Jonathan Puddle's Blog, page 3

Choosing Peace

For the second time in two years I felt it was time to quit my job. (If that makes me sound like someone who cuts and runs… know that I stayed with my first employer for 13 years.) Here I was once again, sitting on the edge of the boat, watching Jesus out on the water. It was scary, but I felt him calling me to come out, to trust him and step out of my predictable 9-5 routine. When I made that step, I had no idea how I was going to pay my mortgage the following week. But I couldn't ignore th...

You're not alone and everything is going to be OK

I met with a group of young Christians on the weekend to discuss the topic of loneliness. We each asked the question, "Where is Jesus when we feel lonely?" and discussed our experiences of loneliness and of God's intervention. We talked about the especially strange sensation of being in a room full of people and still feeling lonely. No matter the social sphere, stage of life or family dynamics, every one of us seems to be familiar with loneliness to some degree.

I shared the story of Zaccheu...

How to forgive Bill Cosby

I don't want to live in a world where Bill Cosby is a rapist. But neither did Andrea Constand, or anyone else he assaulted, and they weren't given the choice. So here we are. Another cultural icon, a beloved family actor and television personality, exposed as a broken, twisted man who took advantage of countless women for his own pleasure. Leaving them scarred and broken and silenced. And once the news settles, we're left to contemplate the Bill Cosbys in our own lives.

Can we hear Jesus sayi...

It's only just begun

For Christians (and churches) that don't follow a liturgical calendar, it's easy to lose track of the fact that Easter is just the beginning. Maybe some of us observed Lent, but generally, we probably just enjoyed the long Easter weekend, had an extra-special Sunday meeting, took new family photos and then went back to work. That's certainly what I did, and I don't begrudge anyone who did the same... but I think our brothers and sisters in the Orthodox, Coptic, Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran o...

He came to be trampled on

The year is 1637. You are a priest, who has travelled to Japan in secret, to learn whether your former teacher has in-fact abandoned Christianity, as is rumoured. You travel from island to island, encouraging tiny groups of Christian believers, who are hiding for their lives. You are eventually captured by the Inquisitor, who tortures other believers in front of you in an attempt to make you renounce Christianity.

This is the setup for Martin Scorsese's film Silence, based on Shūsaku Endō's n...

When you're tired and empty

Sometimes there's just nothing left in the tank, you know? Things have been going alright, but now you're just done. I'm not talking about chronic depression, I'm talking about plain old, run-of-the-mill malaise. Maybe you took ill and so you couldn't accomplish anything but now that you're well again you feel stuck. Or there's just too much housework to even know where to begin. Or the kids have trashed the living room and that wine bottle is not quite empty and you know it'll taste good bu...

You don't have to be like Trump

Each culture adopts values and principles and traits considered desirable or necessary in their leaders. Personas and archetypes emerge which come to define certain roles and responsibilities. We end up being told that in order to do that thing we must be that kind of person.

I recently finished reading The Pillars of the Earth, by Ken Follet. It's a remarkable piece of historical fiction, set in 12th century England, which follows the life and times of a number of families involved in the co...

Dear Pastor: What is your church's career path?

Most modern churches are founded around a shared set of values. God often gives someone (or a group of someones) a blueprint, a vision of some aspect of spiritual life that has been neglected in their generation or their region. A community then grows around these values. Over time, communities with shared values find one another, and they group together for support, encouragement and synergy.

This is essentially how new church denominations are born. (If you're Catholic, Anglican or Orthodox...

Fear is an invitation

If you are afraid of anything then you have room in your life for more of God's love. It's as simple as that. Fear is a signal, an invitation, a waving flag, that says "I have room for more love." We can't make fear go away by sheer force of will, but by an act of surrender we can allow God to pour his love into us. And he is always willing and waiting.

Take a little audit of your life right now. What are some of the major storms you've weathered in recent memory? What are one or two recurrin...