Our Sun is powered by nuclear reactions (as shown in the photo below) which involve the fusing of hydrogen nuclei to give helium nuclei under conditions of extremely high temperature and pressure.

"Chemistry" 2e - Blackman, A., Bottle, S., Schmid, S., Mocerino, M., Wille, U.

I've spent the whole day in the woods.

"The Way Back" - Erich Maria Remarque

I stuck to the Bible passage they'd assigned for me to speak on, Romans 1:18-32 – the same passage that had led me to write 'Orbit':

The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people . . . Because of the, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones.

In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another.

"In/Out: A Scandalous Story of Falling Into Love and Out of the Church" - Steph Lentz

Life on Earth is predominantly solar-powered.

"Chemistry" 2e - Blackman, A., Bottle, S., Schmid, S., Mocerino, M., Wille, U.

The lyrics in the chorus of 'Orbit' ask:

In the heavens above or on earth below

Would you trade a fire for a dull, red glow?

"In/Out: A Scandalous Story of Falling Into Love and Out of the Church" - Steph Lentz

The ground smells of March days and violets.

"The Way Back" - Erich Maria Remarque

I watched Liv through the window of the studio's soundproof vocal booth as she harmonised to these lyrics:

Sand goes in buckets and sugar goes in bowls

Water finds its way to holes

Toys go in boxes and books they go in bags

And your hands, they go in mine

"In/Out: A Scandalous Story of Falling Into Love and Out of the Church" - Steph Lentz

Two years into my uni degree I was feeling half-hearted about my undergraduate studies.

"In/Out: A Scandalous Story of Falling Into Love and Out of the Church" - Steph Lentz

On the role of trust in our acceptance of truth, epistemologist W. Jay Wood identifies that:

our chief reason for thinking such beliefs to be true is indirect; we accept them not on account of evidence that directly confirms their truth but because we trust the testimony of someone . . . who assures us that they are.

"In/Out: A Scandalous Story of Falling Into Love and Out of the Church" - Steph Lentz

Only weirdos get sucked in by the charismatic megalomaniacs and far-fetched ideologies of religious fundamentalism.

"In/Out: A Scandalous Story of Falling Into Love and Out of the Church" - Steph Lentz

His body twitches once more, and then there is just sleep; only the wind is left, blowing over the barren, dark spaces, blowing and blowing, past the clouds and the skies, over the fields and the endless plains with their graves and shell-holes and crosses.

"The Way Back" - Erich Maria Remarque

Georg Rahe has managed to get a permit for foreign travel and he uses it to cross the border.

"The Way Back" - Erich Maria Remarque

In his book, Harris responded to what he perceived as a fatal flaw in mainstream society's approach to dating:

The Bible teaches that if we truly trust in Jesus Christ, we die to our old way of living. And we can no longer live for ourselves – we now live for God and for the good of others. Because of that, relationships with the opposite sex can no longer be about 'having a good time' or 'learning what I want in a relationship'.

"In/Out: A Scandalous Story of Falling Into Love and Out of the Church" - Steph Lentz

'Lord, please help us stay committed to sexual purity. We want our relationship to honour you, so please help us flee from sin. Our deepest desire is that we would help each other serve you. In Jesus' name. Amen.'

"In/Out: A Scandalous Story of Falling Into Love and Out of the Church" - Steph Lentz

The closer we get to the day of the trial, the more I think about Albert.

"The Way Back" - Erich Maria Remarque

I joined in singing lyrics like:

What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus . . .

Nought of good that I have done – Nothing but the blood of Jesus

And:

Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast, save in the death of Christ my God

All the vain things that charm me most, I sacrifice them to His blood.

Blood, sin, wrath and death aren't the subjects of polite conversation but they're central to the message at the heart of Christianity, so often summarised in those famous verses from John 3: 'For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life' (verse 16) and 'Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on them' (verse 36).

"In/Out: A Scandalous Story of Falling Into Love and Out of the Church" - Steph Lentz

Not long after becoming a Christian, I tacked this quote from nineteenth-century preacher Charles Spurgeon to the wall over my desk. I looked at it every morning when I read my Bible and every evening when I did my homework:

I have a heart, which God knoweth, I wish I could wring from my body and hurl to an infinite distance; a soul which is a cage of unclean birds, a den of loathsome creatures, where dragons haunt and owls do congregate, where every evil beast of ill-omen dwells; a heart too vile to have a parallel 'deceitful above all things and desperately wicked'.

"In/Out: A Scandalous Story of Falling Into Love and Out of the Church" - Steph Lentz