Joe Iovino

Part stand-up, lecture and sermon: Adam Conover Live - a review on my blog.

Adam Conover’s Mind Parasites Live is a wonderful blend of well-researched information, long-form storytelling, and hilarious stand-up. It’s as educational as the best college lecture you attended, but far more creative. Also, it’s as funny as the best standup you’ve seen, but much more informative. And for a moment on July 12 in Nashville, Conover almost broke into one of the best sermonsI’ve…

A new blog post, and a question. What does it mean to you to be called?

For as long as I can remember in this journey that stretches back to high school, I have struggled to understand “call.” For the most part, I’ve heard it described as a one-time event.

Even in The Blues Brothers, Jake learns about his “mission from God” when he sees the light.

Abraham heard from God while looking up into the night sky. Moses had the burning bush. David experienced Samuel’…

I feel God in this Chili’s tonight

The Office is the soundtrack of my home. It is never a surprise to open the front door and find our television playing one of the many episodes, while my daughter is writing, my son is watching sports on his laptop, and/or my wife is reading. It’s ubiquity in my home is the equivalent of the soft-rock that plays in the grocery store.

Each of us have experienced “Office moments” — times when a…

A new reflection on my personal blog.

Sitting in a Smashburger in Colorado Springs, enjoying a shake and some quiet time, I can’t help but notice the families here, especially the multi-generational one seated directly in my line of sight at the table in the middle of the restaurant.

Actually, it isn’t atable, it is several tables they’ve pushed together so that they are touching one another. It occurs to me that their “table” is…

There is no ‘them’

It is nearly unbelievable that DNA technology is so mainstream that it has become the stuff of entertainment. You can go to Target this weekend, purchase a kit and within a couple of weeks have an online account to tell you about your biological makeup. The ads tell us it is a great conversation starter around the Thanksgiving or Christmas table.

In our diversity, we are one. Image by truthseek…

Come away: A devotion for the busy

The apostles returned to Jesus and told him everything they had done and taught. Many people were coming and going, so there was no time to eat. He said to the apostles, “Come by yourselves to a secluded place and rest for a while.” They departed in a boat by themselves for a deserted place.

Mark 6:30-32 Common English Bible

When Jesus invites his disciples to “Come by yourselves to a secluded…

United Methodists: A dead sect? Or are we yet alive?

“I am not afraid that the people called Methodists should ever cease to exist either in Europe or America,” John Wesley reflected late in his life. “But I am afraid, lest they should only exist as a dead sect, having the form of religion without the power. And this undoubtedly will be the case, unless they hold fast both the doctrine, spirit, and discipline with which they first set out.”

Are…

Heavenly perspective: Faith and astrophysics

Our perspective can sometimes become limited. Sure, we ought to focus on those closest to us—family, friends, neighbors—but it gets dangerous when we develop tunnel vision. Recently, I was reminded of the value of a larger perspective from a somewhat unexpected source—astrophysics.

Losing sight of Earth A great book to learn about all those things I’d heard of, but didn’t really know what…

An encounter with a man experiencing homelessness reminded me that the only way to "win" is to be the church. For the Victors: Learning to surrender

Earlier this week, I met Victor. Homeless. Addict. Convict. Probably about my age. Chef. Dependable. Dad. There are a litany of things that differentiate us, but I kept seeing everything we had in common.

A daughter who knows us better than we know ourselves. Discomfort with the tears that well up when thinking about choices that hurt others. Our demons are different, but we are both engaged in…

New blog post: Justification and Improv: Making things right

“Tonight we are going to talk about justification,” our improv teacher announced. My ears perked up. Justification is a word we use in church about a central Christian concept. Now I was learning it was an improv word too.

“Justification is making things right,” he continued. “For example, if during a scene I think I’m a mouse eating cheese,” he said while pretending to nibble on a tiny piece of…

New personal blog post - Building cathedrals: Our gun control debate

I’ve been frustrated by the conversation following the school shooting in Parkland, Florida this week.

National leaders offer thoughts and prayers, irritating others like Neil deGrasse Tyson who tweeted that thoughts and prayers do not stop bullets. Some advocate for gun legislation, while others say that no regulation will not stop mass murders from occuring. Some want to talk about untreated…

New blog post in my improv series: Working together to build better parachutes

“Improv is like jumping out of a plane, and building a parachute together on the way down.” When Matt taught us that during our first class, I was already familiar with the abject terror of jumping onto the improv stage. It took several more classes to begin to comprehend the value of building the parachute together.

Improv is like jumping out of a plane and building a parachute together on the…

“Yes, and…” Improv’s #1 rule

If there is one thing you know about improv, it is probably the “yes, and…” philosophy. As I come to more fully understand it, I seek to apply it to my everyday life.

Our class’s introduction to this concept was a 2-person game where started every sentence with “yes, and.” One of my scenes began with the suggestion of paper clips (or maybe it was staples). My partner jumped in,

“Can you believe…

I took an improv class this fall. Over the next several months, I will be sharing some of what I learned.

The folding chairs formed a circle in a nondescript room—wood floors, brick walls, cups and a pitcher of water on the floor in the corner. It looked like every 12-step meeting ever depicted on screen. It was, instead, my first improv class ever. The day before we took our seats in that circle, my daughter Kristi and I finally signed up at Third Coast Comedy Training Center in Nashville, TN.

Our…

Three things I have learned that may encourage your writing.

Every once in awhile, someone will ask how they can get started as a writer. It always reminds me with the title of Jeff Goins’s book I read several years ago—You Are a Writer (So Start Acting Like One). Before you have 100 followers on your blog, before you have been published by someone else, before you get the book deal, you are a writer. Claiming that title for yourself is the first step.

Be…