A further word on "eating the scroll." It was Gregory the Great who observed: We ought to transform what we read into our very selves, so that when our mind is stirred by what it hears, our life may concur by practicing what has been heard.
I grabbed this from some notes I had on this "eat the scroll stuff." Margaret Hess (a Baptist pastor) writing in the Christian Century, June 18-25, 1997: "He (Ezekiel) is not to measure the effectiveness of his preaching by the response of the people. The heart of his ability to preach with integrity and authenticity lies in his ability to take the word of God inside himself, and to root his proclamation in the word as it transforms him, Ezekiel, from the inside out. Do we dare to take preaching seriously enough to allow ourselves to be changed by the word we ingest?
"Some of my most authentic sermons emerge from a total immersion in the scripture passage. I read it. I shout it. I think about the passage when I lie down and when I get up. I imagine myself in the biblical story, feeling the sun on my face and the earth beneath my feet, hearing the voices of ancient characters whisper in my ear. I insert myself into the story, searching for movement and stillness, inviting myself to smell, touch, taste, see and hear what is going on in the text. I pace my study like a caged lion as the word has its way with my heart. I become so completely saturated and filled with the word that I no longer care if it is heard or not. I care passionately that I have eaten the word of God and am a changed woman. Only then can I speak the unspeakable and name the unnamable. Only then will the people know that a prophet has been among them."
Thanks, Alexis, for the good word about eating the scroll. There's enough to go around for us all.
And for those who don't know - IHOP–KC is a 24-hour-a-day ministry of “worship with intercession” that has continued non-stop since September 19, 1999, and is led by 25 different worship teams comprised primarily of young adults. Approximately 1,500 people (staff members, students, interns, musicians, intercessors and worship leaders) serve full- and part-time investing 25 to 50 hours/week in the prayer room, classroom and ministry outreaches.
IHOP (the one that doesn't include pancakes) would be a good field trip for your church!
It was good to get back in touch with everyone after Christmas. I also wanted to let you all know that Jody and I very much appreciate your prayers and support. God has been very good to us through an abundance of Christian friends. In an effort to keep everyone posted I would ask for your prayers next week as we will be going to Iowa City for our first consult down there. The primary reason is to begin the process of being put on the bone marrow donor list. (We will find out more next week) Also, I am sure most of you have found our blog at this point, but I wanted to make it available to you again.
