‘Topping the Top 50’

March 18 | The article bemoaning the quality of the Top 50 Christian bestsellers is a small window into a huge problem. We have turned American Christianity into a business, churning out mediocre books, music, movies, speakers, and trinkets for the ever-willing faithful to purchase.—ANTHONY BROOKS / Leesburg, Ga.

‘Understanding America’

March 18 | Thank you for bringing Hillbilly Elegy to my attention. It’s painful reading in many parts but also a much-needed reality check.—JENNIFER EASON on Facebook

J.D. Vance’s observations were enlightening, and I found the narrative entertaining.—CHARLES BURGE on wng.org

‘History and ideology’

March 18 | Thanks to Marvin Olasky for once again drawing our attention to the ruthless and godless ideology behind progressivism. German National Socialists and Soviet Communists used those ideas to justify murdering millions of people, and similar thinking prompts some to argue that “climate deniers” should be incarcerated.—GREG BROWNING on wng.org

‘A writer at work’

March 18 | Thank you for introducing us to John R. Erickson’s Hank the Cowdog series. The books are great, but the audiobooks are a real treat. My kids crack up over Hank’s antics, and sometimes I’m the one laughing the loudest.—MIRANDA SHELDON / Dixon, Calif.

‘The Shack’

March 18 | The Shack is heresy and a tool of the devil. If anyone wants to know God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit, he should study the Bible.—BARBARA PETERS on Facebook

I really don’t see what the big deal is. The Shack is fiction and not to be taken literally.—CHRISTIAN SMITH on Facebook

What a shame that man has to make God human, apart from Christ, and try to remake Him in man’s image. I prefer to view God as awesome, high and lifted up, rather than squeezable and homey.—SUE WILSON on wng.org

I went to the film expecting it to trample my conservative Christian views, but it presented our triune God as all-knowing, all-powerful, and ever-present while still caring for His children. Let’s embrace the film and those who have the questions it raises.—CHAD LAMB / Pendleton, Ind.

‘A heart for the brokenhearted’

March 18 | This article is great in describing the Funks’ faithfulness. Alaska is like its own country, majestic and serene, but human devastation is rampant.—WILLIAM PECK on Facebook

Another beautifully written story by Sophia Lee. Forget the false health and wealth gospel; the Funks’ ministry is what true faith in Christ looks like.—DEBORAH M. O’BRIEN on wng.org

The Funks’ story reminds us that God is always in the messiness of our lives.—CHERYL SCRIVENS on wng.org

‘Where have all the biscuits gone?’

March 18 | Christians can relate to the way Donald Trump behaved when confronted with today’s media, Hollywood, and academia. Here are three glaring examples of the behavior that will incur God’s wrath: the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.—MARTIN ELLISON / Joplin, Mo.

By all means, the Trump administration should hold the media accountable, but it could have done so thoughtfully and respectfully, not with anger and pettiness, or by using its own biscuits to get journalists to say what the White House wants.—SIMEON ANDREWS on wng.org

We truly are in a battle against evil, and I think on a basic level Trump understands this. The battle is against our society’s elite, humanists who put themselves in opposition to God. We should pray for Trump and his team.—DANIEL R. GREENE / Selah, Wash.

‘New baby? Just relax’

March 18 | It’s wonderful that Chinese culture values mothers enough to make sure they have time to recover, are well-nourished, and have plenty of help. I would love to know if this practice affects the rate of postpartum depression.—ANGELA WALLS on Facebook

This is so different from the Western approach. I had infections after the births of my children; maybe this kind of care (without guilt) would have been helpful.—WANDA HENDRIX CHANEY on Facebook

‘A choice to rejoice’

March 18 | It is a simple but profound truth: Rejoicing is a choice. Puritan Samuel Ward wrote, “Life is not to be numbered by its hours, but measured by cheerfulness.” When life so slows down with hardship, I think we are better able to see what God has given.—DIANE TELIAN / Ann Arbor, Mich.

I have many health problems, including a slow-growing cancer. For many decades now, I have chosen joy, perhaps because I have found God faithful in big and little ways and have learned to be content.—DONNA D. HAXTON on Facebook

‘Iraq’s grisly liberation’

March 18 | Thank you. Mindy Belz’s detailed descriptions of the carnage helped me understand what these people are going through.—MARTIN FRANKE on wng.org

This article was heartbreaking, insightful, and informative. I wish our country would help the Iraqi Christians in their time of great trouble.—KATHY BARRETT / Gaston, Ind.

‘“System for sinners”’

March 18 | Kudos to Joel Belz for this excellent column. I hope never again to use the word “capitalism” without adding the adjective “democratic.”—LENNY DEMERS / Douglas, Mass.

Michael Novak’s characterizations of socialism for saints and democratic capitalism for sinners is true. The same applies to political systems: A constitutional republic based on Biblical principles is, thus far, the only political system that works for sinners. May God help us to preserve it.—DAVID R. JOHNSON / Morris, Ill.

‘Classically classical’

March 18 | Experimental classical music would repulse me. I have always preferred music with clearly developed beauty, harmony, and structure. Perhaps this is simply what the Bulgarians are saying. Let us pray that artists today discover the source of hope and purpose that could bring life into their art.—RON PURCELL / Prescott Valley, Ariz.

More letters, emails, and comments we didn't have space for in the print edition:

‘A fresh pair of genes?’

March 18 | Parents who donate embryos “left over” from fertility treatments for research would be better described as “parents willing to let researchers experiment on their children before killing them.” What have we become?—KRISTY ROBERTS / Charlotte, N.C.

‘The Shack’

March 18 | To call this book and movie “heretical” is unfair. The shack is a metaphor for the pain and shame caused by a lifetime of addictions, abuse, and dysfunction. The book teaches that healing comes through a loving and vibrant relationship with God, not through striving to perform.—BARB CLARK / Perry, Iowa

‘A heart for the brokenhearted’

March 18 | Last fall I served in Bethel, Alaska. Many have stopped fishing in the summer to provide for their families; instead they drink and live on the dole. A few churches are active there, but they too had a subsistence mentality, just trying to survive. Amid the beauty there is a heavy, depressed atmosphere.—RICK FLANDERS on wng.org

Comment

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