James Pence

How God is Faithful Through Loss and Adversity

James Pence

The Best Way to Hide…

/ …Is in Plain Sight. (Blind Sight – Ch. 1) / CHAPTER 1 Friday, December 6  Sometimes the best place to hide is in plain sight. Peter Bishop didn’t know whether or not that particular adage was true, but for his children’s sake, he hoped it was. Their lives depended on it. Standing in line at the EconoAir ticket counter, Peter muttered in frustration. Flight check-ins were always tedious. Yet every second that Micah and Michelle stood exposed, their danger increased. Peter flicked his eyes back and forth, scanning the steady flow of pedestrian traffic. Four women in dark blue …

Read moreThe Best Way to Hide…

Finding My Way Back

A Deconstruction Observed, Pt. 25 It’s difficult to describe what the darkest part of my journey felt like. After realizing that the science behind evolution was correct, I went into a spiritual freefall and ultimately found myself standing at the edge of atheism—a place I’d never expected to be. After all, I’d believed in God from the time I was a child and I’d placed my faith in Jesus when I was a young teen. I’d felt called to ministry and gone to Bible college and seminary. I’d spent decades in some form of full-time ministry. God had always been …

Read moreFinding My Way Back

Standing at the Edge of Atheism

A Deconstruction Observed, Pt. 24 “I stood at the edge of eternity and beheld only blackness.” That’s where I was during my darkest times. It wasn’t a pleasant place to be. I had believed in God from the time I was a young child. I’d placed my faith in Jesus when I was a teen. I’d walked with him for most of my life. Now, I felt as if all that stood between me and a plunge into atheism was a prayer: “God, please don’t let go of me. And don’t let me let go of you.” Would it have …

Read moreStanding at the Edge of Atheism

Living at the Intersection of Faith & Science

A Deconstruction Observed — Pt. 23 It was so mesmerizing, I forgot to look through my binoculars. I’m talking about the recent eclipse, of course (aka The Great North American Eclipse of 2024). I’d been looking forward to it for seven years—ever since the partial eclipse of 2017. That’s when I learned that I lived in the path of totality for the 2024 edition. This would be my fourth eclipse and my first total eclipse. In 1984, Laurel and I experienced a “ring of fire” annular eclipse in New Orleans. It got very dark, but because the moon doesn’t fully …

Read moreLiving at the Intersection of Faith & Science

The Darkest Time – Faith Deconstruction and Crisis

A Deconstruction Observed — Pt. 22 My Dark Moment When I was studying the craft of fiction, hoping someday to write suspense/thriller novels, I learned about an essential part of this type of story: the dark moment. The dark moment is that part of a story or novel where everything looks hopeless and the protagonist is on the verge of giving up. It’s the proverbial darkest before the dawn part of the story. I guess you could call this part of my story my dark moment. As with most of my story I can’t pin down a precise chronology or …

Read moreThe Darkest Time – Faith Deconstruction and Crisis

How I Navigated the Dark Forest of Deconstruction

A Deconstruction Observed, Pt. 21 Why I Call Deconstruction a Dark Forest Navigating the dark forest of deconstruction is like walking in a dense fog through territory you thought you knew but that now seems totally unfamiliar. In January of this year I was offered a role in a local production of Fiddler on the Roof. Rehearsals were in the evening, three or four days a week so I did a lot of driving in the dark. As we moved through February and the daylight hours began to lengthen, there were a couple of evenings when I drove to rehearsal …

Read moreHow I Navigated the Dark Forest of Deconstruction

Fortress of Certainty

A Deconstruction Observed Pt 19 I didn’t choose to go through a faith deconstruction, but I certainly set myself up for it. In fact, I laid the foundation years before my crash even started. The irony is that one (but by no means the only) cause of my deconstruction was the fortress of certainty I built around my faith to “strengthen” it. I was a self-taught Christian for the early portion of my faith journey. I came to faith in Christ through a Billy Graham telecast and my education was through cassette tapes, mostly from Walter Martin (cults) and Hal Lindsey (end …

Read moreFortress of Certainty

Seeds of Deconstruction II: The Rapture Wars

Seeds of Deconstruction II – The Rapture Wars A Deconstruction Observed — Pt. 17   After my last post you might be thinking, So, one book on evolutionary creation caused your worldview to collapse No.   I didn’t wake up one day and say, “I think I’ll reexamine everything I’ve believed since I was a child and toss out things I don’t agree with anymore.” For me, deconstruction was something like the story of the little Dutch boy who saved his village by putting his finger in the hole of a leaky dike. As the story goes he stayed there …

Read moreSeeds of Deconstruction II: The Rapture Wars

How I Entered the Dark Forest of Deconstruction

How I Entered the Dark Forest of Deconstruction (A Deconstruction Observed, Pt. 17) I had a problem. As I wrote previously, I had concluded that the universe and the earth were not only old; they were ancient. It went against everything I’d been taught, everything I’d believed, indeed everything I’d taught others. But it was the only thing that made sense. The problem was: how could I reconcile an ancient universe with what I had previously believed: that the universe had been created in six twenty-four-hour days and was less than 10,000 years old? I began searching for a solution, …

Read moreHow I Entered the Dark Forest of Deconstruction