We made FUMC Dallas our church home in June of 2004 and I have been on the church staff since 2001. Before that that I was a church shopper/hopper. I was raised in the ELCA Lutheran tradition and I claimed that identity well! (still wear my Luther's rose). I was baptized in the Lutheran church, was active in the youth group and eventually attended Lutheran colleges. Heck, I even sampled the Scandinavian side of Lutheran life and learned how to make Lefse and eat Ludefisk. (That last thing should only have been on a dare! bluchchch) As I was looking at my Lenten study this morning I was thinking about how darn good I am at doing Lent. It's amazing really. As I considered the requirement of laying all the trash out there for God to see I saw that I'm making quite an amazing display of my garbage. I've done this enough times to know that this is only a growth experience if I remember God's love for me or else I'd flog myself silly in the tradition of Luther before he fully grasped the concept of Grace...which he then developed into an amazing understanding of God's love. The founder of the Methodist movement, John Wesley, was highly impressed with Luther's writings and theology and the theme of God's Grace is tightly woven into the traidition of which I am now a part. Thanks Martin for giving me the closest interpretation I have to understanding how much God loves me.
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