"fear" Tagged Touchpoints

"fear" Tagged Touchpoints

Touchpoint: Jesus rode in on a donkey. Watercolor image by Jen Norton of Jesus riding through palm-waving crowd.

Untying the Colt of Peace

“Perhaps this was why Jesus told his apprentices to take nothing with them. They would need the help of others… places to sleep and food to eat. The needing, and serving those needs, would unify people along the way. They would not have tools of transaction or the temptation to respond to people with weapons. He was teaching them to ride in on a donkey of peace and the power of humility as well as action. Sharing and valuing others, asking for assistance, instead of seeing others as a threat, was the biggest blow to political and religious displays of might.”
Touchpoint: John the Baptizer. Watercolor image of John the Baptist preaching to a crowd

Let’s Get Tattoos!

“At baptism it is not about our declaration of acceptance of God, it’s about our full acknowledgment of God’s reception of us! This mystery invites us into God’s heart. This mystery is the heartbeat in all people, whether aware of it or not. Though we may sin, doubt, judge, curse, deny, betray, we cannot remove the tattoo placed on our hearts as a reminder that we belong.”
Touchpoint: Seventy Times Seven; image of two people clasping hands

Perfect Love Casts Out Fear

“To forgive one’s self opens us to the possibility of forgiving another. But to forgive another is not to dispense mercy or justice, for only God has that authority. But it is God who is opening us up to grace and mercy, when we are completely unable. We are merely opening ourselves up to what God can do when we can’t.”
Take Up Your Cross Toucnpoint; image by Wayne Pascall of a man whose shadow is carrying a cross

Losing It

“Found in our lostness. What a frightening and freeing prospect. So, maybe I should have a bumper sticker that says “I lost it,” rather than “I found it.” And yet, it is exactly this ‘lostness’ that Jesus is calling me to lean into, to walk into, to embrace. And to embrace not only my ‘lostness,’ but embrace all the others who society has deemed ‘lost’ and ‘irredeemable.’”
I Am the Light of the World Touchpoint, painting of blind man by Chris Cook

Our Blinding Vision

“Let me give you a far-out hypothetical – let’s just say there was a deadly virus running rampant across the world. We wouldn’t be focused on where it came from, naming it after the city or country it started in, seeking to blame someone… How barbaric would that be? NO, we would be focused on stopping its spreading, testing for it, curing it… Right?!? Isn’t it nice to know how far we’ve evolved?”
The Greatness of God Touchpoint

The Miracle of Impermanence

Grace and Peace from the Mystery in whom we live and move and have our being. The greatness of God. When some were speaking about the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and gifts dedicated to God, he said, ‘As for these things that you see, the days will come when not one stone will be left upon another; all will be thrown down.’” Luke 21:5-19 The people around Jesus are caught up in the beauty of their…
Wrestling with God Touchpoint

Limping Along

“You know, if I ever started another church, maybe I would name it the “World Wrestling Federation Lutheran Church.” And my benediction every Sunday would be, “Let’s get ready to Rumble!!!””
Proclaim Repentance Touchpoint

Forgiveness Leads to Repentance

“But here’s the thing. We don’t need to run and hide like Adam and Eve. We don’t need to live in fear and dread. We know what kind of God we have. We know whether God, at God’s core, is forgiving or vengeful.”

Who’s a Scaredy-Cat?

“He GAVE. He entrusts. He gives. This is who our God is. This is what our God does. He hangs on a cross and gives forgiveness. He comes back from the dead to those who denied and betrayed him and gives them his peace. This is who our God is. This is what our God does.”