September 2013

Revisiting Jonah and God

Not to Be Confused with Pinocchio
We have been warned by well-meaning Sunday school teachers and by preachers for generations: Don't run from God—remember what happened to Jonah!

This warning has conjured up Jaws-like images of big fish (or even whales, since we sometimes get this story confused with Pinocchio!) gulping down a poor disobedient swimmer gasping for air after being shoved off a boat in the middle of a storm. Poor Jonah. Three days in the "belly" of the great fish (again, probably not a whale—that was Pinocchio).

My Fondest Memories

SUNDAY, APRIL 2, 1916

Many life-changing experiences transpired before Mother and I arrived at the white frame Nazarene Church building on the corner of Third Avenue and Robinson Street in Paden City, West Virginia, in the 1930s. The congregation, organized in the 20s, met in store buildings and conducted many tent meeting revivals.