Orson Scott Card

If ya've never read anything by him...do it. I've come to realize he is not only a Christian whose career has been primarily in the secular world, but his insight into the character of God and humankind is point blank. Here are some quotes that hit a chord in me. But read Ender's Game and Ender's Shadow and find them for yourself (and then on to Speaker for the Dead if so inclined). Warning: SPOILERS!

Bean's musings on Ender from Ender's Shadow: The important difference was in the way he led the others. He had their fierce devotion instead of the ever-so-slightly-resentful obedience Bean got from them, which helped from the start. But he also earned that devotion by noticing, not just what was going on in the battle, but what was going on in his commanders' minds. He was stern, sometimes even snappish, making it clear that he expected better than their best. And yet he had a way of giving an intonation to innocuous words, showing appreciation, admiration, closeness. They felt known by the one whose honor they needed.

Bean's thoughts in the last battle: There was no way, at the beginning of this battle, to predict that the Buggers would make such a mistake. Yet throughout history, great victories had come as much because of the losing army's errors as because of the winner's brilliance in battle. The Buggers have finally, finally learned that we humans value each and every individual human life. We don't throw our forces away because every soldier is the queen of a one-memeber hive. But they've learned this lesson just in time for it to be hopelessly wrong---for we humans do, when the cause is sufficient, spend our own lives. We throw ourselves onto the grenade to save our buddies in the foxhole. We rise out of the trenches and charge the entrenched enemy and die like maggots under a blowtorch. We strap bombs on our bodies and blow ourselves up in the midst of our enemies. We are, when the cause is sufficient, insane.

Description of grown Ender by his sister in Speaker for the Dead: Ender was quiet and unobtrusive, but he could not possibly conceal his brilliant understanding of human nature. The average students would overlook him, but the best of them, the ones she hoped would come up with original thought, would inevitably follow the subtle but powerful clues he would inevitably drop.

Ender's thoughts on the Mayor in Speaker for the Dead: He was used to the way religious people assumed their sacred stories must sound absurd to unbelievers. But Ender did not consider himself an unbeliever, and he had a keen sense of the sacredness of many tales. But he could not explain this to Bosquinha. She would have to change her assumptions about him over time. She was suspicious of him, but he believed she could be won; to be a good Mayor, she had to be skilled at seeing people for what they are, not for what they seem.

Orson Scott Card has also recently written "Sarah", "Rebekah", and "Rachel and Leah," fictional books about the lives of those women in Genesis. I've only read Rebekah but it was well written. This was really my first clue that he is not just a pronounced Christian but a man of Godly character and understanding. Ever since I've looked for the clues throughout his "secular" novels.