Author: David Jones

Audience of One

In the theater to the right, where would you place the following?

sanctuaryPreacher
Choir or Singers and Musicians
Congregation
God

The common response is to place the preacher, choir, and musicians on stage, the congregation in the audience, and God everywhere. We discuss worship as in any theater. Soren Kierkegaard challenged our thinking of worship and said that we have the audience wrong. The congregation is not the audience. God is the audience. Those who gather for worship are on stage. The preacher, singers, and musicians are all backstage prompting the congregation. It is not our pleasure which is the final judge but God’s. It is not whether or not we consider a service meaningful but whether God finds meaning in our service, in church and out, on holy days and every days. God is our audience of One. Continue reading “Audience of One”

Put Down the Phone or Remote and Pick Up a Book!

read more1In the Bible, words, especially God’s words have power. God speaks and the worlds are created,

Genesis 1: 3 Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. 4 And God saw that the light was good…

Psalm 33: 6 By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and all their host by the breath of his mouth. 9 For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm.

The gospel writer of John refers to Jesus as The Word or expression of God.

John 1: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Continue reading “Put Down the Phone or Remote and Pick Up a Book!”

Orthoducksy or Orthopraxis?

The knowledge of God is very far from the love of God. Pascal

   Orthodoxy and Orthopraxis are two distinct approaches to faith, life, and love. One is more popular and the other far more productive. Like all good paradigms, each has its own fancy Latin word.

  • Orthodoxy, or right thought, assumes that thinking comes before action, and if you think the right thoughts, accept the correct precepts, then you’ll make the right choices and do what is right. The application within the church is – believe in Christ and you’ll act like Christ.
  • Orthopraxis, or right practice, asserts that action precedes thinking, and if you do the right actions then you will think the right thoughts, and what’s more, you’ll become who you are trying to become. The application in the church is – act like Christ and not only will you believe, you will become Christ-like. Continue reading “Orthoducksy or Orthopraxis?”

Where the Wild Things Are

where-the-wild-things-are-2-1In Genesis chapter one, God creates both/ands…
God makes both light and dark and calls them “Day.” Each day has both bright and night.
God makes both land and sea as the earth.
God makes animals that are both wild and tame.
This world of both/ands, God calls, “Good.” God doesn’t say “perfect” though, in this balance there is a perfect unity of both/ands.
In this world of the tame and wild, there is a peace that can only be found outside of the walls we surround ourselves in for protection, beyond control and into the naturally ordered chaos, where the Wild Things Are.
Here are two poems that capture the essence of this wide wild world as good, among the wild things…


The Peace of Wild Things
by Wendell Berry

When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.

I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.

Wild Geese
by Mary Oliver

You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.

World Communion

Image result for communitySunday, October 7, is World Communion Sunday when we envision a table and the world that is beyond our divisions and walls that separate us as expressed by poet Jan Richardson.

AND THE TABLE WILL BE WIDE
And the table
will be wide.
And the welcome
will be wide.
And the arms
will open wide
to gather us in.
And our hearts
will open wide
to receive.
And we will come
as children who trust
there is enough.
And we will come
unhindered and free.
And our aching
will be met
with bread.
And our sorrow
will be met
with wine.
And we will open our hands
to the feast
without shame.
And we will turn
toward each other
without fear.
And we will give up
our appetite
for despair.
And we will taste
and know
of delight.
And we will become bread
for a hungering world.
And we will become drink
for those who thirst.
And the blessed
will become the blessing.
And everywhere
will be the feast.

 

 

Bible, Then or Now?

Is the Bible history? If we read the Bible with a linear sense of time past, time present, and time future, if we read the Bible looking only for words God spoke and deeds God did once upon another time, then we may miss God speaking and God acting through the scriptures today.  When we read the Bible and place it in the past alone, we may try to trap God between the covers, seeking a simple check-your-brain-at-the-door morality with definitive interpretations and implications. We may even profess, “God said it. I believe it. That settles it.”  Instead of saying like Mary and Isaiah, “Here I am,” and like Samuel, “Speak Lord, your servant is listening.” Continue reading “Bible, Then or Now?”

Live Your Moments: Attend The Important Details


To live your life fully requires paying attention to the important details. Many details are distractions, but quite a few are crucial. What’s an important detail? It’s one that affects your life and your ability to participate fully in your practices and the significant moments of each day. Perhaps no one expressed that better than Basketball Coach John Wooden of UCLA who won ten national championships.

As a successful coach, Wooden was able to recruit some of the most talented basketball players from high schools across the country, though, when they came to their first practice, the lesson they learned was not some great secret to the Wooden Program, but a simple detail to make sure they covered before stepping onto the court. Don Yaeger relates,

Continue reading “Live Your Moments: Attend The Important Details”

J.K. Rowling, Walt Disney, and Mother Teresa

   What do Walt Disney, J.K. Rowling, and Mother Teresa have in common?
   Great imaginations and transforming experiences on trains.

I have been amazed by the imagination of J.K. Rowling who envisioned such a wonderful worlds in her mind and gave us vocabulary of words like quidditch and Hogwarts. I have also been amazed by the imagination and creativity that put her stories into movies and then into rides at Universal.
Looking into her background, I found that she, Walt Disney, and Mother Teresa all had life changing experiences through visions they had on trains.
Continue reading “J.K. Rowling, Walt Disney, and Mother Teresa”

Through Your Hands

In Nashville, when we were helping a friend move, it always took one more person than any other town. Because almost everyone is musical most have a piano, and because everyone is musical, while you’re moving this heaviest of instruments, one of the movers is going to stop carrying and start playing as you strain along the sidewalk toward the U-Haul truck.

My favorite keyboardist, perhaps with the exception of when we’re helping someone move, is Jon Coleman. Jon plays with the physical energy of Jerry Lee Lewis but with more talent. He is something to hear and see. The road has taken Jon out through the states this summer, and I haven’t seen him in too long. At his last posting, he was in Fargo.

One of Jon’s friends is John Hiatt. Jon thinks so much of him that he named his son Hiatt. Because of my esteem for Jon, I started listening to and appreciating John Hiatt’s music and lyrics. Hiatt’s writing is meaningful and often mystical touching deep mythic themes of the soul which are too often lacking in Music City. One jewel that I have uncovered recently is Through Your Hands. Here are the lyrics and a link to John Hiatt singing it at the Franklin, TN Theater. It’s a fresh water spring for all of us travelers on life’s journey. Blessings on all you musicians traveling this summer…

Continue reading “Through Your Hands”

Got Enough? How Much Stuff Do You Need?

George Carlin is still one of my favorite philosophers. His reflections on STUFF inspired me when writing Enough.

As you reflection on your life and your stuff, perhaps you’ll find this first chapter from Enough – and Other Magic Words to Transform Your Life helpful on your life’s journey or at least as you clean out your garage. Continue reading “Got Enough? How Much Stuff Do You Need?”

Which is Real – Oz or Kansas?

In a lot of family vans, they have movie players so the kids can watch movies while they ride along. You can’t do that while driving, believe me… not that I’ve done it. I don’t have to. I just replay them in my mind. I have them stored, in my brain. Apparently my storage space was full by the time I was twelve because all I have in my mind is movies from childhood.
So, while driving back from Nashville to Orlando, the movie The Wizard of Oz started playing. I can’t decide on who I think is scarier Ms. Gulch on her bicycle, or the Wicked Witch. If you throw in the flying monkeys, I have to say the Wicked Witch but before that I’d say it’s a tie.
Then, because I am a preacher, I can’t just replay The Wizard of Oz in my mind, I had to consider them philosophically, “Which place is real, is it Kansas or is it Oz?”
Think about it. If you’re first thought is, ‘Of course Kansas real. Oz is made up. It’s just a story, a product of someone’s imagination. Not Kansas. I’ve been to Kansas.’ I must point out to you, in the movie Kansas is in black and white while Oz is in color.
Continue reading “Which is Real – Oz or Kansas?”

Wisdom Rocks

   A man encountered Sophia at the market selling used books. As he searched through a pile, Sophia reached below the table, pulled out an old book with a ratty cover, and when certain no one was watching, whispered, “Try this one. It is a treasure.”
   The man bought it for a few pennies, took it home, read it, and to his surprise, on the inside back cover he found scribbled in tiny letters a few sentences, a brief description, about a magic stone that could turn anything it touched into pure gold. According to the book, the stone was lying somewhere on the shore of the Black Sea among a million other pebbles that looked just like it. The one difference was that the magic stone was warm to the touch whereas all others were cold.
   The man set up a tent on the shore and went to work. Each stone he picked up, if it was cold to the touch, he threw it far into the sea so that he wouldn’t keep picking up the same stones.
   Stone after stone, he picked each up, felt it, and hurled it deep into the water. Stone after stone…
   He worked a week, a month, ten months, a whole year, patiently feeling each stone and tossing it into the sea.
   Then, one evening, he picked up a pebble, and it was warm to the touch! Through sheer force of habit, he threw it far out into the water.

In the name of God, stop a moment, cease your work, look around you.  Leo Tolstoy

Beyond Tulsa Time and Past Being a Burden

Danny Flowers has been an inspiration to me for some time. He shares part of his story in this episode of Songwriter.

Danny holds the prestige of being the only person I know who received a standing ovation in a Presbyterian Church. I think a lot of the congregation understood the story and circumstances behind Danny’s song, I Was a Burden. Here are probably the best 11 minutes you’ll spend today.

 

There You Are!

A common classification for the world’s population is that there are two types of people in the world: people who enter a room and say, “Here I am!” and people who enter a room and say, “There you are!”

In John 21, the risen Jesus comes to Peter and asks three times, “Do you love me?”

15 When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my lambs.” 16 A second time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Tend my sheep.” 17 He said to him the third time, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter felt hurt because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” And he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep. 18 Very truly, I tell you, when you were younger, you used to fasten your own belt and to go wherever you wished. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will fasten a belt around you and take you where you do not wish to go.” 19 (He said this to indicate the kind of death by which he would glorify God.) After this he said to him, “Follow me.”

read more… Continue reading “There You Are!”