Tenth Plague Cover Unveiled
Finally, the cover of my next novel, due out on January 15, is here. What think ye? Special thanks to the designers at Kirkdale Press (Logos) for their hard work.
Read moreIn Defense of Clean Speech in Christian Fiction, Part 5
See Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, and Part 8. Flawed Arguments Most Christian novelists would agree that God prohibits His children from using unclean speech in everyday dialogue. But some apparently think their novels fall into a different category. One that is beyond biblical critique. “He’s a bad cop,” they say, “and for him and my story to be realistic, I wouldn’t be doing him or the story justice if I sanitized the language. I wouldn’t be intellectually honest.” They are, after all, seeking to depict reality. They are creating art. And art is honest, they say. Though plausibility is important in good fiction, this logic is flawed. Let’s take a closer look at their arguments for using unclean speech. 1. I want my novel to be realistic. This is fiction. No readers seriously want stark reality in the form of foul language—that’s depressing. They want the impression of reality (the…
Read moreIn Defense of Clean Speech in Christian Fiction, Part 4
See Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, and Part 8. What Is Unclean Speech? This past August, Kaitlin Nootbaar, a high school valedictorian in Oklahoma, realized she’d made a big mistake. During her May graduation speech, she’d used a curse word inspired by one of the Twilight movies. Now, because of this infraction, the school was withholding her diploma. According to the high school superintendent, Kaitlin had “used language that was inappropriate for a graduation exercise.” Why do I bring up this surprising story? Because it shows that even the world sometimes reveals a collective conscience, at least when it comes to bad language in certain contexts. I’ve observed this in my own experience. During my brief stint at FedEx in 2006, I heard language that would curl your hair. But once fellow employees learned I’d worked at a Bible college for a decade, they cleaned up their act in a…
Read moreIn Defense of Clean Speech in Christian Fiction, Part 3
See Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, and Part 8. What Is “Clean Speech”? Before we discuss what unclean speech is, let’s define clean speech based on the ultimate authority: God’s Word. The Bible is jam-packed with great verses about communication that would merit God’s smile (Ps. 19:14; Prov. 15:26; 16:24; Matt. 12:36; Col. 4:6; Titus 2:7-8; ), but I think this verse is probably the best. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. (Phil. 4:8) In other words, clean thoughts come from clean words. The publication “A Biblical Approach to Objectionable Elements in Christian Education” puts it this way: This grand prescription for mental, moral, and spiritual health [Phil. 4:8] expresses the principle that dwelling on good will help to drive out evil.…
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