Sometimes Shepherds Have To Holler

Sometimes, God speaks with a whisper, and sometimes he hollers — well, speaks very loudly, anyway. He wants our attention, and we need to give Him our attention. Like the sheep in the video, we can have our eyes on the greener, more plentiful grass on the other side of the road and totally miss the fact that a large truck (circumstance, etc.) approaching rapidly that could run us over.

I had a professor while in seminary who sometimes grew tired of looking at the top of our heads while we were furiously taking notes. He would say, “Okay, let me see your eyes. I’ll give you a paragraph to write down later.”

Sometimes, we get so busy with life, even church life, that God uses circumstances to say, “Let me see your eyes.” While we may be totally focused on that circumstance, we may be totally unaware of what He is protecting us from.

Giving God our attention is not a narcissistic demand. This is the call of God who created us and thus knows that more than anything else, what we really need is Him. We need to know Him. We need to regularly experience His love. Sometimes there are sin issues that must be dealt with, but those are dealt with “in the hug,” as my friend Dave Busby used to day. Dave would explain that most of us “perceive God as one who stiff-arms us until we get everything cleaned up in our lives so we can approach Him.” Truth is, if we accept Gods invitation by faith to follow Christ, then, with His arm around us, God says, “I love you. Here are some things we need to work on to make our relationship better.”

It isn’t very flattering to be compared to a sheep. They are high maintenance animals. But, all through the Bible, we humans are compared to them. Isaiah 53:6 says, “all of us like sheep have gone astray, every one of us has turned to His own way.” But this prophetic utterance goes on to say of Christ, “and the Lord laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” When Jesus was on earth, he compared us to sheep in John 10. His sheep know His voice. He is the good Shepherd.

I could have hollered at those sheep in Medgidea all I wanted, and they would have moved no faster. But they knew their shepherd’s voice, and when he spoke, they moved. That obedience saved sheep.

Twenty Years Ago Tonight

I am sitting here watching the news, and am reminded of what I was doing twenty years ago tonight. My wife was at work, and I was sitting on the couch, watching something happen that all my life I assumed would never happen. The Berlin Wall was coming down.

I remember sitting there, weeping, as I thought of some friends who were involved in youth ministry, and how they had already been "behind the iron curtain" to meet with youth workers in some of those countries to teach them a little of what we knew. I remember saying to God and to myself, "Lord, if you open the door" I will go. Little did I know that it would take nearly two years for that door to open, and little did I know that from 1991 to the present, I would have gone to Eastern Europe twenty-one times. (Mostly to Romania, four times to Ukraine, and once to Russia) I have been privileged to help train youth leaders, serve orphans, and share the love of Jesus with people through church outreach.

I still have friends from that very first trip in 1991. I count many orphans who are growing up among my friends as well. And there are precious believers from numerous places.

Going to Eastern Europe in those early years was a big stretch for me. I'd been to Kenya in 1988, and that is another awesome story, but this was so different. Romania especially will always hold a special place in my heart, because of the hundreds of friends I have there. Lots more thoughts, but, you get the idea.

If you ever get a chance to travel with a purpose like this, you should not miss it! It will change your life, and the way you see others. Warning though... It could change where you live... or at least fill up your passport.

Jesus said, "Go." Why are we so prone to stay?

Appearances

I have been thinking a lot about appearances lately. They can be deceiving, on a multitude of levels.

A funny thing (in a rather dark sort of way) happened last Saturday. I was sitting in my study, and heard a large truck coming up our street. Well, it was not trash day or UPS delivery time, so I decided to go take a look. As I looked out the front window, I saw a large moving van coming to collect our next door neighbor’s stuff. But, at that very moment, an ambulance was turning around in our driveway. No siren, but lights were flashing. “Well, that will give a few of the neighbors pause,” I thought. (It did.) The ambulance was following an inaccurate map or GPS unit. That was what was going on.

Many have asked me how I was feeling, and did I have any symptoms (appearances). Short answer: before the discovery of cancer, I had none, and what I feel now is more the result of treatment than the disease. (Side effects have, so far, been very mild. Keep praying!) This is a strange disease. I have had no visible or tangible effects, but what I do have is test results—lots of them. These tests look deep below the surface and find out what is going on at a level below my awareness. Reminds me of how God sees into each of us.

When Samuel was looking for the person God would choose to replace Saul (and his lineage) as king, God sent him to Jesse’s house. There he would find a teenager named David. We know he was a shepherd boy, therefore young, and maybe he had pimples! Not exactly the king-to-be type. But as Samuel looked at one of David’s older brothers, God gives Samuel a powerful insight. (1 Samuel 16:7) "Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." The heart.

In our culture we are all about external appearances, but the really important view is what my heart looks like to God.

Jesus said in John 7:24, “Stop judging by mere appearances, and make a right judgment."

Treatment Update: I am through the first round of meds. I get to "rest" next week. God continues to be good, faithful, merciful, awesome, gracious, amazing...

And so many are praying! Thanks!

Treatment #3 Update

Hey,
A bigger post (or video) is working in my head, but I realize I haven't posted anything in a while.
As of Monday, I have finished my third chemo treatment, and side effects continue to be mild. (Tired, hiccups occasionally, and quite possibly a bit grumpier!) Thanks for all you who are praying. Prayer is key, because prayer addresses the One who really does know what is going on, and is in a position to do something about it.
Thanks!
More later.
Tom

Mad About You and Red Stuff

Yesterday, as I picked up my Bible, I told God I wanted to know what to read, what to look at, to study. I want this time to be helpful to me, but also to help me help others, especially those closest to me. It seemed God prompted me to just go back to James 1:2-4 and start there. I can run references and gather other leads as I go through them. So I picked up my Bible – one that I haven’t used in a few months, and there, in the margins around James 1:2 are these words.

“Problems are not punishments but wake up calls. God is not mad at you, but mad about you, and He is trying to get your attention.”

Well, he certainly has my attention. There is a now a fresh dynamic of faith working here. I have been convinced for years of both the truth and exclusivity of the gospel, the efficacy of His salvation, and – perhaps most of all – His amazing grace. Now that my physicians have uttered the word "cancer" into my health evaluation, I have the warning “shot across the bow” that many never receive. Being sure of your relationship to Christ is way more than assuming everyone goes to heaven. More about that on another day.

In scripture, if you read the New American Standard Bible, you'll find that Esau traded his birthright for what is literally translated "red stuff." I know we usually think of it at "Jacob's Amazing Stew," but, whatever it was, apparently the color was red.

Today, I was surprised the have some "red stuff" myself during my second round of chemo. Through my own exceptional ability of misunderstanding what is said to me, I thought the two-medicine day was going to happen next Thursday. But this is what the doctors and nurses, were saying (and what my wife ws hearing) all along. So far so good. Pray that the side effects stay mild. Okay, that is the "health report."

Thanks for your prayers and notes of encouragement.