Books and Blogs by David W. Jones
In multiple spaces and places, Bible writers assert that our spiritual troubles arise from our lack of attentiveness in our daily lives, following our patterns paying very little attention to the moments before us.
There are quotes from scriptures: Proverbs 6:9, How long will you lie there, O lazybones? When will you rise from your sleep? There is also Ephesians 5:14,Sleeper, awake! Rise from the dead… Continue reading “Wake Up!”
A king gave one of his servants a challenge, he said, “Go and find a ring that will make a happy person sad and a sad person happy.” The servant searched the jewelers and merchants in every surrounding village and kingdom, and then he returned years later.
The king asked, “You’ve found a ring that can make a sad person happy and a happy person sad?”
The servant nodded and gave the ring to the king who looked at it closely then said to his servant, “Well done. Surely, this is a ring that can make a sad person happy and a happy person sad.”
The inscription inside the ring was, “For the moment…”
Matthew 18: At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” 2 He called a child, whom he put among them, 3 and said, “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5 Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.
When I forget the distinct personality, the particular possibility and potential each person has, my children remind me, like when my son, Nathan, showed me the possibilities of a trashcan when seen through his eyes. Continue reading “The Potential of Imagination”
The story of the Garden of Eden in Genesis has always raised a lot of questions for me. The encounter at the tree begins like this in chapter 3: Now the serpent was more crafty than any other wild animal that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God say, ‘You shall not eat from any tree in the garden’?” 2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden; 3 but God said…
The two questions I have at the outset of the story are: 1. Where is God? 2. Why don’t they go looking for God to find out the answer to their questions instead of just talking to the serpent? It’s often said that this is the beginning of Theology, talking about God but not to God. It doesn’t go well for Adam and Eve, instead of searching for God before the end of the chapter they’ll be doing their best to hide by camouflaging themselves into their surroundings. Hide and seek, sin style. Continue reading “Does God Play Hide and Seek?”
To help you understand the premarital work I do with couples before they get married, I need you to watch this piece by one of America’s best theologians, George Carlin. Sure, Germany had Karl Barth, Geneva had John Calvin, Americans have had George Carlin. Makes a lot of sense to me. In this brief set, Carlin will clarify the differences between to two sports, and I help relate to marriage. Continue reading “Marriage is Like Football”
Jesus was asked, “Who is my neighbor?” and he replied with this famous story in Luke 10,
30 “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32 So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan while traveling came near him; and when he saw him, he was moved with pity. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, having poured oil and wine on them. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two denarii,[b] gave them to the innkeeper, and said, ‘Take care of him; and when I come back, I will repay you whatever more you spend.’ 36 Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?”
While the Samaritan has been called ‘good’ while we’ve looked down on the priest and Levite for two thousand years, I’d like to offer them a little sympathy. By nature of their roles as a priest and Levite, they had somewhere to go. They were likely in a hurry. Continue reading “Slow Down to See Your Neighbor”
The Bible has a lot of paradoxical statements, die to live, lose to win, and then there is this one from Paul, “When I am weak, I am strong.” It’s a tough workout to practice, make yourself weaker to become more powerful. Here are Paul’s words of encouragement to the church in Corinth. He begins by sharing about his own struggles and praying three times for relief then opens up to what he learned from the process. Continue reading “Live Your Moments: Don’t Be Stronger Than You Need to Be”
As the New Year begins, if you’re already dreading breaking your resolutions, perhaps you need a different approach, an easier path toward becoming the person you want to be – act like you’ve already achieved it. Continue reading “Fake it Until You Become It”
A friend and I were discussing our favorite writers, those who offered an amazing phrase, art in a sentence. After discussing our mutual admiration for Norman McClean’s masterful, A River Runs Through It, he suggested I read Wallace Stegner starting with Angle of Repose. When I got the novel, I didn’t have time to start the book, but I did want to know what words he chose for his beginning. I opened the cover and read the dedication, For my son, Page. My response was, “Really, you’re an author, and you name your son, Page?” I was stuck. I did move on, and so far, Stegner has delivered as my friend promised. My fixation on first words did lead me to pick my top five first lines of novels, though my list is subject to change without notice.
Continue reading “Great First Lines or “This is just the beginning…””
The path of least resistance in our house is to the couch and turning on the television.
“What do you want to do?” one of us will ask.
“I don’t know, what do you want to do?” we live forty minutes from the glory of the beach and the wondrous Atlantic, but after a reflective pause, someone says, “Want to watch tv.”
We watch television together, on the same couch, in front of the same set, speechless during and after. The television does the work for us. The adventures and the dialogue are all set out before us. Little is required. The greatest distance crossed is to get some popcorn if we can agree on a show and a snack.
We are losing the power of words shared, of life expressed. Books, especially poetry, are often life giving when shared together. My favorite example is from D.C. Berry,
My favorite Pat McLaughlin quotes…
When asked to sing at church, “I don’t know any sacred songs. Well… perhaps they’re all sacred songs.”
After I finished worship, “That’s the best #*^##* sermon I ever heard.”
This song is not a carol, and it won’t ever be in a hymnbook, but it brings me joy inside. Shouldn’t all Christmas gifts bring us joy inside? With that intention, have a Funky Christmas.
Don’t know what to get your music lover for Christmas? Support quality song writing in Nashville and have yourself a funky Christmas. http://www.patmclaughlin.com/
I grew up in a textile mill neighborhood in South Carolina where the language we spoke was far from prose, yet it had a poetic cadence and was often quite colorful. Returning to my roots, here is my retelling of Saul’s conversion in Acts chapter nine.
There once a fellow named Saul. He was going about, hounding all of Jesus’ followers in the early church, throwing them in jail as the lawbreakers he thought they were. He’d even promote a lynching or stoning if there wasn’t a prison close by. Saul believed in God, and in a way that the confident often are, he was certain he was carrying out God’s will by preserving the right, the true, the holy tradition.
The risen Jesus was getting tired of Saul’s shenanigans. While on the road to a place called Damascus, Jesus caught up with Saul and smacked him to the ground. Jesus appeared in a blinding light, the kind of light you go toward when you’re dying but don’t want to see until then. Then Jesus spoke, “Saul, what the hell are you doing? Why are you being such a pain in my backside?”
Saul didn’t have any idea who would smack him down in such a way and then accuse him of doing wrong when he was so sure he had been in the right persecuting all of the followers of Jesus and shutting that movement down before it could get going good.
Saul asked, “Who is this?” Continue reading “Seek Don’t Get Stuck”
Here is a wonderfully creative take on that popular question, “What Would Jesus Do?” by an artist better known for his movies like Dumb and Dumber, but he’s no shabby guitar player and these lyrics are not only, not stupid, they are quite wise…
As you’re thinking about New Year’s Resolutions, or avoiding making any resolutions at all, I challenge you to take this question a bit further. “What would Jesus do?” is a challenge, especially since we have no record of Jesus stuck in a traffic jam or trying to help their child with calculus or chemistry. So, a more helpful and more applicable question is, “What would Jesus have me do?”
You are the only you. You are a character like you in all of God’s story throughout history. Jesus was one in a billion, Messiah, Christ, Emmanuel, but so are you. You are also one in a billion. No one else has been you in all of history. How you live out your story has some particular challenges that you must face. “What would Jesus have me do?” is a better compass. If we all gave that question a little more consideration, not only would 2016 be a better year, but the world would be a better place for all God’s children to develop their characters in God’s story.
When I need to be reminded what Christmas is all about, I look to the kid with the blanket…
Even as a professional Christian for three decades, I still find it difficult to feel spiritual on demand – especially at Christmas. I find it just as difficult to feel tidings of comfort and joy in December even if it is the hap-happiest season of all. Perhaps my heart just won’t settle for tinsel when I need something more along the lines of silver, or even better, gold, frankincense, or myrrh. Fortunately, God seems to work not because of me but in spite of me (or sometimes even to spite me). For my reorientation, God sends the wise ones to point beyond my melancholy to the holy. When the carols won’t cut it, and even the prophets fall shy, I look to the poets. Maya Angelou reorients my heart for a greater peace on earth than a simple silent night. Continue reading “Amazing Peace”
In the theater to the right, where would you place the following?
Preacher
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”
In 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!”
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.
Each Sunday, across the world, people gather around the world and sing songs to God. Do you think God enjoys all those songs? Is our singling like radio to God? If so, why do we all sing at the same time?
If God really enjoys our music, why don’t we spread out the singing? Continue reading “Own a Sunday Song”
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?”
