Craft6 min read
Writing Faith Without Preaching
The surest way to lose a reader is to tell them what to believe. On writing characters who pray badly, doubt honestly, and arrive at grace the long way round.
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Notes & Essays
Occasional writing on faith, craft, and the books that carried me through a long, quiet season of waiting.
FAITH AND PURPOSE
WHEN GOD GIVES YOU A VISION, DON'T TELL EVERYONE
SOMETIMES GOD GIVES YOU A VISION BEFORE HE GIVES YOU THE PERMISSION TO ANNOUNCE IT. NOT EVERYONE NEEDS TO KNOW WHAT GOD IS PREPARING YOU TO DO.
Notes
On Desks
An inventory of the seven desks I have written at, and what each one asked of me. Including the one that was really a windowsill, and the one beside a hospital bed.
Read More4 min read
Research
Reading Old Mission Letters
Researching Letters to the Faithful meant reading hundreds of letters that never arrived. What I learned about doubt, obedience, and the grammar of prayer.
Read More8 min read
Notes
Asante Notebook
Field notes from two months on a hillside farm — one road, four hundred people, and a season of rain the whole village was praying for.
Read More5 min read
Craft
The Second Sentence
First sentences get all the attention. The second sentence is where a reader decides whether to trust you — and where a novel either opens or closes.
Read More7 min read
Reading
A Reading List for Lent
Six books that carried me through a long, quiet season of waiting — and the one I abandoned twice before it finally opened.
Read More3 min read
That's the last of them for now — new essays appear every few weeks.