Note: If you’ve landed directly on this post, you could read PART ONE first, but if you’re short on time, at least start at PART TWO.

WE’VE BEEN SHADOWBANNED,
AND YOU MIGHT HAVE BEEN TOO
PART THREE

Whether you write Christian books (fiction or non-fiction) or read them, you and I could have the whole book industry rigged in our favour.

We have the most amazing weapon at our disposal for combating a world that is trying to silence and shadowban us. What is it?

Read here to find out.

We have an advantage and a weapon that I think until now has been largely overlooked: we are the largest family on earth!

Family!

And we’re not talking about great, great, aunties and uncles and very distant cousins. We’re talking direct brothers and sisters. That is what we are. We have the same Father, you and I. The same Dad. And the same Brother in Jesus. And it’s even more incredible than that.

Seven degrees of separation? Try zero. The same Jesus that is in you is in me. The quickest and sometimes most effective way to talk to you is to talk to Jesus in me first. Every single one of us has access to the same head of our family. Direct, intimate, unrivalled access. And he connects to every single one of us.

Jesus said:

“I have given them the glory you gave me, so they may be one as we are one. I am in them and you are in me. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me.” (John 1:22-23)

I realise this is not just for books. This is for all areas of life. But right now, I’m addressing my lane; the lane God put me in and told me to stay in. I’m targeting my area of influence, which is Christian fantasy and Christian fiction. And to some degree, Christian non-fiction as well.

I am speculating here, but I wonder if one of the reasons we haven’t utilised this network is because we have come to think of ourselves as lots of small islands, or perhaps lots of little bodies connected to one head instead of one body and one head. We think that our Christian family is our local church, and that’s where it ends. We don’t realise that we have networking connections beyond imagining.

That friend overseas who goes to another local church? They’re family too. That Christian on that social media platform you follow? They’re family. The Christian author you just read. Family. They’re not a distant stranger. They’re not a celebrity. They are family. That Christian who works in the supermarket on weekends? Family. The Christian hiker with the backpack you passed on the walking trail? Family. And they connect to family, who connect to family, who connect to family.

The connecting networks are billions upon billions and all connecting back and forth, like a billion neurons in the same brain with unlimited possibilities. And all – wait for it – connected by and to ONE PERSON whom you have direct access to and who lives in your soul and goes everywhere you go and knows every thought you have: Jesus.

For just books alone, we, as Christians, have the potential to have the most incredible network in the world. We have the power of family networking. We could be the most unstoppable force on the planet that does not rely one speck on algorithms and marketing budgets and collecting followers and sales funnels. Why on earth aren’t we making the most of it?

Just this morning, when asking God to confirm this message that was on my heart, I read in the book, “Have You Been to the Altar Lately,” by Kevin L Zadai:

“The church should be the most prosperous and influential organisation on the earth because everyone should be involved. … We should be the most powerful institution on the earth because we are, according to Jesus. The gates of hell cannot prevail against the church!”

I think that the other reason we haven’t properly realised the fact that we are genuinely family and thus literally all connected, is that we’ve used our networking to attack each other.

I’ve seen our awesome Christian networking and family connections used: not to spread the word of the Christian books that could change this world or at least bring back brilliant storytelling; not to defy the powers of this world that would silence us and to blow away the gatekeepers; but to do the work of Satan for him. Satan would silence those books, and we help him silence them by using our family connections to tell everyone when a book is “wrong”. There have been many great books that have appeared and started to change lives, and then a great swell of our family members rise up to strike it down. Or worse, we strike down the author.

We as Christians have a reputation for division, not uniting, because we have taken what could be the most incredible network for change in the world and used it to attack our own. I’m sure you can think of at least one example where this is true and don’t need me to elaborate.

At the very least, or perhaps at the very most, do we trust Jesus, our head, to show us the right books for us or not? Do you have a personal relationship with Jesus that gives you the discernment to know whether you should read a book or not? And I’m not just talking about whether no one at all should be reading a specific book. Maybe a particular book is God-ordained but not right for you personally. Do we trust Jesus – the Jesus inside of each of our members of the family – to that level?

We should be using our family networks, our status as first-hand family, to get the word out about as many books as we can. Reviews on Amazon won’t do it. Sales on Amazon won’t do it either. As I said in Part Two, not a single Christian book has been recommended to me, and that includes some of the biggest sellers. If you find a great book, do your bit to shout loud and wide about it because the author needs you to. Even if that book is selling big on Amazon, I can tell you it’s probably not because Amazon’s algorithm favours it.

I think we’ve fallen into the trap of thinking that we need platforms, blogs, followers, social media etc, and we’ve forgotten that through Jesus, we have access to the entire family of God. As I said, the same Jesus that is in you is in ALL of us. Does that mean platforms, social media etc are wrong? Of course not. If you’ve got them, use them. They are a resource like everything else. But is Jesus limited to that? Not even slightly.

What if we just did our bit to mention Christian books and authors to the few people we know and asked Jesus to spread the message for us to our other brothers and sisters beyond that? And what if we asked them to ask Jesus too, and so on? Maybe you only need to reach the family members you have immediate access to, and God will keep multiplying the message.

Am I asking for help? Partly. But I didn’t write this series entirely for that purpose.

Though it wasn’t always this way, I have a deep-seated fear of asking for help or speaking about my books. I don’t even like mentioning that I write them. I tend to sit in the shadows hoping someone finds me and yet really hoping they don’t.

But if these books were written with and for God, then I don’t get to sit there hoping no one sees them so I can stay small and safe.

So I will just say this: I have a book that just might have been written for you. A book God asked me to write. And if that book is for you, then I want to get it into your hands and, as your sister in Christ, I want to encourage you with my gift.

Read very generous samples of my Christian-world-view fantasy novels on this site (go to the Novels link here or in the header above) and see what you think. If a book is for you, maybe it will call to you. And if it wasn’t written for you, maybe God will lead you to someone it was written for.

Readers say the books grab them in the first few pages and don’t let go, so if I haven’t grabbed you by the end of the first chapter, it’s probably not for you. But maybe it’s for someone you know or someone they know. I need your help because I can’t get it into their hands without you.

I am asking Jesus, the head and the one who is inside of all of us, to get the word out and create supernatural encounters, connections and word-of-mouth. And I am both nervous and excited to see where this leads.

Even if you don’t do it for my books, let’s do it for our Christian brothers and sisters gifted in writing, and let’s blow the world away with the powerful force that is THIS FAMILY!

About the Author: Lisa Saul

Fiction writer · creative guide · lifelong storyteller … Lisa Saul writes in the quiet spaces between words and paint. For more than twenty years she has worked side by side with her sister Naomi — shaping novels, illustrations, notebooks, and the little studio world behind this blog. A lifelong maker, Lisa has moved through journalism, photography, editing, watercolour, and award-nominated fiction, always returning to the same thread: story. Whether she’s writing a novel, illustrating a notebook, or sharing a moment from her creative life, Lisa brings a thoughtful, honest voice shaped by imagination, experience, and a deep love of helping others grow creatively.