{"id":40,"date":"2014-03-07T20:29:05","date_gmt":"2014-03-07T20:29:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gchristopherscruggs.com\/?page_id=40"},"modified":"2026-02-14T08:34:02","modified_gmt":"2026-02-14T14:34:02","slug":"about-me-2","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/gchristopherscruggs.com\/?page_id=40","title":{"rendered":"About Chris"},"content":{"rendered":"<style>&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;!-- \/* Font Definitions *\/ @font-face {font-family:\"Cambria Math\"; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;} \/* Style Definitions *\/ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-unhide:no; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:\"\"; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:\"Times New Roman\"; mso-fareast-font-family:\"Times New Roman\";} .MsoChpDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; mso-default-props:yes; font-size:10.0pt; mso-ansi-font-size:10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;} @page WordSection1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.WordSection1 {page:WordSection1;} --&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;<\/style>\n<style>&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;!-- \/* Font Definitions *\/ @font-face {font-family:\"\uff2d\uff33 \u660e\u671d\"; mso-font-charset:78; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:1 134676480 16 0 131072 0;} @font-face {font-family:\"Cambria Math\"; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;} @font-face {font-family:\"Gill Sans\"; panose-1:2 11 5 2 2 1 4 2 2 3; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-2147483033 0 0 0 503 0;} \/* Style Definitions *\/ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-unhide:no; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:\"\"; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:\"Times New Roman\"; mso-fareast-font-family:\"\uff2d\uff33 \u660e\u671d\"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; color:black; mso-font-kerning:14.0pt;} .MsoChpDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; mso-default-props:yes; mso-fareast-font-family:\"\uff2d\uff33 \u660e\u671d\"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; color:black; mso-font-kerning:14.0pt;} @page WordSection1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.WordSection1 {page:WordSection1;} --&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;<\/style>\n<p>These blogs are dedicated to helping people achieve wisdom and love in daily life. I am committed to making them a bit more than my own views on matters (although readers eventually figure that out). I am retired but spent 14+ years practicing law before responding to God&#8217;s call to enter full-time ministry, from which I retired in 2019. I wrote a recent book,<strong><em> Crisis of Discipleship: Renewing the Art of Relational Disciple-Making,<\/em><\/strong> out of concern for our culture and the church&#8217;s decline in the West.&nbsp;I have written three novels under the name &#8220;Alystair West, <em><strong>Marshland<\/strong>, <strong>Peace at Battle Mountain<\/strong><\/em>, and <strong><em>Leviathan &amp; the Lambs<\/em><\/strong> to treat spiritual matters in the form of mystery novels. Recently, I wrote <strong><em>Illumined by Wisdom and Love <\/em><\/strong>to discuss what I believe is a central problem in our political culture: a deeply and ideological political culture and over-reliance on conflict and an under-reliance on dialogue. Kathy and I have four grown children and six grandchildren, which keeps us pretty busy. I give my current occupation as &#8220;Spiritual Friend.&#8221;<a href=\"https:\/\/gchristopherscruggs.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Chris-Portrait-001.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/gchristopherscruggs.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Chris-Portrait-001-159x300.jpg\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-78\" width=\"159\" height=\"300\" alt=\"Chris Portrait 001\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gchristopherscruggs.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Chris-Portrait-001-159x300.jpg 159w, https:\/\/gchristopherscruggs.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Chris-Portrait-001.jpg 527w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 159px) 100vw, 159px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Kathy and I published a practical book on evangelism and discipleship training called <i><strong>Salt &amp; Light: Everyday Discipleship<\/strong>. <\/i><strong><em>Crisis of Discipleship<\/em><\/strong> is an attempt to outline a Biblical and theological foundation for the techniques of relational disciple-making in post-modern culture. My first book was <strong><em>Centered Living\/Centered Leading: the Way of Light and Love<\/em><\/strong>. It was a meditation on the Tao and especially servant leadership.<\/p>\n<p>This blog, &#8220;Journey on the Path of Life,&#8221; generally looks at discipleship and the history of political l theology and philosophy with a view towards a view of discipleship and political thought informed by the Christian emphasis on wisdom and love. I try not to write my own personal prejudices in the blog but to help readers gain a wise and loving perspective on life.<\/p>\n<p>From 1994 to April 2017, I served in two pastorates near Memphis, Tennessee, one at First Presbyterian Church of Brownsville, Tennessee, and the other at Advent Presbyterian Church in Cordova, Tennessee. I then served Bay Presbyterian Church in Bay Village Ohio as its transitional pastor. We currently live in San Antonio, Texas.<\/p>\n<p>I received my Master of Divinity from Union Theological Seminary in Richmond, VA., and my Doctor of Ministry degree from Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, KY. At Asbury, I studied Leadership and especially the Spirituality of Leadership. I also have a B.A. in Philosophy from Trinity University in San Antonio, TX, and a J.D. Degree from the University of Texas at Austin.<\/p>\n<p>My wife, Kathy, and I have four grown children.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none\"><span style=\"font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Gill Sans'; mso-font-kerning: 0pt\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>These blogs are dedicated to helping people achieve wisdom and love in daily life. I am committed to making them a bit more than my own views on matters (although readers eventually figure that out). I am retired but spent 14+ years practicing law before responding to God&#8217;s call to enter full-time ministry, from which &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/gchristopherscruggs.com\/?page_id=40\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">About Chris<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-40","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/P4CzBH-E","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gchristopherscruggs.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/40","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gchristopherscruggs.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gchristopherscruggs.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gchristopherscruggs.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gchristopherscruggs.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=40"}],"version-history":[{"count":26,"href":"https:\/\/gchristopherscruggs.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/40\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4314,"href":"https:\/\/gchristopherscruggs.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/40\/revisions\/4314"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gchristopherscruggs.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=40"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}