Russ Ramsey is the pastor of Christ Presbyterian Church Cool Springs in Nashville, Tennessee, where he lives with his wife and four children. He grew up in the fields of Indiana and studied at Taylor University and Covenant Theological Seminary (MDiv, ThM). Russ is the author of the Retelling the Story Series (IVP, 2018) and Struck: One Christian’s Reflections on Encountering Death (IVP, 2017). Russ Ramsey is the pastor of Christ Presbyterian Church Cool Springs in Nashville, Tennessee, where he lives with his wife and four children. He grew up in the fields of Indiana and studied at Taylor University and Covenant Theological Seminary (MDiv, ThM). Russ is the author of the Retelling the Story Series (IVP, 2018) and Struck: One Christian’s Reflections on Encountering Death (IVP, 2017). Easter Week In Real Time
[Editor’s note: For this year’s Passion Week, we share an oldie and a goodie from Russ Ramsey, which originally appeared on the blog ten years ago. In this post, Russ outlines the narrative arc of Passion Week one day at a time, from Palm Sunday through Good Friday and into Resurrection Sunday. We hope Russ’s words bring you closer to the story, and we encourage you to revisit them throughout this week.]
Release Day: Rembrandt is in the Wind
The title Rembrandt is in the Wind is a play on words. It refers to Rembrandt’s painting Storm on the Sea of Galilee, in which he paints himself as one of the disciples in the boat—the one in the center of the vessel looking out at the viewer. So in the painting of the storm, Rembrandt is, quite literally, in the wind. But this painting was also stolen in 1990 and has not been seen since, so in the criminal sense of the term, the canvas itself is “in the wind.”
Read More ›Ephesians 1: The Lyric and Music of the Gospel
There’s a clip from an old Peanuts cartoon where Schroeder is playing his little piano while Lucy leans against it, looking lovingly into his eyes. Snoopy edges his way into the frame, bopping a little to the groove. Before long, he launches into a full-on, joy-filled dance—head thrown back, arms outstretched, eyes closed, lost in the beauty of the song.
Read More ›An Interview with Leif Enger about Virgil Wander
A few years ago, Leif Enger came to speak at Hutchmoot, the annual Rabbit Room conference. That year, he and I had both gone through sudden medical crises. We bonded then over recovery stories and continued that friendship in the form of a fairly regular correspondence. When I was preparing to release Struck, a memoir about my experience, I asked Leif if he might be willing to read it and write an endorsement. He graciously obliged, providing one of the true high points in my career as an author—support from a literary hero.
Why I Started Art Wednesday
At the beginning of November, I began a weekly habit of posting art to my social media feeds—Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. I call it Art Wednesday. Every Wednesday, over the course of the day, I post a series of eight to ten paintings based on an artist or a theme. I name each work and usually offer a small comment about each one.
I began this weekly ritual before I had a vision for what I was actually trying to do. It started because I had been to The Museum of Modern Art and The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, and wanted to share some pictures I took of paintings I’ve loved since my youth.
Jeans and a T-Shirt: In Memory of Rich Mullins
Earlier this fall, a group of amazing musicians gathered at The Ryman Auditorium to play through Rich Mullins’ A Liturgy, a Legacy, and a Ragamuffin Band, note for note. Andrew Peterson, who pulled the show together asked me to write an essay for that evening’s program. This is that essay. Read More ›
Loving Vincent – Reflections from a Reluctant Viewer
I am not a van Gogh scholar in the academic sense. But following my middle school art teacher’s advice to pick an artist to study for the rest of my life, I chose Vincent van Gogh. Read More ›
Struck – Chapter 1: Learning to See
I’m pleased to be able to offer here, in full, the first chapter of Struck: One Christian’s Reflections on Encountering Death.
When my doctor told me I was dying, I came alive. Read More ›
Those Kids Still Have No Idea
Last week, the internet nearly caved in on itself when a happy toddler in white glasses and a yellow sweater danced her way into her father’s live interview on a BBC news program. If you have not seen the video I’m talking about, watch it here. Read More ›
Trailer: Struck
Here’s the book trailer for Russ Ramsey’s Struck. Check out the Rabbit Room review here.
Behold! The Book Trailer for Struck
Tomorrow is release day for Russ Ramsey’s new book, Struck. Look for the Rabbit Room review to come, and in the meantime, watch the book trailer (by Samantha Fisher and Stephen Gage). Read More ›
Songs from Struck
I started writing songs when I was in High School. In recent years, life, calling, and family have redirected my creative bandwidth to other endeavors—good work I love and happily give myself to. But in recent years a desire to write songs has returned. So I’ve been knocking off the rust a little. Read More ›