Marketplace Memos by David Shibley and Jonathan Shibley

It is time to play a Wild Card! Every now and then, a book that I have chosen to read is going to pop up as a FIRST Wild Card Tour. Get dealt into the game! (Just click the button!) Wild Card Tours feature an author and his/her book's FIRST chapter!

You never know when I might play a wild card on you!

Today's Wild Card authors are:

David Shibley and Jonathan Shibley

and the book:

Marketplace Memos

New Leaf Publishing Group (October 20, 2008)

ABOUT THE AUTHORs:

David Shibley is founder and president of Global Advance, a ministry that trains and resources thousands of church and business leaders every year in many of the world's most underserved nations. Having ministered in almost 60 nations, David has a passion to strengthen and encourage national leaders to advance God's kingdom worldwide. David and his wife, Naomi, have two married sons.

Jonathan Shibley serves as vice president of Global Advance. His primary focus is directing the Marketplace Missions program for equipping business leaders in developing nations. He also is engaged in international business. Before joining Global Advance, he earned a business degree from Baylor University and served with Promise Keepers and Teen Mania. Jonathan and his wife, Sarah, have three children.


Product Details:

List Price: $ 13.99
Hardcover: 173 pages
Publisher: New Leaf Publishing Group (October 20, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0892216786
ISBN-13: 978-0892216789

MY REVIEW:

“Earth is eternity’s workshop.” (p. 42)

David and Johnathan Shibley truly have a heart for the eternal work that God is doing in the lives of His people in the world market today. Together, these two men, both international business leaders in their own right, have created a powerful Bible Study/devotional guide entitled Marketplace Memos. The format of this book is arranged so that it appears each chapter is paper-clipped together, and then at the end there is a daily planner page that includes scripture, reflective questions and comments, as well as admonition to apply the daily spiritual lesson. Truly, this is a powerful book!

I think what delighted me most about this book is that it is written in a personable, easy to understand format and contains a lot of scripture and practical Biblical application. The authors of this book obviously feel very strongly that the men and women God has placed into leadership – particularly in the business world – are part of His plan to spread the gospel and shine the light of Christ into the many lives within their influence. Over and over again, the authors encourage businessmen and women to view their jobs as an extension of their spiritual walk in every area from giving to witnessing to the ultimate legacy that they will leave behind them.

Let me give you a particular challenge that I found meaningful on page 49. “By sovereign grace it has fallen to our generation to have within our grasp that for which other generations of Christians have prayed, dreamed and died – closure on the Great Commission. And if it is not this generation of Christians – we who have seen God’s gracious renewal, we who possess more data on global harvest than any previous generation, we who stand on the shoulders of 20 centuries of missionary giants – if it is not us God wants to use to evangelize the world, then who else is it?”

Isn’t that powerful? Every chapter in this book contains this personable, concise writing generously inclusive of scripture, that create a personal encouragement and challenge to every believer no matter where you are in the world’s marketplace! I can highly recommend this book to all believer’s who want a closer, deeper daily walk with the Lord! This book is powerful! Marketplace Memos would also make the perfect gift for a co-worker this year! Pick up a copy to keep and a copy to share!

AND NOW...THE FIRST CHAPTER:

Giving Living


Years ago, a disgruntled man stormed up to Bob Pierce, founder of World Vision and Samaritan’s Purse, after he heard Dr. Pierce preach. The angry man snarled, “I guess all there is to this Christianity is give, give, give.” Reflecting later on that encounter, Dr. Pierce chuckled, “It just goes to show that even with the wrong spirit a man can get some revelation and truth!”

The often-quoted maxim – “You make a living by what you get, but you make a life by what you give” – is true. Here are seven practical benefits of giving for God’s Kingdom purposes and the fulfilling of the Great Commission.

Your gift goes where you may never go. Your gift is an extension of yourself. You receive money in exchange for your investment of time and life. So when you give for Kingdom purposes, in a real sense you’re giving a part of yourself. Your gift says you want your life to count for what is eternal. Americans are generous, and Christians in America are especially so. There are many legitimate causes, but I don’t know anywhere givers can get more done for the dollar than in giving to world missions.

Giving living loosens the grip of materialism. I noticed a bumper sticker on the back of a sports car that read, “The man who dies with the most toys…wins.” But Jesus taught that the man who dies with the most “toys” is a short-sighted fool. It’s time for us to stop loving cars and clothes and start loving countries! If God so loved the world that He gave His Son, we need to so love the world that we invest in being sure everyone everywhere hears about His Son. I’ve driven through the poverty-drenched streets of Kolkata and the wealth-lined avenues of Beverly Hills. In both environments I saw desperate people. Jesus wasn’t kidding when He warned, “Beware of covetousness because one’s life does not consist in the abundance of things he possesses.” God calls us to embrace biblical prosperity while rejecting materialism. We can do both; we must do both.

You experience the eternal principle of sowing and reaping. Some churches in Africa practice a unique form of church discipline. If a professing Christian is living in sin, he is allowed to come to church, but he is not allowed to give! When the offering place comes to him, the usher places his hand over the plate and prevents him from giving. It is a powerful statement that the blessing of God is literally being prevented from coming to the unrepentant man’s life. It’s an eternal law woven into the very fabric of the universe. Farmers call it the law of sowing and reaping. Scientists refer to it as cause and effect. It’s reinforced throughout the Scriptures. The pattern is clear: you must sow in order to reap.

You lay up treasures in heaven. Jesus taught, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth…but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven…for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” A businessman once approached me and said, “I need more of a heart for missions. What should I do?” I replied, “Write out a $2,500 check for missions and sow it to the harvest, and I promise you, you’ll have more of a heart for missions.”

It just works that way. Where your treasure is (present tense), there your heart will be (future tense). Although “you can’t take it with you,” you can send it on ahead! This very day you can lay up treasures in heaven.

God will supply your every need. Are you ready for a jolt? Philippians 4:19 is not a promise for every Christian. It’s a great verse: “My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” But it is not a carte blanche to be claimed at will by anybody. No, this promise is given exclusively to those who invest in advancing the gospel.

Read the context. Paul told the Philippians they were the only church that had invested to send him on his first missionary journey. As a result of their gift to launch Paul to the nations, he promised that God would supply their every need. Yes, you can claim Philippians 4:19 if you give for the advance of the gospel.

You experience the joy of making a difference in the world. I make no apologies for challenging American Christians to tear loose from some of their money and give it to advance Kingdom causes worldwide. Jesus taught, “To whom much is given, from him much will be required.” With blessing comes accountability. There is a longing inside every true Christ-follower to make a difference for Him. We do not bear sole responsibility for world evangelization, but because of our affluence and influence, we do bear heightened responsibility.

You experience the significance of participating in God’s global purposes. A businessman thanked me for the opportunity to give to Global Advance. He tearfully said, “You give me purpose.” For this man, building his company is not the bottom line. He goes beyond the bottom line to build Christ’s Kingdom through building his company.

You move past mere success to true significance by aligning your life with God’s primary purpose. God’s primary purpose is to see His Son known, loved, and worshiped by redeemed people from every tribe and nation. And you are part of that plan. Live to give.


Remember: “Give and it will be given to you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.” (Luke 6:38)


Reflect: “What do your offerings say about your heart levels of gratitude and love for God? What does your spending say about what’s truly important on this earth?” – Robert Morris


Pray: That God will make you a joyful giver to His Kingdom causes.


Act: Where is the Holy Spirit directing you to invest for Christ’s Kingdom today?

Girls N Grace by Pam Davis - TWO TERRIFIC NEW BOOKS!

Sydney Clair – A Girl ‘n Grace in the 1960’s - Book 2 in Sydney's story!

Not long ago I introduced Pam Davis’ Girls ‘N Grace books. I am very pleased to be able to share the second Sydney Clair book with you today! In this story, Sydney Clair is feeling a bit blue for no apparent reason. As she and her friends are cloud watching, a rainbow appears – along with a cute dog full of mischief! Sydney knows the story of the rainbow as God’s promise never to flood the earth again, but does this rainbow promise something different?

Sydney Clair and her friends begin working together on a plan to allow Sydney to become a pet owner. Their adventures are both realistic and hilarious! When Sydney’s Dad observes her efforts, he decides to shower a bit of grace upon her life. His decision becomes the catalyst in Sydney’s life that leads her to discover what grace means in a very personal way!

So join Sydney Clair and her family again. You’ll learn a bit about culture in the 1960’s along the way, and you’ll also understand more fully how our decisions often affect the lives of those around us. You’ll also learn how a mischievous little puppy becomes a grace-filled lesson for Sydney Clair and her entire family!

Mesi’s Season of Change - Book 2 in Mesi's story!

Mesi is a young African girl who is trying to grow in her new faith and understand God’s grace more fully. Season of Change is the second book in Mesi’s story, and this time she finds herself on the fringe of a tribal conflict! When the tribal fishing boat turns up missing, the tribal council naturally blames their enemy tribe. Mesi has never known her village to be involved in war of any kind, so she tries very hard to learn all she can about what is taking place around her.

In the meanwhile, she discovers an injured boy during her trip to the river to do laundry. As it turns out, the young man belongs to the tribe accused of stealing the boat. Mesi must decide whether to reveal his presence to the village elders or keep him safely hidden until he can get well enough to travel home again.

The story that unfolds in Mesi’s village is truly a beautiful picture of God’s grace in the lives of His children. The story also teaches a wonderful lesson about sharing and showing God’s grace to those around us. I really loved this story, and I can see quickly that there will be many teaching moments along the way as the story unfolds!

Pam Davis has truly created a precious series of books! Girls ‘N Grace even has its own website and character dolls! Please visit the site today and learn all about this fantastic series of books!

Hannah Grace by Sharlene MacLaren - My Review

Ooooohh!! I didn’t get my book in time to post this review on its FIRST day, but I jumped right in when it finally arrived! Sharlene MacLaren is truly writing stories that will take your heart on a fine emotional ride!! Hannah Grace is just the berries!!

Hannah Grace Kane is the oldest of the three Kane daughters, and it seems she and the local doctor will be tying the knot pretty soon! Gabe Devlin is the new sheriff in town, and it seems he has picked up a young waif of a man – mute from some past terror, and his first job upon arrival in Sandy Shores Michigan is to find out who is responsible for this homeless child. Not too far away, the McCurdy gang is searching for the only witness to their latest and deadliest crime. Slowly and ever so purposefully, Sharlene MacLaren weaves the threads of these lives together. The result??? Amazing!

You will adore the Kane family from the outset, and Gabe’s blue eyes will give you a fit of the vapors! Your heart will melt as the silent child Gabe discovers at the beginning of the story blossoms into a young man whose nightmares slowly turn into hope-filled dreams. Hannah Grace herself is a young woman tying to understand her own faith and puzzling over the mystery of trying to understand God’s will for her personal life. Truly, this story just draws you in and captivates your heart and imagination completely!

Sharlene MacLaren brings the past alive, and shares spiritual insight along the way that is timeless. I loved this book and am so glad I had the opportunity to read it! Please, pick up your own copy today! Visit Sharlene's website to learn more about her fabulous books! You can look here to read the first chapter of Hannah Grace.

Where Do I Go? By Neta Jackson

This week, the
Christian Fiction Blog Alliance
is introducing
Where Do I Go?
Thomas Nelson (December 9, 2008)
by
Neta Jackson


ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
As a husband/wife writing team, Dave and Neta Jackson are enthusiastic about books, kids, walking with God, gospel music, and each other! Together they are the authors or coauthors of over 100 books. In addition to writing several books about Christian community, the Jacksons have coauthored numerous books with expert resource people on a variety of topics from racial reconciliation to medical ethics to ministry to kids in gangs.

Dave and Neta live in Evanston, Illinois, where for twenty-seven years they were part of Reba Place Church, a Christian church community. They are now members of a multi-racial congregation in the Chicago area.

They're trying something new! Not just new for them, but something completely new in Christian fiction: “Parallel novels,” two stories taking place in the same time frame, same neighborhood, involving some of the same characters living through their own dramas and crises but interacting with and affecting one another … just the way it happens in real life.

It’s something that only a husband and wife writing team could pull off. While Neta has Where Do I Go?, her husband Dave has written Harry Bentley's Second Chance.



ABOUT THE BOOK

A story of seeking-and finding-God's will in unlikely places.

Gabrielle Fairbanks has nearly lost touch with the carefree, spirited young woman she was when she married her husband fifteen years ago. But when the couple moves to Chicago to accommodate Philip's business ambitions, Gabby finds the chance to make herself useful. It's there she meets the women of Manna House Women's Shelter; they need a Program Director-and she has a degree in social work. She's in her element, feeling God's call on her life at last, even though Philip doesn't like the changes he sees in her. But things get rough when Philip gives Gabby an ultimatum: quit her job at the shelter or risk divorce and losing custody of their sons. Gabby must take refuge, as in the song they sing at Sunday night worship: "Where do I go when there's no one else to turn to? . . . I go to the Rock I know that's able, I go to the Rock."

Romantic Times Book Reviews says, “Exquisite characters coupled with God's mercy and love emanate from each page.”

Publisher's Weekly adds, “Jackson's Yada Yada series has sold half a million copies, and this new offshoot series ... promises the same.... The book's dramatic ending ... leav[es] readers eager for the next installment in the series.”

To read the Prologue and first Chapter of Where Do I Go?, go HERE


MY REVIEW:

“Where do I go…when there’s no one else to turn to?

Who do I talk to…when nobody wants to listen?

Who do I lean on…when there’s no foundation stable?

I go to the Rock I know that’s able,

I go to the Rock!” (p. 205)

Neta Jackson’s much anticipated first novel in the House of Hope series, where do I go?, is a story that will touch your heart and linger in your soul. This is Gabrielle Fairbanks story, and she is a lady familiar with heartache and rejection. However after 15 years as the wife of Phillip Fairbanks, enjoying the comfort and financial success known only to old money Virginia families, Gabby is trying to make the best of their recent move to Chicago as her husband attempts to establish his own business. She and Phillip left their children in Virginia at a private boarding school to finish the school year, and Gabby feels rather directionless as she faces days alone in their new penthouse apartment.

Seeking a few moments of solace on the shores of Lake Michigan, Gabby literally trips over a homeless lady – Lucy – and from that moment on, her life is never the same. Meeting Lucy, and as a result the staff of Manna House – the local homeless shelter – awakens a part of Gabby’s heart that she has long denied. When she learns the shelter is seeking a program coordinator, she applies for the job. The only trouble is, she isn’t very up front with her husband about it. When she actually gets the job and tells Phillip about it…well, let’s just say that wasn’t part of Phillip Fairbank’s game plan.

Gabby tries to muddle along in her new job, surprised at how often these workers of Manna House pray and share encouraging scripture. Her spirit is awakened in a new way, but she can’t seem to find the right way to share any of this with her husband. When the boys finally come home from school and Gabby takes them to see her mother for a brief vacation, life begins unraveling at an alarming rate. She finds herself torn in many directions, and has no idea what to do. The only answer that echoes in her soul is, “Come to Me.”

What happens to Gabby is difficult and kind of shocking. But God’s handprint is all over this book, and I think you will reach the final pages not only hungry for more of the story, but hungry for a closer relationship with Christ. This is a phenomenal beginning to a series that promises to be life changing. Don’t miss it!!

Guest Blogger Deena Peterson on Desire and Decieit by Albert Mohler

Much has been written about the over-sexed society we live in. Parents can't even watch a cartoon show about Christmas without ads that are highly inappropriate being aired into their living room. Pop-up ads and web banners scream sexuality at our kids and our spouses.

So what is a Christian's response to all of this?

Some of it is found in R. Albert Mohler, Jr.'s book, "Desire and Deceit". Endorsed by John Piper, one of our best known and loved Christian pastors and academics, "Desire and Deceit" paints a rather bleak picture of today's societal landscape.

In other words, if you truly didn't know how bad it was out there, you will by the time you're done reading his book!

Mr. Mohler takes the reader step by step through our moral decline as a society, and some of his information shared in the book isn't anything like you find in modern media. This gentleman has truly done his homework!

He quotes from a book that I won't divulge here (the title is found in chapter eleven) simply because I don't want the focus to shift to that piece of trash. But Mr. Mohler carefully outlines the agenda of the homosexual movement by quoting verbatim from this book...

...and what he reveals may shock you. I know it did me, and I thought I was well informed. Mr. Mohler then goes on to build a carefully constructed Christian response to this agenda that is bathed in the truth and LOVE of Christ.

His chapter on the destruction of the male friendship dynamic was astounding and saddening. To realize my son has lost a treasure that my husband grew up with due to the release of one of the most sickening movies of our time broke my heart and angered me toward our enemy.

My one complaint is this: though this is a small book, it is written in a textbook style, which may put off some potential readers. But I encourage you to hang in there. Discuss it with your spouse or small group. This book contains vital facts and educational information that MUST NOT BE MISSED.

The election proved one thing to me, if nothing else: change IS coming, and it will affect my faith and the way I respond to my neighbor. This is one of the best books I've read yet to equip you with a Biblical response to some of the hardest questions you'll ever face as a believer in Christ.

Therefore, I'm rating "Desire and Deceit" with the Golden bookmark for publishing excellence, with a box of tissues as a charm. If reading this doesn't break your heart and make you weep for our world--check your heart, please.

Happy Reading!




For more terrific reviews by a blogger buddy I have so much respect for....visit Deena's blog!

Living Rich for Less by Ellie Kay - GIVE AWAY!

I’ve never been one to read a lot of self-help material. However, when I was given the opportunity to investigate smarter ways to give, spend and save – well, I couldn’t pass this by! Ellie Kay is very well-known and respected in the money management field. She has published several books, the most recent sporting the title Living Rich for Less. I would be less than honest if I didn’t tell you up front that I was a bit intimidated by Ellie Kay’s wealth of information and her successes that can be attributed solely to her wise financial decisions. I’m also honest enough to say that I’m a long way from financial security and I think I can learn a great deal from the insight and guidance offered in her latest book.

Living Rich for Less is written in a very personable and appealing format. Ellie Kay uses practical, common-sense methods to approach every imaginable area of financial management ranging from saving on your grocery bill to saving for college. I was super impressed that while her book isn’t necessarily scriptural in its references, Ellie Kay is open about her faith and her commitment to tithing evidenced that fact. The basis of her financial planning is giving! Truly, this is a lady who understands the true meaning of living rich!

This book includes some great statistics, worksheets and tables that will allow the reader to identify problem areas and start from where they are and begin working to pay down consumer debt and start saving for the future. Ellie Kay also places emphasis on spending time with family, recognizing that children are a family’s priceless riches, and the realizing that the time you spend building memories is free and invaluable. In short, this lady has a fabulous grip on common sense and is gifted enough to share her knowledge with others in a way that is easily understood and meaningful. For that, I am deeply grateful!

I’m also thankful that my parents taught me many of the financial principles contained in this book. While I am not financially secure, I do practice many of the savings methods that allow me to live much richer and freer than my meager income. So while some sections of this book do intimidate me a little, other sections provide blessed confirmation that I’m not totally hopeless in the area of finances!

I would highly recommend Living Rich for Less to everyone, but especially those who want to gain peace in this turbulent financial climate. Pick up a copy here today, and begin learning how to Live Rich for Less!

I have an extra copy of this terrific book to share, so please leave your name and contact information to be entered for a FREE copy of this book!!

Desire and Deceit by Albert Mohler

It is time to play a Wild Card! Every now and then, a book that I have chosen to read is going to pop up as a FIRST Wild Card Tour. Get dealt into the game! (Just click the button!) Wild Card Tours feature an author and his/her book's FIRST chapter!



You never know when I might play a wild card on you!

Today's Wild Card author is:

Albert Mohler

and the book:

Desire and Deceit

Multnomah Books (September 16, 2008)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Dr. R. Albert Mohler, Jr., has been recognized by such influential publications as Time and Christianity Today as a leader among American evangelicals. In fact, Time.com called him the “reigning intellectual of the evangelical movement in the U.S.”



A theologian and an ordained minister, Dr. Mohler serves as the ninth president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary—the flagship school of the Southern Baptist Convention and one of the largest seminaries in the world.



In addition to his presidential duties, Dr. Mohler hosts a daily live nationwide radio program on the Salem Radio Network. He also writes a popular blog and a regular commentary on moral, cultural, and theological issues. Called “an articulate voice for conservative Christianity at large” by the Chicago Tribune, Dr. Mohler’s mission is to address contemporary issues from a consistent and explicit Christian worldview.



Dr. Mohler served as pastor and staff minister of several Southern Baptist churches. He came to the presidency of Southern Seminary from service as editor of The Christian Index, the oldest of the state papers serving the Southern Baptist Convention.



A leader within the Southern Baptist Convention, Dr. Mohler has served in several offices including a term as chairman of the SBC Committee on Resolutions. He currently serves as chairman of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Council of Seminary Presidents. Dr. Mohler is also a frequent lecturer at universities and seminaries and currently serves on the boards of several organizations including Focus on the Family. He also serves on the Board of Reference for The Council for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood.



He is married to the former Mary Kahler. They have two children: Katie and Christopher.





Visit the author's website.



Product Details:



List Price: $ 14.99

Hardcover: 176 pages

Publisher: Multnomah Books (September 16, 2008)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 1601420803

ISBN-13: 978-1601420800



AND NOW...THE FIRST CHAPTER:

P R E F A C E





Sexuality is now a major fact of public life in America and around much of the world. In one sense, this is hardly new. After all, sexuality is a major part of human existence—an unavoidably complex and potentially explosive dynamic of human life. But sexuality is now a public issue—front and center in some of the biggest and most contentious debates of our times.





Sex and sexuality now drive much of our advertising, entertainment, and the cultural scripts that citizens use in common conversation. The sexual revolution of the 1960s was, in retrospect, only a signal of what was to come. By the early years of the twenty-first century, issues of sexuality were seemingly unavoidable. Elementary school students are being introduced to “family diversity” curricula, and major newspapers report on the phenomena of sexual promiscuity in homes for the aged. There seems to be virtually no part of the culture that is not dealing with sexuality in one way or another—and often with significant controversy.





Christians have a special stake and stewardship in the midst of this confusion. In the first place, Christians know that sex is both more and less important than the culture of laissez-faire sexuality can understand. Unlike the naturalistic evolutionists, Christians believe that the realities of gender and sexuality are intentional gifts of the Creator, who gave these gifts to His human creatures as both a blessing and a responsibility. Unlike the postmodern relativists, Christians cannot accept the claim that all sexual standards are mere social constructs. We believe that the Creator alone has the right to reveal His intention and commands concerning our stewardship of these gifts. Unlike the marketing geniuses and advertising gurus, we do not believe that sexuality is intended as a ploy to get attention and to create consumer demand. Unlike the pandering producers of sexualized entertainment, we do not believe that sex is primarily about laugh lines and titillation. Unlike the sexual revolutionaries of recent decades, we do not believe that sexuality is the means of liberating the self from cultural oppression.





In other words, we believe that sex is less important than many would have us believe. Human existence is not, first and foremost, about sexual pleasure and the display of sexuality. There is much more to human life, fulfillment, and joy. Sex simply cannot deliver the promises made by our hypersexualized society.





On the other hand, sex is far more important than a secular society can envision. After all, the Christian worldview reveals that sex, gender, and sexuality are ultimately all about the creature’s purpose to glorify the Creator. This frame of reference transforms the entire question and leaves the creature asking this: how do I celebrate and live out my stewardship of my sexuality and my exercise of this gift so that the Creator is most glorified? Needless to say, this is not the question driving the confusion in our sex-saturated culture.





This book is an attempt to look at many of today’s most controversial and troubling issues concerning sexuality from the perspective of biblical Christianity. Every one of us has a stake in this, and Christians are responsible for a special witness to the meaning of sex and sexuality.





And all this, we know, is not only about how we are to think about these issues, but how we are to live.





1



FROM FATHER TO SON



J. R. R. Tolkien on Sex





The astounding popularity of J. R. R. Tolkien and his writings, magnified many times over by the success of The Lord of the Rings films, has ensured that Tolkien’s fantasy world of moral meaning stands as one of the great literary achievements of our times.





In some sense, Tolkien was a man born out of time. A philologist at heart, he was most at home in the world of ancient ages, even as he witnessed the barbarism and horrors of the twentieth century. Celebrated as a popular author, he was an eloquent witness to permanent truths. His popularity on university campuses, extending from his own day right up to the present, is a powerful indication of the fact that Tolkien’s writings reach the hearts of the young and those looking for answers.





Even as Tolkien is celebrated as an author and literary figure, some of his most important messages were communicated by means of letters, and some of his most important letters were written to his sons.





Tolkien married his wife Edith in 1916, and the marriage was blessed with four children. Of the four, three were boys. John was born in 1917, Michael in 1920, and Christopher in 1924. Priscilla, the Tolkiens’ only daughter, was born in 1929. Tolkien dearly loved his children, and he left a literary legacy in the form of letters. [J. R. R. Tolkien, The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien, ed. Christopher Tolkien (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2000)]. Many of these letters were written to his sons, and these letters represent not only a prime example of literary quality but a treasure of Christian teaching on matters of manhood, marriage, and sex. Taken together, these letters constitute a priceless legacy, not only to the Tolkien boys, but to all those with whom the letters have been shared.





In 1941, Tolkien wrote a masterful letter to his son Michael, dealing with marriage and the realities of human sexuality. The letter reflects Tolkien’s Christian worldview and his deep love for his sons and, at the same time, also acknowledges the powerful dangers inherent in unbridled sexuality.





“This is a fallen world,” Tolkien chided. “The dislocation of sex-instinct is one of the chief symptoms of the Fall. The world has been ‘going to the bad’ all down the ages. The various social forms shift, and each new mode has its special dangers: but the ‘hard spirit of concupiscence’ has walked down every street, and sat leering in every house, since Adam fell.” This acknowledgment of human sin and the inevitable results of the Fall stands in stark contrast to the humanistic optimism that was shared by so many throughout the twentieth century. Even when the horrors of two world wars, the Holocaust, and various other evils chastened the century’s dawning optimism regarding human progress, the twentieth century gave evidence of an unshakable faith in sex and its liberating power. Tolkien would have none of this.





“The devil is endlessly ingenious, and sex is his favorite subject,” Tolkien insisted. “He is as good every bit at catching you through generous romantic or tender motives, as through baser or more animal ones.” Thus, Tolkien advised his young son, then twenty-one, that the sexual fantasies of the twentieth century were demonic lies, intended to ensnare human beings. Sex was a trap, Tolkien warned, because human beings are capable of almost infinite rationalization in terms of sexual motives. Romantic love is not sufficient as a justification for sex, Tolkien understood.





Taking the point further, Tolkien warned his son that “friendship” between a young man and a young woman, supposedly free from sexual desire, would not long remain untroubled by sexual attraction. At least one of the partners is almost certain to be inflamed with sexual passion, Tolkien advised. This is especially true among the young, though Tolkien believed that such friendships might be possible later in life, “when sex cools down.”





As any reader of Tolkien’s works understands, Tolkien was a romantic at heart. He celebrated the fact that “in our Western culture the romantic chivalric tradition [is] still strong,” though he recognized that “the times are inimical to it.” Even so, as a concerned father, Tolkien warned Michael to avoid allowing his romantic instinct to lead him astray, fooled by “the flattery of sympathy nicely seasoned with a titillation of sex.”





Beyond this, Tolkien demonstrated a profound understanding of male sexuality and the need for boundaries and restraint. Even as he was often criticized for having an overly negative understanding of male sexuality, Tolkien presented an honest assessment of the sex drive in a fallen world. He argued that men are not naturally monogamous. “Monogamy (although it has long been fundamental to our inherited ideas) is for us men a piece of ‘revealed’ ethic, according to faith and not to the flesh.” In his own times, Tolkien had seen the binding power of cultural custom and moral tradition recede into the historical memory. With the sexual revolution already visible on the horizon, Tolkien believed that Christianity’s revealed sex ethic would be the only force adequate to restrain the unbridled sexuality of fallen man. “Each of us could healthfully beget, in our 30 odd years of full manhood, a few hundred children, and enjoy the process,” Tolkien admonished his son. Nevertheless, the joys and satisfactions of monogamous marriage provide the only true context for sexuality without shame. Furthermore, Tolkien was confident that Christianity’s understanding of sex and marriage pointed to eternal as well as temporal pleasures.





Even as he celebrated the integrity of Christian marriage, Tolkien advised Michael that true faithfulness in marriage would require a continual exercise of the will. Even in marriage, there remains a demand for denial, he insisted. “Faithfulness in Christian marriage entails that: great mortification. For a Christian man there is no escape. Marriage may help to sanctify and direct to its proper object his sexual desires; its grace may help him in the struggle; but the struggle remains. It will not satisfy him—as hunger may be kept off by regular meals. It will offer as many difficulties to the purity proper to that state, as it provides easements. No man, however truly he loved his betrothed and bride as a young man, has lived faithful to her as a wife in mind and body without deliberate conscious exercise of the will, without self-denial.”





Tolkien traced unhappiness in marriage, especially on the part of the husband, to the church’s failure to teach these truths and to speak of marriage honestly. Those who see marriage as nothing more than the arena of ecstatic and romantic love will be disappointed, Tolkien understood. “When the glamour wears off, or merely works a bit thin, they think they have made a mistake, and that the real soul-mate is still to find. The real soul-mate too often proves to be the next sexually attractive person that comes along.”





With these words, Tolkien advised his middle son that marriage is an objective reality that is honorable in the eyes of God. Thus, marriage defines its own satisfactions. The integrity of Christian marriage requires a man to exercise his will even in the arena of love and to commit all of his sexual energy and passion to the honorable estate of marriage, refusing himself even the imagination of violating his marital vows.





In a letter to his friend C. S. Lewis, Tolkien advised, “Christian marriage is not a prohibition of sexual intercourse, but the correct way of sexual temperance—in fact probably the best way of getting the most satisfying sexual pleasure.” In the face of a world increasingly committed to sexual anarchy, Tolkien understood that sex must be respected as a volatile and complex gift, bearing potential for great pleasure and even greater pain.





With deep moral insight, Tolkien understood that those who give themselves most unreservedly to sexual pleasure will derive the least pleasure and fulfillment in the end. As author Joseph Pearce, one of Tolkien’s most insightful interpreters explains, sexual temperance is necessary “because man does not live on sex alone.” Temperance and restraint represent “the moderate path between prudishness and prurience, the two extremes of sexual obsession,” Pearce expands.





Explicit references to sexuality are virtually missing from Tolkien’s published works, allegories, fables, and stories. Nevertheless, sex is always in the background as part of the moral landscape. Joseph Pearce understands this clearly, arguing that Tolkien’s literary characters “are certainly not sexless in the sense of being asexual but, on the contrary, are archetypically and stereotypically sexual.” Pearce makes this claim notwithstanding the fact that there is no sexual activity or overt sexual enticement found in Tolkien’s tales.





How is this possible? In a profound employment of the moral spirit, Tolkien presented his characters in terms of honor and virtue, with heroic men demonstrating classical masculine virtues and the heroines appearing as women of honor, valor, and purity.





Nevertheless, we would be hard pressed to appreciate Tolkien’s understanding of sex, marriage, and family if we did not have considerable access into the realities of Tolkien’s family and his role as both husband and father. Tolkien’s letters, especially those written to his three sons, show the loving concern of a devoted father, as well as the rare literary gift Tolkien both possessed and employed with such power. The letter Tolkien wrote Michael in the year 1941—with the world exploding in war and civilization coming apart at its seams—is a model of fatherly concern, counsel, and instruction.





From the vantage point of the twenty-first century, Tolkien will appear to many to be both out of step and out of tune with the sexual mores of our times. Tolkien would no doubt take this as a sincere, if unintended, compliment. He knew he was out of step, and he steadfastly refused to update his morality in order to pass the muster of the moderns. Writing to Christopher, his youngest son, Tolkien explained this well: “We were born in a dark age out of due time (for us).



But there is this comfort: otherwise we should not know, or so much love, what we do love. I imagine the fish out of water is the only fish to have an inkling of water.” Thanks to these letters, we have more than an inkling of what Tolkien meant.