Catch up on Touchpoints by Spirit in the Desert spiritual director, Henry Rojas, as well as archival Touchpoints by former faith mentor, Rev. “Bro. Jim” Hanson.
The Other Side of the Storm
And perhaps that can give us a different perspective on the disciple’s cry, “Do you not care that we are about to perish?” The disciple’s cry speaks to more than a storm on a lake. It is the cry of all who go with Jesus, who follow Jesus to the other side. And while Jesus does calm the storm, perhaps their perishing is exactly what needs to happen.
The Kingdom of God is a Seedy Place
The seeding is ongoing. Driven by the wind, the Spirit… and carried by those who may not even be aware they are carrying it. And our task, is not to figure it out, but to live in it, nest in it, and grow in it. The Mystery it seems, just won’t stop planting the seed of the kingdom inside us and around us.
Crazy Jesus
You see, for Jesus, the Holy Spirit is not something you can name and claim. It is so far beyond you and me that no family or religious system can contain it. It is free to blow wherever it will and it catches up all kinds of people in its presence.
The UN-certainty of God
Let’s not make the mistake with this text of trying to move from one certainty to another. That is just moving from the frying pan into the fire. No, the move is from certainty to mystery. That is why the analogies are birth and wind.
What is Your Native Language?
Grace and peace from the Mystery in whom we live and move and have our being. … we hear, each of us, in our own native language.” Acts 2: 1-21 The Pentecost story from the book of Acts is such a story in contrasts. The disciples, hiding in fear, wanting to be isolated, are thrust out into the world with a big spotlight on them. The peoples of the world, separated by language and culture, are now united in a…
Call the Next Witness
To say our lives witness TO God, then, does not depend on our acceptance, approval, or agreement. It does not depend on our readiness or responsiveness. It doesn’t depend on our oratory or persuasive skills, and it doesn’t depend on me making you into anythinG.
No Choice in the Matter
It’s a theological Copernican revolution if you think about it. Just as the sun doesn’t revolve around the earth, God doesn’t revolve around me. I revolve around God.
No Fear
Does God discipline? Does God correct? I hope so. Otherwise, what hope do I have? Actually God doesn’t just discipline and correct, God kills and raises to new life, God brings about death and resurrection.
The Un-Folding of God
“The Un-Folding of God” is Bro. Jim Hanson’s Touchpoint on the Good Shepherd text (John 10:11-18), the Lectionary reading for Sunday, April 25, 2021.
FORE!!!
“Repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.” (Luke 24 :36b-48) What a strange way to talk about repentance. I mean, how does one proclaim repentance?
“Show Me”
“Unless I see the wounds in his hands and touch and feel his side…” (John 20:19-31) And Jesus shows Thomas his wounds. There is something astounding about this passage. The resurrected Lord still carries with him the wounds of the world. Think about that.
Religious Slave-dom
The Philippians passage says that we are to have the mind of Christ, and that means not counting equality with God as something to be grasped, exploited, taken advantage of. But isn’t that the goal of Christianity and religion in general. To become god-like. To be equal in purity with God. To declare that I have the righteousness of God within me and impose it on others?