Contact: Chris Jensen, Teacher, 507-440-2659, teacher@redpen.org; www.redpen.org  

AUSTIN, Minn., Aug. 18 /Christian Newswire/ -- A new resource is available to those who want to look more closely at the Christian book they're reading. "Clear as a Bell" is a new e-book that holds the first chapter of "Jesus Wants to Save Christians," by Rob Bell and Don Golden, up to the light of Scripture. Carefully written by experienced teacher Chris Jensen, the e-book offers Christians a new way to read the faith-based materials they consume.

"Without page-by-page, paragraph-by-paragraph analysis, it's easy for us to assume that the Christian book we're reading is in line with biblical truth," says Jensen. "The e-book format allows readers to view the authors' text and my analyses in tandem, creating a virtual conference between myself and the authors." Jensen's hope is that this format will become "the gold standard" for providing necessary feedback to Christian authors and provide valuable insight to readers.

"Most Christians agree that only the Bible is perfect and without flaw," says Jensen, "so everything we humans write will be flawed to some degree. Unfortunately, though, we typically don't consume 'Christian materials' with any kind of criticism at all." Jensen believes we should bring "a healthy skepticism" to everything we read, listen to, and view, and that we should be always testing the media we take in, lest we fall into error. "To stay clear of false teaching," he says, "we must take this matter of Christian media seriously."

Having evaluated thousands of essays for his English classes, Jensen is now applying his critical eye to the popular Christian teachings of our day. Last February, he started posting his observations on his blog, "the red pen" (www.redpen.org), and has received very favorable feedback from visitors, to the content of his analysis and to the manner in which he shared his observations with Bell and Golden.

"Jesus said that I am to love my neighbor as myself," says Jensen. "If I am going to be critical of the work of others, I must attend to the matter with loving prayer and the utmost care, lest my intended readers, the authors to whom I'm writing, stop reading and listening altogether."

To access the free e-book, "Clear as a Bell," simply follow the download instructions at www.redpen.org.