belief – Page 8 – 300 words a day

only-begotten.

John 3:16 shows up everywhere. At least everywhere if you watch sports. As I think about it, I’ve never seen the magicmarker-made sign at awards shows or a Broadway musical. Perhaps the carrier of the sign enjoys sports more than music or movies. Certainly, that sign is in the background every time a crowd gathers […]

by Jon Swanson

Not a last name

In my family, everyone came from Sweden. At Ellis Island, one brother became Larson, another brother became Lawson, and a cousin became Laure’, because he didn’t want to look like a Swede. We use last names to be informal (“Swanny”) or to be formal, (“Dr Swanson”). We use last names to discover connections (“Are you […]

by Jon Swanson

Almighty.

(Part four of the Creed series) We like to know powerful people. We like people who can get things done. We like connections. We like to know who to call. When the water heater was leaking and I was out of town, I was glad I could call Tom. When I couldn’t understand financial stuff, […]

by Jon Swanson

helping ellen.

I walked toward the front door of the church building, carrying a cup of Starbucks, my Chrome laptop, and my Kindle. Sitting inside, I knew, was Ellen. She’s a woman who didn’t have a job, a house, a car, parents, family, or a place to stay. She ended up at our church because she had […]

by Jon Swanson

Elevator speech

“The son of man has come to seek and save the lost.” That was how Jesus summarized his work one day shortly before he was murdered. He was sitting in the house of a rich man. He had invited himself over. The rich man had just committed half of his resourced to the poor. He […]