What is a face? What does it mean for someone to face us, for us to have to face ourselves, and how does facing and being faced by Jesus change us? It is scary to turn and face Jesus, because we’re afraid God doesn’t really love us. But the one who dares to look finds out the shocking good news and comes away singing, “God has made his face to shine upon us!” Seeing Jesus see us as his beloved, changes the way we see ourselves. The post S3:E30 – Season 3 Finale: The Light of a Face appeared first on Matthew Clark.

One Thousand Words

S3:E30 – Season 3 Finale: The Light of a Face

This week, guest essayist Maribeth Barber will explore what Wendell Berry means when he implores us to “do something that won’t compute”— arguing that it’s less about rebelling against the culture for rebellion’s sake, and more about living and loving well. Maribeth's debut novel "Operation Lionhearted" releases 10/13/21, find out more: maribethbarber.com The post S3:E29 – Maribeth Barber, The Defiance of Laughter appeared first on Matthew Clark.

S3:E29 – Maribeth Barber, The Defiance of Laughter

This week we'll welcome a guest essayist from Norway, Erling Rantrud. A trained gardener, husband, father, and pastor in Sandefjord, Norway, Erling will share about God's life-giving invitation to both His work and His rest in a place where heaven and earth meet. And he'll sing a benediction for us in his native tongue! The post S3:E28 – Erling Rantrud, There Was a Garden appeared first on Matthew Clark.

S3:E28 – Erling Rantrud, There Was a Garden

Jesus says, “The Father is seeking worshipers who worship in spirit and truth.” What does that mean? What kind of relationship does God hope to have with us? I'm looking at Psalm 88 and John 4 for clues about life, God, and real connection in love. How do the (often uncomfortable things) God chooses not to edit out of his book demonstrate his vulnerability and invite us to be vulnerable with him? The post S3:E27 – Showing Up in Spirit and Truth appeared first on Matthew Clark.

S3:E27 – Showing Up in Spirit and Truth

I just finished reading Stanley Hauerwas’ “The Character of Virtue: Letters to a Godson”. In it, he describes the virtues as the characteristics formed in us by practices that accompany a particular narrative in which we have been located. How then does inhabiting the Christian story transform us as we bear that story out in our very lives - our bodies, decisions, and so on? The post S3:E26 – Your Place in the Story, Pt. 4 – Virtues: The Heartbeat of Reality appeared first on Matthew Clark.

S3:E26 – Your Place in the Story, Pt. 4 – Virtues: The Heartbeat of Reality

In Part 3 of "Your Place in the Story", having already talked about the necessity of church participation, I’m looking at how saturating ourselves in the Scriptures and in Prayer gives us the wisdom to joyfully and beautifully improvise... to enact this storyline on the stage of our lives alongside others, to jam along with the song God is singing over us, or to join the Trinity in their conversation of holy love. The post S3:E25 – Your Place in the Story – Here’s the Script; Have Fun! appeared first on Matthew Clark.

S3:E25 – Your Place in the Story – Here’s the Script; Have Fun!

How do we find our place in the Story Jesus is telling? Beginning last week, I started a series of episodes exploring that theme. In part one, I talked about how, broadly speaking, liturgies are simply a human phenomenon (even apart from religion) that work a story into our bones. And this week, I’m jumping off from there exploring how the unnoticed narratives we involve ourselves in name us - for good or ill. Names are how we understand our essential relation to things, the truth of our being. The post S3:E24 – Your Place in the Story, Pt. 2 – A Beautiful New Name appeared first on Matthew Clark.

S3:E24 – Your Place in the Story, Pt. 2 – A Beautiful New Name

Everybody does liturgies - inside and outside the church. I’m thinking of a liturgy as any shared practice or discipline that situates us within a particular narrative that gives our life context and meaning. Liturgies provide language, images, events, and storyline. They work that stuff down into our bones, until whatever story we’re practicing becomes the measure for everything. The next few weeks, I'm exploring things that help us find our place in The Story Jesus is telling. The post S3-E23 – Your Place in the Story *or Anybody Want a Peanut? appeared first on Matthew Clark.

S3-E23 – Your Place in the Story *or Anybody Want a Peanut?

This week, we welcome singer/songwriter Nicole Kelley. Her disarming and wise way of talking about Jesus made me think how much I’d love to get her to share something here, and this week she’ll be talking about Peter’s faith and failures and how Jesus’s steadfast grace gives us permission to let go of regret and "press on toward the prize" as Paul says. Nicole's new album "Canyon Wide" is available everywhere online. Visit her website: www.nicolekelleymusic.com The post S3:E22 – Nicole Kelley, “Peter and His Personal Record Swim Time” appeared first on Matthew Clark.

S3:E22 – Nicole Kelley, “Peter and His Personal Record Swim Time”

Sometimes we forget that God works through regular people to get things done. The Bible didn’t just magically appear out of nowhere; God invited real people throughout history to join in his long redemptive work. In the Bible, we see evidence of it. This week, I’ll share how I’ve experienced that personally, and some thoughts on how God provides for us through Creation, wisdom, and friendship. The post S3:E21 – God’s Friends Getting Stuff Done appeared first on Matthew Clark.

S3:E21 – God’s Friends Getting Stuff Done

This week, I wanted to read a letter I wrote almost exactly one year ago today. I was feeling all the dismay and bewilderment of that moment as lockdowns began, and I wrote this piece for the Spring 2020 Issue of The Cultivating Project. The Lord can enter into and redeem absolutely anything, if he can transform the cross and the grave. So, though I don’t see how, I know he’s not dismayed or bewildered. Jesus will bring life and eucatastrophe in a thousand little ways as we continue our Pilgrimage toward the Joy set before us. The post S3:E20 – Dear Friend, A Letter appeared first on Matthew Clark.

S3:E20 – Dear Friend, A Letter

...But wait, there's more! It's still Easter, or Easter-tide, all the way till Pentecost on May 23rd! So, today I'm sharing two interrelated readings on the theme of Easter Joy. One from Alexander Schmemann that I'll read, and one from Lewis's "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" read beautifully and joyfully by Kirstin Jeffrey Johnson. We may weep, yes, but since Christ has come we have a "secret strength" and participate in a "deeper magic". This changes everything. The post S3:E19 – Easter: Secret Strength and Deeper Magic appeared first on Matthew Clark.

S3:E19 – Easter: Secret Strength and Deeper Magic

Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed! Alleluia! Well, friends, thank so much for walking through this week with me. I've really needed it, personally. In this last Holy Week episode, Amy Baik Lee will read her piece "In the space of a single word", Son of Laughter (Chris Slaten) will sing "The Gardener", Kirstin Jeffrey Johnson will read John Updike's poem "Seven Stanzas at Easter", and Brian Brian will close us with a prayer. "One Thousand Words" will be back as usual every Monday. The post S3:E18: Holy Week: Easter Sunday appeared first on Matthew Clark.

S3:E18: Holy Week: Easter Sunday

What do we do with this strange, suspended Saturday? This in-between time, this "Nondum" or "not-yet" time, after Jesus's death but before his Resurrection? For his first followers there was no certainty of what was to come. Surely, this silent Saturday is a part of Jesus's gift to us, too, right along with Friday and Sunday? I'll talk a little about that, read a poem, Taylor Leonhardt will share an original poem and her song "Lights gone out", and Brian Brown will close us in prayer. Join us again tomorrow on "One Thousand Words". The post S3:E17 – Holy Week: Saturday, The Gift of the Quiet In-Between appeared first on Matthew Clark.

S3:E17 – Holy Week: Saturday, The Gift of the Quiet In-Between

This is Crucifixion Day, Good Friday. This is a hard day, because Jesus’s brutalized face, faces us with the truth about ourselves - asking us to face him with our true faces, and discover that an unexpected new life is possible in Him. Amy Lee will share "The Blood-bought gift of loneliness", I'll sing a song, and Brian Brown will read T.S. Eliot's "East Coker IV" and close us in prayer. Join us every day this week on "One Thousand Words". The post S3:E16 – Holy Week: Good Friday appeared first on Matthew Clark.

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One Thousand Words

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