Stephen Bond
@impiousgalilean.bsky.social
ELCA pastor in northwestern Ohio;
Trying to love well—convinced that Jesus of Nazareth makes that possible
Trying to love well—convinced that Jesus of Nazareth makes that possible
A god who has to be defended by devotees isn't worth worshiping, and a religion that needs people in positions of power in order to "save" it in some sort of culture war is hardly worth giving your life to. The living God turns the tables on that perspective.
beinggraced.blogspot.com/2025/11/a-go...
beinggraced.blogspot.com/2025/11/a-go...
A God Who Doesn't Need Defending--November 14, 2025
A God Who Doesn't Need Defending--November 14, 2025 "I call upon you, O God, for you will answer me; incline your ear to me; hear my wor...
beinggraced.blogspot.com
November 13, 2025 at 8:19 PM
A god who has to be defended by devotees isn't worth worshiping, and a religion that needs people in positions of power in order to "save" it in some sort of culture war is hardly worth giving your life to. The living God turns the tables on that perspective.
beinggraced.blogspot.com/2025/11/a-go...
beinggraced.blogspot.com/2025/11/a-go...
Good afternoon to the brushstrokes of cloud against the blue sky that rests above the world that God loves…
November 13, 2025 at 7:43 PM
Good afternoon to the brushstrokes of cloud against the blue sky that rests above the world that God loves…
Good morning to the crinkled surface of the plastic table covering in the church fellowship hall, catching the golden hour sunlight and balancing it with shadows on its texture to make it look like sand dunes in a great desert rather than this particular spot in the world that God loves…
November 13, 2025 at 1:21 PM
Good morning to the crinkled surface of the plastic table covering in the church fellowship hall, catching the golden hour sunlight and balancing it with shadows on its texture to make it look like sand dunes in a great desert rather than this particular spot in the world that God loves…
The day is Thursday—Bow Tie Thursday…
November 13, 2025 at 10:54 AM
The day is Thursday—Bow Tie Thursday…
Any voice who tries to get us to shout "Me and My Group First" or to value money and power over love of neighbor is speaking contrary to the way of Jesus; that is to say, such voices are anti-Christ. We are called to recognize them as counterfeits.
beinggraced.blogspot.com/2025/11/spot...
beinggraced.blogspot.com/2025/11/spot...
Spotting the Fool's Gold--November 13, 2025
Spotting the Fool's Gold--November 13, 2025 "Let no one deceive you in any way, for that day will not come unless the rebellion comes first ...
beinggraced.blogspot.com
November 13, 2025 at 12:19 AM
Any voice who tries to get us to shout "Me and My Group First" or to value money and power over love of neighbor is speaking contrary to the way of Jesus; that is to say, such voices are anti-Christ. We are called to recognize them as counterfeits.
beinggraced.blogspot.com/2025/11/spot...
beinggraced.blogspot.com/2025/11/spot...
Pedagogy
a poem for November 11, 2025
a poem for November 11, 2025
November 11, 2025 at 8:44 PM
Pedagogy
a poem for November 11, 2025
a poem for November 11, 2025
Good afternoon to the clash of seasons at my feet on a walk through the world that God loves…
November 11, 2025 at 7:48 PM
Good afternoon to the clash of seasons at my feet on a walk through the world that God loves…
Hey friends!
A new week brings a new episode of Crazy Faith Talk asking, how does mercy show up in our public life?
open.spotify.com/episode/4pE3...
A new week brings a new episode of Crazy Faith Talk asking, how does mercy show up in our public life?
open.spotify.com/episode/4pE3...
Episode 457: The Meaning of Mercy, Part Four--Mercy in Public Life
open.spotify.com
November 11, 2025 at 5:11 PM
Hey friends!
A new week brings a new episode of Crazy Faith Talk asking, how does mercy show up in our public life?
open.spotify.com/episode/4pE3...
A new week brings a new episode of Crazy Faith Talk asking, how does mercy show up in our public life?
open.spotify.com/episode/4pE3...
Maybe the coming of Jesus really is a lot like finding "The One" and falling in love--maybe all you can say is, "You won't be able to miss it. When it happens, you'll know."
beinggraced.blogspot.com/2025/11/no-m...
beinggraced.blogspot.com/2025/11/no-m...
No More Fear of Missing Out--November 12, 2025
No More Fear of Missing Out--November 12, 2025 "As to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we beg you...
beinggraced.blogspot.com
November 11, 2025 at 2:48 PM
Maybe the coming of Jesus really is a lot like finding "The One" and falling in love--maybe all you can say is, "You won't be able to miss it. When it happens, you'll know."
beinggraced.blogspot.com/2025/11/no-m...
beinggraced.blogspot.com/2025/11/no-m...
Good afternoon to the dandelion still offering up its bright golden face amidst the snow that still blankets the grass in this part of the world that God loves….
November 10, 2025 at 7:37 PM
Good afternoon to the dandelion still offering up its bright golden face amidst the snow that still blankets the grass in this part of the world that God loves….
Good morning to the ice clinging to the fruit illuminated by sunlight that falls on the world that God loves…
November 10, 2025 at 3:24 PM
Good morning to the ice clinging to the fruit illuminated by sunlight that falls on the world that God loves…
Job reminds us it is possible to keep living our lives even through pain and when the evidence at hand says that the bullies win every time (including the biggest bully of them all, Death). Job's witness dares to trust that death will not get the final say.
beinggraced.blogspot.com/2025/11/who-...
beinggraced.blogspot.com/2025/11/who-...
Who Gets The Last Word--November 11, 2025
Who Gets the Last Word--November 11, 2025 [Job said:] "O that my words were written down! O that they were inscribed in a book! O that wit...
beinggraced.blogspot.com
November 10, 2025 at 2:58 PM
Job reminds us it is possible to keep living our lives even through pain and when the evidence at hand says that the bullies win every time (including the biggest bully of them all, Death). Job's witness dares to trust that death will not get the final say.
beinggraced.blogspot.com/2025/11/who-...
beinggraced.blogspot.com/2025/11/who-...
From God's vantage point, none of us have ever been out of God's view, God's grip, or God's power to give life. Even after I lose the ability to hold onto my own life, God keeps holding onto it with God's own grip.
beinggraced.blogspot.com/2025/11/in-g...
beinggraced.blogspot.com/2025/11/in-g...
In God's Grip--November 10, 2025
In God's Grip--November 10, 2025 Some Sadducees, those who say there is no resurrection, came to [Jesus] and asked him a question: “Teacher,...
beinggraced.blogspot.com
November 9, 2025 at 7:35 PM
From God's vantage point, none of us have ever been out of God's view, God's grip, or God's power to give life. Even after I lose the ability to hold onto my own life, God keeps holding onto it with God's own grip.
beinggraced.blogspot.com/2025/11/in-g...
beinggraced.blogspot.com/2025/11/in-g...
Good morning to the enthusiastically falling snow blanketing everything in the church yard and this part of the world that God loves…
November 9, 2025 at 12:15 PM
Good morning to the enthusiastically falling snow blanketing everything in the church yard and this part of the world that God loves…
This weekend’s project: an icon, of sorts. “Christ the King, Prince of Peace.”
November 8, 2025 at 9:49 PM
This weekend’s project: an icon, of sorts. “Christ the King, Prince of Peace.”
Good afternoon to the sparrow hidden among the stretching branches and vines that offer meager shelter in the world that God loves…
November 8, 2025 at 8:02 PM
Good afternoon to the sparrow hidden among the stretching branches and vines that offer meager shelter in the world that God loves…
Good morning to the wild teasel keeping watch by the river on a gray but beautiful day in the world that God loves…
November 8, 2025 at 2:23 PM
Good morning to the wild teasel keeping watch by the river on a gray but beautiful day in the world that God loves…
Good morning to the pooling raindrops on the rose blossom that persists into November on a chilly day in this part of the world that God loves…
November 7, 2025 at 3:46 PM
Good morning to the pooling raindrops on the rose blossom that persists into November on a chilly day in this part of the world that God loves…
Good afternoon to the ant crossing from one yellow leaf to another in a high-wire act over the ground for all to watch in the world that God loves…
November 6, 2025 at 9:22 PM
Good afternoon to the ant crossing from one yellow leaf to another in a high-wire act over the ground for all to watch in the world that God loves…
God loves the world despite our unloveliness. God is good not only to the well-behaved religious people, but to stinkers and sinners, atheists and agnostics, outcasts and undesirables all the same. This is the way Jesus is teaching us to see things.
beinggraced.blogspot.com/2025/11/ever...
beinggraced.blogspot.com/2025/11/ever...
Everyday Radicals--November 7, 2025
Everyday Radicals--November 7, 2025 [Jesus said:] “But I say to you who are listening: Love your enemies; do good to those who hate you; ble...
beinggraced.blogspot.com
November 6, 2025 at 9:04 PM
God loves the world despite our unloveliness. God is good not only to the well-behaved religious people, but to stinkers and sinners, atheists and agnostics, outcasts and undesirables all the same. This is the way Jesus is teaching us to see things.
beinggraced.blogspot.com/2025/11/ever...
beinggraced.blogspot.com/2025/11/ever...
Good morning to the branch, now stripped of leaves but still offering fruit to the world that God loves…
November 6, 2025 at 12:13 PM
Good morning to the branch, now stripped of leaves but still offering fruit to the world that God loves…
The first Bow Tie Thursday of November greets you on a floral display…
November 6, 2025 at 10:54 AM
The first Bow Tie Thursday of November greets you on a floral display…
Good evening to the moon resting on a branch in the darkness that blankets the world that God loves…
November 6, 2025 at 12:34 AM
Good evening to the moon resting on a branch in the darkness that blankets the world that God loves…
Good evening to the western sky as dusk falls on the treetops growing in my part of the world that God loves…
November 5, 2025 at 11:01 PM
Good evening to the western sky as dusk falls on the treetops growing in my part of the world that God loves…
Every time someone insults us and we do not respond by speaking insult back we are responding in a way that points to Jesus. That's the goal no matter what: to point to Jesus, not just when people agree with us, but in the way we respond when people don't.
beinggraced.blogspot.com/2025/11/beyo...
beinggraced.blogspot.com/2025/11/beyo...
Beyond the Echo Chamber--November 6, 2025
Beyond the Echo Chamber--November 6, 2025 [Jesus said:] “Woe to you when all speak well of you, for that is how their ancestors treated the ...
beinggraced.blogspot.com
November 5, 2025 at 9:16 PM
Every time someone insults us and we do not respond by speaking insult back we are responding in a way that points to Jesus. That's the goal no matter what: to point to Jesus, not just when people agree with us, but in the way we respond when people don't.
beinggraced.blogspot.com/2025/11/beyo...
beinggraced.blogspot.com/2025/11/beyo...