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James Pence

James Pence

How God is Faithful Through Loss and Adversity

James Pence

Reflections on Deconstruction–Repost with additions

February 19, 2024

A Deconstruction Observed, Pt. 16 I started this series on deconstruction around August of 2022, and it’s progressed in fits and starts since then. That’s partly because I always have a bunch of different irons in the fire and I tend to chase shiny objects. But that’s not the only reason. Another reason is that even now I’m still processing things. The main reason I’ve dragged this out for so long is because I really didn’t want to write about some of the elements of my story that would be more controversial. I dreaded the inevitable pushback I’d get online. …

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How Astronomy Made Me Rethink Young-Earth Creationism

February 13, 2024

For years as a pastor I’d taught young-earth creationism. Now, as I looked at Andromeda through my binoculars my worldview took a hit.

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Reflections on the Peace Prayer: How Can I Sow Love

January 30, 2024

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love. Hatred abounds in today’s world; much of it I can do nothing about. I don’t have the ability to bring peace between the Palestinians and Israelis. I don’t have the ability to end the war in Ukraine. I don’t have the ability to ease tensions with China. I don’t have the ability to solve the humanitarian crisis at our southern border. And I don’t have the ability to calm our turbulent political waters in this election year. That’s what I can’t do. So what …

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Sowing Love – Reflections on The Peace Prayer, Pt. 1

January 15, 2024

“Lord, make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love.” There’s plenty of hatred to go around these days. And I’m guessing that 2024 promises more of the same. So this year I’m reflecting through and memorizing the prayer of Saint Francis, also known as The Peace Prayer. Saint Francis didn’t write this prayer, although it is attributed to him. It first showed up around 1912. (History of the Prayer) Each week, I’m going to briefly reflect on how I can practically apply the principles of this prayer in my life. I might carry …

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The Problem with Buried Questions: They Keep Coming Back.

September 5, 2023

A Deconstruction Observed It was an innocent question but based on my friend’s reaction you’d have thought I’d denied the Trinity. “If God is eternal and unchangeable,” I posited, “how could he take on human nature? Wouldn’t becoming a man be a fundamental change in God’s nature?” My friend looked horrified, almost as if he expected lightning to strike me at any moment. “You should be careful about asking questions like that!” he cautioned. Yet asking questions had become a major part of my Christian life. The year was 1974. It was my sophomore year of college and I was …

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Reflections on Deconstruction

July 26, 2023

What is deconstruction? I can describe what it feels like better than I can explain what it is. Deconstruction feels like walking alone through a pitch-black forest. It’s the unsettling feeling you get when the ground you’re walking on becomes unstable…

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A Masterclass in Compassion…at a Comic-con!

July 26, 2023

Can you come stand in line for us?” my daughter asked. “The line’s moving slowly and we have to be at a photoshoot in a few minutes.” I went to stand in a fan-expo autograph line but got far more than an autograph…

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265 Words about (Almost Not) Being the Father of the Bride

July 26, 2023

As I stood outside the door of the room where my daughter and her bridesmaids had just finished dressing, the wedding coordinator cautioned me, “Don’t cry.” She opened the door. I cried. When I saw my daughter in her wedding dress for the first time, I lost it. Charlene looked at the ceiling and fanned her face to keep her makeup from running. The bridesmaids sang silly songs to distract us. I somehow managed to pull myself together and we made it down the aisle with no more tears, although we both had to tell each other, “We don’t need …

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Why I Didn’t Lose My Faith…

May 5, 2023

A DECONSTRUCTION OBSERVED INTERLUDE : “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5b) Writing the story of my deconstruction/reconstruction is far more challenging than I expected. I am processing more than ten years of experiences. Often as I write, I remember important details that I need to include in the story. And more often than not, as I explore these details others surface. The challenging thing is that many of these either disrupt my carefully planned timeline or they require adjustments to things I’ve already written. In short, at times I need to step back and …

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Why I Value My Charismatic Experience

April 17, 2023

…and How it Relates to My Deconstruction I completed my deconstruction out of the Charismatic Movement in 1975 with a Bachelor of Theology thesis on the doctrine of the Holy Spirit. For some time after that, I took every opportunity to oppose charismatic teachings and even developed a seminar on charismatic theology aimed at refuting those teachings. But over the years my hostility mellowed and softened. Now, nearly fifty years later I look back quite fondly on my charismatic experience. In fact, I’ll go as far as to say that I treasure it. Some aspects of my charismatic experience are …

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