Teenagers, Books, and Devil's Food

In a few hours, a group of high schoolers will gather in my living room to discuss our latest literature selection, Lord Foulgrin's Letters by Randy Alcorn.  It's a haunting, convicting story of a senior demon writing letters to a junior demon instructing him in the ways of demons, as the story of Jordan Fletcher, a modern husband and father, unfolds.  It is an updated version of C.S. Lewis's famous Screwtape Letters.  This book has given me much needed insight into the spiritual realm and its implications on my world.  

What is even more fascinating is Randy Alcorn's story.  As a pastor in Oregon, he became involved in pro-life protests, got arrested, got sued, and lost.  The judgement was a lifetime of garnished wages, which would go directly to the abortion clinic.  If he ever made more than minimum wage, funds would be garnished.

What a test!  After much wrestling and prayer for wisdom, he resigned from his church and started a non-profit called Eternal Perspectives Ministries.  He began to write and now has over 40 fiction and non-fiction published books.  He is paid minimum wage and his wife is paid a secretary's salary.  They live a very frugal, generous life, but would say emphatically that what they have lost in worldly material, they have gained in spiritual fruit.

Why did I choose this book?  First, when biblical truths are written in the form of a fictional story, the heart and imagination can be deeply stirred.  I remember the first time I read the book, I realized I had not understood or legitimized an important aspect of my Christian faith:  the co-existing spiritual world of angels and demons, referenced over 130 times in the Bible.  As Alcorn puts it:  know God, know yourself, know your enemy.  

Secondly, I like when the author has his own interesting story.  If Alcorn had not encountered the crucible of his faith, he would not have become a prolific writer.  He might have been a great pastor to his tribe in Oregon, but he would not have had the time to write 40 books.  God does not always give us the easy route to our calling.

I look forward to hearing what the kids think about this story and the author's background.  How many of them will live out their lives with Alcorn's sacrifice and zeal?  How will their faith be informed by the protagonist and antagonist of the book?  How will I move into the future with the wisdom I have gleaned from this man and his story?  

Oh, and afterwards, we're making pizza, and one of the girls is bringing devil's food cake for dessert.  Or is it angel food cake?

I LOVE BOOKS!  AND TEENAGERS!


  

Ashes

Today is Ash Wednesday.  I remember once accompanying a college friend to her Catholic church to feel the warm finger of the priest smear a cross of ash on my forehead.  It's not something we do in my church tradition, but each Ash Wednesday, my mind always travels back that small act of identification with Christ.  

There is power in symbolism.  Today I plan to have the kids write a letter of confession to God.  Then we will burn them to ash and cross our foreheads.  I want to take them on a journey to the cross, honoring God in the Lenten tradition of sacrificing, fasting, and giving to the poor.  I too rarely pause in my activity to do more than a quick devotion and prayer.  Sometimes not even that much.  But I have 40 days until Easter to pause, reflect, fail, and recognize my need for a Savior.  And then there are all those days after Easter....

In Joel, the people are called to "rend your hearts."  To rend is to rip in pieces.  I don' think this can happen in haste, in the funnel cloud of my life.  This happens only when I step into His presence and face the cross in all its severe glory and grace, to feel the tear, to feel the healing.  To know the truth that sets me free.