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Category Archives: The Long Story
When Going Forward Means Looking Back
I’ve been trying to think of some way forward for some time now. Forward in lots of ways really: faith, work, relationships, the rhythms of life. I get bits and pieces here and there, often from what I read, sometimes … Continue reading
“Stable, Certain, Solid Things”
One of the things that is clear from the outset of reading For Common Things is that Purdy is a man shaped by a time (perhaps both personal and historic) that has really established his thinking in a fundamental way. … Continue reading
Unfinished
My calendar year 2015 actually started five weeks before 2014 ended. I had been asked to preach at the church I now call home on the first Sunday of Advent. And while I was okay with what I said and … Continue reading
Posted in Faith, Teaching, The Long Story
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Start Again
It’s difficult to believe that I am already one month into my thirteenth year teaching high school. At this point, we’ve already gone through the first cycle of things: first tests and projects, first homerooms and assemblies. It has been … Continue reading
Posted in Caedmon's Calling, Faith, Teaching, The Long Story
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Counting Ordinary Time
This past Sunday Christian churches of the more liturgical bent entered into something known as ordinary time. Robert Webber explains: The period between Pentecost and the beginning of Advent is called ordinary time. By contrast the period through Advent, Christmas, … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Faith, The Long Story
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Bitterness and Blessing
Last night’s reading from the book of Exodus (ESV): Then Moses made Israel set out from the Red Sea, and they went into the wilderness of Shur. They went three days in the wilderness and found no water. When they … Continue reading
Posted in Faith, The Long Story
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Always Remember the Big Picture
Every year I show this clip to my student. Every year I feel like they get it a little less while I get it just a little bit more. Breaks the heart but soothes the soul.
Posted in Faith, Internet, Movies, Teaching, The Long Story
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Quarter’s End, Find a Spot
The third quarter of the school year comes to a close today. Time flies regardless of whether you’re having fun or not (and I’ve definitely enjoyed this semester). If all goes well, I’ll get to leave the classroom today and … Continue reading
Posted in Internet, Movies, Teaching, The Long Story
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Reading Scary Close: The Wedding Bride
The other relational through-line in Scary Close (beyond the guides) is Donald Miller’s bride. When we meet her in the book’s beginning, she has just become his fiancee. It’s a reads like a classic “Miller” moment: I’d spent more than … Continue reading
Posted in Books, The Long Story
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Reading Scary Close: A Good Guide is Hard to Find
Donald Miller spent most of his last book, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years, encouraging readers to tell good stories with their lives, to be heroes of a sort. Early on in Scary Close you get a sense of … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Faith, The Long Story
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Space Enough, and Time 