Before You Smell Smoke… The Fire Might Already Be Raging
If you’re reading this, there’s a good chance I’ve been where you are. And I mean that literally—because what if your house is on fire and you didn’t know it? That’s the question I had to wrestle with before I finally got honest about my faith.
Before I came to faith, I was skeptical—maybe even a little freaked out by Christianity. More specifically, I was uneasy around Christians who, at the time, I (wrongly) dismissed as “Jesus freaks.” I’m not proud of that now, but I want to be honest about where I started.
I spent over thirty years in the fire service, retiring as a fire captain/medic. I’ve responded to many structure fires, car wrecks, medical calls—scenes filled with chaos and split-second decisions. But one thing always stuck with me: when the alarm sounds, time is not on your side.
In emergency medicine, we had the “Golden Hour”—that window of time between injury and intervention. In firefighting, it can be even shorter. Depending on the fuel load, a fire can double in size every 30 to 60 seconds. Wait too long? You’ve lost your chance.
Let me take you to one of the calls that changed me…
The Call That Looked Safe—Until It Wasn’t
It was an attic fire. On arrival, everything looked calm—no smoke, no flames. My officer’s initial radio report to dispatch was the standard:
“Engine 23 on scene—single-family, two-story—nothing showing. Officer 23 to investigate.”
No confirmed fire yet, so we hadn’t started our 360. But just as I was approaching the front door, a battalion chief coming out met me and said:
“Richie, you’ve got an attic fire.”
We deployed the hose line and made our way to the attic scuttle. But in the short time it took to get in position, everything changed. That hidden fire roared to life like a freight train—what looked calm from the outside was already raging out of control above us.
What’s the Point?
That attic fire isn’t just a story—it’s a real-world reminder of how danger can grow unnoticed when we’re not paying attention.
From the street, your house might look perfect. Lights on. Windows clean. Family photo above the fireplace.
But what if there’s a fire raging inside—above you, unseen—and you don’t even realize the danger?
In faith, it’s the same. You can look good on the outside, but something deeper might already be smoldering. And by the time it breaks through the roof, it may be too late to contain it.
This Isn’t About Religion. It’s About Reality.
Jesus didn’t come with religious rituals and fancy language. He came with clarity, urgency, and an open invitation.
He didn’t call the perfect people. He called the unlikely—fishermen, skeptics, outcasts. Blue-collar types who knew what it meant to struggle and to trust.
If you’ve been thinking everything’s fine because it “looks” fine, let me say this as plainly as I can:
Your house might be on fire, and you don’t even know it yet.
Want to know how I went from a skeptical person to a believer in Jesus? Read my full story here.
Want the Full Story?
Grab a copy of YOUR HOUSE IS ON FIRE: Christianity… From a Firefighter’s Perspective and walk with me through the lives Jesus changed—and how He changed mine.
So I’ll ask again—what if your house is on fire and you didn’t know it?
Would you wait… or would you do something about it?
Drop a comment below—what’s your wake-up call been?