Jody Vickery

My apologies for the recent absence of posts. I could give lots of excuses, but the main reason is that I am re-learning the importance of protecting time to reflect and to write. I had forgotten that a minister’s schedule is a lot like a Tetris board; oddly shaped things, Godly shaped things can stack up very quickly. God is the only being I can think of who lives heedless of the incessant sweep of a second hand. The rest of us must develop and use a schedule. Plus, we had our first grandchild. Years ago, I swore that, when the … Read more…

I love my brothers and sisters in the Lord, every one. I do. And among those with whom I am personally acquainted, I like almost all of them. Ask me why I love them and I can rattle off more reasons in three minutes than ten people’s toes and fingers. My Christian family has been good to me for over 50 years, creating in me a hunger and thirst for righteousness, instilling biblical literacy, calling me out when I needed it, holding me close when I didn’t deserve it, forgiving me when I failed, then forgiving again. And sometimes again. … Read more…

My parents are in surprisingly good shape given what they’ve been through. What they’ve been through is eight decades a piece (and dad can tack on a half-decade to that). I hope I navigate my senior years with as much grace and humor as they have. One of their secrets, besides having exceptional children, is gratitude. They get fussy now and then, of course, but that’s understandable. Lots of things hurt and those parts that aren’t in pain just don’t work near as efficiently as they used to. But in most of our conversations, they volunteer the many ways they’ve … Read more…

Some years ago a church member, clutching a wad of tissues damp with angry tears, sat silently in my office. I didn’t need a body language expert to translate the tension I saw coiled up on the couch. After a few uncomfortable moments that felt more like months, she spoke: “I don’t want to leave this church. My children grew up here. They were baptized here. We had my mom’s funeral here. But I just don’t trust the elders anymore. Or you. So, we are seriously considering going elsewhere.” For a season in my life, I certainly gave people good … Read more…

I had just finished turning the wrenches on Sunday’s sermon when news of the Oregon shooting flashed on my screen. On Thursday, October 1, a gunman walked onto the campus of Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon. In ten minutes, ten were dead, including the gunman. Nine others were wounded. Survivors report that the gunman specifically targeted Christians. Call it irony, another example of scripture’s frightening relevance, or Divine Providence, but the sermon was about how Christians respond to an unfriendly culture. While the investigation is far from over, every news outlet I have consulted has confirmed that the gunman sorted his victims … Read more…

The film 90 Minutes in Heaven has hit theaters. It’s based on the story of Pastor Don Piper who was pronounced dead after an auto accident. Piper lay under a tarp at the scene of the accident for an hour-and-a-half. During that time, Piper says, his soul was in Heaven experiencing the greatest peace and joy he has ever known. As the movie title makes clear, however, he didn’t stay there. You can read the book or see the movie and draw your own conclusions. Having done neither, I can’t really comment on the quality of the film (I hope … Read more…

When I was a child, my maternal grandmother, about whom I have written previously, would occasionally recall the seminal historical event of her lifetime — the bombing of Pearl Harbor. I’m not sure what prompted her — maybe a war movie on television or the aroma of some particular food cooking in the kitchen — but now and then she’d go back to the moment she and my grandfather heard the news. “Grover was sitting by the radio listening to his program,” she’d begin. “They came on and said the Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbor.” Mee Maw pronounced the word bombed as … Read more…

Years and years ago, at our first church, we hosted a gospel meeting. Perhaps you remember those — a week long series of evening sermons usually beginning on Sunday and lasting through Friday or, later in the shelf-life of that particular tactic, Wednesday. Our Baptist friends called them revivals. They were actually pretty effective back in the day, but then so were things like slide projectors, slide rules and pocket protectors. By the way, since we’ve moved to Huntsville and met real, live rocket scientists, I have actually seen people wearing those shirt-pocket, plastic pen holders. Anyway, we had worked really hard to … Read more…

Yesterday, I spent some time in a hospital waiting room with a new dad. His baby boy came a full month early — it was a full moon — and while the little fellow is going to be okay, the anxiety of the event combined with the lack of sleep, concerns for his wife (she’s fine, too), and the overwhelmingness of being a new dad brought him to tears. Then laughter. Then back to tears. At one point, he looked up and said, “I never realized how much God loved me until right now.” Then he started crying again. Last … Read more…