ISN'T GOD GREAT?<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />
 
Amidst all of the turmoil of this very controversial presidential election, that has the potential for holding the most profound changes to our culture and alterations to our form of government, isn't it great to realize that God knows exactly what is going on, how it is going to work out and most importantly that all of His promises to His people remain intact?  We should become conscious of many blessings from such a tumultuous time because we should be driven to our knees in prayer to learn God's will, but even more wonderful is to see how He can bring about circumstances that will strengthen His people, confuse those who hate Him and in the end be the Victor.  For me, it takes times like this to show me just how my daily life and thinking is so often based upon my own strength and negligent of walking fully in the faith that I need to have God's presence, even while negotiating the calmest of waters. 
 
Last week was one of those weeks where God gave me new insight, confirmed some ongoing thoughts and showed me just how complete are His tender mercies.  The week started out with some messages from dear friends who had either enjoyed sharing some of our Bible study times or carried on some challenging Internet dialog. 
 
One of the questions caused me to ponder my own value system and I started to understand that my values are not nearly as absolute as I had hoped that they might be.  In fact, it dawned upon me that all of my values, and I would suggest also all of yours, are really conditional and that only an infinite God could and would have absolute values.  Without God's unfailing and limitless mercy I have no value that I would not, at some price, surrender.  A thought like that certainly showed me that I was neither invincible nor immortal.  Just another frail human trying to learn what God would have him do to bring more glory to His name.
 
Following some telephone and message exchanges during the day I had the opportunity to attend a conference in the evening.  I had been sent the announcement about a month before and had not really given it a lot of consideration, thinking that this was just another one of those 'churchy' get-togethers.  But, thankfully my faithful God laid it upon the mind of the host pastor to call me and encourage me to join the group.  So I went off to the evening meeting and found myself drawn into spending all day Tuesday with the group.  Jean even joined me for the evening meal and meeting and we were both drawn back for the concluding sessions on Wednesday morning.  The overarching topic of the conference was Shepherding and the sponsoring organization was FIRE (Fellowship of Independent Reformed Evangelicals).  I still am not too certain of all of the distinctive beliefs that identify that body of pastors from a number of other groups, but that is not relevant as I found the atmosphere to be very friendly, uplifting and truly reinforcing of my values and beliefs as well as developing some new thoughts.
 
The first thing that I learned was not to always believe the literature that you receive.  I left home at 1840, with a smug confidence about being early, for a ten-minute drive to attend a 1900 presentation, only to learn that during the afternoon the conferees had changed the start time to 1800.  So, I was only able to enjoy the last few minutes of a session on 'The Current Cultural Climate for Shepherding' with a closing emphasis on the emergent church.  The portion, which I attended, was excellent.  But, not to be outdone there was even more blessings to be had.
 
The second message of the evening was 'The Good Shepherd's Call'.  One of the points that I received from this message was that as we have become more scholarly and 'techie' the process of creating a shepherd has become more of an educational and theological training process than a shepherd mentoring preparation that resides under the guidance and mentorship of a senior shepherd.  I was very interested in how the speaker referred to Peter during this presentation.  It made me realize that like me, Peter also had a conditional value system.  That was evidenced by the fact that he denied Christ three times, after solemnly swearing that he would never deny his Lord.  But, later, after more guidance from his loving Savior he matured and was able to hold fast to Christ's three time charge to 'feed my sheep!"  What had happened in the intervening period was that Peter had significantly raised the threshold of his conditional value to where in the end he was able to claim God's strength and to die for his Lord.  What a promise that each of us can cling to as we go down the road towards that day when standing firmly for the cause of Jesus Christ brings us face to face with persecution.
 
The next morning the first presentation was 'Shepherding Your Family'.  As the speaker went through his presentation of how he had been shepherded by his pastor father and how he was passing on that shepherding to his children I found myself regretfully reflecting upon how I had been shepherded and how I had shepherded my own family.  It dawned upon me that all of those years that I was wandering around in a religious wasteland I had not been at the forefront of what it means to be a good shepherd of one's family.  But, God was merciful and reminded me that what is past is past and what was before me was what He wanted me to dwell upon.  By God's grace, this message will provide me a better understanding of what He expects of me, even as I do family shepherding as a very senior believer.
 
Following that message was a very insightful response to the title of, 'Shepherding God's Flock'.  God had prepared this individual for this presentation by bringing him up as a youthful <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Texas shepherd over a small flock that his father had purchased.  From that flock he was able to see how so many traits of sheep are mirror images of the problems God's shepherds have with His flocks.  He learned that sheep will scatter when danger approaches.  They also will just lie down and go to sleep when they are excessively frightened and they will follow some leader, even if it is over a cliff to their death.  How this reminds us of the warnings given to us in the Bible about following false teachers, not standing firm when faced with challenges and remaining alert at all times to the wiles of the Prince of the Air.  In his later life he recounted how he had witnessed the expertise of Basque shepherds in the remote mountain valleys of Wyoming.  In this case he told how the sheep would gather around the shepherd at night, knowing that his fire, the sheep dogs and the shepherd would protect them.  During the day the shepherd would scatter the flock to graze while he sat on a high rock and was able to direct his dogs to keep the sheep in their proper feeding areas.  How this is like our God who while sitting on high knows just what we need to stay faithful.  This message reminded me that even with our heightened technological sophistication and superior educations we are still not very far removed from the simple sheep that the Bible likens us to.
 
Probably the message that brought the most welcome message to my ears was in the evening, 'Shepherding Your Community'.  This messenger related how he had gone far beyond the limits of his property to be a shepherd to not just his flock but to the community.  As a result of his outreach his church and ministry have become accepted in the community as the place to turn when a churchless family has need of a caring pastor because of a death, or a disrupted family needs a safe haven, or as a place to calm the waters of turmoil over community issues.  As a result of his outreach he is openly welcome in the schools, at the sporting events and families are willing to entrust he and his wife with their children when children services are needed.  He used Galatians 6:10 as one of his Scripture references: 'As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.'  God brought to my mind that one cannot fulfill that command of doing all for the flock if you do not reach into the community.  Have you done all that is possible for your flock if you have not tried to improve the government schools their children attend, or if you have not worked to have the best community government with the lowest taxes for your flock, or if you have not worked with the community to insure the safety of the homes and streets where your flock lives?  I had never seen this verse as an imperative that we must reach out as salt and light in the community if we are to do all we can for the household of faith.
 
The following morning found us attending a presentation entitled, 'Shepherding Your Leaders".  This message related back to many of the principles given in how to shepherd your family.  Even our leaders need to have shepherding.  Too often the lack of leader shepherding isolates the leader and fails to hold him accountable or allows him to wander off.  Many of the principles here picked up on previous presentations, in that our leaders do not own the flocks that they are tending but are 'hirelings' tending Christ's flocks. 
 
The final message was, 'Shepherding Your World'.  This was very insightful in that the missions programs are going the way of the culture.  There is too much emphasis on short term mission vacations that result in the same building receiving four coats of paint in one summer because it is sitting in a lovely tourist mecca, while there are empty church structures that are providing shade for the cattle as the local inhabitants had no ownership in the project or message.  While it has become easy to recruit people to join into the thrill of being a member of a short-term mission there are too many locations that are begging for a long-term missionary who is willing to become 'incarnated' as one of them for the cause of Jesus Christ.  The church is not replacing the last generation of long-term missionaries.
 
So, what started out, as just another week became one where God provided me with much blessed fellowship, a laundry list of ponderable suggestions and many reflections on the efficacy of His infallible promises.  I am still learning that one of the dangers of retirement is the fulfillment of Parkinson's Law, 'Work expands to fill the time available for its completion', in that I too often find other rabbit trails to follow and fail to do that which is most important for His glory. 
 
May these thoughts provide a blessing to you at a time when we are surrounded by so many failing cultural systems, such as; cultural values that are seeking new lows through advocacy for abortions and homosexual relationships; a seemingly melt-down of a once robust economic system; a political process that is fraught with corruption, lies, character assassination and finally the full scale rejection of God and all of His teachings.  We older folks have the blessing of being able to look out across Eastern Europe and observe millions of people who have gone through extended godless periods and today are blooming in God's garden as champions of the Gospel.  This is evidenced by a number of people who have answered the call to travel to their nations to give them seminary instruction through short-term programs.  Reports from those ministries are full of enthusiasm about how these people are absorbing everything that they are given with a zeal not seen in a nation that has had several centuries of uninterrupted comfortable worship.  So, have heart, we too can be blessed by a period of adversity and the necessity to learn that our own strength is not sufficient for the challenges of the day, but that we must walk in the strength of Him who divided the Red Sea and sent His Son as a propitiation for our sins.