From The Mission Society Blog...

By -
Some thoughts shared:

The Mission Society Blog

jon

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

I Never Met Jesus…

By -
Sounds like an odd confession coming from this disciple, pastor, missionary guy, but stay with me…. The lady is an amazing woman who has affected my life in profound ways. I have watched her and learned from her. She has molded me and shaped me in many ways. I listened to her as she told stories, as she conversed with others, as she spoke in gentle whispers and in those rare occasions when deep anger rose to the surface. I followed her at times through great crowds of people…and sat near her around tables, on beaches and in cars. Her songs lulled me sleep…her voice called me to life in the mornings. However, the curious thing is that I never ‘met’ this woman—Mom was just always there. Having grown up in the Church and in a Christian home, Jesus was just always there. From the Bible stories that my parents read to me at night…to the prayers around the table at meal-times…to the Bibles that seemed to form a part of my parents’ accoutrements—Jesus was just always there, simply part of the...
Read more

“Where are You From?”—My Cultural-Linguistic Journey

By -
Image
  “Where are you from?” Few questions illicit as much anxiety as this one. At times, I even avoid meeting new people just to side-step this question. “Where are you from?”—seems like such an easy question that should have such an easy answer. For me and others like me, not so. I am a part of that anomalous group of people called “Third Culture Kids”—those who are born in one culture, raised in another, and never completely ‘at home’ anywhere—and often multilingual in some sense or another. Here is my journey…. [In a rich southern drawl] I was born in south Alabama…way down south where the peanut and cotton fields fill the landscape. I came into that world in the mid-60’s…long before cable TV, central a/c, cell phones, and anything akin to ‘urban sprawl.’ My daddy was the Baptist preacher at a small and growin’ church outside of Dothan, Alabama…that’s ‘Dothan’ – “DOOOE-thun.” My momma, a school teacher, and daddy raised my two older brothers and me in a good Southern home. My f...
Read more

How to Joyfully Survive an ‘Economic Down-Turn’ (or Recession, Depression, etc.)

By -
Image
This idea has been swirling around inside my mind for almost two years, so I guess it’s time to put it on paper.  Now, some will say, “Why’d wait TWO years if you have the answer for us!?!?”  I don’t know.  I guess I’m busy…and perhaps a bit lazy…but more than anything,  I really wanted to turn my thoughts over and over in my mind to make sure I wasn’t telling you something misleading or incorrect.  Two years later, I believe this is a big part of the answer. The secret to joyfully surviving a recession or to living it through it basically unscathed is this:  Decide to live beneath your means. Now, the first part of that statement is SUPER important.  You (and I) must make the mental decision, must take that intellectual step.  If it’s forced on us—which is what a recession or depression may really do, then there is no joy in the living.  We find ourselves bitter, jealous, on a long-term ‘pity-pot’…if not in debt, homeless or...
Read more