In the Comfort of the Clearing

A small part of me wants to hang on to vengeance. I find myself looking back and wishing I could repay some harms, teach a few lessons here and there, put one or two folks in their places (whereve...

From: Thomasthefree

Reads: 29

If You're Going Through Hell, Don't Stop at the...

When I think of hell, I think of endless cycles . . . unrealized hope punched to breathless despair, a prize always extended, but guarded by the hounds of hell and their "you never will" growls. Sn...

From: Thomasthefree

Reads: 104

Sex and the Church

I don't think Jesus would be very patient with the "don't ask, don't tell" stance of today's church regarding the sexual brokenness of its members. If He were here tossing tables, He would discove...

From: Thomasthefree

Reads: 92

Where Would We Be Without Doubt?

One of the hardest things anyone with a significant struggle -- such as same-sex attraction -- deals with, is doubt. Self-doubt, sure. But, also the doubt others have in his or her ability to cha...

From: Thomasthefree

Reads: 151

Quiet Hope . . . or Bitter Resignation?

Is it "quiet hope" or "bitter resignation?" Is it waiting or wilting? When rains come, do they wash us clean and set our feet to freedom or could they be the final flood that grows ever deeper to...

From: Thomasthefree

Reads: 108

Sorting is Such Sweet Sorrow

Walking back in the still-dim morning light to the house to find a ride home, I came across one of the sisters nearly passed out on a dewy blanket. She offered herself to me. A friend standing ne...

From: Thomasthefree

Reads: 270

The Bully in the Barn

The Bully in the Barn By Thom Hunter -- http://thom-signsofast... / He is jealous for me Loves like a hurricane I am a tree Bending beneath the weight of His wind and mercy When a...

From: Thomasthefree

Reads: 178

Plugging the Leak in the Lifeboat

We are a sea of strugglers. Who calmed the seas? So, in whom shall we trust? Perhaps the One who turns the raging sea of remorse into the enabling sea of forgetfulness? No one else can do it . ....

From: Thomasthefree

Reads: 214

And So It Continues

And So It Continues . . . By Thom Hunter -- http://thom-signsofast... They looked up and saw a star Shining in the East beyond them far And to the earth it gave great light And so...

From: Thomasthefree

Reads: 105

Jesus Wasn't Home in Time for Dinner

Do you ever wake up in the middle of the night and do a life review? In that rear-view mirror of reclining restlessness all the wrong turns of the past seem to paint a clear direction to the prese...

From: Thomasthefree

Reads: 196

Why Such a Lonely Reach

don't know if I first saw Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol the night it premiered on TV in 1962 as the first-ever animated television Christmas special . . . but I know I saw it every time it came on af...

From: Thomasthefree

Reads: 166

Homosexuality and Your Church -- Part Two

Whether you know it or not, members of your church are ministering to Christians who struggle with homosexuality. Like the struggle itself, their ministry to those who suffer may be hidden, but it...

From: Thomasthefree

Reads: 319

Thankful Even for the Pit

Seven months ago, on a very nice April 30, around mid-day, I tottered off the edge of it and plunged into the blackness of what seemed a never-ending free fall. It was the beginning of an "all cir...

From: Thomasthefree

Reads: 168

People Never Crumble in a Day

We toddle out of the nursery and tumble headlong into life. We learn all too well the difference between the day and night and the dark and light . . . and we don't always choose well. Our soft b...

From: Thomasthefree

Reads: 224

Would You Like Some Grace with That?

God's grace is both unimaginable and the very essence of reality for those of us who have experienced it when we thought we were well beyond it. Hence, "undeserved." And we should imitate it and ...

From: Thomasthefree

Reads: 256

Homosexuals and Your Church

What do the gay people in your church look like? Do you spot them by their flamboyant clothing . . . their mannerisms . . . their declarations?

From: Thomasthefree

Reads: 310

Are We There Yet?

Can any four words be more generational than "Are we there yet?" The rambunctious and rowdy Mayflower mini-Pilgrims in the 1600s . . . Laura in the wagon headed to the Little House on the Prairie ...

From: Thomasthefree

Reads: 574

Are You a "Some-of-You?"

Are You a "Some-of-You?" By Thom Hunter -- http://thom-signsofast... The death of a well-known homeless man in a city nearby set me to thinking about my father. I occasionally let...

From: Thomasthefree

Reads: 336

You Can Be Whole Again

It is not too late for those who struggle with various forms of sexual brokenness to see what is left of self -- mind and body and spirit and soul -- and adapt, changed but able, to different ways.

From: Thomasthefree

Reads: 221

Hello Darkness My Old Friend

Hello Darkness My Old Friend By Thom Hunter -- http://thom-signsofast... He reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what lies in darkness, and light dwells with him. -- Daniel 2:...

From: Thomasthefree

Reads: 277