Stories by Lowell Grisham

  • LOWELL GRISHAM: Being a blessed nation

    Columnist Lowell Grisham says Jesus' parable of the Good Samaritan applies to governments just as it does to individuals.

    by Lowell Grisham October 22, 2019

  • LOWELL GRISHAM: Is discord in our DNA?

    Columnist Lowell Grisham offers thoughts on an idea that common ground exists within the liberal or conservative tendencies we're born with.

    by Lowell Grisham October 1, 2019

  • LOWELL GRISHAM: Heavenly meanie?

    There is a conversation in church circles. Some Christians are asking other Christians, "How can you support Donald Trump?" Mr. Trump enjoys a high margin of p…

    by Lowell Grisham July 30, 2019

  • LOWELL GRISHAM: Challenging oppression

    There is a story about Jesus that seems like a helpful metaphor for so much of what is going on today. One day Jesus left his home country and traveled into Ge…

    by Lowell Grisham July 9, 2019

  • LOWELL GRISHAM: Everything is connected

    Franciscan Sister Joan Brown writes of three foundational principles needed for harmony and wholeness. She describes the relational flow that functions everywh…

    by Lowell Grisham June 18, 2019

  • LOWELL GRISHAM: Conflict vs. relationship

    When I was in college, I thought everything you needed to know about me you could learn from the decals on my back window -- Ole Miss, Episcopal Church, Beta T…

    by Lowell Grisham May 28, 2019

  • LOWELL GRISHAM: An alternative way

    Which paths do we choose? Supremacy or humility? Domination or service? Fear or love? Extremist violence in the world is often justified by religious messages …

    by Lowell Grisham May 7, 2019

  • LOWELL GRISHAM: Stronger than death

    My family came here as foreigners. Maybe yours did, too. First there was a brave Grisham, filled with hope. He risked everything to come to a strange land. He …

    by Lowell Grisham April 16, 2019

  • LOWELL GRISHAM: Face to face with Donald Trump

    If I were given the opportunity to be face to face with Osama bin Laden, the first thing I would do is listen. I would try to understand why he had acted in th…

    by Lowell Grisham March 26, 2019

  • LOWELL GRISHAM: Go beyond Arkansas' elite

    The business of our state Legislature is to assess priorities and make decisions so that Arkansas can be the best state it can be. Our resources and programs a…

    by Lowell Grisham February 12, 2019

  • LOWELL GRISHAM: Stop, look and go

    Here's a New Year's resolution that could make this year better than last year: Practice gratefulness.

    by Lowell Grisham January 1, 2019

  • LOWELL GRISHAM: Rescuing the powerless

    Not all Christian denominations observe the four Sundays before Christmas as the season of Advent, but many do. Advent is a season of expectation, the expectat…

    by Lowell Grisham December 11, 2018

  • LOWELL GRISHAM: Learning by example

    It's up to grown-ups to teach children right from wrong. Children learn from what we tell them, but they learn even more from watching our actions. If we want …

    by Lowell Grisham November 20, 2018

  • LOWELL GRISHAM: Timeless, traditional values

    When I see pictures of refugees, like the group traveling through Central America right now, I always think of Joseph, Mary and Jesus on their journey to Egypt.

    by Lowell Grisham October 30, 2018

  • LOWELL GRISHAM: In the midst of accusation

    Some years ago I was called as the senior pastor to a church that had experienced multiple instances of clergy sexual misconduct. Whenever clergy violate their…

    by Lowell Grisham October 9, 2018

  • LOWELL GRISHAM: A nation needs its prophets

    In the Bible, whenever autocratic or immoral leaders arise, God raises up prophets to speak truth to power. I find that comforting right now.

    by Lowell Grisham September 18, 2018

  • LOWELL GRISHAM: The rich get richer

    "One day in the Jerusalem Temple, Jesus' disciples watched as many rich people put large sums into the treasury. Jesus directed his disciples' attention to a p…

    by Lowell Grisham August 28, 2018

  • LOWELL GRISHAM: Nothing to fear

    We may be going through one of those moments that will cause us lasting shame. Years from now we will look back and wonder, "What were they thinking?"

    by Lowell Grisham August 7, 2018

  • LOWELL GRISHAM: Love and identity

    Sometimes it is healthy to review your fundamentals. Who am I? What are my core values? How does that relate to everything else?

    by Lowell Grisham June 26, 2018

  • LOWELL GRISHAM: Find answers in love

    The conflict between love and law is one of the major themes in the Christian New Testament. Most of the opposition Jesus faced came from well-meaning people d…

    by Lowell Grisham June 5, 2018

  • LOWELL GRISHAM: How anti-family must we be?

    Pastors know the research. If a father does not go to church, no matter how faithful a mother might be, only one child in 50 will become a regular worshipper. …

    by Lowell Grisham May 15, 2018

  • LOWELL GRISHAM: Modern affirmations

    An impressive group of 19 American Christian leaders -- Protestant, Evangelical and Catholic; black and white -- shared a retreat together this past Ash Wednes…

    by Lowell Grisham April 24, 2018

  • LOWELL GRISHAM: The political Jesus

    For Christians, last week was Holy Week, the most important week of our year. During Holy Week we tell a story starting with Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusa…

    by Lowell Grisham April 3, 2018

  • LOWELL GRISHAM: Protect the vulnerable

    How much is my 6-year-old granddaughter's life worth? How much is my 39-year-old daughter's life worth? If Arkansas passes the constitutional amendment titled …

    by Lowell Grisham March 13, 2018

  • LOWELL GRISHAM: Expressions of racism

    Claudia is a 19-year-old Dean's List student at the University of Arkansas Fort Smith. She's lived in Northwest Arkansas since before she was 2. She ran track …

    by Lowell Grisham January 30, 2018

  • LOWELL GRISHAM: Jesus or Ayn Rand?

    In April 2012, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops sent a series of letters to Congress criticizing the federal budget plan authored by a fellow Catholic, …

    by Lowell Grisham January 9, 2018

  • LOWELL GRISHAM: Olden days of yore

    Here we are on the cusp of Christmas. We are near the end of Advent, the season of preparation. Now is the annual Christian remembrance of the coming of Jesus.

    by Lowell Grisham December 19, 2017

  • LOWELL GRISHAM: Colors of life

    There are patterns in the development of human consciousness. We all start as infants, with primitive, self-centered needs for survival. Later we experience a …

    by Lowell Grisham November 7, 2017

  • Lowell Grisham: Bad laws need resistance

    One of the reasons Jesus was killed was because he broke the law. Jesus had a prophetic attitude toward the law, and it got him into arguments and into trouble.

    by Lowell Grisham September 26, 2017

  • Lowell Grisham: A monumental challenge

    Symbols are powerful. Symbols participate in the reality they represent. They carry some of the presence and energy of whatever they point toward. A soldier wi…

    by Lowell Grisham September 5, 2017

  • Lowell Grisham: In line and waiting

    My friend Jonathan plans to return to the Apache reservation for the fourth time this fall to continue the Christian mission work he has been doing to help ove…

    by Lowell Grisham August 15, 2017

  • Lowell Grisham: Who would Jesus insure?

    What do we owe one another in society? How do we structure our laws to promote freedom and justice for all? When Jesus was asked that question, he had a ready …

    by Lowell Grisham July 25, 2017

  • Lowell Grisham: A gift that keeps giving

    I had a birthday last week. It was a big one. This was the year when I got the best birthday card ever, my Medicare Health Insurance card.

    by Lowell Grisham July 4, 2017

  • Lowell Grisham: A Jesus world

    How different might our culture be if we engaged our world as Jesus engaged his? Jesus challenged conventional thinking.

    by Lowell Grisham May 23, 2017

  • Lowell Grisham: Turning to the right

    Jill Bolte Taylor is a neuroanatomist. She studies the brain and the nervous system. At the age of 37, she had a massive stroke. As the left hemisphere of her …

    by Lowell Grisham April 11, 2017

  • Lowell Grisham: A breathtaking penalty

    Some leaders brought to Jesus a woman who had been caught in adultery, a capital crime (Deuteronomy 22:22-24; Leviticus 20:10). "In the law Moses commanded us …

    by Lowell Grisham March 21, 2017

  • Lowell Grisham: A welcome delayed

    I had hoped this week to write about my congregation's experience as hosts for a new refugee family.

    by Lowell Grisham February 7, 2017

  • Lowell Grisham: A better way to help poor

    In Arkansas the poor pay twice as much of their incomes in taxes as do the wealthy. When you factor in all state taxes, the bottom 60 percent pay 12 cents of e…

    by Lowell Grisham January 17, 2017

  • Lowell Grisham: A way, in a manger

    Christians have just celebrated Christmas Day, when we say God comes to humanity uniquely in the birth of the child Jesus. Christmas is also a season, the 12 d…

    by Lowell Grisham December 27, 2016

  • Lowell Grisham: Post-election conversations

    So many people have initiated conversations with me since the election. Pastors are listeners. A safe ear. Several have spoken about how traumatized they feel.

    by Lowell Grisham December 6, 2016

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