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RealLivePreacher.com RealLivePreacher.com by Gordon Atkinson Eerdmans 144 pp., $14.00

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.

Copyright © 2004 Christianity Today.Click for reprint information.

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.

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October 2004, Vol. 48, No. 10