Author Archives
Chris Queen
The Pitfalls of Emotional Christianity
We’re never meant to live out our faith as a constant chase for emotional highs.
My story of coming to faith in Christ is… well… boring. I grew up in a Christian family, and there was never a time when we weren’t involved in church. When I was seven years old, I decided that I was ready to become a believer in Jesus. It was a simple, logical decision for me – no emotion whatsoever.
My Church Heritage and How It Shaped Me
What studying my non-denominational history taught me
I grew up in church, and I don’t remember any point in my life where my family wasn’t actively involved in a local congregation.
The church I grew up in was a Christian Church. You probably read that last sentence and thought, “well duh!” Aren’t churches Christian by nature? What I mean is that, where some people grew up Baptist, Presbyterian, or Assemblies of God, my quasi-denominal tradition is known as the Christian Church.
What I’ve Learned from Reading a Systematic Theology
Sometimes an in-depth study reveals more about you and others than it does about God.
Last summer, theologian Wayne Grudem announced that he would publish a second edition of his Systematic Theology later in 2020. My Bible study software made it available at a price that was tough to pass up, so I decided to download it and read it “next year.”
A Faith-Drenched View of the South
American Masters’ Flannery O’Connor documentary sheds light on the Georgia author’s unique view of life.
Growing up on the outskirts of metro Atlanta, the city of Milledgeville was the punch line to jokes for a long time. For many years, the Central State Hospital was probably Milledgeville’s claim to fame (even though the town was the state capitol before Atlanta was), and the line was that if you were crazy enough, someone would take you to Milledgeville.
The funny thing is that Milledgeville has so much more going for it than a mental institution. It’s a college town, with Georgia College & State University responsible for much of the town’s social life, and one of Georgia’s greatest writers called it home.
I’ve cherished Flannery O’Connor’s work for decades, and her name even made its way into my book (which will soon see new life) back in 2015. Her short stories, novels, letters, and published prayer journals have gripped me for their Southernness as well as her emphasis on faith, though her Catholic upbringing and my Christian Church/non-denominational background give us different approaches to Christianity.
Celebrating a Lost Classic Album: Ashley Cleveland’s Big Town
The 30th anniversary of one of the most criminally underrated recordings of all time came and went this week without fanfare.
On February 12, 1991, Atlantic Records released Ashley Cleveland’s Big Town. Cleveland had spent years making a name for herself as a session singer, working with artists as diverse as John Hiatt and Margaret Becker. She even landed a song on the soundtrack of that cinematic masterpiece Ernest Goes to Camp, but Big Town was supposed to be her big break.
Big Town is brilliant heartland rock with some country and gospel flavors thrown in. If you listen to it today, it’s mostly timeless, although a couple of synth lines give its date away. But you get an idea of what sets Big Town apart from the first measures – an acapella taste of Andraé Crouch’s “Soon and Very Soon.” Cleveland’s voice, equal parts raspy rock and smooth soul, let you know what you’re in for. And it’s an exhilarating ride.
NEW BOOK REVIEW: Not Okay, Boomer
Helen Andrews displays the Baby Boomers’ failures for the world to see.
For years I’ve lamented the Baby Boomers’ hold on politics and culture. I was arguing for my generation – Generation X – to have a shot at the presidency before the 2012 election, and it’s easy to look back at the last five presidential terms to see what Baby Boomers in power have given us.
The Boomers have also given us the sexual revolution, rebellion for its own sake, and declining church attendance and religious adherence. The “do what makes you happy” ethos of the Boomer generation has led to countless ruined lives in the pursuit of selfishness.
Don’t get me wrong: I don’t want to paint all Boomers with too broad a brush. My mom is a Baby Boomer who didn’t fall into the trap that Boomers in power seemed to (I just found out that my late father doesn’t qualify as a Boomer because he was born one year too early), and I have plenty of family members and friends who seem to have their heads on straight.
For years, the Baby Boom generation was the most idealistic group of people. Think of the hippies and the earnest middle-aged politicians who sought to transform the world. Did they? Yes, but not in ways that you’d think.
Writer Helen Andrews eviscerates the liberal Boomers in her new book Boomers: The Men and Women Who Promised Freedom and Delivered Disaster. It’s a quick read – or listen, in my case, since I bought the Audible edition. Andrews takes the tack of Lytton Strachey’s Eminent Victorians and profiled a set of prominent Boomers to peek into the legacy that this generation left on the world.
Another Disappointing Disney Biography
Hourly History’s short bio of Walt Disney lets readers down, but not for the typical reasons.
Over the past couple of years, I’ve been a fan of the Hourly History book series. If you’re not familiar with them, they’re short histories or biographies that are written to be read in an hour or less. I love finding an Hourly History book about an era or person with whom I’m not familiar and getting a quick education.
I signed up for the Hourly History newsletter a few months back because they offer several free e-books every week. Not long ago, one of the free books was a bio of Walt Disney. As a Disney fanatic – and somewhat of an amateur Disney historian – I was intrigued to see what the Hourly History treatment would bring to the long list of Walt Disney biographies.
Life-Changing Literature
The Andrew Klavan Symposium, Part 3
Five Liberty Island writers – Fred Tribuzzo, Alec Ott, Jon Bishop, Chris Queen, and David M. Swindle — explore the insights from the memoir of one of their favorite novelists…
