Discover the Essentials for Effective Ministry When we follow Jesus, the Holy Spirit fills us and gives us spiritual gifts. These are special abilities to help grow God’s Kingdom. The Bible talks about many of them, and here is a list of the key spiritual gifts. Paul names five of these gifts in his letter […]
To Deserve a Good Shepherd, We Must Be Good Sheep Zachariah isn’t one of the better-known Old Testament prophets, and we don’t often read his book in the Bible, but that doesn’t mean we should ignore it. A reoccurring theme in Zachariah’s writing is a shepherd and his sheep, about bad shepherds and bad flocks. […]
Our Good Shepherd Has More Sheep Than Just Those in Our Pen Jesus talks about a sheep pen with a gate (John 10:1-21). The shepherd goes into the pen through the entrance. He calls his sheep, and they follow him into the pastures. Only a thief would sneak into the pen another way. Yet the […]
Beware of Slacking Shepherds, Godless Pastors, and Misleading Ministers The prophet Jeremiah doesn’t just warn the people about judgment for their sins, he also warns their religious leaders too. The twenty-third chapter of the book of Jeremiah details three leadership failures. Most troublesome is the third item about misleading ministers. Everyone in leadership should heed […]
Discussing Church 33 Even though this church is only nine miles from our house, the contrast between their lives and mine is stark. These people live in poverty. And their shepherd cares for his flock. Consider these four discussion questions about Church #33: 1. We struggle to sing hymns. The organist learned to play because […]
David Teaches Us About God as Our Shepherd In the twenty-third Psalm, the former shepherd boy David, looks to God as his Shepherd. This short six-verse Psalm is a favorite of many, who have perhaps memorized it as a child. Here are a few of the key points we can learn from the twenty-third Psalm. […]
Shepherds Have a Responsibility to Their Sheep and Sheep Have a Responsibility to Their Shepherd We know Jesus is the Good Shepherd. The Bible also addresses bad shepherds. The book of Jeremiah talks about this, but it’s easy to miss it if we read too fast. The Bad Shepherd Quoting God, Jeremiah writes, “My people […]
It’s Time to Reframe Our Idea of What it Means to be a Pastor I am not a trained minister, an educated member of the clergy, or a professional pastor. These titles all unnerve me. I am not a pastor, at least not in the traditional sense. About a decade ago a woman left me […]
Spiritual Insights from a Real Shephard By Phillip Keller (reviewed by Peter DeHaan)The idea of a shepherd overseeing his flock is a powerful metaphor of the relationship between God and his people. Unfortunately, today’s world has largely lost touch with its agrarian roots, missing much of the deeper meaning of a shepherd’s watch and care over […]
In the fourth word picture for God, we consider the common image of God as the good shepherd and we as his sheep. God, as the good shepherd, is caring, protective, patient, brave, wise, sacrificial, and most significantly, knows us by name. Sheep, are known as being not too intelligent, easily getting into trouble and […]