We run our website the way we wished the whole internet worked: we provide high quality original content with no ads. We are funded solely by your direct support. Please consider supporting this project.

The Witness of Graffiti (Rocks Crying Out)

when your thoughts get painted on the wall

 Ibrahim Iujaz via Compfight

On this eve of Easter, we wanted to share something that fit the mood of the time between the crucifixion and the resurrection. D.L. Mayfield wrote this striking piece on the longing for the Kingdom of God in the midst of overwhelming brokenness. We thought it was the perfect reflection for this day suspended between grief and celebration.

From her reflection:

I think Jesus meant it all: that his coming, his way, his kingdom was marked both by celebration and anguish. He knew, more intimately and more deeply than we could ever imagine, the joy of his father’s heart and the suffering of what happens when we purposefully thwart it. He knows about me, my neighbors, this city—how the redemption is so real and good and possible (the rocks cry out) and how the hearts of the broken are barely holding on, while we keep trying to build our own safe fortresses high above the muck (the rocks cry out). He knows it all; and perhaps this is what he was thinking as he looked over Jeruslalem and wept.

In my neighborhood you can’t walk a block without seeing paint splashed on the walls. Some are joyful, hopeful and prophetic. Others are chilling, territorial, anguished. The rocks are crying out, just as Jesus said they would.

Related Reading

What Makes the Good News So Good

While God was revealed in various ways and to various degrees through the law and the prophets of the Old Testament, in Jesus we finally have the one who is “the exact representation of God’s being” or essence (hypostasis, Heb. 1:1-13). This is the heart of the Good News that reverberates throughout the New Testament.…

On Renunciation

  Jonathan Kos-Read via Compfight We are bombarded daily with messages that urge us to satisfy every desire we might have. That’s what consumers do. And that’s exactly what the world has reduced us to: consumers. But what about Jesus’ words in Luke 9:23: Then Jesus said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must…

Forgiving the Unforgivable

Osheta Moore wrote a courageous and challenging post last week entitled Washing the Feet of the Steubenville Rapists. It’s not an easy read, and if you’re vulnerable to triggers in this area, you might want to exercise caution. But Osheta offers a glimpse of redemption in the darkest of places. Can we move towards forgiveness…

Isn’t it contradictory to say Jesus is “fully God” and “fully human”?

READER: God is, by definition, eternal, having neither beginning nor end. Human beings are, by definition, finite, beginning at a certain point in time. How, then, can Jesus be both God (eternal) and human (finite)? Isn’t that a contradiction? Similarly, while God is omniscient, humans aren’t. How could Jesus be both omniscient God and non-omniscient…

The Politics of Jesus

Many are so conditioned by the mindset of the world that they can’t even envision an alternative way of affecting society and politics other than by playing the political game as it is done by the established governmental system. Some thus conclude that, since Jesus didn’t try to overhaul the political systems of his day…

Parable of the Jerk Loser Son

Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery via Compfight Peter Enns blogged about the parable of the prodigal son, or as he likes to call it, “the parable of the jerk loser son.” It’s actually a reflection about the unbelievable and scandalous love of God. I guarantee it will bless you. From the article: The story isn’t about…