Preface: The following post is from May 29 of this year. America went through a season where in some areas church doors were locked on Sundays. We acted like nonconformists being kicked out of the churches for not preaching the doctrines and practices of the official authorized church....but it was more we missed our hour and a half of pot luck and a sermon....and the churches missed the collection plate. I didn't miss a sermon over that entire time period....and I felt as one with the body of believers through the computer as much as when I was sitting in front of them in the pew....even more so because when the sermon ended my conversation was not immediately taken to the weather or plans for the week or rundowns on how the family was doing....but when the Christian bookstores began closing....it's like we turned to podcasts and Fox News to pass time instead of for a good Christian book. As I mentioned in the post below....I once owned a Christian bookstore. I know what it was like to have someone just amber in off the street and buy a book that they may never ever have otherwise come in contact with. I'll give but one anecdote here....a young pastor came in the store....or a seminary graduate going to his first church....I cannot remember anymore....as he was just passing through town on his way to Michigan. I think in this instance I just gave him a book....a collection of Puritan prayers....Valley Of Vision....edited by Arthur G. Bennett....(sounds exciting doesn't it? Well it is)....a few weeks later....(or months?)....there was a message on my answering machine. That book led to his reevaluating his theological beliefs....and he was excited.
I remember very well how critical I was of Christian bookstores because most of the merchandise was trinkets and wall coverings. There was surely some legitimacy in that critique....but now that these stores are gone....I can see how valuable they were.....and that is an understatement.
Let me go a little ways back....1982.....as my wife was shopping at Penney's I decided to just browse the concourse of the strip mall.....walked into a Christian bookstore out of curiosity....and the next thing you know there are twelve plus years of these posts. Well a few things happened in the intervening years.....but my point is that I wasn't really even an inquirer back then....just a browser. I walked out with Josh McDowell's....(whoever he was)....great classic Evidence That Demands A Verdict.
It was almost like I lived in Christian bookstores since then.....even owning one for a couple of years in the 90s. The novella link that is to the left of this screen....Isaac Crockett....which I wrote back in those 90s.....is basically about a bookstore.....and now all those stores are gone....just about.....and America is dying in no small measure because of it. Let me explain.
These stores were all across America.....maybe more so in some regions than others....but they were as common as running shoe stores are today. I was at Barnes & Noble today for my weekly.....Tuesdays.....new releases day....and it is heartbreaking to me how pitiful they are in supplying the needs of the Christian. First of all the Christian section has been changed to just a Religion section. I once did a very basic survey of the books.....and there were over 1000 titles.....of which I might recommend a half dozen. They used to carry in their magazine section.....Christianity Today and Charisma and even the Christian Research Journal.....but today....in the stores that I go to....there is nothing.....but you can find some good magazines on witchcraft or Buddhism if you want.
Looking back on it....these stores were our supply line in a way for reaching many people.....and also they kept the Christian up-to-date and informed on the books that were out. More importantly they offered a variety....a variety that included the very good books that were being published years ago. Today....the Christian might hear of a book on their Christian radio or television show....and order it on the Internet....and that's it. Many churches do have their own bookstores....but you are only going to get their theology. We are no longer even aware of the differences.....major differences in Christian belief. I bought many good books on the history of the Christian Faith back then...and some great biographies....when I previously knew nothing of church history or these ministers and missionaries....but who is even going to think about these kind of books today? Who is going to buy a bio today on John Bunyan? Pilgrim's Progress was in every store back then....and Pilgrim's Progress games for the kids.
In my case....I was Pentecostal and Arminian when I came into the faith....because that's all there was in my mind.....but one day the bright neon orange cover of William Gurnall's The Christian In Complete Armour caught my eye....so I bought it. It had a blurb on the back by a Charles Spurgeon....whoever he might be....but also one by David Wilkerson.....whom I did know of by then. It moved me so that I began to buy other books with this little robed man on the spine.....Banner Of Truth books. All of this is gone.
This....friends....is no small thing. We are in effect isolated. We had Billy Graham crusades on UHF television all the time back then. We had three major networks and UHF. Some people could not help but hear the gospel. Today....I don't even know how many channels are offered. We are drowning in liberty. A Gideon Bible was in every motel and hotel. Today our pulpits are dormant as to warning us of anything....other than losing our constitutional liberties. Donald Trump told us every time he opened his mouth how our best days were yet to come.....in this....."One glorious nation under God!" You would think our pulpits might at least mention this false prophesy. God help us! We need a winnowing so that we might better recognize each other....so that those who depend on princes and their own power.....might do their thing....while we become a peculiar people once again....able to both comfort with discernment....and be comforted in discernment.
