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About Joseph David Graves
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Blog postIn 2017, Allyssa and I bought an old house in Franklinton. Over the last couple years, we’ve been trying to fix it up—and after a few small investments and the help of a lot of great people, we’ve made a lot of progress.
Now, we’re looking to refinance and pay someone to finish the work. This means an appraisal (and thus a clean house).
Today feels like a significant step towards where we want to be. It isn’t done, but this is a bit of a rest stop on our home improvement journ -
Blog postI’m seeing more and more people talk about mental health. With friends struggling with anxiety and depression, a couple colleagues committing suicide, and marriages falling apart around me… we need to talk about mental health.
And I’m seeing people talk about it online and in articles… but I feel most of these shorter posts end with: don’t be ashamed to get help.
Ok. Fine. I’m ready to get help.
That’s where I found myself over a year ago.
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Blog postRecently I was going through some old journals as Allyssa and I de-clutter our house. I found something I wrote, that eventually ended up in a sermon. It got me thinking quite a bit, and so I wanted to share it with you all.
It was a reflection on Acts 14:11-12
When the crowd saw what Paul had done, they shouted in their local dialect, “These men are gods in human form!” They decided that Barnabas was the Greek god Zeus and that Paul was Hermes, since he was the chief speaker. -
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Blog postThe day I became a pastor I was not prepared for the unspoken expectations of parishioners. I was a youth pastor at a church for five years before becoming their senior pastor for another three. Even though I knew the congregation, I figured it wise to talk to as many people as possible to get a sense for where we were and what they expected from me. In our introductions, round-table conversations, and casual conversations with people in the church, there was one theme that kept emerging. The
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Blog postBefore Finn’s bedtime, we have a pretty regular routine. We brush his teeth. Sometimes he gets a bath. And then we read some books. Of course, he loves books, especially if we love the books.
I’ve learned this about kids. They will love what you love. If you get really excited about something, the likelihood that they will get excited increases substantially. Of course, it doesn’t always work. But it has a pretty big success rate.
Take for example, Dr. Seuss’ The Foot Book. We -
Blog postOur church is known for our focus on local missions. It’s not the only thing we do, but it is something we are very passionate about. There’s no doubt that this is reflected in Allyssa and I’s leadership. But its helped us gather a community of other people passionate about serving the poor. Which means, when we put out a sign-up form for people to serve, the vast majority sign up for local missions.
This happened recently. In worship, we gave people a chance to sign up to serve somew -
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Blog postI wasn’t raised poor or affluent. I was a middle-of-the-road, middle-class kid from a small town. The fact that this small town is named Hicksville is only a distraction from the fact that it’s actually a great place to raise middle-class kids. That does not say there wasn’t economic disparity. The poor in our community worked in the factories. The rich owned the factories. But being a small town, most families knew and cared for each other. They went to the same schools and played on the sam
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Blog postI recently had a couple conversations with some old friends who I hardly ever see anymore. We talked (and argued) about life and ministry and politics and current events. The conversation lasted well into the night. At the end of the conversation, I began to realize something. The view these friends have of me is rather skewed.
They came to the conversation with a lot of biases about me. And a lot of judgment. And a lot of assumptions. And a lot of walls.
I was forced to ask t -
Blog postAllyssa and I are rather strange. But we don’t realize it until people point it out. A lot of what we do as pastors seems normal to us, but when others point it out (often as a compliment, sometimes as a complaint), we then realize that we’re not normal. We might take too much pride in being different, which is a post for another day. For now, let me share one such idea that some find unique about us.
At Central City Church, with everything we do, from worship to small groups to -
Blog postI recently finished our spring classes at Central City Church. The class I lead was an introduction to local missions. It ran alongside a class that is an introduction to small groups: local missions and intentional relationships, two of our three core values. I haven’t had much success with classes, but after a little encouragement … More Christians say “I love the poor.” I say: “What are their names?”
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