relationship – 300 words a day

Maybe a new way to use your gift

A friend is considering a new life direction – a change of career. She’s responding to a tug in her heart to use the gift of compassion that God has given her. She already uses it in her day-to-day life, but she wants to share that gift more deliberately. So I reflected on my own […]

by Jon Swanson

Inviting conversations

First published January 25, 2010. Andrew spent a day with Jesus. He had been a follower of John (the baptizing one). He was looking for something spiritual. He was looking for someone that would be the one, the answer, the Messiah. And after spending a day with Jesus, Andrew went looking for his brother and […]

by Jon Swanson

How to meet Jesus while vacuuming.

I was writing this post the other day while I was vacuuming. I was writing in my head. I had been rereading In His Steps, an old book that was the inspiration for the WWJD bracelets. In this 1897 novel, Charles Sheldon considers what would happen if a disciple of Jesus committed “to try to […]

by Jon Swanson

How to answer a simple question.

I work at a church. Every Sunday morning, I know that someone will ask me how I’m doing. I know that someone will say, “How was your week.” And I will not know how to answer the questions. So I decided to figure out how to have an answer. 1. Don’t think, “I wonder why […]

by Jon Swanson

just one picture, please

Philip was a normal guy. After Jesus invited Philip to follow him, Philip went to find his friend Nathaniel. Rather than talking about his own understanding of Jesus, Philip rooted his invitation to his friend in theology: “This is the one Moses and the prophets pointed to.” When Nathaniel argued, Philip merely said, “Come and […]