James Pence

How God is Faithful Through Loss and Adversity

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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 …

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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 …

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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 …

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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 …

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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 …

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