Matt Erickson

This past Sunday at Eastbrook Church, we paused our weekend series so I could share about being a unified church in divided days. That message was drawn from Ephesians 4:1-6 and I posted part of it as a blog post today.

Here is “The Weekend Wanderer” for 5 June 2021 with Andy Crouch on the K-shaped recovery, the Louvre’s Coptic and Byzantine art, new dark matter mapping, and so much more.

It was so great to enjoy a beautiful afternoon yesterday with my family in Lincoln Park in Chicago. This is one of our favorite places outside of Milwaukee, the city we love most.

The pastor “will understand the people of God as a grouping of persons who God has called together…who will survive by God’s grace.” More in my sixth post on Eugene Peterson’s Five Smooth Stones for Pastoral Work: “The Pastoral Work of Community-Building: Esther.”

Here is The Weekend Wanderer for May 8 2021 - remembering Marva Dawn, provacative suggestions from Fleming Rutledge, Christians reflecting on the rise in refugee caps, and much more.

Emily Dickinson’s “‘Hope’ is the thing with feathers” has always been a wonderfully alluring poem for me, and it is the latest poem in the “Poetry for Easter” series here.

“The pastor reads Ecclesiastes to get scrubbed clean from illusion and sentiment, from ideas that are idolatrous and feelings that cloy.” Taken from my fifth post on Eugene Peterson’s Five Smooth Stones for Pastoral Work: “The Pastoral Work of Nay-Saying: Ecclesiastes.”

I’m a bit of a book nerd, so every time I work through a preaching series I love to share the books I utilized in preparing messages. Here is the bibliography I used for a recent series on the Sermon on the Mount entitled “Becoming Real.”

I love stanza IV of “East Coker” from T. S. Eliot’s Four Quartets, which is the latest installment of #PoetryforEaster 2021.

I just finished reading Into the Silent Land: A Guide to the Christian Practice of Contemplation by Martin Laird 📚

I’m blogging through Eugene Peterson’s Five Smooth Stones for Pastoral Work. Here is the fourth post: “The Pastoral Work of Pain-Sharing: Lamentations.” “Among other things pastoral work is a decision to deal, on the most personal and intimate terms, with suffering”

Here is “The Weekend Wanderer” for 24 April 2021 with Esau McCaulley on talking to his kids about the Derek Chauvin verdict, Emily Downe’s short film featuring Miroslav Volf, “My Dream, My Taste,” Paul Kingsnorth on Simone Weil and the need for roots, and so much more.

I’m blogging my way through Eugene Peterson’s Five Smooth Stones for Pastoral Work over the next several weeks. Here is the third post: “The Pastoral Work of Story-Making: Ruth.”

Currently reading: A Sand County Almanac: And Sketches Here and There by Aldo Leopold 📚

Here is the “The Weekend Wanderer” for 17 April 2021 with David Garrison on praying for the Muslim World during Ramadan, Phillip Holmes reviewing Thompson & Kwon’s book on reparations, Ali Kjergaard on reading aloud, Tara Haelle on our depleted “surge capacity,” and more.

I’m blogging my way through Eugene Peterson’s Five Smooth Stones for Pastoral Work over the next several weeks. Here is the second post: “The Pastoral Work of Prayer-Directing: Song of Songs.”

Here is the latest edition of “The Weekend Wanderer” with Christian clergy kidnapped in Nigeria, Jonathan Pennington on the good life, Matthew D. Kim on addressing racism based on imago Dei, Dallas Willard on judging, Adam Kirsch on “getting” poetry, and more.

Here is George Herbert’s poem “Easter Wings” in the first installment of a new blog series #PoetryforEaster 2021.

I’m beginning a blog series on Eugene Peterson’s Five Smooth Stones for Pastoral Work over the next several weeks. Here is the first post: “Recovering Pastoral Practice”.

Currently reading: Five smooth stones for pastoral work by Eugene H. Peterson 📚

Here is Geoffrey Hill with his poem “Lachrimae Amantis” in the latest and final installment of #PoetryforLent here in 2021.

Here is E. Pauline Johnson, also known as Tekahionwake, with her poem “Brier (Good Friday)” in the latest installment of #PoetryforLent

This past weekend I just finished reading the very interesting and thought-provoking book Harlan Hubbard: Life and Work (Blazer Lectures) by Wendell Berry 📚

Just finished reading: The Death and Life of the Great Lakes by Egan, Dan 📚

Here is the latest edition of “The Weekend Wanderer” with Leland Ryken on teaching literature and the Bible as literature, a conversation with Li-Young Lee in Image, Stanley Hauerwas on peacemaking, black spirituals as resistance, and much more.