Author Archives: LJones

Not every church family copes well with tragedy, often through no fault of its own.  Consider when Christ’s Bride made her grand entrance in Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost.  The Jerusalem church, where disciples fellowshipped, broke bread, prayed and learned … Continue reading →

Tragic Stuff In the year 2008 I experienced the most painful season to date in ministry.  For several months I had been walking with some staff members through some significant personal trials.  We were all weary, and I was convinced … Continue reading →

The thing to keep in mind when it comes to all unholy messes in the church is that they are rarely random.  Satan has a lot of faults, but authoring poor strategies is not one of them.  Nowhere is this … Continue reading →

Bad Stuff If we are in Christ, we are a part of His holy Bride, made clean by His blood.  We still sin, but when we do we are covered by grace.  The Apostle John left us these reassuring words: … Continue reading →

Stupid stuff exists in the church because we often fail to realize conflict resolution is a skill.  We are also good at over-spiritualizing events in our lives, leading us to use biblical truths and religious practices as justification for bad … Continue reading →

Stupid Stuff When people act without thinking, they can cause irreparable harm to themselves and others.  Nowhere is this truer than in the area of conflict management. Several years ago my father, who was a preaching minister, witnessed a family … Continue reading →

In a sense, the mess is purposeful.  The church has always been a place where people with problems come to find God’s grace.  Since the soul’s healing process takes time, we should not be surprised when people who worship Christ … Continue reading →

The Holy Mess The vast majority of weddings I have participated in have gone well, but I will never forget the exception.  When a staff member left a church I was serving, we failed to coordinate one of his wedding … Continue reading →

…But we know our faithfulness involves more than mere spiritual survival. We also have a mission. The Bride reflects Christ’s glory when she shares His grace with others.  In a purely human relationship a bride would not dream of sharing … Continue reading →

We certainly should not prepare by pretending to be someone we are not.  A bride wants to be beautiful on her wedding day, but she and her groom are both aware of her imperfections. He loves her anyway, and wants … Continue reading →