Building Bridges.....

Jesus said in John 10:11 "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep". It is true. In those days the shepherd lived with his sheep. He knew them all. If he lost one, he instantly went to find the lost one. He protected the sheep from thieves and wolves. His rod was a weapon. He stayed with his sheep all night. It could be cold, it was dirty. As the shepherd spends all this time with the sheep, carrying them, sleeping close together, he started to smell like his sheep. The Sheep knew him not only by his voice but by the smell of him. Jesus used this analogy as a leader: He describes himself as not only “the shepherd,” but the “good shepherd.” This is the kind of leadership Jesus used, a leadership that brought the scattered sheep together, a leadership that protected the herd, a leadership that calmed them down, a leadership that protected them. This is the kind of leadership that build the first churches. Is it a leadership t...

A year ago we used to sing a song "Oh how he loves us". I liked the lyrics and the music was nice as well. Yesterday during a prayer meeting we heard the song again and I was yet again reminded, OH how he loves us. He is jealous for me, Loves like a hurricane, I am a tree, Bending beneath the weight of his wind and mercy. OH How he loves us! When his love hit us it is like a hurricane and then we want to be a tree to catch as much wind as possible with our branches. His love shakes us, his love never fails. Oh how he loves us.

I read a small article by Pastor John Ortberg from Menlo Park Presbyterian Church in California. He said that: "If you are a Pastor or a Church leader you have a calling far more important than you may know". Lots of Pastors or leaders are very "task" orientated. "The great danger in ministry is that we think about the task before us in ways that are too small!" Make budget, trying to fill up the church hall every Sunday, launching nice programs, Working hard to make the church and its vision so easy to understand and handle. We have a task all of us. Jesus said: " Go out in the entire world, go and make disciples. "Teach them to obey everything I have commanded you" Lets go out there....