Jon C. Swanson's Blog, page 19

Walking toward the danger.

And in the middle of that time, when Jesus is moving toward Jerusalem even though others may not have realized it yet, some Pharisees came and warned him.

As a religious party, the Pharisees probably agreed with Herod about Jesus. He was disruptive to the way things were working. His preaching and healing and power were a threat.

However, these particular Pharisees seem to express actual concern for Jesus. “Protect yourself.”

It’s the way most of us would act if we saw someone being ...

As the line toward death got straighter, Jesus

We spend a lot of time following directions and people and paths. They can get us lost.

So our lesson for today is this: Follow the example of Jesus, because our hope knows there is more to life than what we see.

Jesus was popular, for a while. We’ve heard stories about crowds and followers and healings and miracles. We know that Jesus the son was blessed by the Father and encouraged by the Spirit.

But why did he need encouragement?

Because Jesus, as popular as he was with the peo...

A prayer for the second Sunday in Lent

God.

You and we make promises.

Maybe that’s part of what it means to be a person, to make promises to other people. Commitments. Covenants. Agreements.

We agree to belong to each other. We agree to belong to teams, to communities, to congregations. We say that we will keep faith. And then we don’t.

We confess that we willfully choose to do things that we know are not for the good of those we are committed to.We confess that we unwittingly make choices that damage our relation...

Mea culpa

It’s Latin. It means “my fault.” It’s what I’m telling a group of students today.

I gave the assignment to shoot a video and upload it to the online course. And then to give feedback to other students.

It’s my third time through this course. We’ve survived the previous two times.

However, this time students are having a hard time uploading the videos, the video size is inconsistent, and students aren’t able to see the videos of others.

But there’s more to the story.

The previou...

A small breath.

As I sat in a church at a concert on Tuesday night, listening to a choir singing Kýrie, eléison, “Lord, have mercy”, I thought, “I need to sometimes offer pictures or songs instead of words, because sometimes words aren’t right.”

This stained glass isn’t from that church (It’s from France). And I’m not offering music, today.

But the prayer, “Lord, have mercy,” feels right today.

May I Help?

Rich Dixon is thinking about help.

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After nearly 4 decades as a wheelchair user, I’m still uncomfortable accepting help.

Weird, I know, because I obviously can’t accomplish some tasks by myself. The FREEDOM TOUR ‘17 team talked through this odd personal quirk.

We began by discussing service. Jesus said, “Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all.”

+ + +

One of our team members made a pretty frank observation: I think as Christians we freq...

Staying connected.

Jesus knew who he was. At his baptism, His Father had just told him. “This is my son, whom I love. With him I am well pleased.”

It was a wonderful way to start a ministry career. But right after that experience, Jesus was taken into the wilderness, into the rocks and hills and barrenness. And he didn’t eat for forty days.

We call it fasting. It’s an example of the reason Lent is 40 days, that Lent is marked by fasting. There is a connection with the example of Jesus.

Some of the time...

Blessing those who follow you.

I thought I wrote to you once about my friend Don. I can’t find anything, though that doesn’t mean I didn’t write about him.

Don used to read 300wordsaday. And occasionally, he’d send me a note.

The first one I find in my inbox is from 2013:

Thanks Jon, for allowing me to read your daily comments on God’s Word in so many different modern day contexts.  It is a big boost to me in seeing how the Scriptures so powerfully apply to all kinds of situations.  You both challenge and encoura...

A prayer for the first Sunday in Lent

God.

Sometimes we simply don’t know what you want.

If we knew, for sure, we’d do it. Maybe.
But we feel like we don’t know what you want.
And we worry that we will do the wrong thing
or the right thing for the wrong reasons.

We worry about keeping you happy and not making you mad.

We worry.

If we don’t keep you happy, you won’t do the things that make us happy.
Like healing our loved one. Like giving us work. Like fixing our relationships.

So we try to make you happy and get mad...

Jesus, I am resting, resting

I grew up going to churches where we sang hymns. Almost all churches sang just hymns back then.

One of my favorites back then was “Jesus, I Am Resting, Resting,” by Jean Sophia Pigott, written in 1876.

I looked it up and enjoyed reading the lyrics:

Jesus, I am resting, resting
in the joy of who you are;
I am finding out the greatness
of your loving heart.
You have bid me gaze upon you,
as your beauty fills my soul,
for by your transforming power,
you have made me whole.

The lyrics and t...