by jakeowensby | Oct 21, 2021 | Mark 10:46-52
Several of my friends in long-term recovery have harrowing stories about hitting bottom. They lost a job or a spouse. A DWI landed them in jail. Their children, their parents, and their friends wouldn’t speak to them anymore. An overdose or liver disease nearly killed...
by jakeowensby | Jul 9, 2021 | Uncategorized
Jason Reynolds noticed something about young people. Especially young boys. They hate reading books. At least, they think that they hate books. His insight was that they don’t actually detest reading. They just don’t like being bored. The problem, he realized, was...
by jakeowensby | Jan 15, 2021 | John 1:43-51
“Before the truth sets you free, it tends to make you miserable.” This is Richard Rohr’s amplification of Jesus’s famous teaching: the truth will set you free. (Falling Upward, p. 74; John 8:32) What I take Rohr—and more basically Jesus—to be saying is something like...
by jakeowensby | Sep 25, 2020 | grace, Matthew 21:23-32
The term “crisis fatigue” entered my vocabulary in 2020. Strictly speaking, it’s not an officially recognized psychological disorder. At least, not yet. But social scientists tell us that people are experiencing it. Lots of people. Confronted by a relentless barrage...
by jakeowensby | Jun 19, 2020 | Matthew 10:24-39
Love is powerful. And complicated. And messy. In the British crime series “River,” Detective John River puts it this way: “There should be more than one word for love. I’ve seen love that kills, and I’ve seen love that redeems. I’ve seen love that...
