Jon C. Swanson's Blog, page 4

Don’t Forget

Rich Dixon is helping us to remember.

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Recently, Jon said we often forget parts of the story.

Speaking for myself, I tend to forget big parts of the story most of the time. Here’s an example.

Over on my blog (richsride.org), I’ve been focused for a while on the Sermon on the Mount. By itself, I suppose that’s okay. But it’s awfully easy to begin thinking those three chapters encapsulate Jesus’ entire message. It’s a small step from there to ignoring the entire big story of whi...

More on the picnic Jesus would plan.

The second thing about a picnic Jesus plans is this: don’t assume that you will get the best seats because you know the host.

Jesus was watching the guests at this banquet playing a game. They would come in. They would look around. They would try to estimate how important they were in relation to the people already there. And they would decide how close to the best seat they should sit. For Jesus, who could read their faces, who could read their hearts, the calculations were plain to see.

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A picnic Jesus would plan.

I started wondering what kind of Labor Day picnic Jesus would plan. Would he actually plan a party like the one he told the Pharisees to plan?

Jesus knew the rules, too. Just because he broke them didn’t mean he didn’t know them.

As he arrived at the dinner, he discovered that he wasn’t the only special guest. In front of him as he walked in was a man who was retaining fluid. It’s not clear where. It could have been that his ankles were swollen, or his abdomen. He wasn’t well. And ther...

A prayer for the twenty-second Sunday in ordinary time.

God.

We think we talk to you all the time. We ask you for protection for family in the path of the hurricane. We ask you to keep our loved one from dying in the emergency room. We ask you for jobs and health and money and relief.

Then we talk about you showing up.
Or we talk about you not listening.
Or we talk about our prayer not working.

God, I’m not sure that we show up to you.
I’m not sure we are listening for you.

I’m not sure that our prayer works. Because I’m not sure that we ...

Acknowledged insufficiency

Forty years ago this summer, Nancy and I moved from Austin, Texas, to Fort Wayne, Indiana, and I started teaching “Intro to Public Speaking” at Fort Wayne Bible College.  I had finished my Ph.D. coursework, and had passed my qualifying exams, and was supposed to be figuring out a research question for my dissertation. It took another four years to find that question and write that project.  

During the next eleven years, three children were born, and one child died. We bought our first ho...

Perfection In Jesus’ Name

Rich Dixon wants us to think about the actual task.

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Do you ever read one of Jon’s posts and find you can’t stop thinking about it?

I’m guessing we all identified to some extent with his comments last week about Hallmark Families. But as I cranked my bike the last few days, I found myself wondering if I expect a Hallmark version of the FREEDOM TOUR community.

I thought about my classroom. I began each year by articulating high standards and knowing kids would make mistakes. It...

We often forget parts of the story.

God.

We need your rest. Give us your peace.

Amen.

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My friend Bill said Sunday night that we always read the 23rd Psalm, but that we don’t pay attention to the 22nd or the 24th. I think it came from a sermon he’d heard. I smiled and nodded and racked my brain to remember what those other two psalms are.

I think the point of the three psalms, at least for the preacher, was that together they tell a story. We know about the shepherd, we are grateful for the promise of rest a...

A prayer for the twenty-second Sunday of ordinary time.

God.

We hear Jeremiah’s words to you, and they could be our words. You spoke to him. You said, “I know you.” You said, “speak for me.”

Jeremiah said, “I don’t know how to speak. I am too young.”

You speak to us and we say, “I’m too young.  I’m too old. I’m too uncertain. I’m too different. I’m too tired. I’m too outside the cool people. I’m too ignorant. I’m too confused. I’m too involved with these other things you gave me to do.”

But what we are really saying is what Jeremiah wa...

What if there is more than you thought?

We have family from out of town visiting. Andrew, our son, hasn’t been in the US during the summer for a few years. So everyone went to buy Amish sweet corn. (It’s just like regular sweet corn, for the record. Which means fresh from the field and wonderful.) I stayed home.

I made a short list. Clean the acorns off the deck. Make sure there is gas for the grill. Inflate the air mattress one last time before throwing it away, in case there was a loose valve that left me resting mostly on th...

A challenge

Rich Dixon is back with an invitation.

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A while back a friend told me a story.

With his permission, I’ll share three things he repeated to his kids nearly every day from the time they were old enough to understand. Each day at breakfast he would recite these principles:

Be a leader.Walk with the King.Serve others.

I’m sure lots of conversation happened around each one, but the main point is that he tried hard to never miss a day without beginning with those statem...