Author of brand new book, Fully Beloved, on God's triune, life-giving love | Pastor | Former Visiting Scholar, Princeton Seminary | Speaker-Teacher-Writer
White House, Tenn
Joined April 2013
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Timothy Jones retweeted
“Just as nearly every letter of Paul begins with thanks, so Blumhardt too in his prayers is always full of praise and thanks. For there is nothing that can lighten our hearts like giving thanks. In giving thanks we are positive; in the face of thanks everything negative and contrary disappears.” —Eugen Jäckh
plough.com/articles/prayers-…
Timothy Jones retweeted
Honored by these kind words from @KSPrior regarding The Crystal Hand, which will publish in December from the wonderful @WisebloodBooks.
Today's a great day to order a copy or two in time for holiday gifts!
Timothy Jones retweeted
A Morning Prayer for the Small Labors of this Day:
("Prayers for the Pilgrimage" via @ivpress)
Timothy Jones retweeted
Visio Divina offered this morning before my “Jacob’s Ladder” painting at @CapTurnaround #grateful
Timothy Jones retweeted
I am happy to hear that This year’s @templeton_fdn Prize goes to Dr Simon Conway Morris of @Cambridge_Uni for his outstanding research into Evolutionary Palaeobiology.
When I was at @BucknellU I studied Stephen Jay Gould’s view on “Cambrian explosion”. Dr Gould came to campus to lecture and I was in the room.
Later when I became a follower of Christ, I had to reconcile Dr Gould’s views with my new faith. I’ve even wrote essays on this wrestling (with Darwinian view in the back mirror). Dr. Morris’s work and data makes theistic view more plausible, countering Dr Gould’s perspective. Grateful that scientific view can align with and even complement Biblical understanding of Creation.
@iamculturecare
Timothy Jones retweeted
Having worked with artists over the past thirty years, this continues to be the one constant.
wdavidotaylor.substack.com/p…
Timothy Jones retweeted
C.S. Lewis wrote one last book before his death — Letters to Malcolm: twenty-two letters between fictitious correspondents, all on the topic of prayer in our lives!
I’m currently reading them and they are, like so much of Lewis’ work, stunning, fresh and relevant.
Timothy Jones retweeted
If there’s one sentence from Fully Beloved I hope readers remember, it’s this:
“Talk of the Trinity, I’m becoming convinced, will warm our times with God, not complicate them.”
The Trinity isn’t simply something to understand.
It’s an invitation to experience God’s relational love more deeply.
@therabbitroom @wdavidotaylor
Timothy Jones retweeted
Incline your ear, O Lord, and answer me,
for I am poor and needy.
Preserve my life, for I am devoted to you;
save your servant who trusts in you...
be gracious to me, O Lord...,
Gladden the soul of your servant,
for to you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.
Psalm 86
Timothy Jones retweeted
I buy a lot of books, but they tend to circle around a few core ideas: myth, wonder, beauty, apprenticeship to Jesus, Middle-earth and of course anything from Tolkien and Lewis.
I used to see books mainly as a vehicle for information and learning, now I see them more as logs on the fire of my own heart and affections, gifts to expand my love of Jesus and bring me deeper into the wild beauty of this life and this world that I get a few short years to experience.
Timothy Jones retweeted
A Morning Prayer via "The Rhythm of Life":
“Lord, be with us to guide us,
within us to strengthen us,
without us to protect us,
above us to raise us,
beneath us to uphold us,
before us to lead us,
behind us to guard us,
ever about us
this day and evermore
this day and evermore."
Timothy Jones retweeted
I’m so pleased to announce the forthcoming publication of my next book, The Crystal Hand! It will ship in December.
Pre-order today to get some very fun extras.
Don't take Wiseblood's word for it. @pauljpastor's new words are worth waiting for with eager anticipation. Preorder a copy or two of The Crystal Hand and you'll find other perks in your mailbox come December (see link in first comment below).
"Paul Pastor's The Crystal Hand brings him into the forefront of American poets writing in the tradition of Herbert and Hopkins. Nonetheless, this book is quintessentially American, even Emersonian as experiences with nature spur intense religious meditation. Pastor's wit and whimsy also help to keep his readers coming back for more."
-@amjuster
"Paul J. Pastor's poems wrap around my imagination as neighborly, truth-bearing quilts. They are underground maps of measured words to nurture the breath of our dreams."
-@iamfujimura
"Many of Paul J. Pastor's poems have something of the riddle about them, offer something of the riddle's delights. Suffused with the light of faith in the good and the durable, they revel in paradox, bristle with dark sayings. Impeccably crafted, even sleek, they surprise us with their weight. Like the "Filet Knife" whose metal Pastor describes as "so flexible and keen," his wise verses owe their "sharpness to a stone"-the stone of hard thought and experience."
-@BorisDralyuk
"The poems in Paul Pastor's new collection are dexterous in execution and crystalline in form."
-Amit Majmudar
Timothy Jones retweeted
Little pilgrimage to Hatchard’s on Piccadilly, which somehow I’d never been to.
Timothy Jones retweeted
“I don’t want to state the obvious, but I think I must. Anyone wishing to work ‘from life’ in their writing must reckon with the juggler’s dilemma. Where do we look?”
Glad to share this feature essay, “Juggling Jack Kerouac,” from the latest issue of @DappledThings1 …
Timothy Jones retweeted
I love what my pastor said this morning about one of many benefits to the congregation reciting the Nicene Creed immediately following the sermon. “If I get something wrong, it always gets it right.” We chuckled but we also knew he was serious. It’s a valid point. A straight arrow that never misses the mark.
I see tremendous value in a congregation reciting the creed, whatever the denomination. It gives us language to articulate what we believe. I wouldn’t argue with anyone over it. A lot of people feel differently. But I do think we’d be surprised to know how many faithful followers of Jesus have never learned how to tell an inquirer what they believe. I’m not thinking they should go off reciting it although I’d probably like it. :) But they’d be able to convey those primary tenants of our faith in their own words.
I never get over the wonder of this story God invited us into in Christ.
Timothy Jones retweeted
I was very honored to write this piece for @Plough considering Bonhoeffer’s unfinished essay “Protestantism without Reformation” and his assessment of American Christianity.
“In America, Bonhoeffer found a people that treasured freedom above all else and mentioned it as often as possible. The tragedy of the American church, Bonhoeffer determined, was that it did not know what true freedom was.” @AmyMantravadi
plough.com/articles/bonhoeff…
Timothy Jones retweeted
Display of illuminated manuscripts and materials while viewing Fra Angelico at San Marco was such a delight. Same materials used in #Nihonga. @MakotoFujimura @AcademyKintsugi
Timothy Jones retweeted
The little book of Ruth is packed with Hebrew treasures. Here are five of my favorites.
1. Chesed (חסד): Steadfast Love
When Naomi blesses Ruth and Orpah, she prays that the Lord will show them chesed (Ruth 1:8). No single English word captures its richness. It is steadfast love, covenant faithfulness, mercy, and loving-kindness all wrapped into one. Ultimately, chesed is what God demonstrates in Christ, who is the Father's steadfast love made flesh.
2. Marar (מרר): Bitterness
After losing her husband and sons, Naomi says, "Don't call me Naomi [Pleasant]. Call me Mara [Bitter]" (Ruth 1:20). She doesn't hide her pain behind clichés. She laments honestly before God. The Lord who heard Naomi's bitter cries also hears ours.
3. Nakar (נכר): Noticing the Unnoticed
Ruth asks Boaz, "Why have you taken notice of me, since I am a foreigner?" (Ruth 2:10). In Hebrew, there's a beautiful wordplay. Boaz nakar [נָכַר] the nokri [נָכְרִי]. He notices the unnoticed. That's exactly what our Redeemer does. He sees those the world overlooks.
4. Kanaf (כנף): Spread Your Wing
When Ruth asks Boaz to "spread [his] wing" over her (Ruth 3:9), she's asking him to marry her. The kanaf is both a wing and the corner of a garment. Her bold request points us to Christ, our Redeemer, under whose wings we find refuge, and as his bride, the church, we live.
5. Go'el (גאל): Redeemer
Boaz is Ruth's go'el, her kinsman-redeemer. A go'el was a close relative who stepped in to rescue, protect, restore, or redeem a family member in need. Boaz fulfills that role for Ruth, but in doing so he also points beyond himself to Jesus, our true Go'el. Christ has redeemed us, not with silver or gold, but with his own blood, making us part of his family forever.
Ruth is more than a love story. It's a story of chesed, honest lament, surprising grace, bold faith, and the Go'el whose redeeming grace reaches all the way to us.
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For more reflections on Hebrew words, see my devotional, Unveiling Mercy: 365 Daily Devotions Based on Insights from Old Testament Hebrew, a.co/d/0g5jyywr
