About

 

Front Porch Theology

Welcome

Front Porch Theology is the way I have come to describe the conversations that have occupied the second half of my life.

My brief season in ministry came to an end in flames. I had loved it far too much. It would not be until my early forties that I finally began asking God the simple questions—the very ones I had assumed I already knew the answers to during the first half of my life.

Those years were not wasted, though. Looking back, I can now see that all along I was gathering the puzzle pieces of my own story.

Perhaps George MacDonald's Unspoken Sermons were his version of Front Porch Theology—the truths he wrestled with through the struggles of his own life. It is those insights, born out of frustration, suffering, and hope, that have spoken so deeply to me.

"It may take centuries of ages, of struggle, effort, and aspiration before we see reality. Once we finally see it, it is so plain and simple. We wonder how we could have lived without seeing it before. That we did not understand it sooner was simply that we could not see it. To see the truth, to know what it is, to understand it, are all one and the same!" GM

That single thought captures much of what this website is about.

 

MacDonald and I

"We do not appreciate the one who tells us something new as much as the one who puts into words that which we know is true, but have been unable to articulate for ourselves." Unknown

Within that simple statement lies my relationship with George MacDonald.

If there is one thing I could say about his contribution, it is that he was a master lens maker. To me, he was a prophetic seer of the infinite. MacDonald had little interest in convincing people to think as he thought. Instead, he wanted them to meet the One whom he had met.

In his foundational sermon, The Child in the Mist, he writes:

"I do not say it is necessarily so, for I aim at no logical certainty. I aim at showing, rather than proving, to my reader, by means of my sequences, the idea to which I am approaching." GM

For MacDonald, Truth was a Person, not a proposition. Truth was never a collection of ideas to be agreed with, but a living reality to be encountered. His writings invite us, not merely to think differently, but to learn to see differently.

I am not a scholar, nor would I call myself a writer, as you will soon discover. I am an artist.

After failing the first grade because of reading difficulties, I never pursued an academic education beyond high school. Instead, after two years at a junior college studying commercial art, I went on to attend Ringling School of Art. After art school, I apprenticed as a billboard painter back when highway signs were still painted by hand. From there, I spent the rest of my working life in one form of another within the sign industry.

 

As an Artist

I was trained as an artist in the classical tradition, and the first thing I was taught was how to see.

What I learned taught me to notice what had always been there—always present before my eyes, yet unseen. Light and shadow give an object its form. Warm and cool colors move objects backward and forward in space. Angle and perspective create the illusion of depth on a flat canvas. When understood and applied, these simple principles breathe life into an image and draw our attention to what the artist wants us to see.

A blind man cannot help another blind man see. But one who sees can point to what is waiting to be seen.

That, to me, is George MacDonald's gift.

True seeing is not merely what we perceive with our eyes, but what our minds and hearts learn to recognize as well. Seeing is something we grow into. It is not that our eyes are closed and we see nothing. Rather, we have not yet learned to interpret what is before us.

You cannot see what you cannot see—and you cannot see it until you can.

That is the quiet work of the Holy Spirit in every one of our lives.

 

My Faith Journey

I was once complaining to God about my lack of prayer. I told Him that I knew He wanted me to be a praying person, so why didn't He simply zap me and make it so?

His answer surprised me.

"I am moving as fast as you will let Me. You will not pray until you need to, and right now, you don't think you need to."

The problem was never information or willpower. It was learning to see.

And that, brothers and sisters, takes time.

This is one of the great gifts MacDonald gives us. He helps us see the larger picture—the puzzle box top—so that the scattered pieces of our lives begin to make sense.

I worked hard at my religion during the first half of my life. I have more than made up for it with my lack of effort during the second half.

There is very little religion left in me.

But I hope there is a great deal more faith.

I'm reminded of Paul's description of Abraham:

"So how do we fit what we know of Abraham, our first father in the faith, into this new way of looking at things? If Abraham, by what he did for God, got God to approve him, he could certainly have taken credit for it. But the story we're given is a God-story, not an Abraham-story. What we read in Scripture is, 'Abraham entered into what God was doing for him, and that was the turning point. He trusted God to set him right instead of trying to be right on his own.'" Romans 4, The Message

 

Where to Begin

"I dare not say that he is never in error; but... I know hardly any other writer who seems to be closer, or more continually close, to the Spirit of Christ Himself... I have never concealed the fact that I regarded him as my master; indeed, I fancy I have never written a book in which I did not quote from him."  C. S. Lewis

You may not feel as strongly as C. S. Lewis did about George MacDonald, but perhaps you have heard the rumors of his influence.

MacDonald helped awaken Lewis's journey from atheism to Christianity through his vision of God as Father. That vision of the Father's love became one of the foundations upon which Lewis built his own faith.

Although MacDonald is best known for his novels, fantasies, and fairy tales, it is his Unspoken Sermons that have most profoundly shaped my own journey. In them I discovered a vision of the Father unlike anything I had known before.

His understanding of life was organic rather than organizational. Everything in creation exists to lead us into relationship with the Father, through the Son, in the fellowship of the Holy Spirit.

That vision has become the heartbeat of this website.

 

My Purpose

Now in my seventies my journey has included both successes and failures, but my failures have been far more faithful friends than my successes.

Success has often lied to me about myself.

Failure never has.

God's judgments have always been redemptive. More than anything else, they have driven me to search for the larger context—the bigger picture of my life. Once again, that is where George MacDonald has served me so well.

More than thirty years ago I discovered MacDonald's novels and fairy tales. Through story, he painted beautiful pictures of God as Father—a Father deeply involved in the lives of His children.

Several years ago, however, I was introduced to the Unspoken Sermons.

By then I had returned to my hometown because of illness. Hoping to reconnect with old friends, I reached out to my longtime friend and mentor, Baxter Kruger. Against his better judgment, he invited me into a small group that met weekly in his office.

It was there that I first began reading the sermons with others.

Looking back, I can see that those conversations changed my life.

 

MacDonald's Style

Let me say honestly that George MacDonald is probably the most difficult writer I have ever read.

His Victorian language, vocabulary, and writing style are, for many modern readers, just short of inaccessible. I have jokingly described them as "King James on steroids."

Seven-hundred-word paragraphs. Entire paragraphs ending with a single period. Long sentences woven together with colons, semicolons, dashes, and a string of rhetorical questions.

As someone trained as an artist rather than an academic—and someone who failed the first grade because he couldn't read—I found his writing especially challenging.

Had I not been reading the sermons alongside others, I doubt I would have stayed with them.

Often I read a sermon three or four times before underlining a single sentence. Some paragraphs yielded almost nothing at first. It was our conversations that slowly provided the context I could not yet see.

Nearly a year passed before the larger picture began to emerge.

 

My Growing Burden

That realization became even clearer when another friend, Julian Fagan, and I began leading a second group through the sermons.

About halfway through the first series, it dawned on me that I was not alone in struggling with MacDonald's writing. As I talked with others, I discovered that many people had started the Unspoken Sermons, but very few had finished them.

That was the beginning of these paraphrases.

Just as many of MacDonald's novels have been translated into contemporary English, my hope has been to make the sermons more accessible without losing their vision and heart.

During another difficult season of my own journey, I was introduced to The Message Bible.

Its narrative style opened the larger story of Scripture to me in a fresh way. Eugene Peterson's paraphrase did not replace traditional translations—it helped me hear them.

That has become my hope for this work as well.

My abridging, editing, and paraphrasing are not intended to replace George MacDonald's originals. They are simply an invitation—a doorway through which I hope others will discover the beauty of his own words.

Finding Your Way Around

Now that you know a little about me and why this website exists, let me show you around.

Think of these pages as different conversations taking place on the same front porch. They are connected, but each has its own purpose. Whether you begin at the beginning or wander wherever your curiosity leads, I hope each one helps you see a little more clearly.

"View from My Frontporch"

 Home on the Porch

Home

The Home page is simply the front door.

Here you will find every post in the order it was published, with the newest always appearing first. If you decide to follow along, this is the easiest place to see what has been added most recently.

 

Unspoken Sermons

The heart of this website is the Unspoken Sermons section.

For each sermon I have prepared four things for you.

First, an introduction containing my own thoughts to prepare the way for the sermon and provide a little context for what follows.

Second, an outline that follows the progression of MacDonald's thought and, I hope, makes his overall direction easier to follow.

Thirdly, my abridged paraphrase, written in contemporary language while remaining as faithful as I can to the spirit and intent of the original.

Finally, a section I call Cliff Notes, where the major quotations appear in MacDonald's own words. My hope is that, after reading the paraphrase, you will return to those original passages with fresh eyes.

 

Front Porch Reflections

The next section is Front Porch Reflections.

These are simply some of my own thoughts that have grown out of reading the sermons and walking through life. Sometimes they serve as introductions to a sermon. Other times they are reflections that naturally follow it.

They are conversations, not conclusions.

 

My Journey

The My Journey section is more personal.

These are stories, observations, and reflections gathered from my own life over the years. Some have little to do directly with George MacDonald, yet all have shaped the way I have learned to see God, myself, and others.

If Front Porch Theology has a heartbeat, it is probably found here.

 

Contact

If something here encourages you, challenges you, or raises questions, I would genuinely enjoy hearing from you.

To reduce spam and unwanted solicitations, I have simply listed my email address rather than using a contact form.

Please don't hesitate to write.

The best conversations often begin with a simple question.

A Final Thought

The language and editing of these sermons are my own.

I owe a special debt of gratitude to my oldest daughter, Lauren, whose patient editing has helped make my words clearer, simpler, and more readable than they would have been otherwise.

It has been my constant desire to remain as faithful as possible to George MacDonald's thought. What you will find here is not a translation, nor is it intended to replace the original sermons.

Every paraphrase inevitably reflects the language, experiences, and understanding of the one writing it. Mine are no exception.

If, at some point, you disagree with my interpretation, I hope you will do exactly what I have done.

Go back to the original.

Read carefully.

Listen deeply.

Then write what your heart sees.

Nothing would honor this work more.

I make no claim to be a George MacDonald scholar. I am simply another traveler who has found light and life in his writings.

If these pages help introduce others to his work and encourage them to discover his original writings for themselves, then they will have accomplished exactly what I hoped.

 

Housekeeping

One final note.

One of the wonderful things about a website is that it is never really finished. It is a living document that continues to grow and change.

As time goes on, I will continue editing, expanding, and refining these pages. Your questions, comments, and insights may become part of that ongoing conversation if you choose.

This is my first attempt at building something like this, so we'll all be learning together.

Welcome to my front porch.

 

Original Sources

 “Unspoken Sermons, Series 1, 2, & 3.”

Copyright 2016 – ISBN-13:978-1529182887 or ISBN-10:1539182886

The Complete Works of George MacDonald:

Kindle – $0.99