following – Page 6 – 300 words a day

Pointing to Jesus.

First published January 21, 2010 John – the one we know as “the Baptist” – had followers. We don’t think about that, considering that he was a plain-speaking, rough-dressed, wilderness-living kind of guy. He’s the kind of guy that is interesting to visit, but “you wouldn’t want to live there.” I think we don’t really […]

by Jon Swanson

beginning to follow

First published January 22, 2010 Three men sat talking. Another man walked by. “That’s the one I was talking about,” says one of the three. The other two start walking after the passing man. He turns. “What do you want?” he asks. Their first word, “rabbi”, says everything. A rabbi was a teacher. Rather than […]

by Jon Swanson

Every Monday

First published October 8, 2012 It happens every Monday morning. Every Monday is a restart of our pilgrimage. Every Monday we say, “I want this week to be different. I want to be more committed, more caring, more thoughtful, more loving, more focused, more significant, more successful.” And then we open our eyes. And shuffle […]

by Jon Swanson

Five years, five years later.

(I first published this over five years ago, on June 24, 2010. Did any of you take my advice then? What if we started now?) “What do you want to be true of you as a leader in five years? What do you want your wife to say about you as a church leader? What […]

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 […]