Roy Goble, Author at Junkyard Wisdom

Five Ways to be Countercultural

Last week I attended a conference with a plenary session featuring two Senators (one Democrat and one Republican). The facilitator, a former Governor, led them in a conversation about how our faith can inform our public engagement.

A lot of the conversation focused on how we can transcend the worst aspects of partisan politics. The idea of vilifying and demonizing those who disagree with us was rejected, and the politicians shared examples of how to disagree with respect. It was a good reminder for all of us, and the Senators navigated the conversation beautifully. They received a standing ovation.

An …

A book you should read, part II

This post was written years ago, but it’s worth reposting. It’s about a book almost everybody I know should read. A friend mentioned the book recently, so it seemed timely to repost my thoughts.

Henri Nouwen was brilliant, of course. He gave a talk on fundraising and somebody had the good sense to publish it as A Spirituality of Fundraising.

And I think everybody should read it. Here’s why.

In his book To Sell is Human, Daniel Pink said that we are all in sales now.

True, but we are all in fundraising now, too.

You don’t have …

The Sack of Constantinople, Sorta

Three events in the last few months has reinforced an idea that’s been percolating. They have also reminded me how much we can learn from our past.

The first event was during my book promotion. I was a guest on a podcast, and the host was amazed to hear people of faith actually lived and worked in Silicon Valley. Seriously, he was stunned to hear bible studies actually happened in the corporate offices of places like Google, Facebook, and Apple. I was equally stunned that this informed and well educated man in the Midwest perceived Silicon Valley as so, well, …

Deconstructing

A bit of advice for my friends deconstructing their faith.

The junkyard is where things are taken apart. There’s a reason people in the business called them auto dismantling centers! We earned our living by stripping cars of every valuable part, then selling the bits and pieces to our customers.

And what did our customers do once they bought those parts? They fixed their car. They made something better.

I admired our customers. They had a finished product. It ran well, or it looked good, or was more whole. They didn’t just strip something apart in a few moments of …

Celebrities for Jesus

A friend of mine was sitting next to me in the front row of a conference. It was the opening session and we were listening to the host, a pastor, give the welcome. My friend was going to speak immediately after the pastor was finished.

But just before my friend was introduced, she whispered, “Our host likes the stage just a little too much.”

My friend’s snarky comment was exactly what I was thinking. There was something about the pastors mannerisms that just shouted, “I’m in charge, I’m important, and I belong on the stage.”

I started to laugh at …

When Helping . . . Helps

I’ve held back on sharing this story because I didn’t want to embarrass anyone. But several years have passed and it seems okay to share now.

It began with a presentation I gave about the work PathLight is doing in Belize. An acquaintance listened and then quickly dismissed the work as cultural intrusion. Without using these exact words, the gist of her comments were, “You have no business imposing your cultural values on the people of Belize.” She continued with warnings about doing damage through our work because we do not understand all the cultural norms and thus were sure …

Books books books!

You’ve heard that I’m the new Interim CEO of PathLight International. One thing I’ve been pondering is how to integrate my writing with my role at PathLight, and I’ve come up with a plan. It’s a way to help PathLight, promote my writing, and give you something unique.

If you order a copy of my book Junkyard Wisdom Rebuilt directly from me, I’ll give 100% of the proceeds (up to five hundred books) to PathLight. I know, amazing right? You’re thinking, “Gosh he’s generous (and wow he has a lot of books in storage).”

Here’s how it’ll work:…

The Power of Friendships

For years our work at PathLight has assumed that friendships across geography, economics, race, and culture can create a better future for the students in the program.

A recent study — reported here by Axios — confirms this. It’s a simple concept really. Raise kids around other kids different from themselves and 1) the privileged kids build empathy, and 2) the less privileged kids build relationships that offer them a leg up.

Nice to know we were right all along!

If you are curious about the PathLight program then please check out our back to school campaign. Love to …