When I was asked to write this post, my topic was originally going to be How Christians Are Dominating the Media. As a publicist who has booked author interviews with the mainstream media, I had to really think long and hard about the subject. Ultimately, it comes down to whether or not Christians actually are dominating in that arena. 

After much thought and chatting with some of my fellow publicists in the industry, I would say it’s not so much that we’re dominating, but that our presence has become more noticeable given the increased number of platforms available to authors and artists, especially through social media. So I think the real issue is, How are Christians impacting the media now? 

To answer that question I have to start with two Christian products that I believe changed how the modern-day media views Christian topics.

Everything I learned about organizing, I learned in kindergarten. 

The most organized rooms most of us will ever experience are at either a school or a hospital. Since I frown on having to go through minor surgery in order to gain home organization ideas, I choose instead to draw my inspiration from the classroom. 

I have an inside track. My stepdaughter, Amanda Lipp, is an associate teacher at a childcare facility. While she and I were discussing how she wants her room to be set up for her students, I couldn’t help but see the similarities between a well-set-up classroom and a well-set-up home.

Parenting is both an art and a science. Few of us received any training for it. Americans average 12 to 14 years of school before they enter their careers. We go through classes, study, and take a test to get a license to drive a car. Yet we are thrust into the parenting journey with no such preparation. Most of us begin molding the life of an emerging adult without ever reading a book on the subject. One of the most common mistakes we make (for lack of training) is removing consequences for kids. We want our kids to be happy, content, and well-adjusted. When conflict arises, our first inclination is to solve the problem for them. After all, we are their leaders.

Is This About Now or Later?

The fact is, we often live, lead, and parent only for today. We just want peace right now, and we forget the long-term impact on our kids.

“Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.” ~ Ephesians 6:12

Some battles cannot be fought on a physical level. And some weapons are not ones we wield—they’re ones we yield. 

As author Mark Hitchcock notes, a Christian’s defense (and arguably his offense, as well) is prayer. Not anything we can do with our own minds or strength, but rather an utter reliance on the One who has already secured victory at Calvary.

So we understand that prayer is crucial in our struggle against evil. The task, then, is understanding what spiritual warfare prayer looks like on a practical level.

The scrambling sounds of tiny hooves scraping my wooden kitchen floor jarred me awake. Sitting on the edge of my bed, I donned my slippers and pattered down the stairs. I flipped on the kitchen light. The three-day-old, lanky, brown mule foal stood in the kitchen inside a small area I’d fenced off. With her long ears pointed straight toward me, she squinted and blinked her long, black eyelashes.

I grinned. “Good morning, Little Girl. You get to see your mama today.”

I stood in the center of the 60-foot, metal, round pen with my hands hanging by my sides. A coiled lariat was in my right hand. Shaking my head in frustration, I watched my new black Tennessee walker mare fly around the rails like she was a raving lunatic. Dazzle’s head was arched as she looked over the rail and away from me. Her hooves thundered over the soft ground, occasionally kicking up clods of dirt. I dropped my eyes and stared at the ground to “release” the pressure from her, but she kept charging full-speed ahead. What happened? I wondered. I’d ridden her before I’d purchased her a couple of days ago. She hadn’t been anything like this.

My goal was to shape the beginning of my relationship with Dazzle by establishing myself as her leader. I wanted to end her training session on a positive note, but she wouldn’t even look at me! I frowned. She’s acting crazy. God, what should I do?

Thinking back on it, I’m wondering if our Sunday school teacher, Bob, had a little dyslexia going on.

He was a layman teaching a class of young adults – about a fourth of whom were seminary students. Me among them.

Bob wanted to use the Hebrew word for God, which is Yahweh, pronounced YAH-way.

Bob is the reason I started putting phonetic pronunciations in most of my Bible study books. He was a wonderful public speaker, enthusiastic and inspiring. He intended to pay God a high compliment. Voice raised, arms in the air, he described the Lord our God as the “Great Yahoo.”

There was an embarrassing pause.

It has been said that "silence is golden." Some might wonder if it isn't better to keep your faith to yourself. Why evangelize? Why risk opposition and persecution by announcing your beliefs to the world?

Before you can answer those questions, though, there's a more fundamental, burning question waiting to be addressed: "Does the world really need Jesus?" 

I recently read a book about editing your life and making it into something great. It was filled with inspirational stories of men and women who had charted their lives to some great purpose. I loved the way the author pushed me to intentionally craft each scene of my life. However, one thing about the book bothered me. Most of the stories were about people who already had something going for them at the outset, such as owning a multimillion-dollar business or being famous.

What about the rest of us? 

From 5 titles in 1974 to over 150 titles each year and more than 100 million copies sold, Harvest House Publishers has experienced much growth these past 40 years. We have had the privilege of working with many talented and beloved authors, and our readers can be found all over the world. 

The rise in numbers, though, could not diminish the blessing that comes from knowing how profoundly even just one book can touch a life. Landon Baron, one of our employees, shares a story of sweet surprises and a Harvest House book found in an unexpected place...