Matt Erickson

Great to meet and hear from @austinkleon last night at @boswellbooks in Milwaukee. Here he is signing books for my son, Josh, who, like me, has really enjoyed Kleon’s work on creativity.

From a hike two weeks ago on the Ice Age Trail near Lapham Peak in the Kettle Moraine Southern Unit.

Neil Postman on form and the shaping of culture from Amusing Ourselves to Death.

A little late, but you can access this past weekend’s edition of “The Weekend Wanderer” here with Martin Buber, reflections on the synagogue shooting, Christopher Smith on conversational churches, and more.

I always enjoy participating with students at Eastbrook Academy for all school worship. Today I shared from Proverbs 2:1-6 on developing wisdom, including a story about my 6th grade group project on The Red Badge of Courage that relied more on ketchup than reading the book.

The latest edition of “The Weekend Wanderer” is here with Ajith Fernando on the Sri Lanka bombings, black evangelicalism saving the movement, Dr Paul Robinson wins Fulbright, Mike Pence at Taylor, and more.

If you haven’t read it yet, I would encourage you to take a look at “Six Biblical Responses to Sri Lanka’s Easter Bombings” by Sri Lankan theologian, Ajith Fernando.

I appreciate your prayer support as I work on messages for the next couple of weekends at @EastbrookChurch and also prepare for an “Ask Pastor Matt anything” Q&A with our Boomers & Beyond group this afternoon.

Happy to share my messages from Good Friday, “The Painful Gift of Forgiveness,” and Resurrection Sunday, “The Good News of the Resurrected One,” from this past weekend at @EastbrookChurch.

As Spring arrives here in Wisconsin, I begin looking forward to speaking at Fort Wilderness this summer, June 29-July 5, in the beautiful north woods. There are still spaces available, if you want to join me and my family there.

The latest edition of “The Weekend Wanderer” is here with Wesley Hill on Jesus’ resurrection, Notre Dame ablaze, spirituals birthed in hardship, PreachersSneakers, Austin Kleon on creativity, and much more.

I’m praying for a lot of ministry friends during one of our most active and joyful times of the year within the church. I appreciate your prayer support today as I work on messages for Good Friday, Easter, and the weekend after Easter.

Here is the latest edition of “The Weekend Wanderer” with Iraqi Christians facing deportation, Ajith Fernando on cross-cultural discipleship, Walker Percy’s relevance, church fires, a black hole, and more.

I appreciate the way that Scot McKnight outlines the unfortunate way folks idealize Christian community, refusing to make space for the inherent messiness of human relationships, in A Fellowship of Differents.

Spending some time with this great book as I work on a sermon series for this summer at @EastbrookChurch and write a summary article on how to approach preaching this effectively.

“Peace: two poems” — one by George Herbert and the other by Gerard Manley Hopkins, each with a distinctive approach to the struggle for peace.

Here’s the latest edition of “The Weekend Wanderer”: remembering Evelyne Reisacher, David Brooks on the “dirty river of information,” novels & empathy, power in quiet, Andy Crouch on transhumanism, and more.

James Tissot, Jesus Tempted in the Wilderness.

In Memoriam: Evelyne Reisacher.

I just finished re-reading That Hideous Strength, the third novel of C S Lewis’ Space Trilogy. One of the most poignant moments comes near the end of the book, after the N.I.C.E.’s descent into chaos.

The hunger to know that is built into each of us is vital to living well and finding meaning and joy. Still, there are some challenges that we must face about our hunger to know.

Here’s the latest edition of “The Weekend Wanderer” with Hans Boersma on Scripture memorization in Lent, another church shut down in China, tensions in Gaza, Francis Spufford’s Narnia novel, and much more.

I love this series of paintings by Ilya Rapin themed around the temptation of Jesus.

What is your favorite book to recommend on the nature of pastoral ministry? It could be theological, practical, biographical, etc. I have some of my own favorites, but I’m interested to hear from others on this.

“Take heed to yourselves, lest you be void of that saving grace of God which you offer to others…and that you preach to yourselves the sermons which you study, before you preach them to others.” - Richard Baxter