shepherding the shepherd
from PreachingToday.com
‘And This Is My Prayer’
The challenge is that love always faces frontiers, detours, and roadblocks. We don’t always know what loving well requires. How can one person love so many? How do we love the misfits, the irregulars? How do we love without getting swallowed up. Plus, we bring our own love-limiting baggage, which we might recognize but often do not.
‘Every Time I Remember You’
I’d never thought of these words as though Paul wrote them to me personally, not only as part of a church but as a fellow pastor. When I did, I nearly wept. “I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now…”(Phil. 1:3-5)
‘I Will Give You Shepherds’
Some of our flock will take us for granted and some will stubbornly resist our thoughtful care, but to many of the believers you serve, you are God’s own gift and they know it. They love you and they trust you to show them the Father, through the grace and truth of the Lord Jesus Christ.
What the Shepherds Said
Surely the shepherds asked if they could hold the baby. Dan Darling writes, “The Lamb of God would first be held and handled by those who knew how to appreciate and care for a lamb.”
Touchstones
In the Holy Land it seems like stones do most of the talking. Everywhere we visited recently, from Caesarea Philippi in the far north to Masada towering over the Dead Sea, the stones had the best stories to tell. There were three that I touched that were like Braille with stories to tell by touch rather than sight.
Mt. Precipice
While in Israel recently I led devotions for our group on Mount Precipice in Nazareth. A tradition says this is where the infuriated folks of Nazareth threatened to throw Jesus to his death. Today there’s a nice plaza with tiered seats where tour groups can listen to their teacher who stands on the uneven rocks a few feet from the cliff. A precarious place for a preacher!