Down the Road

Photographs and stories by Jim Grey

Since 2007

Tag: Christianity

  • Things I wish Christians would stop saying: “The Bible is our instruction manual”

    What do I do now? We all say this more than once in our lives, at times when we seem to have no options or when all the things we know to do aren’t working. At these times, many of us naturally seek counsel, coaching, or advice. Those of us who are Christians also turn to God…

  • Love paves the way

    Thirty years ago, my brother used to get me to go with him to the elementary school’s playground to play basketball with the gang. I was terrible at basketball and didn’t like anyone knowing it, but I was often bored enough to play anyway. The game was open to all, and when one day a group…

  • The opposite of love

    When I was young, I thought the opposite of love must be hate. This seemed obvious to my forming mind. Love is a strong emotion at one pole, and hate is an equally strong emotion at the other. But as I grew up, I started to see that the fires of love and hate need…

  • Getting the love we always wanted from the perfect parent we never had

    When we were small, our parents were godlike to us. They had all power over us. We probably thought they had all power in the world. This experience imprinted on us, and subconsciously we assume that God is like our parents. Better said, we project our parents onto God, and so expect God to treat…

  • A place to start

    This happened 25 years ago. I’ve told this story here twice before: in 2007 and 2011, but I rewrote it this time. Only the rough neighborhoods fit my budget. I’d just graduated from engineering school in Terre Haute and had landed a job in town, but times were tough and the pay was poor. On the…

  • Things I wish Christians would stop saying: “Joy means putting Jesus first, others second, and yourself last”

    I first heard this phrase when I first taught Sunday school at a particular church. A plaque on the door read “J.O.Y. Classroom.” I had to ask what J.O.Y. stood for. Outspoken Shirley, unofficial class spokesperson, shook her head at me as if I had been living under a rock since my baptism. “How have…

  • A cappella

    Yesterday’s post about Sacred Harp singing made me want to share again a couple posts from the archive about my experiences singing in harmony. I loved to do it and I miss it. A long time ago my wife and I visited a little Church of Christ in a plain building that stood on an empty…

  • Things I wish Christians would stop saying: Anything whatsoever about homosexuality

    If you are a Christian and you publicly condemn homosexuality or homosexual behavior, stop it. You’re harming the faith. You’re making Christians look like pinheads. That’s because it’s not the Christian’s job to tell the world how to live. The Christian has three major jobs: Be the conduit for God’s love into the world Introduce people…

  • A milestone in a 175-year-old church’s history

    A few years ago I wrote frequently on this blog about North Liberty Christian Church and its journey after being forced to sell its building, on land they’d occupied since 1839. At last, this congregation’s new building is complete. It was a long time coming. The backstory: in the late 1990s and early 2000s, the…

  • Things I wish Christians would stop saying: “God won’t give you more than you can handle”

    It’s meant to encourage someone going through a hard time — and I certainly support building up someone who has troubles. But saying, “God won’t give you more than you can handle,” can actually hurt and alienate people. Also, it’s utterly not true. First, God doesn’t give us hard times. Hard times come because we live…

  • Three good things

    Continuing a theme of thanksgiving, here’s a post I wrote in 2008. A couple years ago a friend sent me a link to an article (which I can’t find now) about the virtues of thinking each day of three good things that had happened. She and I decided to try it together, e-mailing each other our list of…

  • The sacrifice of thanksgiving

    I’m not by nature a happy person. That doesn’t mean I’m an unhappy person. I just don’t go around all day thinking sunshine, rainbows, and unicorns. I see the good and the bad. I’m also a bit of a type-A personality. I have a considerable internal drive to make things better and to fix what is…