This week, I'm sharing a concept I learned in counseling that has stuck with me, and some reflection on what makes change and healing possible. How do we grow? I'll end with a favorite G.M. Hopkins poem. In other news: the first single from my new album releases March 4th! Stay tuned!

The post S4:E2 – Open System/Closed System: Welcoming New Hope appeared first on Matthew Clark.

Welcome to Season 4 of One Thousand Words! This week, I'll be sharing about one of the surprising last things Moses did before he died and the rabbit trail it led me down, and I'll read a few lyrics from one of my favorite old Rich Mullins' songs. Subscribe and share, if you enjoy this episode, and sign up for my newsletter over at matthewclark.net.

The post S4:E1 – The Furious Love Song of a Dying Man appeared first on Matthew Clark.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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, Pt. 3 – Here’s the Script; Have Fun! appeared first on Matthew Clark.

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.

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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, Pt. 1 – *or Anybody Want a Peanut? appeared first on Matthew Clark.