pastor || writer || speaker
Jesus knew we loved stories and so He spoke from stories quite a bit of the time. The type of stories he used were called parables. What is a parable? A parable is often defined as “an earthly story with a heavenly meaning.” It’s a story that deals with earthy things in order to talk …
Continue reading "How Should We Read Jesus’ Parables?: some basic guidance"
Rembrandt van Rijn, The Return of the Prodigal Son, Oil on canvas; 1668. One of the strangest things about us as people is how much we want to be close to people and also how easily we run away from relationships with others. Why is it that we both want to be known but also want …
Continue reading "Returning to God :: Rembrandt van Rijn, “The Return of the Prodigal Son”"
If you want to write a good story, one of the golden rules is “Show, don’t tell.” “Show, don’t tell” means that you don’t tell your read a situation is scary. Instead, you help the reader enter into the terror by describing it. "The darkness descended at night and an eerie stillness surrounded the trailer …
Continue reading "The Living Parables of Jesus: Jesus’ non-verbal teaching in Matthew 21"
Pieter Bruegel, De bouw van de toren van Babel; oil on panel; 1563. Sin and temptation are funny things. They often disguise themselves in respectability and inventiveness that catch us off-guard at the last minute. Genesis 11 tells the story of a community's effort to construct a great tower at a time when humanity shared common …
Continue reading "Learning to be Silent :: Pieter Bruegel the Elder, “The Tower of Babel”"
Last week at Eastbrook's "Journey to the Cross" service, I shared this message for Ash Wednesday rooted in Joel 2:12-17. Sometimes what’s broken can become more beautiful and stronger than before. In the Japanese artform kintsugi broken pieces of pottery are taken by an artist and repaired by mending the imperfections with a lacquer infused with powdered …
Continue reading "Begin with Brokenness: An Ash Wednesday Sermon"
Matthew Erickson 