Jody Vickery

A friend once stopped by my office and handed me a bumper sticker that promoted a local Christian organization with which he was affiliated. “Here,” he said, “put one of these on your car.” I’m not a big bumper sticker kind of guy. Never have been. If you want to wallpaper the rear end of your car with a bunch of plucky witticisms that over simplify complex issues, who am I to judge? But it is a profoundly bad idea to plaster the name of your Christian organization on the bumpers of cars that are going to be piloted by … Read more…

Jesus said, “For where your treasure is there your heart will be also,” (Mt. 6:21). In the Bible, the heart is the control center for the emotions, the will, the intellect of a human being. Your heart is the place where you feel joy, sorrow, fear, courage and every other emotion. It is the place where we decide, where our choices are made. The Bible talks about laying things to heart – that is, considering them carefully. The heart can devise plans and carry them out. Heart is the Bible word for your interior life – thoughts, emotions, intellect and … Read more…

Everybody knows that Jesus has something to say about how we treat other people. Same with forgiveness, honesty and authenticity. Everybody knows that how we live morally is a part of our commitment as disciples. We don’t always succeed in submitting to his authority in those areas, but we know we should. When someone tells us that Jesus wants to talk about how we handle our money, though, we’re like, “Hold on there, Jesus. Stay in your lane.” But that IS his lane. Jesus warned about greed ten times more than he warned about sexual sin. Thinking back on all … Read more…

When we lived in Atlanta, a part of our church was made up of folks from Korea. They had their own worship service, their own culturally appropriate ways of being the Church, even their own minister. The parents of our Korean minister were quite old and spoke zero English. Yet, they maintained as many of their cultural routines as possible and one of those was coming to the church building early every morning to pray. The father, who had a heart condition, would sit in one section and the mother in another. One Monday morning I arrived to the office … Read more…

You never really know how many people you do not like or wish to forget until you try to come up with a name for a baby. Old flames are immediately eliminated even if they had really cool names like Dash or Blaire. You find a name you adore but when you run it by your spouse, he/she frowns; “Yeah, no. That was the name of a teacher who made sixth grade a living hell for me.” Even the names of respected relatives present you with untenable choices. My maternal grandfather was named Olive. Lisa’s paternal grandfather was named Volley. … Read more…

Everywhere we ever lived, my father planted a garden. And when he had the acreage for it, it was more like a G-a-r-d – BY GUM – e-n! He sowed rows and rows of corn, peas, potatoes, watermelon, cantaloupe, strawberries and tomatoes. Early on, he plowed behind a horse named Mollie. She was as enthusiastic about his passion as were his children. Which is to say not at all. Later, he bought a tractor and put Mollie out to pasture. We children, however, were irreplaceable. While Mollie peacefully grazed, we pulled weeds, hoed roes and harvested “the crop.” I think … Read more…

In the last two weeks, Manchester, Portland, London and Tehran have all witnessed deadly terrorist attacks. I have a friend, years younger than I, who is enduring chemotherapy, highly invasive surgery and a severely limited quality of life. I sat with a new couple at church last Wednesday night who told me about their developmentally disabled daughter. She lived years longer than doctors expected but not long enough for the parents who loved her. I told them about my late sister, Jean. We traded stories through tears. Many folks firmly believe that the earth is slowly but inexorably heating up … Read more…

Last week, I shared three ways to kiss regret goodbye. You can read about confession, restitution and taking God’s promises of forgiveness seriously here. But the Bible has much more to say about how to evict a past that is living rent free in your head. I hate it when authors tell me to do this, but read that last sentence again. The very fact that regret is a recurring theme in scripture suggests that you are not the first to wish you could get a do-over or two. Or three. In fact, just this week, I passed a church … Read more…

If you never lie in bed wide awake at 3:00 in the morning being emotionally water-boarded by should-haves, if-onlys and what-might-have-beens, please feel free to click on the Archives and read another post. But if you have a past that likes to hang around and remind you of how dumb or awful or gullible or sinful or reckless or destructive you were, this is for you. Regret is not just a nuisance. A mosquito buzzing in your ear is a nuisance. A rock in your sock is a nuisance. Regret is what drove King Saul insane. It nearly put Peter … Read more…

Paul wrote his letter to the Philippian church from a prison cell. He had no idea whether he was going to be exonerated or executed. He was writing to a group of people who were divided among themselves, confused by false teachers and surrounded by a culture that was hostile to their faith. Yet he repeatedly called them to be joyful. That’s weird. Your leader is in jail, your church is divided, confused and persecuted and you’re supposed to be joyful. Seriously? But this isn’t the only place in the Bible where people are called to be joyful no matter … Read more…