The Love of a Shepherd

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The Love of a Shepherd

Digging Deeper Questions

April 30, 2024

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We can too frequently neglect to consider the consequences of poor shepherding. The negative affect the state of a shepherd’s heart has on the ability to influence as God desires is regularly underestimated.

Scripture provides numerous examples of leaders whose behavior adversely affected those they influenced, most often because their hearts were not in line with the heart of the Father. Moses’ account of the happenings at the edge of the Promised Land is no exception. Although often overlooked, it is important to note the role the majority of the leaders of the 12 tribes of Israel played in turning a 40-day journey into a 40-year wandering.

And there is a lesson for us in the backstory...

The Faith of a Shepherd

May 14, 2024

If you’re drawn to the life of David, the shepherd boy, warrior, king, and psalmist, you cannot ignore his response to Goliath’s challenge in the hills of Israel. David had obeyed Jesse and left his father’s sheep with a keeper to travel to the site of the latest Israelite-Philistine battle. Jesse had asked that David confirm the safety of his three eldest brothers and deliver food to them and their commanding officer. David had no idea that upon his arrival in the Valley of Elah he would encounter an army of cowards and an imposing giant.

The Lament of a Shepherd

April 23, 2024

Winter is an interesting time of year in the part of the hemisphere where I’m located. Dreary, dark, foggy days can go on seemingly forever, with the sun peeking through the clouds on only a rare occasion. Often, our lives feel similar. When we are mourning the loss of a loved one or lamenting a situation in our lives, all around us can seem dreary. David lamented on several occasions, as is evident throughout the psalms. One such time was after he was anointed king and was being unjustly accused by Saul. Saul’s obsessive paranoia caused him to rally his troops and relentlessly pursue David. Saul had become so compulsive that he put a hit on David’s life. He wanted the young man who had helped soothe his tortured soul through music, his own son-in-law, killed. We can only imagine how torturous this must have been for David.

Uncharted Waters

April 16, 2024

As I was tapping away on my laptop, the ring of my cell phone was startling. Dr. Fong was on the other end of the line. I had been waiting for the results of a specialized MRI completed a few days earlier. We had played phone tag the previous day and because he had not tried harder to reach me after-hours, I was not concerned. But the words “I wasn’t expecting this” and “referring you to a neuro-oncology subspecialist” had me listening more intently and sitting a bit straighter in my chair, scribbling as quickly as I could to write down the information.