dellie calls her “Cake.”. “I’d known for some time that Cake Baker went to church every Sunday, but I hadn’t held it against her.”

This is a doctrinally sound book written in a conversational style.  The book is an easy read for its intended age group of age 10 to 14 year old readers. The point of the book is to explain the Fruits of the Spirit and how they develop in a believer.  The process of Sanctification is explained. The novel does a very good job of that. I do have problems with this book, however.

1.     All the children have the same “voice.” One of the marks of good fiction is the establishment of clearly discernable characters who “read” differently from one another.  The children all speak like adults. In fact, they all speak like the same adult, clearly the author.

2.     The book reads like a disguised sermon.

3.     The Bible study meetings develop along the lines of an outline with each child adding just the insight that is needed at that moment in the exposition.

4.     I do not think that any teenager who is not already a Christian will read this book. It will hold no appeal for non-Christians.

The book is a very clear in its explanation of several doctrinal points:

1.     The fruits of the Spirit are not natural to us. They develop within Christian believers because of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

2.     The fruits of the Spirit build gradually, with one leading to the next. God is conforming us to Christ. Sometimes we humans lurch forward in starts and sputters. The problem lies with us, not God.

3.     There are suggestions and study questions provided to aid the reader in expressing the fruits of the Spirit.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” Galatians 5:22-23

"Scripture quotations taken from the New American Standard Bible®,
Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973,
1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation 
Used by permission." (www.Lockman.org)

A link with a children’s sermon about the fruits of the spirit:

http://www.sermons4kids.com/fruit_of_the_spirit.htm

60,000 Page Views!

Update: As of 24 May 2026, the total number of page views is 957,907.

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This blog has now had over 60,000 visitors and on some days has over 1000 page views.  I thank all of you for your interest and, with the Lord's help, plan to continue the blog for many more years.

Christian Intellectuals

“The minute you get a religion you stop thinking.  Believe in one thing too much and you have no room for new ideas.”  Ray Bradbury (b. 1920, Illinois, USA – d. 2012)  Bradbury was a celebrated science fiction, fantasy, horror, and mystery writer.

I have to disagree with Ray.  Yes, there is a strong stream of anti-intellectualism loose in the world today and it has infected many within the Christian community, but faith does not equal empty-headedness.  Jesus Himself told us that it should not.

“Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.” Matthew 22:37

The Apostle Luke praised the Bereans  “These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” Acts 17:11

Without expressing approval or disapproval of what any of them have taught or said, here is a short list of modern persons who would qualify as Christian intellectuals: John Piper, N.T. Wright, Francis Schaeffer, Dietrich Boenhoffer, D.A. Carson, C.S. Lewis, Pope Benedict XVI, Pope John Paul II, Ravi Zacharias, Dinesh D’Souza, Francis Collins, John Lennox, Karl Barth, etc.

There Already, Waiting to Explode

Sequoyah (b. Ca 1760 d. 1843) was a Cherokee silversmith who, although he didn’t speak a word of English, noticed that the white men communicated using “talking leaves.”  He thought that this was a wonderful idea and decided in about 1809 to create a way to make “talking leaves” for the Cherokee language.

His first attempt was a logographic writing system (as in Chinese or Japanese).  He quickly realized that there were far too many Cherokee words for this to be practical.

What Sequoyah finally decided to do, rather than copying the English language alphabetic system, was to use symbols for each sound used in the Cherokee language (a syllabic system).  This resulted in 85 characters which represented all the sounds.

The Cherokee nation had no tradition of a written language, and there was some initial resistance, but Sequiyah’s alphabet began to spread rapidly among an excited populace, and, by 1825, it was declared the official written language of the Cherokee nation.  In the span of sixteen years, the Cherokees went from being totally illiterate to almost 100% literate.  I believe that Sequoyah’s alphabet awakened something which was already there among the Cherokee people.  It just needed a spark to make it explode.

The same principle applies to the unevangelized.  Many are aware that something is missing, that there has to be more to life than just living a few years trying to be happy and staying out of trouble … and then dying.  They are like the Cherokee tribe, ready to explode.  They just need to hear, they need a spark.

“The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.  Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard.  Psalm 19:1-3 

“The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.” Romans 1:18-20 

The Christian Origins of Several Science Fiction Writers

Science fiction is often considered to be an atheist endeavor and many science fiction writers would agree.  It is interesting though, how many of them had religious upbringings, many specifically Christian.

Robert A. Heinlein, Baptist; Gene Rodenberry, Baptist; Jules Verne, Roman Catholic; J.R.R. Tolkein, Roman Catholic; Stanislaw Lem, Roman Catholic;  Karel Capek,  Roman Catholic; Anthony Burgess,  Roman Catholic; Jerry Pournelle,  Roman Catholic; George Lucas, Methodist; Stephen King, Methodist; Beverly Cleary, Presbyterian; Piers Anthony, Quaker. 

Marcher Lord Press

In medieval times a marcher lord was a knight who was given lands on the extreme borders of the kingdom.  His charge was to patrol and protect the territory and to develop it to the point where it would no longer be the "frontier."

Jeff Gerke is the founder and owner of Marcher Lord Press, which publishes Christian speculative fiction.  Marcher Lord (http://www.marcherlordpress.com/ ) is an actual small run publisher, not a vanity press, and uses a POD (printing on demand) format.  Instead of print runs in the thousands, a print run is one book.  A successful book may sell hundreds of copies instead of thousands.

Seminary trained Gerke is a novelist, editor, and now, publisher.  His company fills a niche, with Christian fiction which a Christian Booksellers Association publisher would not consider.

My own personal interest in Marcher Lord came about because I have several unpublished science fiction novels either completed or in progress.  Marcher Lord is not Doubleday or Putnam or Scholastic, but it apparently has hundreds of aspiring authors who have submitted novels for Mr. Gerke's consideration.  So many, in fact, that he has had to close his acquisitions for up to a full year because of his backlog of submissions.

Listen to the Holy Spirit

When I decided to start this blog I wondered if I would be able to keep up the pace of posting daily. That has proven to be no problem as it seems that now I have the opposite problem; how to restrict my posting to just one post a day. I am making no claim to be an "inspired" writer but I firmly believe that God can make use of us through whatever our talents are. Mine happens to be writing and I know, I do not think, I know, that God has used this simple blog to speak to other people. Some of them have told me so.

My hope for this blog is that my readership will increase; every writer wants to be read. I also pray that the posts in this blog will remain within Christian orthodoxy, that anything I say will be biblically sound. Another hope is that God will continue to use this blog to speak directly to specific people who need to hear a message specifically for them.

This may sound "spooky" to you, the idea that God can speak specific messages to others through us, but, of course He can, and often, we won't even know it has happened; the other person will know. What we need to do is to be open to the leading of the Spirit and to not ignore Him when he prods us to take some action or to say something. We don't personally have to be aware of what we have done, God can still use it.

"In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:" Ephesians 1:11

Christian Writers Seeking a Literary Agent

      Words to the wise among those Christians who aspire to be published writers. Your very first step should be to make sure you have done all the necessary background work: you must understand grammar, composition, spelling, hooks, syntax, voice, how to control the speed of the reader, etc.  If any of these things leave you staring into space go back and study some more.  You don't have to become an expert on all these things to be a writer, but should at least have an idea what they are.  Having something to say must be matched with knowing how to say it.  You wouldn't try to drive a car before you knew where the brake release was, would you?

       Once you are ready to try to secure the services of an agent for what you write, be aware of this uncomfortable fact: the odds against you ever getting an agent and/or ever being professionally published are astronomical.  There are literally thousands of well-qualified writers wanting the same few available agency slots.  Most of them will have only limited or no success in their writing careers.

      There is much more "product" available (yes, I said that) than can be professionally published or, for that matter, even given more than a cursory glance by a prospective agent.

If your book doesn't arrive at just the right time and in front of just the right set of eyes, it will probably be glanced at and tossed into the "slush pile," destined to receive a rejection slip.

      Literary agents are very helpful to a writer.  They're your "foot in the door," so you should keep on improving your writing and submitting your work to them, even as you accumulate a thick stack of rejection slips and letters.  You'll know you're getting closer when you begin to get polite, personal responses from the agents.  This is the time to be, to quote Elmer Fudd, "... vewwy, vewwy, caweful."

       Not all literary agents are really literary agents and not all people associated with Christian publishing are Christian.  Some are total frauds and some are just "questionable."  One of the numerous writer's help websites, Writers Beware, says it has a list of almost four hundred questionable agencies.  One of the listings, Writer's Literary Agency and Marketing Company, has at least twenty-three aliases, including The Christian Literary Agency.

      Warning signs:

1. Charging up-front fees before any sales are made.

2. Offering paid editing  or publishing referrals.  A literary agency should not own or be financially affiliated with companies which offer these otherwise legitimate services.  It creates a conflict of interest.

3. No record of prior sales can be found.

4. Any misrepresentation of the agent's qualifications.

5. Non-standard contract terms.

      The best way to ensure ethical behavior from an agency is to deal only with an AAR (Association of Author's Representatives) certified agent.  AAR agents must must pledge themselves to a very high standard of ethics.  You can expect a very high standard of service.  The flip side is that they can, and will, expect certain things from you or they will not represent you.

      Some CBA (Christian Booksellers Association) agents are not AAR certified.  Most can be assumed to be ethical because of the specialized nature of what they do.  A few may not be