Claimed, gathered and sent

Several of us at church have read and fallen in love with the book, The Shack . I am on the author's email list and just received this today. It feels good to spend some more time hearing about what Papa's up to. If you're unfamiliar with the book, you can get more information about it and even read the first chapter at The Shack website. May you continually know how "especially fond" Papa is of you. Picture from The Shack website.

I have reconnected with a former professor of mine at Regent University, Andy Wood. I was reading the comments to one of internetmonk's posts and saw Andy Wood's name. Hmmmm, I wonder if that is the same Andy Wood. Lo and behold, this was the same Andy Wood whose thought provoking, critical thinking I had enjoyed so much in class. Anyway, he has started blogging. Please visit his blog LifeVesting and say hello. His "where it all began" tab will tell you about the name. Peace.

This morning I was doing lectio divina with a reading from Colossians. There is so much in this passage for me personally, for us as a community of faith. I can see numerous blog posts emanating from this. But for today, I got stopped at the first few words of the first verse , " 12 As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved ..." Who am/are I/we? In those times when some may call us fat, forgetful, stupid, whatever...God calls us chosen, holy, beloved. Does it matter what others call us when God calls us chosen and beloved? It can be difficult to keep criticisms in perspective, particularly when they are painful ones. We can take heart with the encouragement of scripture. Paul told the Colossians this and God has this word for us as well, chosen and beloved. Who am I? Everyone has struggled/struggles with this question, particularly in times of uncertainty. Even Dietrich Bonhoeffer expresses this sentiment in his poem entitled "Who Am I?" Bonhoeffer's conclusion t...

For my undergrad class on the prophets, this week’s exegesis was on Ezekiel 11:14-21 , pitting the self-righteous Jerusalemites against the exiles in Babylon . The more I read, the richer this text became. Several things particularly struck me. The word of the Lord through Ezekiel for the exiles is one of overwhelming grace. Ezekiel was at the point of despair in verse 13, asking if the remnant were to be destroyed. This passage full of mercy, love and grace is God’s answer. The remnant in exile (verses 19-20) “will be renewed spiritually, so … they will be God’s obedient people … from the heart … an echo of Jeremiah’s New Covenant idea (Jer. 31:31-34). [1] That renewal is wrought “by virtue of an unanticipated and unmerited act of grace.” [2] God will: regather them (v.17a), restore them to the land (v.17b), cleanse the land of abominations (v. 18), and fulfill a new covenant with them (vv. 19-20). [3] The remnant and true sanctuary being with the exiles corresponds to the...

Thanks to Clint and his link, I have found a site that is a treasure trove for those interested in spiritual disciplines such as fixed hour prayer, lectio divina, and the daily readings. For quite some time now, I have found such practices along with journaling to be useful in drawing near to God and hearing his voice.