The Rooftop Blog- Ernie Payton: The Music Will Never Die May 1, 2017You didn’t have to spend much time with Debbie’s Dad, Lt. Col Ernest Payton (The Salvation Army), to know that his life revolved around music. Whether it was following, along with Joan, the riffs of a Big Band song on … Continue reading →
- Eulogy for my mother September 18, 2016Harriet Louise (Speer) Jewell (January 26, 1927-September 11, 2016) We celebrate through tears the crescendo of a long goodbye We gather here to celebrate our mother, grandmother, great grandmother, friend; and for the crescendo of a long goodbye. We’ve … Continue reading →
- Can 4 weeks change the trajectory of a life? October 12, 2015It’s great to discover an opportunity to make what may be a lasting difference in the life of a person who really needs to catch a break. We’ve found one, and we’d like to share it with you. Through an … Continue reading →
- Abraham Lincoln’s 2nd inaugural address: 150 years ago March 4, 2015March 4, 1865 Fellow-Countrymen: At this second appearing to take the oath of the Presidential office there is less occasion for an extended address than there was at the first. Then a statement somewhat in detail of a course to … Continue reading →
- Resurrection and Grief February 4, 2015My friend and colleague, Chuck, is with his family this week, gathered to bring ease–as best they can—as granddaughter Olivia slips from this life. A Trisomy18 baby, Olivia was born to live in this world briefly, a month-long, difficult prelude … Continue reading →
- Protecting Marriage: Ironic promotional language for a session at the forthcoming NRB Convention January 30, 2015The headline of a promotional email for a session at the National Religious Broadcasters convention reads: “Protecting Marriage: How to Get the Media Message Right for This Generation.” So how can we explain Protecting Marriage to this generation? (By which … Continue reading →
- On Veterans Day: Memorabilia from My Father, the WWII Veteran November 11, 2014My father was a World War II veteran. Veterans of these battlefields of the last century are now bowed men in their eighties and nineties speaking hesitantly about their colleagues and their service a lifetime ago in the killing fields … Continue reading →
- Brett Walls’ Magnificent Journey against Locked In Syndrome and United Health Care Paralysis October 28, 2014CHICAGO — Two blocks east of Chicago’s posh Magnificent Mile on Michigan Avenue, in the shadow of the spectacular John Hancock skyscraper, sits the world’s leading hospital and research enterprise in physical medicine and rehabilitation, the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago. … Continue reading →
- A Milestone Birthday for Debbie Jewell: Celebrating a Life Well Started September 3, 2014When you reach milestones that begin with crooked numbers, it is common to reflect on years gone by and their results. Today we’re celebrating the milestone birthday of a remarkable woman whose 50 years have been time well-spent. Debra Elizabeth … Continue reading →
- Autopsy Abuse Gets Personal August 13, 2014When race car driver Kevin Ward Jr. was run over and killed by NASCAR star Tony Stewart on a track in upstate NY Saturday, we saw self-destructive machismo at its worst. Many think Steward didn’t try very hard to stay clear … Continue reading →
- Ernie Payton: The Music Will Never Die May 1, 2017
Category Archives: Ethics
Brett Walls’ Magnificent Journey against Locked In Syndrome and United Health Care Paralysis
CHICAGO — Two blocks east of Chicago’s posh Magnificent Mile on Michigan Avenue, in the shadow of the spectacular John Hancock skyscraper, sits the world’s leading hospital and research enterprise in physical medicine and rehabilitation, the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago. … Continue reading
Posted in Ethics, Family, Jim Jewell, Virtue
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Vision Problems: 6 causes of World Vision’s PR debacle
World Vision, the giant international Christian relief and development organization, made two announcements last week. I was shocked and disappointed by both. The nature of my alarm was somewhat different than what I’m reading among my friends who share my … Continue reading
Posted in Christianity, Church and State, Communications, Culture, Ethics, Evangelicals, Homosexual Issues, International aid, Jim Jewell, Leaders, Nonprofit organizations, Public relations
Tagged Christian conduct, crisis communications, public relations, Richard Stearns, same-sex marriage, World vision
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Trust Me
Trust has been in decline for many years. I wrote about the decline in public trust in 2010, and just now on the NPOutlook Blog. With charities trying to recover–like so many others–from the economic carnage of the last five years, … Continue reading
Posted in Ethics, Nonprofit organizations, Values, Virtue
Tagged charity best practices, nonprofit management, trust, Valcort, values
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7 disciplines of highly effective charities
I have spent all of my career working for or with nonprofit organizations, primarily Christian groups. I’ve made a recent job move, to work with a management consultancy called The Valcort Grop, which specializes in diagnosing organizational health and providing solutions … Continue reading
Posted in Ethics, Jim Jewell, Nonprofit organizations, Values
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Who do you trust? The steep decline in public confidence
I saw an article yesterday about the decline in confidence in the church and organized religion, which Gallup polled at 48 percent in 2010, down 4 percent from last year. That’s disappointing, but it places the church high on the … Continue reading
Posted in Culture, Ethics, Jim Jewell, Virtue
Tagged Character, civility, Gallup poll, public confidence, trust, virtue
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Weekend Reading: How to keep helping Haiti; humanity of poetry; a book on Harry Dent; interview with Charity:Water’s Scott Harrison; the Email Weapon
1. Cholera Still Killing in Haiti: More than 700 people have died as a result of the cholera outbreak in Haiti, where the living conditions in the tent cities constructed after the January earthquake have left people vulnerable to the … Continue reading
Posted in Christianity, Communications, Ethics, International aid, Jim Jewell, Technology
Tagged Charity:Water, Christianity, email, Haiti, international aid, poetry
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A leading Christian ethicist gives us big reasons to care for creation
“Prior to the emergence of the modern environmental movement in the 1960s,” writes Mercer University professor and Christian ethicist David Gushee, “Western Christianity had lost touch with the resources for a creation care ethic that were present within the Bible … Continue reading
Posted in Christianity, Creation Care, Environment, Ethics, Jim Jewell
Tagged Christian ethics, Christianity, creation care, Environment, evangelical leaders, theology
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Study: Bible reading makes a difference
The Center for Bible Engagement (CBE) has completed a study that shows that Bible reading makes a difference. The bottom line is that reading or listening to the Bible four or more times per week leads to positive moral choices. … Continue reading
Posted in Christianity, Ethics, Jim Jewell, Virtue
Tagged Bible, Bible reading, Character, Christianity
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What’s happened to good customer service? What’s your story?
We rarely use our home phone, enjoying instead the portability of cell phone lines. We do like having a landline, for faxes and better voice quality, however, so we’ve been looking for a cheap but reliable alternative to AT&T or … Continue reading
Posted in Communications, Culture, Ethics, Jim Jewell, Technology
Tagged corporate responsibility, customer service, ethics
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The Role of Faith in Saving the World from Infertility
I come from a deeply religious family with strong Christian commitments and a trans-generational routine of participating in church activities at least twice a week. My parents have seen their offspring continue in their evangelical Christian faith, as well as … Continue reading
Posted in Abortion, Christianity, Church life, Creation Care, Environment, Ethics, Evangelicals, Family, Pro-life
Tagged Character, Christianity, creation care, pro-life, sustainability
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