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Blog postI wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope. I wait for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning. Psalm 130:5-6
Sit in a quiet room and say, “God, I’m listening.”
You don’t have to sit long. It may be hard to find a quiet place. But simply stopping and setting aside the chaos for 10 minutes can open up a conversation with God.
You don’t have to ask for anything in particular. Simply say, “I’m here. I’m listening.” And listen with yo -
Blog postGod.
I want to pray what Paul prayed:
God, would you let their love grow in knowledge and wisdom more and more and more.
Knowledge of how and where you are working. Knowledge of the slow but sure ways your work is evident across generations. Knowledge of the real needs of others, not merely the ways they inconvenience me.
Wisdom of how to measure words and actions. Wisdom to not force answers. Wisdom to wait.
Because, God, the more our love grows in knowle -
Blog postPaul taught Timothy, a younger Christian, how to live life and how to be in community with others.
He dropped this little gem about the followers of Christ: “…the household of God … the church of the living God, which is the pillar and foundation of the truth” (source).
So even though God could speak from the heavens with a loud powerful voice that everyone on earth could hear, He has chosen to use a group of weak and motley people to represent His truth to the world.
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Blog postOn December 2, 2020, I was working my way through my own copy of my own Advent journal.
The assignment for that day was simple: “for Christmas, rather than starting with a gift list, start with a hope list. For each person on your gift list, write their name, and list one thing that gives them hope.”
Hope, our daughter, was the first person on the list. It may have been because she was 3,000 miles from home at that moment. I sent her an email. “Use tea and wine and coffee as t -
Blog postRich Dixon talks about believing.
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Advent – waiting for Jesus.
Do I really believe what I believe? It’s among my favorite questions, and a big reason the FREEDOM TOUR has partnered with Project Rescue since our first ride in 2013.
In 1999, David and Beth Grant were pastors/missionary directors with no thoughts about an organization dedicated to human trafficking. One late-night phone call changed everything.
A criminal trafficker “gave” thirteen cast -
Blog postPaul, Saint Paul, the Apostle Paul, was a teacher and writer. He was a coach and missionary. He has been famous for a couple thousand years.
And he was human.
He knew what it meant to wait, to wonder, to have his mind fill in all the worst possibilities.
He and his team had visited the town of Thessalonica. They preached there, they taught there, they listened there. They taught a few people about Jesus in several settings. Some people responded and started to provide -
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Blog postOur arms get full of carrying things. We hold onto coffee mugs, to family photos, to holiday expectations, to “number of days in a row.”
We are afraid of dropping something important. Eventually, our arms may be so full that we are unable to accept something else. Or we may be unable to gesture with freedom.
That’s the challenge. And the invitation.
Draw square on a piece of paper. In the square, the box, set something down. For the day or the week or for Advent. Liter -
Blog postGod.
This virus is doing what virus’ do.
They look for ways to stay alive.
They stay alive by clinging to us.
And in the process, they take life from our bodies and lives from our families.
They infect our relationships, our clarity of thought.
They weaken our trust in each other and our trust in you.
Or better, our trust in relationships we can have with people who have that kind of picture of you.
God.
We are weary of u -
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Blog postWe know him well. The innkeeper.
Sometimes accompanied by his wife, he’s the person who appears in children’s Christmas pageants, dressed in a bathrobe, answering Joseph’s persistent knocking on styrofoam painted to look like wood. The innkeeper, sometimes accompanied by his wife, shakes his head. Even when Joseph points at the overly expecting Mary, sitting at the edge of the stage.
Sometimes, if the innkeeper is generous, he points with his thumb to the back of the building. -
Blog postAs we approached Thanksgiving in 2020, we thought that things were bad but maybe stable. We didn’t know that the next twelve months would have more death, more disruption, more relational rancor.
But it has.
And so, I want to go back to the thanksgiving prayer I shared with my coworkers last year. I think it is still helpful for guiding our hearts.
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God-
We need to be honest.
It’s hard to be grateful for all the loss and grief this year. For -
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Titles By Jon Swanson
$2.99
This Is Hard: What I Say When Loved Ones Die. (Resources on Faith, Sickness, Grief and Doubt Book 6)
Apr 23, 2021
by
Jon Swanson
$0.99
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"God. We Need You.": A Year of Prayer in a Hospital Chapel (Resources on Faith, Sickness, Grief and Doubt Book 5)
Jun 21, 2020
by
Jon Swanson
$0.99
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God. We Still Need You.: A Year of Pandemic Prayer and Practice From a Hospital Chaplain
Mar 23, 2021
by
Jon Swanson
$5.99
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A Great Work: A Conversation With Nehemiah For People (Who Want To Be) Doing Great Works
Nov 29, 2013
by
Jon Swanson
$0.99
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