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Baptist pastor Gordon Atkinson wanted a place to pen his musings without worrying about what anyone thought. He found the perfect venue in a weblog he created anonymously at www.RealLivePreacher.com.
There his no-holds-barred essays about life and faith caught the attention of hundreds of people. The website posted numerous comments from readers about Atkinson’s blend of passionate love for Christ mingled with a fierce skepticism. It’s not difficult to see why Atkinson’s postings created a virtual community.
His fresh prose is by turns funny and poignant, bone-scraping raw, and surprisingly profane. He writes about whatever is on his mind that day—the women in his Texas town who make tamales (“some of the most Christ-like people I know”); his grief over the death of a premature baby; standing awestruck under the constellations; listening to a hymn.
He takes the occasional easy potshot, but in spite of such disappointments, the bulk of his writing is compassionate and thought-provoking.
Readers may object to Atkinson’s profanity and some of his theology, but there are beautiful glimpses of the Christian life within the pages of this book.
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Related Elsewhere:
An interview with “Real Live Preacher” Gordon Atkinson is also posted today.
Read RealLivePreacher at Salon.com.
Aktinkson talks about the blogosphere on Christopher Lydon’s blog .
Selected quotes from Real Live Preacher are available from the Quotationspage.com.
RealLivePreacher.com is available from Christianbook.com and other book retailers.
More information is available from the publisher.
