With many of the Left Behind titles reaching the #1 bestsellers lists on the New York Times, USA Today, and Publishers Weekly lists this series has garnered national media attention, sparked debate over End Times issues, and changed the Christian publishing industry. Secular book stores have paid attention to the largely popular series and its unprecedented book sales and have crossed over into the Christian market
by marketing a wider distribution of religious
materials.
In 2003 Entertainment Weekly's list of the 51 most powerful entertainers ranked LaHaye and Jenkins as #42 in their annual power issue which lists the top 101 entertainers and executives in the industry. In its list (not frequented by evangelical writers), Entertainment Weekly found it hard to overlook the string of successes from the Left Behind franchise whose sales at that time exceeded 50 million copies.
In 2005, TIME Magazine named Tim LaHaye one of the Top 25 Most Influential Evangelicals.
Two Left Behind titles – Left Behind and Tribulation Force – were on the 2005 Online Computer Library Center's (OCLC) Top 1,000 Library Books.
LaHaye and Jenkins were among the top 10 best-selling authors of Amazon.com's 2005 list appearing in Amazon's 10th Anniversary Hall of Fame.
Two LaHaye books were among Christianity Today's Top 50 Books That Have Shaped Evangelicals, posted online 10/06/06. Surprisingly, The Act of Marriage (written with his wife Beverly) was book #28 while Left Behind listed as #36. CT is quoted as crediting Left Behind ...as a series that launched a marketing empire that launched a new set of rules for Christian fiction. The series spent a total of 300 weeks – nearly as long as the Tribulation it dramatized – on The New York Times's bestseller list.
Tim LaHaye has appeared on such national television programs as 60 Minutes, Today Show, ABC World News Tonight, CBS Evening News, NBC Nightly News, ABC Good Morning America, ABC Nightline, Scarborough Country, Hannity and Colmes, Larry King Live, and many others.
The Atlanta Journal Constitution referred to Tim & Beverly LaHaye as the Evangelical Power Couple.