Baptized: Marked for Living!

By John D. Hopper

Able to be used as family devotional during Lent, or as the basis for a Lenten series in a congregation, Baptized: Marked For Living! is a series of meditations developed in an attempt to use the Lenten season as a time for reflection upon who we are as God's covenant children in baptism and how we are to live as people forever marked with the cross of Christ. Using symbols appropriate to the theme, each person/family are shown how to create a "home altar" as the centerpiece of their Lenten baptismal journey.  

Weeks of Lent:

1. Signed- the Cross
2. Claimed- the Dove
3. Named- the Signboard
4. Clothed- the Robe
5. Enlightened - the Candle
6. Appointed - the Stole

Holy Week:

7. Washed - Shell (for Maundy Thursday)
8. Raised - the Lily (for Easter Sunday)

The book's author, John D. Hopper, served Lutheran congregations in South Dakota and Minnesota for nearly 35 years, and currently serves an NALC congregation in Wyoming.
(5.5 x 8' softcover, 64 pages)

Review:  
Hopper's work offers a series or eight meditations for use during Lent and Easter. The solid biblical protein they contain challenges readers and hearers to think in depth about what happened when God "marked" them in baptism, and what that mark implies for daily life. He emphasizes the biblical truth that, in baptism, God adopts us into the divine family, and, beyond baptism, calls us to spend life seeking to become what God has declared us to be. In the accompanying appendix, Hopper offer numerous splendid suggestions for home and family involvement, and for conducting the sacrament of baptism in public Worship. The book will serve a useful purpose for those looking for Lenten/Easter materials that are gutsy rather than gimmicky.

Harry Wendt — President, Crossways International