belief – Page 6 – 300 words a day

How a doubting Thomas believed

On Sunday night, ten disciples were gathered in a room. Okay, there may have been more than ten, but only ten of The Twelve were there. Judas was dead. Thomas simply wasn’t present. It was a gathering of uncertainty. The door was locked. The disciples had heard that Jesus was alive, but weren’t sure what […]

by Jon Swanson

Relax. Peter struggled too.

(Repost from July 10, 2009. ) In verse 17, Peter gets praised. In verse 22, Peter gets scolded. In verse 17, Peter is on the mountaintop. Forget it. He IS the mountaintop. In verse 22, he’s in the depths. Forget it. He IS the depths. Matthew 16:13-23 should comfort and encourage you, dear completely human friend […]

by Jon Swanson

changing me.

We were singing about the Bible. Ancient words, ever true Changing me, changing you I looked across the room. I saw someone signing the song to her husband in his wheelchair. He had a stroke a few years back. He was in nursing care for a long time, but finally was able to move home […]

by Jon Swanson

again and again

You know people who tell the same stories over and over? The people who come to family reunions and tell the old stories about how Uncle Ed could always get lost walking home, because he was reading while he walked. The people who stand come to the church potlucks and remind you that Sister Hazel’s […]

by Jon Swanson

I believe in the forgiveness of sins.

As I sat down to write about the next part of the creed, I realized that I have talked about sin and forgiveness of sin a lot. I wrote about Jesus and a sinner, a woman from a different culture and life than Jesus. I wrote about the hard work of repenting, the process of […]