L. Gregory Jones
Of two minds: Interpretive charity
We are used to having opposable thumbs. They enable our hands to do things that are impossible for other creatures: write, thread needles, paint, sculpt, perform intricate surgical procedures.
...Spiritual soccer: Not everything is fixable
“I have resigned myself to the fact that there are some people in this life with whom I will never be reconciled.” I was 22 and a second-year seminarian when an older friend said this to me, and I ...
Bold initiative: Social entrepreneurship
“Social entrepreneurship" involves innovators who address problems in society and advance a particular social mission to serve a larger good. We Christians have long had people who fulfilled this role, people who founded the Salvation Army, Goodwill and many hospitals and universities.But in the last few decades churches and denominations seem to have lost their steam. Have we Christians lost our sense of social entrepreneurship?
Be generous: Setting the stage for forgiveness and healing
"Families are weird.” This is the mantra of a pastor friend, his way of coping with the manifold complexities of his own family as well as those of the families with whom he ministers....
Learning curve: Intelligent pastors
Josh Waitzkin, the chess prodigy who was the inspiration for the film Searching for Bobby Fischer, describes his approach to learning in a new book, The Art of Learning. Waitzkin refers to his experiences, first as a child learning chess, and then as a young adult learning to become a martial arts master.“It is rarely a mysterious technique that drives us to the top,” he says, “but rather a profound mastery of what may well be a basic skill set. Depth beats breadth any day of the week, because it opens a channel for the intangible, unconscious, creative components of our hidden potential.” Waitzkin calls the process “a journey in the pursuit of excellence.”
Call-in confessions: Youthful indiscretions
Should there be a statute of limitations on youthful indiscretions?...
Punch lines: Habits of friendship and community
Laughter was a hallmark of my family’s life as I grew up....
Softened hearts: Community and forgiveness
Hardness of heart. Scripture uses this image to describe those who are impenetrably stubborn, those who are unwilling or unable to see God’s glory or to reorient their lives to God’s call and claims. But what causes hardness of heart? Is it always human sin, those things which we have done which ossify our hearts and rigidify our minds? Do tragic accidents sometimes harden us in ways that make it difficult, if not impossible, to remain open to transformation, to sustain a mental, emotional and moral agility?
Slow-motion grace: Shaped by faith and hope
Toward the end of Wendell Berry’s novel Jayber Crow, the title character reflects on his life as a barber in a small Kentucky town: “I am a man who has hoped, in time, that his life, when po...
Dreams and strategies: Cultivating institutions in service to the gospel
"What keeps you up at night?” I asked the African cardinal at the end of a leisurely lunch near his home....
Trouble brewing: Animated by the Spirit rather than by spirits
As an heir of the Methodist tee-totaling commitment, I grew up with a clear sense that alcohol is dangerous and to be avoided....
Friends: Sustaining relationships that challenge and affirm
"What people find out in time” writes Meg Greenfield, “is that the false self they are inhabiting isn’t much of a friend after all. Nor is it any great shakes as a refuge or consolation....
Confirming Erik: The gift of hospice care
There was nothing particularly unusual or newsworthy about my father-in-law’s death at age 84....
Melancholy leaders: Strength through suffering
What prompts our fascination with Lincoln? Perhaps it is our frustration with the quality of current politicians....
Job description: A purpose for the ordained pastor
Does life have any direction or purpose, any telos?...
Secret of Nyamirambo: A haven in Rwanda
Visiting the National Genocide Memorial in Kigali, Rwanda, was overwhelming. It is the grave of 250,000 people killed in the 1994 genocide....
Win-win situation: Speed and excellence
I had just shown a group of pastors and laity a scene from the movie Chariots of Fire. Christian missionary and runner Eric Liddell says about his running and his God, "To win is to honor him." A man in the group responded, “I don’t believe that line comes from Liddell. It’s pure Hollywood. It is out of character for Liddell to be so focused on winning.” Is winning compatible with the Christian faith? What are the criteria by which we measure "winning"?
Think big: Our dreams are too small
"Make no little plans,” wrote 19th-century architect Daniel Burnham. “They have no magic to stir humanity’s blood and probably themselves will not be realized.”
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Ordinary beauty: Everyday blessings
Calvin says somewhere that each of us is an actor on a stage and God is the audience....
Speech lessons: A richer repertoire of Christian practice
Two messages arrived on the same day, each one from a talented young adult concerned about how best to use Christian language....