Jon C. Swanson's Blog, page 321

Who is this man?

The storm is getting worse by the minute. The small boat they are crossing the lake in is taking on so much water that it’s about to sink. He’s asleep in the back, even though water is splashing across his robe and the boat is rocking wildly. Who is this man?

They wake him up. “Don’t you care that we’re going to drown?” He gets up and tells the storm to be still. Deathly calm spreads across the lake. The clouds disappear and sun comes out. Who is this man?

I invite you to find out more about th...

The worst day of the year

Jesus said, “But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting.” It’s clear that Jesus was speaking before the amazing power of coffee beans was released.

Yesterday, many people gave up caffeine for Lent. Today, they are waking up. They are taking a couple Excedrin for the pain relief and the caffeine. And they are wondering whether Jesus would mind so much if they just had one cup. Because it’s really obvious that they ar...

A fish story.

It was the best day of fishing ever. But it started as the worst.

Seven guys working together tossing out the big net across the water. Letting it sink. Pulling it in.

Nothing.

Row a bit further. Toss out the big net across the surface of the water. Let it sink. Pull it in.

Nothing. All night long, professional fishers working in their home waters, the waters that have supported their families for generations.

Row a bit further. Toss out the big net across the surface of the water. Let it sink. Pu...

Interesting talk about the boring parts of Exodus.

“Is it okay if I sort of skim through the end of Exodus?” my friend said. ”Those details about assembling the ark and the curtains and the tabernacle get really long.”

He’s reading through the Bible for the second time. The first time took him three years. Now he’s doing it again to pick up what he might have missed. He was asking our Wednesday night men’s Bible study group. We talked about the challenge of lists of how many curtains and how many loops on each curtain (See Exodus 26 for a samp...

What if you decided to read the Bible?

What if you simply decided to spend seven weeks reading the Bible? For a couple months setting aside the usual distractional reading, the escape reading, the three-minute-break reading, the just-one-more-link reading. Making the Bible be your reading while you fall asleep, while you are waking up, while you are in the bathroom, while you are avoiding other work. Perhaps even making the Bible your self-improvement reading, your how-to-get-ahead-by-starting-my-own-business reading.

At some point...

Prayer and a paper carrier story.

My friend sent me an email.

“This is hard for me, to be quiet and still. I feel like my prayer life is like a paper route. I lob prayers to God, much like the paper carrier lobs papers down the street, but I keep moving, and forget to listen for the response. The paper carrier just keeps rolling – and I do too. That’s my quest, to slow down enough to be still, and to have a conversation, not just one-sided interactions.”

I sat quietly after I read this, stunned into silence by the power of the...

giving up communication.

I think I want to give up communication for Lent this year. I think I want to stop trying to send messages, to cover all the channels. I think I’m tired of making sure all the bases are covered. I’m weary of needing more communication.

Instead, I think I want to focus on understanding.

Here’s what I mean: “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” is delightful. “Joseph” makes people laugh, makes me laugh. “Joseph” makes people sing. “Joseph” makes me sing.

But it’s too happy, isn’t it? It w...

my simplest statements about Lent for Non-Lent People.

I’ve tried to simplify how to talk about the book I wrote for Lent and how I describe myself in a couple places. With Lent starting one week from today, I wanted to share these with you and ask, if you would be willing, to share them with people who may find them helpful. And then, starting tomorrow, we’ll go back to other kinds of posts. But I realized one day that this book can help some people hear God more clearly. And that I need to encourage that, at least a little, as clearly and simpl...

Preparing for a conversation

“Okay,” my friend said. “I gave you a week to think. I want to ask the question again. Should we celebrate Lent?”

I shrugged.

“I don’t think it’s a matter of should. I think it’s a matter of could. I think it’s less a matter of obligation and more an opportunity. If we have to give something up, we harbor a little resentment and a little pride. We resent being told we have to do something. We are proud that we measure up. And both of those get in the way of the opportunity to develop a relation...

Practical reflections.

1. Too busy for email.

We want to help a friend overseas with a project that will change lives. We email his pastor, asking for his email address. His pastor writes back, “he is very busy by working discipleship he don’t have any time to check his email.” As much as I can argue that he should pay attention to us, he heart-deep in amazing work. And I thought, “How am I keeping busy?”

2. I was serious about emailing me.

FridayI laid out a plan to learn to answer this question:When my schedule blow...