I paused half-way up the fire-tower. Night had swallowed the trees a few yards beneath me and my friends weren’t climbing yet. I leaned back against against the girders behind me and let go of the ladder. My palm was cold against my fingers when I clenched my hand.
In the silence and darkness I [...]

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Everybody’s talking about story these days. Or it seems like that sometimes. Narrative Theology and Narrative Preaching are the happening thing–the highest wisdom I can find at my college about writing is that plot governs everything from the polemical essay to the sermon–recently I’ve been bombarded from several directions with the idea that even Christianity [...]

Posted in Communication, Culture, Faith, God, Narrative, Truth 2 Comments »

In John Bunyan’s greatest book The Pilgrim’s Progress, Christian comes to Interpreter’s house shortly after he has entered upon the way of life. Interpreter is a figure of the Holy Spirit, who leads him about showing him what he needs to know through images and the experiences of other people. Toward the end of his [...]

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Faith to end.
The true terror of being born has nothing to do with pain, blood, or breathing for the first time. When I wake tomorrow and see the sun’s light filtered through the plastic cells of my window-fan, I will not be afraid of that light. I have seen it before. I have been warmed [...]

Posted in Faith, Heaven, Memoirs 1 Comment »

Faith to continue.
The onset of skepticism hurt more after I believed than before. Coming to Christ involved so much pain, and arriving in his arms resolved so much tension, that I felt as if life should end without an epilogue. But I had barely lived chapter one. Rather than culminating, salvation commences with conversion. Sin [...]

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Faith to begin.
Reflected in the green water, the mocking faces of the other children offered a powerful incentive, but I couldn’t dive.
“It’s easy,” said my teenage instructor, strained patience stretching his pimply face, “just let yourself fall forward. The water can’t hurt you.” He moved to demonstrate and I flinched away. Yesterday he pushed me [...]

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