shepherding the shepherd
from PreachingToday.com
‘The LORD Bless You …’
Why were some of us taught so little about the pastoral privilege and responsibility of conferring God’s blessing on his people? We’re preachers. We believe in the holy potency of God’s Word spoken. So it is with God-given words of blessing. It was one of the principal duties of the Old Testament priests: “to pronounce blessings in his name forever.”
Waiting
Christians are meant to be restless people, like battle-weary soldiers awaiting their flight home or a bride a week before her wedding. It’s our job as pastors not to let them get too settled in their tents here. For that matter, not to let ourselves get too comfortable here either.
‘We Shall All Be Changed’
Pastors walk people to the edge of the world and watch them step away. With unbelievers I feel a kind of a dull thud. There is no grace left. God offered extravagant, measureless, priceless grace and they would have none of it. When believers step away, I feel wonder and a little bit of envy. I often think, What just happened here?
An Eternal Sunday Afternoon Nap?
Our everlasting life in the new heavens and new earth will wrap rest and work in the cloak of worship. To begin with, the most important thing about our rest will not be relief from earthly labors.
Oh, What a Beautiful City
In Scripture, God entices us with glimpses of our future home without ever giving us the kind of
realtor’s details we’d like. We learn that, like the patriarchs, we live now in tents and are “looking
forward to a city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.”
When We See Christ
In his cave on Patmos, John saw a revelation of the glorified Christ, whom we also shall see. He was robed in white with a golden sash, his hair was white as snow and his eyes blazed like fire. “His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters.” Stunning! Breathtaking! Knee-buckling! But that’s not all.