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Continue reading →: A Response from a Gun Violence Victim in the Wake of Charlie Kirk’s Death
By Rev. Dr. Joe LaGuardia I’ve been praying and waiting to craft what I need to say… And I finally have a word to share. The horror and trauma that gun violence victims live through every time there is a public or high-profile shooting, such as that of Charlie Kirk’s…
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Continue reading →: Creation’s Afterglow and Your TV Static
This article is in honor and memory of my father, James LaGuardia, who passed away on August 5, 2013. By Joe LaGuardia, August 1, 2025. My father was a television repairman who owned his own repair business since he was 19 years of age. What that meant for my sisters…
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Continue reading →: A Trip to Kennedy Space Center
Although I am not officially on sabbatical – and wont be until July of 2026 – I decided to treat myself to a trip to Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on May 3, 2025. Kennedy is a little over an hour north of our home, so the trip…
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Continue reading →: Rocket’s Sabbatical Children’s Book
Rocket is Pastor Joe’s friend. Rocket will accompany Pastor Joe on his adventures during his Sabbatical. Rocket hopes to teach children about the adventures he and Joe go on, and share all the things that they learn. As part of this project, Pastor Joe will be publishing a children’s book…
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Continue reading →: Star Differs from Star in Glory
In his first letter to churches in Corinth, Paul addressed one of the most pressing theological issues of his time: Whether Jesus rose from the grave and what that means for believers (1 Cor. 15). Paul affirms quite succinctly that Jesus rose in bodily form and then poses the question:…
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Continue reading →: Tomorrow’s Dystopia
There is no better teacher of sinful nature than science. People often view science as optimistic, hopeful, visionary, progressive. That is not always the case, and science has not always led to the results that we all have hoped. Ever since the scientific revolution, especially paired with the technological revolution…
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Continue reading →: Where it All Started…
I am not entirely sure why I had so much trouble coming up with a subject for my sabbatical. I knew that in order to be competitive for the Lilly Clergy Renewal Endowment, I needed (1) to study something, anything; (2) to study something that “makes my heart sing”; and…
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Continue reading →: Meet my new friend, Rocket
Meet my friend, Rocket… Rocket was a birthday gift from my loving wife, Kristina. “You need company when you go on your sabbatical,” she said, “And what better than a rocket ship named Rocket?” She has a point. With an impending sabbatical that will take me over 8,400 miles cross…
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Continue reading →: Sabbatical: A Pastor in Exile?
I started reading Laurie Haller’s memoir of her sabbatical, Recess. She was a recipient of the very same renewal grant for which I am applying, so I thought that perhaps her book would help me discern my own journey and anticipated sabbatical. Within the first few chapters, she explores what…
Engaging Heart, Mind, and Soul
Rev. Dr. Joe LaGuardia
Rev. Dr. Joe LaGuardia is a pastor, writer, and chaplain residing in Florida. He is author of three books and regular contributor to Smyth & Helwys’ Formations Series. His articles have appeared in USA Today, Baptist News Global, Christian Ethics Today, TCPalm, and Rockdale Citizen.
Baptist Spirituality explores the intersection of faith and culture incorporating biblical scholarship, culture and the arts, politics, science, and theology.
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