Playing Tag

Well, apparently I've been tagged by Anastasia, who was first tagged by Pastor Weedon. I'm told that the challenge is to say seven true things about myself, as Anastasia has done (though I don't remember Pastor Weedon doing so before he tagged her! :-)

So, here goes:

1. I grew up in the state of Oregon ("Or'-e-gun" not "O-ree-gone'"!) and lived in that beautiful state until I moved away to go to seminary. Unofficially, I belong to the "Society of Native Oregon Born" (S.N.O.B.)! :-) I sure miss "God's country" (especially during horrendously hot and humid St. Louis summers!), and I hope to get back there someday for more than just a vacation visit.

2. I am the only clergy-type in my family, so that makes me the hands down candidate for "black sheep" of the family! :-) My dad was a civil engineer, and my mom did clerical work for math professors at a university. They're both happily retired now.

3. God has blessed me with a beautiful and gracious wife (she has to be gracious with me around!) and with two bright, intelligent, caring teenage children (okay, sometimes that "caring" part and that "teenage" part don't always appear simultaneously! ;-). I love them all very much.

4. I adore my beagle boys, Porthos and Gimli. They are fitting successors to our former beagle, Shadow (that's a tribute for another blog post someday).

5. My favorite sports teams include the St. Louis Rams (even when they don't do well), and the Portland Trailblazers (ditto!). (Did someone say "theology of the cross"? ... 'cause there sure aint no "theology of glory" with either team!)

6. I love to read and learn and grow, especially in the areas of theology and church history, and always wish I had more time to do all three. Why is it that there are so many good books and so little time?

7. And, saving the best for last, I am incredibly grateful (and often ineffably so) that our gracious God - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - has seen fit to rescue the likes of me from sin, death, and the devil through the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. And I constantly pray that somehow, purely by His merciful working, He will lead us Christians to swallow our sinful pride so that we can mend the rifts in Christendom and present a united witness for the life of the world.

Now that I've been "it" and given my seven truths of life, I'll tag Pastor Christopher Hall and Pastor Tim May. Let's see what seven true things you can tell us about yourselves!

Taking the Plunge

For sometime I've told myself and others that I'd never run a blog. After all, what could I have to say that others would want to read and discuss? What could I add to other conversations already in progress? But you know what they say about never saying "never." And Pr. Weedon can be quite convincing, especially as he talks of the "joys" of blogging! So, here goes as I take the plunge into the world of writing, musing, theologizing, and conversing in "blogdom."

A word about the title of this blog is surely in order. "RAsburry" - my first initial and last name - has become my trademark of sorts, especially via email. And since many blogs choose to use Latin to show their purpose and direction, I couldn't resist throwing in just a little Latin. In Latin "res" means "things, matters, affairs." So, putting the two terms together, this blog is about matters that strike my fancy, matters theological and churchly, matters weighty and important, even matters humorous and light-hearted - matters that will hopefully interest others and bear witness to the God of forgiveness, life, and salvation.

The matters that interest me most concern the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, for the life of the world - the life that I have received as a pure gift by God's boundless mercy in the forgiveness of sins, the life that I have vowed to deliver to the people whom God has given me to shepherd. This blessed life from the Holy Triune God comes in the Body of Christ, the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church. His life in His Body gives new meaning and purpose for all other matters ("res") in all of life.

Thanks for joining me as I "take the plunge" into "blogdom"! May God bless this ongoing conversation.