disciple – Page 13 – 300 words a day

Going to Kansas

Although I talk all the time, I’m not a conference speaker. I don’t fit well with church events and not many non-church events invite pastors to the platform. However, if you’ve been around here during the last year, you know that I’ve had the opportunity to speak at a couple of conferences. Last October, I […]

by Jon Swanson

People often follow before they believe.

Twelve guys signed up to follow Jesus. Sometimes another teacher sent them. Sometimes a friend invited them. Sometimes a family member invited them. Sometimes Jesus himself invited them. We can see all four ways in a few sentences in the first chapter of John. One big story, four individual stories. (A video version.) What becomes clear as […]

by Jon Swanson

I’m not trying to get your business.

I would, of course, love to have you buy books through my Amazon store because I like the books and I get a little from it. But when people talk about increasing traffic so that you will buy more services, I have no services to offer. I mean, I could offer a weekly enewsletter for […]

by Jon Swanson

Psalm 1.

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 times, look in your heart […]

by Jon Swanson

what are you learning?

Saturday nights and Sunday mornings, a couple groups I’m part of discuss the previous week’s sermon. It’s not to criticize, it’s to explore. I decided to let you sit in on our questions from last week. Pastor Bill was talking to our high school graduates. I wanted our adults to think through some of the […]