Claimed, gathered and sent

My semester is done! I finished this morning at 3 AM. Once my Confessions paper was done, all my work was complete. I had 2 classes today and that was it. All exams and papers are done! Yeah! That being said, I can now do some blogging and catch up with other bloggers. Fri. morning we'll leave PA to spend Christmas with my daughter and granddaughter. We'll see friends as well. I've really been looking forward to this trip. That part of the country is home for me and I've been a bit homesick this semester, especially missing my kids. After our time in NY, we'll go to New England to spend time with friends and family there. I'm looking forward to that as well. I'll have a chance to preach at my home church Jan. 3. After the break, there'll be a couple of days before I go for my J-term cultural immersion experience in Appalachia. Four of us will be going to different places, shadowing pastors. We'll be there for 2 weeks/3 Sundays. After that time it wil...

The semester is nearly done. I have two finals, then we're off to be with family for Christmas in Rochester, NY and New Years in RI. When we return in Jan., then I will be spending 2 1/2 weeks (3 Sundays) in Western MD/WV for my Jan. term. Today I supplied at Bender's Lutheran Church in Biglerville, PA, where I have spent the fall semester. The text was Luke 3:7-18 http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=127729731. Most of you know Amity, my husband, Ray’s Seeing Eye dog. She is half-black lab and half-golden retriever. Some of her physical and emotional traits are those of a lab, while others are those of a golden. Now we know she is a cross of only these two breeds, but she often acts as though she has a third breed in her, a pointer. The reason for this is, no matter what Amity is doing, when she’s outside she’s very curious. If she hears a car, sees another dog, or someone she knows, she freezes and stops and looks in the direction of whatever...

It's been a while since I've posted anything. This semester has been a hectic one. Below are some thoughts on baptism from Martin Luther's Large Catechism. The citations refer to the page and paragraph numbers in the Book of Concord. Baptism’s necessity is an issue I have had to struggle with. In Palestine , while working with Muslims who wanted to follow Jesus , the question arose whether one could follow Christ without being baptized. We (who were not Lutheran at that time) concluded that it was not, yet today, I bump up against Luther ’s teaching in the Large Catechism that the corollary to the Great Commission is “whoever rejects baptism rejects God’s Word, faith, and Christ …” (460.31). These adults were not rejecting it, but had not yet understood the need. It was not something we made an issue of. For one’s salvation it may not be essential, but to know the fullness of God in one’s life, to have the daily reassurance of God’s presence, to grow into all God has ...

This past Sunday I preached the following message at Bender's Lutheran Church, the rural church that I've been working in a few hours a week. The holy gospel according to Mark. 38 As he taught, he said, "Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, 39 and to have the best seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets! 40 They devour widows' houses and for the sake of appearance say long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation." 41 He sat down opposite the treasury, and watched the crowd putting money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums. 42 A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which are worth a penny. 43 Then he called his disciples and said to them, "Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury. 44 For all of them have contributed out of their ...