Praying to St. Andrew

Over two dozen action/thriller books, a couple of them turned into films, (one by Clint Eastwood, even) all with writing that wrestles with real issues: violence, sex, faith, politics, religion… but I’d never heard of this guy until last week.

This is one of those times Amazon Recommendations actually worked. A tiny image of the cover Mr. Klavan’s “Empire of Lies” appeared at the bottom of my Amazon Page, so I picked up his latest novel and have been missing sleep since it arrived.

Now I’m not morphing into a doe-eyed fanboy, but I admire this guy’s prolific output, his sales numbers, movie deals, AND his willingness to be brutally honest and upfront about his beliefs. By page fifty, it’s obvious Mr. Klavan is going to be dismissed, demonized, as a slavish Limbaugh devotee and “religious-right bigot”, but he’s definitely not afraid to put hard questions on the table, often in charming vernacular. Take this one for example:

Christianity isn’t a political position – it’s a spiritual one. The Kingdom of Heaven will exist long after the Pax Americana has faded to dust and distant memory. I also believe the Conservative/Liberal “Culture War” is ultimately a sideshow or symptom in a larger spiritual struggle. Our society, with it’s culture, is comprised of individual people and their families, and God is the only one who can effect a genuine, lasting change in their hearts and minds.

But still, this guy makes me laugh out loud even as he’s kicking my butt with the challenge to be better, to get busy, to be clear and concise.

So in prayer this morning I asked God to help me be a lot more like Jesus, and a little bit like Andrew Klavan.