Thinking Critically . . . Acting Faithfully
Bill Jones muses about Baptists, faith, ethics, justice, politics . . . and more
Personal reflections and musings
As I watched the continuing Presidential Election 2020 saga Wednesday evening, I heard one network anchor declare that former Vice-President Joe Biden, with 253 electoral votes (at that point) awarded by some networks and 264 by others, was “standing on the doorstep of the White House.” At that moment, something occurred to me that I Read more . . .
When I woke up this morning, I had no plans to write a blog post today. Then I went to Sunday School (via Zoom) and heard one of our Wilshire pastoral residents, Ashley Robinson, share about the saints in her life on this All Saints Sunday. After Sunday School, Joanna and I went to worship Read more . . .
I was barely into my sophomore year at Oklahoma Baptist University in Shawnee, Oklahoma. It was a Monday, the middle of the afternoon, as I recall. I really don’t remember much before or during the tornado, except that it was unusually dark for an October afternoon; there was no light streaming through the windows of Read more . . .
EDITOR’S NOTE: George Mason preached this sermon on July 4, 2004, which was the first time Joanna and I visited Wilshire Baptist Church (we became members soon after). I recently came across this sermon (I had copied it off the Wilshire Web site that summer of 2004 and put it on a CD), listened to Read more . . .
In only three days since Babs Baugh’s passing, I’ve already read at least a half-dozen articles paying tribute to her life, and I know there will be many more to come. No one person can adequately tell the story of a life so very well-lived, a life that touched so many people. So we each tell Read more . . .
Ten years ago this week, my life – at least my career path – changed dramatically. A 20-year career as a technical writer/editor in the corporate world came to a sudden and surprising end. I had been “laid off” (corporate-speak for “fired”; I’ve never been “laid back on” after being “laid off”) several times in Read more . . .
Richard and Marilyn Douglass were murdered on the evening of October 15, 1979 – 40 years ago yesterday – so last night I watched my DVD of Heaven’s Rain, the movie that their son Brooks produced as a tribute to his parents. It’s a powerfully inspiring – and disturbing – movie, and I highly recommend Read more . . .
(You can find additional photos posted to Joyce Stuermer Facebook page.) This is the first post to a Facebook page I’ve created in collaboration with Del Sutton – going live today, Sept. 9, 2019 – to pay tribute to the life and legacy of Joyce Stuermer. Joyce, who passed away in October 2012, shortly after Read more . . .
Fifty years ago this week, I entered Oklahoma Baptist University as a freshman. To this day, there is no place I feel such a peace – a closeness to God – as I do on the rare occasions I return to Bison Hill. The reason is not a mystery . . . it’s simple . Read more . . .
(Click here to go to my Apollo 11 YouTube channel.) I was 6-1/2 years old on that evening in October 1957, when my parents, my sister, and I went out into our side yard and looked up to view the USSR’s Sputnik I shooting across the night sky. The “Space Race” was on! Growing up Read more . . .