Christian
Retailing News Editor Eric
Tiansay talks with Douglas Gresham, C.S. Lewis' stepson and executive producer
of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn
Treader—to be released
Dec. 10 by Walden Media and 20th Century Fox.
Executer of the C.S. Lewis estate,
Gresham—also co-producer
of The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe
and Prince Caspian,
the first two
installments of “The
Chronicles of Narnia” movie
series—discusses
the importance of
box-office support for
Dawn
Treader from the
faith-based community, including Christian retailers and
churches. Listen below.
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Christian
publishing may have been without a mega best-seller this year but one
leader thinks that is a good thing that has made room for a more
important development.
David
Almack, U.S. director and publisher with CLC International, observes
that in the absence of a mega-seller promising the good life, titles
like Radical,Jesus
Calling,Crazy
Love, The Love
Dare and
even the classic The
Five
Love Languages have appeared on the New
York Timesbest-seller
lists.
“The
basic message in many of these books is the incredible story of the
God of the universe making the ultimate sacrifice of His only Son,
which compels believers to lives of sacrifice and love for others out
of gratitude, not duty,” he notes.
“For
a world sick and tired of phony promises, this is indeed good news
about Christianity itself. Instead of looking inward for ways to
improve ourselves and achieve the American dream by joining the right
church or reading the right book, these new authors are pointing us
in an entirely different direction for finding significance and
purpose in life.”
In
his Nov. 21 posting at his blog, Almack welcomes “a new generation of readers (that) appears to be
seeking a robust presentation of the love of Christ for a dying
world,” and suggests it's time for “sober introspection” to
“evaluate the serious consequences of promoting a gospel that
requires so little while promising so much.
“Now
is the time for us all to repent and return to publishing,
distributing and selling books that present Jesus as the 'lamb that
was slain' and who gave His all so that we might have life at all.”
VeggieTales co-creator Phil Vischer won applause for his opening night message at this year's International Christian Retail Show in St. Louis, where he reminded attendees that though the boom days of Christian retailing may have passed, the call to ministry has not.
Best-selling books may come and go, but the Bible remains a firm favorite.
God's Word came out top in a list of popular books for discussion groups in an online poll conducted by Reading Group Guides to mark its tenth anniversary.
The Bible came first in the list of Top 10 Strange Book Club Choices compiled from votes by more than 12,000 people. Next on the list was The Ethical Slut: A Practical Guide to Polyamory, Open Relationships and Other Adventures by Dossie Easton and Janet W. Hardy.
Heading the overall Top 10 Discussion Books was The Help by Kathryn Stocket. Fifth was Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth ilbert, while Anita Diamant's The Red Tent—a novel about the biblical character Dinah—was tenth.
Published to coincide with the October celebration of National Reading Group Month, the lists can be found in full at http://www.readinggroupguides.com/content/index.asp