Author: billjones20

Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow Read more . . .

I have lived in Allen, Texas, for almost 15 years, next-door neighbor Plano for 21 years before that. This is my community. It’s where I shop, eat, get together with family and friends, and so on. On Saturday, mass shootings in America morphed from long-distance events to a tragedy played out just down the street Read more . . .

(NOTE: I posted the following to Facebook on Tuesday, February 14. I’m re-posting it here to my blog for the benefit of those of you who aren’t on Facebook or didn’t see it there.) This morning, I came across, in my files, an OBU (𝘢𝘭𝘶𝘮𝘯𝘪) Magazine whose cover read “𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗶𝘀𝘁 𝗨𝗻𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗢𝗸𝗹𝗮𝗵𝗼𝗺𝗮 . Read more . . .

(Scroll to the end for links to my previous 17 blog tributes to Joanna since her passing.) Joanna’s 20th birthday was approaching. She and I had been dating for barely 3 weeks. Her roommate, Shirley Ng, and I went to the Hallmark store in downtown Shawnee, and Shirley helped me pick out a birthday present Read more . . .

(Scroll to the end for links to my previous 16 blog tributes to Joanna since her passing.) History records that, at noon (EST) on January 20, 1973, Richard Nixon and Spiro Agnew were sworn-in for their second terms as president and vice-president. Their political “marriage” ended less than nine months later with Agnew’s resignation after Read more . . .

It was 50 years ago this week – November 20, 1972, to be precise – that I presented my senior voice recital at Oklahoma Baptist University, partially fulfilling – as stated in that evening’s program – “senior requirements for the Bachelor of Music Education degree with a major in voice.” As you all know by Read more . . .

(NOTE: This is copied from my Facebook post from earlier this month. I decided, before the month is over, to also include it in a blog post for those of you who are not on Facebook or didn’t see it there.) (Scroll to the end for links to my previous 15 blog tributes to Joanna Read more . . .

(NOTE: I delivered the following eulogy at Bob Morris’s funeral on Saturday, September 10, 2022, at Northridge Church of Christ, Shawnee, Oklahoma.) I spent 20 years as a technical writer and editor and have spent much of the rest of my various careers writing and editing – hundreds, probably thousands, of various types of documents over Read more . . .

(Scroll to the end for links to my previous 14 blog tributes to Joanna since her passing.) Joanna and I celebrated 44 wedding anniversaries before her passing in February 2021. Today is our 46th . . .  only, she is no longer here to celebrate with me. But I know she is nearby, for the Read more . . .