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 Gift of Bearing Witness

Lumen Christi

Eustaquio Santimano via Compfight

Our friend, Jonathan Martin, was featured in She Loves Magazine in a piece he wrote called At Least One Person Waiting. It’s an extraordinary reflection on sitting with the ones we love when they are suffering and we are powerless.

From Jonathan’s reflection:

We all have different skills, different things to offer, different limitations. I know there are suffering people near to every one of us, and that what they need right now may be nothing more or less than someone who is willing to be with them—someone who will not be squeamish about their wounds. My sense is that when we are willing to stand by others through their greatest suffering, somewhere, somehow we will also bear witness to the reality of resurrection.

If we wait long enough.

Also, Jonathan’s book, Prototype was recently published. Here’s a trailer to give you an idea of what it’s about:

Jonathan Martin | Prototype from Caravan on Vimeo.

Related Reading

Hearing and Responding to God: Part 4

Are you inadvertently appealing to magic when you listen for God’s voice? Greg continues his series on hearing and responding to God by pointing out the difference between communion with God and Christian magic. You can view the previous videos here and here and here.  

Who is Responsible for Job’s Suffering?

In the prologue of the Book of Job, the author seems to ascribe the responsibility for Job’s affliction to Yahweh. For instance, Satan challenges God to “stretch out [his] hand and strike everything he has,“ believing that this would incite Job to curse God to his face (1:11). The fact that the Lord responds by…

Prototype

Micah J. Murray wrote the funnest illustrated book review of Jonathan Martin’s book Prototype, so we just had to feature it here. That’s his photoshopped pic of Jonathan as well, which is pretty much worth the price of admission. Jonathan is a dear friend of ReKnew and he’s a voice worth listening to. From Micah’s review: Really, Prototype is…

Podcast: Dear Greg: Does God Accommodate, or is God Simply Powerless?

Greg wrestles with a really tough tragedy and offers theological insight. http://traffic.libsyn.com/askgregboyd/Episode_0359.mp3

Greg Shares His Journey With Chronic Pain

Greg recently decided that he needed to discontinue taking his pain medication despite chronic neck issues for which there are no easy answers. Here he shares that decision and the journey he’s on to remain fully awake to God and others.

We Need The Church

Vicki & Chuck Rogers via Compfight Last week we shared a thought-provoking article by Rachel Held Evans on the reasons millennials are leaving the church. This week we want to share a follow-up to that article that appeared on CNN’s Belief blog. Rachel lists the reasons why millennials actually need the church. Her thoughts actually apply…