History, Real Life, and Faith
Am I a Pharisee like those Jewish scholars in the Gospels? Sometimes I can see where they’re coming from when they challenge Jesus again and again in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John’s books of the New Testament. Not all the time; but they’re such splendid targets to disdain. Except when their misunderstandings and words echo in my heart and life. Then…
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When I typed The End last night, I began to shake. Finished, done, completed–at least the rough draft. I sat back in my computer chair, put my hands to my face and sobbed. While a writer is like God as she writes her book, plans her story, incorporates facts, and hunts for words, this writer doesn’t always feel like God….
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What safeguards do imaginative teachers and writers use when turning to the Bible? I talked about imagination and the Bible in my last post here. But because we believe the Bible is truth, it’s important to accurately understand it and to be careful not to let our imaginations run wild. Can heresy can come from an imagination that is not safeguarded…
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I use my imagination all the time when reading the Bible. I put imagination to good use when I teach Bible study. But what does that mean? For me, it started when our youth pastor, Paul Anderson, asked, “imagine how the older brother feels,” when discussing the parable of The Prodigal Son. I was a new-to-Christianity 15-year-old and in the six minutes…
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What does a picture frame have to do with the Christian life? It depends how you look at it. The idea/words popped out of my mouth a number of years ago while talking with a childhood friend. We had grown up in each other’s library books while in elementary school, but the last time I’d seen her was at the 1984…
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I’ve been maintaining a Pinterest board for World War I for three years. It’s part of the background for a novel I’ve written (but haven’t sold yet) set during World War I. My novel is a coming-of-age story about a young woman growing emotionally spiritually and professionally over the course of the war. Oswald and Biddy Chambers are marquee characters in…
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