Monday, August 7, 2017

New Day, New Theme

I'm a bit ashamed to admit that I haven't posted an entry since last December.  While many things have happened since then that have contributed to my absence, it's all on my shoulders.  However, I do plan on starting to re-kick things off yet again.

One brief update for those who may not personally have a lot of connections with me.  I have recently moved, from the Atlanta, Georgia area to St. Louis, MO.  Instead of working in a congregation, I now work at an institution of higher learning, a post that I began early in June.  The actual call was extended in February, and my family and I prayed and deliberated on it for some time, until I announced that I was accepting the call on April 2.  At that point, we started the challenge of wrapping things up in the congregation in Georgia, getting the house ready for our stuff to move and for the house to sell, finding a place to land in Missouri, and figuring out what the new position would have me doing.  It's been an interesting journey.

However, rather than looking for your empathy at all that, I actually want to focus on something else for a while.  My new position is one which has a focus on formation.  One of the things that drew me to this position was that I am part of the process of finding where God's Spirit is at work in the lives of men and women, preparing them for ministry.  That was and is very attractive to me.

A large part of my background, studies, and interests are in the formation of God's people as Christians, and how we can take that from the cradle to the grave, creating life-long Christians who hold firmly to God's good news.  Formation is something that has great interest to me, and something that I want to see done in the lives of God's people.  I want to see God's people, baptized into Christ Jesus, brought all the way to the fulfillment of their hope, their eternal life that God gives through Jesus when they cross the doorway of death and receive new life in Jesus.  I want to see God's people continue to grow and challenge themselves in living out God's will and design in their lives, not merely when it is convenient, but at all points in their lives.

To that end, don't be surprised that much of what you will start seeing here will deal with Christian formation.  It's something that starts the moment God's Word and the water touch our heads and hearts, and only ends when Jesus calls us to our eternal inheritance.  Our whole life in between is one of being formed in the image of Christ Jesus, who loved us and gave Himself for us.  So you will see a lot of thoughts on what this looks like, what God is doing, how it gets played out in our lives, and other such random thoughts and pieces along the way.  As always, if you have questions, feel free to make use of the comments section, which I plan to be more active in engaging as we go forward.

In Christ,
Scott

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