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Author, Everything Else You Wanted to Know About God.(Waterbrook Press
2007);
Thirty children's books;
Books and videoscripts for Big Idea Productions, (producers of Veggie
Tales);
His book and movie reviews, essays, poetry, etc. have appeared in The Atlantic Monthly, New York Times, Washington Post, Christianity Today, National Review Online, etc.;
Former editorial
director and head writer, Rabbit Ears Productions;
Scripts narrated by Mel Gibson, Danny Glover, Jodie
Foster, etc;
Former writer and editor of Chuck Colson's syndicated daily radio program Breakpoint;
Graduate, Yale UniversityCBN.com –
WHAT ELSE YOU WANT TO KNOW ABOUT GOD
Originally, Eric wanted to write a book that every Christian could give to unsaved friends. His first book, Everything You Wanted to Know about God (But Were Afraid to Ask), came about because there was nothing out on the market that he could give to his unsaved friends, and Eric wanted to write that book.
In most of the books he found, the Gospel was presented in a heavy, hard to understand way. He wanted to provide a light, safe place for people to ask questions about God, because everybody has these questions. Eric's approach to these questions opens people to the bigger picture of God and shows that there are no easy answers.
Eric says every path to discovery leads to more questions, even science. Also, just because there are more questions about God and Christianity doesn't mean one shouldn't accept this as truth. His first book received accolades from pollster George Gallup, former Nixon aide Charles Colson, Dick Cavett, and Ann B. Davis (Alice of the Brady Bunch).
In his follow-up book, Everything Else You Wanted to Know About God (But Were Afraid to Ask), Eric continues to present down-to-earth answers about God in a dialogue question and answer form with some humor injected.
For example, when trying to answer the question "Where did God come from?" Eric quips, "It's certainly more complicated than trying to figure out where, say, Barry Manilow was born."
Eric says people don't accept black and white answers, and people need to chew on things for a while. The biggest question people have is about God and suffering.
SPEAKING THE LANGUAGE
Christians seem to speak a different language than the average Joe and when sharing the Gospel, we often don't make ourselves clear to nonbelievers just as missionaries have to learn a language and culture, Christians need to learn to communicate with those outside the faith. Eric says Christians are misunderstood partly because of how we are perceived, and we must learn to reconnect with mainstream culture. Humor can be used and Christians need to be conversational and use plain English. Because of how Christian culture is perceived and the "language barrier," people haven't really learned what the Gospel is. As a part of the Christian culture, Christians have gotten too serious and too intense. Eric says this intensity is a result of bad theology.
Although the Cross is not funny, there is joy on the other side of it. We need to show that joy, to give the bigger picture.
Eric says this book is for the church as well as the unsaved. People in the church need to see how they can present the Gospel in a loving, peaceful, joyful way. Christians need to be calm and loving when presenting the Gospel; we don't always have to be serious.
DREAMS HIS SALVATION
Eric was raised in church, but never heard about salvation. Expecting to conquer the literary world after graduation from Yale, he found himself at age 24 living with his parents and working a "horrible" job as a proofreader at Union Carbide. At Yale, the attitude toward the Christian faith was markedly negative, and Eric had picked it up and couldn't imagine the Bible was true. It seemed too exclusive.
But at this time, Eric got a job with a born again Episcopalian, Ed Tuttle, who consistently witnessed to Eric. When Eric's uncle was hospitalized in a coma, Ed told Eric that people at his church were praying for his uncle. And then he asked Eric if he could pray with him about his uncle. Eric was deeply touched that people he did not know were praying for his uncle and that they really believed that their prayers would be heard and answered.
Several weeks later around his 25th birthday, Eric dreamed that he had found what he was looking for - God - in the person of His Son Jesus Christ. Telling Ed about his dream, Ed asked Eric what he thought the dream meant.
Without hesitation, Eric said it meant he had accepted Jesus. Eric had no doubt. Instantaneously, though some areas were a gradual process, Eric knew he could know beyond a shadow of a doubt that God was God. As more time passed, he found the truth about God to be true. He's never looked back, and now he wants to share the Good News; especially with those who come as he once did, and believe it couldn't possibly be true.
A caring friend will be there to pray with you in your time of need.
