http://www.isnare.com/?s=author&a=Brian+Jones Religion Brian Jones Thu, 29 Sep 2005 00:00:00 -0700 http://www.isnare.com/?aid=12892&ca=Religion At first glance you’d probably think I’m resistant to change. I don’t drink Starbucks coffee. I not a big Abercrombie and Fitch fan. I’m still not used to women having tattoos. I’m not getting an earring any time soon. The Palm Pilot craze has passed me by. I can’t take pictures with my cell phone a... Religion Brian Jones Thu, 29 Sep 2005 00:00:00 -0700 http://www.isnare.com/?aid=12893&ca=Religion In the past 14 years I’ve rubbed shoulders with more ministers than I can remember. I’ve talked with ministers of large churches, small churches, and every size in between. I’ve hung out with black ministers, Hispanic ministers, Episcopal ministers, Republican ministers, and yes, to my shame, even m... Religion Brian Jones Thu, 29 Sep 2005 00:00:00 -0700 http://www.isnare.com/?aid=12894&ca=Religion During my first year of college a life-long family friend and mentor tragically lost his son. Separated by distance, I assumed that his Christian friends, the staff at his church, and his Sunday school class would step in and wrap their arms around him and his wife. Needless to say I was surprised,... Religion Brian Jones Thu, 29 Sep 2005 00:00:00 -0700 http://www.isnare.com/?aid=12895&ca=Religion The first church I ever served was located in an extremely small town in Eastern Kentucky. There wasn’t even a stop-light at the time. The church was full of wonderful farmers, which was ironic, because the only time I had ever been to a farm up until that time was on school field trips. On one occa... Religion Brian Jones Thu, 29 Sep 2005 00:00:00 -0700 http://www.isnare.com/?aid=12896&ca=Religion Five years ago my family and I started a new church in the suburbs of Philadelphia. When we arrived I wanted the first dollar our church spent to make a statement about the kind of church we were going to become. So I took every penny we had in our church’s checking account, which wasn’t much, and b... Religion Brian Jones Tue, 27 Sep 2005 00:00:00 -0700 http://www.isnare.com/?aid=12632&ca=Religion Recently I spent the day reflecting on my fumbling attempts to lead our church in growth. To say that I’ve felt unprepared for my current assignment is an understatement... the Three Stooges meet Forrest Gump strikes me as a more accurate picture. While my initial list filled three pages, here are f... Religion Brian Jones Tue, 27 Sep 2005 00:00:00 -0700 http://www.isnare.com/?aid=12633&ca=Religion In a letter historians call “The Epistle To Diognetus,” an unknown second century disciple wrote to a skeptic named Diognetus to answer his questions about this strange new religion called “Christianity.” The opening lines of his letter capture what people must have found so appealing about follower... Religion Brian Jones Tue, 27 Sep 2005 00:00:00 -0700 http://www.isnare.com/?aid=12634&ca=Religion Once upon a time there was a young man who felt called to become a Pastor. He went to a Christian college where they taught him many wonderful things...how to love people and teach the Bible and win people to Jesus. But when he entered his first church he realized there was a big difference between... Religion Brian Jones Tue, 27 Sep 2005 00:00:00 -0700 http://www.isnare.com/?aid=12635&ca=Religion When I entered junior high I quickly set two goals for my seventh grade year: First, to get Kacey Gire to kiss me; and Second, to keep my friend Eric Green and myself out of the hospital. Every morning as Eric and I walked to the Rosemore Junior High School we were forced to walk past a group of guy... Religion Brian Jones Tue, 27 Sep 2005 00:00:00 -0700 http://www.isnare.com/?aid=12636&ca=Religion Eleven years ago I had just graduated from Princeton Theological Seminary and the Senior Minister I was serving with encouraged me to write a letter to the editor of the local newspaper. A radical group of New Testament scholars, operating under the title The Jesus Seminar, had come to town for one...