January 2015 – Page 3 – 300 words a day

On conversation.

(first published May 13, 2010. It’s long, but hey, it’s Friday. We have a whole weekend for reading.) Dear Troy: I wanted to give you some of my notes on teaching and learning. As I looked through my brainstorms, I saw this bullet: Discipleship is cafe-shaped conversations. Next to that I wrote “This is a piece […]

by Jon Swanson

A late-night conversation.

First published September 18, 2008. Adapted from John 4. She went to Meijer at midnight. Or to Kroger or A&P or whatever grocery store is open long after most people do their shopping. It was a small town, everyone knew everyone. Everyone knew everything. About everyone. That’s why she went to Meijer at midnight. Because […]

by Jon Swanson

Making pie-making disciples.

First published July 20, 2010 Making disciples is a communal project, a relational process. Making pies isn’t necessarily. But when a pie maker involves a bunch of kids in making pies, some to share, some to not share, it becomes communal. These kids are learning about making pie. They are also learning about being […]

by Jon Swanson

Slippery roads and following Jesus.

First published February 6, 2014 Like some of you, we’ve had an unusual amount of snowfall. We’ve had an unusual amount of driving on snowy or icy roads. Like some of you, we don’t own a four-wheel drive vehicle. As a result, we’ve spent much of the driving time traveling slower than the posted speed. […]

by Jon Swanson

A psalm for Monday morning.

First published July 13, 2011. When you pick up a book of poetry or a book of song lyrics, you have to work. You cannot read Gerard Manley Hopkins or W.H. Auden or Bono the same way you read Malcolm Gladwell or Donald Miller. With poems, you have to stop often, read out loud at […]