Billy had always been quite a character. He had been the class clown, and he always had a joke to tell. One time years ago when stores still gave out Green Stamps, Billy was talking to one of his friends, who was an active member of his church. "Can you tell me what I should do with my green stamps?" Billy asked. "Green stamps?" his friend said.

"Yeah," said Billy, "the preacher said the church passed out redemption. I figured that since it was a redemption center I would redeem my green stamps."

But it turns out that Billy was at least partly serious. He had decided that it was time for him to grow up, so he was going to become a Christian to learn to do so. That was just his way of announcing it.

And it went well for a while. He gave up his bad habits. He began going to church every w…