Digging Into Revelation

I’ve had The Rapture Exposed: The Message of Hope in the Book of Revelation, by Barbara Rossing on my list of books to read for well over five years.

Dr. Rossing is a professor at the Lutheran School of Theology in Chicago, where I went to seminary. I took my Gospels class with her, as well as “Preaching the Gospel of John,” team-taught with her and Dr. Craig Satterlee, now a synodical bishop in Michigan. I also went on a trip to Turkey with her and one of our Old Testament professors, Dr. Esther Menn.

I loved just about all of my seminary professors, and Dr. Rossing is no exception. She deeply cared for all of us and her classes were enlightening and challenging, sprinkled with humor and that aspect of her personality I can only describe as “quirky.” When I had the chance to go to Turkey and visit some of the cities John of Patmos writes to in Revelation, I was terribly excited. I would get to see some amazing places, get a better understanding of the historical context Revelation was written in, and do all of that with some of my best friends and two passionate and encouraging professors.

Unfortunately, this trip also followed immediately after graduation, although it was technically my last credit. I tried my best to do all the reading ahead of time. I don’t think The Rapture Exposed was on the list, but it was on my list. …I just didn’t get around to it.

And, somehow, I still haven’t gotten around to it in the past five years–but all of that is over with now! I’m making this my next book after finally finishing “Girl Meets God: A Memoir” by Lauren F. Winner. I can’t wait to dive in and hear Dr. Rossing’s voice in my head as she breaks down the message of hope too often overlooked in the book of Revelation. Let’s get started!

Time for Something New

Thanks for joining me!

For the past three and a half years, I’ve kept a blog of sermons and the (very) rare blog post about some topic that was nagging at me. That blog served it’s purpose and you can still find it here. However, I’ve been feeling called again to something new. Something different. Something a little more.

My hope with this website is that I will have a place to keep and share not only sermons, but more consistent writings on topics that concern or interest me, litanies and other liturgical work, and reflections/reviews on I’m reading at the moment. I must confess, that last one is really more for me than anyone else. I need accountability to finally make some headway into the pile of books on my desk that I’ve been “meaning to get to” ever since I began my first call.

I began my previous blog a few months before my ordination in 2014 with inspiration from the story of the Samaritan woman at the well in the Gospel of John. Jesus engages her in conversation and offers her living water–something she scoffs at. “You have no bucket, and the well is deep!” It’s my favorite story in the Gospels. I’m drawn to this image of a deep well full to the brim of life and love and wholeness. I decided it was too good an image to abandon it now. 🙂

If you’re here, if you’re reading this, thank you. I’m excited for this new challenge!