Mike Parker

by Mike Parker

LaHaye and Jenkins release a prequel to the best-selling series

There are few superlatives that could not be applied to Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins' Left Behind series it's the fastest-selling adult fiction series on the market; the best-selling Christian fiction series of all time; the most successful literary partnership ever. With sales of more than 60 million copies of the series and related titles, a seemingly permanent residence on bestseller lists and spin-offs that include major Hollywood films, calendars, greeting cards, audiobooks and a TV series, Left Behind has become more than a fiction phenomenon. It has become a cultural icon.

For the past 10 years and in 30-plus languages, fans have eagerly followed the exploits of airline pilot Rayford Steele, journalist Buck Williams, pastor Bruce Barnes and Rayford's daughter Chloe as they were left behind after the rapture; formed the tribulation force; battled the forces of the Anti-Christ, Nicolae Carpathia; and were ultimately hurtled toward the climactic battle of the ages at Armageddon before being swept up in the glorious appearing of Christ. There is no doubt that LaHaye and Jenkins have created a juggernaut series, and their legion of fans demand only one thing more, more, more! But what is an author to do when a series reaches its natural conclusion? Write a prequel, of course.

In The Rising, the authors trace the backstory of Rayford Steele and Nicolae Carpathia from their humble beginnings through their formative years, and into their ultimate callings. Once again LaHaye acts as the idea man while Jenkins puts the meat on the bones, fleshing out these two characters to give the reader a more complete understanding of why each reacted as they did in the rest of the series.

Steele is revealed as a gifted, yet terribly self-conscious young boy, very different from the cocky, self-assured airline pilot portrayed in the debut Left Behind novel. Athletically powerful as a child due to a growth spurt that propelled him far past his contemporaries, Steele later endures the fickle nature of popularity as his classmates first catch up and then exceed him in athletic prowess. Raised in a moral, but spiritually ambivalent home, Steele becomes first confused by and then antagonistic toward Biblical faith. The only thing that keeps him grounded is his desire to learn to fly.

Carpathia's story begins before his birth, with the seduction of Marilena Titi into the world of the occult. Possessed of a brilliant mind, Marilena marries her mentor, professor Sorin Carpathia, more for his mental prowess than any physical attraction. The union, while comfortable, is devoid of love and soon Marilena and Sorin settle into a routine of work, study and sleep. That is, until Marilena's biological clock starts ticking like a time bomb.

To take her mind off her yearning for a child, Marilena attends a lecture conducted by a clairvoyant, Viviana Ivinisova. Viviana displays an uncanny knowledge of Marilena's desire for a child, and when she offers her the chance to fulfill that dream, Marilena quickly accepts. Through genetic engineering and the intervention of the Prince of Darkness, Marilena gives birth to Nicolae Carpathia, the Anti-Christ.

Nicolae is given every conceivable physical, political and educational advantage. He is also steeped in the teachings of Luciferianism. Eventually he is tested in the same manner as Christ, but with a diametrically opposed outcome. After penning a dozen Left Behind novels, Jenkins could probably write the prequel in his sleep. To his credit, he continues to ratchet up the quality of his storytelling rather than sleepwalking to another paycheck. The Rising maintains a slow-burning intensity that compels readers to turn the page. The characters are as sharply drawn as they are in the other books, as are the values for which they will ultimately stand. The Rising is a compelling look at their lives before they were Left Behind.

Mike Parker has a B.A. in Bible and philosophy from Hardin-Simmons University.

LaHaye and Jenkins release a prequel to the best-selling series There are few superlatives that could not be applied to Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins' Left Behind series it's the fastest-selling adult fiction series on the market; the best-selling Christian fiction series of all time; the most successful literary partnership ever. With sales of more […]

Inspirational Fiction

Inspirational Fiction

A God-haunted Southern story

Review by Mike Parker

by Mike Parker

The swampy, meandering waters of the Salkehatchie River that flow with oblivious urgency around the town of Digger, South Carolina, provide both the backdrop and the metaphor for Charles Martin's debut novel, The Dead Don't Dance. Life, for protagonist Dylan Styles, mirrors the uncertain currents, the peaceful surface and the inexorable flow of the river. As with fellow Southerner Daniel Wallace's Big Fish, the river is the ultimate representation of God. You can fight it and drown, or you can embrace it and be carried wherever it wishes to take you.

Martin's novel inspires without being overly religious, and should strike a chord with fans of 'The Notebook' and similarly emotive works.

Styles, a poor dirt farmer with a Ph.D., is in love with his wife, Maggie. The soybeans have peaked, the corn is high, the wisteria is in bloom. Maggie is gloriously pregnant. God is in His heaven, all's well with the world. Life is good until the delivery goes tragically awry. The baby is stillborn, and the doctors are nearly helpless to staunch the flow of Maggie's blood, leaving her in a coma. The river has become a raging flood.

A devastated Styles wrestles with God with all the fervor, anger, questions and demands of a modern-day Jacob, and gets his proverbial hip kicked out of joint for his trouble. Like Jacob, though he may limp for the rest of his life, every life he touches is changed including his own. As medical bills mount, Styles puts his Ph.D. to use as an adjunct teacher at the local junior college, and—in true Mr. Holland fashion—whips a ragtag group of grammatically challenged miscreants into a competent class of creative writers. Among the students is a shy, unmarried, pregnant girl, Amanda, who doubles as a nurse's assistant; a gifted athlete with a shot at the pros, if he can just pass this class; a Hemingway/Fitzgerald prodigy who hides her eyes and her pain behind dark glasses and an icy demeanor.

Martin's novel inspires without being overly religious, or even particularly faith-based, and should strike a chord with fans of Sparks' The Notebook and similarly emotive works. The Dead Don't Dance is a classic example of God-haunted Southern literature.

Mike Parker is a Southern writer from Texas, now living in Tennessee.

Religion & Spirituality

Religion & Spirituality

Photographs portray the stunning achievement of ‘The Passion’

Review by Mike Parker

by Mike Parker

As a brash, young 17-year-old, the first sermon I ever preached was on the crucifixion. I was fascinated by the violence of it. I studied every nuance of it. I made sure to pound the pulpit effectively to demonstrate the power of the nails piercing Jesus' flesh. I described in detail how they dropped the cross into its foundation hole, heightening Christ's agony. I wanted to make sure my captive audience was exposed to every horror Jesus had endured. They say a picture is worth a thousand words. After viewing Mel Gibson's film The Passion of the Christ I realize how woefully inadequate my words were.

The Passion of the Christ is a stunning motion picture, in every sense of the word. Stunning in its daring use of dead languages and simple subtitles. Stunning in its stark, haunting soundtrack. Stunning in its utter brutality. Stunning in its use of darkness and light. By the end of the film I sat quietly; motionless; stunned.

Gibson's fingerprints are all over this film and an officially licensed companion book from Tyndale House, The Passion: Photography From the Movie The Passion of the Christ. In addition to financing the project out of his own pocket, Gibson co-authored the screenplay, produced and directed the film version of The Passion of the Christ and wrote the foreword to the companion book.

You don't have to look very far to see parallels to his earlier work in The Patriot, Braveheart, The Man Without A Face, or even Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome. There is a thread of redemption through suffering that runs through each. To quote the scripture, "It is expedient that one should die for the people." The Passion: Photography From the Movie The Passion of the Christ follows Gibson's paradigm of allowing stark imagery to tell the story with minimal narration to detract from the visual impact. Reading the foreword by Gibson, you get the sense that this is much more than just another project or even a labor of love. There is some element of compulsion about his work on The Passion.

The Biblical narrative is told simply and unobtrusively using the New Living Translation. But the photography is the centerpiece of the printed version of The Passion. Taken on-set during filming by award-winning photographers Ken Duncan and Philippe Antonello, the images range from the stunningly beautiful, blue-washed shot of Christ praying in the Garden of Gethsemane, to the harrowingly beautiful portrait of Mary Magdalene comforting Mary the mother of Jesus, to the horrifically graphic depiction of the crucifixion as Christ cries out, "Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani? (My God, my God, why have you forsaken me)?" Photographs of Jim Caviezel as Christ effectively display not only the physical pain of his passion, but the loving humanity of Jesus. Flashbacks of earlier, happier times when he was just a carpenter and content to be so are jarringly juxtaposed against the flailing cat-o'-nine-tails. The shot of Mary comforting the brutalized Christ on the Via Dolorosa mirrors a tender, universal moment when a much younger Mary kissed the scraped knee of her toddler Messiah.

Pictures of Hristo Naumov Shopov as Pilate capture the nuances of a ruthless despot, caught between a religious war that he cannot understand and an even more ruthless Caesar that he knows all too well. The beautiful Monica Belluci as Mary Magdalene is mesmerizing even when covered in dust and splattered with blood. And Rosalinda Celentano as Satan is perhaps the most intriguing devil ever photographed.

I am not unique among my fellow critics when I say The Passion of the Christ is not entertainment, it is an event. Movie reviewer Teddy Durgin of FlickVille.com may have said it best when he declared that people were "not going to this movie to be entertained. They were going to bear witness." But to bear witness to what? This Gospel according to Gibson answers in a single word Veritas. Truth.

"What is truth?" Pilate asks the beaten and bloodied Christ. He poses the question again, slightly altered, to his wife, Claudia. "Do you know truth when you hear it? Can you teach me how?" Is this representation of the Passion, as some say the Pope declared, "As it was?" I don't know. But it was close enough. I'll never look at communion the same way again.

Mike Parker, who received a B.A. degree in Bible and Philosophy from Hardin-Simmons University, writes about the Christian entertainment industry from his home outside Nashville.