Life Formation

THE CHURCH: A FELLOWSHIP OF DIFFERENTS

Scot McKnight is a theologian and a storyteller, which makes for the best combo in communicating complex concepts. The theological term for his subject is "ecclesiology." The everyday term is "what-the-church-is-all-about." The kind of church Scot McKnight describes in A Fellowship of Differents isn’t your parent’s church or for that matter your grandparents’ church. It's way older than that, going all the way back to the New Testament. (more…)
Bob Jones
May 14, 2019
Life Stories

TWO TEARS ON THE WINDOW

Reading Kevin and Julia Garratt’s experiences in Chinese captivity left me feeling nauseous. The story of their arrest, captivity, grueling interrogations, and intense suffering over 775 days is chronicled in such a way as to create a vicarious experience. This is one book you will need to read in 2019. Whatever your circumstance, the Garratt’s vulnerability, honesty, faith, and humor will resonate with your spirit. (more…)
Bob Jones
May 14, 2019
Life Formation

MORE LESSONS FOR LEADERSHIP HOPEFULS

John Maxwell is one of the leading influencers when it comes to leadership hopefuls. He taught me about making my car a university on wheels. His idea was to use commute time as an opportunity to listen to leadership tapes. I bought in to his "Injoy Life Club" and played his tape-of-the-month every morning and evening. (more…)
Bob Jones
May 10, 2019
Life Formation

25 LESSONS FOR LEADERSHIP HOPEFULS: MAXWELL

Don and Jim, two leaders I liked and respected insisted that a 7 hour round trip to hear John Maxwell would be a great beginning for my new role as lead pastor of a large church. I had never heard of John Maxwell but once we met there was no forgetting him. That daylong seminar in Calgary, Alberta in 1994 started a decades long appreciation for his work. (more…)
Bob Jones
May 10, 2019
Life Stories

ORNAMENT: FAITH, JOY AND HOPE

Kristen Fersovitch was a 28 year-old wife and mother of three sons under the age of four, when she was diagnosed with inoperable cancer and given only months to live. Like an ornament on a beautifully decorated Christmas tree, her life went on display for all to see. (more…)
Bob Jones
May 10, 2019
Health Matters

I’M A MOM AND CANCER WON’T CHANGE THAT

The thing is, being a mom doesn’t stop for anything. Not for blizzards, not for late nights, and not for cancer. It was July 2017, and I had just gone through another round of CT scans. Checking my voicemail, I heard the familiar voice of my oncologist. “Hi, Julie,” she says in her quiet, steady voice. “I have your lab results back and I’d like to discuss them with you.” (more…)
Bob Jones
May 9, 2019
Holidays Posts

THROUGH A MOTHER’S EYES

Here’s to all the mothers who’ve endured sports they don’t enjoy (or fully understand), hard seats and dirty cleats, frozen hands and numbed cheeks, aches and pains and grassy stains, just to be with a son or daughter in the arena of competition. Mothers: they see life through biased eyes. (more…)
Bob Jones
May 8, 2019