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

Podcast: Are Our Personal Afflictions the Result of Our Personal Sins?

Greg considers the cause of our afflictions, the healing at Bethesda, and Monty Python. http://traffic.libsyn.com/askgregboyd/Episode_0086.mp3

Tags: ,

Hearing and Responding to God: Part 5

We hope you’ve enjoyed this series on hearing and responding to God. In this last video on the topic, Greg discusses the significance of the fact that God IS love, and how our communion with him is the product of God’s eternal loving nature. You can watch the earlier installments here, here, here, and here. ***Bonus: Greg experiences a…

Why We Can’t Know Why Bad Things Happen

Science has demonstrated that the slightest variation in a sufficiently complex process at one point may cause remarkable variations in that process at another point. It’s called chaos theory. The flap of a butterfly wing in one part of the globe can be, under the right conditions, the deciding variable that brings about a hurricane…

Approaching Chronic Illness with Wisdom

CNN posted this article on what to say and what not to say when someone you love is suffering with chronic illness. Sometimes our best intentions cause more harm than good, and we need to approach people in pain with a great deal of wisdom and sensitivity. From the article: When people we care about…

Violence: What Did Jesus Do?

Thomas Quine via Compfight Here’s a spot-on reflection on what Jesus taught us about responding to violence. Whatever you think about the justification of violence in particular situations, as Christians we simply cannot escape the fact that Jesus demonstrated another way. From the reflection: And though he had access to unlimited power to have himself released…

A Distinctly Christian Take on the Israel-Palestine Conflict

David Masters via Compfight Here is a great essay, written by a young kingdom revolutionary I’m just getting to know, Jonathan Martin.  Jonathan addresses the hot topic of the Israel-Palestine conflict with biblical insight, theological depth, and a heart that reflects a knowledge and love for the people he’s talking about. My favorite quote: “The…