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FINDING HOME Uncategorized

FINDING HOME

From the timeless classic, Wizard of Oz, to Disney's latest blockbuster, Finding Dory, the last century of Hollywood productions agree there's no place like home. The longing for home is so universal there's even a special word for it – “homesick.” Summer camp for elementary-aged campers can be a sweet and sour kind of experience. I asked one of the directors how the kids were doing. "Fantastic, except for a few cases of near-terminal homesickness." No Place Like Home Home is the place where you can be you. A kick-your-shoes-off-and-relax kind of place. Its this longing for home that helped us shape the DNA of North Pointe Community Church. When we opened our doors on Sunday July 16, 2006 we…
Bob Jones
July 20, 2016
WHEN TROUBLES FALL LIKE LEMON DROPS Uncategorized

WHEN TROUBLES FALL LIKE LEMON DROPS

When life hands you a bucket of lemons you can either become bitter or make lots of lemonade. Ruth Johnstone has been pouring lots of glasses of the latter to thirsty travelers. She's accumulated awesome insights to the amazing abundance of potential that is in each of us, to rise above the ashes of our circumstances. When Troubles Fall Like Lemon Drops is Ruth's account of the sixteen year process of learning and understanding what was happening to her husband, Steve a victim of Lewy Body Dementia (LBD) - a subtle, invisible presence that showed up like a thief in the night. I met Steve Johnstone in 1982 at the prime of his career when we worked in neighboring churches…
Bob Jones
July 13, 2016
HUMANS OF NORTH POINTE Uncategorized

HUMANS OF NORTH POINTE

The most famous photograph from Brandon Stanton’s book, Humans of New York: Stories is of a boy in an open black bubble jacket. The world learned that the most influential person in Vidal’s life was Nadia Lopez, his principal at Mott Hall. A feature on Lopez’s devotion to her students yielded Vidal and Lopez a meeting with President Obama, in the Oval Office. This series of events - from photograph to popular phenomenon - is in many ways a perfect realization of the ethos of stories. Everybody's Got A Story Like New York, there's a ton of great stories at North Pointe. The stories are too wonderful to keep to ourselves. Combine the stories with the skilled photographers in the…
Bob Jones
July 10, 2016
WHY WE MUST REMEMBER ELIE WIESEL Uncategorized

WHY WE MUST REMEMBER ELIE WIESEL

In the aftermath of the Holocaust, at a time when the world could not bear to remember, he could not bear to forget. Elie Wiesel, Holocaust survivor and Nobel laureate was described as one who "...gave voice to those who had been silenced forever and devoted his life to fulfilling the promise of 'never again' for all future victims of genocide." The closest I got to Elie Wiesel was in Jerusalem at the Holocaust Memorial Center in February 2015. The Center showcases thousands of binders of testimony, testimony which fills over 2.2 million pages - stories of Jews murdered by the Nazis. Wiesel's story is one of the rare survivors. My time at the Memorial Centre was numbing. Story after story…
Bob Jones
July 3, 2016
FREE STATE OF JONES Uncategorized

FREE STATE OF JONES

Matthew McConaughey (center) and Mahershala Ali (center left) star in THE FREE STATE OF JONES The credits rolled and we couldn't move. It wasn't that the 139 minute film had left us in want of fresh air but actually wanting more. Free State of Jones is the best Civil War-era film I've ever seen and it ended far too soon. Civil War Infatuation It was 1965 and our family was heading out of Ontario on a spring break holiday to South Carolina. It was the centennial of the end of the Civil War and what I saw started an infatuation with the "Blues and Greys," the "Stars and Bars," the folklore of General Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, J.E.B. Stuart,…
Bob Jones
June 29, 2016
FIRST RESPONDERS: THE HIDDEN SCARS Uncategorized

FIRST RESPONDERS: THE HIDDEN SCARS

As an Emergency Medical Technician, Nadeen LaBoucane belongs to an elite cadre known as "first responders." She's proud of the role she fills. While saving lives is all in a day's work for her, years of accumulated stress nearly came at the expense of her own life. Spiritual IV I met Nadeen at North Pointe in 2015 when she came looking for what we would later call "spiritual IV."  Nadeen shared how she'd served in the emergency medical field for twenty one years as an EMT and most recently as a dispatcher. “I loved being out there helping people. I have to admit, I was a little bit of an adrenaline junkie as well.” But when she suffered a serious…
Bob Jones
June 26, 2016
CHRISTINA GRIMMIE / BOB DIXON / FOREVER Uncategorized

CHRISTINA GRIMMIE / BOB DIXON / FOREVER

He loved music. She was a singer. He listened to YouTube. She went viral on YouTube. His music made him feel happy. Her music made others happy. They were generations apart and lived in two different countries but they are now sharing heaven together. Christina, Bob and Eternity I was numbed by both of their deaths. Christina Grimmie was 23 years young when her life was taken by a murderer's bullets. She was gunned down while signing autographs after her Orlando concert on June 10th. Grimmie was a rising star made famous by her exceptional vocal talent and her genuine love for her raving fans. I learned about her murder from a distance and was deeply saddened by her senseless…
Bob Jones
June 22, 2016
GOOD NEWS IN THE MIDDLE EAST Uncategorized

GOOD NEWS IN THE MIDDLE EAST

Welcome to the Middle East. All the news isn't bad. Muslims all over the region are coming to faith in Christ. What’s more, they’re willing to suffer persecution for Jesus in part because they see the redemption of other Muslims and want to be faithful in sharing the good news of Jesus. ISIS and Genocide Terrorists of the Islamic State are enslaving, starving, beheading and crucifying Christians in Syria and Iraq and trying to forcibly convert them to Islam. The number of Christians in Syria has dropped from 1.25 million to 500,000 in recent years, according to analyses by Alliance Defending Freedom. The number of Christians in Iraq has dropped from 1.4 million to fewer than 275,000 in recent years.…
Bob Jones
June 19, 2016
LIFE OF DAD Uncategorized

LIFE OF DAD

I discovered a site in my research about Dads that I think you'll like, even if you're not a Dad. Its not a religious site but as a pastor I think its got a lot of value for the dads I know, including my two sons. Life of Dad began in 2008 as daily updates on Tommy Riles's sweet daughter Bab’s health.  Babs was born with a heart defect, and battled through life-saving surgery at just 3 days old. Tommy works on the “Ellen DeGeneres Show” as her audience warm-up comic. Here is his first ever post, written when Babs was just 1 day old. Since then Life of Dad has become one of the coolest destination for dads on…
Bob Jones
June 18, 2016
8 COOL BOOKS FOR THE SUMMER Uncategorized

8 COOL BOOKS FOR THE SUMMER

Reading is one of the most powerful ways you can better yourself and your life...unless you have some munchkins underfoot. I asked some friends for their summer reading recommendations. My favorite response was a FB message from Christa Gagnon (she gave me permission to post.)As you can see, my Top Ten is down to eight, but they're great recommendations.  Ironically, the eight responses are from people with lots of books and no little children in their homes. Kathy Fowler knows my reading is typically serious, non-fiction. No regrets after following Kathy's suggestion on this page turner of a novel: "ALL THE LIGHT WE CANNOT SEE" - by Anthony Doerr - A Pulitzer Prize winner about a blind French girl and…
Bob Jones
June 15, 2016