Discussion Questions

Efrem frames his story with the hymn line “pilgrim through this barren land” and the title “From Broken Cisterns to Living Water”; what does his journey suggest about God’s willingness to let a person feel emptiness for a season in order to lead them to “living water”? JumpstartAnother way to ask: Efrem talks about being a “pilgrim through this barren land” and moving from “broken cisterns” to “living water.” What does his story show about God letting someone feel empty for a while to lead them to real life in Him?

Efrem describes his dad as not being “guided by the status quo,” giving examples like refusing daylight savings time and forbidding “bywords”; how does that picture of integrity and conscience compare with the way early Christians understood nonconformity to the world, and what kinds of “status quo” pressures shape our consciences today? JumpstartAnother way to ask: Efrem says his dad didn’t just follow the “status quo,” like refusing daylight savings time and banning certain sayings. How is that kind of conscience like how early Christians refused to fit in, and what “status quo” pressures shape our choices today?

After his sister Annie died, Efrem (age 13) lay in the produce patch and prayed, “Why don’t you just take me right now?… But if… you want me to stay here, then I give you my life”; what does that childlike surrender reveal about God’s nearness, and how do you evaluate that moment in light of his later backsliding and loss of peace? JumpstartAnother way to ask: After Annie died, Efrem prayed, “If you want me to stay, I give you my life.” What does that simple surrender say about God being close, and how do you understand it knowing Efrem later drifted and lost peace?

Efrem contrasts homes where “the tension was so thick” with the Franklin County family where the father read Scripture at breakfast, prayed “by name,” and radiated joy; what does that scene teach about the kind of ordinary daily spirituality early Christians likely assumed, and what would have to change in a modern Christian home for that to feel normal rather than unusual? JumpstartAnother way to ask: Efrem compares a tense home to a home where the dad read the Bible at breakfast, prayed for people by name, and seemed joyful. What does that suggest everyday faith looked like for early Christians, and what would need to change for that to feel normal in a Christian home today?

Efrem’s pattern was: “The more I learned, the harder I tried… the more I failed… the emptier I felt”; where do you see that same cycle in modern Christianity (including “sermon consumption” and self-improvement), and how do you discern the difference between Spirit-empowered obedience and anxious striving? JumpstartAnother way to ask: Efrem says, “The more I learned, the harder I tried… the more I failed… the emptier I felt.” Where do you see that same loop today (like constant sermons or self-help), and how can you tell the difference between obeying with the Spirit’s help and trying in fear?

At the counseling center, Efrem couldn’t pray out loud until he repeated, “God be merciful to me, a sinner,” and then “something broke”; why might that specific prayer be such a turning point, and how does it confront modern assumptions that repentance is optional or that prayer is mainly about “feeling better”? JumpstartAnother way to ask: Efrem couldn’t pray out loud until he said, “God be merciful to me, a sinner,” and then something changed. Why might that prayer matter so much, and how does it push back on the idea that repentance is optional or that prayer is just to feel better?

Efrem says the counselors were “very vague on the new birth, on cross-bearing,” and later the Amish ministers seemed to discourage Scripture seriousness (“someone can get out of the scriptures whatever he wants”); how does this expose competing views of what God intends Scripture to do in a believer, and where are Christians today tempted to soften Scripture’s authority in similarly “reasonable” ways? JumpstartAnother way to ask: Efrem felt some counselors were unclear about the new birth and cross-bearing, and later Amish leaders seemed to downplay serious Bible reading. What different ideas about Scripture show up here, and how do Christians today sometimes weaken the Bible’s authority in ways that sound “reasonable”?

Efrem’s fear was that excommunication meant “I would not have any hope,” and the first sermon he listened to was on “excommunication and shunning”; how does this fear-function differ from the way early Christians thought about being “put out” for Christ, and what modern church practices still use social fear to keep people compliant? JumpstartAnother way to ask: Efrem feared excommunication meant he had no hope, and the first sermon he heard was on shunning. How is that fear different from how early Christians viewed being rejected for following Christ, and where do churches today still use social fear to control people?

The phone call shifted Efrem’s central question from “Do I need to leave or should I stay?” to “Are you born again?… Was there ever a change of heart?”; what does that re-framing say about what God prioritizes, and how does it challenge evangelical habits of treating assurance as either automatic (“I prayed a prayer”) or unknowable (“you can’t really know”)? JumpstartAnother way to ask: A phone call changed Efrem’s focus from “Should I leave or stay?” to “Are you born again—was there a real change of heart?” What does that show about what God cares about most, and how does it challenge the idea that assurance is either automatic or impossible to know?

Efrem describes God “miraculously” bringing him to 2 Corinthians 12:9 (“My grace is sufficient… my strength is made perfect in weakness”) right before the decision that led to excommunication, and later mentions chastening as love; how does his story redefine “grace” (not as comfort without cost, but sufficient power in weakness), and what concrete “no turning back” obedience might God be calling you into that you’ve been avoiding by labeling it “extreme”? JumpstartAnother way to ask: Efrem found 2 Corinthians 12:9 (“My grace is sufficient…”) right before a choice that led to excommunication, and later he talks about God’s loving discipline. How does his story change what “grace” means, and what hard, clear act of obedience might God be calling you to that you keep avoiding by calling it “extreme”?