Jesse Joyner, PhD

Month: August 2012

  • Scott Joplin’s Other Great Song

    The turn-of-the-century ragtime sensation Scott Joplin may be best known for his songs “The Entertainer” and “The Maple Leaf Rag,” but he produced many more pieces, my favorite being “Bethena: A Concert Waltz.” He wrote this following the death of his new bride (of ten weeks) Freddie, who succumbed to pneumonia.  While many of his tunes are…

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  • How to Be Cool in School

    I love how pictures tell stories. Let me tell you about this one. The year was 1996.  I was a choir-boy sophomore at Godwin High School in Henrico, Virginia.  I had friends, but I wasn’t in the “cool crowd.”  I was a mostly quiet kid who liked music and juggling. Then Mike Fitzpatrick (the guy…

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  • A Performing Legend: Victor Borge

    Have you ever been struck with a memory that had been lost for many years in your psyche? When I was a child, I watched many clips and shows of the great Danish comedian Victor Borge. He had escaped my memory for many years until tonight. He just came to my head and I looked…

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Popular Posts

  • “Holy Fools”: Exploring the Journey of Calling for Christian Variety Performers

    I am happy to announce that my PhD dissertation has been published to ProQuest, an academic database for published research. I have made the dissertation open source, which means anyone anywhere can access the full content free of charge. Here is the full dissertation: https://www.proquest.com/dissertations-theses/holy-fools-exploring-journey-calling-christian/docview/2622316783/se-2 Please share far and wide. I am very much excited…

  • The Easiest Large Group Game Ever
    The Easiest Large Group Game Ever

    This is probably the easiest large group game ever invented.  If you can think of an easier one, please let me know in the comments. Heads or Tails! This game of heads or tails involves EVERYONE in your large group.  It is actually better the larger the group gets.  There is an elimination factor to…

  • Book Release! Incredibly Bad Dad Jokes

    I have been writing down my original Dad jokes for several years now, but recently they dramatically increased. While the past five months of my life have been the toughest for me as a Dad (with Annie’s medical crisis), the Dad jokes actually came out in full force during this season. You see, in my…

  • A Children’s Ministry Poem

    From the mouths of children come questions galore about heaven and angels and Satan and more. They speak what their hearts say without holding back, so the wonder of God is something they never lack. Oh God, who are you? Who inspires the minds of little ones many, so that they may find this Jesus…

  • Joyner Family Christmas 2024 Update

    Merry Christmas from the Joyners! Here’s a little bit of our life this past year. We hope and pray the Lord’s peace and blessing over you this Advent season. D – Our little guy is now 5 years old! This year he played Tee Ball in the Spring and started soccer this past Fall when…