Discernment of Christian Authors/Books

Since receiving an e-reader for Christmas a year ago, I have found many sources for free e-books. And one of the great things about free e-books is that they can be deleted if they do not live up to a person's expectations. My eyes have been opened, however, in that every book that has been tagged as either being a Christian book or written by a Christian author may not ring true to my beliefs. Take for example one book I read last night, downloaded from Smashwords.com.  While the author was true in writing about one needing to be careful about cult religions like Mormons who believe that Satan and Christ are brothers and that Christ worked his way to goddom, the rest of his book left me scratching my head at his true beliefs, especially towards salvation, and wondering whether or not his beliefs or the teaching of the so-called church he attends teaches their attendees right from wrong. There was no real in-depth discussion about putting one's trust in Christ as our Savior and following Him, although the book had four or five individuals who up and decided to be baptized one Sunday, with one former Catholic wanting to renew his faith. Maybe the author just did not go as in-depth into the discussion and truly believes as I that one has to put their faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, the only way to salvation. But then the author discussed sexual dreams and other disturbing sequences to me. Why was that in a so-called Christian fiction story? And to have a man and woman decide to get married after knowing one another for less than 24 hours? Was it a marriage of passion, not of true commitment? The book, barely over 100 pages, truly, truly left me scratching my head; and this was not the first e-book I had downloaded that was tagged as Christian that I just did not see the implication of such. And while I did not finish reading the book, what I did read left me disturbed; I should not feel disturbed if I read or partially read a book that is labeled as Christian material!

Another person who is tagged as a Christian author and whose books I have read have also left me scrathing my head, wondering why her books are characterized as such. Some of her novels are characterized with shape-shifting, werewolves, and such. I downloaded one such book, but quickly deleted it as it was not something I wanted to read.  Some of her other books barely mention Christ at all, although they do mention going to church, even though not regularly. True, this author's books - and I believe the author is a woman - does not have her characters using foul language, but again, the sexual references are alluded to, although not in quite the detail as the male author whom I just spoke of used.

Where am I going with this? Folks, if we truly call ourselves Christians,our beliefs should be clear and plain in what we speak or write. As such, Christians need to be so in tune with their beliefs that they can spot impostors. And true Christians need to be careful not to confuse their speech with incorrect terms. For example, I have noticed some of my friends who call themselves Christians speaking of karma. Karma is not a Christian term, and like Astrology, should not be confused or thought of as being Christian in nature; it is not. Karma is a Buddhist term, and Buddhism is not a Christian religion, i.e., it is NOT based on the beliefs of the Bible and the following of Christ as our Savior.

I am thankful for Christian authors who uphold their true, Christian beliefs, and for the books they publish. Again, however, discernment for those who are truly following Christ, and in this day and time, the terminology of Christian Writers are often being skewed. I pray that today's blog will encourage at least one true Christian to be careful with both their speech, selection of books, and of their knowledge of the Bible and its teachings.