Posted on 05/01/2015 2:12:49 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
(RNS) When Republican presidential hopeful Scott Walker spoke last Saturday (April 25) to an influential gathering of Christian conservatives in an Iowa church, he brought along a little reading material.
Standing before more than 1,000 people at the Iowa Faith & Freedom Coalition, the Wisconsin governor used part of his time to read from “Jesus Calling: Enjoying Peace in His Presence,” a Christian devotional written in the first-person voice of Jesus by missionary-turned-author Sarah Young.
“‘The way to walk through demanding times is to grip my hand tightly,’” Walker read to the crowd. “‘Regardless of the day’s problems, I can keep you in perfect peace as you stay close to me.’”
According to reports, the crowd was “rapt.” In the days after Scott’s talk, the book shot to the top of a couple of online retailers’ best-seller lists, including Amazon.
Not that the book needed Walker’s help.
“‘Calling Jesus’ didn’t need Scott Walker to get a bump,” said Marcia Z. Nelson, until recently the religion reviews editor at Publishers Weekly, which tracks the publishing industry. “Christian publishing has had a massive hit on its hands ever since ‘Jesus Calling’ was published in 2004.”
And that may have been the point of Walker’s use of the book: a quiet signal, to evangelicals that Walker is one of them, that he even reads the same books. “Jesus Calling” is more of a megaphone for the still-undeclared candidate, a preacher’s son who opposes hot-button issues such as gay marriage and abortion.
Phyllis Tickle, former religion editor for Publishers Weekly and the author of multiple Christian titles herself, said she could not remember another book — let alone a religion book — being read in public by another presidential hopeful.
“I mean, sure, candidates will cite books,” she said, “but not like this.”
(Excerpt) Read more at huffingtonpost.com ...
March 9, 2015 - Sarah Posner: Evangelicals Looking for Walker to “Do Nothing” in 2016 Election
Scott’s faith was what made him invulnerable during the last five years of rabid (as in rabies) liberal-left assaults on him....elections....recalls.....elections
It’s a wonderful book. I read mine daily.
>> “‘Calling Jesus’ didn’t need Scott Walker to get a bump,” said Marcia Z. Nelson
Well, it’s the first time I’m hearing of it... Marcia, Marcia, Marcia...
Not a good book and he should not be promoting it.
Actually, it almost makes sense:
Jesus calling to the faraway towns
Now war is declared, and battle come down
...
Jesus calling, now don’t look to us
Phoney Obamamania has bitten the dust
...
Jesus calling, yes, I was there, too
An’ you know what they said? Well, all of it was true!
Care to expound on your comment...?
My wife reads it daily and I can’t see why you consider it a bad book...
About “Jesus Calling”:http://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/newsletters/2014/newsletter20141110.htm
See the link I just posted above.
To each their own. I think it is a terribly misleading book. Everyone is free to like it. It’s a free country. I must say, though, his recommendation makes me think less of him. It is not relevant to politics. I could vote for him anyway. But I would worry that he would promote more bad books.
“But I would worry that he would promote more bad books.”
I wouldn’t worry about that too much. Our nation can survive a president who promotes bad (in your opinion) books.
What it can’t survive is another one who lives by the creed of famous authors like Karl Marx and Saul Alinsky.
From your link, it appears your concern is that people who read “Jesus Calling” will stop reading the Bible.
This is a specious argument.
There are many more sources of criticism I could link to, but those who don’t want to read it in detail and really think it through won’t bother. Everyone can google it and find the info for themselves.
Yeah, that is true. Walker is not my first pick anyway. Also, I do not entirely fault a person when it is not their area of expertise. It is a popular book. I personally think the fact that a book like that can get to be so popular is more of an indictment on the church and its leadership more than the laymen. Bad teaching and poor shepherding lead the sheep into error.
Yes. There is more there at that site but here is another source:http://www.cicministry.org/commentary/issue125.htm That is a link to an article by Bob DeWaay. You might like that one better.
Here is one by Tim Challies:http://www.challies.com/book-reviews/jesus-calling
I’ve owned four copies. I think I still have a hard copy around here, gave two away, and use my kindle copy. I love the kindle version because instead of just giving you the Bible cite, it has the verses. But, read the Bible verses as well as this book.
First time I'm hearing of it too. Looks like the Scott Walker bump brought it to a wider audience.
DeWay is awesome he nailed Rick Warren to a wall a few years ago thanks for posting that.
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