Claimed, gathered and sent

Centered Life: Connecting Sunday to Monday on the Luther Seminary website has a short quiz to see how centered your life is. These are my results. How did you do? Imagine a life of belonging, identity and meaning centered in Christ that is: Awakened to God's presence in your life Called to live your faith in every situation Set free to contribute your unique gifts to God's work in the world Nurtured and supported by a community of faith Your profile: Awakened - 35 (7 mean) Called - 34 (6.8) Set Free - 34 (6.8) Nurtured - 35 (7)

This is my most recent Ezekiel exegesis for my class on the prophets. Ezekiel 16:1-43 I. Historical/Cultural Context This figurative narrative or allegory, from the beginning of the monarchy or earlier, [1] is a striking departure from Amos’ and Hosea’s depiction of Israel ’s beginnings at God’s call from Egypt , describing her then as innocent. Contrast Ezekiel: Israel viewed as hopeless from beginning, Canaan her origin. “The twists to the familiar theme are designed to shock…people out of their complacency.” [2] At maturity, Yahweh weds Jerusalem because of “…the contractual nature of marriage, the spousal relationship lent itself to expressing the centrality, permanence, and emotive content of the covenant bond between God and people.” [3] Graphic in nature, an early rabbi, “Eliezer … forbade … liturgical use…though… retained in the lectionary, it was stipulated that it must …be followed by its [greatly sanitized] targum ( m. Megillah 4.10).” [4]

Over at mission matters, Steve has posted an amazing testimony of God's faithfulness to a 92 year old lady. It's here on YouTube. It is incomprehensible what God does with simple faith that takes him at his word. Thanks to Kelly for pointing this one out. Great is his faithfulness !

We received some troubling news yesterday concerning a pastor friend. Let us pray. Ever-living God, strengthen and sustain pastors...that with patience and understanding they may love and care for your people. Grant that together they may follow in the way of Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen Gracious Father, we pray for your holy catholic church. Fill it with all truth and peace. Where it is corrupt, purify it; where it is in error, direct it; where in anything it is amiss, reform it; where it is right, strengthen it; where it is in need, provide for it; where it is divided, reunite it; for the sake of Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord. Amen. Evangelical Lutheran Worship , (Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress, 2006) 73. Picture from Dawes Fine Art.

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