“The issue of the authority and sufficiency of Scripture in this generation is on the knife edge of human sexuality. You must determine for yourselves, am I a soldier for the cross, am I a follower of Jesus, am I prepared to acknowledge that even though my predilections run a certain level, they must be brought under the jurisdiction of scripture no matter how bad it makes me feel no matter how it makes me hurt.”
“How many things have to happen to you,” Robert Frost writes, “before something occurs to you?” Wow, that is a loaded statement of truth. How long do we live our lives depending on our own instincts and talents and inspirations before we realize there has to be more, there has to be a larger story?nce.
The grace of God, like pure olive oil, comes with a persistent daily effort. Pure olive oil can only be achieved through tedious time-consuming perfection. God’s grace only comes through a daily prayerful meditative persistence.
Whether it is news nationally such as illegal immigrants pounding the border or personal news of a death or sickness, bad news ingulfs each day with a heaviness that can overwhelm us if we let it. So, on this Thanksgiving, how do we rise above all the bad news and cultivate thanksgiving and joy?
A shepherd guides, watches, preserves, restores, tends to, as well as feeds. Sheep are one of the dumbest animals alive. They will jump off a cliff if their buddies jump first. So, shepherding is very important to their well-being and protection. They literally follow the voice of the shepherd.