Shepherd

The Lord is my shepherd…

Many of us call the pastor of a congregation a shepherd. The pastor is the shepherd of the flock, the one who leads this group where they need to go. The pastor is the one who shows the good water to drink, the good grass to eat, the right time to start a new program, gives guidance for bible study…

But who shepherds the shepherd? Many pastor friends of mine say I am only one of the sheep like you. We all follow after the real shepherd Jesus. And the 23rd psalm is a wonderful description of what God through Jesus does for us if we will only follow His lead.

First of all He is our shepherd. He leads us beside still waters to drink. Sheep will not drink from moving water, actually sheep will drink nasty dirty still water than drink fresh moving water. Much like us who will quench our thirst on the muck this live gives us rather than seek the goodness God can give us. We need someone to help us see the bad and to lead us to the good. The 23rd psalm goes through many renditions of how dumb sheep are and how they will follow after each other creating ruts and not finding good pastures and dirty water. We need a person to lead us to the good things that God has provided. Jesus will lead us if we will let Him.

So look to Jesus and fix your eyes on Him. He is the author and perfector of our faith and He will shepherd you if you will let Him.

Snake handling…

Have you ever been bitten by a poisonous snake? Were you worried about dying?

Mark 16:18 says bitten by poisonous snake and drinking poison will not harm you. If you do do this then others can lay hands on you and you will be cured. Interesting. Now I have never seen this, yet I have never seen a lot of the things mentioned in the Bible. Like water into wine, raising people from the dead…

This section of Mark was probably not part of the original writing of Mark. This was more than likely an addition to Mark because someone or a group of people didn’t like the ending of the women running away in fear saying nothing.  So why did the person who added this had the idea of adding this part of snakes and poisons and that people would not be effected by this. I’m not sure how this linked to the ending of Mark. Why do we think we have to have all the answers and know exactly everything that could happen?

I wonder why we feel the need to think that a poisonous snake bite or drinking poison would not kill us or we could be cured by laying on of hands. Not that I question this happening. Yet why do we need to be sure of this? Is snake handling not testing God? And we are not to test God.

So handle snakes… but do not test God. Trust the promise that you are loved and follow Jesus being His disciple. Living your life with no fear but passionately living His love out loud.

Mr. Fix It…

Do you know someone who can fix anything? If it breaks you call them and they come and fix it.  Like an uncle who would fix everything from plumbing to bats/gloves to bikes and garbage disposals…

A friend told me a story about a man who was the fix it person. The family would put things aside to wait for him to come through and he takes care of all the things that are broken. He could fix anything. Then the fix it man passed away, and they left him out so that God could come and fix him. You see that is what God does, He fixes us. He takes what is broken and turns it into something new. Hosea 6 tells us how God will raise us up to live before Him. God is our Mr. Fix It. He will make our lives new and make us new creations…

Allow God to fix you, to see what you can be.

Praise the Lord!

We all have reasons to not praise the Lord. We do not have to think to hard or to long to come up with reasons to just get mad and angry at everything. It is not hard for us to find reasons to sink into deep depression…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4-iLnDi21k&feature=youtube_gdata_player

This is a video for Francesca Battistelli’s This is the Stuff. It is a song about how we get caught up in the little stuff of everyday life. We lose our keys and phones and life takes over and we seem to forget how much we are blessed by God through all of the stuff we go. Everything is a reason to give God praise. Praise Him with every moment every thing of your life.

Psalm 150:6 says let everything that has breath praise the Lord. So even in the t moment of your life praise God. Because He is working through everything of your life…

What love…

What love is this that we should be called children?

Now tonight if you ask my eldest 2 daughters if they feel blessed tonight to be my children, they would probably say no. We had a run in over burning a comb in a candle. They wanted to see what would happen to the plastic comb in the flame. I got very upset with them and sent them to their rooms. I asked them what they would have done if the comb would have caught fire and burned their hand and then they drop it on the carpet and the house catch on fire? Now they went to their rooms thinking that I as concerned about losing the stuff in the house. Truth is I’m more concerned about my babies getting hurt. I’m more worried about losing my girls which I can’t replace then the stuff in the house that is just stuff and can be replaced.

I do not do everything right as a father. But God as our heavenly father is always there to show us love hen we mess up. And yes I’m sure He gets upset with us. But unlike us He doesn’t send us to our rooms not understanding what we did or what was wrong, right? We always understand everything that happens where God is concerned right? I don’t always understand what is happening at every moment. What I do know is that God loves me and watches over me regardless of the stupid things I do.

1 John 3 tells us we are children of God, and we are secure in that. As long as we don’t sin…

Wait a minute! I sin every day! Matin Luther told us that we are simultaneously Saint and Sinner. We are claimed by God as His children, and also a sinner separated from God. We are saved and held in God’s hand while we are turning our back on Him and living in darkness.

We are claimed by God and His children and this does not change. The promises of God are clear that once God’s child you will be watched over.

Live in the promise that you are God’s child.

Servant or Lord…

Do you think you deserve to be served? Have you obtained a level where you deserve to have people do things for you?

How much money does it take for a person to deserve servants? How big must a person be to have people do things for them?

People work long and hard to obtain a status so they can lord over people. People work long and hard to get the money to get servants. People work to obtain the status of being in charge. But does money and status make one person better than another? Does status and money make a person able to lord anything over anyone else?

Jesus tells us here that even the disciples that have walked with Jesus have no more status and need to serve. Jesus as our Lord and Master does not lord over us but serves us and He calls us to serve to. Not to lord our status or money over anyone but to make ourselves as servants and lower than all so that we might show Jesus’ love to all.

Why do we read the Bible?

I just finished a book called Reading the Bible For All The Wrong Reasons. It was an interesting book on why we read the Bible and how many of us use the Bible for abuse rather than to build each other up.

By abuse we use the Bible to support those things we already believe. We proof text to find the nugget of information to support our thoughts. Even if we have to take that nugget out of context. We have long held beliefs of Biblical authority and of the text being inspired by God and being with out error. The Bible contradicts itself way to many times though according to the author for this to hold water. How can an all knowing and powerful God give us His divinely inspired work that contradicts itself? Why would He do this?

Plus the Bible has been used to hold down women, homosexuals and many others. There is the backing in the Bible to support interracial marriage being wrong. We chose to uphold something’s while ignoring or writing off others. The Bible says not to sow different types of seeds in the same field, or to wear garments of mixed fibers or to eat pork or shrimp or especially bacon wrapped shrimp… (personally I think not eating Bacon wrapped Shrimp should be a sin!)

Why do we think we can say the Bible says it and therefore we have to do it. And allow that to hold true for somethings and not for others.

The Bible is suppose to be a boon that brings us closer to God. The Bible is a book that grabs us and pulls us in, not a boom we grab and hold up against someone to measure how good they are.

So why do you read through Bible? Is it to be grab and filled with the Spirit to be brought closer to God? Or is it to prove what you think you already know and to bring you up and others down?

Trust in the Lord

In what do you trust? Do you trust in wealth? Do you trust in the amount of money you make and how much you have saved for the future? Is this security? When the dollar keeps falling and banks can close or be robbed?

Do you trust in the security of your job? Is there such a thing as job security? Any one can lose their job at anytime and be replaced. None of us our irreplaceable.

Is there absolutely security in anything? Can we trust in anything? Yes we can. God who is faithful and just. He will follow through on the promises He has given us. We see that in the Bible. How He has given His promise and He has followed through on that promise. Time and time again He is faithful.

We can trust in Him and not waiver in that because He is faithful and just, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

So put your trust in the Lord and I promise you will not be let down.

What have you read

Today’s gospel lesson has the Sadducees trying to trap Jesus. You see they do not believe in the resurrection of the dead so asking if a man dies and leaves a childless wife then she marries the dead man’s brother and on and on until the all die, so whose wife is she in the resurrection? You see they do not believe we are resurrected. So why trap Jesus?

But it is them who get trapped. Jesus tells them they do not know God or the scriptures, we read the Bible all the time, but do we actually understand what we read? Or do we read to support what we already believe? Or do we only comprehend or retain what we read that supports what we believe?

So what have you read? Did you actually let the Bible live in you and breath through you, or did you look for what you needed? The Bible is the living breathing word of God and we need to let it breath in and through us to fill us, not use it as a place to get the answers we seek…

The Lions Den

Daniel 6 tells us about Daniel’s trip into the lions den.

Daniel was not liked by those who wanted his place. People around him were envious of him and his position with the king, so they moved in to get rid of him. They were caught up in the things of the world. They wanted the prestige and the power that came with the right hand man position of the king. They were willing to do anything to get that position. They did not know God. But sometimes in our day there are people who know God but are so hung up in getting their worldly due they will twist what God has said to ift them and tar others down.

We can live in the lions den, and we can put others in the lions den. Sometimes we lose sight of what God has called us to do and we get caught up in the beauty and riches this world offers us.
We need to stay focused on God. We need to trust in thee promises that we are told and know that God will follow through and be there for us. Just as He was to Daniel.

So do not get hung up on those around you making life a little harder, and throwing the road blocks out there. Remain focused on God and what He has called you to do. Also remain focused on what God has called you to do, so that you are not the one throwing others in the lions den.