JONATHAN R. BAILEY

Vainglory

Vainglory is what our desire for recognition and approval looks like in a disordered state.

Jonathan R. BaileySeptember 21, 2018Vainglory

Artisans of Love

Acquiring the virtues is about growing into the kind of person who can love like God loves. It's about becoming an artisan of love.

Jonathan R. BaileySeptember 14, 2018Virtue, Apprentice

Holding Our Hurt

Can we listen to that dull ache in our lower back or those grey cloudy thoughts that keep circling around our mind.

Jonathan R. BaileySeptember 7, 2018Pain

The Shape of a Wilting Soul

Pride is the shape of a wilting soul, and the breeding-ground of all the other vices that erode the image of God inside of us.

Jonathan R. BaileyAugust 31, 2018Pride

Anguish & Pain

God will use every possible method to break our self-will and reclaim us and remake us.

Jonathan R. BaileyAugust 26, 2018Pain

Diligence

Diligence is derived from the Latin word diligere, which means to love.

Jonathan R. BaileyAugust 18, 2018Love, Diligence

Exile

Exile is separation from everything that clings to us, in order that we may cling totally to God.

Jonathan R. BaileyAugust 11, 2018

Repetition and Progression

We don't make our ascent by climbing in a single direction, we circle round and round as we scale higher and higher.

Jonathan R. BaileyAugust 4, 2018Repetition, Progression

Deepen or Derail

It’s an inescapable truth, how we respond to affliction will significantly shape the person we become.

Jonathan R. BaileyJuly 26, 2018Pain, Suffering

Growing Glory

All the conflict we feel inside our bodies will soon die away but until then what all this angst really means is that we’re cramped, glory is growing.

Jonathan R. BaileyJuly 21, 2018Glory

Becoming Like Christ

Christlike character is only something we can grow towards.

Jonathan R. BaileyJuly 14, 2018Christlikeness

Affliction and Glory

Affliction and glory are woven into the whole fabric of our lives.

Jonathan R. BaileyJuly 7, 2018Glory, Affliction

Seeking and Shaping

God created us in such a way that we would seek Him.

Jonathan R. BaileyJuly 1, 2018Seeking, Search

Apprentices Into Artisans

Jesus entered humanity to affirm, love, and train apprentices into artisans.

Jonathan R. BaileyJune 24, 2018Christlikeness, Incarnation

The Mystery of Pain

Their is a hiddenness, a deep mystery in pain and suffering.

Jonathan R. BaileyJune 14, 2018Suffering, Pain

The Unencumbered Life

This is the unencumbered life, a life that’s free from everything so that it may participate in anything.

Jonathan R. BaileyJune 10, 2018Simplicity

Spiritual Snares

A healthy death-to-self results in a deeper love and greater care for oneself.

Jonathan R. BaileyJune 3, 2018Mortification, Death-to-Self

The Shatterer and Accuser

Our adversary has us so focused on the part of us that is dust that we cannot see our own dignity.

TemptationJonathan R. BaileyMay 26, 2018Satan, Temptation

Our Scarred Captain

If we’d only substitute Jesus’ body for our spouse’s or worse—our child’s, we’d see the horror they saw.

Jonathan R. BaileyMay 19, 2018Suffering, Crucifixion

Our Ancient Foe

To understand temptation we have to probe its source, we have to drive towards the origin point.

Jonathan R. BaileyMay 12, 2018Temptation, Satan

Micro Essays