Claimed, gathered and sent

It's been a long haul over the past few months. Basically, I lost about 7 weeks of time between having back surgery, being in the hospital for three weeks and rehab for 4 weeks  and then finally... coming home. Having what should have been a fairly straightforward surgery to take pressure off the nerves that go to my legs, led to a complication which put me in the ICU. I contracted  Ecoli. Basically, this all put me behind the proverbial 8 ball. At any rate, I am on the mend. I am finally able to drive a bit and am going to outpatient physical therapy three times a week. Before today, I couldn't even think about my blog. The funny thing is that earlier today I was thinking that I should post something and then I came across this wonderful prayer that I would like to share with you, which says it all: A Prayer for Pentecost (2006) Selected by Dan Clendenin.  A Prayer for Pentecost (2006)    Holy Spirit, Lord and Giver of Life: At the beginning of tim...

This is the sermon I preached at St. Timothy and St. Mark Lutheran Churches on Sunday, 1/29. The scripture text is Matthew 5:1-12 . So sorry I couldn't add an apropos picture to this post. The computer was not cooperating. Today's gospel is the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount, which is called the Beatitudes. Prior to this trip up the mountain, Jesus was healing and speaking while the disciples basically observed. They had a lot to process, so Jesus put some distance between himself and the crowd. Then his disciples joined him. Jesus' teaching was primarily for his disciples. Jesus is meeting on the mountain like a new Moses training his disciples in a new kind of righteousness. What exactly are the Beatitudes? To better understand what they are, let's look at what they are not. Some of you may be familiar with this explanation where the beatitudes are understood as the Bee------attitudes. Simply put, we are to try and try and try as hard as we can to live...

Here's an excellent article concerning stewardship and young adults. From Generation to Generation by Center for Stewardship Leaders - Stewardship - Luther Seminary

This is the sermon I preached Sunday, 1/22 at St. Timothy and St. Mark Lutheran Churches. The gospel text was Matthew 4:12-23. Today we are inundated with pleas to “follow” different companies or public figures on social media. The more followers they have, the more easily and cheaply they can disseminate their message or advertise their product. Books and blogs have been written on “how to rapidly build and boost your social media following.” How does a culture of consumerism that emphasizes “following” affect the way we understand today’s gospel as Christians? How, as a community, do we help each other differentiate and listen to the call from Jesus over the temptation of so many others? When Jesus began his public ministry, he knew the time was right. The imprisonment of John the Baptist was Jesus' signal. With John the Baptist in prison and out of commission, who would preach the good news of the kingdom and call people to repentance? It's time, Jesus. Yo...