Joshua Gibbs

Highway To The Comfort Zone

What Teachers Need To Hear From Administrators At The End Of The Year

“You all have made it to the end of another school year, and I want you to know: I have seen your sacrifices. I have not seen all of your sacrifices, but I have seen some of them. I have not seen all of your sacrifices because you are virtuous men and women, which means you doContinue reading “What Teachers Need To Hear From Administrators At The End Of The Year”

Pious, Annoying Things To Do In The Comments Section

When you find someone on social media who uses TED Talk/LinkedIn jargon to talk about leadership, diversity, teamwork, or whatever, drop a link to this McSweeney’s article in the comments section…

If Restaurants Were Run As Badly As Airlines

Scenario One. Man: The reservation is under the name O’Leary for 7:30. Maître d: Your table is actually not going to be ready until 7:45. Man: That’s fine. Maître d: Actually, it’s going to be 8:00. Man: 8:00? Maître d: Actually, 9:30. Man: What? Maître d: I’m sorry, the 9:30 table is already booked, butContinue reading “If Restaurants Were Run As Badly As Airlines”

For All Of Us, Really

Dad: It’s been a while since we had a family meeting and I thought it would be helpful for us to talk about how things are going. If you ask me, things are going well. Really well. The raise I got in November has enabled us to purchase a new car, buy a small vacationContinue reading “For All Of Us, Really”

The Rise and Fall of (Ministry Name Here)

The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill often missed the point, but it was occasionally compelling. Anyone older than forty came of age in a time when Christian ministries fell because the charismatic leaders in charge slept with their secretaries or embezzled millions to fund luxury lifestyles. The story of Mars Hill in Seattle, however,Continue reading “The Rise and Fall of (Ministry Name Here)”

A Subtle But Important Difference

The man who often looks at his hands appears thoughtful, whereas the man who often looks at his fingers appears moronic.

A Thousand Ways To Do This

“Hey, cool tattoo! Is that Kermit the Frog?” “What? It’s Satan. From Dore’s illustrations of Paradise Lost. See how the–“ “Neat, hey, that’s cool too.”

A High School Boy Explains Why He Keeps Untucking His Uniform Shirt

“No doubt, you people have wondered why it’s necessary to tell me eight or nine times a week, ‘Trent, tuck in your shirt.’ You must complain about it in the breakroom. One of you probably says something like, ‘I had to remind Trent to tuck in his shirt again today,’ and then someone else says, ‘So didContinue reading “A High School Boy Explains Why He Keeps Untucking His Uniform Shirt”

Ethics In Fiction

The standards we keep for fictional heroes are kept quite separate from the standards we hold for real people. For example, in The Two Towers, Gandalf refers to Grima as “Wormtongue,” even though “Wormtongue” is an abusive nickname assigned to Grima by all the people in Theoden’s court. While most Christian readers take deep satisfactionContinue reading “Ethics In Fiction”