"I think it's Jerry's masterful fiction writing. It makes them start thinking, where is this world going? People recognize something's going to happen, and they'd better get ready." Another component in Left Behind's success, LaHaye says, is his co-author, Jerry Jenkins. All people, even secular people, are seeing books on the market like The End of History. "It's a series of things," LaHaye says of the books' appeal. "And I've never done one thing to cultivate that," he says adamantly, crediting all his success to God.īut there must have been a secret formula for the overwhelming popularity of the Left Behind series, which describes the fate of those left on Earth after the rapture, in which Christians ascend into heaven. Today, LaHaye's books have been translated into 34 languages. You see, they'd copied it without permission from the U.S. The spiritual leaders apologetically showed me a copy of my Spirit-Controlled Temperament. "Bev and I did a trip around the world, and we'd been to Poland, a communist state. I kind of staggered down the hall and thought, Oh God, this is a new way to reach people!" Years later, LaHaye and his wife took a trip overseas and were surprised to find just how far-reaching his printed products had become. Her family had given her the tract, she read it, then gave it to the other lady who was sharing the same room. One Monday, he went to visit a patient in the hospital. After I'd preached a message on Sunday night, I'd print it up. "I can't tell you what a thrill it is to walk into a Costco and see our books and other Christian books in the secular stores," LaHaye remarks.Īnd what set off this avalanche of publishing success? "About 40 years ago I had an experience where I wrote a tract, he explains. At the same time the Left Behind series had five entries on the hardback and paperback fiction lists. His critique of the ills of modern society premiered on The New York Times hardcover nonfiction bestseller list at number 17. With his latest book, Mind Siege, co-authored with David Noebel, the soft-spoken minister has raised the bar in Christian book sales. More than 30 million copies of LaHaye's books have been sold, including eight titles co-authored with Jerry Jenkins in the Left Behind series, the seemingly omnipresent apocalyptic novels. "When I gave my life to the Lord, I thought I'd be a preacher," says Tim LaHaye, who despite more than 50 years of preaching is now best known as a phenomenally successful author.
0 kommentar(er)
