August 2010 – Page 3 – 300 words a day

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Recently, I was having a hard time focusing when reading my Bible. I would open it and start reading and just not be able to concentrate. It’s happened before, I think. It seems to happen every few years in fact. As I try to figure out what’s happening, I spend lots of energy trying to […]

by Jon Swanson

8 ways to read the Bible

It happened again last week. Someone said, “I know I should spend more time in my Bible.” After scolding him for yelling at himself rather than celebrating the fact that he is spending time with a small group of people talking about the Bible, I realized that lots of people share that same feeling. I […]

by Jon Swanson

too many words about

You know what I’d love to give you? Some silence. I’d love to give you some time to stop and think and be still. I’d love to give me that, too. You are probably better than I am at stopping. Me? When I sit down to be still, it allows me to remember the things […]

by Jon Swanson

do why I do.

We look for punishment. We want to know what the penalty will be if we don’t do something. We want to know where the boundaries are, how far we can go before we get hurt or scolded or destroyed. I understand that feeling. I get a phone call and think, “Oh no, what did I […]

by Jon Swanson

Pride in the name of respect

Peter is the only one who responds when Jesus washes feet. Maybe no one noticed it was Jesus. His point wasn’t to call attention to himself, after all, but to call attention to the hearts of the disciples, to the opportunity to serve each other that is always present. So it could be that he […]